Green Eats

Ag Fairs are a great way to find great local food and meet some of your local farmers. Here are few upcoming fairs:

IREDELL CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Statesville

Smokey Mountain Amusements

September 7-12, 2009

LEE REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Sanford
Playworld Amusements
September 15-20, 2009

CABARRUS CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Concord
Powers Great American Midways
September 11-19, 2009

CENTRAL CAROLINA FAIR

Greensboro

Deggeller Attractions

September 11-20, 2009

CHATHAM COUNTY FAIR
Pittsboro

Fun Rides

September 30-October 3, 2009

CALDWELL COUNTY AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Lenoir
Smokey Mountain Amusements

October 7-11, 2009

N.C. STATE FAIR
Raleigh
Powers Great American Midways
October 15-25, 2009

(For a full list of upcoming NC Ag Fairs check out the NC Association of Agricultural Fairs)

"Imagine an NGO receiving USDA grant money to construct a community
kitchen where farmers drop off produce and families join cooking
classes that teach about healthy eating while everyone prepares fresh
nutritious meals to bring home… Imagine a community using USDA money
to construct an open-sided structure to house a farmers market…
Imagine a school using USDA loan money to set up cold storage as part
of a larger effort to retrofit the school cafeteria to buy produce
directly from farmers and return cooking capacity for school lunch…
Imagine…"

-Deputy Secretary Merrigan, "Harnessing USDA rural development
programs to support local and regional food systems," August 26, 2009

(Thanks to the Organic Consumers Association for reporting on this)

Eat at Joe's has a post up about the new community support seafood initiative out of Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment. I heard about this other day and it sounds like a great idea! Check out the post for info on how to sign up!

There is not a single problem in the world that can't be made a little
bit better with brownies (except maybe a chocolate allergy), and when
I'm feeling down, stressed, or just plain hungry, my go-to recipe
comes from the legendary James Beard. One crack at this simple recipe
will have you banishing boxed brownie mix from your kitchen forever!
(For all you edge fans, it makes the perfect amount of batter to fit
into the Brownie Edge Pan.)