Author Archives: Virtual Farmgirl

The Chicago Tribune has confirmation from Iron Chef America that the veggies that were used on the show were not from the White House garden, despite months of ads saying that was the case. The Trib’s Kevin Pang included this comment: “Due to the production delay between the shoot at the White House and theContinue reading “Super Chef Battle Starting at White House Tainted with Veggie Revelation”

The cornfields of Iowa are headed for the silver screen again, this time in a sequel to one of my favorite food industry movies. “King Corn” filmmakers Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney are beginning to screen “Big River: A King Corn Companion.” The 28-minute “Big River” traces the environmental impact of corn production in theContinue reading “From Cornfields to Gulf Coast, 'Big River' Traces Chemicals Used to Grow Corn”

The Patriot-News is covering the 94th Pennsylvania State Farm Show this week and checked in with real farmers to find out what they think of the hugely popular Facebook game FarmVille. Many farmers didn’t know a thing about FarmVille or dismissed it as a waste of time. But Brenda Bower, who has a 70-acre farmContinue reading “What Real Farmers Think of FarmVille”

The L.A. Times has a story this evening about Kevin van der Poel, who moved to Missouri four years ago and is part of a wave of New Zealanders investing millions in dairy operations throughout the state and in the South. Apparently land for dairy cattle is getting harder to come by in New Zealand,Continue reading “New Zealanders Bring Grass Back to Dairy Cow Diet in Missouri”

In today’s Concord Monitor, apple farmer Chuck Souther shares his experience attempting, and ultimately failing at taking part of his orchard organic. In the end, after 10 years of experimenting with organic practices on a two-acre block of their Apple Hill Farm in Concord, N.H., the organic section of his farm was threatening the healthContinue reading “Couple Gives Up On Organic Apples”

The issue of competition in the agricultural industry is heating up now that corporate giant DuPont has asked federal regulators to get a tighter grip over seed giant Monsanto. Reuters reports that DuPont, also an ag powerhouse with its Pioneer Hi-Bred International, is claiming that Monsanto is being anti-competitive, using monopoly powers to drive upContinue reading “DuPont Claims Monsanto is Killing Competition in Seed Market”

I got an email this week from a restaurant I’ve been following, but haven’t had a chance to visit yet, FARMBloomington. I often just scan and delete messages because there’s no way I can get to whatever’s being promoted. This time this caught my attention: FARMBloomington’s Bison & Bacon Dinner set for Jan. 21. There’sContinue reading “Oversight By Santa: Chef Daniel Orr's New Cookbook”

Thanks to Twitter and @SkeeterNYC, I learned about this fun, video-driven site: Food Curated. And there went my evening. The blog entries and mini-documentaries show where food comes from through the lens of Brooklyn’s Liza de Guia. Her latest piece is about backyard chickens in Brooklyn. Don’t miss the video. It’s more engaging than manyContinue reading “My New Favorite Food Blog”

I must have been busy or something last year. Otherwise, there’s no excuse for me to have missed a flurry of news reports in April and October about backyard chickens — legal and illegal — in Chicago and suburbs, including Oak Park. The illegal ones are being housed by a bioethicist for Northwestern University, whoContinue reading “Backyard Chickens Catching On in Chicagoland”

That’s what Michael Pollan asked in Food Inc., a movie I’ve been eager to see since its release this summer. The movie is a meld of several movies I’ve seen, making points I’ve heard a few times about the unhealthy influence of industrial and factory farming. But this was a more polished production, easy toContinue reading “Who Knows A Farmer Anymore?”