In many parts of the country, my own included, growing season is in full swing. That means you may be too late to take part in a CSA this year. But if you get a chance to take part in one, this year or next, I highly recommend it.

This was the first year that we joined a CSA -- short for community supported agriculture. We did it for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of concern over food safety issues. What we have discovered, however, is that it's completely changed our eating habits for the better.

Each week, we get a crate full of fresh grown goodies. Sometimes, I have to use Google to identify something or learn how to cook it. But just having that food in my fridge forces me to be creative and either search for or come up with new, healthy dishes. We're eating far fewer processed foods, less salt, less fat, and have all but cut our meat consumption. Our former favorite dish? Homemade pizza with extra cheese. Our current favorite dish? Sauteed kale with garlic scapes and onion, served over brown rice. I'm totally not kidding.

Japan gets credit for producing the square watermelon in the 1980s but Lee Chong, a self-taught Korean farmer, gets the blue ribbon for devising the very first cubic apple. It took him five years to perfect his square apple -- grown in plastic containers attached to branches of apple trees -- but he's done it.

Fruit may be one of nature's perfect foods -- it's delicious, good for you, and portable -- but for markets with limited shelf space, the irregular packaging of some fruit items can be problematic. Enter the square apple. Presto -- it fits on shelves in a space-optimizing manner.

OK, so there's a not a huge market for Chong's $7 a-pop apple at the moment. But this apple may soon take off in Korea. It'll make for a great gift, says Chong, who believes parents of college kids will gobble up the idea. Korean parents will do anything for their children, he reports -- and definitely if their endeavors are education-oriented.

While this apple will make an appearance in China, there are currently no plans for expansion into the U.S. market.

Source

As a general rule, self-employment is supposed to be good for you, but for some reason farmers aren't getting the benefit. In a new report published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, farmers come out scoring low on every measure of health and quality of life.

This news strikes me as really sad because it's such a natural and honest way to make a living, and we need farmers! But if it's such an unpleasant way of life then why will anyone choose it in the future? And unfortunately the article doesn't give much in the way of what to do, other than suggesting farmers need more emotional and social support.

Source

First there was the whole foods diet. Then there was the low-carb craze. Then eating organic was all the rage. And I'm sure you've heard of cage-free, free range and grass fed. Now there's eating locally. Well, eating locally isn't exactly a new concept--after all, farmer's markets have existed probably as long as farms, but it finally seems to be catching on as a dieting trend.

So what exactly does it mean to eat locally, and what are the benefits? I mean, we've all seen farmer's markets, perused their offerings and even occasionally indulged in some of their maple syrup candy and apple cider but what does eating locally really translate to?

"Local" is defined as anything within a hundred miles. That makes for a lot of possibilities in terms of food options, depending on where you live.

To me, farmer's markets were always the opportunity to get a little something different than what you'd find at a local supermarket. I know the one in Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn used to house a woman we referred to as the Cheese Lady who always had THE BEST cheeses anywhere. She had this one spicy white cheddar with horseradish in it that was TO DIE FOR. Sadly, at some point she took her wares elsewhere.

Source

Organic foods and produce are really catching on -- years ago you had to go to a special market or private store to find good products, but today you can find them practically everywhere. Even big national chains are quickly increasing their organic inventory.

The down side? Organic farmers are struggling to keep up with demand. Sure, there are bigger problems than "too much demand" (and it's always nice to hear that farmers are making money), but although there are a few incentives currently in place encouraging farmers to switch from traditional farming to organic, the conversion process is long and daunting and more help is needed. Industry leaders are, however, continuing to work with local and federal governments to see what else can be done to help meet the ever-increasing demand.

Source

According to Chinese media, a farmer who caught the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has since "fully recovered."

The farmer, identified only as Li, did have poultry in his backyard, but Chinese experts are still investigating whether or not those birds gave him the virus. Anyone who regularly came in close contact with Li has been put under medical observation, but, fortunately, none exhibit any symptoms of the disease.

A human to human transmission of the disease would be significant, as doctors fear such a mutation could lead to a pandemic. Currently, the virus is difficult for humans to catch, only affecting those who come in close contact with infected birds.

14 people have died in China as result of bird flu, with the most recent case reported over 6 months ago.

Source