From Our Natural Life:
This Podcast is a conversation with Zachary Adam Cohen, creator of the Farm to Table blog and television show and self-described “evangelist for the sustainable food movement.” Zachary talks with us about …

Of course being so far from the farm I had no idea what was really going out there so I assumed the worst. I gave my dad every possible scenario over the phone – watch for coughing, watch for goats separating themselves from the herd, etc – etc.

Last December I went totally nuts and bought a herd of 9 pregnant goats in hopes of starting a dairy farm. The babies were due in March so we had plenty of time to prepare for them. No critters had been raised on our family farm in many years which meant all the sheds and fences were either in disrepair or non-existent. We were starting with a blank slate; which we initially saw as a good, but soon found out had some serious downsides as well.

A true sense of community exists in places like the New Amsterdam Market, similar to farmers markets, but even better. People are happy to be there, open to conversation and eager to share what their digging (this being New York, they are just as happy to share what they don’t). To see so many vibrant businesses engaged in enterprise based on sustainability, localism, deliciousness is inspiring. The other thing one cannot help notice is the youth of the vendors. Most are under 40, and I would bet a great deal are even closer to 30.

However, social media is an excellent way of interacting and meeting new costumers without having to leave the farm. Social Media has enabled farmers to reach their customers, interact with them, answer questions and provoke discussions without having to drive to the city.

To me Renaissance brings to mind thoughts of rebirth, renewal and awakening. The Renaissance was a period of change, of rebirth basically, where the ways in which people did things were re-invented.

Once upon a time there was a beloved magazine. People were obsessed with this magazine. They marked the pages. They went shopping with the magazine. They discussed its pages in bars, over the water cooler, throughout the blogsphere. The magazine was passed between friends, between mothers and daughters. People did not recycle their copies but gave them privileged spaces on their bookshelves and coffee tables. The magazine had a website with some web-exclusive content and tools–and people loved this as well. Then one day, Conde Nast decided to kill this magazine. People were devastated.

Join 92YTribeca and Hazon for a special “foodie” Shabbat offering fresh perspectives on Thanksgiving and American food culture. Enjoy a delicious Shabbat meal prepared by 92YTribeca’s executive chef Russell Moss sourced from the freshest foods on the market, followed by a conversation with local-foods advocate and blogger Zachary Adam Cohen. Zack will speak about the emerging movement towards a more natural and socially responsible food culture in this country and how this heightened shift in food awareness is in all of our own best interests. To top off the night, Zack will give us the lowdown on some economically savvy ways to eat sustainably and locally and will also share some meaningful insights about how we can make the most of our meal-times.

First, allow me to highlight an issue that is rarely raised. Outside of the sheer yuck factor, one very compelling reason to avoid eating commodity ground beef is that it has very little flavor. Per my earlier post, the reason is that large packers do not use flavor as a primary goal in the first place. Instead, their focus is cost control, to produce the lowest cost burgers that you’re still willing to eat.

The iPhone has completely revolutionized my food life. It has allowed me to diversify my eating, drinking, cooking, shopping and socializing. I am going to write a series of posts on the iPhone apps that I most enjoy.