In this episode of the Dairy Show, host Michael Crupain talks with Pastry Chef Gina de Palma of Babbo in New York

I have been reading all sorts of blog posts that are anti-foodie lately (of course, they’ve been around for quite some time, they’ve just recently been brought to my attention) and I’d like to clarify some things.

My husband Jim and I have been farming intently for about five years now, at TLC Ranch near Santa Cruz. Our business has grown by an astonishing 3,500% in 5 years—ridiculous, I know!—but somehow we have yet to see a net profit at the end of the year.

It is far past time we began to incorporate less tangible economics. The economics of the heart, of the soul. This is the economy that sees people helping each other for no reason other than to see good things happen. This is the economy of the GIFT, the economy of giving without expectation of remuneration.

This chicken knows a thing or two about how America produces its food.

My good friend Liza de Guia publishes yet another stunning video entitled “The Historic Gastronomist,” about a Brooklyn women who is resuscitating centuries old recipes from American history. This is a tremendous story and ties in so dearly with my ideas for Farm to Table.

Note from Zach:  I have wanted to publish a blog about the slaughter of an animal for a long time. It is something that, as a lifelong urbanite, I have always been curious about. That …

Overall, the impression I got was that farmers are either doing better or similar business compared to pre-recessionary levels. Shoppers have not decreased their spending on locally raised food. People are actually using the recession as a reason to spend more on locally grown food, in order to support farmers and help them weather the economy. If this is the sustainable food’s movement’s response to difficult times, then it seems that maybe our long sought after goal of change in consciousness has finally arrived. A movement that thrives when times are tough can only get stronger when things get easier, and it is clear that people are making decisions not with their wallets, but with their hearts and minds as well.