Macaroni and cheese, pulled pork and collard greens from Mama Lo's Barbecue in Great Barrington sit on an outdoor table in the sun. Photo by Kate Abbott

Food

Here are the Hill Country Observer’s articles about food, listed from newest to oldest. We look into local food and foodways — farms and farmers, local markets and restaurants, food security, native plants and more.

  • Issue:

    Young farmers band together to keep land in agriculture

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    By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer HUDSON, N.Y.   Lindsey Lusher Shute runs Hearty Roots Community Farm with her husband in Clermont, N.Y. Their struggle to find affordable farmland in the Hudson Valley prompted them to help organize the National Young Farmers Coalition, a grassroots advocacy organization based in Hudson. Scott Langley photo Lindsey Lusher Shute and read more

    Young farmers band together to keep land in agriculture
  • Issue:

    Buzz of the back yard

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    By TELLY HALKIASContributing writer WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. When Alethea Morrison started her journey into the world of beekeeping five years ago, she and her husband kept a journal to document the experience.Last year, the journal became a book – “Homegrown Honey Bees: Beekeeping Your First Year, from Hiving to Honey Harvest” – put out by Storey read more

    Buzz of the back yard
  • Issue:

    Breeder of grass-fed cattle challenges conventions

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    Breeder of grass-fed cattle earns respect while challenging conventions By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer BERLIN, N.Y. On a cold drizzly day in late April, a few dozen area farmers showed up for a pasture walk at Black Queen Angus Farm to learn about Morgan Hartman’s unconventional approach to calving and just about everything else. Hartman’s farm read more

    Breeder of grass-fed cattle challenges conventions
  • Issue:

    In Saratoga, juice bars proliferate

    By STACEY MORRISContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. From behind her table at the Spa City Farmers Market, Sydney Peyser presides over three moonshine-sized jugs of her just-squeezed juices. Each is a different color, reflecting the differing ratios of fruits and vegetables. Peyser pours 8- and 16-ounce servings to her regulars, many of whom amble up read more

    In Saratoga, juice bars proliferate
  • Issue:

    New meaning to changing seasons

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    Report predicts fallout from long-term climate shifts in Vermont By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   The Vermont of maple syrup in the spring, red and orange foliage in October and snowy winters may be just a memory in a few decades, according to a new study of how climate change will affect the Green Mountain State. read more

    New meaning to changing seasons
  • Issue:

    Taking a stand for unadulterated food

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    May 24 festival is local observance of global anti-GMO event By STACEY MORRISContributing writer   Joan K. Lentini photo   GLENS FALLS, N.Y. When Sue Duncan decided to spearhead this year’s March Against Monsanto in Glens Falls, she decided to fight the infamous corporate agribusiness giant not with a line of protesters, but with good read more

    Taking a stand for unadulterated food
  • Issue:

    For a locally grown Passover

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    ‘Vermatzah’ links ancient traditions, contemporary tastes By STACEY MORRISContributing writer   MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS, Vt. Micro-bakers Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich have enjoyed a decade of commercial and critical success for their organic, fire-baked Naga Bakehouse breads, but in the past few years they’ve also been developing a seasonal product for Passover. They call it Vermatzah. read more

    For a locally grown Passover
  • Issue:

    A new model for saving farmland

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    Investor group plans agricultural center in Columbia County By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer   COPAKE, N.Y.A large tract of open land in the central hamlet of Copake, once the proposed site of a controversial affordable-housing development, has now been earmarked for preservation as working farmland. The 122-acre property, a short distance off Route 22 and just read more

    A new model for saving farmland
  • Issue:

    In lieu of plastic, mushrooms

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    Cambridge mycologist helps company develop fungi-based products By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   CAMBRIDGE, N.Y.Sue Van Hook is convinced that fungi hold one of the keys to saving the planet from choking on plastic. A professional mycologist and a retired Skidmore College senior teaching associate, Van Hook has embarked on a new career as chief mycologist read more

    In lieu of plastic, mushrooms
  • Issue:

    Hawthorne Valley aims for sister store in Hudson

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    By JOHN TOWNES Contributing writer HUDSON, N.Y. Nearly a decade of calls for re-establishing a downtown supermarket in Hudson could soon be answered, as the nonprofi t group that runs the Hawthorne Valley Farm Store considers setting up a sister store in the city.   The Hawthorne Valley Association, which operates the popular farm store read more

    Hawthorne Valley aims for sister store in Hudson