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:

    ‘Art you can eat’

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    By STACEY MORRISContributing writer GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.   Customers examine the offerings at Rubiner’s Cheesemongers & Grocers in Great Barrington. The store’s owner, Matthew Rubiner, center, has been a serious student of cheese for more than two decades.Scott Langley photo Matthew Rubiner stands deep in concentration, illuminated by morning sunlight that spills across the wooden read more

    ‘Art you can eat’
  • Issue:

    The greening of November – Growing cover crops for climate

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    More farms grow cover crops for soil health — and to fight climate change By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer LIVINGSTON, N.Y.   David Goldstein, coordinator of the new research project Hudson Carbon, walks through a field with a blend of at least nine different cover crops at Stone House Farm in Livingston, N.Y. The research effort read more

    The greening of November – Growing cover crops for climate
  • Issue:

    Local flavors with European flair

    Hudson shop’s prepared foods make it a destination By STACEY MORRISContributing writer HUDSON, N.Y.   Kate Arding and Mona Talbott show off some of their wares, including a large wheel of cheese, outside their shop on Warren Street in Hudson. Their focus is producing prepared meals and condiments with a strong emphasis on local ingredients read more

    Local flavors with European flair
  • Issue:

    A cultural exchange you can taste — Fermentation festivals

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    Mass., Vermont festivals celebrate the variety of fermented foods By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.   Real Pickles, a worker-owned cooperative based in Greenfield, Mass., was among the vendors at last month’s Berkshire Fermentation Festival in Great Barrington. A similar event is planned this month in Poultney, Vt.Courtesy photo/Chris Gauthier When many people hear read more

    A cultural exchange you can taste — Fermentation festivals
  • Issue:

    GMO — State still seeking the right to know

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    Activists weigh path forward after Congress thwarts GMO food labels By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., joined other elected officials and activists on July 1 to celebrate the start of Vermont’s new law requiring labeling of genetically modified foods. The achievement would prove short-lived, as Congress voted later in July to read more

    GMO — State still seeking the right to know
  • Issue:

    Celebrating Saratoga’s Southern flavors

    Hattie’s chef shares recipes from storied eatery STACEY MORRISContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   Jasper Alexander, the chef at Hattie’s Restaurant in Saratoga Springs, shows off his new cookbook and a plate of the Southern fried chicken the restaurant has been serving since it opened in 1938. Joan K. Lentini photo Jasper Alexander makes it read more

    Celebrating Saratoga’s Southern flavors
  • Issue:

    Eggs, farms and the law

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    Mass. ballot question launches debate on agricultural practices By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.   Sara Housman, the marketing manager at Wild Oats Market in Williamstown, shows off some of the co-op’s locallly sourced eggs. The store only sells eggs from cage-free hens under a policy adopted in 2006. A November ballot question aims to read more

    Eggs, farms and the law
  • Issue:

    Ruth Reichl, locally sourced

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    A world-class foodie finds a feast in Columbia, Berkshire counties By STACEY MORRISContributing writer HUDSON, N.Y.   Ruth Reichl took up full-time residence at her weekend home in Spencertown after Gourmet magazine, where she’d been editor for a decade, abruptly closed in 2009. Now she forages locally. Richard Sands photo Great food has been at read more

    Ruth Reichl, locally sourced
  • Issue:

    Keeping a farm at city’s edge

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    By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   William Pitney shows off the farm his family has owned since 1862 at the western edge of Saratoga Springs. Pitney is working with a new nonprofit group to turn the property into a community hub for producing local food and learning about agriculture. Joan K. Lentini photo read more

    Keeping a farm at city’s edge
  • Issue:

    N.Y. wine country expands to north

    Cold-hardy grapes, simpler regulations allow vineyards to thrive By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer EASTON, N.Y. Vineyards and wineries have lately been spreading northward in the Hudson River valley and beyond, spurred by the advent of new, cold-hardy grape varieties, a booming interest in locally produced food and drink, and newly simplified state regulations. The result is read more

    N.Y. wine country expands to north