Local Foods Meet Federal Foes

It's discouraging to know the federal government is getting in the way of feeding your family fresh, local, and organic produce -- which is typically much healthier and more nutritious than the mass-produced varietals.

If you were disturbed and dismayed to read farmer Jack Hedin's editorial "Forbidden Fruit (and Vegetables)" in the New York Times earlier this month, you won't want to miss Evan Kleiman's interview with him this week on KCRW's show Good Food. You can listen online with their new media player, Tuned In. Despite the fact that the local foods movement is growing, and the demand for pesticide-free vegetables increasing, the government would much rather support the monoculture farmers who reap rows and rows of corn, while your zucchini is trucked in from a thousand miles away.

But there's hope. Read the Fresh Mouth blog, which chronicles "a family of 5, with 1 mission to eat only fresh food or processed food with 5 ingredients or less for 30 days". This Mom's mission:

We're an average American family trying to eat better and enjoy it more. We'll convince our three little kids that fresh food is about pleasure, rituals and family - and not about red dye #40, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils.