Yes, Virginia has fresh locally grown foods for a good chunk of the year, but Virginia does not have facilities to process/preserve our local fare for use by Virginians during the off season or whenever. It's an entire sector of our food system that has been missing....till now. All such processed purchases, (i.e., canned pasta sauce, apple sauce, diced peaches, all big items in schools) currently benefit facilities/growers in other states. Using good but blemished apples, tomatoes, peaches, that would otherwise not be harvested/sold, the non-profit Virginia Food Works is out to change that in Prince Edward Co. (Farmville) and is seeking ... [more]

Central Virginia Food Heritage Short Films

Congratulations to the students of PLAC 5500 - Virginia Food Heritage: Planning for Sustainability and Resilience! Last night the downtown premiere of the Central Virginia Food Heritage Short Films was held at the Water Street Center. The films debuted to a packed house of community members and university students and faculty, laughing, learning, and reminiscing about food days gone by.

Reclaiming Our Food required text at SIU in the fall

University College at Southern Illinois University has placed an order of 2,200 copies of Reclaiming our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement is Changing What We Eat with the University Bookstore. This text will be required for our Fall 2012 courses in English 101, Speech Communication 101, and University College 101A and 101U. Congratulations to Tanya Denckla-Cobb in her continued success in bringing food heritage into academic discourse throughout the US!