Is organic taking over my produce section?
By Jessica Domel
I absolutely love cooking, but going to the grocery store stresses me out.
I live in a community where the organic section of the grocery store is so large that it makes searching for traditionally-grown produce feel like an Easter egg hunt.
It literally took me at least 10 minutes one day to find traditionally-grown spinach. I found the variety of organic blends right away, but the more affordable, traditionally-grown spinach was hiding over by the seafood freezers behind a cart of other produce.
read moreBeefy Spaghetti Squash Bake
By Kelly Bogard
I love pasta. Really, I think I must have been Italian in my past life. I would eat pasta every day if my waistline could handle it. See, my problem is moderation.
Just like most everything else in life, pasta must be eaten in moderation. When I think of pasta, I think about the biggest bowl of spaghetti or a giant plate of chicken alfredo. And even though you can eat those things every once in a while, you shouldn’t have them every day.
read moreGrocery Price Watch: Texans paying more at the store
By Amanda Hill
For months now, we at Texas Farm Bureau have been anticipating a rise in food prices as the epic drought of 2011—which lasted, in some areas, through 2012 and into 2013—caused crops to wither and cattle herds to shrink. Texans’ food costs actually declined for a few quarters, but it seems the drought has finally caught up to prices at the grocery store.
According to the first quarter Grocery Price Watch survey, Texas food prices are up about 5.5 percent over last quarter and a little more than 3 percent from this time last year. Here’s a look at the 16-item basket of food staples:
read moreCelebrating food on National Ag Day
By Amanda Hill
We Americans have much to celebrate. Nearly all of us have calendars filled with celebrations—birthdays, weddings, new babies. We can almost always find a reason to gather with our friends and family and express our gratitude for someone or something.
Today, we have another reason to celebrate. It’s the 40th anniversary of National Ag Day—a day for Americans to express our appreciation for the nutritious and affordable food that is grown in the United States. It is truly remarkable to think that nearly anything you’d ever crave is grown right here in America.
read moreCultivating the future
By Jessica Domel
As many of you know, last week was Texas Food Connection Week–a week in which we encourage farmers and ranchers to really connect with consumers to talk with them about where their food, fibers and fuel come from. As I traveled to one of the local Texas Food Connection Week events, I was thinking about my two nieces, who are five and three, and wondering whether or not they know where their food comes from.Our family owns a farm that my father runs, but I never really sat down with the girls and asked if they knew that all that corn in the fields was used to feed cattle and so on.
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