blog round-up: organic food & gardening

Yesterday I shared some thoughts on growing and/or canning our own food at home. Although this goal may be difficult to achieve, I am committed to cooking organic food as much as we can, if for no other reason than this adorable, brilliant, and frightening glimpse into getting a sweet potato to sprout. Even my less lofty goal has been made more difficult lately because of rising food prices. I find myself buying more processed foods simply because the bottom line is cheaper, which reminds me of something a recent fellow blogger (author of Chiot's Run; see link below) said about the difference between being "cheap" and "frugal." Essentially, she sees frugality as withholding purchases but not necessarily purchasing poorly made items, whereas being cheap means buying crap. So, maybe that philosophy can extend into the food world. I will try my best to buy whole food frugally, getting only what we need and not buying processed junk simply because it's cheap (hear that, sun-dried tomato Triscuits? You're outta here).

So with all that in mind, here are my favorite blogs that inspire me to make better food for my family:

• Spoonfed: a great blogger shares tips on teaching kids to care about food
• Chiot's Run: adventures in organic gardening
• Dinner, A Love Story: a hilarious wife-husband writer team who blog about getting the family dinner to the table
• Slow Food USA: a movement to connect food and farming
• Nourish (food + community): this blog's part of an initiative on food and sustainability. The post I linked to is a video on "food and family"
• LocalHarvest: a non-profit that assists in finding local farmers markets and CSAs

We are on a waiting list to begin using a meat CSA, which will hopefully start in January. Until then, we are planning on sharing a pig with another family. I will report back on the experience.

What inspires you to make better food?