Obamnivore’s Dilemma: Foodies champion Ritchie as ‘sustainable’ ag secretary

Eighty-eight big name environmental and food activists — including Omnivore’s Dilemma author Michael Pollan, famed restaurant owner Alice Waters and Minnesotan Winona LaDuke — have written to President-elect Barack Obama urging him to appoint America’s first “sustainability Secretary of Agriculture.” And among their list of six candidates they include Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a former employee of Minnesota’s ag department and co-founder of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Friday Financials: The Memorial Weekend BBQ edition

It’s officially the first weekend of summer. And for many that means get-togethers, beer, noisy neighbors, beer, DIY BBQs and OMG ROFL.

Ah, BBQs. They ain’t what they used to be. Cheap beer and brats are so…

Capitalism consuming itself? Fund investors help inflate food prices

Ethanol critics have widely bashed the corn-based fuel for its role in inflating food prices worldwide. But a fascinating article in Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, says classic supply and demand can’t…

Bourdain: Twin Cities at the Gastronomic Crossroads of Good and Evil

Minneapolis is a culinary war zone, according to Anthony Bourdain — a place where the dark forces of big-box chain restaurants do battle with the ambitious chef and the neighborhood restaurants.
This argument resonated…