First let us define local. We’ve already been amazed at how many meanings that word can have. Within our 30-county area called Central Texas, local is the organic-vegetable-and-lemonade stand run by seven-year-old Alabel Chapin, her five-year-old brother Henry and their six-year-old friend Ford Martin.
(We happened upon them in Austin’s Travis Heights neighborhood—see “1,000 Words,”) Local is the family ranch outside of Fredericksburg owned by Chuck and Teppi Schmidt, who raise pastured, grassfed beef using organic principles. Local is the soon-to-open Big Top Candy Shop on South Congress Avenue—independently owned by Brandon Hodge—featuring an old-fashioned soda fountain.
It may appear counter-intuitive, but lingering over a rare treat of a real egg cream soda counts as the art of slow food. Local is Jesse Griffiths and Tamara Mayfield’s Dai Due supper club where lucky diners are served an all locally sourced menu, family style, at Rain Lily, a gem of an urban farm in East Austin. Tamara met Jesse delivering Rain Lily’s vegetables to Vespaio where he used to work as a chef. Local is exactly about making that kind of connection.
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Corrections
1,000 Words
By Jenna Noel
Newsworthy
Triangle Farmers’ Market
Roots
Slow Food: A Personal History
Carol Ann Sayle reminisces on the rhythms of eating slowly.
Edible Nation
Local or Organic? A False Choice
Samuel Fromartz writes about making informed shopping decisions.
Back of the House
Dai Due Dinners
Photo essay by Jody Horton
People
Damian Mandola's Next Big Thing
Making culinary waves in Austin and Driftwood. By Lisa Jones
Cooking Fresh
Cold Treats for Endless Summers
The how and why of making home-made ice cream. By Jessica Maher
In Search of a Raw (I)Deal
By Besty Levy
Edible Nation
2007 Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide
By Dan Imhoff
People
Our Man in the Field
Thuan Nguyen, Whole Foods’ Local Produce Liaison. By Betsy Levy
Green Corn Garden
A Harvest for Body and Soul
By Suzanne Hurley
Musical Plate
Cookin' to the Beat
Beat Divas’ Central Market cooking class.
Market Place
Patrick Timpone explains authentic food.
Melting Pot
Ethiopia Rules
Aster's Ethiopian Restaurant returns to Austin and we're so glad. By Lisa Jones
Herbal Wisdom
Ellen Zimmermann's column on water-wise herbs.
Edible Endeavors
Summertime Greens
Amador Farms grows hydroponic lettuce all year round. By Dorsey Barger
In Your Own Backyard
Gardening Inside the Box
How to build a box garden, with diagram and printable instructions.
By Sharon Doerre
Homegrown Gourmet
Feel Free to Smoke
Bridget Weiss’ smokin’ summer menu.
The Forager
Eat Wild
Summer wild things for the picking. By Amy Crowell
Organic Kids
A Boy and His Flock of Seven
A nine-year-old reporter interviews a younger man about his chickens.
By August Dexheimer
Farmer’s Diary
Purple Haze
About Randy Graybill's Texas Lavender. By Andrea Abel
Edible Books
Eat This Book
The Fifth Annual Edible Book Festival. By Lisa Jones
What I Eat and Why
By Sharon Doerre
Art de Terroir
By Lizanne Geneser Thate.
