Meet Me At the Table
My goal with this blog is to bring you perspectives from my past, peppered with insights and facts on the future of food, farming and health – providing “food for thought, action and personal responsibility.” As a registered dietitian and a sixth generation farm owner in Kentucky, the connection of farm to plate is part of my DNA. I have spent my career navigating the connections between food, health, agriculture and consumer behavior. Together, we will dig into the complex and ever-changing story of who grows our food, what’s in our food, and how food affects our health and ultimately our lives.
Celebrating the Cow & Dairy Farmer: A Commitment to Quality from U.S. to New Zealand
I have never met a cow I didn’t like (especially if they’re black and white), but there were times when not all were in favor during my years of showing dairy. Summer days filled with training calves to lead, grooming, feeding and cleaning stalls provided lots of...
The Zucs Are Here!
What is one summer vegetable that seems to “keep on giving”? If you’ve ever planted a garden or seen the striped, green (or yellow) cylinder-like vegetable in numerous farmers’ market booths, you know the answer! Zucchini! The Italian-born vegetable may get a bad rap...
Passing the Test of Food Safety — The Final Grade for Big and Small
Amid the headlines of the ever-changing bird flu outbreaks in chickens1 and now, the spread to dairy cattle, one headline is still consistent: our food is safe. Poultry producers and dairy farmers work to ensure their products are safe by following safety protocols...
Sustaining The Earth: Are We Committed to Solve the Problem?
Flying to New Zealand gives one plenty of time to read, watch movies, reflect and even sleep. With my recent work and speaking engagements centered around sustainability, the “Below Net Zero” documentary1 sparked my interest. The documentary is about how a carpet...
Beyond the Table: The Local and Global Commitment of Many
Farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture, local restaurants and markets remind us that many hands help put food on our table. But the reach and number of those hands extend beyond the local community. Today, our desire for year-round produce and food variety...
Cracking the Case on Eggs Beyond the Plate
Eggs are in the headlines again! It is Easter and the lure of dying eggs and creating egg-centric dishes for holiday meals increases the attention. But it’s the cost that is getting the headlines this year. While we were spoiled for paying less than one dollar per...
When Rain Drives You to Eat Chocolate!
“If everything goes as planned, there would be no story,” my husband often says. It also means that I would not be writing this story! Following our halfway Thanksgiving meeting point in Kona, Hawaii, with our niece (who lives in New Zealand), we headed to Kauai for...
We Can’t Always Get What We Want: The Flavor vs. Fresh Tomato Trade Off
Buying fresh tomatoes in the middle of winter was never an option or even a consideration when growing up on a farm. You just knew fresh tomatoes were the best off the vine in the summertime and relied on home canned tomatoes (or store bought) for winter days. But...
Like Wrapped Packages … Food Label Terms Can Be a Guessing Game
I learned a basic rule while growing up: Don’t get excited about the contents of a package until you opened it! In other words, what was in the box didn’t always match the outside label. My mother was resourceful, so using a box for the second or third time seemed...
2024 Food and Ag Trends — A Little Sweet and Some Heat
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” This centuries-old statement by Benjamin Franklin resonates equally as well in today’s food and ag trend space. While food trends are not as finite, there are “certain” themes that continue to...