Opening of outdoor farmers market season nears

While you can find indoor versions of the State College, Millheim, and Boalsburg Farmers Market still going strong, the mild-ish weather recently has many people pining for the warm season and one big part of the friendly-weather months are farmers markets. Believe it or not, we are mere weeks away from the openings of our selection of farmers markets.

For those of you who want to mark your calendar, here’s a handy list of the markets that have announced their openings:

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Tags: farmersmarket | opening | summer | spring |

Exploring local food at the 2015 South By Southwest: the food itself

This is the second part of a two-part series on local food at South By Southwest, to learn more about the event and read about some programming related to local food at the event, please go here.

I’ve been to Austin twice. The South By Southwest vibe of Austin is quite different than the normal Austin vibe. The normal Austin vibe is laid-back artsy in a folksy Texas style, while the SXSW version of Austin is more frantic and teeming, understandable given the influx of people, including lots of celebrities. But one thing that never changes about Austin, and that’s the fact it is quite a culinary destination. In keeping with the rest of the country, local food is popular in Austin and I found several great examples of regional food in Austin.

Continue Reading: Exploring local food at the 2015 South By Southwest: the food itself

Tags: SXSW | Austin | localfood |

Exploring local food at the 2015 South By Southwest

South By Southwest is quite an event. Held each year in Austin, Texas, SXSW is known for technology, music, film, and as a big party. But there’s another facet to SXSW, and that’s local food.

I had the opportunity to attend SXSW last month, and spent part of the time exploring the local food side of both Austin and SXSW. Part of SXSW was SouthBites, a platform of sessions, panel discussions, podcasts, and a food truck food court that enables connections between food artisans, farmers, entrepreneurs, and just plain regular people who love food. There was certainly a local food component to SouthBites, in keeping with the national trend of increased interest in local food. Sessions included discussion about local food from angles such as food production, entrepreneurship, and even new technology to help locavores find all the best local food sources.

Along with the programming, there’s also the food itself. Austin is an incredible town for dining, especially for Mexican, Tex-Mex, and barbeque, and this includes both standing restaurants . The SXSW “Trailer Park” food court featured local food trucks, serving up delicious products which are made with local ingredients in some cases.

Today, I will focus on the sessions, and Wednesday, the local food scene at SXSW and Austin itself.

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Tags: SXSW | Austin | localfood |

Jade Family Farm gets spring planting season underway

By Emily Edling, WPSU Local Food Journey intern

While it hasn’t been feeling much like spring, warmer weather is surely on its way, and the staff of the Jade Family Farm is hard at work to prepare for the spring season.

Even though it still feels like winter some days, especially with the snowstorm on the first day of spring, that doesn’t mean that farmers get to take a break. There is much preparation that goes into a farm having a successful growing season.

Continue Reading: Jade Family Farm gets spring planting season underway

Tags: JadeFamilyFarm | spring | EmilyEdling |