November 2012
2 posts
Organic, Heritage, Sustainable -- When Talking...
By the NRDC
While some may have friends who shoot and make many delicious meals from one bird during the turkey hunting season, most of us don’t hunt for our Thanksgiving turkey, unless you count the hunt for the perfect bird at a farmers’ market or the grocery store.
Suffice it to say, the Thanksgiving turkey you are likely to track down today in the supermarket is nothing like the...
4 tags
Celebrate The Farmer
By Mark Bittman
I was at a farm dinner in Maine the other night, a long table of 60 people eating corn, chicken, salad, a spectacular herb sorbet and other goodies. When one of the hosts arose to ask someone to describe the first course on the table – huge marrow bones from the farm’s cattle– she introduced not the chef but the farmers. Similarly, at a fund-raiser on Cape Cod a week or so...
September 2012
3 posts
8 tags
Improving the Farmer’s Market Business Model
Because most farmers’ markets are operated by not-for-profits or local government employees, and few have full time staff, there is often not the time, resources or inclination to effect change to the fundamental way markets do business.
Farmers markets exist to bring together farmers and foodmakers with consumers who wish to purchase their products. The market entity arranges the location,...
4 tags
Fresh Food, Fresh Ideas, Fresh Nation
Markets have been part of society since its earliest days. It was not in the too distant past when your grandparents or great-grandparents went to the market several times a week to buy all the food needed to keep their home kitchen stocked and bustling. The food they bought was wholesome, fresh and local.
As society became more efficient and mass production became the norm, we traded some of...
July 2012
12 posts
12 tags
Am I Right To Feel Bad About McDonald's?
Each time I drive past a McDonald’s, which happens quite a lot given the ubiquity of their establishments, the following thoughts flash through my mind (read below). And then I feel guilty that I feel so bad about an American institution that has a global presence and employs, directly and indirectly, millions of servers, builders, drivers, farmers, plumbers, electricians, and the like. Am I...
7 tags
10 tags
9 tags
15 tags
You Can Never Have Too Many Pickles
From the backyard or from your local farmers market, crisp cucumbers are a summertime favorite. I usually eat these green delights in a salad or as a snack, but after being told by many people how easy canning and pickling was, I had to give it a chance. This push for pickling could not have come at a better time since the Fresh Nation garden is being overrun with cucumbers!
After picking the...
9 tags
Great Reads For Eating Healthier & Living More...
With so many books available now suggesting what you should eat to live longer, look younger, be smarter, sleep better, or get slimmer, it can be a daunting task selecting the one that gives you the information you’re looking for.
My favorite book on eating a healthy diet is one that is also an incredibly easy read, straightforward, balanced and full of common sense. It’s Michael Pollan’s ‘Food...
June 2012
8 posts
12 tags
Visiting the Westport Farmers Market
To celebrate the launch of Fresh Nation, we spent the day at the Westport Farmers Market spreading the word about the first farmers market social network. Here are some of the salivating snapshots taken while at the market. To see the rest of the album, feel free to check out our pinterest page!
1 tag
11 tags
Is This The Beginning Of The End Of Obesity in...
Tony Lee - CEO & Founder of Fresh Nation
For some time now there has been a rumble of discontent about the state of the nation’s health, with particular emphasis on our collective eating habits and their impact on increasing rates of obesity and related disorders such as diabetes.
But in the wake of the recent premiere of HBO’s seminal documentary on the subject “The Weight of the Nation”,...
5 tags
May 2012
1 post
8 tags
What Women Want!
Tony Lee - Founder & CEO
In researching her 2003 book “Just Ask A Woman”, Mary Lou Quinlan surveyed 3,000 women and found that the number one issue that influenced their lives above all others was stress. She writes “women’s feelings about stress in their lives threaded through every one of the 3,000 conversations”.
Though they comprise just over one half of the U.S. population, women buy...
March 2012
5 posts
5 tags
Good Fats & Bad Fats: Know Your Food
Hannah Pullman - Community Manager
A few people have recently asked me about fats and what are the different types of fats. So, I am going to write this post about the different fats, which ones are good for you and which ones to avoid.
First, fatty acids are the main component of fat. There are three types of fatty acids: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. These fatty acids are...
7 tags
How Can I Eat More Sustainably?
Alex Lee - Community Manager
While working as an environmental consultant for Miya’s Sushi, a sustainable sushi restaurant in Connecticut, I was frequently asked, “How can I eat more sustainably?” I would answer by telling individuals to stop eating industrialized meat products, seek out sustainable fish and poultry when possible, and buy local. These solutions minimize resource consumption and...
What Is 'Sustainable'?
Melanie Franklin - Founder
Put 10 people in a room and ask them what sustainability is, and my bet is that you’ll get 10 different answers. The word ‘sustainable’ is definitely the ‘in’ word. We hear about sustainable furnishings, cities, cinema, apparel, behavior, agriculture and dozens of other references.
To gain a basic understanding of what sustainable means, or the difference between...
7 tags
Why I Buy Local
Hannah - Community Manager
A year ago I was given the opportunity to work with local farmers, farmers’ markets and create delicious foods. When I did this, I was instantly catapulted into the world of farmers markets! For the next six months, I ate only fresh and local food from farmers’ markets and it was amazing! Fresh green including spinach and the multiple varieties of kale...
8 tags
Why I Created Fresh Nation
Tony Lee - Fresh Nation Founder & CEO
I founded Fresh Nation in January 2011 (we were called Elite Farmers’ Markets then). My original idea was to create a new form of farmer’s market which made fresh, local food available to people who were visiting their local shopping mall. Pursuing this goal, we opened our market in the summer of 2011 on the grounds of the Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury,...
