Farm workers will protest Publix on International Human Rights Day

​The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) are planning to picket the newly opened Publix on KIllian Parkway and SW 104th Street on December 11th, International Human Rights Day.

The protesters, comprised of dozens of farm workers from Immokalee, Florida, will join other supporters to call on the supermarket chain to participate in the Fair Food Program, which guarantees Florida farm workers a living wage and better working conditions.
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via Mediaite.com

Obama awesomeness. We'll drink to that.

​We are lucky to live in the land of the free and home of the brewed. Barack Obama broke new culinary ground by being the first U.S. president to make a home-crafted beer. Officially, it's called White House Honey Ale.

This light ale is made with a pound of honey from the White House's own beehive. The story was covered by the government gourmet food initiative blog, Obama Foodarama, which documents everything going on in the presidential mansion, "from policy to pie."
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Still from Forks Over Knives.

​O Cinema in Wynwood has been a hit since its opening in February. It even rocked the food world earlier in the summer with two dinner-and-a-movie specials with local favorite Michael's Genuine Food & Drink.

The cinema is about to rock the socks off the food world again with the premiere of a food-conscious film series à la Slow Food on Film -- a first around town. All films will focus on the importance of food justice and responsible eating.

Hosted by Youth L.E.A.D. and sponsored by Slow Food Miami and Raw One, the three-month series will kicks off this Thursday with the acclaimed film Forks Over Knives. Created by Erin Healy, Youth L.E.A.D. aims to raise awareness of the city's main food issues and provide everyone with access to healthful food.
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Lesley Elliott

Michy's waffles topped with seared foie gras.

​California lawmakers have announced they plan to enforce a 2004 law that bans the production and sale of foie gras. Animal rights activists petitioned for the duck relief, citing it as "an inhumane practice that should be relegated to the history books."

Now, you might or might not know that force-feeding duckies and geese via a plastic tube yields a particularly large and fatty liver. Do we consider this foie gras faux pas an example of human nature in its finest hour? Perhaps not. Apparently, the companies behind the foie gras say the birds usually gorge before migrating anyway, so this process simply mimics what happens in the wild.
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​Are you a food activist?

Have you done any of the following?:

• Started a farmer's market
• Developed a cooking class at your child's school
• Created a Food Policy Council in your city
• Started a garden at a senior center

Then continue reading.

Extra, extra, read all about it! TEDxManhattan is holding an open call and challenge for TEDxManhattan's 2012 "Changing the Way We Eat" set for January 21, 2012 at the Times Center in New York City.

Fit the bill? We've got all the information you need to apply. Hurry up, the deadline's October 15.
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New York Post

Trump and Palin: taking cheesy politics to a whole new level.

​During a New York City stop along her bus tour, Sarah Palin met with Donald Trump in what could be deemed either reality show heaven or political reality hell.

During the meeting, they chowed down at Famous Famiglia Pizza in Times Square (part of a chain of 30-odd pizzerias with one goal in mind - feed tourists overpriced quick food disguised as a real New York pizza experience). The duo had a nice quiet chat over cheese and pepperoni pizzas -- just them, a few family members and dozens upon dozens of members of the press.

It's unclear what they discussed -- did Trump try to recruit Palin for the next season of Celebrity Apprentice? Did Palin try to recruit Trump for a Palin/Trump presidential ticket? Did they agree that they should have gone to the Original Ray's down the block?

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Laine Doss

Dim Ssäm à GoGo and Sakaya Kitchen's Richard Hales spoke on behalf of food trucks at today's commission meeting.

​Earlier today, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners passed a new food truck ordinance by a vote of 7-1. It will affect about half the truck gatherings, including those in Kendall, Cutler Bay, and other parts of the county. Roundups in North Miami and Miami -- including Wynwood -- will be unaffected because they are governed by those cities' laws.

The most important restriction: 80 percent of residents within 1,000 feet of a roundup must sign off on an event before it can be held.

County zoning and planning director Marc LaFerrier explained that four or more trucks make a roundup, permitting will take five to seven days, and permits will cost $750 per recurring event -- not per week. In other words, weekly events such as Truckers Out West will pay only once annually as long as no site plan revisions are made.More >>

Lesley Elliott

Is your alcohol adding on pounds?

​The U.S. Food and Drug Administration seems to believe that when it comes to alcohol consumption, ignorance is bliss. It's easy to suck down those creamy, calorie-ridden drinks without thinking about fat and sugar intake, but are we doing ourselves a disservice by indulging in empty calories? The FDA's nationwide proposal attempts to address the public's blind side when eating out at the mall. Yet the new rules completely gloss over cocktail menus, which will continue to hold untold calorie counts. Chain restaurants such as the Cheesecake Factory that peddle drinks described with words like milkshake and creamsicle will not be required to divulge the ingredients in their alcoholic offerings.
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​​By now, you've already heard that the City of Miami has closed down farmers' markets in Liberty City and Overtown and put up extremely insurmountable barriers to their reopening. These gatherings offer mostly locally grown fresh produce to neighborhoods where it's difficult to find anything green that's edible.

"Other cities are subsidizing farmers markets, yet Miami is shutting them down," said Erin Healy founder and CEO of Youth L.E.A.D., which empowers under-served teens to become activists in the fight to bring healthy foods to poor neighborhoods. "What are we doing?"
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via Flickr SanFranAnnie

Should good food outweigh common decency?

​Some people are really serious about food. Chick-fil-A, a Christian restaurant chain, came in as the number one choice in a survey among Florida Gulf Coast University students when asked which restaurants they wanted in their student union next year. The problem is that Chick-fil-A has recently been outed as a huge supporter of anti-gay organizations.

Some students have a problem with a homophobic restaurant being established on campus, but some just don't care. As one student told RSWFlorida, an NBC affiliate in the Ft. Myers area, ""I go there because they make good chicken sandwiches," said Jose Diaz. "Just because the campus has a Chick-fil-A doesn't mean that they're saying they're anti-gay." Seems like a good chicken sandwich will trump American's civil rights every time.
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