"farmers market" news and stories

• South Florida, mecca for Jewish retirees, is home to the gourmet knish.
• These cinnamon buns have been a Floridian favorite for more than fifty years.
• The farmers market in Hollywood has everything "from beets to banh mi subs." (No, not that Hollywood.)
• Now that it's over, you can admit it: Did you crack open a bottle of vino for the Super Bowl?

The farmers' market is the new pharmacy. This is the philosophy of Fruit and Veggie Rx, a new pilot program that recommends weekly trips to the farmers market for prescriptions of good old-fashioned produce.

Juliette Taylor DeVries, Chief Operating Officer of Wholesome Wave, the nonprofit group who created the program, says, "We're hoping to change the food future." Wholesome Wave partners with over 30 other organizations to provide access and affordability to the 32 million Americans living in food deserts, or those places without access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

DeVries says, "This is the first ever health initiative that can track the well being of patients after being prescribed a diet of fruits and vegetables." Partnering healthcare clinics will "prescribe" Fruit and Veggie Rx vouchers to 100 at-risk families throughout Maine and Boston during the 2010 farmers market season. These vouchers are redeemable at local farmers markets, each within walking distance of the individual families who are targeted by economic and accessibility factors. Transportation or market boxes will be provided to those out of proximity. Additionally, monthly lifestyle planning and education will maximize the effect of a new shopping routine, and ideally, create a conversation directly between customers and their farmers.

There's a farmers market coming to a decidedly un-farmy location on September 2nd: Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago's signature restaurant, Sixteen (it's on the 16th floor of the 92-story building), is having a brunch with an ancillary rooftop farmers market. It will be open to the public from 7 to 11 a.m. (you can visit whether you have the brunch or not).

With each season of this year, Chef Brunacci has been whipping up menus with his favorite farms in mind for a series called "Feasting at Sixteen with Frank Brunacci." Now in its third installment (late summer), Brunacci will focus on "prairie produce."

While Sixteen has always served Midwestern-grown ingredients, every meal of "Prairie Produce" week will only feature food harvested within driving distance of Chicago. The meals will have detailed menus, highlighting each ingredient by source and history, and the staff can also answer questions about the ingredients and how or why the chef chose to use them.

More after the jump ...

Just because you're on the road doesn't mean you can't enjoy the bounty of local farmers' markets, even if you can't exactly pick up a few grass-fed steaks to throw on the grill.

But where are the best farmers' markets in America for travelers? CNN asked food writers and chefs to pick their favorite farmers' markets for experiencing local food culture while on the road.

"You can still get a wonderful sense of what's grown in that community, and what you can find in restaurants when you dine there," Janet Fletcher, author of Fresh From the Farmers' Market, told CNN.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Parlez-vous food? Test your command of the comestible lexicon.
• This burger recipe hides a cheesy, oozy surprise.
• Before strawberry season says sayonara, make these 10 simple dishes.
• Peek-a-boo, ForageSF, an underground farmers market -- and, no, it's not run by mole people.
• If your blazing-hot baking skills result in an conflagration, put it out with these tips.
• Ellie Krieger wants you to grill lettuce.