"farmers markets" news and stories

• Studio City is keepin' it fresh...making it one of the top farmers markets in the San Fernando Valley.
• Comfort food, thy name is gratin.
• What goes into brewing a top-notch sake? For one thing, a major commitment.
• If pork is king, its palace is Habuya, in Tustin.

• Smell something fishy? Fraud has been alleged at Southern California farmers markets.
• Even so, you'll still want to go -- especially for those Australian finger limes.
• Avgolemono soup: Hard to say, easy to make, "scrumptious" to eat.
• Gluten-Free Girl has turned her celiac disease into a cooking superpower.

• It's not yet Halloween, but the L.A. Times holiday cookie contest is up and running. Give it your best shot.
• Even farmers markets aren't immune to cheating and fraud. California is tackling concerns head-on.
• Psst...interested in some good hash? (No, not that kind.)
• What's a dairy farmer to do in this economy? Switch gears away from commodity milk and toward artisan cheese.

Despite living on some of the most fertile soil in the country, some residents of the Mississippi Delta have trouble finding fresh produce.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture study on "food deserts" -- where fast food, convenience stores and liquor stores dominate the landscape and fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to find -- found that in Leflore County, Ms., nearly 12,000 low-income households are more than a mile from a grocery store, the Associated Press reported.

The county's adult obesity rate, at 38.6 percent, mirrors its poverty rate at 38.8 percent, the AP article also reported.

"The biggest concern I'm hearing is that our citizens tremendously need a grocery store," Wayne Self, president of the Leflore County Board of Supervisors, told the AP. "If that's what the citizens want, then that's what I am going to fight for."

• Here are the best grilling tips for the top five cuts of pork ribs. No ribbing.
• The Trib has a recipe lost-and-found. (You can kiss the next half hour goodbye.)
• You know to eat your blueberries and walnuts. But what about kamut and chia seeds?
• Wondering where the Chicago-area farmers markets are? Look no further.
• Chicago researchers have found that people are bringing happy hour home these days.