"locavore" news and stories

Bees fly to the hive on the hotel rooftop. Photo: The Fairmont Washington, D.C.

Some permanent hotel guests in the nation's capital are definitely causing a buzz. The Fairmont Washington, D.C. recently brought 105,000 Italian honeybees to their roof to make the sweetener for the hotel's restaurant, Juniper.

As "chief beekeepers," executive sous chef Ian Bens and executive pastry chef Aron Weber share the responsibilities of maintaining the three colonies -- Casa Bianca, Casa Bella and Casa Blanca.

So why bees? Weber tells Slashfood he got the idea when he visited the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto and saw their rooftop hives flourishing in an urban setting. The D.C. Fairmont already had an interior courtyard garden that produced fresh herbs and edible flowers like lavender, peppermint and rosemary, so the bees seemed like a logical step to further extend the chefs' ideology in keeping products as fresh and local as possible.

"Loco for locavorism" might sound like some bizarro play on an old TV ad, but the phrase carries some heft these days, if the crowd at last night's Brooklyn Uncorked was any indication. The sip-and-nibble-fest in honor of local goods was jam-packed with tipsy oenophiles clutching wine glasses and munching on local pickles (garlicky!), rosé sorbet (brilliant!) and buzzed-about turkey meatloaf (by the time we got there, gone!). Dozens of local restaurants, wineries and producers were on the premises: as one sign bragged, no vinos were made more than a two-hour drive from Brooklyn.

Hyperlocalism isn't local to New York City, either. Edible Communities, whose Edible Brooklyn hosted the tasting, boasts more than 50 publications from Missoula, Wash., to Santa Fe, N.M. All feature the same bright, minimalistic food-focused design touting "local foods, season by season." If you believe that New York hearkens nationwide trends, well, like the Brooklyn Food Conference before it, this event was sold-out and about as crowded as could be.

On one of the first gorgeous Saturdays of the spring, did Brooklyn foodies run to the park for picnic lunches or line the bars for springy cocktails?

Sure, some of 'em did. But 3,000 others, according to organizers, crammed the multicolored '70s-esque hallways of John Jay High School, aka P.S. 321, for a day of workshops, eats, panels and vendors called the Brooklyn Food Conference, promoting what a bright-yellow pamphlet trumpeted as "Local Action for Global Change."

Food world celebs roaming the halls included chef Dan Barber, speaker and TV host Anna Lappé and author-activist Raj Patel (whose classroom was so stuffed a volunteer had to turn fans away). Some attendees, all of whom attended for free, were a bit starry-eyed over certain sustainably-minded speakers. About Patel, local CSA organizer Meredith Modzelewski sighed, "I'm in love with him now."

Find out more and see photos after the jump.

By Pervaiz Shallwani
We're big proponents of buying local when possible and just spied some curious data about 5,500 iPhone users buying a $3 Locavore app (created by a Slashfood friend) in a mere month. It tells iPhone addicts what's in season, what's en route and where nearby farmers' markets are located.

Whoa. We wondered what other yummy things we could do if we got with the times and finally embraced an iPhone for our foodie needs. Boy, were we shocked. There are hundreds of free and paid downloads including one for beer, one for soda and a fast-food meal calorie counter.

Not only are food nerd darlings Serious Eats, Food Network and Yelp at our fingertips, so is the FDA with food recall news (though their freebie Twitter also works), a guide to finding cheap or free kids' meals at nearby eateries and Twecipe, which matches the dregs of those fridge contents to a recipe.

All this edible ammo available at the touch of a button makes us wonder whether Googling our munching needs is becoming just so 2008 and whether we should cave to the iFeed – er, iPhone -- trend. Have you?

• Raw Milk -- The risky drink outlawed by some and adored by others. And now demand is increasing in the UK.
• The title says it all: "Cheese made with unpasteurized milk is legal and delicious."
• Locavore is on its way to a prime restaurant destination, but is currently perfectly sweet but a little too salty.
• Wines, Pt 1: Castillo de Monseran 2007 Viura, Robert Mondavi Woodbridge 2007 Merlot, Peninsula Ridge 2007 Sauvignon Blanc
• Wines, Pt 2: Kir-Yianni Petra 2007, Maison Champy Bourgogne Signature 2006, Chakana 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, San Esteban In Situ 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva, Magpie Estate The Sack 2005 Shiraz
• Recipes: Beet and Clementine Salad, Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Zucchini and Capers, Cherry Oatmeal Cookies, Soba Soup with Shiitakes and Spinach, Lemon Risotto with Garlic Chili Shrimp