Mississippi Market

How many times have you unsuspectingly picked up an amazing cookbook, tuned into the Food Network, or flipped through a copy of Bon Appétit and found yourself with a rumbling stomach and watering mouth? Well, this month’s Simple, Good and Tasty book club pick is just about guaranteed to put you in the same state.

Onward and upward!  Are you ready for another dose of book club?  We sure are! 

As the Simple, Good, and Tasty club continues, we're looking forward to tonight's discussion about Real Food: What to Eat and Why. Where do you stand on full-fat or raw milk? Organic over local? Check out our proposed discussion questions, grab the book (or not -- you know, getting all the way through the reading isn't as important as checking in and participating), and swing on over.

More than anything, I think we can credit columnist and cookbook author Mark Bittman with helping make the local, sustainable, sane, reasonable food movement more popular. Sure, Michael Pollan got there first, but he was arguably ahead of his time in terms of bringing the education, history and underlying issues of our food system to the table. Since then, many real food advocates have followed in his footsteps and have done a bang-up job getting the rest of us on board.

Simple, Good, and Tasty's Local Food Lover program has been getting a lot of good press.

In January of this year, Rachel Hutton from the City Pages wrote:

"It's 25 days into 2010 and you've already taken up a kettlebells routine and finished that novel--but what have you done to incorporate more sustainable eats into your diet? Simple, Good, and Tasty can get you started with its new Local Food Lover card, which offers discounts on local food and beverage from restaurants and retailers around the metro."

In February, Alexis McKinnis from the terrific Girl Friday blog wrote:

Joan Dye GussowAs spring rolls full force towards summer, it's time for another food-laden book chat! Tonight's choice, This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, will be discussed at two venues (at least*):

 The simple act of putting a shovel into the ground and tucking in the first seeds (or seedlings) without doubt means you’ve already decided to do things differently. Feeding yourself – with the efforts of your own two hands and contributions of a mostly organic nature – is an exercise in science, nature, tradition, history, politics and not just a little bit of faith. Not such a simple act, after all. 

Tonight at least two Simple, Good and Tasty bookclub events will take place, featuring Much Depends on Dinner: The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos of an Ordinary Meal, by Margaret Visser. This book has been a hot-ticket item in the Twin  Cities and we're looking forward to reading and discussing it you. Please join us at one of these locations:

Our shiny new bookclub continues this month with Much Depends on Dinner: The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos of an Ordinary Meal, by Margaret Visser. This is a fantastic book about the facts, myths and rituals surrounding the typical American dinner; it's equally social, scientific, and political.

Author Catherine FriendMany thanks to Jan Zita Grover from Mississipi Market Co-op for providing terrific discussion questions for this month's book club selection, The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend. Here are the questions, for those of you who are conducting your own book clubs this week and next:

It’s March. We're roasting the last of the butternut squash. We're down to the last few tomatoes we canned last summer. The frozen corn and blueberry supplies are dwindling. But our pantry shelves are not the only ones running low.