The Word Blender

I came up with the name of this blog one night when I was thinking about what I do. I really do take a bunch of words, mix them up, and pour them out on the page as a way of telling the stories I love to learn about. While they're not always food related, many of my stories are about places to eat, certain kinds of foods and their background, and where the food comes from. Which is a good thing, because I like food.

I renewed my membership to the Association of Food Journalists and the Southern Foodways Alliance this week. I had the honor of attending the Southern Foodways Symposium in Jackson last summer, followed by the Association of Food Journalist Conference in Memphis last fall. I learned so much at both of those events, especially the telling of the "back story" behind our food. I want to know, now more than ever, where my food comes from. Who raises or grows it? 

How? 

Why? 

Which brings me to a story I really enjoyed writing, because I really liked the people. Van Killen raises the prettiest produce ever on his Two Dogs Farm in Flora. It's next to Leigh Bailey's lettuce growing extravaganza, Salad Days...the most incredibleand futuristic growing set-up I've ever seen. 

Here's the article as it appeared in the summer 2014 issue of the 'sip magazine: (this may be hard to read, so you can always go find it on their website...www.thesipmag.com. The article is on page 28.)