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Another Great Article from Gastronomica, I Love This Magazine

Several months ago, I profiled the phenomenal food magazine Gastronomica and interviewed its Editor-in-Chief, Darra Goldstein, a professor at Williams College.

If you have never heard of Gastronomica but find the history and culture of food to be as fascinating as I do, it is something that you definitely want to check out.

Gastronomica comes out four times per year and while the cost per magazine is more than your average food glossy at the newsstand, the articles are absolutely first-rate.

For example, in the previous issue, Gastronomica covered a topic that many people have assumptions about but don’t really have a good answer for: Are organic food consumers/advocates Republicans or Democrats?

In this quarter’s issue, Barry Estabrook, author of the book Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, writes a wonderful piece about some of the farming that goes in the southern part of California.

Barry Estabrook introduces us to a handful of organic farmers in Central Valley who treat the land, their animals and their workers the right way — with respect and love. And, of course, without the use of synthetic pesticides, artificial growth hormones or GMOs.

The manner in which the article portrays the farmers, products and landscape made me want to quit my city life and head for something much more in touch with nature. And I cannot tell you how desperate I now am to take a bite of John Driver’s CandyCot apricot or taste Robin and Ross Koda’s sweet rice, which Martha Stewart said is “the best sushi rice on the market”.

Most importantly, Barry Estabrook paints a picture of how all farming should be and he does a great job of profiling these farmers who work extremely hard and with tremendous integrity.

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If you are ever looking for a birthday gift for someone who loves food and also loves to read, a subscription to Gastronomica would make that individual very, very happy.

Without question, it is one of my favorite magazines.