Why Community Supported Agriculture Matters for Local Food, Families, and Farmers If you’ve ever wondered where your food really comes from, or how to make sure local farms stay strong, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one of the best answers. CSAs connect families directly to farmers, help strengthen local food systems, and build healthy eating [...]
Tag: food
Sweet Potatoes Are the Star of Kentucky’s Winter Produce Season
I love sweet potatoes for a lot of reasons—but mostly because they’re versatile and filling. They stay having a moment on social media too. Lately, folks are stuffing them with all kinds of cheddars into perfectly cooked sweet potato caverns. Not too long ago, it was sweet potatoes paired with cottage cheese, avocado, and hot [...]
Power Outage Food Safety: How to Protect Your Meals (and Your Health)
Power outages happen—storms, heat waves, accidents, snow, ice, wind—life throws them at us. When the lights go out, food safety quickly becomes a top priority. Refrigerators and freezers can keep food cold for a while, but once the temperature rises, bacteria can grow fast and make food unsafe. Knowing how long food stays good and [...]
A Good Day, A Shared Table
This time last year, I was being mostly happily dragged 🙂 across parts of Southeast Asia with the Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program. As I look back on 2025 now—with a lot of gratitude and appreciation—one experience keeps rising to the top. A day that began at a village market and ended around a family table [...]
Freezing Basics: Packaging Matters for Food Preservation
Freezing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to preserve food. When done correctly, it helps maintain both nutrition and flavor while reducing waste. Frozen foods remain safe to eat indefinitely when stored at 0°F (-18°C) — but quality does decline over time. The key to keeping foods fresh and tasty in the [...]
Build a Bowl That Eats Good
How to Build a Nutritious Bowl with What You Have: Bowls aren’t just a trend—they’re a practical, flexible way to eat good, stretch ingredients, and build meals that actually keep you full. A good bowl doesn’t require specialty foods or fancy sauces. It’s about layering simple ingredients—many you already have—into a balanced, satisfying meal that [...]
Slow Cooker Solutions: Safe, Simple, and Delicious
There’s nothing better than coming home to a warm meal that’s been simmering all day. Whether you call it a slow cooker or a crock pot, this handy kitchen appliance saves time, energy, and stress, but success depends on knowing a few key rules of the road. Slow cookers work by heating foods slowly and [...]
Basic A$$ “Bork” Spaghetti Bolognese
If you’ve ever stood in the meat aisle lately and side-eyed the price of ground beef, you’re not alone. That’s how I ended up making this basic a$$ spaghetti — with something I picked up at Boone’s Butcher Shop, (Bardstown, Kentucky) called “bork.” What is Spaghetti Bolognese? Let’s start simple. Spaghetti Bolognese is a comfort [...]
“And I got the munchies, I need soul food, collard greens or pinto beans…” -Crucial Conflict
Greens are essential to the Soul Food diet. Seasoned and boiled greens of the Soul Food variety go back to West African traditions. The type of green that is popular to Black and country folks depends on their geography. Growing up, it was common for mother and other female family members to prepare turnip or [...]
What Soul-food means to me…
My name is LaToya Drake. I am a nutrition and food educator, community garden organizer and longtime public servant. I love food y’all. I love growing food, I love talking about food, I love teaching others about food, and I especially love eating food. The purpose of this blog is to explore my personal connection [...]
