In Washington DC the USDA's Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and locavore darling Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan take to the internets today at 10 a.m. local time (yep, now) to launch the USDA's new Know Your Farmer Know Your Food Compass. more ›

There's still time to get some shopping done for Hanukkah and Christmas and whatever else occasion is on the horizon, and if you have a food lover on your list and want to get them something "so L.A." we have put together a few gift ideas we think they would love. more ›

Here at LAist, we love our local farmers' markets. Now we're taking the opportunity to shop local and participate in the Whole 30 challenge. Can we (and you, should you choose to try) eat nothing but whole foods for 30 days? more ›

For those who missed the inaugural Artisanal L.A. event, or who can't wait to buy and learn more from dozens of local foodmakers and craftsfolk, the pop-up will be back December 11-12 for a holiday season shopping session. It's too early to say who the participants will be, but you can likely count on baked goodies, sweet treats, garden savvy, and other delectable edibles with an artisanal slant. To see what we loved about last month's first-ever Artisanal, check out our post 8 Things to Check Out at Artisanal LA This Weekend. Follow @ArtisanalLA on Twitter for updates. more ›

Two years ago Max Lugavere decided to combine two of his passions -- world-changing and music -- to create an event called Rockdrive. Two years later, the event has grown into an entire night of music and fundraising at Troubadour on December 11. With an expanded team of co-producers and advisors, Lugavere has big ambitions for Rockdrive and envisions it turning into a broadly distributed DIY-style event in the coming year. We caught up with him to learn more about Rockdrive 2010. more ›

Today is day one of the weekend-long inaugural Artisanal LA, which is a celebration of local, sustainable, hand-crafted eats, treats, and growing goodness taking place at the Cooper Design Space in Downtown. more ›

Ice cream from Malibu, vegetables from Silver Lake, Beer from Northeast L.A. and salsa from Chinatown. First-time event Artisanal LA today announced its complete -- save for a few expected additions -- schedule and line-up for its October 23rd and 24th event. more ›

The Santa Monica Farmers' Markets will be implementing some changes in October as to which prepared food vendors are permitted to operate within the four different weekly markets run by the City of Santa Monica. more ›

For those interested in learning how to eat locally, seasonally, and sustainably, an event taking place in Downtown next month could be a delicious solution. more ›

More than 250 independent artists and crafters are on hand for the second day of the weekend-long Renegade Craft Fair, which is taking place today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Los Angeles State Historic Park (aka The Cornfield) in Downtown. more ›

Access to fresh, healthy food was ostensibly at the core of the plan to open Fresh & Easy grocery stores in the Los Angeles area, and now they are working with local growers to bring more local fruits and vegetables into their stores. more ›

At Local in Silver Lake, they fill their the chilaquiles plate with eggs, queso fresco, black beans, salsa, avocado, and crème fraîche. Take one bite and you'll be dreaming about this dish in the middles of the night and wake up craving it in the morning. For those of you who don't eat eggs, the nice people at Local will make their chilaquiles with tofu too. more ›

Tucked into the back of the kitchen at Groundwork Coffee in Venice is a little operation of major inspiration. Two locals have set out to share their love of dessert through sorbet made from locally sourced organic fruit and the results are not just amazingly sweet and tasty, but encouraging to the state of the growing social awareness of what we eat. more ›

As a kid, mom's toast was always a staple, but I never salivated for it when I woke up. Even though I fought the carb-conscious craze, breakfast took a turn with less bread consumption as age took its toll. Supermarket-bought bread was always handy to have around, for sandwiches and whatnot, but other than that, it sat in the refrigerator for months at a time. more ›

It's your day off. You're uninspired and under-funded (aka bored and broke). "But I live in Los Angeles!" you remind yourself. "There's got to be something I can do that won't break the bank." Art, music, museums, theatre, workshops, gardens, and more always seem to come with a price tag, unless you're totally in the know. Well, it's not too complicated to file yourself under the in-the-know column. Free L.A. is a publication that you can keep on your bookshelf to use when you need low-cost fun on the fly, or hand off to those out-of-town couch surfers you're hosting who would otherwise spend their vacation days fondling your remote control and eating you out of house and home. more ›

This morning at the Little Tokyo/Arts District Farmers Market, where the city celebrated 30 years of certified farmers markets (even though it began in Gardena), Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the creation of a food policy task force that will provide a report and recommendations in the next six months on a city food policy council and a foodshed assessment (details listed below). more ›

At today's 30 years of the farmers market celebration, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to announce a task force on food policy and will lead a pledge for local restaurants to use locally grown food. more ›

In addition to the $70 million Los Angeles could lose via raided redevelopment funds, another $166 million could be lost if $120 million in property tax revenue and $66 million in gas tax revenue are taken to fix the state budget, which will be voted on later this week by state legislators. The County of Los Angeles also stands to lose major funding, which could have long term effects in the billions. The county says they would lose $313.4 million in redevelopment, $109 million in gas taxes, $53.3 million from CalWorks (welfare program), $22.1 million in substance abuse crime prevention, $21 million for mental health managed care and $5.7 million in AIDS/HIV treatment and prevention, according to the LA Times. more ›

Finally! Being a local in Hollywood has some advantages. Or, rather, will have some come October, if you want to play tourist in your own backyard. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has announced several area businesses and services will be offering savings of 50 per cent to SoCal residents during the month of October, according to abc7. more ›

Some would argue that trying to get a grip on the scope of the Los Angeles music scene is an impossible task. By the time you finished listening to every single band in Los Angeles county, half of them would be broken up and like a cacophonous hydra, a whole new generation of music would have sprouted while your back was turned. Few people attempt this daunting feat, and those who do seem to possess crazy, masochistic tendencies (myself included). Fortunately for you, we have one such editor who undertakes that insane quest daily (namely Mr. Joshua Pressman) but should Tonight in Rock not fulfill all your needs, and you want a radio station that plays all local Los Angeles bands all the time...Jon Hershfield has the the website for you. Founder of IsGoodMusic.com, Hershfield has set out to find the diamonds in the rough that are lying right under our noses. The website provides a social networking site for bands, a radio station with interviews, and a up-to-date calendar on all the local gigs that are worth catching. We caught up with Jon Hershfield recently and asked him how it was going. more ›

With the event a few days away, Sonja took the time to speak to LAist about the importance of conscious consumerism and community building, promoting downtown LA and it's thriving art and fashion scene, volunteering and the amazingness that is LA's taco trucks and fruit stands. more ›

Except for LAist of course, you’re probably not satisfied with local news coverage. Community issues are often pushed aside for real news like, Octomom. So now it’s time to do something about it. Join other like-minded people at the “Local Media for Social Change: Los Angeles Summit” tomorrow at Occidental College from 11 am-5:15 pm. It’s a full day of speakers and panel discussions on local media, creating social change and how to get your voices heard. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Photo by GarySe7en via LAist's flickr pool. more ›

We just caught wind of this fun but poignant video by the Young Progressive Majority. It drives the point home on why it's important to participate in local elections. Basically, the problems of Los Angeles are Los Angeles' problems, not necessarily just President Obama and the feds. So if you want to be involved on making your home a better place, then you should vote today (or whenever your local election is) if you already haven't. more ›

GOOD (named in a fit of unwarranted self-deprecation?) is all sorts of adjectives more grandiose than its namesake. Think Awesome, Impassioned, Rad, Staggering, Inspiring...well, you get the gist. Created in 2006, GOOD is "a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward" through a magazine, blog, videos, and community events. The people at GOOD stand as lighthouses among the seemingly insurmountable fog that is our consumable detritus, gently encouraging us to use our money wisely for change (subscription proceeds go towards a charity of your choosing). I mean, seriously, they are that...swell. more ›

Andrew Steiner, former "Maitre Fromager" at Patina (Cheese Master -- now there's a worthy sobriquet!), has opened a shop of his own on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. Andrew's Cheese Shop is offering over 200 varieties of cheese, including many hand-crafted and artisanal varieties from all over the globe -- even raw milk cheeses! Andrew highlights cheeses like the Chimay Grand Cru (yes, from the same makers of the potent Belgian ale), Sally Jackson Goat (a nutty American varietal), and Roomano, a Friesian cheese similar to an aged Gouda. more ›

There are more photos to come soon by Koga, but here's some of what happened on the Bates Stage yesterday, which was booked by Spaceland. more ›

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Cashew-Cilantro Pesto over Ravioli, Roasted Asparagus, & Mushrooms Okay, okay, so we didn’t mean to piss off the vegans, but somewhere in between dead babies and an ontological inquiry into the humble mollusk, we lost sight of what’s really important: good, fresh, locally grown food. In an attempt to put our money where our (hungry) mouth is, we visited the Farmer's Market at Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade this weekend. We were delighted to... more ›