Funding the Farm: Applewood Needs Your Help

Image Via Applewoodny.com

We recently reported that the Slope's own APPLEWOOD restaurant owners David and Laura Shea have planned to bring their farm-to-table mentality even closer to home by just owning the whole table AND farm. The couple has completed the intial farm buying, but now are asking for the community's help in funding some other projects at the farm. Utilizing global funding platform Indiegogo.com, the Shea's have set up a $15,000 fundraising goal to complete their operational needs. As of the time of this post, they've raised $5,580 with 35 days to go. 

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Baked in Brooklyn...That's a Lotta Bread!

I'm a man of simple means. It doesn't take a bucket of caviar or a wall-mounted spigot of Cristal by my bedside to put a smile on my face. Shit, If I ever went to prison, I'd be cool with a bread & water diet as long as that bread was fresh & flavorful and the water was cold from a woodland spring. One Dixie cup of primo olive oil & extra ice cubes please (though I would regret the fact that I'm WAY too boy-faced for the slammer).

So yeah...good bread's a simple pleasure. I mean, as it is, bread is a part of the foundation of the USDA food pyramid. If you don't get 6-11 SERVINGS of the stuff every day, Obama's secret police will bust down your door & repeatedly stab your eldest son about the face & groin. True story.

So yeah...fuck Robert Atkins & his fantastical anti-carb agenda. Don't deny the bread. It's key to human existence. Embrace it like I did on Tuesday night, when I was invited to the opening event for Baked in Brooklyn, the recently-opened storefront on 5th & 26th for Greenwood Heights' Aladdin Bakery.

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Where to Shop in Park Slope For a High Protein/Low Carb Diet

Olive Bar at Key Foods on 5th Avenue

About a month ago, I decided to lose some weight and shape up, in part by drastically changing my diet because the incremental tweaking wasn’t working. And no, I was not going the Hollywood route with a no-food starvation or cocaine type of diet. Nor was I going to drink liquid kelp for 6 months.  I chose to eliminate as much sugars and carbs as possible, which is fucking a mighty pain if you’re like me and:

1. Eat things like cereal, pancakes, waffles, McMuffins, leftover pizza and bagels for breakfast.
2. Enjoy anything encased in buns, wraps, tortillas, puff pastry or on/under/within pasta.
3. Love side dishes like mashed potatoes, fries, rice, noodles, tater chips, tortilla chips, or anything breaded, battered and crusted. 

In other words, stuff that tastes good.

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Who Gives a Shit: Will You Feed Your Babies "Farm to Baby" Food?

Image via change.org

Want to feel even MORE like a peasant when you take your baby to the park sans Bugaboo?

Because now you're going to have to explain to other Slope parents why your little Aldous is eating normal Gerber baby nosh from Key Food, and not shit straight from a farm. 

Yes, the farm to table foodie craze is now coming to a diaper near you. Farm to Baby, a new company based in Greenpoint, makes and delivers fresh baby food, sourced from local farms. Now, I like the idea of supporting local farmers, and small businesses. I am totally behind the concept of eating fresh foods that are unprocessed, so naturally, feeding your baby that stuff makes sense too.

BUT this seems excessive. 

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The FIPS Fad Diet/Exercise Challenge: Week 1 – Raw Vegan Diet

It seems like every time I turn around, someone I know is on another fad diet or exercise routine. From the Master Cleanse to the Caveman Diet to P-90X to Cross-Fit, it’s hard to know what works and what’s total crap. So for the next four weeks, I’ve decided to try some of these for myself. I’ll tackle a different diet/exercise routine each week, and then report the results back to you the following week.

Note: I’m not a dietitian, nor am I a fitness guru. So I make no claims here that I’m doing anything properly. I’m guessing a lot of you out there might approach this sort of thing like I do: overhear someone talk about it, do some Internet research, give it a try for yourself. For those who follow that pattern, maybe you can learn from my mistakes. For those who don’t follow that pattern, maybe you can educate us in the comments section.

To start the FIPS Fad Diet/Exercise Challenge off right, I figured I’d start week one with my diet. This way, I could work myself up to working out (something I’m notoriously lazy about). Of all the fad diets I saw out there, I decided to start with the one that seemed the easiest: the Raw Vegan Diet. What can I say: I had just seen Wanderlust. It seemed appropriate.

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