Normally, Chipotle celebrates Halloween by just inviting people to dress up in tinfoil like a burrito, but this year, as part of their big push to highlight locally-sourced ingredients, the chain is asking people to dress up like a farm instead. Your reward? A $2 "BOO-rito" and the chance to win $2,500. more ›

Chipotle, the fast-casual burrito chain that is surprisingly hard to hate, keeps getting greener. Perhaps to take attention away from the whole illegal employees thing (or to keep us from focusing on the whole chorizo made with chicken thing) the chain has announced that this year their food is going to be way local. In 2010 they served five million pounds of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and the like sourced from within 350 miles. So naturally this year they say they are on track to serve ten million pounds of local produce to go along with their relatively ethically-raised meat. more ›

Mark "believes in Newark" Zuckerberg, also known as the founder of Facebook, is telling the world all about his new diet: eat only the meat he kills. Seriously. more ›

Just in case that Bodega Diet hasn't been working out for you, nonprofit GrowNYC, which runs the city's Greenmarkets, announced the launch of their new "Fresh Bodegas Project," which hopes to replace those canned hotdogs and dusty 40s you're used to seeing with locally-grown vegetables and fresh juices instead. more ›

Local beer is coming to the Greenmarkets! Diner's Journal reports today that this Friday, 25-year-old Mark VanGlad will start selling beer from his small Tundra Brewing operation at the Union Square Greenmarket. He's only bringing in about 50 cases of his "mild and hoppy" Ma-Pale ale, so get your sluggish post-Cinco de Mayo butt to the market early if you want to impress your locavore friends. more ›

Precious theatergoers across the city are being wooed to linger (and drop more cash monies) at the venue before and after shows with the allure of local, artisanal concessions, the New York Times reported yesterday. Tumabdor chocolates, Ceci-Cela pastries, and hummus and lentil stew are showing up at theaters like Classic Stage and St. Ann's Warehouse, who are partnering with local restaurants and producers to provide the high-end snacks. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, chef and owner Peter Hoffman announced that his 21-year-old Soho restaurant Savoy will serve its last meal on June 18th. He plans to keep and reopen the space this fall with a new name and concept. more ›

Yesterday was a big, belt-busting day for food lovers in New York City. City noshers were able to hit two great events featuring local artisanal purveyors -- both the New Amsterdam Public Market by the South Street Seaport and the UnFancy Food Show, just a short J/M/Z ride away in Williamsburg. more ›

Like No Impact Man before him, Brooklyn resident Scott Ballum embarked last month on a year long mission to radically examine his own patterns of consumption. He’s calling it the Consume®econnection Project, and his plan sounds simple yet exhausting:

The Mission: A year-long effort to meet the laborers and craftsmen who build what I buy – and put a human face on consumption. For every transaction, there must be a personal connection with someone along the production chain.

As reported in the Times last month, the cheese is a side project of Lunetta sous chef Betsy Devine and curd cohort Rachel Mark. The duo makes the ricotta with milk supplied from Hudson Valley Fresh, a non-profit collective of upstate farmers. Salvatore Ricotta is served at Lunetta’s Manhattan and Brooklyn locations, but it can also be purchased retail at Saxelby Cheesemongers (seen here), Marlow & Sons, and Stinky Brooklyn. more ›

Urban Rustic, the new Brooklyn grocery store whose shelves are almost exclusively stocked with food from within a 100-mile radius, opens tomorrow. Located on North 12th Street across from McCarren Park, the grocery is the brainchild of Aaron Woolf, a partner in the nearby faux-alpine Lodge restaurant/bar/general store. Woolf is also one of the producers of the indie documentary King Corn, which followed the misadventures of two neophyte corn farmers and their harrowing journey... more ›

The New Oxford American Dictionary has selected "locavore" as its 2007 word of the year. According to the OUP blog, "The “locavore” movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to grow or pick their own food, arguing that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Locavores also shun supermarket offerings as an environmentally friendly measure, since shipping food over long distances often requires more fuel for transportation." Locavore beat out... more ›