Kiko's Food News, 8.12.11

Gearing up for some good eating this weekend? Want to know where Sam and Anne go for dinner out? Their favorite food spots in SF and Sonoma: (full story)

Tablehopper leaked news about the next restaurant to go into the empty spot at the end of our block (R.I.P. Craig’s Place, Ebb & Flow…); yes, it’s yet another izakaya place in SF, but this one sounds like it might have a more home-style angle: (full story)

For the first time, Monsanto has developed a crop that will be marketed directly to consumers (as opposed to made into processed foods). Monsanto, which holds 60% of the nation’s corn market, is ready to begin selling genetically modified sweet corn to consumers at supermarkets and farmers markets: (full story)

Given their proliferation all over the country, farmers markets could generate tens of thousands of new jobs with modest federal support; unfortunately federal policies favoring industrial ag hold them back: (full story)

And while we’re on the topic of federal policies supporting industrial ag, here’s a good discussion of a key obstacle to making good food available to all: if it truly costs a farmer $8 to produce a dozen pasture-raised eggs, and Walmart charges about $1 for a dozen, how can food that’s raised right not be considered elitist? (full story)

Feel like you’ve noticed a lot of “free-from” foods in the grocery aisle lately? The global food allergy market for products with less or no gluten, wheat, lactose, nuts, egg, soy, and additives is projected to exceed $26 billion by 2017:  (full story)

Trace and Trust, a boat-to-table seafood distribution program, was started this year to make fishing more lucrative and shopping more reliable. By cutting out the wholesaler, the fishermen get a bigger cut of what chefs and stores pay, and lets restaurants and retailers know they are buying the freshest fish possible: (full story)