The printed menu’s unexpectedly upmarket, too: duck salad with dried cherries and crumbled chèvre on mixed greens…tapenade-topped goat burger on English muffin with Manchego cheese. Best of all, much of what’s served is grown or produced locally, some of it practically within hollering distance. The Cane Creek Farm heirloom pork, for example. The Goat Lady Dairy chèvre.

Read the full article here: http://www.gourmet.com/food/gourmetlive/2012/020112/a-five-star-gas-station

Listen to the full broadcast of The State of Things with Frank Stacio

Frank Stacio asked about the consumer movement toward smaller conscientious farms, the market for sustainable and naturally raised meats, and how things have changed or moved along since he last interviewed Eliza in September of 2007. Here is what Eliza had to say about it:  “Demand has increased, as we expected that it would. And I’m glad that it has and more and more farmers have come to the area. More and more people are producing more than just for their own families on their smaller pieces of land. Jeff (Barney) is a great aggregator of those people too… of those who don’t do the farmers markets like I do. More Farmers markets have come up in the last few years. I don’t think the market is saturated but you have to keep you eye on the ball to stay in this business. It’s still not easy. None if us would do it if we didn’t feel some immense pride in it.  You cant work this hard and and make this little money unless you love every moment of it…. I remember talking with you four years ago about the critical mass thing. We’re getting there but I don’t think we’re yet there. There are still lots and lot of consumers who need to be brought into it and room for more producers. We need to collaborate.”

Listen to the full broadcast of The State of Things with Frank Stacio

Bon Appetit Magazine has referred to the Triangle region as the foodiest small town in America. That distinction is due in large part to the area’s farmers, many of whom are committed to raising the freshest, healthiest, and most sustainable food possible. In this story David Huppert travels to Alamance County to learn how one farm aligns it’s customers demands with its respect for nature.”

You can read the article on the Cooking Light website: The Best Restaurants in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Find classic meals in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina (and how to make them at home)

An excerpt from the article:

“I was eating locally grown beef, provided by Cane Creek Farms located in Snow Camp, N.C. The cow that provided my meal grew up eating grass, thus the ‘grassy’ taste. Cane Creek Farms is known for producing better tasting beef that is better for you.

I was given the chance to try Cane Creek Farm’s amazing tasting burger when I attended Ingersoll Rand’s 2010 Sustainability Institute. I was one of 12 students chosen to spend a week at Davidson College, learning how to integrate sustainable techniques into business. Over the course of the week, the other campers and I took field trips to a number of businesses that have begun focusing on sustainability and using techniques that are better for the environment to improve their business.”

Here’s what they had to say about the Breakfast Biscuits at Neil’s Deli in Carrboro, made with our sausage.

The food at Neal’s Deli is resolutely everyday and American — like breakfast biscuits stuffed with egg and sausage — but the eggs are steamed tender with a touch of pepper and parsley, and the wide, crisp biscuits are mixed from high-fat local buttermilk and organic flour from a nearby mill that’s been held by the same family for nine generations. The sausage patty is from Cane Creek Farm in Alamance County, where Eliza MacLean, an owner of the farm and a former veterinarian, advises farmers across the state on the transition from tobacco to pork. Every bit of that care comes through in the flavor of the finished product, a stunning bargain at $3.25. Read the full article here.

Read the blog at: http://www.algonquinbooksblog.com/2010/01/21/from-bill-smiths-kitchen-eastern-north-carolina-corned-ham/