Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Readers Digest

“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.” Rule No. 19 in Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual seems obvious enough — and that’s exactly why the 2010 book is effective. The read is “typical Michael Pollan” — witty, sensible and educational — says Nicole Fenton, a board member of Essex Junction’s Five Corners Farmers Market, and it’s the focal point of the first episode of the market’s new Winter Sustainability Series. Conceived as a way to continue the conversation about food in the market’s off season, folks gather for a discussion of the best-selling author’s digest guided by Allison Hamlin of Vermont’s Taste of Place initiative, complemented by Vermont cheese, crackers and more. Upcoming events include a localvore cooking class led by chef Courtney Contos, a screening of Food, Inc. and a local-food social.