At the Table – As the year ends….

From everyone at Sustainable Table, The Meatrix and the Daily Table, we want to extend our sincerest thanks and gratitude for all your help and support over this past year. 2008 was a great year for Sustainable Table – we had over 1,000,000 visitors to our site; we lost count after 33,000 handouts and materials were download, and we’re happy to announce that our blog gets up to 10,000 unique visitors a month, with an average of around 7,400 unique people! That’s a reflection of how popular local sustainable food has become all across the country – and world!

But 2008 also had its downside – with the recession and so many people out of work, it was a time for us to reflect on how fortunate we are, and to also think about how we can best help you over the next year. With that in mind, we’re now working on ways we can help you not just shop smarter but also eat healthy while on a budget. We’re also going to focus more on the nutrition and personal health aspect of local sustainable food, so all of us can learn tips and information on eating the best food possible.

I’m making this At the Table column one of my New Year’s resolutions – I’ve missed being with you all so am planning to keep this column going, if not every Friday, then every other week. I’m thinking that maybe I’ll be a good example of someone trying to eat healthy on a budget. With all the traveling I’ve done this past year, I have to admit I don’t cook at home like I used to, so it will be a challenge to get back into the habit. Dawn is an amazing cook (and a nutritionist to boot!) so she can give you recipes and tips on how to cook well – maybe I’ll try some out and let you know how it goes. Maybe we can all share tips and ideas with each other so we can get the most out of our food. And between Dawn and me – and our new Sustainable Table Director Rich – we will bring you not only the latest news and information on sustainable food, we’ll bring you practical tips as well as our experiences.

We have a lot in store for you next year. We’re almost done our first presentation kits – we’re making it so simple for you to spread the word about sustainable food that we’ve created kits that you can easily download and print out. You’ll have everything you need to table or give a presentation about good food. That’s just a taste of what’s to come – stay tuned here for more!

Have a warm, wonderful, and healthy food filled holiday – and an even richer 2009!