Friday Link-o-rama

I have time during the week to find interesting links, but I don't usually have time to post them 'til Friday. So here's the big pile 'o links for the week.

Small-town museums are using food history and regional cuisines to draw in visitors. Food is a big part of who we are, and how we feel about ourselves. It's no wonder that linking food and history is a big draw.
A small-town columnist says that folks put more thought into answering questions about favorite foods than anything else. And they couldn't make up their minds, either.

Another story about fair food, this time from Minnesota. There's a tacit (but unstated) recognition of the three basic fair-food groups: fried, frozen, and on-a-stick. Someday, a tinkerer will invent a way to put fried ice cream on a stick. That person will become the King of Fair Food. (And it will be a man, because a woman isn't going to waste her time trying to put fried ice cream on a stick.)

A book review of a couple of books about real food (but not a review of the book Real Food by Nina Planck). The benefits of eating real food include lessened chances of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and food poisoning; weight loss; cleaner rivers; and cleaner air. Plus real food tastes better.

A neat overview of the benefits and hardships organic farmers face, from the Wall Street Journal. ($ubscription required) There's a focus on Wal-Mart's recent move into organics. They can't push down prices for organic foods the way they've done for other things, because the risks to farmers are higher, and supplies are much tighter.

Fried okra at Too Many Chefs. The only way I like fried okra is sliced thin and fried to a crisp, so all the slime and okra flavor are gone. Your mileage may vary, though.

Biggles at MeatHenge is buying a truckload of custom-made charcoal. I'm jealous.

Once again, soy is under attack. And once again, the best preparations for it are traditional.

That's it for my big link roundup this week. Bon apetit!