Food News, Things We Crave, Resources, Green Your Eats, and Tips, Tools & Techniques. Check out this week’s picks.

Food News

• Oooh! Everyone’s talking ’bout this one. Regina Schrambling’s acerbic piece on the kiddie foodie movement. Dare I say the grouch makes some compelling points. Thoughts?! (via Slate)
• Have you heard about Kogi, the LA taco truck with a Korean twist? Cia from Writing With My Mouth Full told me about it over lunch last week. Read more about the food and how it became a phenomenon–you’ll be planning a trip to LA in no time (via Springwise)
• It’s Organic, but Does That Mean It’s Safer? (via NY Times)
• Meat eaters being frugal and buying cheaper meats (via Tree Hugger)
• Politics of the Plate: Florida’s Slave Trade (via Gourmet)
• WIC Changes List of Approved Foods–juice is off the list, good news for fruits & veggies, bad news for organic milk (via MSNBC) 

Things We Crave

• ADORABLE  lead, PVC and phthalate-free lunch bags (via OhDeeDoh)
• Pretty place mats that kids can color in over and over again (from Modern Twist)
• We have a bunch of these fun books from the World Snack series by Amy Wilson Sanger (purchase through Amazon)
• The makers of the ZeroWater filtration system claim to yield the only filtered water that meets the FDA definition for purified bottled water. AND they say it filters fluoride (I called and asked) (via Cool Hunting) 

Resources

• I can’t live without this! The Eat Well Guide helps you find sustainable food in your area. A simple search (I used zip code) led me to sustainable butchers, coffee shops, coops, restaurants, bakers, CSA’s… and MORE in my area. 
• Sustainable Table offers food news, educational guides (including teacher resources), leads on sustainable shopping, recipes and more 

Green Your Eats

• Seven Ways to Eat Green (and Inadvertently Lose Weight) (via Tree Hugger)
• If you drive to the store and none of your options are local, it seems buying milk in plastic jugs is your most eco-friendly choice (via Tree Hugger)
• Are You Growing a Recession Garden? (via Slashfood)

Tips, Tools & Techniques

• Make cooking with kids easier by bringing ingredients to their level (via Lil Sugar)
• Don’t just use shapes to get your kids to eat better, use fun food names, too! (via Lil Sugar)
• 6 Tricks to Save Tons of Money on Sustainable Foods (via Planet Green)

Bonus! Mealtime Hack

Place a small piece of anti-slip rug pad under place mats to keep them in place even with rambunctious toddlers at the table. The plastic kind, like the Ikea Stopp, are inexpensive and easy to clean. Thanks, EvaInNL! (via comments on OhDeeDoh)