Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

This is what I keep in my desk for quick meals: http://www.pacificfoods.com/our-foods/creamy-soups/cashew-carrot-ginger-all-natural-soup

Commercial soup isn't as good as homemade, but this stuff is fantastic for what it is.

@jedd63, I've definitely seen it. I think farming techniques vary by region, though. While the majority of farmers are small farmers like the ones you know, the majority of food is produced by a smaller number of very large farms.

One study found, "that large-scale family farms — those with annual sales of $250,000 or more — plus nonfamily farms, comprised 12 percent of U.S. farms in 2007, but accounted for 84 percent of the value of U.S. agricultural production." (http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/71528/publisher_ID/22/)

Ultimately, unless you're buying milk directly from the source, you have to assume that what you're buying is coming from a large, industrial farm. And the same is true for other foods.

@Tar Heel Fan: Dairy cows are treated horribly on the industrial scale. While we have an image of dairy cows chewing cud in a field, the vast majority of dairy cows are raised in confinement. Even small-scale dairy production can place the interests of the cow (to move freely, to not experience unnecessary pain) below profit. Beyond all that, the dairy industry is why there's a veal industry.

I'd rather not cause an animal pain just to satisfy personal preference. I don't need milk to live, and it's rather easy (for me) to do without it.

@jonwilkes, the information on the map is more detailed that that. Only 25% of the people in that highlighted area near the Whole Foods have low access (i.e., are more than a mile from a grocery store), and only 9.8% are both low access and carless (and carless is where the 1 mile figure matters).

I haven't eaten fish in years, but I'll never forget the gefilte fish my college roommate's mother made every Passover. It was made like a terrine with layers of white fish and salmon, and is one of the best things I've ever eaten. The slime and sugar aren't mandatory.

Even though sourdough bread doesn't have yeast in the ingredients, it has yeast. It's just not added by a person.

The idea of noodles in matzah ball soup is freaking me out. I guess mom did make it best.

Cedargien, most people who fast for Yom Kippur spend a large part of the day at a synagogue praying and thinking (presumably) about the way they live their lives. Some thoughts are spent on how hungry they are, but that's the point of fasting.

Though most people get together to eat afterwards, there aren't many food traditions associated with Yom Kippur other than ending the fast with a light meal (usually a dairy meal if the person keeps kosher) so as not to get sick.

A lot of people break the fast with bagels or something similar that doesn't require a lot of preparation. Believe me, few people get much "celebration" out of cooking when they can't eat anything.

This is one of my favorite meals. The flavor of the chickpea broth is so much more than you would expect. I like the tahini variation better, though (no onions, paprika/cumin, wine).

Poppyseed, followed by apricot, followed by prune. I love that there's usually a variety of flavors to choose from.

I think there are some pretty painless changes you can make to use less fuel. Keeping lids on boiling pots, for instance. You can usually get water to reach a boil faster and keep it simmering at a lower stove temperature if you use the lid.

Another suggestion I've seen is using quicker-cooking versions of food when it won't make a big difference in the dish. Like using angel hair pasta instead of spaghetti. (Pasta shapes make a difference, but a lot of times that difference doesn't matter).

Turn the oven off a few minutes before you're done using it. Or doubling up on baking like people have suggested.

These things take some forethought, but they're not any more work really.

@bareneed, for me, drinking any alcohol means I have to set an alarm clock for halfway through the night so I can get up and have a snack. A glass of wine rarely seems worth the missed sleep to me. I save alcohol for really special occasions.

Earth Balance isn't hydrogenated or fortified. Which doesn't mean it's not processed.

The ingredients are expeller pressed natural oil blend (soybean, palm fruit, canola, and olive), filtered water, pure salt, natural flavor (derived from corn, no MSG, no alcohol, no gluten), soy protein, soy lecithin, lactic acid (non-dairy, derived from sugar beets), and beta-carotene color (from natural source.