On My Plate: Halloween 2026
This column is normally devoted to healthy locally grown and produced food. Halloween is an exception.
James Rubenstein
On My Plate: Chili peppers
Salsa, which means “sauce” in Spanish, refers to both Mexican food (more precisely, Mexican-American food) and a style of dance. A core ingredient of most salsas is chili peppers, which are grown locally at Craig and Sharon Harkrider’s Stoney Hedgerow Farm.
On My Plate: Food produced by co-ops
Co-ops come into existence when people decide that there is a gap in their community.
On My Plate: Sweet potatoes
According to linguists, the word for sweet potato is shared between Austronesian languages of Oceania and the Quechua language of northwestern South America. Crossing the Pacific Ocean 1,000 years ago in a canoe is an unimaginable feat.
On My Plate: Apples encore
Given the wide variety of apples on display at the Downing Fruit Farm stand, it can be challenging to find your favorite. Selections change weekly, as varieties ripen at different times.
Downing Fruit Farm Fall Festival
The popular image of Johnny Appleseed as a scatterbrain hippie randomly throwing about apple seeds is inaccurate.
Sergiy Kostrikov’s visit
If asked what people in Oxford and the United States can do to help, Kostrikov responded they already have helped. “Ukrainians ‘know’ that the American people support their cause,” Kostrikov explained.