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Food Inc. comes to KC. You’ve probably heard about the movie Food Inc. by now. You probably haven’t seen it, though, if you live in these parts. Farm country wasn’t at the top of the list of screening locations. The movie’s in the area now, though. You can see it at the Tivoli in Kansas City or the Leawood in, well, Leawood, starting tonight. And Chipotle is sponsoring a free screening at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15, at the Tivoli. As a former commuter, I generally avoid driving to KC these days, but if you go see it, let me know what you think! If you’d like to know what people who are from around here think but who have not seen the movie think, check out the reports by Bob Butler at the KC Star and by KCUR reporter Frank Morris on NPR.

Central Soy soy good. A report by the Cornucopia Institute gives Lawrence’s Central Soyfoods (annoying Flash site alert) a 4-bean (excellent) rating, unlike well-known brands that have moved to the use of imported and, often, conventional soybeans as well as the use of hexane to extract oil from the beans. The report calls out Silk, a pioneer in organic soy products, for almost abandoning organic altogether and profiting on its organically raised reputation. The full report, “Behind the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry,” is available online (11+ mb PDF) as is an executive summary (4.5 mb PDF). You can also read a story about it at the Alternative Health Journal.

Japanese on the plains. See how the recent visit by organic growers from Japan played in Peabody, Kansas. (Peabody Gazette-Bulletin)

Vote for the Lawrence Farmers Market! Now there’s two ways. One, through Care2 and LocalHarvest.org, could be worth $5,000 to the market, a huge boost. You can vote in that one here. That’s in addition to the vote at American Farmland Trust, which I’ve previously mentioned. I think it’s just good for bragging rights. Of course, we like to brag on it anyway.