Lawrence Central Rotary’s speaker on November 13 was Anne Brockhoff, a freelance journalist who is a member of the Northern Kansas Boyd family, known for community journalism in the state for more than 100 years.
Brockhoff, who lives with her family on a farm outside of Lawrence, writes regularly about food, beverages, farming and business for the Kansas City Star, the Star’s blog, “Chow Town” and Lawrence Business Magazine. A journalist for 20 years, she has contributed to Bloomberg News, Reuters, and The New York Times among others.
Trends in eating change, just as trends in fashion, Brockhoff said. Citing a day when Jello and Cheese Whiz were part of cutting-edge cooking, she said the move now is to fresher foods, locally provided, which are healthier for the consumer, support the local producer and stimulate the local economy.
People in Lawrence care about quality, she said, and the Kaw Valley is an incredible resource. Restaurants and markets are buying locally-produced food and beverages. She listed local breweries and wineries, talked about specialty coffee shops in the area, and confirmed a growing interest in eating “old” foods such as kale and beets and enjoying foods associated with various nationalities.
And there is even a trend toward “food trucking” with trucks delivering food to individuals and serving foods at various markets. Lawrence, she said, has a “food taxi” service that will pick up and deliver food that is ordered at restaurants that don’t ordinarily deliver.
Brockhoff also discussed how interest in gluten-free eating and the use of less-common foods such as quinoa are helped by the public’s access to the Internet and its wealth of recipes and health information.
