Culinate Challenges

Welcome to the Culinate Challenge page.

These aren’t Iron Chef-style challenges. These are challenges to ourselves.

We’ve realized that the more we learn about our food, the more there is to learn — and the more changes, however subtle, we want to make in our diets. But changing the way we eat can be — yes — challenging. It helps to have others making changes, too. That’s where you come in.

We got the idea of a food challenge from Curt Ellis. Last year, Curt, one of filmmakers behind "King Corn," blogged in Dinner Guest about his intention to forego corn for a month; he invited others to take part in the corn-free challenge. The dialogue that ensued in comments was an eye-opener, bringing awareness to the many products and names corn goes by.

But corn is just one food. There are other challenges we face each day as we try to eat well — not just for the sake of our bodies but for the sake of the planet. One of the things we love about the Web is the ability to talk back and share information. Building a community of people who care about the food they eat — not just how it tastes, but also how it’s grown and produced — is what we’re all about.

We hope you’ll join us.