As American obesity rates continue to soar, the Pepsi company introduces the limited editions Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwback. Made closely to the original recipes, they include real sugar, not the high fructose corn syrup and many –ine ending chemicals that pervade their present counterparts. (The ingredient lists on the bottles are now MUCH shorter.)

Yankee Magazine editor Edie Clark shares the history of regional food

Bean-hole baked beans, johnny cakes, fish chowder and red flannel hash are foods that can bring people back to New England faster than any airplane, says Edie Clark of Yankee Magazine.

Most of the people in the room raised their hands when she asked if they had tried these foods before her talk at the Governor John Langdon House in Portsmouth last week. The program was one of several ways Historic New England continues to celebrate its “Year of the Kitchen.”

There was a time when signature New England dishes were on most menus in the region, and Clark explained how that has changed, though people still sometimes eat traditional foods. She called the region a place “where so much began and remains.”

culinary companies open at One Washington Center

The savory smells from Terra Cotta Pasta have drifted into the spacious second floor of One Washington Center in Dover for more than 15 years, but the sweet scent of cookies baking on the third floor is relatively new.

Be Sweet Cookie Dough and North End North moved into the renovated mill this spring, joining a growing community of food and beverage companies. Three more small companies are expected to sign leases this month, according to property manager Brint Shone. These are Oven Lovin, Dynamite Dad’s Pies and Popper’s Sausage Kitchen.

Also on premises are two tea companies. White Heron Tea, organic and mostly fairly traded, now prepares local, seasonal food here to sell at area farmers’ markets. Kick Pouches makes paper pouches filled with tea that steeps in the mouth. 

Four Seacoast organizations are coming together to help promote the local food movement as the spring farmers’ market season gets underway. The Local Food Advocate program will equip community members with training and knowledge about increasing access to local food.  

The program is a joint initiative of Seacoast Eat Local, the Seacoast Growers’ Association, Seacoast Local and Slow Food Seacoast. Representatives from the groups will be on hand at the season’s first Portsmouth Farmers’ Market in the City Hall parking lot on Junkins Avenue on Saturday, May 2.