First Lady Michelle Obama joins kids to help harvest vegetables from the White House Kitchen Garden.

A good bit of my writing and communications work has involved the agriculture industry. I started in this line of work about a decade ago, but it’s only been recently that anyone at social gatherings seemed to be even remotely interested in what I did for a living.

I’m not sure to what degree this indicates a national phenomenon, a local movement or that I’m somehow improving on previously poor conversational skills. I find the last unlikely, so I’m inclined to ascribe this moderate level of new-found popularity to the first two.

It seems as if everyone is talking about food and agriculture these days (to prepare for your next party, see popular subjects Omnivore’s Dilemma, Food Inc. and/or the Obamas’ White House Garden.) It’s also interesting to note developments on a more local level, such as the recent developments at the Agroecology Minor Program at nearby land-grant university N.C. State. (See this recent article on the school’s program in Edible Piedmont, a new magazine about local food in my region of the country.)

A friend recently invited me to a charcuterie class at the Raleigh Whole Foods. This was the first time I had been to the Raleigh store, although I had known it to be a popular lunch spot for many of my colleagues over the years. The place was packed with customers, and it surprised me to hear that the Raleigh location is a leader or strong No. 2 in sales for many product categories amongst the chain’s southeastern stores. I was also struck by the number of people in the class who were genuinely interested in where their food came from, not to mention the number who, unlike me, already seemed to know what charcuterie meant.

Whatever you call it—alternative agriculture, slow food, the sustainable food movement—I’ve never seen the subject rise so high in general public discourse, as well as in the social circles I run in. As for the surging local interest, I don’t know if this is a reflection of the larger national trend or if a lot of people in Raleigh are especially into this stuff.

I’ll be sure to ask at the next party I’m invited to. Look to hear from me on the results in at least the next couple of years.