The Holidays are supposed to be a time of family gatherings, fire-roasting chestnuts and long, lazy weekends. But the Corporatocracy has turned the humble season into a fight-to-the-death credit card maxing out feeding frenzy of—let's face it—a lot of useless junk (not you, Siri). And if the Occupy Movement has inspired us with any takeaway, it might just be that there are worthy options outside of the Wall Street-curated displays at Wal-mart. In fact, the very best gift you can give this season might even disappear before Christmas dinner.

No matter where you find yourself positioned in the country's political clime, unless you're one of the nation's wealthiest, you can most likely concur that we're in somewhat of a bleak national moment. Boosting our economic standing appears to be a prioritized agenda item for most of us, but with it comes restraint and discipline as we grow into what can hopefully become a more responsible nation. Cutting corners doesn't have to be as painful as it sounds though—the DIY, homemade, less-is-more philosophy is eking its way into mainstream culture in record numbers. Are corporations concerned that you'll stop spending money on frivolous items like frozen pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Surely we can hope so. How ridiculous is corporate greed going to have to get before it changes for good?

Eating locally has become an environmental catchphrase and a new reality for many people concerned about the ecological footprint that their food products leave in their trail. While interesting new research shows that such a practice isn't always in the best interest of the planet—sometimes growing vegetables or fruit in climates that are not made to handle them is actually more damaging than importing them from New Zealand or Brazil, for example—the incredible trend towards farmers markets shows no sign of slowing. And for good reason: The closer you are to where food grows, the better it tastes. Beyond any environmental appeal, the emotional attachment to taste will usually win out.

Michael Pollan is a change-agent in the sustainable food movement. In 2010, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is the author of five books including The New York Times bestsellers In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire. His latest edition of Food Rules: An Eater's Manual is intended to help Americans distinguish between real food (and sadly) the cheap processed junk foods our nation has so passionately taken to and called "food."

Buzzing in food news lately is the return of the McRib, McDonald’s pork patty sandwich that is shaped like a little slab of ribs. Served with slivered onions, sliced pickles and sweet barbeque sauce on a 5 ½” sesame bun, the McRib has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Today there are websites dedicated to locating the fast food sandwich, which has appeared on Charlie’s Angels, Roseanne, The Chappelle Show and inspired an entire episode of The Simpsons as the Krusty Burger “Ribwich.”

If you are an artist, a chef, a baker, a kid or simply a kid at heart, They Draw & Cook may be the single best cookbook to put on your holiday gift list this season. Nothing like regular cookbooks, it’s a compilation of illustrations of recipes, rather than instructions, each contributed from various artists around the world. Truly captivating the spirit of cooking, it illuminates the heart of a dish that many home cooks find so lacking in plain text and photo cookbooks.

This Black Friday, we've rounded up some incredible organic, eco, conscious and pretty kick-ass faves that make great gifts as well as usher in new models of doing business fit for any day of the year.  And since the where-I-spend-my-dollar choice is far more than a symbolic gesture these days, there's even more reason to turn Black Friday into Green Friday this holiday season. Not only can we gift consciously, but we may also find great reward in supporting our communities through volunteering, adopting a shelter animal, planting a tree or community garden this season, too.

With the holidays in full swing, you’re no doubt going to be cooking up a storm all season long. While jamming out to Bing Crosby Christmas carols and watching the snowflakes fall outside the window, you might lose track of your “pinches” and “teaspoons,” only to find one of your dishes too salty or too spicy. When this happens, don’t despair: You can salvage that potpie, apple crisp or turkey casserole. Here are some tips that chefs use in the kitchen to balance seasoning mistakes.

The dream of the perfect calorie-counting app has been dreamt, and over the last few months, companies have attempted to actualize the ambition. The heralded breakthrough arrived earlier this year with MealSnap. The technology is pretty simple from a user's perspective: Take a photo of your meal, upload and "auto magically" wait for a number. General reviews have all come to a similar conclusion: The calorie counts are very broad, but at least an app making you conscious of what you eat exists.

One of the easiest ways to know that things are not going well is the continued use of the word "deep." Deep well drilling and deep sea fishing are perhaps the two most prominent in today's world, cluing us in on the fact that those industries have exhausted more manageable supplies. A recent investigation by Greenpeace has found that Spanish fleets are pulling in three times the amount of fish, predominantly funded through EU subsidies, and have released a video to raise awareness of the issue.