Local 44, the friendly neighborhood craft beer pub, confirmed reports today that it will be opening a retail operation next to its location at 44th and Spruce Streets that will sell hundreds of craft beers for carryout.

Local 44 is reportedly in negotiations to lease space connected to the bar. Co-owner Leigh Maida told the City Paper’s Meal Ticket blog that she hopes the bottle shop will have a “record store vibe” that will be “heavy on the education/enthusiasm part of craft beer … no snobbery. [Customers will be able to] chat with the resident beer geek about what’s new, etc.”

An opening date has not yet been announced. Stick around for more details.

As Detroit’s population continues to shrink, nature is starting to take the city back. A dwindling population and high unemployment has also drastically reduced the opportunites for healthy food options. The documentary Grown in Detroit, which is playing at The Rotunda tonight as part of an ongoing discussion about food justice, shows how a handful of students in the Motor City have turned to urban farming to raise their own food and fight the blight.

The film is about the urban gardening done by a public school in Detroit, where 300 students, many pregnant and parenting teens, who farm land near their school.

The screening is part of the monthly “Food Justice Movie Night” series at The Rotunda, sponsored by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships and the Urban Nutrition Initiative and admission is free and a discussion on urban farming and eating locally will follow. Dinner is included. The screening begins at 6 p.m.

We just heard through the grapevine (aka Facebook) that Manakeesh, the Lebanese cafe and bakery at 45th and Walnut, will soon start delivery.

Yep, now you can get those great manakeesh, baklava etc. brought straight to your front door Monday through Thursday from Noon to 7 p.m. The service starts tomorrow and is available to those within a 10-block radius of the shop.

The road to Philly Beer Geek 2011 runs through the Dock Street Brewing Co. Wednesday night with a qualifying round beginning at 7 p.m.

The purpose of the Philly Beer Geek competition is “to identify, exalt and honor Philadelphia beer and the people who craft, celebrate and consume it with enthusiasm and pride,” according to the competition website. To get through to the semifinals on May 24 and then the finals during Philly Beer Week on June 9, contestants must first get through a qualifying round like the one Wednesday at Dock Street.

Details about the qualifying rounds are intentionally vague. They could be a beer quizzo, a tasting, classic bar jokes etc. Spectators are welcome and admission is free.

The emcees of Wednesday’s festivities are Carolyn Smagalski, the Beer Fox, and Steve Hawk, the Human Growler, who won the 2010 competition.

What’s that you say? You’re wondering how you can see the Oscar-nominated documentary Gasland, see three great bands AND help your local neighborhood food co-op all in one event? You’re in luck.

Mariposa Food Co-op is hosting a fundraising event Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m. that includes screening of Gasland, and performances by The Curious Shape of Hens, Dream Zoo and Adrienne Anemone. Admission is on a sliding scale from $5-$10. The event will be held at Mariposa’s new digs at 4824 Baltimore. Proceeds will go toward Mariposa’s expansion project.

What could be a harbinger of fast food restaurants to come opened near 40th and Walnut this week.

Sweet Green features “make your own” salads that include season and, when possible, local ingredients for $6.35. Ingredients include a range of greens – from mesclun (lettuces combined with some dandelion greens or other edible leaves) to baby spinach – a ton of fruits and vegetables, five kinds of cheese, and more than a dozen dressings. Meats, tofu and shrimp are a little extra. Other salads and wraps range from $7.50 to $11.

Organic frozen yogurt is also on the menu. A naked cone is $2.50. A small bowl of soup is $3.75 and drinks include housemade lemonade and iced tea.

The West Philly location is the second in the area (the other is in Ardmore). Sweet Green started in the D.C. area and company officials say the West Philly location design is a throwback to their original store. The inside of a fast food-style restaurant can’t get much more hip than this place. The woodwork, for example, is made from recycled bowling lane planks.

The restaurant is taking advantage of the trend of buying local, something familiar to many of us in West Philly thanks to places like Mariposa Food Co-op, Milk and Honey Market and the Clark Park farmer’s market.