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Wisconsinites to meet "Eat Local Week"
Some folks in Wisconsin are rolling out a sweet initiative in a couple weeks. The "Wisconsin Eat Local Challenge" encourages state residents to sign a pledge to eat local food for 10 days, from September 5 - 14.
And it's not your everyday "eat local" week. Participants are asked to sign up and track their progress online, as well as complete a follow-up survey. The website gives tips on tracking down local food, provides a blog for dialogue, and lists other resources and events related to local food.
Wisconsinites have it made, really. I mean, with the plethora of local cheese and beer options, and the longish growing season for vegetables, too, choosing Wisconsin items in the grocery store and farmers market should elicit pure pleasure. Some folks in Wisconsin are rolling out a sweet initiative in a couple weeks. The "Wisconsin Eat Local Challenge" encourages... more -
Chef accidentally recommends toxic henbane for salad herb
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has apologised after he recommended use of a poisonous plant in recipes.
In a magazine interview about watercress and other wild foods, Mr Worrall Thompson said the weed henbane was "great in salads".
Healthy & Organic Living magazine's website has now issued an urgent warning that "henbane is a very toxic plant and should never be eaten".
The chef had meant to recommend fat hen, which is a wild herb. Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has apologised after he recommended use of a poisonous plant in recipes. ... more -
Seed Library-Working Together for our Future Heritage
After three years of germinating the Seed Library concept, we are ready to blossom--from selling seeds that are grown in distant soils to cultivating a regional seed production network in New York and surrounding states. In 2009, almost all of our seed will be locally grown, and most of our varieties will be rooted in the history and soils of the Northeast. Please consider supporting our efforts to revive the local seed trade and save heirloom seeds and their stories by growing our seeds in your garden and becoming a member of our unique regional Seed Library.
Membership to join the seed library is a donation of $15 per year and in this program you can borrow seeds in spring and return them in the fall after your harvest! What a brilliant idea. After three years of germinating the Seed Library concept, we are ready to blossom--from selling seeds that are grown in distant soils... more -
The politics of eating
As a class, lower income people have been well represented in some of the best-covered food stories of our day, particularly hunger, obesity, and diabetes. As these issues have faded in and out of the public’s eye over the last 25 years, another food trend was rapidly becoming a national obsession—namely, local and organic.
At about the same time that Berkeley diva Alice Waters was first showing us how to bestow style and grace on something as ordinary as a local tomato, the Reagan administration’s anti-poor policies were driving an unprecedented number of people into soup kitchens and food banks. And as organic food advocates were putting the finishing touches on what was to become the first national standard for organic food, supermarket chains were nailing plywood across their city store windows bidding farewell to lower income America.
In low-income circles, however, such food anxieties got little traction. Between getting to a food store where the bananas weren’t black and having enough money to buy any food at all, low-income shoppers had little inclination to parse the differences between grass-fed and grass-finished. But this didn’t imply that their awareness of organic food was non-existent, nor did it mean that low-income consumers were less likely to buy organic if they had the chance.
Read the whole article. Very interesting points to make. As a class, lower income people have been well represented in some of the best-covered food stories of our day, particularly hunger, o... more -
The Black Lady of Broomhill
A short historical documentary about a ghost story originating from my home town of Larkhall. The Lady was brought in to the country by a wealthy member of local aristocracy. She vanished some time later and it is believed that her ghost haunts the Millheugh area of the village. A short historical documentary about a ghost story originating from my home town of Larkhall. The Lady was brought in to the country b... more
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Raw Milk
Then there’s New York organic dairyman Jerry Snyder, who has chosen the path of most resistance. His quest is to carve out a super-high-quality niche that few producers will be able to achieve—but that consumers will flock to support, and detractors of raw milk will have to recognize as producing a dairy product of superlative quality.
Strong, sometimes militant, consumer interest in high-quality raw milk is a beacon of hope for the future of well-run family-scale, grass-based organic farms in his region of New York.
The proposals continue the current raw-milk testing protocol, which exceed the bulk milk testing standards. The raw milk bacterial limit is less than one third of Grade A pasteurized milk while honoring the same 10 colony per ml. coliform count. Raw milk is tested for specific pathogens on a monthly basis, while Grade A milk is not, on the assumption that the pasteurization process neutralizes disease-causing microorganisms.
Snyder and other adherents believe that it is an important part of a healthy lifestyle that maximizes vitality while it minimizes antibiotics and immuno-suppressant treatments. “Pure milk” has natural components (lactoferrins, for instance, Snyder says) that serve to fight infection, and that are compromised somewhat by standard pasteurization and crippled by UHT treatment used to greatly extend shelf-life. Then there’s New York organic dairyman Jerry Snyder, who has chosen the path of most resistance. His quest is to carve out a super-hig... more -
Buying Local: The Counter-arguement
With many brands selling themselves as local alternatives to big corporations, many fail to stop and think about the usual arguments for buying local, which are usually 1) cutting out the middleman, 2) helping the local economy, and 3) cutting down on transportation costs and thus helping the environment.
Elizabeth Spiers reflects on her own Brooklyn neighborhood where university educated, self-proclaiming liberals try to force the "buy local" mantra down the throats of consumers and realizes that these supposedly smart people fail to see that "buy local" is co-opted by big corporations as a marketing tool. With many brands selling themselves as local alternatives to big corporations, many fail to stop and think about the usual arguments f... more -
COOL! Country of Origin Labeling is on the way
On Sept. 30, mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) will be enforced for beef, lamb, pork, fruit, vegetables and peanuts. The provision was originally approved as part of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, but special interests have lobbied to delay it since then. (Purveyors of wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, nonetheless, have had to disclose their origin since 2005.) And as the date nears, COOL is gaining momentum in Washington: Last month, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 expanded the list of covered commodities to include chicken, goat meat, ginseng, pecans and macadamia nuts.
ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/client/e3...
(The normal upload/link process wasn't working properly to anything on the adweek site.)
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Pay attention to all sides of the story, as it has direct implications for consumers and businesses, and will result in both sides having to modify their behavior to adapt. On Sept. 30, mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) will be enforced for beef, lamb, pork, fruit, vegetables and peanuts. The pro... more -
The Battle to Save the Polish Countryside
The fight between large-scale corporations including Monsanto and Smithfield, and the Polish family farmers continues. This is a very interesting an informative article. Well worth the 3 minutes it takes to read it. The fight between large-scale corporations including Monsanto and Smithfield, and the Polish family farmers continues. This is a very... more
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Rainbow in the sky
Post shower a lovely big rainbow was on show in the local sky, it looked very nice.
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On The Edge of the Internal Fringe (Utah can be amazing too!)
The secrets and forgotten history of Utah.. explored by a handful of serious artists.
The land you see is more common than you realized; it has been featured in numerous car commercials and films - such as Independence Day, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and The Hulk. What you may not know is it's a 13 mile stretch of pure salt. Look it up yourself.. city: Wendover, park: Bonneville Salt Flats.
About this clip: "GPS Expo"
The first annual of GPS Expo! Temperature: 115 degrees. The art is ultra fun and super cool. The secrets and forgotten history of Utah.. explored by a handful of serious artists. ... more -
Mouth of Babes: Good Food for the Next Generation
Grassroots internet TV food show starring pregnant mommy and Mikko, two year old boy. Promoting sustainable communities and good healthy food to create a happy generation of healthy kids. Grassroots internet TV food show starring pregnant mommy and Mikko, two year old boy. Promoting sustainable communities and good heal... more
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PRESERVATION NEW JERSEY'S TOP TEN IS OUT
A New Jersey historic preservation advocacy group has come out with its annual list of the most endangered historic sites in Jersey.
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Yangon Music School Is Now Disaster Relief Organization
With the whole city devastated, water pumps out, no electricity and no help from the military regime in sight, local organizations are coming together to support each other and provide relief to homeless families.
Gitameit music school, which is normally a local NGO that provides scholarships to students from all over Myanmar as well as outreach programs both by their teachers and their students to orphanages and monastery schools in poor townships of Yangon, is focusing it's resources on disaster relief and is accepting donations that can go directly to helping the people of Yangon.
Please visit the above site for updates and information from inside Yangon on what is being done and how you can help. With the whole city devastated, water pumps out, no electricity and no help from the military regime in sight, local organizations are... more -
Wild and Homegrown--Potato Salad
This homegrown all American picnic favorite demonstrates the direction people are turning as multinational greedy companies, such as Monsanto are stealing seeds. This homegrown all American picnic favorite demonstrates the direction people are turning as multinational greedy companies, such as M... more
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Do food miles matter?
Excerpt:
"it's how food is produced, not how far it is transported, that matters most for global warming, according to new research published in ES&T. In fact, eating less red meat and dairy can be a more effective way to lower an average U.S. household's food-related climate footprint than buying local food, says lead author Christopher Weber of Carnegie Mellon University."
I say go local and organic, but this article reinforces to me that it is worth the extra cost to support organic agriculture. Excerpt: ... more -
Fair Trade at Home
As the fair-trade movement (both international and domestic) wants everyone to understand, the local people behind the food we eat deserve sustainability, too. As the fair-trade movement (both international and domestic) wants everyone to understand, the local people behind the food we eat des... more
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Monsanto Took My Seed Blues
Following the tune of this call to defend our seed by Old Bull, Hella Delicious demonstrates practical ways that people are rising up to support themselves by self-sufficient gardens and eating local homegrown foods. Fun and practical. Following the tune of this call to defend our seed by Old Bull, Hella Delicious demonstrates practical ways that people are rising up ... more
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For ‘EcoMoms,’ Saving Earth Begins at Home
Move over, Tupperware. The EcoMom party has arrived, with its ever-expanding “to do” list that includes preparing waste-free school lunches; lobbying for green building codes; transforming oneself into a “locovore,” eating locally grown food; and remembering not to idle the car when picking up children from school (if one must drive). Here, the small talk is about the volatile compounds emitted by dry-erase markers at school. Move over, Tupperware. The EcoMom party has arrived, with its ever-expanding “to do” list that includes preparing waste-free school lu... more
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Hemingway meets Fitzgerald
The Dingo American Bar and Restaurant, 10 rue Delambre in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France
The Dingo Bar was one of the few drinking establishments of its time that was open all night. It became the favorite haunt of the many English-speaking artists and writers who gathered in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s.
As recorded by Ernest Hemingway in his book A Moveable Feast, he first met F. Scott Fitzgerald at the Dingo Bar in late April 1925, two weeks after the publication of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The Dingo American Bar and Restaurant, 10 rue Delambre in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France ... more
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