Monday Evening Sampler Platter

by: JayinPortland

Mon Mar 23, 2009 at 16:00:00 PM PDT

• A new restaurant near the University of Texas at Arlington, which uses locally grown, organic ingredients as much as possible, has a no-set-price policy, and asks customers to discreetly pay (in an envelope) afterwards for what they thought the meal was worth.  The idea is based upon an existing Salt Lake City non-profit community kitchen's model.  Can it work for a commercial establishment?  So far, the restaurant is coming up just short, although it's only two months old and the business itself is always a rough one.

• The City of Berkeley, CA may soon transform all of its parks and open spaces into habitats for bees, in an effort to reverse the recent global decline of pollinators.

• If you're in Kansas, you can vote for the best food in the state from now until March 31.  Unfortunately, restaurants must be at least a decade old in order to be considered, so that rules out Lawrence's Local Burger for at least the next 7 years.  I'm sure there's something else worth considering in Lawrence, though...

• USDA will update its Plant Hardiness Zone Map later this year, for the first time since 1990, to reflect the climate-change induced shifts of planting zones northward.

More below the fold...

• I haven't been to a Major League Baseball game since a 2006 trip to Detroit, but I know that ballpark food is getting better and more varied.  The (this hurts to say...) New York Yankees have just announced expanded food options for their new stadium; beyond the typical ballpark fare there will also be "a traditional farmers market" (undefined as of now) inside the park, expanded choices of freshly prepared ethnic food items along with butchers inside the park and more cooking areas to reduce the amount of pre-wrapped foods and packaging waste.

• From this article on the link between fast food clusters near schools and student obesity, an interesting graphic mapping those clusters around 5 LA high schools, one of which has 2 Quizno Subs restaurants within walking distance.

• A preliminary analysis from Ecotrust shows that the Farm to School Pilot Programs in Oregon have provided a great return on investment beyond just Oregon agriculture, and on into almost every other sector of local economies.

• A great article from Madison, WI on elementary school students' composting efforts and school gardens.

• Sustainable Transportation Round-Up:  Two West Coast Amtrak routes will get $137.2 million in federal funds, a project will begin soon here in Portland to take back (some of) one of the downtown Willamette River bridges for the (walking and biking) people(!), and why aren't there more schools like this across the country?

  In just two weeks at UBI, beginning mechanics earn enough certification to qualify for entry-level professional bike-shop jobs, a turnaround that attracts bike enthusiasts from all walks of life and has kept enrollment strong as the economy crumbles, said Ron Sutphin, who owns the school with his wife, Denise.

  [...]

  The school has grown from about 60 students per year, when Sutphin bought it, to more than 500, with significant waiting lists for several courses. A few students come from Southern Oregon or Portland, but most travel from out of state. About 10 percent of the students are international.

• A new study published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology details how Salmonella bacteria survive and thrive in the environment.

• "Vrapple", a vegan scrapple, has placed second in ScrappleFest 2009.  I'm always usually up for trying something new, but I've got to admit that I'm probably not gonna go looking for that one next time I'm out in Philly...

• Ronald Reagan is alive and well in a suburban Ohio county, where conservative politicians are raising objections to the state's lifting of assets tests in order for the newly unemployed to qualify for food stamps.  Note to these "conservative public servants":  One or two people potentially abusing the system is not a reason to ensure that everybody is broke and destitute by the time they eventually do qualify for food stamps, especially in times like these.  If these people run out of everything, then they're going to eventually need much more help than just minimal food assistance.  But then again, nobody's ever accused these types of being able to think ahead.

• Unsurprisingly, they're only for increased inspections if they don't have to pay for them - the Grocery Manufacturers Association and other industry lobbyists are focusing efforts on Republicans and moderate Democrats in Congress to ensure that the costs of any increased inspections are covered by somebody else.