The United States of Monsanto

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Dec 21, 2010 at 13:24:53 PM PST

I'm going to let the U.S. government speak for itself here:

Summary: Mission Paris recommends that that the USG reinforce our negotiating position with the EU on agricultural biotechnology by publishing a retaliation list when the extend "Reasonable Time Period" expires. In our view, Europe is moving backwards not forwards on this issue with France playing a leading role, along with Austria, Italy and even the Commission. In France, the "Grenelle" environment process is being implemented to circumvent science-based decisions in favor of an assessment of the "common interest." Combined with the precautionary principle, this is a precedent with implications far beyond MON-810 BT corn cultivation. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices. In fact, the pro-biotech side in France -- including within the farm union -- have told us retaliation is the only way to begin to begin to turn this issue in France. End Summary.

This cable was sent from the U.S. Embassy in Paris on December 14, 2007. More below.

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Tales from the Larder: Cassoulet in all of its Glory

My earliest memory of cassoulet was when one the chefs in the family hotel declared that there was a restaurant somewhere in the Languedoc region which had been simmering this particular dish since the 1789 revolution, perhaps even before that. At the time I thought it a tall tale but as an impressionable boy of ten I gave the chef the benefit of the doubt. Several years later, I visited the celebrated Tour D'Argent in Paris and on the menu there was a description of a cassoulet which had been on the stove for the best part of a hundred years. When I questioned the maitre D', he explained the process of preparing it: it is traditional to deglaze the pot from the previous cassoulet in order to give a base for the next one. It made sense.

Next week I'll resume this series with a piece on my favorite seven spices. And a Xmas recipe for mulled wine.

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What Do Other Countries Eat For School Lunch

by: Jill Richardson

Wed May 20, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

I'd like to highlight a spectacular series on the blog F is For French Fry about school lunch in other countries. It shows you just how woefully inadequate our own school lunch actually is.

The most recent post was about Italy. Italian children eat local and organic food for lunch at school.

Like France, Italy views lunch as an integral part of a student's education. School meals are supposed to teach children about local traditions and instill a taste for the regional food. To that end, Italian law allows schools to consider more than just price when making contracts with meal providers. Schools can take into account location, culture and how foods fit into the curriculum.
All this makes for lunches that are about as different as it gets from American school meals. On a recent Friday, students in the northern city of Piacenza ate zucchini risotto and mozzarella, tomato and basil salad. Tomorrow they're getting pesto lasagna, a selection of cheeses and a platter of garden vegetables. Meat only shows up on menus only once or twice a week, and it's usually not the main course. Compare that to American cafeterias, where it's so hard to find a meatless entree that organizations are petitioning Congress to require a vegetarian option for school lunch.

Cost: $5.60 apiece.

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Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Mon May 04, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Here are the tasty morsels on my plate this morning:

F is for France! The school lunch blog F is for French Fry reports that children in a French school dined on cucumbers with garlic and fine herbs; Basque chicken thigh with herbs, red and green bell peppers and olive oil; couscous; organic yogurt and an apple. You know, real food. This fantastic lunch cost $8.23 to produce, but the students pay less than half the cost (or less if they are from low-income families). THAT is what it looks like to care about the health of your children.

More below...

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Bayer Sued For Murder (of Bees)

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Aug 28, 2008 at 11:00:00 AM PDT

I just love it when other countries do what America won't do. In this case, a German group, Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, filed a suit against Bayer CropScience for killing the bees.

The group accuses Bayer CropScience of "marketing dangerous pesticides and thereby accepting the mass death of bees all over the world."
The coalition filed the charge in cooperation with German beekeepers who claim they lost thousands of hives after poisoning by the Bayer pesticide clothianidin in May.

Details below.

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