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Wisconsin 
Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 10:30:43 AM PST
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I wrote a friend in Wisconsin, asking for more information on the proposed enormous dairy in Rosendale. Here's what he had to say (below). If you live in Wisconsin and you want to do something about this, please write a letter to the Governor and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.
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Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 23:27:51 PM PDT
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Today, Michael Pollan participated in a panel discussion at University of Wisconsin. The panel consisted of two farmers, a UW student who grew up on the farm, and Michael Pollan. The UW student had an enormous smile plastered on her face. Something told me that she wasn't there to talk about her family's organic farm. And you know what? If you're looking to put Michael Pollan in a difficult position, it was clever. It reminded me of the Palin/Biden Vice Presidential Debate. The last thing Biden could do was aggressively debate Palin, as it would put the audience on her side as the victim of a bully. Or, as Saturday Night Live's fake Joe Biden put it:
My goal tonight was a simple one: to come up here and at no point seem like a condescending, ego-maniacal bully. and I'll be honest: I think I nailed it. There were moments when I wanted to say, "This lady's a dummy!" But I didn't.
Michael Pollan nailed it too. This cute, cheerleadery, young girl spouted off every single Big Ag talking point in the book. (I kept expecting her to start winking, Sarah Palin-style.) The last thing he could do was pick a fight with a student. That would turn into an ugly incident that would make national headlines. The many Farm Bureau members in the audience would make sure of it. His response to the student was nothing short of brilliant.
(Just a caveat here: Maybe Pollan didn't think she was a dummy. I don't want to put my words in his mouth. He was incredibly respectful to her, and for all I know, he thought she had something valuable to say. Maybe he was impressed that a student had the courage to stand up to a national celebrity like himself.)
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Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 09:55:19 AM PDT
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I'm a kid in a candy shop here in Madison. I don't know what to do first. Should it be a squash curry at Lao Laan Xang, some beer at the Great Dane, or perhaps a walk through the arboretum? Then there's Willy St Coop (the natural foods cooperative), Bandung (an Indonesian restaurant), Hempen Goods (a hemp clothing shop), or even A Woman's Touch (one of the top sex shops in the country). But right now, I'm sitting at Ground Zero coffee on Willy St, and I'm face to face with chef Tory Miller, Executive Chef of Madison's finest restaurant, L'Etoile.
Well, not personally. He's on the cover of Madison magazine. I saw him there as I ordered my coffee and went, "Hey, I know that guy!" The best game in town is trying to find Tory at the farmers' market to see what he's buying. L'Etoile commits to serving seasonal, local food year round (yes, even in Madison's bitter cold winters) and Tory's a regular at the farmers' market. I'm proud to say that I buy the same carrots that he serves at L'Etoile. Or used to anyway, back when I lived here.
L'Etoile was founded back in the 1970s - you know, before Farm to Table was "cool." Tory wasn't in Madison then - the visionary behind L'Etoile was Odessa Piper, but the restaurant's certainly in good hands with Tory. And while L'Etoile may have been the first, it's certainly not the only restaurant in town that serves local food. There's also Harvest (American cuisine) and The Old Fashioned (Wisconsin cuisine), both on the same block as L'Etoile. Madison magazine also recognizes Osteria Papavero (Italian), Lombardino's (Italian), The Dardenelles (Mediterranean), Restaurant Magnus (Scandinavian), Restaurant Muramoto (Japanese), Marigold Cafe (Brunch), and Sardine (American).
Many of these restaurants will break the bank. When I lived in Madison, L'Etoile and Harvest were reserved for special occasions, like my birthday or when someone else was paying. The Old Fashioned is much more affordable, as is The Dardenelles lunch menu. Also, on a sad note, even with conscientious chefs, I noticed that some of these restaurants serve severely overfished species of fish, like cod. That's a shame when even the supposedly good guys are doing bad things.
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Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 16:18:58 PM PDT
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- Is Iron Paws sending me subliminal messages? He just sent me this article about a vegan woman denied her "ILVTOFU" license plate choice because it could be misinterpreted as I Love To F-U.
- Alternet challenges us to be extreme locavores by foraging for our food.
- Natasha Chart says they can't feed us oil forever. Yeah, but it sure looks like they are willing to try...
- Paula Crossfield agrees with me that Bryant Terry's new book Vegan Soul Kitchen totally rocks!
- I loooove Civil Eats posts on local food in various regions of the country. Check out this one on Southern sustainability about a blogger's trip to Georgia for their organics conference.
- I got reeaaallly excited about this post entitled "future fruits" about heirloom apples in Madison, WI. My favorite apple grower in Madison is Ellen at Future Fruit Farm. Could it be that she was now famous on the Internets? Alas, it was not the case (although it's still an article worth reading). Looks like it's up to me to go back to Madison to give Ellen her 15 minutes of fame.
- Ezra Klein writes about making tsimmes (and later gives an update). Ezra, can I recommend my family's recipe?
- OK, that's it. Look at this mouthwatering picture. I AM going to make matzoh ball soup just as soon as I can find a vegetarian recipe for the stuff.
- Philpott takes on Bittman over red snapper - one of the most endangered fishies out there, and one that Bittman is still, apparently, eating.
- Why is this president different from all other presidents? It's not what you might think... Obama is holding a passover seder!
- The lovely ladies of the Ethicurean are making compost.
- Check out this really cool piece from Fooducate about Passover and Easter shopping trends.
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Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 14:56:26 PM PDT
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Hat tip to John Peck for sending this article over. How nice that Monsanto is funding our universities. I'm sure it buys a lot of influence.
Monsanto aids UW plant breeding with $1 million gift
Monsanto Co. has made a $1 million gift to support plant breeding and genetics in the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), the UW announced.
The Monsanto Graduate Fellowship in Plant Breeding will help fund Ph.D.-level graduate students in the plant breeding and plant genetics program in CALS.
"Plant breeding defines an activity that will be an essential component of our planetary stewardship as we feed our growing population through the coming century," CALS Dean Molly Jahn said in a statement. "This gift from Monsanto will allow us to explore revolutionary approaches toward improved agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship while we train the next generation of plant breeders."
Monsanto said it sees the UW program as a strong partner, as it has a "long history of training outstanding plant breeders" Bob Reiter, vice president of Breeding Technology for Monsanto, said in a statement.
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Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT
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Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Herb is a 4th term senator from Wisconsin who was last elected in 2006 with 67% of the vote. He is FREAKING RICH and can basically finance his own campaign - and he owns the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team too. Herb was born in Milwaukee, WI on February 7, 1935. He is Jewish and he earned an MBA from Harvard in 1958. He served in the army reserves from 1958 to 1964. He is single.
Herb Kohl is important to us because he chairs the Senate's Appropriations sub-committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. That means if we want money, we go through him.
Kohl is no Feingold, but he's also no Feinstein. In other words - he's not the most progressive guy around, but he's at least slightly more liberal than a Republican. As a Wisconsin senator, you can bet he pays attention to dairy issues. His website also cites conservation, food safety, and nutrition programs (i.e. WIC and food stamps) as areas he cares about.
Contact Information
DC: 202-224-5653 (phone); 202-224-9787 (fax)
District Offices: 414-297-4451 (Milwaukee); 608-264-5338 (Madison); 715-832-8424 (Eau Claire); 920-738-1640 (Appleton); 608-796-0045 (La Crosse)
Chief of Staff: Paul Bock
Scheduler: Arlene Branca
Legislative Director: Chad Metzler
Communications Director: Lynn Becker
Congresspedia entry for Herb Kohl
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Wed Jul 16, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT
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David R. Obey (D-WI)
Dave is a 20th term Congressman from Wisconsin's 7th district (the NW quarter of the state, including the city of Wausau). In 2006, he was elected with 62% of the vote. Dave was born in Okmulgee, OK, on October 3, 1938. He is Catholic and his highest degree is an MA from the University of Wisconsin in 1962. Before he was elected, he was a realtor. His wife's name is Joan.
Dave Obey is important to us because he chairs the appropriations committee. He holds the ultimate power in the House over who gets money and who doesn't. He believes in food safety (a good thing) but lately he's been support of the National Animal ID System (a bad thing) as a means to achieve food safety.
Contact Information
Phone: 202-225-3365 (DC); 715-842-5606 (Wausau); 715-398-4426 (Superior)
Fax: 715-842-4488
Chief of Staff: Christina Hamilton
Appointment Secretary: Carly Burns
Legislative Director: Will Painter
Press Secretary: Ellis Brachman
Congrespedia Entry on Dave Obey
Obey's clearly not a bad guy, and he's very invested in helping out his district in Wisconsin. I get pangs of homesickness for my home state when I read through his positions on helping cranberry growers and dairy farmers. However, he's also not some tree-hugger hippie liberal who is dying to turn the U.S. food system into a utopia of local, organic, seasonal foods. Since he gets to control the "power of the purse" it would be wonderful to see him really give a significant amount of funding to the conversation programs he says he supports.
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