Wednesday Morning Sampler Platter, 07.22.09

by: JayinPortland

Wed Jul 22, 2009 at 06:03:29 AM PDT

Carrying on, here we go...

• Jamming for the Hungry!  This piece makes me believe again...

• In Richland, Washington, WIC is working with local farmers' markets to ensure access to better nutrition for local citizens.

• Why can they not understand this?  Another local piece claims we "can't feed ourselves locally".  OMG, panic!!!  Ummm, btw - did the author of that piece ever stop and ask herself why nothing but commodity cranberries are currently grown in Coos County; and if those are the only things that can ever be grown there, in what could (and should) be one of the most productive and diverse agricultural regions in America?  Hello, McFly?

• US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced legislation yesterday to improve school lunches.  Sadly, it sounds like some "same ole, same ole" to me... but if anybody knows better can you let us know?  I'd love to be proven wrong here...

• Even though those in positions of power in Pennsylvania seem to be helpless in feeding those who work for them, food banks are extending their hours for these people (for as long as they can).  Pardon me, but - wtf, y'all?  Pass a budget, Pennsylvania politicians...

• Bikes are not cars, and they don't produce the same waste as dogs (not to mention cars!).  And even though I, an Inner SE Portland pedestrian, get quite pissed off at certain asswipes on bikes who think they're above car and pedestrian laws... bikers certainly aren't the problem in our region, and should not be taxed extra.  Look at your own backyard first, Vancouver "City" Commissioner Stuart, and maybe consider designing a city of your own that doesn't require new taxpayer-subsidized (by Oregonians, of course) 20-lane bridges (considering on-and-off ramps in North Portland neighborhoods) into Portland, mmmmkay?

• Good magazine brings us a list of the the biggest groundwater contamination cover-ups in U.S. history.  I actually worked on one of these sites back in my environmental remediation days, the Newtown Creek spill (on the Queens side), which is considered the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Sampler Platter 05.06.09

by: JayinPortland

Wed May 06, 2009 at 14:50:13 PM PDT

• Another victory for the precautionary principle - Monsanto has just lost a court ruling in Germany, in which they were attempting to overturn the country's ban on a variety of their genetically-modified corn.

• Deborah Lehmann at School Food Policy (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs) writes about the importance of putting the "school" back into school lunches.

• An article in the New York Times takes a look at how agribiz giant Smithfield is rapidly bringing factory hog farming to Eastern Europe -

  In Poland, there were 1.1 million hog farmers in 1996. That number fell 56 percent by 2008, as the advent of modern farming methods transformed agriculture, according to the Polish National Agricultural Chamber.

  [...]

  The impact on the environment is even more marked. With almost 40 farms in western Romania, Smithfield has built enormous metal manure containers to inject waste into the soil. "We go crazy with the daily smell," said Aura Danielescu, the principal of a school in Masloc, who closes her windows tight.

More below the fold...

Appetizer Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Mar 04, 2009 at 17:34:13 PM PST

• San Diego's citrus and avocado industries may be in trouble. The reason? Water. Or, rather, lack of water.

• Interested in studying gastronomy in Italy? You get to gorge yourself on fine wines and cheese in Italy and get a college degree for it. Nice! Last week I met up with the university's David Szanto while he was in L.A. I have to admit, I might not be ready to pack my bags for Italia but I sure am jealous!

• Sustainable Table gives instructions to make your own yogurt. OK, now I am seriously sad I don't know of any local dairies near me. Homemade yogurt looks yummy. Hat tip to Natasha Chart for this.

• Civil Eats celebrates National Eat the Stuff in our Freezers and Pantry Week. I'm not sure I can celebrate. Do cashews and dried beans go stale if they've been sitting on a shelf for 2-4 years?

• Marion Nestle went to see Food, Inc and she gives it two thumbs up. I've only seen clips and heard a talk by the director and stars Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan about the making of the movie. It's going to be a BIG DEAL when this comes out.

• Grist answers the question "Can you compost tainted food?" Their answer, in short, is NO. If you've got food that's been recalled due to salmonella or other toxic microbes, throw that shit away!

• Chef Kurt Michael Friese isn't done yet picking on KFC's cheap chicken ads. He says they hide the true cost of the food. It's a pretty funny take on the ad, especially when he goes into the fine print and translates it from lawyer into English. "The chicken is fresh, except for when it's not." Yum. (Here's his previous commentary on KFC ads.)

• Check out this article about a foodie who gleans the Bay Area's unwanted fruit, herbs, and nuts from residential trees.

• The Ethicurean tells about volunteering at a free lunch program in New England. It's a really well-written and touching story from a first-person point of view. I definitely recommend taking a look, especially if you've ever considered volunteering yourself.

It'll go nicely on toast

by: by foot

Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 18:35:45 PM PDT

15 pounds of apricots!

Now, I love fruit of all kinds, and getting a pile of free fruit for making jam or sauce is a bit like finding the gold at the end of the rainbow, in my book.  But apricots?  Let's just say that "obsession" is not too strong a word.  I know the locations of a couple of dozen trees by memory, and most years I hang plastic bottles of flowering branches in various trees around town, in hopes of pollination.  It's usually no use, as we are subject to a lot of late frosts that destroy the crop.

This year, I didn't hang any flowering branches.

It mattered not a bit.