Jun 06
“ Our current food predicament resembles a Malthusian scenario—misery and famine—but one largely created by overproduction rather than underproduction. Our ability to produce vastly too many calories for our basic needs has skewed the concept of demand, and generated a wildly dysfunctional market.Jun 04
Tyson to pull "false and misleading" label
The USDA has ordered Tyson Foods to stop labeling its chicken “raised without antibiotics”, after discovering that the company regularly uses gentamicin in its hatcheries.
Jun 03
Cute shirts from FoodTee Market
Found these via The Kitchn, get them at FoodTee Market
Jun 02
“ I call it the American paradox, people who obsess about nutritional health and have the worst nutritional health on the planet.Jun 01
Anti-U.S. beef protest draws 100,000 S.Koreans
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean students, parents with toddlers in tow, and union members took to the streets on Saturday in a massive protest against a government decision to resume imports of U.S. beef that they see as dangerous.
May 31
Latest blog obsession: For the Love of Food.
Would you look at that hummus?! Oh man … I have to go eat something now.
May 30
City Chickens
I don’t eat eggs often, but when I do I insist that they come from ethically raised hens. Most industrial food animals are subject to some degree of discomfort, but the conditions endured by factory farm layer hens can be particularly gruesome. Plus, when chickens are raised in healthier conditions their eggs tend to be healthier and tastier as well.
The non-industrial egg options available to a city dweller might seem limited, but there are several possibilities. Farmers markets are a popular source; many farmers there are happy to let you tour their operations and learn more about how your food is produced.
Egg co-ops are another potential resource; participants get to take home fresh eggs in exchange for helping maintain the flock. If there isn’t one in your city, you may be able to obtain a grant to start one—Heifer International has helped fund urban agriculture projects like The City Farms in New York or Zenger Farm in Portland, OR.
If you have even a tiny yard, yet another option is to keep your own chickens. 2-3 hens provide more than enough eggs for most families, and require only a few square feet of coop space per hen. Their waste is an excellent composting substrate and they’ll keep your garden free of slugs and other pests.
Learn more about keeping city chickens:
http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/
http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/simpleliving/chickens.shtml
May 29
May 28
Give Sardines a Chance
Taras Grescoe is the author of a new book called Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood. An article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer quotes Grescoe and other activists on some of the complex issues we face in trying to eat seafood that is healthy for both our bodies and the environment. Excerpts:
“The simple fact is, if you are eating cheap shrimp today, it almost certainly comes from a turbid, pesticide- and antibiotic-filled, virus-ridden pond in … one of the world’s poorest countries,” Grescoe said.
In research that brings muckraking books such as “Fast Food Nation” to mind, he described farmed salmon fed on a protein diet that included chicken feathers and manure, their nets treated with “an anti-fouling paint originally formulated to make the hulls of boats so poisonous even barnacles would not stick to them.”
And once again, I envy countries whose regulatory agencies aren’t completely gutted by special interests:
In Japan and in England, for instance, even major supermarkets provide detailed labeling information on seafood to help consumers make the best choices.
The article also includes recipes, a list of “always eat” and “never eat” fish and shellfish, and information on how to choose healthy, sustainable seafood.
Incidentally, if you’ve only ever tried canned sardines, oh man, are you missing out. I had some fresh grilled whole sardines the other day, and they are a whole ‘nother (delicious) animal.
May 27
“ A sustainable decline in prices will be possible only with an increase in agricultural supply and its corollary, the dismantling of protectionism. This reform would meet both the rise in demand for food and the unpredictable behaviour of Mother Nature.Mar 20
“ If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then Mars is a land where the refrigerators are stocked with meat and frozen pizza and Venus has a bounty of yogurt, fruits and vegetables…Mar 10
Waste time on the internet for a good cause.
FreeRice.com raises donations for the UN World Food Program. It’s similar in concept to The Hunger Site, except that there is no daily cap on donations: the longer you play the vocabulary game, the more rice is donated. (And the more you learn.)
Mar 09
“ Everyone wants to eat like an American … But if they do, we’re going to need another two or three globes to grow it all.Mar 06
“ We are sleep-walking into a crisis.— Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at the University of Leeds
