The day I became a farmer was not, as one might imagine, the cool April day I started work as an intern at Guidestone Farm in Colorado. Nor did I not think of myself as a farmer the day I learned how to milk a cow. Getting up before dawn to pick peas did not make me a farmer; neither did bucking fresh bales of hay until the stack reached above my head. Farming is hard work, but hard work alone does not make one a farmer.
archive for September, 2007
Thanks a melon!
Labor Day weekend means one thing in particular to those of us raised in proximity to Lake Erie: the Milan Melon Festival. Throughout the year, Milan is famous for being the birthplace of Thomas Alva Edison, but as the summer winds up, the area around Milan bursts into color and fragrance as the bumper crops of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe are harvested.
Beltway pundit takes on the Food and Farm Bill
Robert Samuelson, writing in the Washington Post, takes a look at the Food and Farm Bill and doesn’t like what he sees:
The farm legislation proceeding through Congress symbolizes much of what’s wrong with Washington. It’s government by inertia. We do today what we did yesterday, because politicians draw their power from distributing benefits and various […]
Digest - News: Biofuel savior, Organic Pastures cream recalled, organic food more nutritious
A roundup of breaking news & commentary about SOLE food that we think will be of interest to Ethicurean readers.
Digest - Commentary: Bee very worried, be Frank, be safe
A roundup of opinion pieces about SOLE food that we think will be of interest to Ethicurean readers.
Digest - Features & Blogsnacks: Cornucopia, “box turners,” and bye-bye to pigs in the ‘hood
A roundup of current features and featured blog posts of possible interest to Ethicurean readers.
Simplifying and taking action on the Food and Farm Bill
A few weeks ago, Whigsboy left a comment on one of my Food and Farm Bill posts that expressed some frustration: "I have tried to follow this bill, but I am thoroughly confused, and it’s extremely frustrating because I’d like to contact my legislator and tell him what I’d like to see him support, […]
Digest - Research: Recent Congressional Research Service reports
This is the debut of a sporadic digest of somewhat more weighty documents than typical digest items. The "Research" digest will include scientific papers, policy reports, and similar academic items.
Today’s edition is a collection of Congressional Research Service reports. If you have never heard of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), that’s not surprising. […]
Digest - Farm & rural: Farm Bill battle to re-commence, the future of rural America
A round-up of the most important news regarding farm and rural America. Contributed by our friends at the Center for Rural Affairs.
Vermont (& New England) Diary Part II - the search for raw milk
I have been so busy gardening and cooking and enjoying the last few weeks of summer that I never got around to writing "Vermont Diary - Part II", the thrilling sequel to "Vermont Diary - Part I." Contributing to my negligence was a short trip to Maine, highlights of which I will include in this […]
LivingSmall in Montana: What’s in your freezer?
If local is the new organic, then most of my friends here are very trendy. As with most little towns in the scenic intermountain west, we have our issues between the newbies and the locals, but game cuts across all the class boundaries — we all eat local wild meat. Whatever you might feel about hunting, you have to admit that you can’t get much more local than going out on a cold fall morning before sunrise, then shooting, field dressing, and packing out an animal that is destined for your freezer. An animal you intend to eat for the next year.
Live webcast: Eat Well Guided Tour of America’s grand finale
Our friends at Sustainable Table asked me to mention that there will be a live webcast today at 6:30 p.m. EST (3:30 p.m. PST) of the shindig marking the last stop of the Eat Well Guided Tour of America. If you happen to live around Red Hook, NY, it sounds like it’s going to be […]
Digest - News & Commentary: Bee breakthrough, popcorn lung, progressive grocers
A roundup of current news and commentary about everything from Farm Bill updates to backyard chickens, transgenic foods, E. coli recalls, and sustainable fish.
Digest - Features: Hot chicks, more reality TV, celebrichefs
A roundup of current features and featured blog posts of possible interest to Ethicurean readers.
Digest - Blogsnacks: Russ Parsons says “Pay more!”, farmer reality show
A roundup of current features and featured blog posts of possible interest to Ethicurean readers.
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most recent features & snacks
• Beware: Pirates patrol these waters
• Videos posted for Slow Food Nation’s Food for Thought series
• Schwarzenegger goaded into raw milk veto, dairies may have to lose to win
• Cooking up a plan: Food policy for the president-to-be
• Energy to spare: Clif Bar Q&A and profile
• Dispatch from NC: Notes on the food crisis
• More kudos to Slow Food Nation: Bioplastic utensils with improved labeling
• Rigging the aquaculture game
• As the dirt turns (a pair of agricultural hope operas)
• Report from TASTE3: Peter Reinhart on life and death in breadmaking
• Videos posted for Slow Food Nation’s Food for Thought series
• Schwarzenegger goaded into raw milk veto, dairies may have to lose to win
• Cooking up a plan: Food policy for the president-to-be
• Energy to spare: Clif Bar Q&A and profile
• Dispatch from NC: Notes on the food crisis
• More kudos to Slow Food Nation: Bioplastic utensils with improved labeling
• Rigging the aquaculture game
• As the dirt turns (a pair of agricultural hope operas)
• Report from TASTE3: Peter Reinhart on life and death in breadmaking
most recent Digests
• Mini-Digest: Food stamps, belly cramps, and more
• New organization helps veterans become farmers
• Judge tells UDSA to stop interfering with the California election
• Mini-digest: Frankenfoods, fisheries, and folly
• Red alert! Americans are concerned about food safety!
• Florida citrus crops attacked by bacterium, future in peril
• Mini-Digest (Blogs): Shredding the NYT’s locavore coverage, the end of food — and the organic boom? Plus TCHO Chocolate TV
• New organization helps veterans become farmers
• Judge tells UDSA to stop interfering with the California election
• Mini-digest: Frankenfoods, fisheries, and folly
• Red alert! Americans are concerned about food safety!
• Florida citrus crops attacked by bacterium, future in peril
• Mini-Digest (Blogs): Shredding the NYT’s locavore coverage, the end of food — and the organic boom? Plus TCHO Chocolate TV
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Humor:- • Innovative process turns any vegetable organic in seconds
- • Open letter to Monsanto
- • Adventures with live tortillas
- • Locavore family goes to extremes
- • Absencia Grassosis fells organic dairy
- Rants:
- • Smells like a free ride: The EPA, CAFOs, and emissions
- • Downer and out: The U.S. beef industry
- • FDA approves food from clones
- • Why is Alice Waters involved with the Ameya Preserve?
- First person:
- • How I taught my kid to curse
- • Growing into a farmer
- • What's in a Montana freezer?
- Wonky:
- • Why school lunches fail
- • Non-total recall: The USDA's lack of authority
- • Shocking! USDA limits 'grass fed' label to meat that actually is
- • Getting to the heart of state meat inspection law
- • The blame frame and corn
- How-tos:
- • Exploring the pastabilities
- • Plotting our Victory Gardens
- • Bake on the wild side
- • Build a solar oven
- In the field:
- • Maryland's Springfield Farm
- • Eating local in Tucson
- • Winter on a New Hampshire farm
- • Local Burger in Kansas
- • Washington's Estrella Family Creamery
- • The Children's Studio School Garden in DC
- • Searching for raw milk in Vermont
- Reviews:
- • Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food"
- • Finding common grounds: "Black Gold"
- • Good cob, bad cob: "King Corn"
- Most inexplicably trafficked:
- • Lard
- • Smithfield's in deep shit
- • Dave Reichert on global warming
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