Digest - Blogs & Opinion: Turkeys past & harvests, farm fire, the economy vs. ag
Super-sighs, me: A fascinating look at how our Thanksgiving meal has been amped up by science in a number of ways over the centuries, from Tom the turkey to the sweetness of the corn. (Wired blog, thanks Naomi!)
Show it like it is: Blogger Bunrab provides a step-by-step photo montage of what goes into processing heritage turkeys (Daily Feed), while over on Chews Wise, guest poster Lisa Hamilton elevates turkeys to the level of fine art with her beautiful photos of a Petaluma, CA group of Slow Foodies who partnered with the local 4-H chapter to raise (and, yes, butcher) heritage birds.
Farm needs help: The barn of Maveric Heritage Ranch in South Dakota burned to the ground, with one-of-a-kind, rare-breed hogs and other animals inside. Maveric needs volunteer workers, supplies, and financial help. (Slow Food USA Blog)
How do you spell change? Maybe not USDA: Amidst all the speculation about the potential for food-system improvements thanks to a slew of new ag bureaucrats under the new administration, Tom Philpott asks how much we can really expect when the guys making the economic decisions represent "warmed-over versions of old and discredited ideas." (Grist)
Get rural: Chuck Hassebrook of the Center for Rural Affairs tells why Obama's litmus test for those who want to be Ag Sec: their commitment to the rural agenda on which he campaigned. (Des Moines Register)
Pollan doesn't need the Ag-gravation: The author of "The Omivore's Dilemma" will be on the Bill Moyers show tomorrow night, apparently laughing about how he doesn't want to be Secretary of Agriculture, but suggesting Obama appoint a "food policy czar" and institute "meatless Mondays." (The Moyers Blog)
Time-traveling to gardens past: War Vegetable Gardening and Home Storage of Vegetables from 1918 has been planted at Google Book Search, and the book's tips probably are as applicable today as they were in 1918. The agency that produced it was the National War Garden Commission. Browsing it beats the heck out of the national go-shopping command. (BoingBoing.net)
