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‘Top Chef’ should take up the ultimate challenge: school lunch

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on March 14, 2010

Season 7 of Bravo’s Top Chef will be based in Washington, D.C., reported the Metrocurean (no relation) a few days ago, with filming to begin in early April. That means that the popular reality show, with

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The ‘femivore’: New breed of feminist, or frontier throwback?

By Bonnie Azab Powell • on March 14, 2010

Cross-posted from Grist, where I am serving as deputy food editor (part time). Have locavores and feminists -- factions that a few years ago, some

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Research shows possible connection between pesticide use and skin cancer

By Ethicurean • on March 13, 2010

Health researchers have been unable to explain why several studies have found an excess risk of melanoma and other skin cancer for farmers. Farmers spend time in the sun — which is a major risk factor — but could it be something else? New research suggests that exposure to certain pesticides could

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The pie’s the limit! Get baking for Pi Day, March 14

By Jennifer M. aka Baklava Queen • on March 13, 2010

Back in my (much) younger days, I used to enjoy math class. I especially got a kick out of geometry and the formulas used to calculate area, perimeter or circumference, and volume. My mother and I used to have fun with one formula in particular: "What's the formula for the area of a circle?" she would

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Great food with “a side of sustainability” in L.A.

By Ethicurean • on March 12, 2010

City of angelic eateries: Some prominent restaurants in metro Los Angeles are striving to become more "sustainable" — a term without a legal definition at this moment and all too often used as a meaningless marketing term — through all sorts of new programs. The relocated Grace, for example, will

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Tracking the co-evolution of grass and humanity

By Ethicurean • on March 12, 2010

High on grass: "We live in the age of grass," writes Olivia Judson, a research fellow in biology at Imperial College London, on the New York Times' Opinionator blog. Indeed, some of the crops that helped make humans an agricultural creature and create our complex civilization are grasses: wheat, rice,

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Ethicurean nominated for Treehugger Best of Green award!

By Bonnie Azab Powell • on March 8, 2010

The Ethicurean has been nominated for a TreeHugger.com Best of Green award, in the Food & Health category. The Best of Green Awards recognize "the people, companies

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Here’s the catch: More sustainable seafood requires exerting pressure up the supply chain

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on March 2, 2010

This is part 2 of a series on improving market-based seafood sustainability initiatives, inspired by a recent article published by an international team of researchers in "Oryx: The International Journal of Conservation." (See Oryx volume 44, pp. 45-56 doi:10.1017/S0030605309990470.

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The manurification of America

By Ethicurean • on March 2, 2010

A perfect shitstorm: On some farms, animal manure can be a valuable asset, a way to improve the soil in the fields. But for today's massive factory farms — and, increasingly, the nation's air and waterways — manure is a huge liability, reports the Post's David A. Fahrenthold. Decomposing manure from

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Manure digesters clash with air quality requirements

By Ethicurean • on March 1, 2010

Cracking down on methane labs: When animal manure decomposes, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide (on a mass basis). To avoid these emissions, some are installing manure digesters, in which bacteria convert the waste to methane gas. The methane is then burned in

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The spirit is willing, and the fresh is weekly: Review of “A Year on the Garden Path”

By Jennifer M. aka Baklava Queen • on February 28, 2010

For the past few weeks, I've been watching the snow drift down with deceptive lightness, only to accumulate in deep piles (18" and counting here in northeastern Ohio) that have well and truly buried any remotely green thing on the ground. While it's lovely to sit inside and watch winter's show, I also

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Why seafood wallet cards can be the wrong bait for consumers

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on February 25, 2010

Seafood guides and other consumer-based campaigns are an important part of the quest for sustainable seafood and healthy oceans, but so far they have not shown enough positive results: bigger efforts are needed. That’s the main conclusion of a new article, "Conserving wild fish in a sea of market-based

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Victory for Florida tomato pickers, or a sneaky worker-around?

By Ethicurean • on February 25, 2010

Many months ago, thanks to a vigorous, multi-level campaign, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) secured pledges from big buyers like Burger King, Subway, McDonald's and Whole Foods to pay an extra penny a pound to Florida's tomato harvesters, bringing the per-bucket wage from 50 to 82 cents. (Workers

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Fertilizer overuse can acidify soil

By Ethicurean • on February 19, 2010

Another reason to dislike the N-word: Fertilizer overuse creates many problems, like aquatic dead zones, resource depletion and blue-baby syndrome. One impact that

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Saul’s got SOLE: The Jewish deli in Berkeley evolves

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on February 15, 2010

When it comes to comfort food — especially comfort food that is wrapped in "tradition" like the Jewish deli — change can cause a lot of discomfort. People want what they think will make them feel better. They want

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