Good Food is Everybody's Business
Early April, and we were on “pins and needles” awaiting the birth of our first lambs. Even Jerry had joined the ‘expectant’ group, but we did not really know what to ‘expect’ from our two ewes. We had no background information on them, other than that Mama was the “old ewe”, and came to us with only one lamb.
Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing a set of blueprints for 50 farming tools that can be built cheaply from scratch. He calls it a “civilization starter kit,” instruction set for an entire self-sustaining village (starting cost: $10,000).
The official definition of a food desert is a low income census tract where at least a third of the residents are a mile from a supermarket or large grocery store. Those criteria imply that they are have limited access to fresh, whole, nutritious food and may not be able to afford it, if they can get it. By applying these criteria, the USDA Food Desert Locator highlights those census tracts that are considered food deserts.
The growing oil, water, and climate crises threaten food security in all communities. This new film by Chris Bedford looks at the deeper issues of food security and community survival in this new age of global chaos and scarcity. “Getting Real about Food & the Future” features the wisdom of John McKnight, Bill McDonough, Lester Brown, Bob Costanza, and David Korten.
Andrew Kimbrell is one of five attorneys who form the Center for Food Safety. Kimbrell, a bioethicist and author, was named one of the 100 leading visionaries by Utne Reader and his work focuses on legal battles to keep our food safe.
Our menagerie was down to only one dog and a canary, after our beloved old fox terrier, Zip, was run over in the summer. That was a very sad day for us. We had had her for over 15 years, and she had traveled with us all the years that Jerry was welding on water towers.
A new study – authored by researchers with ties to the plastic and chemical industries and funded by Bayer Schering Pharma AG, the largest producer of BPA in Europe – has come out concluding that bisphenol A (BPA) is safe. Suzanne Rust, Environmental Reporter for California Watch, refutes its objectivity.
A host of books and films in recent years have documented in great detail the dangers of our current food system, but advice on what to do about it largely begins and ends with the admonition to “eat local” or “eat organic.” This advice is not helpful if, as Chicago Congressman Bobby Rush once pointed out, you can buy ketchup where you live, but no fresh tomatoes.
