From BILL McKIBBEN
Orion Magazine

A call for America to divest its heart and stomach from feedlot beef

MAY I SAY—somewhat defensively—that I haven’t cooked red meat in many years? That I haven’t visited a McDonald’s since college? That if you asked me how I like my steak, I’d say I don’t really remember? I’m not a moral abstainer—I’ll eat meat when poor people in distant places offer it to me, especially when they’re proud to do so and I’d be an ass to say no. But in everyday life, for a series of reasons that began with the dietary scruples of the woman I chose to marry, hamburgers just don’t come into play.

I begin this way because I plan to wade into one of the most impassioned fracases now underway on the planet—to meat or not to meat—and I want to establish that I Do Not Have A Cow In This Fight. In recent years vegetarians and vegans have upped their attack on the consumption of animal flesh, pointing out not only that it’s disgusting (read Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book) but also a major cause of climate change. The numbers range from 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions to—in one recent study that was quickly discredited—51 percent.

Whatever the exact figure, suffice it to say it’s high: there’s the carbon that comes from cutting down the forest to start the farm, and from the fertilizer and diesel fuel it takes to grow the corn, there’s the truck exhaust from shipping cows hither and yon, and most of all the methane that emanates from the cows themselves (95 percent of it from the front end, not the hind, and these millions of feedlot cows would prefer if you used the word eructate in place of belch). This news has led to an almost endless series of statistical calculations: going vegan is 50 percent more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than switching to a hybrid car, according to a University of Chicago study; the UN Food and Agriculture Organization finds that a half pound of ground beef has the same effect on climate change as driving an SUV ten miles. It has led to a lot of political statements: the British health secretary last fall called on Englishmen to cut their beefeating by dropping at least a sausage a week from their diets, and Paul McCartney has declared that “the biggest change anyone could make in their own lifestyle to help the environment would be to become vegetarian.” It has even led to the marketing of a men’s flip-flop called the Stop Global Warming Toepeeka that’s made along entirely vegan lines.

More at Orion Magazine→
~
Image Credit: © June Marie Sobrito | Dreamstime.com
~~

From LAURA SAYRE
The New Farm

A grower- and processor-driven movement explores how to produce apples with fewer chemicals in the moist and buggy East

Can Pennsylvania’s apple sector figure out new production methods and systems that will meet even certified organic standards? Some industry leaders are beginning to think the answer may be yes. On November 12, 2003, the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania (SHAP) called for the formation of a task force to encourage sustainable and organic apple production in the Keystone state. The task force has been taking its assignment seriously, and task force chair Dr. Jim Travis says he is strongly optimistic about the possibilities.

“There are 25,000 acres of apples in Pennsylvania, 70 percent of which are harvested for processing apples each year,” says Travis, a plant pathologist with Pennsylvania State University’s Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville. “We think as much as 20 to 25 percent of those acres could be transitioned to organic.”

The barriers lie not so much in production methods, Travis explains, or even in markets, but in the availability of certified organic processing facilities and—more fundamentally—in coordination among different segments of the fruit business. “Some growers say the markets aren’t there. But then buyers tell me, give us more organic fruit—we can sell whatever they can grow.”

The idea behind the SHAP task force is to build that coordination and thereby rachet up Pennsylvania’s organic capability over time. Converting conventional orchards takes three years under certified organic growing practices before the fruit can be sold as USDA organic. Bill Kleiner, Penn State Cooperative Extension agent for Adams County, is the task force’s vice-chair; other members include growers, processors, and fresh-fruit market representatives.

The full committee has met twice, in December and March, to find out “what’s possible, what’s required, what needs to be learned.” In addition, Travis has been traveling the state, gathering the pieces of the fruit-growing and -processing puzzle that could be assembled into an organic whole.

The overriding goal is to keep Eastern fruit growing viable.

One of those pieces is keeping the flow of Pennsylvania apples consistent into the “Eastern apple” stream—the broad marketing label for apples from this side of the Rocky Mountains. The use of controlled atmosphere (CA) storage by more Eastern producers has increased retail buyers’ interest, but keeping a consistent supply of high-quality apples is critical to competing with Washington and foreign imports, says Diana Aguilar, executive director of the Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Program.

Developing new organic market sectors at the commercial level is always a matter of balancing dependable, certifiable supply with the expanding—but not consistent—demands of the organic marketplace.

More at Rodale Institute→
~~

From ChefAnn.com

Welcome to the Lunch Lessons Revolution!

I’m the Renegade Lunch Lady. My life’s work is to transform how we feed our children in school each day, from highly processed to highly nourishing food — one school lunch at a time.

Join the network of people throughout the United States and the world working to change the way our children are eating. Together, we’ll tackle outdated district spending policies, commodity-based food service organizations, political platforms with no mention of school food or child health — and ultimately the USDA — to ensure that kids everywhere have wholesome, nutritious, delicious food at school.

Sign up for “Ann Alerts” or take the “School Food Challenge” to connect with new ideas, strategies, tips, recipes, and others who care as deeply as you. If your school or community is working on food systems change be sure to check out thelunchbox.org: Healthy Tools to Help All Schools, there may be resources there that can help you. Your passion and commitment will help us make a difference for future generations.

I challenge you to do just one thing to make a difference in your own schools –eat lunch in a local school and see what you think, then inquire about the wellness policy in the local school district, volunteer in the kitchen, form a local task force, meet with school board members, plant a garden or at least the idea for a garden at a local school. One thing – Go for it and keep us posted of your progress on the Community Page at www.thelunchbox.org.  Together, we’ll transform local changes into a stronger and healthier community for all children in every school. Let the Lunch Lessons Revolution begin!

Chef Ann
Renegade Lunch Lady
~~

From FAST COMPANY

The way America eats has to change, that’s no secret. Thanks to the efforts of these ten trailblazers, that change might be closer than we think.

Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner of Blue Hill Farm

Barber is the brains behind the “Know thy Farmer” philosophy embraced at Blue Hill Farm. He was recently honored at the USA Network’s Character Approved Awards for his achievements in “green” food cultivation and preparation. A passionate advocate for regional farm networks, Barber continues to practice what he preaches at his family owned farms, as well as with the nonprofit Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.

Deborah Kane, Vice President of Food and Farms at Ecotrust

Last month, Ecotrust began allowing Northwest food producers and buyers to utilize FoodHub, an online resource aimed to simplify their connections with each other and increase food trade in the Pacific Northwest. Kane continues to expound Ecotrust’s mission to inspire fresh thinking that promotes social equity, economic opportunity and environmental well-being.

Mike Yohay, CEO of Cityscape Farms

Yohay’s Cityscape Farms continues to work to produce great-tasting fresh food for local buyers with its hydroponic greenhouses. “Hydroponic farming is incredibly innovative and resource economical compared to conventional farming. It’s well-suited for cities because you can do it anywhere,” says Yohay.

More at FastCompany.com→
~~

From Dave Smith

If you’ve ever dug up some organic potatoes you’d planted a few weeks before, cleaned them in the kitchen, roasted, fried, or mashed them, and eaten them on the spot, you know how superior they are in flavor compared to store-bought. Like everything else prepared right out of the garden, or picked right off the tree, there is a special just-harvested flavor that is not going to be there a few minutes later.

Here’s where to buy organic seed potatoes: Wood Prairie Farm…

…and here’s how to plant them…

If you really want to be cutting edge, you can grow potatoes from their “true seed.“

Have at ‘em!
~
See also Five Things To Eat Before You Die over at FarmGirl Fare→

“#3. Homemade potato chips, preferably made with thin slices of freshly dug, organic red potatoes (scrubbed, not peeled), fried in homemade lard in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, and prepared by someone you adore who is willing to stand over a splattering pan of hot oil for an hour or two while you both devour batch after batch of warm, salted chips as soon as they are cool enough to touch. Serve with lots of laughs and plenty of iced tea or cold beer.”
~~
Dave Smith is author ofTo Be of Use: The Seven Seeds of Meaningful Work and lives in Mendocino Country, Northern California.
Image Credit: © Tamara Kulikova | Dreamstime.com
OrganicToBe.org OrganicToGo.com
[Permanent Link] [Top]