PolitiCook.net

Discuss amongst yourselves

I‘m going to be painting one of the bedrooms (a lovely pale sage green) in preparation for the arrival of my free rattan bed. I’ll be popping in and out, of course, because I’m so nosy, but the painting (and a turkey stew) are my main focii today. And preparing for my first day of teaching for the semester tomorrow.

So here it is: Cities are for People: The Limits of Localism

A Worthy Read …

… on a 100+ degree afternoon, with watermelon: On rare and endangered foods, and vanishing food traditions:

Anyway, back to the cynicism of which I have in abundance. I am not one to believe capitalism is a cure to all that ails us: that we can, say, buy our way out of global warming by purchasing a solar panel or two, a hybrid car, a few canvas shopping bags. As you may know by now, I think we’re all quickly approaching the shores of an entirely different world […] Currently, I do seed-save some of the threatened and endangered vegetables, and I intend to breed a few crucial animals over the next few years. My cynicism comes in (and again, it’s hard to keep up!) when everyone just HAS TO HAVE x cool endangered item. Is creating a market for them a good thing? I suppose if it brings something back from the brink of extinction, it is.

Either way, it’s nice that some people give a damn.

Ah, a farmer after my own heart. The links and pics alone are worth a read.

This is not someone who is doing it because it’s the latest thing, like a new pair of shoes or stylish car. This is not someone who’s doing it because they think it will bring them fame and fortune.

This is someone who’s doing it out of love and commitment.

The Honeysuckle Floods Inside

I am not a big fan of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) systems, but they of course have their places. We would freeze in the winter, and swelter in the summer, without them. But now is a wonderful time of year.

I have my doors open, with only the screens covering them to keep out insects and that one neighbor who caused me grief, and a fan pulling air through the house. It is now 74 F inside, 71 F outside, but the humidity is high at 73% RH. Since I am not doing jumping jacks, the high humidity is OK.

The best part is that the fan is drawing in the scent of the honeysuckle flowers that flourish just to the west of me, in what some would call a “waste space”. I disagree with that moniker. That space is inhabited by several bird species, a wonderful smelling vine, and who knows what how many other creatures that call it home. Waste space? No, a very rich and valuable space, at least as far as I am concerned. Warmest regards, doc.

Foraging: Living Off the Fat of the Land

Noun 1. foraging - the act of searching for food and provisions.

The prices of staple foods such as rice could stay high for the next three years, hindering the battle against poverty, a top World Bank official said Tuesday. I personally think this may be the understatement of the year. With oil prices to hit $200, widely predicted by our own Jérome a Paris and others, I doubt very much staple food will come down as the price to fill a gas tank could, more or less, double within the next five years. Foodstuffs need reasonably priced transportation and it looks as though it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Welcome to world of foraging, a lost art for most as more and more convenient stores and supermarket chains crop up in neighborhoods with dizzying regularity. Try this for a change: take your family to the nearest forest, gather wild produce and see if you can bring home the bacon, so to speak. Read more »

18 Months to Save the World!

Who would have thought Prince Charles coming to the world’s rescue? Pic below is of a chameleon from Madagascar.

In one of his most out-spoken interventions in the climate change debate, he said a £15 billion annual program (roughly $25 billion) was required to halt deforestation or the world would have to live with the dire consequences. Read more »

Leaf Log using composted leaves as biofuel

A business has struck green gold, turning composted leaves into ‘logs’ of biofuel that can provide green energy.

The Leaf Log, as the invention is known, is the brainchild of Peter Morrison, who as chief executive of BioFuels International has already developed several of his green ideas into moneyspinners.

The Leaf Log is made from 70 per cent fallen leaves compressed into a 1.2kg cylinder, which can burn for two hours. And, unlike other fuel products, the Leaf Log leaves behind just a tiny amount of ash, which itself can be composted. Read more »

The Buffalo Commons

When I’ve recovered from my Mosaic trial (which I’ve come to see this bout of illness as), and come to terms with more emotional issues (like happening on details in print of the death of our student who was victim of a hit and run), I want us to sit down and discuss the Poppers’ 1987 essay, The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust.

But that will be in a few days.

I’m a Bitter Elitist!

Or perhaps I’m an embittered one because I write about soaring food prices, organic farming vs the evils of Monsanto, impending catastrophes like a global shortage of water, the inanities and futility of wars so I suppose I am an elitist, and a bitter one at that! Whichever. The news we get in Europe from the US Primaries are somewhat farcical and anathema to our own expeditious political system: we elect a new head of State within weeks, not years. I would be the first one to concede that it may not be the best system either (look at the Italians, they’ve returned the gangster to power, grrrr…), but then again we don’t have that much time to dwell on the avalanche of moronic pronouncements from the wingnuts ad infinitum. Ignore the clamoring repukes, elect Obama and get on with it. We are all elitists!

As a fellow elitist, I’d like to report some news on the bees and the scent of flowers and why it’s important politicians worldwide should take global warming seriously, not just paying lip service.

Read more »

The Happy Garden

A cathedral bell growing in one of my blueberry plots.

Never forget: just because it’s a vegetable garden doesn’t mean you can’t plant some flowers in there. In fact, I have flowers in all my vegetable gardens.

Food Crisis Looms: the Cost of Uncertainty

The sharp increase in food prices over the last couple of years has raised serious concerns about the food and nutrition situation of poor people in developing countries, about runaway inflation, and in some countries, growing civil unrest, as food riots break out across the globe.

Much has been written in these boards about the causes of rising prices and it should be noted that one of the major culprit is the shadow of “a new hunger” that has made food far too expensive for millions. Rising prices for all the world’s crucial cereal crops and growing fears of scarcity are sending shivers through international markets, creating turmoil and, as GWB is fond of stating his newly found word, uncertainty.

Uncertainty creates panic buying. Brokers know this well.

Read more »