stillness is a lie, my dear
I realise that every time I write about Michael Pollan, it sends up a magical bat signal to summon his most ardent supporters, but every now and then, I decide the few weeks of harassment is worth it*. I’ve been kind of ignoring his antics over the last few years, other than noting that he’s […]
‘Well, if they’d rather buy cheap crap from Walmart than healthy organic food,’ he said, leaning over and glaring furiously, ‘that’s their problem.’ I was somewhat taken aback by the vehemence, and I struggled to come up with an adequate response. Somehow the conversation had gone from zero to extremely tense in about three seconds, […]
The food saviours. I love their intentions, but often hate their execution. You know them — you’ve seen them writing passionate manifestos on the internet, holding community meetings, writing books. They’re the people who recognise that there’s a serious access problem when it comes to getting food in low-income communities, and want to address the […]
I’ve been an almond fan from way back — dare I say it, before they were cool. Of all the nuts, almonds are actually my favourite. I eat them on my yoghurt in the mornings in the winter (yes, I also ate yoghurt before it was cool). I like them in a variety of desserts […]
Through much of my childhood, I was surrounded by farm animals. Goats, sheep, chickens. I played with kids, lambs, and chicks, but I also ate barbecued goat, and lamb chops, and roast chicken. And I knew that these things were connected: We weren’t buying meat in the store and pretending that it had nothing to […]
Farm work is one of the most dangerous jobs in the US, as anyone who’s farmed or lived around farming country can tell you. It’s brutal work with long hours for farmers and labourers alike, whether it’s a small family farm with no employees or a massive industrial spread. 10-14 hour days, every day, in […]
Stacy Mitchell at Grist recently described the ultimate ‘Trojan carrot,’ discussing WalMart’s plans to move into organic packaged foods since it’s done so well with organic produce. She looked at the issue in the context of WalMart’s attempt to dominate a growing percentage of the food supply, pointing to the fact that the company’s share […]
Ah, the CSA box. The great equaliser, that which brings fresh, affordable, wholesome vegetables directly to your doorstep — okay, well, maybe to a pick up point — allowing you access to the best that nutrition has to offer. And, of course, ensuring that you have no excuse for not eating a ‘healthy’ diet, because, […]
Ag-gag laws are slowly spreading across the US like a plague, making it more and more difficult to talk about abuses in big agriculture, particularly in slaughterhouses. Such laws primarily ban filming and discussing activity in slaughterhouses, sometimes attempting to extend such bans not just to the slaughterhouse property itself but to neighbouring real estate; […]
Everyone seems to have an opinion on California wines; some people think they’re insipid and awful, a judgment usually based on the reputation of the early years of the wine industry, and other people think they’re fantastic. In actuality, of course, some vineyards make outstanding, award-winning vintages that rival wines from anywhere else in the […]