Monday, February 23, 2009

food for thought

This is by no means a political blog, but I read two articles today that I thought were interesting and relevant to our theme of seasonal, environmentally conscious eating. So, I wanted to share.

The first is a great article from Gourmet magazine. Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes, by Barry Estabrook, March 2009 issue.
"If you have eaten a tomato this winter, chances are very good that it was picked by a person who lives in virtual slavery."

I found the second article by way of the hilarious SF-based vegan food blog, vegansaurus!
Niman ranch founder challenges new owners, by Stacy Finz for the SF Chronicle.
"The 64-year-old Bolinas man said he can live with losing the business he built from scratch. But he can't stand quietly by, he says, while the new owners fundamentally change the brand that influenced an entire food movement. He refuses to eat their products."

What have you guys been reading lately? I saw that Cole mentioned she recently went to see Joel Salatin speak at Stanford. I'm totally jealous, Cole!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the articles Katie, the article about the tomatoes especially was very interesting... definitely makes you think twice before picking up a container of tomatoes from trader joes (which I have noticed come from Mexico, and probably similar conditions).

    As for me, I just finished Animal, Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It had been on my shelf for a year or so and I just got up the nerve to pick it up. It also gives you an interesting perspective on eating locally, and makes me want to try harder to make the best choices about not only my vegetables but my meat consumption as well.

    Cheers! Keep the great recipes and beautiful photos coming!

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  2. I've seen mention of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in a few places but I was hesitant to pick it up because I remember really hating the Barbara Kingsolver book we had to read in high school. Then again, I was 15 so maybe she deserves a second chance, haha!

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