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Just one day after reading that scientist James Hansen believes Earth is near the climate change tipping point, I read this interview with Michael Pollan in which he discusses farming, environmentalism, and ways to combat the current food and energy crises.

Pollan talks about the connections between, well, everything: what we eat and how it’s grown or raised and how those things are related to skyrocketing oil prices, food shortages, obesity and the increase in food prices. He outlines three things we need to do… I won’t spoil it for you but let’s just say it has to do with fewer subsidies and more solar-based agriculture.

Here’s a taste:

You can compare conventional beef production to a grass-based system of beef production, which is how we used to produce beef. Cattle are evolved to eat grass — they have rumens so they can digest it. So when they [cows] are getting grass, you have a really exquisite and sustainable food chain — where the sun feeds the grass, and the grass feeds the ruminant, and the ruminant feeds us. They are not competing with us for food, and it doesn’t take vast amounts of fossil-fuel fertilizer to produce that food. It takes none, until you start trucking the animal off of the ranch.

The problem with that system for the marketplace was that it’s a slower way to produce beef, and it takes more skill. It’s a lot easier just to put them on a feedlot, give them lots of corn, give them antibiotics so they can survive the corn, give them hormones to speed up their growth. Suddenly you take a two-year process and get it down to 13-14 months. Time is money, so we moved that way.

Wow. I think I have a little geek-environmentalist crush on Michael Pollan.

catbird :: Jun.26.2008 :: going green :: Comments Off

U.S. law allows food manufacturers to label a food as something that it only vaguely resembles. For example, what is yogurt?

Yogurt is, according to Merriam Webster, is “a fermented slightly acid often flavored semisolid food made of milk and milk solids to which cultures of two bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) have been added.”

However, Dannon is allowed to label its Fruit on the Bottom strawberry as yogurt even though the ingredients are:
- Cultured grade A lowfat milk
- strawberries
- sugar
- fructose syrup
- high fructose corn syrup
- pectin
- modified corn starch
- natural flavor
- kosher gelatin
- purple carrot juice concentrate
- carmine and turmeric (for color)
- malic acid
- calcium phosphate
- active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus

Compare to Stonyfield Farms Strawberries and Cream ingredients:
- Cultured Pasteurized Organic Whole Milk
- Organic Strawberries
- Naturally Milled Organic Sugar
- Pectin
- Organic Beet Juice Concentrate (For Color)
- Natural Flavor
- Six Live Active Cultures Including L. Acidophilus, Bifidus, L. Casei And L. Rhamnosus.

Even better, take a gander at Sky Top Farms maple yogurt:
- Organic Whole Milk
- Pure Organic Maple Syrup
- Active Yogurt Cultures (S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, bifidobacterium longum, bifidobacterium infantis)

So, which one sounds the most like yogurt, as opposed to “yogurt”?

I find it ironic — or maybe just sickening — that to get a Dannon “yogurt” that is actually closer (yes, just closer) to yogurt, you have to buy the one that says “All Natural”. What? That seems just crazy to me.

Oh, and another Dannon note: the ingredients of Danimals (Dannon’s smoothies for kids) aren’t even listed on the web site. Hum… I wonder why. Not really.

Kinda makes you wonder: Is your yogurt really yogurt? How about your bread? Your peanut butter?

catbird :: Jun.24.2008 :: cat rants :: Comments Off

Steve’s Born replacement shoes have cracked a sole. Are these shoes designed to only last 6 months? Ridiculous. I won’t even bother contacting the company this time. But really, we are done with Born.

catbird :: Jun.18.2008 :: cat rants :: Comments Off

President Bush wants to allow offshore oil drilling in previously protected lands off the U.S. Coast. Doing so could yield 18 billion barrels of oil.

“That would meet current U.S. consumption for about 2-1/2 years, but it would likely take a decade or more to find the oil and produce it.”

<sarcasm>Brilliant.</sarcasm>

Meanwhile, here in NJ lawmakers are considering a different question:
“The bill would allow the owners of preserved farmland to construct, operate and install solar or wind energy facilities or equipment on their farms. The generated power could be used to operate the farm or be sold to a utility company.”

Why not? Solar panels are unobtrusive and don’t take up extra space. Even windmills are soothing to look at (at least I think so.) Seems like a win-win.

catbird :: Jun.18.2008 :: cat rants, going green :: Comments Off

I finally figured out that we can compost our shredded bills and such. Cool.

We still don’t have usable compost. Sometimes I give the dog compostable food scraps instead since he is a much more efficient source. The poop composter generated soil for flowers and shrubs but the pyramid composter is still working on things (no doubt due to our lack of attention to mixture and such.)

catbird :: Jun.13.2008 :: going green :: Comments Off

The End of Food by Thomas F. Pawlick. Another book to feed my obsession with food issues (no pun intended).

catbird :: Jun.13.2008 :: cat rants, going green :: Comments Off

All kids make up their own fun games to play. I know my kids have invented some really fabulous ones. Maybe your kids have played them, too.

Lock the Door
Use the key to lock and unlock the door repetitively. Stand on a chair if you can’t reach. Advanced version: wait until Mommy goes outside to lock the door.

Goldfish Crush
Smash goldfish into tiny crumbs then swipe them onto the floor. See how long it takes for Mommy to notice. Also works with pretzels, graham crackers, saltines, or even Playdough.

Phone Tag
As soon as you hear Mommy on the phone, run around like a maniac yelling at the top of your voice.

Water Splash
This is a competitive game. See who can splash the most water out of the bath tub. Game ends when water drips into kitchen. Bonus points for soaking Mommy.

Water Splatter
Pour water (or any other handy liquid — milk, juice, paint) onto the table and pat enthusiastically with your hands until you and the walls are well splattered. Bonus points for using a smelly, sticky, or permanent liquid. Fun to play with Goldfish Crush.

Collapse
Lure a sibling into the pillow fort while you are outside then collapse it. Advanced level: lay on top of pillows covering sibling until crying starts. Bonus points for making Mommy come running.

catbird :: Jun.12.2008 :: mommyhood :: Comments Off