Web Tour: Bittman on Farming in America, and School Meals From Scratch

I feel like Mark Bittman stole a page from my speech for his entire New Farmers Find Their Footing.

Here, the answers become complicated: “If the cost of food reflected the cost of production,” says Ms. Chase, “that would change everything.” And this is undoubtedly true. But though sustainably produced food is too expensive for some, conventional food doesn’t reflect either the subsidies required to grow it or the huge environmental or health care costs it incurs. Once it does, sustainable food would appear far more competitive.

Then we’d see more farmers growing it, not only in Maine but everywhere else. Which would, indeed, be better for everyone.

And this was an interesting, and hopefully contagious, read: Schools Restore Fresh Cooking to the Cafeteria.

GREELEY, Colo. — The idea of making school lunches better and healthier has gathered steam in many parts of the nation in recent years, but not equally for every child. Schools with money and involved parents concerned about obesity and nutrition charged ahead, while poor and struggling districts, overwhelmed by hard times, mostly did not.

This midsize city in northern Colorado, where 60 percent of the 19,500 students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, is trying to break the mold. When classes start on Thursday, the district will make a great leap forward — and at the same time back to the way it was done a generation ago — in cooking meals from scratch.

Webisode Tour: Blueberries Faked, Leafy Greens Hard To Fake

Something many of us have known but here is a webisode discussing how blueberries in packaged & processed products are often faked:


Score one for real produce, vegetables and homemade items then, since at least you will know you are getting what you think you are getting:

The Harvest trailer

Something I hope I never have to do

This farmer testing for radioactivity in his soil was a part of the recent NYTimes article 'Japanese Find Radioactivity On Their Own'.

As long as you are at NYTimes, check out these thought-provoking Bittman articles on irradiation and taxing things we don't want like waste and bad food.