Comments mmmoongoddess has made

  • Beware Factory Organic

    Umbra's spot on in terms of corporate "organic" and economies of scale.  Michael Pollan calls them "factory organic" and states that these operations just manage their "inputs" so they meet organic specifications.  But agribusiness is agribusiness any way you look at it.

    And I totally agree with Kate about the need for everyone to have access to healthy organic food.  Except for the brief 50 year period of the so-called "Green Revolution"  what we call "organic" was the way things were always grown.

    The perimeter of a supermarket is where the least processed food is to be found.  Also, there is the food guide http://www.foodnews.org/ which provides a top ten least and most pesticide laden produce products.  This helps a lot when your local grocery chain is the only option available to you.
    On Umbra on store-brand organics posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago 8 Responses

  • Slow Food = $$$ ???

    Tom,

    The slow food movement is a fabulous response to our Western processed grab-and-go-while-you're-on-the-move society, and it has been of great interest to me.

    However, my concern is the high price tags I see around it, especially their membership fees.  Also, they seem to be aligned more with high calibre (i.e. price) restaurants and clientele rather than providing ways for the general populace to pursue a 'slow food' lifestyle.

    Perhaps I'm seeing more of a classist bent on the movement than there is, but there still seems to be the persistent stereotype of organic/healthy/slow/wholesome food = high cost.

    In order to get get more of the general population interested in wholesome slow food eating perhaps Carlo Petrini and his group need to help us find ways to "slow food" evening dinners for the family, or even burgers and dogs at the ballpark!

    Security is an illusion, it does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure ... or nothing! Helen Keller

    On I'll be reporting from Slow Food's Terra Madre conference in Turin, Italy posted 1 year, 1 month ago 3 Responses

  • Re-training U.S. travel habits

    Once in a while, watching that old chestnut of a holiday movie, White Christmas, I noted how everyone arrived via the local train station, even in rural Vermont (or whatever New England skiing habitat they were trying to portray).

    Here in Vermont today, as in most of the U.S., 'local trains' are mere memories of the past as routes were discontinued with the advent of the interstate highway system in the late 50's/early 60's.  Thousands of miles of tracks were ripped out and the right of ways became recreational bike paths.  

    I'd say it's time to re-train the nation and reestablish intercity rail AND rural bus routes. As the cost of fuel continues to rise, these routes will become literal lifelines to the elderly, disabled and others who can no longer afford to feed, repair, insure and maintain these  infernal combustion vehicles.On Umbra on driving versus flying, again posted 1 year, 3 months ago 13 Responses

  • Last five words unnecessary

    Yes, yes to buses and more mass transit.  We need to rebuild the inter-city bus and rail links (especially between small rural towns) that were systematically dismantled over the last 50 years.

    However, I think omitting the last five words in this blurb would have been better than mentioning this heinous act - even as an "aside".

    I groove to much of the humor and pun-nishment here on Grist, but what happened on that bus in Ontario really doesn't bear mentioning.  It was a terrible act by a disturbed person and we grieve the loss of the young man's life.On Greyhound and other intercity buses gain popularity posted 1 year, 4 months ago 4 Responses

  • Corn is Not the Answer

    Much is made about the U.S. corn crop (a vast monoculture in and of the U.S. landscape - most of it genetically modified), as the be all and end all of food security.  The U.S. actually overproduces corn.  In fact, the country produces so much that it was ADM (price fixer to the world) and their biotechnology whizzes who created High Fructose Corn Syrup to help mitigate the mountains of corn.

    A bad corn crop spells trouble - if your food security rests in processed or fast foods.  Just about all contain a percentage of corn (from low amounts in fries - unless fried in ... corn oil of all things ... to moderate amounts in so-called chicken nuggets, to almost all in soft drinks and shakes).  Just listen to Michael Pollan talk about the "Cornification of America", and how corn DNA can be found in our hair.  According to him, people on fast food diets almost amount to corn walking on legs.

    Commodification, Futures and Corporate Greed:  These are the reasons for hunger and rising prices.

    Security is an illusion, it does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure ... or nothing! Helen Keller

    On FT: Midwest rains threaten U.S. corn crop posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

  • Seeds in the Bank

    Seeds ARE OUR FUTURE.  

    Corporate monoliths, such as Monsanto, are in the process of gobbling up as many seed companies as they can in efforts to control the food supply of the country.  In turn, they foist on an unquestioning public laboratory produced and untested (for safety) genetically modified seeds that THEY OWN, THEY CONTROL and THEY PRODUCE.

    Saving seeds, sharing them with others, and creating a LOCAL ECONOMY that *directly*  benefits farmers of all kinds is the way to build a stable, solid, local infrastructure for whatever lies ahead.  This is true food security that helps everyone.  Developing diversity in food sources, rather than vast monocultures, strengthens us AND the soil which is the source of all life.

    Re: Capitalism.  It's ok, if it's for stuff we *really need*, and not for useless, expendible, cheap stuff that is designed to wear out after a few years and be replaced with more cheap stuff, so you will buy more cheap stuff .... ad nauseum.

    But, I digress, and yet EVERYTHING is connected.  We must see connections as our lives and the future of our planet depends on our learning to see them.

    SEE what needs to be fixed, LEARN about it, DO something about it, and CELEBRATE with JOY the connections we have, the community we create and the blessings of this earth.  The joy and celebration part are exceedingly important.  Without it we become fixated only on what's wrong and miss opportunities for delighting in what is good, delightful, and life giving.

    Security is an illusion, it does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure ... or nothing! Helen Keller

    On Dialing local ag up from its very source posted 2 years, 1 month ago 3 Responses

  • Green Wash!

    Sorry, but even if they're "carbon neutral", it still doesn't mitigate the vast amounts of petrochemicals used to ship their product thousands of miles away.

    This just looks at what comes out the tail pipe and not what goes into the engine!

    Buy Local, in season, and, where possible, within economic realities, organic.  N. Americans have been so spoilt by the ability to purchase things from anywhere at any time.  We can use our energy = money in far better ways than by purchasing tropical goodies from far away.  They're great as a treat, but definitely detrimental when they become a mainstay and are seen as "normal" table fare.

    Perhaps we should be shipping icebergs to hell?!  Make that carbon neutral, eh?

    Security is an illusion, it does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure ... or nothing! Helen Keller

    On Dole will make some tropical-fruit distribution carbon-neutral posted 2 years, 3 months ago 3 Responses