Everything under one roof

There is a Libertarian living inside of me somewhere, whispering in my inner ear. I was just reading a piece about Pittsburgh's efforts to regulate city agriculture (beekeeping, community gardens, and raising chickens) by requiring permits for these activities. That's when my inner Libertarian started SCREAMING!

If you've been reading Folks Gotta Eat for long, you know that I really struggle with subsidies for industries that are environmentally destructive and/or obsolete. It reminds me of that movie from the late 80's, "Weekend at Bernie's," where they drag the dead guy around with them - propping him up and pretending he's still alive. I can't even talk about corn subsidies, as I get a twitch in my right eye.

This piece is fully lifted from Mr. P - the fabulous Phillip Smith, producer and advisor of this blog. It seems Folks Gotta Eat is having an impact on him. He used to only write about technology, technology, technology. As he's writing about my old stomping ground, Seattle, I thought I would share. Read on...

Like many of us, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, co-producers of the film "King Corn," wanted to understand corn. They started off their journey by getting a professional hair analysis. Turns out, the carbon in their bodies originates from corn. It seems most of us these days are made of commodity corn that must be processed before we can eat it. (Fact: An Iowa farmer can no longer feed herself by the corn on her farm.) 

Oh god. How did I miss this? Did you know that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) offered a $1 million reward for the first to make "in vitro" meat? To be honest, I think I'm going to be sick.

I'll be honest right away - I made this same dinner two nights in a row. I did it, dear readers, as my camera battery died the moment I plated the pasta the first night, so I never got a photo of my finished product.  So I shrugged my shoulders and was like oh well can't win 'em all and sat down to tuck in. Well a few moments later after eating - who am I kidding - horking back the dinner without speaking and when I was using some stale bread to sop up the rest of the juices I said to hubs "Do you like this? Cause I'm making it again tomorrow cause the camera battery died right and the readers (all 4 of you) need to see this!" Isn't he so lucky to have found such a charming wife?

Ontario peaches are in season. They are ranging in price from $6 a basket at the farmers' market and $2.99 a basket at the mega grocery store, and they are all proudly bearing the Foodland Ontario logo (speaking of which their website is excellent and features a great recipe search by ingredient function and videos showing preserving techniques here).  There is nothing like a local, in-season peach - I look forward to this time of summer all year