Good Food is Everybody's Business
Native certainly in parts of SE China, and cultivated much if not native in Japan and S Korea, Japanese Ginger is a woodland perennial that turns yellow and dies down in fall, rests during the cold winter, then shoots up again next spring, growing about 3 to 4 feet in height. Most Zingiber species are cold-sensitive; this one is hardy.
Whether you are a farmer, an orchardist, or a home gardener, good tools make the job! And you can’t do a quality job without quality tools. It has become harder and harder to find well-made, long-lasting tools! How do you find good hand tools that are sturdy, repairable, and properly sized to your hand or height?
Perched just 180 feet above sea level, Port Townsend WA (Jefferson County Seat) is a quaint Victorian town with a permanent population just over 9,000 people. It’s also the location of the 40-year old Port Townsend Food Co-op. The Food Co-op was officially launched in 1972 as a food-buying club; as were so many of the “second wave” of food co-ops during the 1970s.
On the one hand, I can say that Organic Consumers Association was being opportunistic by broadcasting their message – COOK ORGANIC NOT THE PLANET – at the “Forward on Climate Rally” to stop the Keystone pipeline. On the other hand, it felt great to be met by the smiling faces of OCA, who stationed themselves as “meet-and-greeters” when we got up to street level at the Smithsonian metro station. OCA was there in solidarity to join forces with Sierra Club, 350.org, the Hip Hop Caucus and more than 90 other organizations.
Food safety is an issue that is on the minds of farmers, grocers, and chefs a lot these days. Outbreaks of food-borne illnesses seem to be happening more often and affecting more and more people. According to the FDA, there are more than 3 million food-borne illnesses every year attributable to consumption of produce. What to do? Simple, says the FDA, we will implement new rules on the basis of the Food Safety Management Act, signed into office January 4, 2011.
This is what a happy pig looks like! Photographed at Crown S Ranch Photo credit: Ken Kailing, GoodFood World
Ina compiled a short list of her top food and health tips for 2013’s winter season. Regardless of whether your food and lifestyle relationship is “should-ridden” or easeful, they will help you take care of yourself in ways that are effective and kind. They can also help to dissolve the shadow that “shoulds” may cast upon your goals.
While imagining that the beef they will be eating came from a cow living a happy-go-lucky life, frolicking on lush green pastures until a gentle and painless end, the average American does NOT want to meet their dinner while it is still standing. However, the idea that you could if you wanted, or at least you could meet the farmer who raised your dinner, is not so far fetched.
