Erasmus the Mudskipper

Polyester vs. Cotton

2007-01-26T05:52:00.000-08:00

From the NY Times, yet another example of how complicated environmental choices can be. This comes down to lifetime energy use, but what about aesthetics? What about the way certain fibers look and feel? What about thrift stores, consignment shops? This is telling a tiny, narrow part of the story, but is part of the equation...

"In their efforts to buy green, customers tend to focus on packaging and chemicals, issues that do not factor in with clothing. Likewise, they purchase “natural” fibers like cotton, believing they are good for the environment.

But that is not always the case: while so-called organic cotton is exemplary in the way it avoids pesticides, cotton garments squander energy because they must be washed frequently at high temperatures, and generally require tumble-drying and ironing. Sixty percent of the carbon emissions generated by a simple cotton T-shirt comes from the 25 washes and machine dryings it will require, the Cambridge study found.

A polyester blouse, by contrast, takes more energy to make, since synthetic fabric comes from materials like wood and oil. But upkeep is far more fuel-efficient, since polyester cleans more easily and dries faster.

Over a lifetime, a polyester blouse uses less energy than a cotton T-shirt."

The whole article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/fashion/25pollute.html?em&ex=1169960400&en=bde28c9c7f1c3234&ei=5087%0A

Great Shopping Site!

2007-01-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

I just found this great site listing thrift shops, consignment shops, annual church sales and building materials reuse stores with their contact information. The list is courtesy the Greater Upper Valley Solid Waste Management District.

Reuse is a great way to save money and reduce the waste stream. Anyone have a wedding dress out there?

http://www.guvswd.org/reuse

Organic Food (continued)

2006-11-20T08:16:00.000-08:00

Okay, as promised, here are the foods that are probably okay to eat even if they are not organic, assuming you are trying to stretch your food budget a bit. (They have been reported to have the fewest types of pesticide residues): avocados, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, kiwis, mangos, onions, pineapples, and peas!

Can't afford organic produce?

2006-11-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

Wish organic food wasn't so expensive? To maximize the benefit without spending quite as much, focus on the "dirty dozen." Conventionally grown, these 12 are the highest in pesticide residues: apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, raspberries, spinach and strawberries. It's probably worth it to buy organic dairy products and definitely worth it, just on taste alone, to buy organic eggs. Of course, local AND organic is even better!

Next: those organic produce items that probably aren't worth the extra money, unless you have cash to burn!

2006-11-15T11:36:00.000-08:00

Went to Chicago with Niles last weekend to see Michael Pollan, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. Mr. Pollan spoke about his books Botany of Desire and Omnivore's Dilemma. His talk was in conjunction with the Field Museum's exhibit on Gregor Mendel and sponsored by, of all companies, Monsanto! Mr. Pollan spoke about Joel Salatin, the "grass farmer" of Polyface Farm who has learned to mimic, as closely as possible, the natural world. He rotates chickens and cows through his fields in such a way that parasites are reduced, fertile soil is actually built up, and cows are raised on the diet they evolved to eat: grass.

Lentil Shortage

2006-09-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

From boston.com:
"In late June, the Union Commerce Ministry of India put a temporary halt on the international trade of lentils until the end of the year. Two weeks later, it extended the ban until March 2007. That means that no pulses will be exported from the Indian subcontinent. The ban is supposed to serve as a stop-gap measure to ease inflation in the Indian domestic market, where lentils that once cost about 40 cents per pound now sell for 50 cents. Earlier this year, moong dal in India cost about 80 cents per kilo (roughly two pounds) ; it now costs $1.20."

So expect your favorite Indian food to cost a little more (it's worth it!). One restaurant in MA is charging an extra $2 for their weekend buffet. Some cooks are already hoarding lentils, so until a new reliable source is found, you may find those co-op bins looking rather thin.

Will Travel for Food

2006-08-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

Advice: don't diet while on vacation. And don't miss the local desserts. Gelato in Italy is more than a dessert, though, it's another excuse to sit on a stoop or in a cafe and visit with friends. A perfect day in Italy might be espresso, big lunch with a big glass of wine, long nap through the heat of the day, gelati, dinner, limoncello. Repeat as necessary.

Have a picnic!

2006-07-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

Bring Italy to your backyard and host a romantic picnic. Choose a nice day when it's too hot to turn the stove on. Get a nice bottle of red wine, some prosciutto, a bowl of strawberries or melon, fresh artisan bread, yummy vine ripened tomatoes, a sharp cheese like parmesan and head out as the heat of the day fades. A blanket makes a good seat and a large cutting board will give you a place to cut your bread and rest your wine glasses. Viva Italia!

More on Fluff

2006-06-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Fluff battle continues. There are now efforts in the MA senate to make the Fluffernutter the official sandwich of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in response to Sen. Barrios' proposed amendment to the junk food in schools bill. Barrios, the state senator that started this justified ruckus when his son was served Fluff in a Cambridge school, only wanted to LIMIT the serving of Fluff to once a week. And people have a problem with this??!! He doesn't want to do away with Lynn's pride and joy, he just doesn't want it served as part of a healthy school lunch. Wow, that is an oxymoron, Fluff or no Fluff. Ketchup is NOT a vegetable and that slab oozing grease on my tray is NOT pizza.

Fluff in Schools

2006-06-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

From the Boston Globe:
Massachusetts State Senator Jarrett T. Barrios , a Democrat, said he will offer an amendment to a junk-food bill this week that would severely limit the serving of marshmallow spreads in school lunch programs statewide.
``A Fluff sandwich as the main course of a nutritious lunch just doesn't fly in 2006," Barrios said. ``It seems a little silly to have an amendment on Fluff, but it's called for by the silliness of schools offering this as a healthy alternative in the first place."

The whole sticky mess: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/06/19/can_this_spread_be_stopped/?p1=MEWell_Pos1

Community Oven

2006-06-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

Today I visited the community oven in Norwich (at the bottom of Bragg Hill Road). Amy and I bought a WONDERFUL focaccia with just parmesan, salt and pepper on it. The baker pictured here makes a dough that is 60% wheat/40% sourdough and adds various spices and dried fruits to this base. Bread is available (at least on Wednesdays) from 12 noon to 6 PM. Loaves are $5. Different kinds are available depending on when you show up, so every hour is different. She also does cookies and wood-fired pizzas.

Stay tuned...

2006-06-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

... for some investigative journalism. I am going to check out Norwich, Vermont's community oven next Wednesday. Apparently the woman who bakes bread there on Wednesdays is a baker at King Arthur Flour, so the bread is guaranteed to be wonderful. I'll take pictures and do some sampling! More soon on the Farmer's Market, Dan and Whit's, my own garden (currently a mud pit), and other local foodie attractions.

In the meantime, check out this great site for lots of information, recipes, and sources for "localvores" in the Upper Valley. I'll be trying to eat only local foods for the latter half of July and the first weeks of August. (This schedule is necessary to do four contiguous weeks without bumping into vacations in far-flung places).

www.vitalcommunities.org/Agriculture/localvore/localvore_resources.htm

Organic Food at Wal-Mart: Not Good News.

2006-06-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Michael Pollan: "Assuming that it's possible at all, how exactly would Wal-Mart get the price of organic food down to a level just 10 percent higher than that of its everyday food? To do so would virtually guarantee that Wal-Mart's version of cheap organic food is not sustainable, at least not in any meaningful sense of that word. To index the price of organic to the price of conventional is to give up, right from the start, on the idea, once enshrined in the organic movement, that food should be priced not high or low but responsibly. As the organic movement has long maintained, cheap industrial food is cheap only because the real costs of producing it are not reflected in the price at the checkout. Rather, those costs are charged to the environment, in the form of soil depletion and pollution (industrial agriculture is now our biggest polluter); to the public purse, in the form of subsidies to conventional commodity farmers; to the public health, in the form of an epidemic of diabetes and obesity that is expected to cost the economy more than $100 billion per year; and to the welfare of the farm- and food-factory workers, not to mention the well-being of the animals we eat."
NY Times, June 2, 2006

Local or Organic? Which is better?

2006-06-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Michael Pollan:

"Most of the produce on the East Coast comes from the Central Valley of California. We're taking organic lettuce, grown with great care, terrific cultural practices, and we put it on a truck and we keep it cold from the moment we pick it, 36-degree cold chain all the way across the country for three to five days, and that takes 56 calories of fossil-fuel energy to get one calorie of organic lettuce. Now technically that product is organic. In any meaningful sense of that word, if you think back in the values embedded in that word and its history, I have trouble calling it organic. So organic has become less sustainable as it's gotten bigger."

Read it all here: http://grist.org/news/maindish/2006/05/31/roberts/index.html

Buy a CSA Share!

2006-05-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

Niles and I got a CSA "small share" at Cedar Circle Farm in E. Thetford, VT. Every Monday we'll pick up a crate of fresh fruits, herbs and veggies (artichokes!). In addition, there is an on-site coffee house that opens at 7 AM weekdays, dinners at the farm, cooking classes, a Strawberry Festival, and a Pumpkin Festival. This will get our self-imposed challenge of eating closer to home off to a very strong beginning.

2006-05-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

Went on a very fun foraging outing (in the rain) and were guests at a wild edibles dinner with friends on Saturday. We had pasta with fiddleheads, wild leeks, morels and local cream for dinner and rhubarb crisp and homemade red clover wine for dessert. Delicious and so much fun!

Food in the Woods

2006-05-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Today I went out for a hike to look for wild leeks (also known as ramps) and also hoped to stumble across some wild ginger. It was a very lucky day! I found the leeks on a steep slope right next to maidenhair fern, dutchman's breeches, hepatica, trillium and jack-in-the-pulpit and chose four from a very abundant area. Also found wild ginger, with the funny little dark red flower at the base of the stem. A great day to be in the woods. Came home and made a wild leek and portabella pizza with parmesan cheese and sundried tomatoes.

Fast Food Bashing

2006-05-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

The McDonald's in Windsor, Vermont has apparently closed down due to lower than expected patronage. Yipee!

In other McDonald's news, this from an unknown source: "Disney's decision to end its exclusive Happy Meal tie-in deal with McDonalds can be attributed to a certain iCEO. In a conference call last year, Pixar Animation Studios chief Steve Jobs — who is now Disney's largest shareholder in the wake of Disney's recent purchase of Pixar — signaled his ambivalence about using characters to sell fast food while promoting a film. "There is value" in fast-food tie-ins, Jobs said then. "But there are also some concerns, as our society becomes more conscious of some of the implications of fast food.""

2006-04-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Who is Erasmus? Erasmus was my first Atlantic mudskipper. He was named for Charles Darwin's grandfather (and brother). Males have blue spots and a large blue dorsal fin. Here Erasmus is staring intently at a cricket.

2006-04-28T05:57:00.000-07:00

In 2005 the Museum celebrated Einstein's birthday (March 14) with an Einstein Cake. Luckily, King Arthur Flour is nearby because where else can you find peach colored frosting?

2006-04-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hyla versicolor (Gray Tree Frog) will be trilling in New England soon. These frogs can look just like lichen on a tree and can change from mottled gray to mottled green (as suggested by its species name). Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) and wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) are currently filling our vernal pools with song and frog eggs.

2006-04-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a quilt I had in the Cornish Fair in 2004. It was a wedding present for my best friend, Sarah, in Portland, OR. The stars are paper pieced and most of the fabrics are batiks.