I saw Patry’s post about the medicinal use of red wine in the treatment of influenza…
Patry Francis Red wine may prevent swine flu, which is the absolute only reason I drink it. http://www.anotherwineblog.com/archives/4253
I checked my stock and decided I needed to make a “medicine” run…Off to Spec’s we went. After a stop for a lunch [...]

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Stumbling through my news reader I came across a reference and a video of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I have been aware of the work Joel is doing for a while. His success with Polyface is an inspiration that will become more important as we go forward in [...]

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I have a confession to make…I just discovered Marion Nestle and her blog Food Politics. I know, I’m slow on the uptake sometimes.
I find that my feelings about food are becoming somewhat activistic…I am getting more upset by the industrialization of our food on a daily basis. So you can expect to see more of [...]

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Reading the news this morning, I saw this short spot:
Marion Nestle went to see Food, Inc and she gives it two thumbs up. I’ve only seen clips and heard a talk by the director and stars Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan about the making of the movie. It’s going to be a BIG DEAL when [...]

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Dear Kitchen Gardener,
What’s a home garden worth? With the global economy spiraling downward and Mother Nature preparing to reach upward, it’s a good question to ask and a good time to ask it.
There isn’t one right answer, of course, but I’ll give you mine: $2149.15. Last year, my wife Jacqueline suggested to me that [...]

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Good article on the food safety issue from The Ethicurean Blog.
Down on the farm
Here’s a quick backgrounder: After the E. coli/spinach episode in 2006, big leafy greens producers in California (where the toxic spinach was grown) got together and drafted guidelines to reduce the risk of contamination on farms. These guidelines had some issues: they [...]

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While most successful food producers are far more diligent — big name-brand peanut butter is considered safe, for example — American consumers have faced far too many food-supply emergencies in the last few years. Congress and the Obama administration must finally make food safety a serious priority.
The new agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, is talking about [...]

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It seems the story of the Peanut Corporation of America just keeps getting better and better as it shows just how poor America’s food safety system really is…
Even amid a national salmonella outbreak linked to peanuts, state health officials allowed a Texas peanut plant last month to continue shipping its product though they knew the [...]

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