La Vida Locavore - Front Page

Sampler Platter

Jill Richardson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:14:22 GMT

Want to run for Congress? Better have money. It turns out that 237 members of Congress are millionaires - that's 44% for those of you keeping score at home.
While BPA gets attention on the national stage, it's also the subject of bills on the state level - like a Wisconsin bill to ban BPA in sippy cups and bottles made for kids under 5.
Great news... the American Public Health Association is officially against hormonal milk and meat.
Want to know the five rules of business for the professional organic farmer? This is an excerpt from a book I'm reading about the business side of organic farming. So far I like the book a lot, as it seems to take a lot of its ideas from holistic management.
LVL blogger and friend Jim Goodman got a great piece published in Madison's Capitol Times, saying that corporate agribusiness divides farmers.
VP Joe Biden volunteered in a soup kitchen. Nice. But not as nice as giving us food policy that makes sure we all have access to healthy food.
The FDA is "looking into" the safety of caffeinated booze. No comment.
Next week, the whole world is meeting in Rome to discuss global food security. And the US just announced that Kathleen Merrigan will lead our delegation. Okay, seriously, I don't get it. We pick a bunch of GMO/pesticide shills to head up key agencies in the government that deal with international development and agriculture, and then we send somebody awesome like Merrigan to Rome for us?
Speaking of the summit in Rome, 23 U.S. organizations asked our government to quit shilling for genetic engineering and trade deregulation and instead provide some real leadership on how we can reduce the numbers of hungry people on this planet.
This one is really cool, and really sick. Scientists can tell where a tuna has been by measuring which kinds of toxins are in it. (H/t Ethicurean)
Some people say that orange juice is just as bad for you as cola. I think that's a slight overstatement, but not by much.
I LOVE THIS!!! Marion Nestle gives us a great rant on why it is PERFECTLY FUCKING FINE to be a vegetarian. Okay, so she didn't use the F word. I did.
The FDA oyster ban now looks like it isn't happening. Bill Marler has some strong language for the FDA over this decision. Meanwhile, Rep Allen Boyd and Sen Bill Nelson introduced the Gulf Oyster Protection Act (H.R. 4022 and S. 2735) to "prohibit additional requirements for the control of Vibrio vulnificus applicable to the post-harvest processing of oysters." Sen. David Diaper Vitter chimed in too with the Gulf Oyster Industry Jobs Protection Act. So their jobs are more important than your safety. Got it.

Sampler Platter 11.14.2009

JayinPortland — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:12:26 GMT

For your perusing pleasure...

The latest entry in The Tyee's fantastic "Eat Your History" series recounts the tale of one of British Columbia's beloved native spuds, nicknamed the "Outlaw Potato".
From Montana, a Billings Gazette piece on the past, present and future of the state's local food system.
This LA Times piece goes over the sometimes devastating long-term effects that may be suffered as a result of eating tainted food.
From High Country News, this piece profiles an Arizona farmer of mesquite trees.
Portland's food cart scene was recently featured on an NBC Nightly News segment.
Stadium food has always been a ridiculous rip-off; but if you're going to pay six dollars for a terrible hot dog, you'd certainly hope the mark-ups would at least be enough to ensure cleanliness in food preparation areas?
Following up on requests from 18 state attorneys general, FDA is targeting manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages.
Mmmmm, bialys. Wish we could get good ones here in Portland!
FDA has indefinitely delayed implementation of its new raw oyster guidelines due to opposition from Gulf Coast-area legislators and the oyster industry.

Pot Luck

JayinPortland — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Pot Luck is an open thread...

The Chicken Project: My Letter to the City

Jill Richardson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:26:38 GMT

Here's installment #4 in my project to get a small flock of chickens. I wrote the letter below to send to my city government to get the ball rolling. They sounded interested in considering other types of poultry in addition to chickens, so I added information on turkeys and ducks too. I didn't feel that game birds, geese, swans, guineas, or ratites would be appropriate within the city. At least, not on small lots like ours.

I am writing to request that you legalize small numbers of hens (not roosters) in residential zones in our city. In this letter, I will describe the benefits of chickens (and other types of poultry for comparison) and a few logistics about keeping them in the city. I will also address concerns that other cities that have considered allowing chickens and other poultry have raised, and provide examples of backyard chicken laws from other U.S. cities.

Benefits of Chickens
1. They are social animals and relatively docile, fun pets.
2. They provide eggs that, depending on the birds' diet, may have more vitamins, better fats, and less cholesterol than store-bought eggs.
3. They eat waste products like bugs, weeds, and kitchen scraps.
4. Their droppings provide valuable fertilizer that is high in nitrogen, preventing the need for petroleum-based commercial fertilizer.
Other Poultry: Ducks, like chickens, can also be kept for eggs. Turkeys can be kept for meat but not eggs, as they only lay eggs during the breeding season.
Chicken Logistics
Chickens typically live in a coop. This is required as they are vulnerable to a number of predators, such as neighborhood dogs, hawks, or opossums. Sometimes people set up "chicken runs" (enclosed areas in their yard for the chickens to explore outside their coop) or they may get a "chicken tractor" (a portable chicken coop, which allows the birds to move around the yard, fertilizing each area). Approximately 2 sq ft per chicken is required in a coop, or 4 sq ft per chicken in a chicken run. When night falls chickens will roost in their coop and go to sleep, not awaking until the next morning. A hen will lay her egg mid-morning and then start her day. Roosters are NOT required for hens to produce eggs. Roosters are, however, required for hens to produce fertile eggs capable of hatching chicks.
Just like dogs, chicken comes in a variety of breeds that vary in size and other qualities. The Great Dane of the chicken world is the Jersey Giant, which can reach 10 lbs. The "toy breeds" of the chicken world are called Bantams, and they may be as small as 1.5 lbs at full size. The most commonly kept egg breeds for backyard flocks are the Rhode Island Red, which reaches 6.5 lbs in the standard size or 2 lbs as a bantam, and the Barred Rock, which reaches 7.5 lbs in the standard size or 2.2 lbs as a bantam. These breeds are frequently chosen not only for their high quantity of large eggs but also for their docile personalities and hardiness in all kinds of weather. Egg laying begins in the hen's first year and peaks during the next two years. After that, egg laying tapers off, but hens do continue laying. In one case, a hen died at age 16 (very old for a hen) and she was still laying eggs even at age 16.
Chickens can be purchased at local breeders or via online companies that ship the birds in the mail. Believe it or not, live day-old chicks or full-grown hens can be sent via the U.S. Postal Service. A chick must be kept indoors under a heat lamp until it is large enough to live outdoors in a coop safely. Eggs may also be purchased to incubate at home.
Other poultry: Chickens can live in harmony with other fowl, such as turkeys and ducks.
Housing: Ducks differ from chickens and turkeys because they require at least enough water to fully dunk their heads in for optimal health. They do not, however, require a pond for swimming, even though they enjoy the opportunity to swim if it is available. Ducks require 2-6 sq ft indoors per bird, plus (ideally) 10-50 sq ft per bird outdoors in an enclosed yard. Turkeys require at least 3 sq ft per bird indoors. Also, the myth that a turkey will drown in the rain by looking up is not true.
Size: Ducks range from 2-12 lbs. Turkeys range from 12-33 lbs. A turkey raised for meat takes 6 to 8 months to mature.
Eggs: In general, the smaller breeds of ducks are capable of producing more eggs. The small (3.5-5 lb) Khaki Campbell duck can lay 340 eggs per year, compared to the best layer of the (8-10 lb) heavy breeds, the Silver Appleyard, which can only produce up to 270 eggs per year. Turkeys do not lay eggs year round like chickens and ducks.
Concerns
Typical concerns municipalities raise about backyard chickens are noise, odor, or fears that the birds will escape.
Noise: A noise concern is a valid worry for noisier fowl like roosters, peafowl, or guineas. Hens, however, are among the quietest of poultry species. They do cluck - for example, to brag about an egg they just laid - but if they are outdoors, they cannot be heard inside nearby buildings. Turkeys and ducks are louder than hens, although gobbles and quacking are not as loud as a dog barking. A wonderful trait all poultry species have is roosting at sundown and quietly sleeping all night. In other words, the time of day when it is most important for animals to be quiet, poultry will be quiet.
Odor: An odor concern is frequently warranted if an industrial chicken operation locates nearby with thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of birds. However, with only a handful of birds, the odor should be no more problem than a cat's litterbox. It takes about 4-5 chickens to poop as much as the average dog. The poultry droppings should be composted in order to use them in gardening as a valuable fertilizer, and if they are composted, odor will not be a problem at all.
Escaped Birds: Realistically, an escaped bird will not be an escaped bird for long. With any number of species - including dogs, humans, and hawks - preying upon chickens, in all likelihood, an escaped chicken will be eaten. All poultry species except turkeys can fly to some extent (chickens aren't known for their flying), but their wings can be clipped to prevent this, or else they can be kept in enclosures that are not open on the top. Typically, it's a bigger concern that a predator gets in than a chicken or other type of bird gets out.
Other Cities' Policies
A good rule of thumb when considering legalizing chickens or other poultry in residential zones is that you can outlaw nuisances while still allowing chickens. For example, you can allow a small number of hens but require that they are kept in a well-maintained coop, thus outlawing any potential odor from chickens. If a resident keeps chickens in a smelly coop that is a nuisance to neighbors, the resident will be in violation of the law.
Chicago: An unlimited number of chickens may be kept for pets or eggs. Slaughter is not permitted and the chickens must be penned.
Madison, WI: Each household may have up to 4 chickens if they purchase a $6 annual permit from the city.
New York: An unlimited number of hens may be kept (no roosters or other poultry). The chicken coop must be kept clean.
Portland, OR: A maximum of 3 hens may be kept without a permit (no roosters). A permit for more costs $31.
San Francisco: You may keep any combination of 4 small animals on your lot without permission.
Seattle: Three domestic fowl may be kept on any lot.
For more examples, see: http://home.centurytel.net/the...
Thank you for your consideration of this issue. I would be incredibly happy if I were able to keep up to 6 hens (no roosters) as pets and for eggs. I live on a small lot on [name of street] with a fenced in yard. I've included information about ducks and turkeys in this letter as I feel they might also be appropriate for allowing within residential zones in the city of [city name]. Please let me know how I might be able to be of help in your investigation of this matter.
Thanks,
Jill Richardson

Tales from the Larder: the Majestic Mustard

Asinus Asinum Fricat — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:08:10 GMT

"La moutarde me monte au nez!", roughly translated it means, "that mustard is going up my nose." I knew exactly what this meant, aged 5, when I (innocently) dipped two fingers into a gigantic jar of mustard while horsing around in the family hotel's kitchen and stupidly licked them both. My nose suddenly turned into a mini live volcano, and with tears rushing down my cheeks I ran towards the nearest sink and stuck my head under the tap, accompanied by the hearty laughter coming from the kitchen staff.

No, that's not me then, this is the Mustard Man, from a Canadian skit he did for a sketch-comedy show called "The Endless Grind".

I didn't touch mustard until my early teens when I became really interested in cooking and experimented with it. The sensation of heat from mustard comes from a volatile oil released when mustard seed is mixed with water. In very hot mustards the "heat" travels up the nose, as I found out.

Cross-posted at the Big Orange.
A word on this series: I'm trying to keep this up every Friday, depending on my workload which seems to mysteriously grow by the minute. So far I've done Salt, Pepper, Vinegar, and this week's Mustard. Next week it will be about Oils which may be split into two consecutive diaries so vast in scope and varietals that particularly wonderful ingredient means to our collective health.

(Obligatory Grey-Poupon pic above)

Mustard's history dates back at least 3000 years ago to ancient Asian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations. Before I made a trip to Dijon in my late teens, I didn't know how mustard was made. It is made from the seeds of a plant in the Cruciferae family, (see pic below, notice the seed pods). Other plants in this same family include cabbage, turnips, and radishes.

Before Dijon, most mustards were made the usual way by crushing the seeds and mixing them with a liquid such as water, wine, vinegar, beer, or a combination of these plus seasonings like salt and perhaps other flavorings. It wasn't until a genial man named Jean Naigeon first created, in 1856, what would become known as "Dijon Mustard." What Naigeon did was a masterstroke of genius. He simply substituted verjuice (a sour juice made from unripe grapes) for vinegar. The result was a smooth, less acidic tasting mustard. And it could make, among other things, a fantastic sauce when mixed with good ingredients, as we'll see below thread.

Originally mustard was called Sinapis. Some students claim that during Roman times the word Sinapis started to be replaced by words such as Mustum, Mustarum, and Mustardum as new wine, or "Must" was mixed with mustard seeds to make a paste.
More recent theories come from France. In one, the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, gave the town of Dijon a coat of arms in 1382 with the motto "MOULT ME TARDE" (based on Multum Ardeo - I ardently desire). As the story goes, the motto was adopted by the town's many mustard-makers, who eventually shortened it into Moul-tarde (to burn much).
Similarly, another story has it that the motto was given the citizens of Dijon by King Charles VI. In this version, the motto "MOULT ME TARDE" meant "Off to Battle." A humorous side note on this story was that some opponents of the Dijon army saw the motto but missed the "ME," in the middle, and came to believe they were dealing with an army of mustard-makers.

Growing mustard, it seems, is best adapted to cool temperate climates. Currently over 80% of the world's mustard seed is grown in the Prairie Provinces of Western Canada, North and South Dakota. Other growing areas include eastern Europe, the UK (I have to say here that I'm not a great fan of English mustard), China and India. And a couple of plants in my conservatory. The funny thing is that when you get your hands on some fresh mustard seeds and bite one, you won't feel anything. It's when it's mixed with vinegar or water that it releases its heat.

During my chef/restaurant days I used to experiment with just about every ingredient and if I recall right, I think I would have made up a large number of flavored mustards. It's quite easy, particularly if one has a blender or a high-speed magimix (also called robot-coupe in the trade). Then the sky's the limit, here's a few samples: lemon & cracked pepper mustard, hotter than hell Cajun mustard, Jalapeno mustard (try Habanero for extra kick), various honey mustards, pink & green peppercorn mustard, lime & cilantro mustard, dark ale mustard (I make my own Guinness seed mustard here), smoked paprika mustard, wild garlic mustard, all kinds of herb mustards, even a vanilla flavored one found its way to a dish of seared scallops. Choose your flavor, herb or spice, add Dijon or a similar mustard and press the button. Check the consistency by adding a dash of vinegar or a good nut oil, or both. Refrigerate for a few hours before use, and impress your friends. Nothing is greater than a display of say six or more mustards on a barbecue day.

A good Dijon (or any other reputable brand for that matter) mustard makes a perfect salad dressing, an unctuous mayonnaise and a sensational sauce to accompany just about any meat joint, fish or vegetables.
Here's how to make a typical mustard-based dressing, goes well with steamed vegetables, salads, even as a dip (with country bread). I make mine in liter batches, it keeps for weeks though it never last that long:
buy a 16 ounces jar of mustard (or if you have made your own, use that one), 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) of red wine vinegar, 2 cups virgin olive oil, 8 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely minced, a handful of flat parsley, also finely chopped, salt & pepper to taste. You will need a good whisk, a glass bowl bowl and plenty of elbow grease (you could use a blender but where's the fun in that?)

Scoop half the mustard into the bowl (keep the other half for whatever else you may need), add the garlic & parsley, salt & pepper, then slowly pour the vinegar, whisking all along. When it's all incorporated, add the oil ever so slowly and whisk till it's done. If you like a little more tartness, add the juice of one lemon or lime.

Moving along to an unbeatable mayonnaise recipe, with two variations: best done with free range egg yolks but don't panic if not available. For say 6 persons you'll need 3 egg yolks (kept at room temperature), 6 ounces of Dijon mustard, 10 fluid ounces of virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper to taste. In a bowl, pour the egg yolks, and mix the mustard in with a wooden spoon or spatula, add salt & pepper. Grab your trusted whisk and slowly pour the oil and keep whisking till the desired consistency. Add the drop of lemon, and if you wish, you can also add some finely minced garlic and/or some finely chopped fresh herbs. My favorite variation is adding the flesh of 2 boiled & peeled potatoes and a teaspoon of smoked paprika. That is my definition of heaven! You can make mayonnaise as rich as you like by adding a dash of beaten cream for that extra velvet feeling.

To make a stunning mustard sauce you need a piece of meat or poultry. It goes OK with fish as well but I'd rather use it on a piece of meat for obvious reason: the pan juices and the combination of mustard & cream does it justice.

The following recipe can be applied to either chicken breasts, beef sirloins or as I'm doing here, a few thin escalopes of pork loin (as long as you know where the pig was raised and is not tainted with antibiotics). This is done quickly and served immediately. For 2 people (double up if you're cooking for 4 and so on) you will need 2 pieces of pork loin per person, a pot of mustard, some double cream, a little brandy, butter, olive oil, some cracked black pepper and salt to taste.

In a skillet, over a high flame, add a dash of olive oil and a knob of butter. When it's melted put your meat pieces and cook them on both sides for 2 minutes or thereabouts. When it's done put them in a warm dish by the stove and grab the brandy bottle, add around a single measure of brandy to the pan and flamb? the alcohol off, stirring the skillet with a wooden spoon to collect the meat juices and the bits that are stuck onto the pan. Then add 1 soupspoon of mustard per person, and 2 of cream, also per person. Season with a little salt and ground black pepper, stirring well. The sauce should be bubbling nicely and if you wish, sprinkle your favorite herb (rosemary in my case) into the sauce. Put back the meat onto the skillet for a few seconds and serve.

Throughout history various uses for mustard has found its way to traditional folk medicine and Chinese herbal medicine to treat a variety of ailments such as bronchitis, colds, rheumatism, toothache, ulcers, and stomach disorders.

Mustard, in poultices or jars, is one of the first home remedies. It has been around in one form or another, for at least 3,000 years. The Christian Bible mentions mustard seeds, and those pungent little seeds were used for muscle aches, colds and in poultices for chest congestion. You may have also heard of mustard enemas, a sadistic way of punishing troublesome kids in the past. And of course, the dreaded mustard gas has nothing to do with the mustard plant. (Nice mustard field below)

A few "mustardy" references from the past:

Abraham is said to have served tongue with mustard.
The Egyptians are said to have eaten mustard seeds by chewing them along with meat.
6th century BC: Pythagoras mentioned mustard as a cure for scorpion bites. (Okay, that's not a seasoning, but it is interesting. It appears that Pythagoras had theories about more things than right triangles.)
6th Century BC: The story of Buddha, the lady, and the mustard seed.
500 BC: Aristophanes wrote of mustard-spiced stews.
200 BC: The Roman playwright, Plautus, in Pseudolus, has the cook saying: "It is rubbed with criminal mustard, which burns the eyes of those who grate it."
1st Century AD: Pliny the Elder claimed that mustard would improve lazy housewives.
9th Century AD: During Charlemagne's reign, mustard was cultivated on imperial lands and in the monasteries in Paris.
1758: Someone found unconfirmed references that Benjamin Franklin was responsible for bringing mustard to the United States.

Pew Works for Sustainable, Healthy Oceans

Jill Richardson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT

I've gotten a number of press releases from the Pew Environment Group about their efforts to make our oceans healthy and sustainable. Here's what they are up to (below):

Pew cautions against unregulated fish farms in U.S. federal waters: Massive escapes of farmed salmon pose major environmental threats
WASHINGTON - During this year's Global Week of Action, a week devoted to farmed salmon awareness, the Pew Environment Group today raised concern about the creation of fish farms in U.S. waters without adequate uniform national aquaculture standards in place.
In the past two months, tens of thousands of farmed salmon have escaped from open-net fish farms in British Columbia, Norway and Scotland. This poses serious threats to wild salmon populations and coastal marine ecosystems. While monetary losses amount to millions of dollars, the ecological damage caused by these fish is immeasurable. Escaped fish spread disease to wild fish and compete and interbreed with wild salmon populations.
This September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) allowed a plan to move forward that will establish fish farms in the Gulf of Mexico. Without necessary safeguards in place, U.S. waters could suffer the same environmental problems affecting other fish farming regions across the globe. NOAA has not yet mandated a set of uniform, national standards to regulate open ocean aquaculture in federal waters.

Salmon farms is environmentally destructive for their pollution, for the parasites that they attract, and for the invasive escaped salmon that escape. Furthermore, the fish produced are inferior to wild salmon because they contain more pollutants (notably PCBs) than their wild counterparts
To learn more about the Pure Salmon Campaign and international events taking place during the fourth annual Global Week of Action, go to http://www.puresalmon.org and http://www.farmedsalmonexposed...
Making Catch Shares Work
Pew recently released a paper about catch shares. The idea is to cap the amount of total fishing allowed for a species and then to divide it among those who are doing the fishing. Hence, each group gets a share of the catch. The problem is that this doesn't work if the catch limit is set too high (which often happens), if some of the parties fishing for that species do not participate in the catch share program, or if the participants of a catch share program cheat by catching more than they are supposed to. Sadly, this all happens far too often.
Statement on bluefin tuna and sharks at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna
Pew has sounded the alarm about the fate of sharks and bluefin tuna. Here is what they recently had to say about them:
As top predators in the ocean, sharks play a critical role in keeping marine ecosystems healthy and the food web in balance. Yet up to 70 million sharks are killed annually for the shark fin market and scientists believe that many shark populations are threatened with extinction. Most sharks are slow growing, mature late, and produce few young, making them especially vulnerable to overfishing and slow to recover once depleted. Yet there are few limits on the number of sharks taken from the world's oceans. As you know, it has now been a full decade since the United Nations called on RMFOs to prepare Regional Plans of Action for Sharks but we find that sustainable management of sharks is still largely absent around the globe.
The Pew Environment Group urges you to take strong action on sharks at this meeting by working to reach consensus on a number of key conservation measures that will help protect shark populations in the Atlantic Ocean. Specifically, we urge you to support the following measures that will help ensure that the shark populations under ICCAT's management purview are protected from extinction:
- A prohibition on the retention and landing of exceptionally vulnerable bigeye thresher sharks, as recommended by ICCAT scientists;
- Concrete measures to ensure a significant reduction in fishing mortality of overfished North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks, in line with previous ICCAT Recommendations;
- Precautionary measures to cap fishing for blue sharks to prevent overfishing;
- An ambitious schedule for hosting a special porbeagle shark management meeting of representatives from interested RFMOs, as resolved in 2008; and
- A prohibition on the removal of shark fins at sea in order to improve enforcement of the shark finning ban and facilitate collection of species-specific catch data. This will help improve enforcement of the agreed shark-finning ban from the binding 2004 recommendation and facilitate more accurate collection of species-specific catch and landings data. This is far preferable to any proposal to allow shark fins to be transported at sea in bags or other devices that separate the fins from the body of the shark.
They also added that bluefin tuna is nearing commercial extinction and urgent action is needed, adding that "For over 30 years, ICCAT has wasted countless opportunities to set science-based catch limits and curb overfishing of Atlantic bluefin."
Pew Laments Lack of U.S. Leadership to Protect Atlantic Bluefin Tuna at CITES
That pretty much says it all.
Pew Urges Antarctic Fisheries Commission to Protect Whales, Penguins, Seals and Krill
This is a subject that is close to my heart. And it makes my blood boil that krill are being used for dietary supplements, because the lack of omega-3s in our diets (and overabundance of omega-6s) is our fault, but countless species of marine life are paying the price as we try to compensate via dietary supplements.
The Pew Environment Group today called on the world's governing body for conserving Antarctic marine life to geographically spread out krill catches in the Southern Ocean. This would prevent the concentration of the fishery from significantly reducing the amount of krill available for key predators including whales, penguins and seals.
Krill are tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans that serve as the "bread and butter" of the Southern Ocean food chain. But an expanding commercial krill fishery poses serious threats to the shellfish and its iconic predators. The greatest demand today for Antarctic krill comes from the fish farming industry which uses krill for feed. Commercial fishing boats also catch and process krill, high in beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids, for dietary supplements.

My Last Long Conversation with My Brother

Jill Richardson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:22:00 GMT

Tomorrow is November 13. That marks one year since my last long conversation with my brother. He died one week later, November 20, we think. They found his body November 24.
Adam was gifted. Incredibly gifted. He didn't test well because of his anxiety, but he still scored high in the gifted range on standardized tests. He would read Shakespeare, Nietzsche, and Kant for fun. He loved English, history, philosophy, and psychology. Adam could have, and should have, thrived in college.

Unfortunately, he got the idea in his head that the best majors were finance and accounting. I know where he got this idea. When I was pursuing a liberal arts education, wanting to major in East Asian Studies and Anthropology, my parents weren't thrilled. They wanted me to graduate as a "something." Major in accounting, and you're an accountant. Major in engineering, and you're an engineer. Major in anthro, and you're a... are you going to be an anthropologist? Traveling to remote areas of China and writing ethnographies? That wasn't what my parents wanted for their daughter. They wanted me to have stability and financial security. With that in mind, I gave up my anthro idea and went for a business degree instead. I majored in marketing, which is about as close as you can get to anthro in the business school. I kept the East Asian Studies degree, because we all agreed that speaking fluent Chinese would be useful in the business world.

Adam saw this play out. He listened. He also paid attention when I graduated with my marketing degree and found out that nobody really hires marketing majors fresh out of undergrad. Whoops. My parents and I discussed how many marketing wasn't as good for getting a job as finance and accounting because it was seen as "fluffy." It's not that marketing is fluffy per se, but it's something where I think you really need experience to learn it, whereas numbers oriented fields like finance and accounting can be easily fact checked with a calculator or a spreadsheet to ensure that your new grad is doing the job right.

Adam didn't want to be an engineer. He didn't want to be an accountant. He didn't want to be a doctor. He might want to be a lawyer, but that was a lot of school. And he wanted to make a lot of money. He decided he'd go into finance. The problem? MAJOR MATH ANXIETY.

It wasn't that he was bad at math. In fact, I bet you he was good at it - but for the anxiety. It wasn't that he hated math, although he certainly did hate it. It was that the very thought of math made him freeze up and go into panic mode. If you've ever had a panic attack, you know what I'm talking about.

For years, Adam hid this. Nobody knew why his grades weren't on par with his brains. Why wouldn't he just do his homework? Why didn't he just study for his tests? Wouldn't that be easier than the alternative of doing poorly in school and getting hounded about it? Finally, a year before he died, he told us of his anxiety. Finally, we could openly discuss it.

Adam had gotten a rocky start to his college career. The year he died was the first semester of his fifth year. He had taken most of the pre-req classes for a finance major in the business school, but he had withdrawn from statistics the semester before. Last year at this time he was retaking it and not doing well. It was his anxiety. He was now medicated for it but he still couldn't overcome it. Not yet anyway. I had faith in him that, had he lived, he could have found a way to keep it from interfering so much in his life. Of course, my first hope was always that he'd use college to study something he actually enjoyed instead of what he thought he was supposed to be studying. By this point, even my parents had told him to just major in ANYTHING and graduate.

A year ago, I had just started a consulting job in L.A. I would spend the week in Beverly Hills and Thursday nights after work I'd hang out at a restaurant or coffee shop until traffic died down and then I'd drive home. On November 13, 2008, I first went to a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for a large tea and I sat down. I had my knitting and my laptop and I planned to stay for hours. Then I noticed the compact fluorescent lights, which give me a headache, so I left. From there I went to a Starbucks. Again, compact fluorescents. Ugh. I went back to my car. Too fed up to look for another place to sit and knit, I decided to take a nap in the back seat. Then Adam called.

I wouldn't have answered the phone for anyone else, but I answered for Adam. He asked me a question we'd discussed countless times before. Did I REALLY think he wouldn't endanger his chances of getting a job if he majored in something other than finance?

I had told him the answer many times before but this time he finally heard me. Yes, you can still get a job. In fact, here's how well I know. I asked the dean of my university's business school whether it was better to have a business degree or a liberal arts degree to get a job. He replied that some companies prefer students with business degrees but others feel they can teach new hires the business skills and they prefer that the people they hire got the critical thinking skills learned in a liberal arts program. I asked him whether more companies prefer business students or liberal arts students. He said it was 50/50.

That answer satisfied Adam. "Really?" he asked. "Yes." I replied. Then I added that in my experience, when the economy is good, EVERYBODY gets a job (regardless of major) and when the economy is bad, nobody gets a job (regardless of major). Besides, I said, we're in a major financial crisis now. All of the finance majors with jobs on Wall Street are in trouble! I bet you now is a lousy time to be a finance major.

Adam told me he was thinking about majoring in English. He didn't tell me that he was failing stats again (he avoided an F the last time by withdrawing) and that it was preventing him from taking upper level finance classes. I picked up that factoid a few days later.

The call was a major breakthrough. This was the message I had been telling Adam for FIVE YEARS. Major in what you love. Use college as an opportunity to do what you love because the real world can suck hard. Finally he was hearing it. I found out later that he was hearing it only because he was up against a wall with few other choices. He was starting to panic that if he continued to be a finance major, he might never graduate.

A few days later, he chatted with me online. I saved the chat records as soon as I found out he died.

Monday November 17, 2008
8:26:53 PM DirkDigler911: well, I think I'm probably going to transfer to english
10:27:35 PM DirkDigler911: you there?
10:27:45 PM DirkDigler911: I just went to the store so I can put food on my family
10:41:54 PM DirkDigler911: gimme a call if you're around
Tuesday November 18, 2008
6:19:49 PM Jill Richardson: hi
6:20:31 PM Jill Richardson: if you're transferring to English I say good
6:20:49 PM DirkDigler911: yeah I am
6:20:57 PM DirkDigler911: I looked over the shit I'll have to take
6:21:00 PM DirkDigler911: it sounds very interesting
6:21:00 PM Jill Richardson: yeah?
6:21:03 PM Jill Richardson: nice
6:21:48 PM DirkDigler911: I read something on niu's website, that might be true:
6:21:55 PM DirkDigler911: if I'm reading it correctly
6:22:29 PM DirkDigler911: it says that I can retake a class and the grade I get in the retake will replace the old grade in calculating my GPA
6:22:51 PM DirkDigler911: I've taken stats twice, but the first time I withdrew
6:23:07 PM DirkDigler911: if I'm reading it correctly, this will still only count as one try (the withdrawal won't count)
6:23:12 PM DirkDigler911: read this and tell me what you think:
6:23:42 PM Jill Richardson: oh wow, that's a great deal.
6:24:07 PM DirkDigler911: http://catalog.niu.edu/content...
6:24:23 PM DirkDigler911: read the section entitled: Repeating a Course
6:24:29 PM Jill Richardson: ok
6:24:32 PM Jill Richardson: btw
6:24:38 PM Jill Richardson: i got 60mpg highway in my Prius on the way up here
6:24:41 PM Jill Richardson: going 55mph
6:24:50 PM DirkDigler911: that's better than joel [our dad] can do
6:24:59 PM DirkDigler911: I bet they've improved the engine on your newer model
6:25:03 PM DirkDigler911: plus, the weather over there
6:25:10 PM DirkDigler911: dry and temperate
6:25:38 PM DirkDigler911: and nice dense sea air
6:26:02 PM Jill Richardson: i dunno
6:26:06 PM Jill Richardson: yeah i just read the thing
6:26:07 PM Jill Richardson: looks good
6:26:11 PM Jill Richardson: do you need stats for english?
6:26:19 PM Jill Richardson: i should hope not!
6:26:19 PM DirkDigler911: no, but here's my plan
6:26:41 PM DirkDigler911: I retake the stats class, along with 12 hours of enlish
6:27:00 PM DirkDigler911: the reasoning is twofold:
6:27:56 PM DirkDigler911: one, I'm going to be taking an F in this stats class, and retaking it could supplant that bad score and improve my GPA
6:28:41 PM DirkDigler911: two: if I pass the stats class, I'll be able to enter the upper level business classes (it's my last requirement). Or, if I choose (this is more likely), I can continue taking english classes
6:29:02 PM Jill Richardson: in other words
6:29:06 PM Jill Richardson: it leaves all options open
6:29:07 PM Jill Richardson: question:
6:29:08 PM DirkDigler911: I'll likely try to graduate with the english degree
6:29:16 PM Jill Richardson: 1. how miserable will you be in stats again?
6:29:23 PM DirkDigler911: and if I can't find a job, or hate it, I'll be relatively close to a finance degree
6:29:23 PM Jill Richardson: and 2. how likely are you to pass the 2nd time?
6:29:54 PM Jill Richardson: cuz if it makes you really really sick to your stomach miserable to do stats, then don't do it. otherwise it's a good plan.
6:30:04 PM DirkDigler911: I might not
6:30:09 PM DirkDigler911: but the english is definitely a go
6:30:12 PM Jill Richardson: i have come to believe that if you hate something in life it's OK to avoid it
6:30:12 PM DirkDigler911: I'm saying fuck it
6:30:17 PM DirkDigler911: I want to go to law school
6:30:20 PM DirkDigler911: I still know this
6:30:22 PM Jill Richardson: :)
6:30:33 PM DirkDigler911: after years of trying to find myself, that is the one thing I've consistently wanted
6:30:54 PM Jill Richardson: i doubt most people your age have found themselves
6:30:55 PM DirkDigler911: I've changed my mind on everything else, but I've wanted to go to law school since I was 16
6:31:20 PM Jill Richardson: yeah, you have said that a lot
6:31:29 PM DirkDigler911: I definitely haven't completely found myself, but due to specific circumstances, I've had to be more introspective than most
6:31:40 PM Jill Richardson: which is probably for the better anyway
6:32:43 PM DirkDigler911: I probably know myself better than most of my peers
6:33:04 PM DirkDigler911: I've had almost no external conflict, but the internal stuff has been going on since I'm 3
6:33:18 PM Jill Richardson: dang
6:35:41 PM DirkDigler911: I've been on an emotional high all day
6:35:48 PM DirkDigler911: I feel like a burden has been lifted
6:36:41 PM Jill Richardson: nice
6:36:46 PM Jill Richardson: due to the decision to do english
6:36:51 PM Jill Richardson: ?
6:37:15 PM DirkDigler911: yes
6:37:25 PM Jill Richardson: nice
6:37:28 PM Jill Richardson: i'm thrilled for you
6:37:30 PM Jill Richardson: i think it's great
6:37:38 PM DirkDigler911: I really stress myself out needlessly
6:37:44 PM Jill Richardson: you do!!!!
6:37:59 PM Jill Richardson: i was toying with buying you a DVD of You Can't Take it With You for Hanukkah
6:38:17 PM Jill Richardson: hoping maybe that could combat your idea that you can't major in the subject that you actually like studying
6:38:46 PM DirkDigler911: I really need this thanksgiving break coming up
6:38:53 PM Jill Richardson: nice
6:39:00 PM Jill Richardson: oh shit i still didn't call pam about thanksgiving
6:39:03 PM Jill Richardson: hehe
6:39:06 PM Jill Richardson: i have no thanksgiving plans
6:39:16 PM DirkDigler911: why don't you fly to chicago
6:39:45 PM DirkDigler911: we'll have tofurkey
6:41:07 PM DirkDigler911: did I only send you one arvo p?rt track?
6:41:27 PM Jill Richardson: I don't know
6:41:44 PM DirkDigler911: can you check
6:41:49 PM DirkDigler911: there's one I'd like to send you
6:41:54 PM DirkDigler911: it's very good
6:43:25 PM Jill Richardson: ludus
6:43:37 PM DirkDigler911: that's it?
6:43:42 PM DirkDigler911: ok, I'll send you one
6:43:43 PM Jill Richardson: yes
6:47:58 PM DirkDigler911: you liked that, right?
6:48:22 PM Jill Richardson: i don't remember
6:48:30 PM Jill Richardson: sorry adam
6:48:36 PM DirkDigler911: lol, why do I bother
6:49:28 PM Jill Richardson: i don't know!
6:49:41 PM Jill Richardson: OMG!!! Begich won in alaska!!!!!!!!!
6:49:47 PM Jill Richardson: NO MORE TED STEVENS!
6:49:52 PM Jill Richardson: <happy dance>
6:49:54 PM DirkDigler911: I already knew this
6:49:59 PM DirkDigler911: a la Nate silver
6:50:00 PM DirkDigler911: my guy
6:50:06 PM Jill Richardson: i knew he was winNING
6:50:17 PM Jill Richardson: this was the first i'd heard that the race got officially called
6:50:51 PM DirkDigler911: by the way, silver's final pre-election projection was much more accurate than pollster.com and realclearpolitics.com
6:51:31 PM DirkDigler911: but back to music....you used to beg me to make music DVDs for you
6:51:40 PM DirkDigler911: are you no longer a music fan?
6:51:44 PM Jill Richardson: not really
6:51:48 PM Jill Richardson: i don't really listen to it ever
6:51:57 PM Jill Richardson: unless i have absolutely zero radio available
6:51:58 PM DirkDigler911: I'm a sad panda
6:52:02 PM Jill Richardson: and nothing to read
6:52:04 PM Jill Richardson: sorry :(
6:52:20 PM Jill Richardson: although i'm glad there's someone other than me who likes quoting sexual harassment panda
6:52:20 PM DirkDigler911: jill, diversify
6:52:30 PM DirkDigler911: become a jeffersonian-style polymath
6:53:26 PM DirkDigler911: luckily, my friends discuss music/literature/film more than politics (with the exception of lately), so I get a balance
6:54:01 PM DirkDigler911: but my favorite pastime is watching people get smacked in the taint on youtube
6:54:02 PM Jill Richardson: i'm 100% politics over here
6:54:26 PM DirkDigler911: well, for what it'
6:54:31 PM DirkDigler911: s worth
6:54:41 PM DirkDigler911: I sent you a really nice string piece
6:57:27 PM Jill Richardson: ok thx
6:57:30 PM Jill Richardson: i'll listen later
7:00:02 PM DirkDigler911: you're going to be funny when you're old
7:00:08 PM DirkDigler911: prediction
7:05:24 PM DirkDigler911: the best part about transferring to english is that I should actually graduate with a nice GPA
7:08:18 PM DirkDigler911: jill, in all seriousness, I love talking to you, but I wish we could diversify a bit

After that conversation, we spoke again on the phone once. 11/19/08 at 7:52pm. The day before he died. Then we spoke again online that night:

12:12:36 AM DirkDigler911: how well does bartending usually pay?
12:12:40 AM Jill Richardson: no idea
12:12:45 AM Jill Richardson: depends a lot on tips
12:12:59 AM DirkDigler911: I'll wear tight shirts and pushup bras
12:14:03 AM Jill Richardson: that should do it
12:18:12 AM Jill Richardson: ok your music is good
12:18:16 AM Jill Richardson: but it frustrates me to listen to it
12:18:19 AM Jill Richardson: bc it's not talk radio
12:18:29 AM Jill Richardson: so i feel like i'm waiting for it to end so i can put my talk radio back on
12:18:44 AM Jill Richardson: in fact, i just did
12:29:50 AM DirkDigler911: in my mind, talk radio isn't much more substantive than tv
12:29:58 AM DirkDigler911: the internet is where it's at
12:30:01 AM DirkDigler911: I read a lot
12:30:51 AM Jill Richardson: what do you listen tto?
12:30:57 AM Jill Richardson: i'm listening to Thom hartmann
12:30:57 AM DirkDigler911: I'm not singly focused on politics, though
12:31:00 AM Jill Richardson: and he's substantive
12:31:14 AM DirkDigler911: no, I like thom hartmann
12:31:24 AM DirkDigler911: and some of the other air america personalities
12:31:52 AM Jill Richardson: i listen to thom and rachel daily
12:31:53 AM DirkDigler911: it just doesn't inform me as well as news aggregators and blogs
12:32:01 AM DirkDigler911: those are my two favorite as well
12:32:02 AM Jill Richardson: and right now lee rayburn is filling in for thom and i couldn't be happier
12:32:06 AM Jill Richardson: he's from madison and i heart him
12:32:12 AM Jill Richardson: i was actually on his show once
12:32:39 AM DirkDigler911: maddow is the bees knees right now
12:32:58 AM DirkDigler911: arianna huffington guest-hosted for her last night
12:33:01 AM DirkDigler911: it was hilarious
12:33:04 AM DirkDigler911: and terrible
12:33:15 AM DirkDigler911: such a thick accent
12:34:27 AM Jill Richardson: lol
12:34:38 AM DirkDigler911: I guess I just don't love the medium
12:34:43 AM DirkDigler911: it's better than tv
12:34:47 AM Jill Richardson: talk radio?
12:34:50 AM Jill Richardson: i do love it
12:34:56 AM Jill Richardson: i can take it on planes and cars
12:35:00 AM Jill Richardson: and i don't have to look at anything
12:35:04 AM Jill Richardson: which is the main perk
12:35:13 AM DirkDigler911: print media allows writers to source their info
12:35:15 AM DirkDigler911: which I love
12:35:18 AM DirkDigler911: I'm all about that
12:36:31 AM DirkDigler911: plus, I think we can both agree that there is a higher degree of journalistic eloquence when committed to print
12:36:44 AM DirkDigler911: don't get me wrong, I listen to air america here in the daytime
12:36:48 AM DirkDigler911: they don't carry it at night
12:37:28 AM Jill Richardson: yeah that sucks
12:37:36 AM Jill Richardson: KLSD is long gone by now (in san diego)
12:37:45 AM Jill Richardson: but LA has KTLK and i listen to that
12:37:52 AM Jill Richardson: only problem is they put sports on whenever there's a game
12:38:59 AM DirkDigler911: do you still play your violin?
12:39:24 AM Jill Richardson: no
12:39:26 AM Jill Richardson: it's at mom's house
12:39:30 AM DirkDigler911: oh
12:39:32 AM Jill Richardson: i would like to play but i don't know how to tune it
12:39:36 AM DirkDigler911: I wish I could play
12:39:42 AM Jill Richardson: i love violin
12:39:46 AM DirkDigler911: I have friends who could tune it for you
12:41:01 AM DirkDigler911: I like the cello too
12:41:12 AM Jill Richardson: yeah but you have to tune it every time you play it
12:41:17 AM Jill Richardson: so i really need to learn how
12:41:35 AM DirkDigler911: I know
12:41:38 AM DirkDigler911: I meant teach you
12:41:48 AM DirkDigler911: I have an electronic tuner for my guitar
12:42:00 AM DirkDigler911: I imagine something like that would work
12:43:58 AM Jill Richardson: that would be a start
12:44:05 AM Jill Richardson: improving my ear would be a 2nd needed thing to do
12:44:27 AM DirkDigler911: I think I got the ear
12:44:46 AM Jill Richardson: as if mom and dad's genes only had one to give out
12:44:49 AM DirkDigler911: you got the ability to draw
12:44:50 AM Jill Richardson: man i'm hungry
12:44:56 AM Jill Richardson: there's this place that's open til 4
12:44:58 AM Jill Richardson: very tempting
12:45:10 AM DirkDigler911: soylent green?
12:45:15 AM Jill Richardson: no
12:45:18 AM Jill Richardson: what movie is that anyway
12:45:21 AM Jill Richardson: people bring it up all the time
12:48:03 AM DirkDigler911: it's called.....soylent green
12:48:11 AM Jill Richardson: oh
12:48:14 AM Jill Richardson: never saw
12:48:16 AM DirkDigler911: it's about a dystopian future where food is scarce
12:48:32 AM DirkDigler911: so people eat this processed material called 'soylent green'
12:48:38 AM DirkDigler911: which turns out to be made of people
12:49:13 AM DirkDigler911: Chuckleton Heston was in the movie
12:51:07 AM Jill Richardson: oh so it's old
12:51:26 AM DirkDigler911: yeah
12:51:42 AM DirkDigler911: dude, "Soylent Green is people!!" is one of the most famous lines in film history
12:54:11 AM Jill Richardson: yeah i know, i hear it ALL the time
12:54:15 AM Jill Richardson: every time i post a food diary
12:54:18 AM Jill Richardson: people come up with that shit
12:54:37 AM DirkDigler911: you need to get out more, lol
12:57:00 AM Jill Richardson: thanks
1:01:45 AM Jill Richardson: man i'm hungry
1:01:49 AM Jill Richardson: i really want to go out and get food
1:01:59 AM Jill Richardson: but the idea of going all the way to a restaurant, ordering something, etc
1:02:00 AM DirkDigler911: do it
1:02:03 AM Jill Richardson: it's too much food
1:02:04 AM DirkDigler911: I'm gonna go shower
1:02:07 AM Jill Richardson: OK
Changed status to Idle (1:13:14 AM)
Changed status to Available (1:34:13 AM)
1:34:50 AM DirkDigler911: stupid infomercials
1:34:58 AM Jill Richardson: yeah?
1:35:00 AM DirkDigler911: don't they know that insomniacs need shit to watch
1:35:04 AM DirkDigler911: ?
1:36:13 AM DirkDigler911: I'm actually going to finish watching a movie
1:36:20 AM DirkDigler911: have you heard of persepolis?
1:37:21 AM DirkDigler911: it's an academt award winning french/iranian animated film about a girl coming of age during iran's islamic revolution
1:37:23 AM DirkDigler911: it's really good
1:37:38 AM DirkDigler911: really interesting animation style
1:43:45 AM Jill Richardson: oh no i haven't heard of it
2:43:15 AM Jill Richardson: i'm going to bed. god i'm hungry. too bad i've been eating like a pig this week.
2:43:16 AM Jill Richardson: later

Those were the last words I spoke to my brother. Or typed, anyway. You'd want your last words to somebody to be something like "I love you" not "I'm hungry." I guess you can't always choose.

That last conversation was on a Wednesday. I thought about calling Adam the next day. It was a Thursday and I had another drive home from LA to San Diego. I decided not to call. I'd call over the weekend when I had free minutes. It didn't occur to me that this was the last day of my brother's short life and when I called he would be dead. I did call that weekend and he didn't answer. I called Monday too. By then, my parents had gone looking for Adam and his landlord had found his body and called the coroner. The coroner confirmed him dead and somebody told my parents. They were already trying to reach me, and my cell phone was off because I don't like using it. Then Mom started calling every Marriott in and around Beverly Hills, trying to find the one I was at.

A cousin reached me on my hotel room phone and arranged to come hang out. He sounded weird on the phone, and I thought it was crazy nice of him to drive 40 min from his place to my hotel just to grab coffee with me late at night. Little did I know the truth. It's not something that you guess when your cousin calls, that your brother might be dead. I did wonder how he knew my hotel phone number but I thought I might have emailed it to him on Facebook or something.

As it turns out, Adam got his wish. I did fly home for Thanksgiving. But we didn't eat Tofurkey. I wouldn't touch that stuff anyway. God, I miss you Adam. It's only been a year without you and I'm sentenced to an entire lifetime of this.

One more note about my brother: In the week following his death, my dad found out that even in death, Adam still made us laugh. The detective looking into his death was confused by Adam's cell phone, because he put his friends into his phonebook as "Igor" and "Scatman Crouthers" and other ridiculous nicknames ("Heeby Kikelstein" was another one). Adam was too clever for that poor, humorless detective.

ACTION: Food Safety Is Needed - But Not at the Expense of Sustainable Ag

Jill Richardson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:30:00 GMT

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coaltion has a new action alert out about the food safety bill, and I urge everyone who reads this to please send a message to your two Senators - especially if they are on the HELP committee. Details are below and at the link.

Note that action is required before November 18. That gives you just less than a week. To take action on a second alert, one for the Organic Farming Research Foundation, go here.

ACTION ALERT!
November 12, 2009
FOOD SAFETY PROPOSALS MUST PROTECT FAMILY FARMS,
SUSTAINABLE & ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
CALL MEMBERS OF THE "HELP" COMMITTEE
BEFORE NOVEMBER 18!

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will mark up S. 510, the Senate version of major food safety legislation already approved by the House of Representatives, next Wednesday, November 18.
The bill focuses on foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, not meat and poultry which is regulated by USDA.
The bill includes several key reforms that would put real teeth into federal regulation of large-scale food processing corporations to better protect consumers. However, the bill as written would also do serious harm to family farm value added processing, local and regional food systems, conservation and wildlife protection, and organic farming.
The good news is the HELP committee could fix those problems with the adoption of some common sense provisions to retain a crack down on corporate bad actors without erecting dangerous new barriers to the growing healthy food movement based on small and mid-sized family farms, sustainable and organic production methods, and more local and regional food sourcing.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Organic Coalition, have fashioned just such a set of common sense provisions that must be added to S 510.
We urge you to contact your Senator on the HELP Committee (list below) and urge them to support the NSAC/NOC amendments!
It's easy to call. If your Senator is on the HELP Committee (see the list below), please call or fax their office and ask to speak with the aide in charge of food safety issues. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator's office: 202-224-3121.
The message is simple. "I am a constituent of Senator___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to support the proposals for amendments to S 510 offered by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Organic Coalition."
Specifically, ask them to support the following key principles:
* The bill should provide small and mid-sized family farms that market value-added farm products with training and technical assistance in developing food safety plans for their farms.
* The bill should direct FDA to narrow the kinds of farm activities subject to FDA control and to base those regulations on sound risk analysis. (Current FDA rules assume, without any scientific evidence or risk analysis, that all farms which undertake any one of a long list of processing, labeling or packaging activities should be regulated.)
* The bill should direct FDA to ease compliance for organic farmers by integrating the FDA standards with the organic certification rules. FDA compliance should not jeopardize a farmer's ability to be organically certified under USDA's National Organic Program.
* The bill should insist that FDA food safety standards and guidance will not contradict federal conservation, environmental, and wildlife standards and practices, and not force the farmer to choose which federal agency to obey and which to reject.
* Farmers who sell directly to consumers should not be required to keep records and be part of a federal "traceback" system. All other farms should not be required to maintain records electronically or records beyond the first point of sale beyond the farmgate.
For more information on the Senate Food Safety bill, please see NSAC's Talking Points here and its Policy Brief Food Safety on the Farm.
List of Senate HELP Committee Members
Senator Phone Fax
Democrats
Tom Harkin (IA) 202-224-3254 No fax
Chris Dodd (CT) 202-224-2823 202-224-1083
Barbara Mikulski (MD) 202-224-4654 202-224-8858
Jeff Bingaman (NM) 202-224-5521 No fax
Patty Murray (WA) 202-224-2621 202-224-0238
Jack Reed (RI) 202-224-4642 202-224-4680
Bernie Sanders (VT) 202-224-5141 202-228-0776
Sherrod Brown (OH) 202-224-2315 202-228-6321
Bob Casey (PA) 202-224-6324 202-228-0604
Kay Hagan (NC) 202-224-6342 202-228-2563
Jeff Merkley (OR) 202-224-3753 202-228-3997
Al Franken (MN) 202-224-5641 No fax
Michael Bennet (CO) 202-224-5852 202-228-5036
Senator Phone Fax
Republicans
Mike Enzi (WY) 202-224-3424 202-228-0359
Judd Gregg (NH) 202-224-3324 No fax
Lamar Alexander (TN) 202-224-4944 202-228-3398
Richard Burr (NC) 202-224-3154 202-228-2981
Johnny Isakson (GA) 202-224-3643 202-228-0724
Orrin Hatch (UT) 202-224-5251 202-224-6331
Pat Roberts (KS) 202-224-4774 202-224-3514
Tom Coburn (OK) 202-224-5754 202-224-6008
Lisa Murkowski (AK) 202-224-6665 202-224-5301

Pot Luck

JayinPortland — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Pot Luck is an open thread...

Trouble Getting it Up?

Jill Richardson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:03:33 GMT

Having trouble getting it up? Your problems may have more to do with the chemical BPA (bisphenol A), found in can linings, than with your lack of manhood. How's THAT to get Congress's attention? BPA might be getting in the way of their extracurricular activities on the Hill and in airport bathrooms.

There are a few bills out to ban BPA, and I've recently reported on the large amounts of corporate lobbying to kill those bills. I'd also like to share with you a load of bullshit that reached my inbox this past week. The impartial sounding but corporate funded American Council on Science and Health had the following to say about BPA:

"Well, this whole thing was ignited by the Consumer Reports study saying that BPA is in our food," says Dr. Ross. "Of course it is. So what? There is absolutely no evidence that BPA is harmful to humans from food exposures, and every scientific body that has evaluated this chemical has given it a clean bill of health. However, all the activist hype has forced the FDA to reevaluate it."
"These claims against BPA have become folklore," says ACSH's Dr. Whelan. "They say these things over and over again, and eventually people think they have merit. If the FDA changes their mind and says we have to avoid BPA just to be careful, there's no hope for science. They're only reevaluating it to pacify these people."

ACSH doesn't like to tell where it gets its money, but in the past, it has taken money from ALCOA, American Meat Institute, Anheuser Busch, Archer Daniels Midland, Bristol Myers, Burger King, Campbell Soup, Coca Cola, Dow Chemical, Du Pont, General Mills, Gerber, Kellogg, Kraft Foods, M&M Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo, and Proctor & Gamble. The companies bolded here are on the record as lobbying against bills banning BPA.

Long Overdue Sampler Platter

Jill Richardson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:48:46 GMT

I've been off gallivanting all over Austin, TX and teaching vermicomposting to Girl Scouts and I haven't posted any sampler platters here. So hopefully this will get you caught up on the news:

With Rajiv Shah's nomination to head USAID, I'd like to provide a relatively recent opinion of him from the Organic Consumers Association.
A New York farm's neighbors try to save it.
I love this fantastic story about a food aid program that taught families to grow their own food on plots provided to them. (I also got a kick out of the part on how they became experts in all things zucchini. Why is it that everyone always ends up with way too much zucchini??)
LVL friend Tom Philpott had a major break with an article in Newsweek about what he learned about U.S. ag policy when he gave up a career in New York City to become an organic farmer. He says:
We quickly found ourselves in a paradox: we were growing great food for the rich-which is not what we set out to do-and losing our shirts doing it.
I started to think about the situation as a business writer would. Why was it so hard to squeeze out a living on a small farm? And why were large agribusiness companies and food conglomerates making out like bandits, and doing so by selling dirt-cheap (and low-quality) food?

If you read one thing today (or this week), READ THIS!
Tom Laskawy says "Feed the world sustainably by 2050? Yes we can!" Although, given Obama's record on this, I wouldn't exactly attach his slogan to the movement.
Grist gives us a fantastic interview with the writer of a How-To on urban ag.
Tom Laskawy links the 40 year drop in the minimum wage to obesity. I can't help but agree. Part of the reason we are so tied to convenience foods is because we have no damn time, and part of why we have no damn time is because we are making no damn money!
This article about black soldier flies is REALLY cool! Take a look at this to find out why you want black soldier fly larvae in your compost - and how you can get some!
Here's a post by Tom Philpott that I've been meaning to link to for a few weeks. It's about how Bill Gates is pro-GMO, with details on his recent speech at the World Food Prize conference.
The Ethicurean takes on a subject close to my heart in: Pets vs. Livestock: Cracking open the myths about backyard chickens
U.S. Food Policy takes on CNN, who called obese kids coronary time bombs. While that is technically correct, it certainly does have the connotation of blaming the kids. And wherever the blame goes, it certainly ain't with the kids. Parents, perhaps. More likely society, which is structured in a way that has made so many people suffer from this problem all of a sudden and all at once.
Fooducate reminds us that the newly passed otherwise craptastic Health Care Reform bill contains food-related clauses, like a requirement for calorie labeling at chain restaurants and on vending machines. Hooray! Next time, let's not pass the good stuff in the same bill with a huge payoff to the insurance industry and a major limitation on abortion rights.
Eating Animals, a new book that criticizes factory farms is really pissing off the meat industry. That makes me want to read the book!

Pot Luck

JayinPortland — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Pot Luck is an open thread...

The Girl Scouts Visit the Nursery & Make a Worm Bin

Jill Richardson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:02:56 GMT

Today, my boyfriend's daughter and her Brownie troop visited City Farmers Nursery in San Diego. They got to see all of the animals, plant their own fava beans to take home, and make a worm bin. Details below.
A while back, I brought my boyfriend's younger daughter to City Farmers Nursery. She got to pet the chickens and rabbits, feed the goats, and dig for worms. We brought the worms back to my place, where she helped me rip up newspaper to feed the worms.

We had such a great time, that my boyfriend's older daughter wanted to visit the nursery too. The plans evolved and it turned into an outing for her entire Girl Scout troop - 18 seven year olds (plus several siblings and parents). Today the girls had no school, so we all met at the troop leader's house and carpooled to the nursery.

Bill, the owner of the nursery, gave us a tour. He told the girls to call him Farmer Bill and explained how he started the nursery when he was 16 years old because he liked to grow plants. He said he also liked to recycle, and then asked the girls to look at what they were standing on. It was mulch. Bill told us he got it for free. It was ground up yard waste that somebody would have to pay to dispose of in the landfill, so they were grateful that he would accept it for free, and he was grateful to get it for free. The mulch keeps weeds from growing and keeps the ground from getting dusty.

Then Bill asked for a show of hands: How many people go to the grocery store to buy their food? All the girls raised their hands. How many people NEVER went to the grocery store for food? Only Bill's hand was up. He grows all of his own food at the nursery, he explained. On the tour, he would show us what he grew and how he grew it.

Bill showed the girls a milkweed plant and he explained how the plant lives symbiotically with monarch butterflies. The butterfly pollinates the plant and lays its eggs on it. The eggs hatch, and the caterpillars eat the leaves and then spin cocoons. The plant grows new leaves to shelter the cocoons. Then the caterpillars emerge from their cocoons as butterflies and pollinate the plant, completing the cycle and starting it again. The plant, of course, produces seeds once the butterflies pollinate its flowers, and then Bill takes the seeds and plants more milkweed plants.

As we walked, the girls got to see all of the animals (bunnies, chickens, turkeys, ducks, goats, a horse, etc). Bill told the girls that most of the animals were rescued from people who had them and didn't want them. He'll give the many of the animals away if people can care for them properly, and he'll adopt new animals if they are unwanted.

Bill has a small flock of chickens for meat and for eggs. He had Cornish/Rock crosses for meat and a variety of other breeds (including some Aracaunas) for eggs. Bill told the girls that brown chickens lay brown eggs and white chickens lay white eggs, but Aracaunas lay green and blue eggs. The ducks lay eggs too - green ones. However, that is just the color of the shell, so you can't get green eggs and ham from them. Oh, and brown cows make white milk, not brown milk. (Technically, it's not true that the color of the chicken determines the egg color. Some say the color of the earlobe will tell you the color of the eggs though. However, if we're talking about some of the more popular egg breeds, it is true that White Leghorns lay white eggs and Rhode Island Reds - which look brown - lay brown eggs.)

I raised my hand and asked if he used the chickens poop for anything. Oh yes, he said. Some of the girls wrinkled their noses at such a gross idea. Bill said that the larger the animal, the more it poops - and the smaller the animal, the stronger the poop. Chicken poop is very strong stuff. Bill composts the animal poop and uses it to feed the plants. Then he gives plant waste to the animals to eat, and thus, he has very little waste at all! He even re-uses dog poop. He fills garbage cans full of it and lets the worms eat it up. Then he uses the worm poop on ornamental plants (not food plants).

Bill showed the girls his house, and told them that he doesn't want to drive far to go to work, so he lives at his work. Then he said we were standing between two other homes - a home for turtles and a home for koi fish. Both types of animals were rescued. He asked the girls two questions: "How can you tell the difference between goldfish and koi?" and "What's the difference between turtles and tortoises?" Koi have whiskers and gold fish do not, and turtles can live in water whereas tortoises do not. Bill also has a desert tortoise, which we did not see on our tour.

As we walked, Bill showed us his "apple orchard" - five apple trees planted far away from the path so that nursery customers wouldn't pick the apples. He said when his apple trees have no apples, then he doesn't eat any apples. When the trees do give him apples, he eats them. If he gets too many apples from the trees, he dehydrates them so he can eat them year round.

Next, we saw his garden. It is very special, he told us, because he uses no machines to grow his food. All of his vegetables come from the garden. I spotted peppers, chard, strawberries, basil, tomatoes, and lots of cruciferous veggies. Near the vegetable garden, he has a big swimming pool filled with tilapia. The pool was recycled, and the water came from the rain. The fish live on mosquitoes, duck weed, and plant waste. Bill uses the fish's water (together with the fish's poop) to water and fertilize his plants. Thus, the fish require very little in inputs and they are virtually free for him to raise. I didn't ask him about heating the water, but tilapia like to live in warm water - about 80F. Then again, we're in San Diego, so maybe the water stays the right temperature naturally. Bill preserves his tilapia in salt once he harvests them so he can avoid using electricity for refrigeration. He said a fish preserved in salt can last up to five years.

The last thing the girls did was a quick project. Each girl got a small container with holes in the bottom and filled it with dirt. Bill told them the dirt included bat poop and worm poop. He gave them each a fava bean and had them plant it about an inch deep in the soil. Then he told them to take it home and water it and put it in full sunlight. He said only water it when you touch the soil and it feels dry. He also explained that fava beans fix nitrogen in the soil and they are therefore used as a cover crop.

Last, he gave the girls a quiz question: Why are plants on earth? He promised a prize to whoever answered it right. Nobody got it right. I thought, well if you boil it right down, every creature's goal in life is to reproduce. If an organism has no ability or desire to reproduce, then it goes extinct. But why did plants evolve in the first place? I don't know. There's an abundance of animal waste (poop, CO2, etc) and the plants use it, and we use their waste. It was an available ecological niche and they took it. Is that what Bill was getting at? I went with that answer. Wrong, he said. Plants exist to reproduce. We often think they are here to feed us or to give us oxygen, but that's not why the plants think they are here. It's just lucky for us that they happen to do nice things for us along the way. (He didn't say this, but they use us quite well actually. For example, they get people and animals to plant their seeds by producing tasty fruits that people and/or animals eat. Then of course we either drop the seeds or throw them out or poop them out, and they can grow. And, of course, as humans figured this out, we domesticated several species of plant by intentionally planting them, and selecting for traits we like best.) The prize Bill had was a Farmers Almanac for Kids. He donated it to the Brownie troop since nobody got the question right.

The girls' attention spans were more or less gone by then, so we had them eat their lunches and then we all carpooled back to the troop leader's house.

Back in my boyfriend's car, we had the supplies to make a worm bin ready. I bought a bag of worms on the way out the door (full of worms and dirt), and we brought them back to the troop leader's house. There, I sat with the girls in a circle and asked them what worms like to eat. Several people raised their hands and gave various answers. I added that we can give them food scraps, and listed off several like apple cores, banana peels, leftover Jack-o-lanterns, green bean tips... One of the girls added that you can give them the leaves and hairy stuff you take off of corn. Great idea, I told her. Then I asked how many of the girls had parents who drank coffee. Lots of hands went up. Well, you can give the worms coffee grounds too. And you can give them paper, like old newspaper and junk mail. Before making our bin, we also talked about three things we don't give to worms: plastic, meat, and cheese. But you can give them egg shells, as long as you crush them up into bitty worm-size pieces.

With that, we got started. We had 2 bins that fit into one another. My boyfriend drilled holes in the bottom of one of them for drainage. The girls each took pieces of newspaper and shredded it into the bin. Then I showed them some food scraps we brought - a top of a bell pepper, some leftover oatmeal, squash seeds and pulp, leftover grapes that had gone bad, and coffee grounds. We put that in the bin too. Then we put water on everything so the worms would have a moist enfironment. Next came the worms. I ripped open the bag and asked the girls to each grab and handful of dirt and worms to put in the bin.

That's when the fun REALLY started. The girls LOVED the worms. Most of the girls wanted their own worms to take home. One of the adults present tried to make the case that girls weren't allowed to have worms without parental permission. That didn't fly. The girls grabbed tupperware containers and gathered up handfuls of dirt, worms, and shredded newspaper for their new pets to eat. We helped them put holes for drainage and holes for air in the containers. Many of the girls wanted to name their worms. They were especially excited about the baby worms they found. The smaller the worm, the "cuter" the girls thought it was.

One girl's mom was there and she thought the worms were DISGUSTING. She was horrified that her daughter wanted a worm to take home, but she let her do it anyway. She said the girl wasn't allowed to touch the worm once it went home. The girl looked like she had no intention of obeying that rule. It was thrilling to see how enthusiastic the girls were about the worms, but troubling that they were getting feedback from the adults around them that the worms were gross. After all, people probably couldn't exist on this planet without worms. They make it possible to grow all of our food!

We gave the troop leader worm bin instructions in advance, so she said she'd print them up and distribute them to the parents of each Brownie. I told the girls that they could use the worms' poop to grow food in their gardens, although I don't know how many girls have gardens (or even yards) and how many of them were listening. For parents who don't want worm bins or pet worms, letting the worms go in the garden or yard might be a good compromise. That would still fit with the spirit of the activity, as the worm would be doing all kinds of good work in the soil outdoors.

My boyfriend's daughter LOVED her worms. Even after everything was all done and the girls' parents began showing up to take them home, she and another friend were still elbow deep in the worm bin, finding worms and naming them. Once we got them home, she asked me to help her name them. So we dug around in the bin and found several worms. We named one after each of us. I told Jill the worm that she/he had to be the best worm ever. (Another interesting worm fact I told the girls: every worm is both a boy AND a girl.) We named one worm Brownie and another one Try-It to commemorate the activity today with the Girl Scouts. Other ones got names like Slither and Wiggles. While naming the worms is a bit silly, I'm thrilled that she's excited about her worms, so I'm happy to participate in worm-naming.

We plan to go back to the nursery to buy garden supplies, plus our Girl Scout wants to go back without her troop so she can have the animals all to herself. I think it's a great idea. I look forward to getting our garden started, although technically we just did that, because step one is good soil, and that's what the worms are making for us.

The Chicken Project: Public Comment at City Council

Jill Richardson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:23:13 GMT

As noted here before, I'm conspiring to get a small flock of backyard chickens. Only it isn't legal where I live. Today I attended a City Council meeting and submitted 3 minutes of Public Comment about why we should legalize chickens.
Current laws prohibit animals that are dangerous or noisy. Chickens - hens specifically, because I'm not asking them to lift the ban on roosters - are neither dangerous nor noisy. Well, they cluck. They don't cluck very loudly, and they don't cluck at all at night.

I gave 4 reasons why hens are desirable pets:

1. They are fun pets. They are very social and can be quite docile as well.
2. They give you eggs. Depending on the hens' diet, the eggs can be more nutritious than those bought in a store, with better fats, less cholesterol, and more vitamins.
3. They eat things we don't want, like kitchen scraps, weeds, and bugs.
4. Their poop is useful fertilizer.

Additionally, it should be noted that chickens require about 2 sq ft per bird in a coop (or 4 sq ft per bird in a chicken run). Also, it takes 4-5 chickens to poop as much as 1 average dog. In other words, we aren't talking about a major odor problem here. Nor are we talking about an animal that requires a large yard. As for the noise, chickens have the lovely habit of putting themselves to bed every night when it gets dark. During the hours when noise from animals would be especially unwelcome, your chickens will be roosting and asleep. And even during the daytime, they just aren't that loud compared to turkeys or roosters - or compared to dogs.

Last, I noted that this was a common change in laws cities were making around the country and I would be glad to provide examples of what others have done so we can make our laws right for us. A good idea is to outlaw problems associated with chickens rather than outlawing chickens themselves. For example, you can require that the chickens be kept in a coop that is well-maintained. You can ban slaughtering birds in a residential zone. You might require that people get a chicken license and register with the city. Some places say the chickens need to be a certain number of feet from any neighbor's property, although I hope our city doesn't do that. I certainly didn't make that suggestion.

(Quite truthfully, I spent the last several days on a farm with a flock of chickens, turkeys, and guineas right outside my bedroom window. When I napped during the day, I couldn't hear the hens at all. But oh boy could I hear everybody else! And the roosters went off at 3am last night! Still, given the lack of a noise problem associated with hens, I hope there's no restriction on how far they must be from the neighbors. That is a method that is sometimes used to effectively ban chickens, actually, by requiring them to be so far away from the nearest neighbors that nobody's yard is big enough to qualify.)

One of the council members asked if roosters were required to make chickens lay eggs. The answer is no. It's kind of like a human female - you still ovulate and get your period even with no men around. You just can't have a baby without a man. Same for chickens.

The council decided to pursue the matter at a later meeting. One man from the city government gave me his contact info and remarked that the city is quite interested in sustainable food production. I need to write him a formal letter requesting a zoning law change to allow small flocks of hens in residential zones. I will do that, and I don't know where we go from there. Presumably the matter will come up at a future city council meeting but I don't know when or in what fashion.

Previous installments in my chicken project:
Part 1: Initial Planning for Chickens
Part 2: Oops, it's not legal

Pot Luck

JayinPortland — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Pot Luck is an open thread...