Daily Loaf

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Sustainable beer 101: A guide to growlers- Benefits of refillable beer jugs far exceed the lure of fresh tap beer.

Refresh your mind, body and spirit by reconnecting with nature- Living in such a busy world these days overloaded with technology leaves little time to get back to the basics and connect with the planet we live on. Take some time out of your busy schedule and reconnect with nature, which will balance you physically, mentally and spiritually.

Ronald McDonald gets a pie in the face from PETA protester- Ronald McDonald takes one in the kisser from a PETA protester who is against McDonald’s “controlled-atmosphere killing” of chickens.

St. Petersburg College and Tampa Bay green building chapter announce partnership- St Petersburg College’s Corporate Training Office announced a partnership with the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter (FGCC) of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide a comprehensive sustainable building operations training course based on the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance rating system.
Read the rest of this entry »

With Food Inc. making such a buzz about the food that we eat and where it comes from, this independent film may also be one to watch.

King Corn tells the story of two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation.

As the film unfolds, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the East coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-ubiquitous grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they questions about how we eat—and how we farm.

My favorite line from the trailer: “We aren’t growing quality – we’re growing crap!” Truer words were never spoken.

Video after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

So while everyone is arguing about who pays for “healthcare”, let’s explore a more basic question: what is healthcare?

Is it antibiotics? No, because that’s a treatment for an infection. Is it heart bypass surgery? No, because that’s an end run around a clogged and diseased artery. Is it anti-depressants, pain medicine or anti-inflammatories? No, they are all symptom relief strategies, – illness care – not healthcare. And it certainly isn’t chemo-“therapy”, which is administering poisons for a disease caused by toxicity.

Real healthcare is taking care of yourself. Real healthcare is replacing missing nutrients. Real healthcare is movement that strengthens and stretches and improves your mood. Real healthcare is cleaning up your internal environment and your toxic beliefs. Who should pay for that?
Read the rest of this entry »

I love finding great produce, and was thrilled to find the first corn of the season in the market recently. The good thing about in-season produce is it is cheaper, more flavorful and usually from closer to home.

Roasting the corn for this salad coaxes out all the sweetness. The soft bibb lettuce provides nice contrast to the crisp bacon. The simple dressing of vinegar and cream is inspired by a dressing I had on a salad in France. Adding vinegar to the cream makes a dressing with a nice balance of sweetness from the cream and acidity from the vinegar, a bit like crème fraiche. Be sure to start with a good quality, good-tasting vinegar because it is a prominent flavor in this salad. Read the rest of this entry »

Each time I find really nice sea scallops available at the market*, my recipe wheels immediately start turning. There’s a slightly majestic quality to their clean, delicate flesh and unique flavor which I simply cannot resist. So, this week’s shopping trip yielded not only the most fantastic scallops I’ve seen in a while, but also a new dish that is fresh and satisfying.

There are a few rules to live by when cooking scallops, and once you have it down it really is very simple. Be sure to dry them completely after washing as excess water in the pan will cause them to steam and sacrifice the deep golden crust that creates such an impressive presentation. The pan must also be very hot to achieve this signature scallop sear. Take care to remember the two minute rule as a cooking timeline as well- overdone scallops are rubbery and tough, and no fun to eat.

This recipe combines the classic pairing of scallops and bacon with a topping based loosely on a variation of maque choux. The flavors left in the pan after cooking the bacon and mushrooms will marry with the cream to create a rich and tasty sauce. After all, it is my firm belief that every good scallop deserves an equally good sauce.

Here’s the recipe:

Read the rest of this entry »

Police in Switzerland have discovered a two-acre field of marijuana with the aide of Google Earth.

Swiss cops say that the marijuana field was discovered in Thurgau sometime last year while they were investigating a suspected drug ring.

Officers were using Google Earth to locate the exact address of two farmers they suspected of being involved in the ring when they came across a planation hidden in a field of corn.

“It was an interesting chance discovery,” Zurich police’s specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner told the Associated Press.

The police didn’t acknowledge whether they did anything to the field they found.

Read more at Ars Technica.

This surprise ain't too sweet.

A recent study published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found that many popular food products containing high fructose corn syrup contain detectable levels of mercury. The list of products includes staples like Smucker’s strawberry jelly, Hershey’s chocolate syrup and blueberry Pop Tarts. The researchers tested 55 products and found that 36% contained enough mercury to be detected in the lab.

Why? Well, that gets a lot more complicated. Bear with me after the jump, and I’ll try to sum up. Read the rest of this entry »

The most recent Government Accountability Office review (.pdf) notes that genetically engineered (aka GE, genetically modified or GM) food is getting into places where it doesn’t belong.

“Unauthorized releases of GE crops into food, animal feed, or the environment beyond farm fields have occurred, and it is likely that such incidents will occur again.”

So, what’s the big deal? Some genetically engineered foods reduce the need for pesticides and fertilizer, which should make them a darling of green-minded folk. Genetically modified crops can be a boon to developing countries that need more local, self-sustaining agriculture.

And really, isn’t cross-breeding just modifying the genetics of a crop old school style? (Several of these arguments can be found at the Monsanto corporate responsibility page.)

Perhaps… Read the rest of this entry »