16th May, 2008
Food for Thought
Here is a video of a talk that Mark Bittman gave late last year that pretty much sums up my feelings of the current state of agriculture and the effects that it is having on us as individuals and on the world as a whole.
I’m not advocating giving up meat completely – I like meat and I will probably continue to eat it for as long as I can and, to be frank, bacon is simply too delicious to ever even think of giving it up – but I do have concerns of the toll that mass-produced meat is taking on the planet. The same goes with the incredible reliance on corn in the foodchain. As far as the welfare of individuals go, I guess it’s the same old argument that too much of anything is bad for you.
While the talk covers many important topics, I think one of his really key points is that, at least in this country, people have forgotten how to cook. Instead, they tend to rely on “convenience” foods which tend to be highly-processed and full of all sorts of unhealthy things. I’d hazard a guess that they also tend to have very high carbon footprints when compared to less processed foods like local meats/raw vegetables. We as individuals are just as guilty as big agribusiness for creating the environment that we are currently in due to our demand for convenience.
So what am I doing about it? Well, both my wife and I cook at home and try to keep our consumption of highly-processed foods down (although I’ll admit to eating some snack foods and the occasional frozen pizza). We also joined a CSA this year which should help us reduce the amount of meat our family eats, at least for as long as the growing season lasts. I’ve also tried to be a more aware consumer when shopping; looking for “more healthy” alternatives like free-range and organic foods from sources that are more local. As far as the meat goes, we’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much better a free-range bird tastes when compared to a caged one. It costs a little more, but well worth it in my opinion. What about you? Do you have any ideas or suggestions you’d like to pass along?
Posted at 5:28 am | Comment (0)
13th May, 2008
Stick Me with Needles
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson.
A couple months ago, I noticed that Brandon Sanderson was given the nod to finish Robert Jordan’s much-loved and maligned The Wheel of Time epic after his (Jordan’s not Sanderson’s, duh) untimely death. At the time, I thought this would be a Good Thingâ„¢ as Mr. Sanderson appeared to be a talented, up-and-coming writer at the time with a couple of decent books under his belt and it would be nice to see someone wrap up WoT into a strong finish after Mr. Jordan’s rambling (and some might say, pointless) prose took the tale far from the original plot.
After having read Mr. Sanderson’s latest effort, The Well of Ascension, I now see exactly why he was hand-picked by Mr. Jordan to finalize things; because he rambles on about nothing for hundreds and hundreds of pages. An entire book about a city siege that could have easily been said in a chapter or two. After turning the final page, we are left more or less where we started when the book began, although we do get the added bonus of boredom and frustration with the story; sounds like a perfect fit for someone who is taking over the wheel behind WoT, doesn’t it?
As you can probably tell, I was less than satisfied with this book. I’d suggest giving it a read only after you’ve completed more exciting things like having a root canal or a tax audit. Or both. At the same time. While standing in a pit of vipers. Dressed as a mouse.
2/5 gogs.
Posted at 5:20 am | Comment (1)
6th May, 2008
I should have known…
Psychogeographical maps of the U.S. and some accompanying discussion.
p.s. more book reviews to come soonâ„¢.
Posted at 5:23 am | Comments (3)
5th May, 2008
Politics as Usual
The recent flap over the “gas tax holiday” as proposed by Clinton and McCain tells me all I need to know about the ethics of these two candidates and cements my hope that Obama wins the nomination and the election.
The NYT Freakonomics page has a nice writeup of the fallacy of the proposed “holiday”. I can’t say that I’m surprised.
Posted at 7:41 pm | Comment (0)
