The okra is looking promising. Though, I’ve never grown okra before so I’m not really sure what’s supposed to be happening right now.

One tomato plant looks very healthy and might start producing. I planted it late, so maybe it will hold off and I can get some fall tomatoes. The others are looking pretty ragged and barren since the cucumbers decided to use the tomato plants as a trellis. (I didn’t think the cucumbers needed a trellis since I planted “Bushy Cucumbers.” “Compact,” my ass.)

The oregano, thyme, and basil are all doing well.

I harvested and cured onions a few weeks ago.

So, that’s a garden update. When I return I’ll tell you the story of how I killed my mother—my vinegar mother. In the meantime, check out these videos:

Local-food pioneer, April Harrington, is going through major hell, also known as eminent domain. The local news summarized her plight. Call your elected officials! This situation not only concerns April, but her employees, farmers, and entrepreneurs that use her commercial kitchen. April buys bumper crops and “ugly produce” from farmers and preserves it by canning, freezing, and making ready-made meals. She also makes delicious crackers, granola, and pancake and cookie mixes from freshly milled Oklahoma wheat.

And now for some silliness: this gives a whole new meaning to “playing with your food.”

My recent encounter in Oklahoma City with this “locally grown” jar of roasted bell peppers from Napa Valley caused me to revisit this fantastic article from last May, which explores the angles and issues with the “local” label. Mezzetta, Frito Lay, and others are making a case for “local” in relation to their processing plant and are clearly leaving the eater out of the equation. What merit does this have? Is this an improvement upon former business practices or is it merely a new marketing strategy for their status quo? When the labels we trust become diluted from government certification or opportunistic marketing gurus, they become, at best, nothing more than a game of semantics and at worst, completely meaningless.

From the article:

…the widening view of what it means to eat locally is similar to the changes the term organic went through as it grew from a countercultural ideal in the 1960s and 1970s to an industry with nearly $25 billion in sales last year. A related debate about how to define sustainable farming is now gathering force in government, agriculture and business.

Monsanto mucks around with eggplant and the Indian environment minister says “no,” at least for now. The minister imposed a six-month moratorium on the launch bt brinjal, which would be the first GM vegetable. I was confused at first, but I guess technically corn and soy aren’t technically vegetables? Side note: isn’t aubergine a beautiful word?

Romantic photos of a farm in Florida.

A New York Times article explains how aquaponic systems use wastewater from tilapia to nourish lettuce plants. I know this is innovative and cool, but is it also sad? If you’re interested in learning more, Urban Harvest in OKC is offering an aquaponic workshop on March 27.

No brownies at NYC school bake sales, but spicy sweet chili Doritos are okay. Essentially, bake sales have been replaced with mass-produced crap sales.

3/20: The NYT follows up on the “crap sales.” Great quote:
Now, she said, “we’re supposed to believe that a packaged chocolate-chip cookie is preferable to a homemade one, not on the basis of taste, texture or the quality of the ingredients, but because it came from a factory and has a nutrition label.”

Food environment atlas: a spatial overview of a community’s ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so. Awesome!

It takes a community to sustain a small farm
“I used to think there were four distinct pieces to a local food system: production, processing, distribution, and retail. Now I realize there is a fifth: community. Without an involved community of customers who believe in what the local farmer, miller, distributor, and grocer is doing, none of them will last very long.”

It’s getting tougher to bring home the bacon
“The government is concerned that bacteria from a smuggled piece of meat will spread through the ecosystem, infecting livestock and hurting agricultural production…”

Why you should go see Fantastic Mr. Fox
I had no idea.

Cultivating Failure
A ferocious critique of edible schoolyards.
“It’s the state’s Department of Education that is to blame for allowing these gardens to hijack the curricula of so many schools. But although garden-based curricula are advanced as a means of redressing a wide spectrum of poverty’s ills, the animating spirit behind them is impossible to separate from the haute-bourgeois predilections of the Alice Waters fan club…”

And a delightful, smart, animated response to “Cultivating Failure.”

The industry blogs are even more fun, where bloggers like Yvonne Vizzier Thaxton of Poultry Perspectives argue semantics: in her view factory farms and family-owned farms are mutually exclusive. And the mere existence of factory farms is questionable. Oh, and this gem: “Poultry farmers are farmers and by nature these people love the environment otherwise, they could have a career in an office doing much less physically exhausting work.” (from “The message we need to shout,” 9/1/09; I’d link to it, but articles and blogs require a sign-in.)

Yesterday’s Meatingplace headlines were peculiar in that two stories were inconveniently interwoven.

The referenced author is Jonathan Safran Foer, whose new book is titled Eating Animals. He has an erroneously titled opinion piece here. I guess an honest, thorough title wouldn’t be as provocative. Do you think Foer’s critique of animal agriculture will be taken seriously? Is there room for another voice in this discussion?

From the WTF?!? file: “Crops, ponds destroyed in quest for food safety.”

“Integrity of Federal ‘Organic’ Label is Questioned”
Certified organic mock duck? And organic baby formula containing synthetic additives to help brain development, though the additives are produced using a potential neurotoxin.

Oklahoma can’t seek damages in the poultry suit. And apparently our expert witnesses are not acceptable to Judge Frizzell. This isn’t looking good.

A British grocery chain uses out-of-date meat to generate electricity. It’s part of their landfill diversion project, but why is there so much wasted meat in the first place?

A compelling case for regional selective breeding, regional food systems, and the importance of biodiversity:
“A tomato plant that travels 2,000 miles is no different from a tomato that has traveled 2,000 miles to your plate.”

Edited to add:
The National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman critiques Michael Pollan‘s influence and ability to stir the pot and lauds Norman Bourlag, the founder of the Green Revolution (think “better living through chemistry”). Tolman references Bourlag’s  editorial, which ignorantly reduces sustainable agriculture to back-breaking manual labor by warm bodies. Bourlag’s answer is “better seed and fertilizers.” Yeah, that seems to be working for India.

I’ve had high cholesterol since my early 20s. I just turned 29. I have great “good” cholesterol and blood pressure. Two to three years on a vegetarian diet did nothing to help my “bad” cholesterol. And since I’ve taken an interest in whole foods, I’ve read compelling information on how diet and cholesterol are, at best, loosely related.

I feel really silly arguing with my doctor about whether I really need to keep my cholesterol “under control” with meds. I’m sure I need to try the tried and true method of weight loss. Don’t worry, I’m not going to turn oklavore.com into a diet site. Just some rambling thoughts… I’d like to hear yours.

U.S. Hog Giant Transforms Eastern Europe
Read the story while considering Smithfield’s slogan: “Good food. Responsibly.”
Excerpt: “In the United States, Smithfield says it has been a boon to consumers. Pork prices dropped by about one-fifth between 1970 and 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, suggesting annual savings of about $29 per consumer. In Eastern Europe, as in American farm states where Smithfield developed its business strategy, the question is whether the savings are worth the considerable costs.“
Smithfield brands.

Governor Henry signed the “Right to Farm” Measure
No private nuisance lawsuit can be brought against agricultural activities  in operation for more than two years. Fine. Sure. I understand. But, the law adds “expansion” to the definition of agricultural activities. An expansion— even if it is non-contiguous—does not reset the clock.

Take that, California!
An Oklahoma legislator’s response to California’s Proposition 2 is now law. Here’s an earlier post about this paranoid response to humane legislation that ensures confined livestock are able to—god forbid—stretch their legs and *gasp* turn around in their cage!

Red Meat and Mortality
Excerpt: “Eating lots of red meat increases the chances of dying prematurely of cancer and heart disease.”

Not All Meat is Created Equal
Excerpt: “The results of the study point out that heavy consumption of ‘processed meats’ is most likely to cause disease, but they do not take the logical next step, which is to consider all meat raised on artificial diets under industrial production standards to be processed. This is not just a semantic problem.”

Calves in Germany are dying from “blood sweating.”

Another “pasture to plate” article, this time with grass-fed cattle (see Pollan’s article on feedlot cattle).
The article addresses regulatory hurdles/barriers when it’s time to slaughter and process. Here’s an entrepreneurial solution. (Thanks, Vines & Cattle.)

Original content coming soon. I made ice cream!