Random thoughts

Watching the coterie of suck-ups and groupies on "Morning Joe" gets nauseating in about 30 seconds.  I am reminded of experiences in fifth and sixth grade with classroom gossip.  The intellectual level on this mornings program was on a par with speculation about nose picking and which girls had started wearing bras.   How anyone would waste their time watching this drek is more than I can figure out.
More interesting was a new study reported by the times food blogger which seems to conclusively prove the link between consumption of sugar and diabetes.  It seems that obesity is not the cause of diabetes, but a marker.  In other words being fat is not necessarily the cause of the disease.  Consumption of sugar is.  This should mean the FDA should regulate sugar as a toxic substance.  This will be interesting.

The Lion of Winter

Looks like March will come in like the proverbial lion.  We could get another 5-6 inches of white cement on the NCR as temps hover around the freezing mark.  Just about everyone is sick of winter and waiting to embrace spring.  Unfortunately, the forecast for the next couple of weeks is not too spring-like, so we'll just have to soldier through it and hope the weather channel forecast of above average March and April is on the mark.  I'm channeling my inner gardener.

Health and Diet

A very large study of dietary choice in Spain recently concluded that adherance to the "Mediterranean Diet"  lowers heart attack risk by up to 30% when compared to the usual modern diet.  The contrast is in the former's reliance on olive oil, fruits and vegetables.  The typical modern diet is full of processed foods, soda and red meat.  The difference in outcomes was so pronounced, the directors of the study discontinued it because it would have been unethical to continue to subject the controls to the regular diet.  It would be difficult for most Americans to follow such a diet with the constant bombardment of ads for Mickey Ds, Dunkin Donuts, etc. and the relentless schedule which mandates hurried meals without thought of nutrients.  The seven glasses of wine per week with meals would be a deal breaker for many also.  But the benefits would certainly recommend at least an attempt at what seems to be no brainer of a diet.

This and that

The celery and sage seedlings are up, so all the early crops are up and growing.  Next on the agenda are the peppers and late blooming flowers.  It's easy to get antsy and start too many different varieties which become difficult to care for with limited facilities available.  But that has never stopped me before.  After 40 years of gardening and 10 years of farming experience before that, one thing that has always impressed me is the myriad potentials for both failure and success in the growing and harvesting of garden crops.
    On the political front, the budget cuts involved with the sequester will impact the produce industry, albeit not as much as some other businesses.  Importing of fresh fruits and veg will become more time consuming as there will be fewer inspectors available.  Nationwide, there will be fewer FDA personnel available which will lead to more holdups on shipments.  Tempers will be short.
  

Seedlings are up!

The first seedlings of the season are up and growing.  Rosemary, snapdragons and celosia are out.  The celery and celeriac are lagging, but it is still too early to blame it on poor germination.  When the first seeds come up this early, I get a little nervous.  I'll probably have to transplant them and grow them on for several weeks in the basement.   Last year at this time there was virtually no frost in the ground and the cold frames were ready to go in early March.  This year I'll need a jack hammer to get the soil worked up.  Different year, different challenges.

The science and politics of fat

Apropos of yesterday's post, the NYT has an op-ed by Marc Bittman exhorting the surgeon general of the US to step up and criticize the food processing industry.  Meanwhile, he had to look up her name.  It turns out to be Regina Benjamin, who as I recall from pictures at her swearing in is somewhat challenged in the weight department.  The point of Bittman's rant is the Surgeion General has a bully pulpit, but since the time of Everret Koop, who publicized the science behind Aids and was instrumental in pushing for a cure, the nation's chief doctor has been neutralized by the anti-science zealots in Congress and successive administrations.    The few pronouncements from Dr. Benjamin's office have been more of the "blame the victim" variety.  Too many calories and too little excercise is the gist of her argument.  Forget about the constant advertising of calorie laden soft drinks and processed crap, plus the ever lager TV and gaming screens which tempt the youth of the country to vegetate in comfort.  Michelle Obama's advocacy of healthy eating and participating in aerobic activity is great, but what we really need are incentives to eat right and excercise and penalties for doing the opposite.  Taxing soft drinks and junk food is a step in that direction.  Lower insurance premiums for lower BMI (body mass index) individuals is another.  In a post industrial world where strenuous exertion is the exception in most occupations, someone or something must step in to insure the physical fitness of future generations.

Obesity and Obamacare

The latest faux outrage over Obamacare is liable to start as the wingnuts wax rhapsodic about the virtues of "freedom fries" and how Obama is going to take your fat away.  This latest example of nanny statism derives from some rules in the legislation which will allow employers and insurers to disincentivize people by either charging extra for those with excessive weight, or by providing rewards for weight loss and excercise.  The average person would probably say what's not to like about a program which mandates a healthy lifestyle.   As with all programs, governmental and otherwise, the devil is again in the details.  Who decides what dietary and excercise choices are correct and will be rewarded and which will be penalized.   As with so many other lifestyle choices we make as individuals, our place in the economic hierarchy dictates many of the outcomes, regardless of what we think.   For every Chris Christie who has every monetary and societal advantage and yet remains a somewhat unrepenetant fattie, there are probably 50  Honey Boo Boos who through an accident of birth into the lower economic strata of society will never have the opportunity to make the healthy choices which will enable them to get or stay thinner.  We as a society must have a debate about food; the quality and quantity of which is making us a sicker and less fit nation.  If Obamacare is ever going to bend the cost curve of healthcare, all of us need to be educated and enabled to eat better quality food and get enough excercise to stay healthy.  These are the issues that need to be debated.

Political Economy

The impending economic disaster known as the sequester is scheduled to start in about 2 weeks.  It will affect nearly every American in some way.  From fewer air traffic controllers to keep travelors moving safely to less money for small business loans and everything in between, this is the poison fruit of a dysfunctional Republican majority in the House of Representatives.  Unable to unilaterally cut social benefits, and threatening to take the country down as a result, they were presented with a meat axe and told if they could not agree on a sane package of cuts and revenue increases they could wreck the economy.  The media presented it as a no brainer.  Who could possibly want to destroy the nascent recovery for ideological fun and games.  The tea party wing of the republicans said "What's not to like".  It's the old Chinese fable of the horse and the scorpion crossing the river.  The scorpion promised the horse if he would carry him across the water he would not sting him.  Halfway across, the scorpion stung his ride.  The horse asked why he would do this when he knew they would both die.   The scorpion replied he could not help it because that was his nature.  So it is with the crazy wing of the Republican party.

Season starters

It was a brisk and blustery weekend on NCR, but spring is in the air.  Or at least in the basement.  I got the first seeds planted on Saturday.  Rosemary, snapdragons, celosia and sage.  These seeds either take forever to germinate, or grow so slowly it can take 10-12 weeks before they are ready to go into cold frames or the open garden.  May 15 is figurartively around the corner.   I also ordered a few more odds and ends to complete my first "caterpillar tunnel".   I'm hoping for extra early tomatoes and peppers this year.  It's a far cry from having all the parts to constructing the tunnel in the middle of the srping rush, but I'm committed to the idea this year.  I also have to construct another table to grow on the seeds I am starting now, since the peppers, other flowers and eventually the tomatoes will demand the limited space on the heat mat in the basement.  Excelsior...

A post roundup world

According to findings by the USDA, 59%of US farmers are reporting Roundup resistant weeds in their fields.  For non farmers, Roundup is a chemical which revolutionized agriculture during the past 30 or so years.  By allowing farmers to kill weeds down to their roots in one or two applications, the herbicide increased crop yields, led to the rise of "no till" farming and spawned the genetic tailoring of  "roundup ready" corn and soybeans.  These genetically modified organisms (GMOs for short) were designed to thrive under a rain of Roundup.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature has been able to select out Roundup resistant weeds within a single human generation.  Now we are back to square 1 only now we have patented GMO varieties with no redeeming qualities.  Thank you Monsanto.  Now the chemists will try to find another herbicide which will allow us to indiscriminately bomb the countryside with another toxic substance which our Mother will quickly counteract.  Only this time, the chemicals may not be as benign as Roundup and the unintended consequences may be much worse than useless GMOs and resistant weeds.

Minimal Wages

The President thinks we should have a $9.00 minimum wage which will hereafter be indexed to inflation.  The Repubs and corporatist Dems say no way.  We will lose more jobs if that is the case.  One telling indicator was the fall of fast food stocks the day after the SOTU.   Of course virtually every study done on this issues concludes the economic disruption will be minimal.  When the wage is increased the doomsday scenarios never seem to play out the way conservatives have scripted them.  Even the most unskilled jobs available, from burger flipping to nail decorating will continue to be done whether the workers are paid a living wage or not.  The increase of a few pennies for these goods and services will be offset by the ability of the minimum wage slave to actually enjoy some of the goods and services their labor provides.   I think the right's war is not against the minimum wage per se, but the trickle up effects it will generate.   Today's $9.00/hr. worker  will demand more compensation, as will everyone who punches a clock.  That could result in some serious income redistribution.  Ironically, all this new minted purchasing power will be spent on goods which will increase corporate profits.  Everyone will benefit, so what's the problem.

local food, local delivery

My NPR station threw out a teaser about a local "food hub" designed to service small producers and attract small and larger distributors who are looking for locally produced foods but can't afford to drive hundreds of miles to fill their trucks.  I will be curious to know more about what foods and where this facility will be located.  As most of the North Country is dairy oriented, I don't doubt most of it will be focused on milk products and meat.  But if they also solicit the small veg and fruit producers, the creators of this new enterprise may be a vibrant addition to the food industry. 

Not so total recall

It looks like Taylor Farms is making a voluntary recall of who knows how many thousands of pounds of organic baby spinach in 35 states.  As opposed to the usual kabuki dance performed in most recalls where the produce has already been sold and consumed, this time, most of the produce has barely reached the store shelves or is still sitting in distribution centers.  Taylor will have to bear most of the cost, not only for the spinach, but all the costs associated with physically gathering the product and destroying it.   Of course they have insurance for such eventualities, but to voluntarily recall such an enormous amount of product must mean there was more than a negligible chance someone would have gotten sick or died as a result of eating the spinach.  That we have this spectacle repeated for produce and meat on a daily basis in at least some area of the country speaks volumes about the need for more food safety inspectors.  Beyond this obvious point, there are other forces at work which will continue to exacerbate this problem.   When veg processing and packing was in its infancy, spinach and other greens were hand-packed in garages and makeshift plants.  There was very little sanitation practiced and cooling was hit and miss.  However, the farmers who supplied these greens were mostly small growers who as often as not were eating the spinach they harvested.  Today, most greens and indeed most produce is grown on huge corporate farms by workers who may or may not care about eating what they grow.  We force them to take training to avoid contaminating produce, but I think that is somewhat akin to complaining about food in a restaurant.  It probably provokes as many problems as it solves.  My point is the modern produce industry is divorced from the individual's pride and responsibility and this is one of the drivers of our ever more compromised food delivery system.

Let the games begin

As usual with a State of the Union address, the President diagnoses the country's ills and prescribes the medicine he deems necessary the heal the patient.  Then the opposition, whether well intentioned or not, rejects the prescription and proposes pretty much the opposite of whatever was offerred.  This is pretty much the scenario every year, and depending on your political views is either welcome news, anathema, or more of the same.  I usually fall into the latter, more of the same category.  This president is a nice, well intentioned fellow who insists on believing in the better nature of his opponents.  If  gun control was not such a hot topic, I would have said he always brings a  knife to a gunfight.  All in all, it was a hopeful message which I have little doubt will be trashed in the months ahead.  Little wonder most Americans shrug their shoulders and continue their daily grind.  A grand vision is inspiring, but most of us want a government which mitigates the cruelties, great and small whcih afflict us every day.  Unfortunately, one party seems dead set against this kind of amelieration and instead would prefer the most painful alternative to whatever the President wishes done.  Ted Nugent is the poster boy for the Republican vision.    I wish I could be more optimistic about the next two years, but until the party of dyspeptic middle aged and older white guys ages out of political power the vast majority of us will suffer their foolishness.

Current Events Overload

Papal resignations, state of the union address, North Korean nuclear tests and on and on.  The dizzying rush of current events threaten to overwhelm anyone who is trying to stay engaged with the world.  Add in gun control issues and an occasional deranged gunman and it is no wonder most people claim they can't be bothered to keep up.  Of course the most knowledgeable person must also admit there is precious little the average citizen can do to affect anything happening in the world today.  While that is true regarding one person, the ability of a truly engaged citizenry can certainly change policies which would otherwise remain static.  The issue of gun control is an example of ordinary people rising up to dispute the supposedly all-powerful NRA.  While the ultimate resolution of the issue is still in doubt, many people feel empowered to challenge the CW.  The accession of a new Pope will I think be greeted by a collective yawn by the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world.  Most American laity have long since ingnored the head of the clan of the red beanie because of the church's inability to connect with the concerns of the common man.  Not to mention the increasing doubt about the whole reality of god in a scientific and materialistic world.  As for the state of the union, I can only hope the President follows the advice of his better angels and the reality based community and proposes common sense and practical solutions to the problems facing the country and the world.  Cutting programs and shrinking the role of government in an era of increasing complexity is madness or the wish of powerful non government entities who most certainly do not have the welfare of the average person as their raison d' etre.  Just saying...

Winterfell or Skyfall ?

Pop references aside, the storm which pounded the Northeast on Friday and Sat. was another weather event for the record books.  My old stomping ground on L.I. received a whopping 30 inches.  The authorities had to close the L.I.E. on Sunday so they could remove the hundreds of stranded vehicles abandoned during the storm.  Here on the North Country Riviera, we got about 10 inches, which by our reckoning is a dusting.  I almost went skiing, but the slopes were innundated  by winter starved skiers, so I decided to wait a week.  Did make my first ever batch of gnocchi on Saturday, and it was well received.  Certainly not in the same league as Grandma's and Grandpop's, but still not bad for a first attempt.  I'm encouraged to try again.  Personal doings aside, the weather is still the big story.  How many events like this do we need before climate change moves to the center of the national debate? 

Snowflakes and psychology

Bread and milk sales in the Northeast are going through the roof as I writ this blog today.  Unfortunately, fresh fruit and veg sales are very probably headed in the opposite direction.  For some reason, people feel that carbs and milk are the way to deal with winter.  Fat is in, fiber is most definitely out, unless we are talking sweaters.  This latest winter storm will take the edge off FOB prices for the next week or so.  That's two weeks in row;  Super Bowl Sunday is another bane to those of us who depend on moving volumes of fresh produce.  This weekend is going to be a the sort of DVD and snow shoveling fest.  Get the popcorn ready.

Demand and supply

It's funny, but the average produce broker or wholesaler knows at the start of every day what the village idiots in DC never seem to acknowledge:  without demand for your product, or produce in this case, there is no commercial transaction and no economic stimulus.  We have known for several years that demand for fresh fruits and veg is down.  Not because of economic uncertainty or worry about the federal deficit.  It's because a lot of people have no jobs, and hence no money.  Plenty of others are underemployed or worse; working 2 or 3 jobs with no benefits in order to make ends meet.   These people have no money and no time to cook healthy meals, so while I don't have evidence in front of me, I have no doubt junk food sales are up.  People have to eat, but eating fresh fruits and vegetables takes time and effort and a growing slice of the American public has neither of those commodities.  Put people back to work at decent jobs that pay well enough to provide the money and the time and consumption of healthy foods will increase.  This is not rocket science.

No No Nanos

The newest threat to the food safety of the American public is a class of nanoparticles used in foods to brighten colors, enhance creaminess and otherwise make food substances more attractive.  As usual, there has been little or no testing or debate concerning the health impacts of these particles which are little bigger than molecules.  They can easily enter the bloodstream and even individual cells with who knows what effect on our health.   The one example that has been quoted in a recent article in the NYT is titanium dioxide in the sugar coating on Dunkin Donuts powdered cake donuts.  The only reason this stuff is used is to brighten the color white.  So, most of these particles are used to cosmetically retouch food, and I use that word loosely.  The American public is once again being used as guinea pigs in an experiment with no controls.  The driving principle is making money and our health be damned.  What a world!

Ups and Downs

Temperatures are down today.  -5 degrees on the car thermometer as I passed through some of the colder spots on the way to the office.  We will warm up briefly later this week, then back to the deep freeze again.  Prices for western veg are on the same roller coaster.  Broccoli and cauliflower are less than $8.00 FOB and spinach is heading into that territory.  Of course, cold weather and rain is heading into the desert areas again, so the pricing could change as drastically as the weather next week.  As always, timing is everything.

Hints of spring

Finally, the long NFL season has ended.   The game threatened to be a runaway, but thanks to an electrical malfunction which gave the 49ers a chance to catch their collective breath,  the rout turned into a game which came down to a desperation toss into the end zone with less than 2 minutes left.  My only complaint about the Ravens' win will be the lionization of Ray Lewis as the quintessential football star.  If that's the truth, we need a new paradigm.  Now at least we can look forward to spring.  I think I will start some of the more time consuming herb and flower seeds later this week.  Rosemary and snapdragons head that list.  With 120 days to bloom, the snaps are easily the longest seed to flower plant I attempt.  Rosemary is another challenge, especially getting decent germination and transplanting several times before ultimately making it to the outdoor garden.  These challenges will be followed shortly by the peppers, celosia, thyme, celery and other long duration plants.  The 2013 season will be off and running.

Moving forward

It's the first of February.  The seed orders are coming in, the days are getting longer and the occasional warm day provokes thoughts of summer.  Such is the thin gruel I use to get through another North Country winter.  As we all know, there are still at least 2 months of potential winter madness.  Snow storms, sub-zero temps and days which although longer than those of December are still woefully short.  Yesterday's 50 mph winds wreaked havoc on the local power grid.  At the homestead, a window in the cellar blew out and I had to do emergency repairs with icy winds blowing.  Thank goodness for cardboard.  At least I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I dream of June days and birdies, the feathered and the golfing kind.