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.