Let Them Eat Regulations

A thought about food freedom.  You want government out of the bedroom and boardroom?  How about out of the kitchen too?

Boil 'Em, Mash 'Em, Stick 'Em In A Stew

Everybody remembers the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, but has anybody wondered lately just what kind of potato was behind it all?  Here's the fascinating tale of a curious Irish farmer who decided to try growing this bit of history. (Kudos, sir!)

The Sport of Sheep-Shearing

I'm taking a break from my SOPA sermonizing to give you more of the silly/quirky/amusing content that you've come to expect ... Here's a tale of New Zealand farmers who want sheep-shearing to be an Olympic sport!

History: How the Potato Changed the World

Po-tay-to, po-tah-to!

Headline of the Day: "Potato Wars: Eye For An Eye"

Clever!  Even better: the cartoon illustration that goes with it.

Let Them Eat Biofuel

*Sigh.*

*Insert Tumbleweeds* The Texas Drought

Not good at all.

Photo of the Day: Irrigation Seen From the Air

Surprisingly beautiful!  Do see it in full size.

Quirky Asia Files: Exploding Chinese Watermelons

To absolutely nobody's surprise, the phrase "overdoses of growth chemicals" is involved.  Haven't I told you never to buy or eat food products from China?  I must say, though, I'm tickled by this take on it: "whistle-blowing watermelons."

Future Chocolate Apocalypse?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!  

Quotes of the Day: Thoughts on Protesting Genetically Modified Food

Here are two quotes, actually.  Here is one by the late, great Norman Borlaug (remember who he was and what he did?  This man fought hunger with science and saved a billion lives.  No, really.  And most of them were in poor nations and the developing world):

"Some of the environmental lobbyists are the salt of the earth," Borlaug said," but many of them are elitists. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for fifty years, they'd be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were trying to deny them these things."

The other is from Penn Jillette: "It's pretty easy to protest when you're not hungry."  

Watch him take down the enviro/anti-GM food protesting types here.  Warning: some salty language (par for the course for Penn and Teller).  By the way, you do know that the "organic food" craze is nonsense, right?  Also, here is a thought: whom do you think has greater credibility: scientists like Borlaug or fearmongering lobbyist loons?

Quirky Euro Files: the Great Brussels Milk Protest

I am sure that the dairy farmers are indeed unhappy about their situation. Nevertheless, this little protest involving tractors and milk seems a little . . . oh, I don't know . . . amusing in its theatrical goofiness. I mean, just look at this crazy photo from the New York Times. Or maybe you'll like this protest cow statue (at 0:13) or, even better, the one below at 0:24.



OK, I can't help it. Here we are crying over spilt milk! Or, even better, MORE COWBELL!

One more thing: why do so many European demonstrations involve burning tires?

RELATED POST: The All-Purpose Protest Sign!

Requiescat in Pace: Norman Borlaug, 1914-2009

By his work in agriculture, he saved the lives of hundreds of millions (particularly in poor nations) from hunger and starvation -- effectively saving the lives of more people than any other individual in history. And you've probably never even heard of him.

Take a look at the remarkable life and legacy of Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Peace Prize winner (who, unlike so many recipients, actually deserved it) and the "forgotten benefactor of humanity." Here is his obit in the New York Times.

Bonus: Read Reason magazine's interview with Borlaug from 2000. Read the whole thing. Here's a piece of it:

Quirky Asia Files: The Source of Some Australian Crop Circles

This is an actual news story from BBC News. I swear I didn't make this up. Really!

Satire Alert: A Recipe for EU Agriculture Policy!

This spoof of British TV chef Jamie Oliver is dedicated to Il Barista, my long-time cooking buddy! (As for the increasingly annoying real-life Oliver, I give you this savage takedown by the humorists at the UK satire HQ, the Daily Mash.)

Enjoy, everyone! (Context here.)

What Fresh Hell Is This? -- Congress Versus Farmers' Markets?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Not to mention, stupid and tin-eared. Hey, in a time of economic hardship, let's make it even harder for independent small farmers and little food providers to survive! All in the name of food safety, of course (and creating yet some other new federal agency to meddle in people's lives.)

Thanks a lot, most popular, sensible, and ethical Congress evah.

I love my farmers' markets! I'll tell you this: I've never gotten ill from them. I can say that I have been sick to my stomach and nauseous almost constantly in recent days, but the cause of THAT is paying attention to what government's been doing!

I've endured too many acts of fecklessness, foolishness, and flat-out idiocy lately. In a rage, I create a new blog tag for all future acts of similar. Say hello to the "what fresh hell is this?" tag.

Heck, how long will it be before nosy Food Safety Police come crashing into our residences to haul us away for hosting dinner parties or making and giving cookies to friends without some government license?

I suppose that indeed the war on foie gras was only the opening salvo in meddling do-gooders' campaign against food.

The Art of the Complaint Letter

As a follow-up to the Virgin Airlines food complaint, take a look at these other gloriously irate missives.

My favorite is probably this one.

IMF Finally Figures It Out: Biofuel Policies Increase Food Prices

Hmmm. Who else is NOT surprised that turning food into fuel means higher food prices? Well, DUH! Wake up and smell the coffee, IMF.

Naturally, rising food prices hit the poor of the world the hardest.

I give you a quote from the IMF's recent seminar:

Commitments by members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to reduce carbon emissions through alternative fuels development, while well meaning, have exacerbated the global food crisis and contributed to world-wide water shortages, said Nestle chief executive Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.

The resulting drop in agricultural productivity has led to price increases, he said. "Water scarcity will be the most constraining element," to additional production, he predicted. Replacing fuel with biofuel is "a very, very bad idea."

Replacing even 6 percent of total fuel usage with biofuel would require doubling agricultural production to maintain current output. "Where are you going to get the land and the water for this? This is irresponsible policy," Brabeck-Letmathe said. If the US alone would reverse its policy to replace fuel with biofuels, food prices would stabilize, he stated.

Beijing Olympics Watch: Thousands of Peasants Face Man-Made Drought

SURPRISE. Not really:

THOUSANDS of Chinese farmers face ruin because their water has been cut off to guarantee supplies to the Olympics in Beijing, and officials are now trying to cover up a grotesque scandal of blunders, lies and repression.

In the capital, foreign dignitaries have admired millions of flowers in bloom and lush, well-watered greens around its famous sights. But just 90 minutes south by train, peasants are hacking at the dry earth as their crops wilt, their money runs out and the work of generations gives way to despair, debt and, in a few cases, suicide.

In between these two Chinas stands a cordon of roadblocks and hundreds of security agents deployed to make sure that the one never sees the other.

The water scandal is a parable of what can happen when a demanding global event is awarded to a poor agricultural nation run by a dictatorship; and the irony is that none of it has turned out to be necessary.

. . . About 31,000 people around Baoding are said to have lost their homes or land.

Disgusting. Read the whole thing. More here with a slideshow that should make you cringe.

But haven't I been telling you forever that the shiny face of Olympics-ready Beijing conceals an entire underworld of misery that the CCP big shots don't want you to see? that they feel no qualms about steamrolling over their own people? that the vast populations of invisible peasants are the ones who suffer the most? Besides, man-made disasters are a fine old tradition in Communist China, doncha know?

PS: Hey, Obama, do you still want the US to emulate China in our infrastructure? Wise up.