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NPR:
Foods that have been genetically modified — that is, foods that have new genes inserted into their DNA to give them desirable traits like pest or drought resistance or greater nutrition — have been controversial for years. And that’s in part because they are currently not required to be labeled in the U.S., although the vast majority of people polled say they should be.
Associated Press via NPR:
While sales for food produced on smaller operations have exploded, partially fueled by a consumer backlash to food produced by larger companies, a new set of food safety challenges has emerged. And small farm operations have been exempted from food safety laws as conservatives, farmers and food-lovers have worried about too much government intervention and regulators have struggled with tight budgets.
dailyinfographic.comdailyinfographic.com:
Today I was making a sandwich for lunch, I scoured my fridge for tomatoes but none were around. I did some quick thinking, walked out back and plucked a tomato. No trip to the store, no unwanted chemicals, no cash exchanged hands, but I still got a slick of tomato on my sandwich. That story isn’t true, but it could be for very little cost and everyone knows nothing beats a fresh tomato.
NPR:
Detroit is a surprisingly green landscape during the spring and summer months. The site of many houses that are crumbling, boarded up or missing altogether is tempered by community gardens and even some urban farms.
There are some serious urban gardeners in this country, but few can match the agricultural output of Paul Weertz.
“I farm about 10 acres in the city, and alfalfa’s my thing. I bale about a thousand bales a year,” he says.
We just spotted this summer story from Ira Flatow’s Science Friday on NPR:
Currently, in the United States and in most parts of the world, the term invasive is supposed to be used – or is typically used to refer to a non-native species that is causing harm of some sort. And that could be human health harm, it could be economic harm, it could be ecological harm. The catch is, is that the term invasive is often used not too discriminately.
NPR:
Most Americans are familiar with fried green tomatoes, where the under-ripe fruits are dredged in a flour or cornmeal coating and pan-fried to a delicious crisp. But there are only so many fried green tomatoes one can (or, likely, should) eat. Luckily, there is a trove of recipes, from Indian chutneys to American pickles, that make good use of the garden’s detritus.
NPR:
Call it a reaction to high food prices, food recalls, and a bad economy. Or just call it retro chic. But there’s no doubt canning is newly trendy among people who a couple of years ago probably didn’t give much thought to what goes into a jar.
According to a recent survey by Opinion Research, 43 percent of consumers interested in canning are ages 18-34. And since 2009, searches for “canning recipes” on allrecipes.com has increased 61 percent during the summer months, says Judith Dern of the popular website.
For those readers interested in a little more detail about overwintering dahlias, here is a some more information that expands on the sidebar “Overwintering dahlia tubers: How Dahlia Hill does it” in the August 2011 issue of Michigan Gardener:
After the first hard frost in October, all the dahlia plants are carefully dug up by the Dahlia Hill Society members. Each plant can produce 5 to 20 new tubers, which are very carefully cut off the plant. They are individually labeled with a permanent marker and are rinsed in a light chlorine solution (5% chlorine to water; just enough to kill harmful bacteria). The dahlias are soaked in that solution for about 10 minutes, and then they drip dry on a screen for several minutes.
Next, they are placed into white plastic storage bags, as many as 40 or so in a bag (depending on the size of the tubers), and covered with fine, dry vermiculite. The bags are closed and folded over, but are not made airtight. The tubers are stored alphabetically in large, cardboard boxes, 3 to 6 bags per box. The basement storage room is humid and temperature-controlled to about 55 degrees.
DuPont has confirmed that Imprelis, an herbicide marketed by Dupont, is damaging certain trees…
Dupont, the Delaware-based chemical giant, acknowledged this afternoon that its herbicide Imprelis has injured some trees.
In a letter to lawn care professionals, Michael McDermott, GlobalBusiness Leader for DuPont Professional Products, said, “Based on our ongoing review, we have observed tree injuries associated with Imprelis primarily on Norway spruce and white pine trees.”
Here in Michigan, many vegetable gardeners are beginning to harvest their first tomatoes of the season. Most will agree that nothing tastes quite like a tomato grown in your own garden. In particular, people have commented for years about the taste, or lack thereof, in tomatoes purchased from the grocery store. Why is that? The following NPR interview with Barry Estabrook, former contributing editor at Gourmet magazine and author of Tomatoland, sheds some light on the subject.
Estabrook places most of the blame on consumers who want fresh tomatoes year-round, even in the depths of winter. “Depending on the time of year, at certain times of the winter, 90 percent of the fresh tomatoes that we find in the supermarkets are grown in Florida,” he says.
Florida is warm in the winter, and it’s an easy trailer-truck ride to most of the country. But Florida is also about the worst possible place to grow tomatoes. Both the climate and the soil are completely unsuitable, Estabrook says, so farmers must drench their fields in pesticides and fertilizers to have any hope of a crop.