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Archive for October, 2007

Raw Milk Sneak Attack

The anti-raw-milk busy-bodies are at it again.

California has been the national leader in legal raw milk sales, till now that is. AB1735 will go into affect on January 1, 2008. The law does not explicitly outlaw the sale of raw milk and goes so far as to say, “the state does not intend to limit or restrict the availability of certified raw milk.” However, the standard set for coliform bacteria content is so rigid that about 80% of all raw milk will not qualify for sale.

The sad fact of the matter is that the majority of coliform bacteria are beneficial. The law does not require testing for pathogenic coliform bacteria, but makes a blanket statement about all coliform, beneficial or otherwise.

I refuse to drink pasteurized (or homogenized) milk and go out of my way to get the real thing. My hope was that some of the progress made in California would spread to other parts of the country. Instead, the government is once again sticking it’s fingers where it doesn’t belong.

For more information about what you can do, read more about the Government Sneak Attack on California Raw Milk.

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A Day of Local Food

cheeseshop.jpgYesterday Shari was gone to a scrap-booking marathon, so I decided to take the kids out and get some apples and go for a drive in my new convertible (actually it’s not new, it’s a 1999 VW Cabrio). Forgive the photo quality. The photos were taken with my phone camera.

We headed out for Kapnick Orchards in Tecumseh, but along the way I remembered reading about a local cheese shop in Tecumseh called The Boulevard Market. Not only are they extremely helpful and knowledgeable, they have some amazing cheeses. In addition to a wide selection of cheeses from all over the world (I tried a 5 year gouda that was simply amazing), they make their own cheese. I bought some of their delicious goat cheese made from locally produced goat milk, some Amsterdam Reserve, apples.jpgand some of the 5 Year Gouda from Holland. Of course I couldn’t resist the build your own 6-pack beer deal going on either…

Then we were on to Kapnick’s. We picked 2 pecks of Mitzu apples, bought a half gallon of cider (they have the unpasteurized variety that hardens nicely), and the kids got cider slushies.

All-in-all, the kids and I had a blast, not only of fun, but of wind in the hair.

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Another Reason to Eat Local

When food is produced in mass quantities and shipped all over the world, the chance of national or global contamination scares is high.

ConAgra Defends Pot Pie Health Alert

(Just more evidence to demonstrate that it is not raw milk that is dangerous, but our industrialized food system…)

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Why Local?

The local food movement seems to be growing rapidly. I happen to be an advocate of buying locally produced foods.

It seems there are a variety of reasons for eating local. However, the most popular reason is not my primary reason. Often people advocate local foods because it is better for the environment, e.g it reduces the emissions produced by transportation. That is a noble reason, but it’s not my primary reason. (Note that eating globally rather than locally serves to give more people jobs. Eating locally might actually take a job away from some poor person in some third world country who really needs that job. There are always trade-offs.)

Another popular reason is to support your local economy. This again is not my primary reason. It’s a nice thought to support your “neighbors,” but in a national or global economy, everyone has the same level of opportunity as everyone else, they just have to compete on a much larger scale. If company X in California does it cheaper and better than company Y in Michigan (I live in Michigan), I’ll buy from X every time. If Y wants my business it needs to produce a better product so it can compete rather than laying guilt trips on me to buy local.

The bottom line is that eating locally is healthier. When food is transported long distances it requires extended storage, transport time, and shelf-life. Nearly all the bad things that are done to foods are done to increase shelf-life. Fat hydrogenation, preservatives, pasteurization, and refinement all increase shelf-life. Produce is picked green, refrigerated, and gassed to turn ripe colors at the end of its trip. The produce you buy in the grocery store is unripe and nutritionally inferior to ripe produce. Food not purchased locally is much likelier to be mass produced for a national or global market and whenever things are mass produced corners are cut and the quality goes down.

(Now there are exceptions to this. Some foods naturally have long shelf lives if handled properly, such as whole unmilled grains, tubers, roots, or dry goods like sucanat. Seafood is an essential part of a healthy diet and simply may not be available locally.)

It all comes down to quality. Most food that is produced on a national (or global) scale and shipped around the country (or world) tends to be of a lower quality than food produced locally by small producers who focus on quality. There are some exceptions, but in general, food, by its very nature, is of a higher quality when it’s local.

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Sharpening Steel

steel.jpgIf you don’t already have one of these, do yourself a favor and go get one. I got a relatively inexpensive one at Bed Bath and Beyond for $13. Wow does it ever make a difference!

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Food Processor

I just got this new toy. Most guys who say they got a new toy are talking about power tools and such, but I’m a total kitchen geek.

I made biscuit dough in it the other day and cutting in the butter was extremely quick and easy. I mixed it too long after adding the buttermilk though and made it too uniform. It’ll take some getting used to.

I’m planning to make an apple tart this weekend and will be using it to make the crust. I’ll be trying a salad tonight. I’m impressed with the quality of this unit, especially considering the price.

It was a close call between the corresponding KitchenAid and this Cuisinart. I opted for the Cuisinart because it has a lot more attachments available. There were some complaints on Amazon about noise levels, but I have found it to be remarkably quiet.

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