change we can stomach

in the heat of international food crises and skyrocketing oil prices, Dan Barber, chef and co-owner of Blue Hill in N.Y. gives us some food for thought.

COOKING, like farming, for all its down-home community spirit, is essentially a solitary craft. But lately it’s feeling more like a lonely burden. Finding guilt-free food for our menus — food that’s clean, green and humane — is about as easy as securing a housing loan. And we’re suddenly paying more — 75 percent more in the last six years — to stock our pantries. Around the world, from Cairo to Port-au-Prince, increases in food prices have governments facing riots born of shortages and hunger. It’s enough to make you want to toss in the toque.

But here’s the good news: if you’re a chef, or an eater who cares about where your food comes from (and there are a lot of you out there), we can have a hand in making food for the future downright delicious.

read more here.

this is outrageous!

i just burnt 45 bucks for gas this evening. the thing that upsets me is that i don't even drive much. i'm pretty conscious about my carbon footprint, and so i try to avoid needless trips and carpool or take public trans instead. i'm also not about to let all the time and work i put into babysitting and catering to be eaten up by the gas bill. that's ridiculous! i'm not gonna have it anymore. it's time i take out the rusty ol' bike from the garage and cycle every chance i get. i can use the exercise, anyway.

side note: sure it's great that gas prices are so high that people are being motivated to take other means of transportation that are less dependent on oil and frankly, environmentally-friendly. but at the same time, it's not the ethical tactic. consumers can use more than simply negative reinforcement and unfair corporate practices like price gauging. how about some affordable biodiesel run-engines and hybrids. and electric cars?

'til then, it's me and my mountain bike.