Welcome once again to Tasty Bits! This is a weekly round-up of news bits, links and recipes I find that I think might be of interest to fellow Kossacks. The focus is on ecological, food and household issues with a bit of helpful tips, suggestions and recipes for your enjoyment. You are welcome to share any of your own tasty bits in the comments!
And just for fun:
What is this?
Follow me below the orange squiggle for this week's savory morsels and the answer . . .
News
20 Signs That A Horrific Global Food Crisis is Coming
Most Americans are so accustomed to supermarkets that are absolutely packed to the gills with massive amounts of really inexpensive food that they cannot even imagine that life could be any other way. Unfortunately, that era is ending.
There are all kinds of indications that we are now entering a time when there will not be nearly enough food for everyone in the world. As competition for food supplies increases, food prices are going to go up. In fact, at some point they are going to go way up.
In Florida, Tomatoes by the Truckload are Stolen
Late last month, a gang of thieves stole six tractor-trailer loads of tomatoes and a truck full of cucumbers from Florida growers. They also stole a truckload of frozen meat. The total value of the illegal haul: about $300,000.
The thieves disappeared with the shipments just after the price of Florida tomatoes skyrocketed after freezes that badly damaged crops in Mexico. That suddenly made Florida tomatoes a tempting target, on a par with flat-screen TVs or designer jeans, but with a big difference: tomatoes are perishable.
Seafood at risk: Dispersed oil poses long term threat
On April 19, 2011, almost one year to the day of when the Deepwater Horizon disaster first began, NOAA reopened the last section of the Gulf that was once closed to fishing. With all federal waters currently reopened, the question still remains— is the government responding appropriately to ensure not only that the present levels of oil and dispersants are not toxic, but also that those levels won’t build up over time through the accumulation of toxins in the tissues of seafood, contaminating Gulf seafood for generations to come?
(h/t to Patric Juillet)
US Organic food sales surge 7.7%
US sales of organic food and drink surged 7.7 percent to $28.6bn in 2010, significantly ahead of the sluggish (<1 percent) growth in the mainstream food market, with some segments up more than 30 percent, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA).
(h/t to JayinPortland)
Heritage Wheats and Matzo Tales
This linked article and the one following are well worth reading in full!
Loss of heritage wheat is a world-wide silent crisis. Like other modern plants bred for yield, modern wheat is dependent on agrochemicals to survive. Nutrition and flavor are forgotten in exchange for higher production. Just as the potatoes in Ireland were wiped out by blight in 1845 due to uniformity, modern wheat is a disaster waiting to happen. Global warming looms menacingly over modern uniform wheat fine-tuned for predictable conditions. Heritage wheats evolved without chemicals, are tall to compete naturally with weeds, have extensive roots that absorb organic nutrients, and have diverse characteristics to make them adaptable to various circumstances.
We established a cooperative project called “Restoring Ancient Wheat” to collect and share the remaining wheats before they are lost to the world. Time is short. A few ancient wheats, including those used in the first matzos are still grown in remote villages in the West Bank, Israel and Jordan.
Seeds of Salvation
Genetically superior plants couldn’t come sooner – a perfect storm of obstacles is bearing down upon farmers, says Kenneth Street, an Australian agriculturalist and genetic resource scientist at ICARDA. The world’s population continues to grow rapidly, and is estimated that it could hit 10 billion by 2050. And as it is, we can’t feed the mouths we have: in 2010, almost one in seven people on the planet were malnourished. [. . .]
And this brings us back to Aleppo. Despite the barren terrain today, some 11,000 years ago Aleppo and most of northern Syria was part of the verdant Fertile Crescent – the region from which modern agriculture emerged. It was here that the eight Neolithic founder crops – emmer wheat, einkorn, barley, flax, chickpea, pea, lentil and bitter vetch – were first cultivated. [. . .]
“We rely on too few species – there are something like 20,000 edible species in the world, and we rely on four. And if we’re going to maintain that system, we’re going to need that biodiversity to help the crops evolve.”
Home & Garden
It's spring cleaning time!
10 Household items you can do without
Identify troublesome items in your home for more effective spring cleaning
Polish silver with a banana peel
Keep small items together in the dishwasher with a strawberry basket
A guide to responsible supermarket shopping
Article has links to online guides for Australia and America too.
Soil Lamp
Very cool concept lamp that runs on MUD! You add water occasionally to keep the chemical reaction going.
Weed Killers: 8 Natural methods
Ready to garden: A guide to 4 soil tests
DIY mod-podge solar lights
A really cool way to customize store-bought outdoor solar lights.
Metro Detroit readies for Rust Belt Market
A re-purposed warehouse will be home to "a mix of indie crafters, makers, and even food creators" here
Recipes
Green Chili Pie
Things to do with leftover easter eggs
Asparagus Shandong Style
Pan-roasted striped bass w/Tunisian chickpea salad and yogurt sauce
Red lentil and tofu curry
Puffy cheddar & horseradish mustard roasted potatoes
Awesome herb sauce And SUPER EASY!!
Chocolate espresso buzz cookies
And now the answer to "what is this?"
A Victorian Moustache Guard
Thank you for stopping by and enjoying this week's Tasty Bits!