CK Friday Links--Friday August 5, 2011

Here's yet another selection of interesting links from around the internet. As always, I welcome your thoughts and your feedback.

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Breaking down the dumbest myths of organic farming. (Scientific American) Bonus Posts: Histrionic and defensive responses, respectively, from Mother Jones and Grist.

How to grow amazing herbs for next to nothing. (A Little Bit Of Spain In Iowa)

What to expect when you try to pass a soda tax law. Read critically. (Accidental Hedonist)

Think you're helping by eating only the "correct" fish? Think again. (New York Magazine)

Recipe Links:
Perfect for using up all that fresh in-season produce: Garden Vegetable Chili. (Make and Takes, via Cafe Johnsonia)

Hilariously easy: Spicy Roasted Chickpeas. (Chow and Chatter)

Make your own perfect Homemade Pickles! (Foodie With Family)

Off-Topic Links:
How to live on practically nothing. Please check your excuses at the door. (WikiHow)

An oblivious Iowa town shuts down a little girl's lemonade stand because she hadn't obtained a permit and a health inspection. (The Blaze)

What is "intermittent reinforcement" and why does it annihilate our creativity and productivity? (Jonathan Fields)


Do you have an interesting article or recipe that you'd like to see featured in Casual Kitchen's Food Links? Send me an email!


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7 comments:

K said...

One wonders if you actually read the reviews in Mother Earth and Grist? "Histrionic" and "defensive" weren't adjectives that popped immediately to my mind when I did so.

But whatever. Oh, and I have 15 years of experience in biological control research, happen to agree with the original article, and am not a fan of "Organic", for many of the reasons given. But I can read a critique without getting my back up, as it were.

The Calico Cat said...

Sometimes, I look through the links & find one or two to look at more closely - this week I have minimized damn near everyone for closer review.

Thanks.

Daniel said...

K: I'm sorry my choice of phrasing flopped for you. But rest assured, my goal at all times is to show various sides of various arguments, and to encourage readers to think for themselves.

Calico Cat, thanks. I follow several hundred blogs (yes, seriously!) and spend quite a lot of time putting these Friday links together. Glad you enjoyed this week's collection!

DK

Jen said...

Hm, the SA article is interesting though it really doesn't address the issue in depth either. It seems to be mostly talking about industrial organic farming, which is of course quite different from other kinds of farming (organic or conventional). The writer oversimplifies just about everything. For instant, organic farms can't produce enough food to feed the world--starvation is caused by a complex web of factors and only a small part of that is our ability to produce enough food. (And in America, hunger certainly has NOTHING to do with producing enough food.) Organic farms are just as bad for the environment as conventional farms--again this is a complex issue and seems to speak more to a need for regulations or a rethinking of the American food system rather than any deficiency in the concept of organic farming itself. I don't know, I don't think I see much in the way of balanced and objective information in this article. It's an important issue to explore though, and I'll keep searching for a really thoughtful exploration rather than another pop editorial, however full of statistics it may be.

Melissa said...

That summer chili is gorgeous. I saw another one similar to it on Serious Eats yesterday. I think chili night is in order.

And I'm posting those pickles from Rebecca today! I made multiple jars. So good.

Marcia said...

I didn't see any histrionics in the Mother Jones review at all.

I saw a point by point rebuttal. You know what they say about statistics...there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Either side can pick and choose as they please.

On a personal note, I like to read the studies where they list the "dirty dozen" fruits and vegetables. As far as I'm concerned, those results are enough for me to choose organic for those produce items.

Lana said...

I love this feature on your blog, even though it means that I will certainly discover more and more blogs to keep me distracted (in the most pleasant way, of course:)