Dear Dad, please get crackin’

July 2, 2005

Look what Auntie Kristi made me from the first harvest of her very own garden back in the Old Country. This raspberry/berry jam brought tears to my eyes, so delicious. None too sweet either, just the way I like it. Now there are two people in the world that make me jam that makes my heart leap with joy.

debra at 13:14 | Comments (68) | post to del.icio.us

Products without words

July 1, 2005

The kitchen line, KLOP by freshly graduated product designer, Sharon Geschiere from Arnhem. Klop in Dutch means to beat or whip (as in whipping cream). These products instruct the user in how to use them. Plus they’re black. And white.

debra at 16:32 | Comments (0) | post to del.icio.us

Giving sustainability a bad name, the mediagenic 100 mile diet

June 30, 2005

Far be it from me to take the fun out of eating locally and sesasonally, and far be it from me to stop others from trying, but some folks are just giving sustainability a bad name.

I’m wondering about the media-genicity of the stupid experiment with the high Supersize Me-factor. Trading and industrialised food are as old as the hills.

A list of what is missing from this couple’s 100 mile experiment:

1. Common sense.

2. A good knowledge of gardening and sprouting. It is outright stupid to do this experiment w/o a garden. 80m2 per person for year round eating in agricultural zones 7-9 is plenty of land. And I sprout more seeds and grains than I can eat in Amsterdam apartment, which is located in the Polar Circle.

3. A lack of community with basic skills that includes farmers. Two people do not a community make. Easy food prep is difficult when you have so few people to prepare for the winter, hence the ridiculous effort to which these folks are subjecting themselves.

4. An unwillingness to eat a different diet. First Nation peoples were not vegans. WTF – strawberry jam? Eat something else for gawdssakes! If you simply MUST eat a bloody strawberry or a tomato in the dead of winter, you’ll need to dehydrate soft fruits in July.

5. A knowledge of traditional lines of trade. Ever heard of salt, fish and sugar? Trading salt is almost as old as the hills – which is why I mistrust this Supersize Me sort of media experiment from the outset. If one really wanted to know what it means to have this diet, they wouldn’t put bread on the North(west) American menu. Or just NOTE that grains/sugar are unavaillable for a year and spend the year experimenting what it’s like to live without. Or try growing some grain yourself. That’d be a laugh. People have been moving food and seeds around the world since forever. Plants are stationary, animals and people move around. Being aware of provenance doesn’t have to take on these proportions.

Here’s a list of some other things we could think about putting on our own dang 100 mile diet:

• detergents
• appliances
• hell, your drinking water may not come from within 100 miles
• try buying some clothes that were made from materials within 100 miles and that were made by people working within 100 miles
• buy a fuqn car that was made within 100 miles
• buy some fuqn petrol that came from within 100 miles
• buy some local birth control pills, some local condoms
• where’d your freezer come from?
• or your dehydrator?

Or, maybe the problem lies in all of that buying…

The 100 mile diet is giving sustainability a bad name. Check out the craziness.

The 100 mile website. Idiots.

debra at 9:12 | Comments (3) | post to del.icio.us