bright blessed days and dark sacred nights
Pearl Buck once said: "Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness." In the state of her birth, the small joys of simple living add up to something infinitely more meaningful and lasting than any 'big happiness' I could imagine.
When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur — the hazards faced by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s poem “To Be of Use,” which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/and a person for work that is real.” Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.
The Conrads are at the vanguard of a resurgent interest in backyard chicken keeping, especially in distinctly nonrural settings. In cities across the United States, raising backyard poultry has suddenly become as chic as growing your own vegetables. It's all part of the back-to-the-land movement whose proponents want to save on grocery bills, take control of their food supply and reduce the carbon footprint of industrial agriculture
Clearly, our present ways of agriculture are not sustainable, and so our food supply is not sustainable. We must restore ecological health to our agricultural landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to our rural communities.
Once a popular Southern drink, buttermilk had gradually been relegated to the ingredients column, starting in the 1940s. But with its tangy flavor, creamy consistency and golden flecks of butter, Cruze Farm’s buttermilk has the necessary charm for the artisanal generation.
"We were able to isolate lactic acid bacteria found in raw sheep milk from small farms in Macedonia, northern Greece. Several of these friendly bacteria naturally produce antibiotics that killed off dangerous food-poisoning bacteria like Listeria," says Panagiotis Chanos, a researcher from the University of Lincoln. "Interestingly, we identified these friendly bacteria as enterococci, more commonly recognised as virulent and/or antibiotic resistant bacteria in hospitals. We found some strains could produce up to three different natural substances to fight different food pathogens."
3 comments:
Beautiful - simply beautiful.
We had snow flurries yesterday in the Raleigh area and what a surprise. I think we're in for a cold, cold winter.
Yes, RM,yes. Too cold for November. I knew something wasn't quite right when I couldn't put some food and stuff in glass jars into the back of my truck when I drove to Asheville this morning because it would freeze on the way there and break my jars! Messed up, I tell you. Yesterday was just excrutiating. I could go on and on. You won't see me too much for a few more days because I will be housesitting for Sally. (One might start to think I like house sitting. Don't let them be fooled- I don't...) Look forward to visiting with you whenever I come home...
I know!! It's not supposed to be this cold for 2 more months! UPS just delivered 5 dormant fruit trees, but I can't plant them 'cause the ground is frozen! What's going on here?
Post a Comment