Ban And Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Paul Deaton
No Nukes.

No Nukes.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Following is an Aug. 15 letter to the editor of the New York Times by friend and colleague Ira Helfand, MD. The message is clear. Ban and abolish nuclear weapons).

To the Editor:

“A Nuclear Legacy Within Reach” (editorial, Aug. 8) notes that President Obama still has time to reduce the danger of nuclear war. Nothing he will do is more important than this.

For 70 years we have treated nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantor of our security. That view is fundamentally wrong. The nuclear nations have come perilously close to using these weapons on a number of occasions and have been saved, not because nuclear weapons possess some magic power that prevents their use but because of a string of incredible good luck that will not last forever.

We need a transformational change in our nuclear policy that recognizes that these weapons are the gravest threat to our security and must be banned and abolished.

Ira Helfand
Leeds, Mass.

Ira Helfand is a co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

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Summer Of Weird Normal In Politics

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Paul Deaton
Cedar County, Iowa

Cedar County, Iowa

This has been a summer of weird normal, especially for people who follow politics.

Given a presidential contest where many, including this author, predicted Hillary Clinton would be our next president before she announced she was running, nothing has happened to change that potential outcome. If anything, we are more confident than ever she will be our next president.

The focus has been on down ticket races… somewhat.

Last week Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner picked Cedar County, Iowa as a bellwether of the presidential race.

“The Washington Examiner has selected 13 key counties to watch in eight target states with 114 electoral votes that have been seriously contested in recent elections,” Barone wrote. “Each county has the potential to indicate who will carry these states.”

Cedar County owes its place on this list to the fact that it has come uncannily close to mirroring the Democratic and Republican percentages of the target state of Iowa in the last seven presidential elections, never varying more than 1.3 percent from average. Thus it voted 52 to 47 percent for Obama in 2012 and 54 to 44 percent for him in 2008; it voted 50 to 49 percent for Bush in 2004; and in the exquisitely close election of 2000, it went for Al Gore over Bush by a plurality of exactly two votes.

Mirroring percentages is one thing, however, based on my personal contacts with voters in Cedar County during the 2012 election, mirroring is not relevant to current races.

The Iowa Democratic Party placed an organizer in Cedar County this cycle, and if 2012 represents the best efforts to turn out votes for President Obama, 2016 will be even better for Hillary Clinton. That also benefits state-wide candidates Dave Loebsack, and to some extent, Patty Judge. Cedar County voters are willing to split the ticket. Expect them to do so in November.

Democrats are running out of time to nominate a candidate in Iowa House District 73, which includes Cedar County. For practical purposes, the clock ran out a week or so ago.

The Iowa Secretary of State filing deadline for state and federal offices is 5 p.m. on Friday, August 19, and in order to nominate a Democratic candidate, the state party would have to call a special convention that included Muscatine, Cedar and Johnson Counties where the district is situated.

There are plenty of potential candidates, however, those who ran in recent cycles are not interested, and no one else has come forward.

While there has been talk of a write-in candidate, the handicap of not being on the ballot will be a long shot in defeating incumbent Rep. Bobby Kaufmann.

The largest group of voter registrations in Cedar County is no party. On Aug. 1, the Secretary of State reported 3,128 Democratic, 3,792 Republican, and 4,414 No Party active, registered voters. Having worked the district, I don’t put much stock in these numbers. A house candidate from either party could win the district because of no party conversions, the City of Wilton, and six precincts in more Democratic Johnson County.

What makes August part of the summer of weird normal is the lack of political talk about almost anything but the Republican nominee for president. It is normal that a lot of voters activate during presidential election years. What is weird is a combination of things including regular people cozying up to Donald Trump; people who would bleed Democratic if cut saying they won’t vote for Hillary Clinton no matter what; and controversial issues, including climate change, abortion, school funding, incarceration rates, water quality and government spending, being sidelined to watch the national political show.

Life is going on, arguably not in a good way.

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Can Hipsters Stomach The Truth About Avocados From Mexico?

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Paul Deaton
Photo Credit: Avocados from Mexico

Photo Credit: Avocados from Mexico

Can consumers buy avocados from Mexico at the grocery store, or in prepared guacamole with impunity?

Probably not.

Last week’s article “In Mexico, high avocado prices fueling deforestation” by Associated Press author Mark Stevenson explained why.

Americans’ love for avocados and rising prices for the highly exportable fruit are fueling the deforestation of central Mexico’s pine forests as farmers rapidly expand their orchards to feed demand.

Avocado trees flourish at about the same altitude and climate as the pine and fir forests in the mountains of Michoacan, the state that produces most of Mexico’s avocados. That has led farmers to wage a cat-and-mouse campaign to avoid authorities, thinning out the forests, planting young avocado trees under the forest canopy, and then gradually cutting back the forest as the trees grow to give them more sunlight.

“Even where they aren’t visibly cutting down forest, there are avocados growing underneath (the pine boughs), and sooner or later they’ll cut down the pines completely,” said Mario Tapia Vargas, a researcher at Mexico’s National Institute for Forestry, Farming and Fisheries Research.

Why does it matter?

Deforestation plays a key role in the release of greenhouse gases. Carbon stored in trees and other vegetation is released into the atmosphere as forests are converted to avocado plantations.

With the advance of climate change, securing adequate water to produce the fruit has increasingly been an issue in avocado growing regions. A video posted by the World Bank explained the problem and how farmers are coping. It’s pretty simple. In recent years there has been less rainfall in Michoacan, desiccating the soil. Farmers divert rainwater runoff to retention ponds for use during dry months. Avocados require twice the water of pine forests they replace, depriving downstream users of an essential resource.

If that’s not enough, these particular forests are part of the Monarch butterfly wintering grounds. Deforestation impedes the butterfly’s evolved life cycle.

You may have seen one of the web ads featuring celebrity chef Pati Jinich promoting avocado use for the trade association Avocados from Mexico. Here is an example:

When encountering these ads, I found Jinich endearing and her tips helpful. That is, if I were a user of avocados, something she and the trade association is trying to change with the promotion. My experience with guacamole has been a tablespoon served on the side of Mexican food with other condiments, so not much.

One doesn’t always know what to do about stories like Stevenson’s. How extensive is the deforestation problem in avocado growing regions? How will downstream users react to deprivation of water from the mountains? How are workers treated on avocado plantations? Can we live without Monarch butterflies, and will another plot of forest gone really make the difference for this pressured species?

I don’t know, but here’s a relevant question raised by Joanna Blythman in The Guardian, “Can hipsters stomach the unpalatable truth about avocado toast?”

“When we pick up a fashionable import like avocado,” Blythman wrote, “we need to be sure that it not only benefits our personal health and well being, but also that of the communities that grow it.”

The issues around deforestation are well known. To the extent avocados add to the problem users should be driven to do something.

That may be as simple as asking the server to hold the guacamole.

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Grassley Events Week of August 14th – 20th

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Dave Bradley

Grassley Trump and the Courts

Sac County Meeting

Sac County
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
9:45 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
Sac County Courthouse, Courtroom
100 North West State Street
Sac City

That’s it folks.

Grassley continues to avoid Iowans. He continues especially to avoid open meetings in larger counties and cities.

Draw your own conclusions

If your in the Sac County area stop in and ask him about his judicial obstruction, his signature on the letter to Iran, his support of a man who called for the “second amendment solutions” be used on Hillary Clinton, or if he believes, like Donald Trump says, that Obama and Clinton founded ISIS.

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Sunday Funday: Steve King Border Wall Designer Edition

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Dave Bradley

Funny thing last Thursday. Steve King grabbed that Des Moines Register soapbox at the Iowa State Fair to spread a little bit of his unvarnished hate for people not white. King made this statement Thursday:

“On the immigration issue, I don’t have any qualms with Donald Trump’s position on immigration,” King told the crowd of about 80 people. “The most effective way we can do that is to build a wall on the southern border. I’d add to that: first build a fence near the border, then go up about 100 feet, build a wall, then go another 100 feet, build another fence. Then you have two no-man lands there that you can enforce easily within and patrol and put the sensors on there.”

If I recall that is the basic configuration that the Soviets eventually ended up with for the Berlin Wall, one of the great symbols of hate and fear ever foisted on Mankind. Good job, Congressman, learn from the best. And as a bonus, the Soviets were very white. Oh and by the way, Steve, how about arresting those employers who enticed folks to come to the US with jobs meant to bust unions and lower wages?

Can we keep Trump out of the quiz this week?

1) Thursday the Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all did what on the same day?

2) Evan McMullin had 15 minutes of fame last Monday. Do you know why?

3) Due to protests and lack of sales Monsanto will tear down a huge GMO seed corn plant in what South American country?

4) A small controversy erupted as the Iowa state fair opened concerning the ability to carry what into the fairgrounds?

5) 71 years ago today, Americans celebrated into the night as what was announced?

6) 81 years ago today, older Americans got some great news as President Roosevelt signed what into law?

7) Hillary Clinton once again reiterated her opposition to what trade pact in a speech in Detroit?

8) 50 Republican security officials signed a letter warning that who would put the country “at risk”?

9) Which highly regarded Republican senator joined the growing list of Republicans who have publicly stated they would not vote for Trump?

10) Salaries and bonuses for what board that controls Iowa’s institutions of higher learning came into question last week because they were so high?

11) What major airline experienced computer problems that resulted in thousands being stranded at airports last week?

12) After cutting state money for mosquito control, what governor is pleading with the federal government for money for mosquito control as the zika virus invades his state?

13) Tim Tebow bombed out in football, but is trying to bring his famous te-bow to what other major league sport?

14) The “scary” statue of what late comedian was replaced with a more normal statue in her hometown of Celoron, NY?

15) August 19 is 70th birthday for what left-handed, former democratic president?

16) What phrase used by Republicans did Trump employ to make a veiled threat on Hillary Clinton Monday?

17) In winning his 13th gold medal Michael Phelps broke the record for the most individual Olympic gold held by what ancient?

18) The DEA refused to reclassify what substance, thus ruling out its use as medicine or allowing its study as a medicine?

19) A 23rd lien has been filed against what Trump golf resort in Florida for non-payment for work done?

20) Who founded ISIS with an assist from who according to Donald Trump?

The Perseid meteor shower continues this week at a slower pace. Best time to catch it is very early morning.

Answers:

1) closed with record highs. Thanks, Obama!

2) he has been picked to be the establishment Republicans alternative to Donald Trump

3) Argentina

4) guns

5) Victory over Japan (VJ day)

6) the Social Security act

7) the Trans Pacific Partnership

8) Donald Trump

9) Susan Collins of Maine

10) the Iowa Board of Regents

11) Delta

12) Governor Rick Scott of Florida

13) baseball – I can hardly wait to see the te-bow again

14) Lucille Ball

15) Bill Clinton. How many hints do you need?

16) “second amendment solutions”

17) Leonidas of Rhodes who won his last medal in 152 BCE

18) marijuana

19) Doral National Golf Course. Remember the PGA will no longer schedule events there either due to remarks Trump has made

20) Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton assisting. Amazing for a guy who is always on vacation

Back to school draws near, children!

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Want A Great Reason To Vote For Democrats?

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Dave Bradley

How about continuing Net Neutrality?

Just below the Supreme Court justice issue in the senate, the internet is the best reason to vote for all Iowa democratic national candidates: Patty Judge for senate, Monica Vernon in the first district, Jim Mowrer in the third district, Kim Weaver to bounce Steve King in the fourth and of course Dave Loebsack in the second district.

Any discussion of issues has been pretty much abandoned on our main stream media. Any attempt to discuss actual issues usually ends up in a shouting match or has false accusations flying all over the place. Such scenes are the hallmark of cable television.

Unfortunately, we can’t pick and choose what news stations we get on cable. We get what the cable company will give us and that is it. As the old line networks became cogs in corporate machines, news departments became profit centers. Less resources were put into the quality of the news and more into whatever would attract eyeballs – glitz and confrontation. Their cable only spawns put that formula on steroids. Fox News – low quality, high glitz and confrontation – is the very epitome of the new norm.

No substance, loads of misleads, loads of adults acting like children. Lousy way to become an informed citizens isn’t it?

So what do most of us do to become informed without the distractions of the cable media circus? Most of us will probably answer that they will go to the internet where they can find in depth articles and discussion concerning issues. Of course there is plenty of crap, but we develop our own tools and screening processes to ferret out stories that are truthful and well sourced. We look stories based in logic and reality.

Unlike cable TV, on the internet we are not handed specific news sources, but instead we have at our fingertips tons of news sources from across the ideological spectrum and from across the world. We also have access to a plethora of entertainment and sports choices not just the few provided by the cable companies. All this because access on the internet is neutral. Access to a small site about some minute issue is just as easy as going to a major corporate site. This is how it should be in a democracy.

What if internet access became just as closed as it is on cable TV. What if there were various levels of access based on what you can pay just like cable? That would really suck, wouldn’t it?

Well, that is the Republican dream for the internet. Controlling access to websites in a manner similar to cable or satellite provider.

With a basic pack are you get a couple of sports websites, maybe youtube, many Christian sites, news and opinion sources that lean very right like Red States, Fox News, Breitbart and so on. You may have to move up 2 or 3 packages to get to sites like dailykos or Talking Points Memo.

Think this won’t happen? This is the very model that Republicans are pushing through legislation that will override the FCC rulings and put the internet into the hands of corporations like Verizon, AT&T and others.

Vote Republican and this is what you will be voting for. If the House, Senate and president are Republican, this will be one of the first bills that will get passed. Then you can kiss the open access you have now goodbye.

If you like the open access to the internet that you have now, vote for Democrats across the board.

Dave Loebsack, Monica Vernon, Jim Mowrer and Kim Weaver will work to keep our internet access open. Patty Judge is a huge supporter of open internet access.

While you turn on your TV and stare blankly at the lousy choices, look at news sources on your cable and realize there is little difference between the lot of them remember that Republicans would love to make your internet experience just as vapid as cable.

Vote in your own interest – vote Democratic.

Posted in 2016 Election Campaign, David Loebsack, Internet Issues, Jim Mowrer, Kim Weaver, Monica Vernon, Patty Judge | Tagged | Comments Off on Want A Great Reason To Vote For Democrats?

Democratic State Senators To Hold Medicaid Hearings

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Dave Bradley
Iowa Capitol

Iowa Capitol

On Monday, August 29, Iowans can share their experiences with Medicaid privatization with legislators from 9:30 to 11:30 AM in Room 103 at the Iowa Statehouse.

To participate, sign up using this online form: http://interspire.iowasdc.info/surveys.php?id=31

Speakers will have three minutes to tell legislators and the public about their experiences. The meeting will be livestreamed at http://bit.ly/IowaSenateLive.

The listening post is sponsored by the Democratic members of the Legislature’s Health Policy Oversight Committee. The entire committee will meet later that day from 12:30 to 4:30 PM in that same room.

Health Policy Oversight Committee meets Aug. 29
During the 2015 session of the Iowa Legislature, a compromise between the House and Senate created the “Health Policy Oversight Committee.” On Monday, August 29, this committee will meet in Room 103 at the Iowa Statehouse from 12:30 to 4:30 PM.

Here’s the agenda: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/committees/meetings/agenda?meetingID=20356

The meeting will be livestreamed at http://bit.ly/IowaSenateLive.

Health care providers say Medicaid privatization means fewer services, higher costs
A new survey has found Iowa Medicaid providers are still struggling with Governor Branstad’s privatization plan, which began earlier this year.

Providers say the privatization plan has led to increased costs, has reduced services for clients, and has even forced them to borrow money because they are not being paid on time.

Read more at: http://iowahouse.org/provider-survey/

Video of the July 26 meeting of the Senate Human Resources Committee

Complete morning session: https://youtu.be/EZdFJm_xZlA
Complete afternoon session: https://youtu.be/zRyvv3gRcY8
Documents mentioned in this meeting can be found at: http://bit.ly/Iowa-Senate-Youtube-Documents
The information for each video includes a list of speakers and direct links to their comments.

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Chuck Isenhart Addresses Iowa Clean Water Strategy

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Paul Deaton
Raccoon River

Raccoon River

On Wednesday, Aug. 3, State Rep. Chuck Isenhart issued a press release addressing the need for Iowa government to update the state’s clean water strategy.

Following a visit to Louisiana, where he consulted with stakeholders regarding Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, Isenhart wrote a letter to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey urging the Water Resources Coordinating Council to adopt a 20 percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus load. Read his July 17 letter here.

Isenhart is ranking member of the House Environmental Protection Committee and a leading voice for the environment and on energy issues in the Iowa legislature. Following is his press release in its entirety.

Time to update state clean water strategy

In light of Gov. Terry Branstad’s renewed call for more funding for water quality initiatives, State Rep. Chuck Isenhart (D-Dubuque) has asked the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) to update Iowa’s nutrient reduction strategy to establish performance goals to be achieved with any new money.

In a letter to the Water Resources Coordinating Council — chaired by Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey — Isenhart has encouraged the body of state and federal officials to recommend that Iowa adopt the interim milestones endorsed by the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force

Northey is co-chair of that task force. Isenhart is ranking member on the House Environmental Protection Committee and liaison to the state Watershed Planning Advisory Council.

The Gulf task force’s 2015 report to Congress called for a 20 percent nitrogen and phosphorus load reduction at the watershed scale by the year 2025.

“After three years of demonstration projects, we know what works,” Isenhart said. “Time to move to the implementation stage and scale up our efforts with widespread adoption of effective pollution-reduction practices. But first we owe it to Iowa citizens to show them how we will be accountable and what their money will buy: How clean will the water be and when will it happen.”

Isenhart noted that, while the Gulf task force is looking for documented results by 2025, Governor Branstad’s funding plan doesn’t kick in until 2029. “That is a glaring oversight, hopefully not intentional,” he said.

During the last legislative session, Isenhart and State Rep. Marti Anderson (D-Des Moines) offered an “Iowa Clean Water Partnership Plan,” based on their participation in the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s Iowa’s Soil and Water Future Task Force.

If adopted, the plan would create a clean water trust fund comprised of both public and private monies contributed by farm producers through water quality checkoff programs. The legislators plan to improve and re-introduce the bill in 2017.

“In the meantime, we will continue to educate and learn from Iowans during the upcoming election campaign season,” Isenhart continued. “We want to know if we are on the right track. We also want to know if Iowa voters still want us to raise the sales tax by 3/8 cent to fund the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust fund they put in the Constitution with a 2010 referendum.

“If Iowans still want it — and surveys indicate that they do — that would bring the greatest, most consistent funding that a long-term enterprise like this requires,” he said.

This week, Isenhart is attending the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Chicago. He serves on NCSL’s Natural Resources and Infrastructure Committee.

Isenhart has offered an amendment to the NCSL water policy directive that would prioritize nitrogen and phosphorus pollution as a water quality improvement objective in the Mississippi River basin and “wherever such pollution from pervasive point and non-point sources creates serious hypoxic conditions in waters of economic, ecological and/or recreational significance.”

The proposal also calls on the federal government to “foster and assist in the financing and support of working groups of state legislators within major watersheds where water pollution is a multi-state responsibility.”

Such working groups or compacts could be formed to “coordinate the development of strategies, policies, statutes, regulations and spending priorities for the attainment of clean water, including goals, timelines and accountability for performance,” Isenhart explained. “Right now, many state legislatures are AWOL when it comes to clean water. We need to get in the boat.”

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Kim Weaver For Iowa's 4th District

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Paul Deaton

Weaver for CongressKim Weaver believes 2016 is the year to retire Republican Steve King from Congress.

What makes her effort different from those of Jim Mowrer, Christie Vilsack, Matt Campbell, Rob Hubler and others?

The political climate of intolerance and hate people like Rep. King foster has reached its limit, creating a backlash among lifelong Republicans.

Weaver hopes to build a coalition using the unique opportunity 2016 presents.

“The other night I had an interesting conversation with a friend who will no longer be voting for Donald Trump, Steve King or any other Republicans,” Weaver wrote in a fundraising email.

“I watched this lifelong member of the GOP burn his Republican National ID while standing around a bonfire. He told me that he feels betrayed by the party and regardless of the outcome he doesn’t know how we will ease the tensions within nation’s polarized political system. To confront the global crises the world looks toward America for leadership and solutions. He said the divisive rhetoric this year short circuits conversations after a few seconds. From across the fire he looked at me and said, ‘All of this intolerance and hate is crazy. It’s gotta stop.'”

Kim Weaver is a proud native Iowan. Born in Des Moines, she graduated from Roosevelt High School and obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications from Iowa State University. After college she married and later moved to Sheldon where she raised her three children and built a career. Weaver appreciates the value of community and the belief in hard work Iowans hold dear. She is dedicated to taking those values to Congress.

We’ve heard it all about Steve King. Isn’t it time we focused on solutions? That’s what Kim Weaver offers.

Issues most important to Weaver include financial stability for families, student loan debt relief, financial stability for seniors, immigration reform, and making higher education more affordable.

As for King, there is little reason for Iowans to talk about his confrontational and outrageous behavior and statements. In fact, one of my friends had something to say about this.

Weaver TweetFor more information about Kim Weaver’s campaign for Congress in Iowa’s 4th District, visit her web site.

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In an Iowa Kitchen

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Paul Deaton
A Gardener's Breakfast

A Gardener’s Breakfast

The local food movement relies more on kitchens than grocery stores; more on gardens than commercial growers.

While use of locally sourced food by many restaurants has changed to include more of it, a local foods movement cannot be sustained by the hodge-podge of farmers, growers and entrepreneurs who sell locally produced food to restaurants, or for that matter, to grocery stores.

The problems include scalability and sustainability.

We are living in a time where demand for local food exceeds supply. Scaling up to meet demand requires a capital investment most small farmers can’t make. Sustainability relies on creating value along with the food in a way that cooks can afford it and farmers can make a reasonable return on their investment.

Someone recently asked if the area was becoming saturated with Community Supported Agriculture projects and if that’s why some are having trouble growing membership. An answer lies elsewhere. The market for local fresh food has grown so big corporations noticed.

Companies like Hy-Vee, have tapped into the fresh food market by increasing their number of suppliers and offering fresh and local food alongside wares from large commercial growers. They are sucking up market share like a vacuum cleaner as their business model is designed to do – putting pressure on small and mid-sized growers.

Corporate involvement in the local food market is a two edged sword. Growers can sell their best wares to companies like Hy-Vee and get a reasonable return. At the same time reliance on companies rather than CSA members can distract a farmer from his or her core business.

A solution? CSAs should stick to their knitting by getting payment up front and sharing the harvest with members… all of it. It may be tempting to sell some on the side to restaurants and grocery stores, but the further away from the model they get, instead of doing one thing well, everything they do can suffer. In addition, the market share they help corporations grow may be detracting from their core business.

There is nothing wrong with a farmer growing organic greens for restaurant salads and stir fries. In the end, each farmer must make ends meet, and operating a farm —even a small one — is an expensive operation with tight margins. My point is to focus on one thing and do it well.

It is one thing for a farmer to disassemble a barn and use the materials to create raised beds for a ten-person CSA. It is quite another to support a couple hundred families with the variety of produce the market demands. If you ask a hundred CSA members, as I have, why they belong, answers are all over the map. Some want assurance of a grower who uses organic methods to produce food. Some want variety unavailable at Aldi’s or Fareway. Others want to create a cooking experience with young children as part of their education. Most want to feel good about what they are doing with their lives.

One hopes we are beyond the discussion of “food miles” and on to the core value of the nascent local food economy: know the face of the farmer. It’s corollary is know how your food is grown. Try as they might with life-size cutouts of farmers in their stores, corporations have a hard time doing that. Their customers are too diverse, and they have to cater to everyone in the community. If a person combines these two ideas, knowing how our food is produced and creating demand for local, fresh food the local food movement has a chance.

A very few people strive to source every food ingredient locally. It is not with them the future of local food lies. The future of local food is within the potential of every Iowa kitchen.

To sustain the local foods movement requires consideration of what it means to belong to a CSA or buy from a farmers market. Can that fit into culinary habits in a way that is not an encumbrance to what most perceive as very busy lives?

Can kitchen cooks grow some of their own produce? Probably yes, even if it means only a large flower pot with some cherry tomatoes or an herb jar on a window ledge. Even these small things may be a step too far for some.

The trend in food includes extensive prep work done by machines and large companies. Heat and serve has become a by-line for many available grocery items. Along with taking the kitchen work out of meals, risks of contamination have been created and along with it the need for recalls from large processors whose products get contaminated by E. coli and listeria.

In a consumer society it will always be tough for small-scale producers to survive and thrive. That’s why I say the future of the local food movement rests in Iowa kitchens where cooks can use less processed foods and more fresh — secured by buying local and growing their own.

It’s work many can’t do because of choices made about careers and family. What may be the saving grace of the local food movement is the idea of taking control of our kitchens, in part by living and eating local as much as we can.

Posted in Local Food | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments