From: Barbara Lamar <shabrika@juno.com>
>I'd like to hope that research would move in this direction; but
>at least in my part of the world, the majority of the people
>don't seem to care much about the quality of their food. I live
>in a rural area where almost everyone has garden space, and yet
>most people don't even keep small vegetable gardens.
At the start of the spring I gave bunches of seed packets (from
seeds of change) to friends who like to garden. Now that it's fall
I'm reaping the benefits in the form of delicious gifts of
brandywine tomatoes, rainbow Inca sweet corn, sugar snap peas, and
french breakfast radishes among others. I have a bunch of delighted
friends, and "Seeds Of Change" has happy new customers.
> When fresh produce is made available to homeless people, they
>don't want it--too much trouble to prepare it (this remains true
>even if kitchens are made available for their use). They'd rather
>eat out of cans. Homeful people are often in too much of a rush
>to think of what they eat, spending long hours at work and
>commuting and taking kids to extracurricular activities and
>shopping and picking up the dry cleaning and doing housekeeping in
>odd moments. They grab some takeout food or eat frozen dinners.
Sounds like a business opportunity for Barbara's homecooked
microwavable Vegan specials.
>In neighboring Austin there is Whole Foods, which has now expanded
>into a nationwide chain; and Central Market. At both of these
>stores one can choose from a wide variety of fairly fresh
>vegetables; but the prices are outrageous. The people who shop at
>these stores make up only a tiny faction of the total population
>of the area.
Yes, we have these here, they do good business.
>As one who grows heirloom corns such as Texas Honey June (sweet
>corn) and Texas Gourdseed (good soft corn for tortillas), and my
>own variety of field corn which I've bred especially for my
>climate and soil, I readily agree with the New Mexican farmers'
>wives about the taste and texture of the old varieties. Until
>enough people share that view to make it worth while for
>commercial seed companies to develop better tasting food crops,
>the only solution seems to be for more people to grow gardens and
>preserve the old varieties, which are disappearing at an alarming
>rate.
Thats why new seed companies are forming, like the good folks at
"Seeds Of Change". I live in a modest one bedroom apartment, but
still grow fresh herbs on my window sills.
The need for very fresh produce to supply trendy restaurants has
led to farms around the Chicago area that were vacant being turned
into "Market Gardens" to supply these trendy restaurants.
>Meanwhile, I'm glad to see research being done on at least
>improving the nutritional value of food (although as I've
>mentioned before, I think there's a chance that some of the GM
>foods are not metabolized properly).
I would be hesitant to eat anything that kills insects. My friends
who planted the seeds I gave them reported that these plants were
quickly and eagerly consumed by pests if not protected.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
Life Extension Foundation, www.lef.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
Mars Society, www.marssociety.org
Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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