genetically-modified sugar beets

apparently we will all soon be consuming sugar from GMO sugar beets. some large companies, such as Mars and Hershey are still holding out, but others (Kellogg's) have jumped right on the cheaper-sweetener bandwagon. GM high-fructose corn syrup isn't enough: now they want GM sugar, too. certainly there is legitimate concern over GM ethics and health effects, but to me there are greater concerns than that.

concern #1) all sugar beets will soon be sprayed several times per season with roundup, arguably the most potent herbicide ever invented. how much roundup residue will be in my morning cup of tea? mmm, roundup sugar. here's an interesting and pertinent quote from here:

People who fear genetically engineered crops are poorly educated in molecular biology and genetics. The risk from bioengineering in the over-expression of a protein is far less than that from the pesticides used on the crops.

What people need to worry about are the small organic molecules like the cleaning agents we use in our houses, and the preservatives in our foods.

On the large scale, proteins just aren't as dangerous as organics.

— Alex, Santa Cruz

or, simply, "roundup is gonna kill you before GM stuff will."

#2) of greater concern, how much roundup residue will remain in the soil? will the roundup concentration in the soil increase from year to year, eventually contaminating the water table as well? then it would be roundup beets, growing in roundup soil, getting watered with roundup water... and probably still being sprayed with roundup a few times, you know, for good measure.

#3) patenting seeds. corporations, like the one who produces both roundup and roundup-resistant GM seeds (fishy, eh?), can actually patent their GM seeds. therefore farmers legally have no choice but to purchase seeds from the same company, year after year. the problem is compounded by the fact that these powerful, wealthy corporations actually enforce their patents bring bringing huge lawsuits against family farmers whose fields contain stray GM plants or crossbreeds.

#4) see above phenomenon. GM plants are the "superplant" that takes over, crosses with other non-GM wild or domestic plants, and is unable to be extinguished (not even with roundup). basically, there's no way for the family farmer to win.

#5) soil depletion, as an effect of #2. here are several "arguments" for GM crops that ignore this concern:

All the whiners here have lost site of the fact that we just might be able to feed the 7 billion souls that will soon inhabit this earth.

What have any of you done to sove that impending problem?
— Sternberg, Mauldin, SC

With the world population exploding technology is needed to feed everyone.
— MM, Japan

There are far too many hungry people to allow us to ignore the potential of engineered crops.
— buzz, narberth, pa

I have yet to see proof that long-term use of potent herbicides and GM crops actually is more productive than traditional organic farming. so far this combo has just required more fertilizer, and encouraged greed (in the form of monoculture and mega-farms) and discouraged quality produce in favor of quantity. it seems to me that long-term use of this method is contrary to everything in nature, and will self-destruct (hopefully not permanently destroying too much of the world in the process). technology is NOT the answer to feeding a growing population, especially technology that may destroy our only food source: the earth. gradually killing the dirt's every last organism with roundup is truly shooting ourselves (or our children) in the foot. it will take generations of rest and rich compost to restore the soil to its former productivity. but all of us, and the CEO of kellogg's will be long dead, so what do we care?

here's one lady's suggestion:

This is not a done deal; consumers can and should push back! Call Hersey Co (1-800-468-1714 and then press "0" to speak with a customer representative) and ask them to hold firm on their opposition to Genetically Engineered sugar. Call M & M Mars Company (1-800-627-7852 and then press "0") and ask them to also continue their opposition to "Roundup Ready" sugar beets. This will take ten minutes tops. Call the Kellogg Corporation at (1-800-962-1413) and ask for Consumer Affairs and tell them you won't buy their products if they contain GE beet sugar.

Then, if you are inspired call the American Crystal Sugar and tell them you don't want to eat Roundup Ready sugar: 218-236-4400, ask for customer service - they will tell you that they have made "business decision" to buy GE sugar and that it has many benefits. If their corporate-speak call doesn't totally depress you call Amalgamated Sugar (208-383-6500), Michigan Sugar (989-686-0161) and Western Sugar Cooperative (303-830-3939). Nothing worries companies more than the word "boycott" and you will have done something to help stop Pandora's box from opening.

— Diana, San Anselmo, CA

on the day you were born...

i bought this gorgeously-illustrated book today at powell's. perhaps i can read it aloud to a wee newborn in as few as 6 weeks!

email forward:

Did you ever notice that when you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "Theirs."

poopy filling and the midnight hike (sounds like one of those horrid, modern children's books)

i spent the afternoon babying a poppyseed* roll/loaf to perfection, then packed a sunny afternoon picnic. however, by the time logistics were worked out and certain husbands were convinced that spending the ENTIRE day in the apt. was not the most desirable option, the sun was setting and the temp was down from 60 to 45 degrees.

we set off in spite of it all, and after much transit confusion (broken ticket machines, an extra train, and waving a friend onto an almost-moving train) our party was together on one train. we headed up to the zoo station, jumped off the MAX, rode the elevator 200ft. up to ground level, and began our hike. we hiked up the road and started up a long hillside of stairs. now, my lung capacity (also my stomach and bladder capacities, but that's a more private issue) is becoming increasingly cramped, due to a 16-18 inch long infant that now occupies part of my chest cavity, in addition to ALL of my abdominal cavities. consequently, 150 or so stairs leaves me a bit winded, to say the least. we continued up the hill and around the city water reservoir, then began down the other side in the dwindling light, towards NW portland and the cathedral's 5:30pm mass. or so we thought...

at this point we took a break to wolf down our picnic just in time to meet the 1-hour fast requirement for the mass we *were* going to. we trotted down the hill "towards" burnside street, pointing out the gloomy magnolia trees for which the trail was named. after some minutes, robin spotted a trail-side map and between two dying cell phones we had just enough light to see that we were, indeed, headed towards burnside... a mere 3 miles or so ahead. somehow the zoo is MUCH further (or do i mean farther) from the rose garden than we thought. whoops.

we voted to retrace our steps and just take the MAX down the hill instead. luckily, there's a 9pm mass at the local catholic university. so in the now-complete darkness we hiked back up the road, back up magnolia trail, past the reservoir, down the billion steps to the zoo, down 200ft in the elevator, down the hill on the MAX, to our lovely home for a much-needed cup of tea and some poppyseed bread. nine-o'-clock mass: here we come.

*BTW, googling "homemade poopy filling" is an interesting, but not-very-enlightening experience if your true purpose is making poppy filling.

childbirth reading list

This is a great reading list for women (and their men) who are interested in natural birthing. Many of the same books were also recommended to me by my midwives. now i have an excuse to go to powell's... i have to "do my homework," hee hee!

concealed weapon, or, "don't mug middle-aged ladies cuz you never know..."

auntie trish left our apartment late tonight, amongst crowds of unruly Blazers fans. just a guess, but the fans were probably pissed b/c the blazers probably lost. it had already been dark for hours, and she had quite a walk (with these less-than-desirable companions) to get to her car. but she made it safely.

now, i don't actually KNOW that she made it, but i'm venturing a[nother] guess. because the last thing she did before leaving our apartment was to put a knife with a 5" blade into her purse.

it's a long story, involving extended family and a cider-pressing party, but basically she was taking home her own kitchen knife that mistakenly ended up in my drawer weeks ago. makes a good story, though...

fun in PDX

this weekend i have hot date #1 with this guy, hot date #2 with this girl, and hot date #3 with this guy.

BTW, i hate it when other people write posts like this one, so NEVER do it. ok? cuz then the reader either has to click on every stupid link, or wonder for the next days/weeks/years what the heck the writer was trying to say. that said, happy link-clicking!

feasting

yesterday afternoon i served what my husband dubbed a "practice thanksgiving."

three old friends from out of town, and one old friend from in town were here (plus two no-shows). a conversation with my mom, who lives in the deep south, prompted me to make an all-Southern meal. it all just fell into place: we just happened to have a pieced chicken on hand, plus two sweet potatoes. and we always have cornmeal and regular potatoes in the pantry, so the menu wrote itself.

Fried Chicken, with paprika
Mashed Potatoes (a colorful blend of heirloom varieties, including some Blues mixed in)
Chicken Gravy
Grits Souffle
and...
Sweet Potato Pie

i came back from making whipped cream in the kitchen, and our guests said, almost in unison, "WOW! i've never had sweet potato pie before!" i replied, "me neither, is it good?" luckily it was... i know about the maxim that goes, "don't serve your guests a recipe you've never tried before." i assume that goes doubly for things you've never eaten before at all! but all was well, and i think are 6 new sweet potato pie fans in this world.*

*many recipes are far too sweet and buttery, i've heard, so the one i used had only 1/2 cup sugar, and 3T. butter. perfect!

mmm, taco seasoning: http://platoskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/10/homemade-taco-seasoning.html

also, the mother lode of hummus recipes:
http://www.mizfrogspad.com/Diet/Recipes/Hummus.htm

this is AWESOME!!!

"Bicycling Portland, One Espresso at a Time"

potato fetish

so, i love potatoes. i don't know if it's the german in me, the polish in me, or the woman in me (or some combination thereof), but it's bad.

now y'all aren't going to believe me that i haven't had pregnancy cravings, but it's true: i'm always like this. i NEED french fries at least once a week, and mashed potatoes and gravy are a close second. however, roasted potatoes (a la auntie trish), baked potatoes, hashbrowned potatoes, double-stuffed potatoes (like we had two nights ago), american-fried potatoes (a la my dad), steamed potatoes (like we had tonight), and potato soup are all acceptable substitutes. even tater tots will do the job. i think you get the point.

we have already gone through 10 lbs of russet potatoes, 5 lbs of red potatoes, and dozens of miscellaneous other potatoes from our organics box, just this fall (my husband thought that would last us 'til spring). but then: potatoes came into season and our food coop lined one whole wall with bushel baskets filled with organic and heirloom varieties of potatoes. they have all the varieties you've ever heard of, and then twice as many "mystery" potatoes. needless to say, we broke one of the handles on our shopping basket by filling it too full of taters. we are sampling a few types at a time. now on the menu are German Butterballs (they look like a yukon gold, but they are truly butter-colored on the inside), Russian Banana Fingerlings (small, but oh-so-tasty), and Blue Something Potatoes (really a deep purple-- the color stays, even after cooking!).

i can't wait until we can grow our own... we'll probably need a root HOUSE, not just a root cellar.

pregnant in tillamook (doesn't quite flow like, "sleepless in seattle," does it?)

i'm glad to say that pregnancy is still fun, although the daily need for a full 12 hours of sleep is a bit inhibiting. i've been doing pretty well about the "prego rules," namely eating only the low-mercury fish, having only a few sips of my husband's beer or wine, doing my perineal strengthening exercises (don't ask), leading a low-stress lifestyle, walking or biking instead of riding the train, visualizing an efficient labor and delivery, etc.

i've been doing my homework, too. everyone is right: the dr sears books are the best. some people hate "the girlfriends guide to pregnancy," but i found it hilarious, and was relieved to read something where the author was just as horrified as the reader about the pending "inconveniences." (most authors are unbelievably nonchalant about all this, like, "oh BTW, then you bleed for 3 weeks. and you won't be able to tell if your bladder is full." i find these details necessary, but earth-shattering and nothing to be mentioned lightly.)

we've been eating organic, whole foods, but then we pretty much always try to do that. i lapsed a little in the 1st half of pregnancy, and had my "mac-n-cheese from a box, followed by rice krispie treats" days... i admit it. i think most women's comfort foods during pregnancy are things like oatmeal and dry toast, and (of coure) ice cream and pickles, but my most-frequent craving has been for sushi. give me unagi, raw salmon, and pickled ginger any day!

our one exception is cheese. we don't buy organic cheese, instead opting for the locally-made, rBST-free brand Tillamook Cheese. they also make sour cream, yogurt, and several other dairy products. we usually just buy their cheese and butter, preferring to stick with organic labels for the other items. tillamook's policies seem to be good, though, as they purchase milk only from mid-size farms (around 100 cows) whose farmers are part of an organized cooperative, where cows are pasture-fed for most of the year (pasturing animals year-round in this soggy climate allows the animals' hooves to irreparably damage the grass roots). they test each milk trailer for traces of antibiotics, and dump the whole tank if any are found. all milk is purchased from local farmers, processed at their single plant right in Tillamook, then shipped a mere 80 miles to portland. this is a business we truly feel comfortable supporting. we toured their plant yesterday, and picked up some cheese curds, fudge, and ice cream cones of seasonally-flavored ice cream. so we were a lil heavy on the saturated fat yesterday, but for a good cause...

my husband just walked into the other room, carrying a mug filled with a hot beverage. i then heard the unique noise of him dribbling his gigantic yoga ball/desk chair. then, "oh , crap!" and the sound of many kleenexs leaving the box.

i didn't have to turn around to know what had just occurred.

the other half of the story

...the finished product looked kind of like a tea cozy, but with a reservoir tip.

Auntie Trish's life, but through the eyes of a "realist."

non-turkey day

i'm so pumped about hosting my 1st holiday ever that i actually have a written menu. yes, already. yes, me, the non-listmaker.

i also have the chicken (no turkey for this crowd) purchased and in the freezer, i've baked down two pumpkins and pureed them (now also in the freezer), i've sliced and seasoned (then frozen) all the apples for the apple pies, and i've chopped and frozen all the bread (olive/walnut, mmm) that i will use for stuffing. i'll admit it: i've actually even thought about which pans i will cook things in, so that i know how many/what sizes i need to borrow or pick up at goodwill.

this is so martha stewart, i'm scaring myself. luckily we will have a baby in less than 9 weeks, so i'll have something to distract me and prevent me from taking up table-setting as a hobby. therefore i'm pretty sure this is a one-time organizational event for me. join us next year for turkey [cold-cuts] and mashed potatoes [from KFC]. if you're lucky we'll have a pumpkin [Safeway] pie to top it off.

why we ticked off ALL of costco's employees last night

we thought we had plenty of time to get from our place to the coop (merely to pick up milk and eggs) then to costco by 7:30 or 8pm. but then this happened:


View Larger Map

google maps says costco is 10.5 miles, or 17 minutes, from our house. our "scenic route" on the other hand was 26.3 miles, or about 1 hour, 8 minutes. amazing.

so we tried to order glasses at 8:29pm. they close at 8:30. you can imagine how pleased they were with us. especially since i was frantically waddling around the village-sized warehouse trying to collect everything on our list. yes, in one minute. it was 8:45 by the time they herded us through the checkout stand, at which point my husband announced that he still needed to use their restroom, then fill up at their gas station. they were overjoyed.

dz says he likes costco because they cut out a lot of the crap that other stores employ. my response: oh, like friendly customer service? and signs that tell you what is down each aisle so you don't have to form bunyons while hunting down the toothbrushes (which, by the way, are on the opposite side of the store from the electric toothbrush replacement heads).

November 1st

i like to think back sometimes to what i was doing on a particular day in years past.

this day one year ago i was a newlywed, serving lunch to cute black children at a low-income school here in portland. we were beginning to make plans for our move to budapest.

this day three years ago, i was at All Saints Day mass in Koln, Germany. it was an amazing mass that i will never forget. the cathedral itself is my favorite man-made structure in the world. it is so majestic that it requires reverence! the mass was sung by an outstanding boy's choir, and said by 3 bishops and a cardinal (and dozens of priests). it was the last day of my europe trip, during which i turned all vocational decisions over to God... and also randomly (?) began emailing with my now-husband.

24 hours of sleep

we are having a sick day at our house.

we thought we made it through the whirlwind trip to LA and the visit from the fam with only the sniffles, but today my husband hasn't left the bed, and i nearly passed out in mass several times. so we've slept nearly continuously since last night, except for brief waking periods just long enough to steep some fresh ginger root tea for him, and make a bowl of mac n cheese for me.

i've also been checking out artsy-fartsy blogs to inspire me to service, then use my antique sewing machine. i have a few (non-exciting) baby projects and The Silver Bullet's sunflower curtains to finish up, then i can get to the cool stuff.

if all goes well, we'll be back better than ever tomorrow and all the laundry piles in the living room will be converted to crisp, lavender-scented stacks, neatly folded in our dresser drawers. also on the to-do list: light the gas heater! we've been putting off this task, partly to save money on the gas bill, and partly because we don't want our apt. to smell like burning dust (you know, that "i haven't used the toaster in a while" smell?). but i think november is a good month to fire it up.

speaking of november, does anyone else have a constant and nearly-irresistible urge to make pumpkin pie? the only thing holding me back (well, besides the plague) is the fact that my pie pumpkins are my bookends, so we either need to sell some books or buy more bookends. pie would go so well with the cider we pressed the other day...