Hydroponic or “Frankenstein” Tomatoes?

Tomato_laboratory_research Tomato Lab Research
Photo: Wikipedia
Hydroponic tomatoes have finally arrived in Romania. A video from Antena 3 entitled,”Pofta Buna la Otrava,” (Good Appetite for Poison), describes how an entrepreneur from Reghin, Mures County, has grown last year nine huge tomato plants per square meter, the size of “tropical arbors.” The plants grew out of a special bed without soil. The seeds were treated with a special fungicide designed to resist disease, grew roots in a bed of cotton and other materials, and each root was fed by a tube. The abundant, perfect tomato crop was and is guaranteed all year long. Continue reading

Food Lines Coming?

Venezuela Food line Venezuela Food Line Distribution Photo: Wikipedia
Americans willingly stand in line for hours waiting for a store to open during Black Friday or to purchase tickets to a sought-after football game or concert. They don’t mind freezing in the cold, sleeping in a tent on the side-walk hours and days before the store opens – they want to save $50 for a television set, find a toy that everybody else wants for Christmas, a popular electronic gadget, first issues of geek gear, or tickets to a favorite concert. Continue reading

The Environmentalists Are Not Giving Up

Liberty Farm
Liberty Farm, Paris, Virginia
Photo: Martha Boneta, March 2014
The small farmers in Virginia rejoiced when Senate Bill 51 and House Bill 268, dubbed the “Boneta Bill,” passed both houses and the Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe signed it. The bill gave farmers legal protection from overreaching and overzealous county bureaucrats who impose unreasonable requirements and unnecessary fees on small farmers.
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Eating to Live Not Living to Eat

Ileana's plate Photo: Ileana Johnson, 2014
I don’t look at food the same way most Americans do. I grew up on my grandparents’ small farm in the village. Everything we ate came from our garden and our livestock – fresh vegetables in season, canned vegetables in winter and spring, goat and cow’s milk, butter, goat cheese, eggs, smoked meat, lardy bacon, fatty sausages in natural casings, and eggs.
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Wormy Banana

My 80-year old mom is sitting at the kitchen table dissecting a banana as if it was a biology specimen under a microscope. I watch her for a few minutes intently before I ask her what she is doing. With a scientific look of Eureka discovery on her face, she tells me, she is looking for worms. Worms? She is 100 percent sure; the bananas I just bought at the grocery store have worms, especially since they had ripened enough to be extra sweet and mushy. She is peeling away and separating the banana core into smaller segments, believing that the tiny white fibers are worms.
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