Today's Veggies

Quick, early dash to the Matthews Farmers Market to get back home for the start of the Tour de France. Came home with veggies and bread. Sammy Koenigsberg's harvest has shifted away from greens to tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, garlic, and okra, but still some baby chard. I also got a couple of loaves of bread from Baker's Blessing -- a sweet Latino lady who makes bread without milk and eggs. The round loaf is olive-garlic-basil, and I'd already stuck a loaf of mixed spelt in the freezer. Delicious breads.



I got these heirloom tomatoes from Sammy -- picked a couple of hand-sized ones to be able to take single slices out large enough to cover an entire piece of bread for a summertime tomato sandwich.



I'm especially looking forward to the beautiful okra I got from Sammy to go in soups. Would love to fry it to indulge in that southern summer tradition, but I'll pass on the fried oil and heat the okra gently in the slow cooker along with beans for soup.

As I said, the Tour de France begins today -- arguably the most difficult sporting event in the world. Ironman triathlons come close, but the sheer length of the Tour (three weeks, 2,2000+ miles over Europe's highest mountains) gives the latter the nod. The official Tour web site is here. As much as the bike riding, I love the Tour broadcast because of the views of France provided in the abundant TV shots from the helicopters employed. America is too young to have the kind of architectural history and tradition that Europe has. The stately chateaux, castles, country churches, and city cathedrals are just stunning, and the Versus Network producers give plenty of time to them in their coverage. Watching the Tour is like watching a tour of French history -- the Tour commentators seem well-armed each year with facts and figures about the various sites. Well worth watching.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to all. This certainly is America's most important memorial day -- I for one am grateful for the liberties and freedoms the Founding Fathers engineered in those perilous birthing-days. It's a shame that the government they envisioned (provide for defense, deliver the mail, etc.) has turned into a colossus that they would likely equate to the British crown that they gave their lives to escape. As poor stewards as we may have been the last 230+ years, they still deserve all the credit and none of the blame for the purity of their vision and the sacrificial lives they lived. (It is not widely known how the original signers of the Declaration suffered at the hands of the British. Most of them died penniless and persecuted, considered traitors by the Crown for having affixed their names to such a seditious document.)

I celebrated this morning with a 51-mile group bike ride (about 35-40 riders) that a local guy put together. Didn't attempt to stay with the "hammers" that broke away on a 20+ mph average pace, but hung in pretty well with the second tier riders who averaged 17+ mph. There was a third group that was just out for a leisurely conversational ride (14-15 mph avg.) that did 40 miles instead of the 50. I have to keep remembering that I'm 60 years old and will never be able to keep up with the younger riders. Talking with another gray-head as we rode, he said an elderly friend of his who regularly does the (brutal North Carolina) Mt. Mitchell climb has this philosophy: "Start slow, then ease off." I love it.

The two pictures below are from my friend, Priscilla, in Santa Barbara, CA. I had inquired whether the current wildfires were getting near them -- apparently they are. These pictures show the fires in the hills overlooking Santa Barbara. (The well-known Fairview Gardens, in Goleta, are very near Santa Barbara. Let's hope they survive.) Those of us who don't live with these fires on a seasonal basis can hardly imagine what it must be like to go through this every year. Keep the buckets full, Prisc. (Beautiful pix, by the way.)

Broken Bike

My friend, Scott Russ, who co-owns and manages our local bike shop in Matthews, was hit by a car while riding this past Monday. It was completely the driver's fault -- he was coming toward Scott in the opposite lane and cut across in front of him, making a left turn, and ran right into Scott. Broke his week-old carbon bike in two. Fortunately, Scott had no broken bones -- just serious contusions and swelling, etc. The police ticketed the driver and his insurance will hopefully replace Scott's brand new bike. Here's what's left of the run-over one:

Soil ≠ Dirt

Charles Waters is the iconic founder and Executive Editor of Acres USA, the premier magazine devoted to ecological (sustainable) farming practices. He is a word-wrangler par excellence, brilliant, and author of many books and countless articles and editorials.In the current issue of Acres (July 2008) Walters reviews a new book by his friend Gene Logsdon, a farmer-writer-philosopher cut from the same cloth as Wendell Berry, titled The Mother of All Arts: Agrarianism and the Creative Impulse (Culture of the Land). After a positive review of the book, Walters closes with this paragraph:

A critique should have criticism to offer. I have a small bone to pick with Gene. He uses a few words I still don't use, one of them being "dirt" when he means "soil." Dirt, the late Professor William Albrecht once reminded me—and one reminder was enough—is ring around the collar. A lone exception to the rule: an ungraveled road can be considered a dirt road.

If you're wondering about the point, I enjoyed several: the collegiality of war horses like Walters, Logsdon, and (genuflect, please) Albrecht; the way Walters referred to his friend Gene Logsdon as "Gene" instead of "the author;" the attention to detail in the use of language; the use of apt illustrations. There is such pleasure in reading well-written pieces by people who have forgotten more about the subject than others will ever know.

Why Tim Russert Died

The ever-creative Dr. John McDougall, one of the most famous proponents of good health through a plant-based lifestyle, does a posthumous interview with the late Tim Russert, the NBC News journalist who died recently at age 58 of a sudden heart attack. Russert wants to know why he died and Dr. McDougall explains the cause: Russert's life-long, meat-based diet. For instance, here is Russert's own description of the diet that his hometown of Buffalo, New York, was known for (taken from Russert's book, Big Russ and Me):

“pork neck bone, smoked pork neck bone, jellied tongue, Polish bacon, slab bacon, double smoked hunter bacon, German-style wieners, Italian sausage, pork roll sausage, hot or mild beef sausage, barley sausage, beer sausage, double smoked hunter bacon . . . chopped ham, smoked hocks, turkey gizzards, smoked turkey parts, chicken feet, chicken liver, chicken fat, fresh ox tails, and ribs of every type.”

McDougall includes this animated video that illustrates what probably killed Russert—a plaque eruption and resulting blood clot:

This "interview" is very informative and helps reveal why people who have no outward symptoms of heart problems can die of a sudden coronary event.

Farm Sanctuary

I'm currently reading this book, and although I'm only halfway through want to recommend it.

Gene Baur is the co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, one of the leading rescue organizations for farm animals. He has spent a couple of decades involved in the rescue, rehabilitation, and protection of farm animals that have been abused by the industrial animal agri-system. Farm Sanctuary runs a 200-acre farm in Watkins Glen, New York, and a 300-acre similar facility in Orland, California. Baur has also been heavily involved in successful legal and legislative attempts to bring about change in the animal agri-systems that lead to the abuse of farm animals.

Besides providing a history of Farm Sanctuary's involvement in farm-animal rescue, Baur provides a complete picture of the industrial farm-animal industry -- not a pretty sight. Countless examples of the industry's abuses are chronicled. Having read a lot of this kind of information before, I wasn't shocked. But most people will be. The average meat-consuming person has no idea about how the meat they eat was raised and the abuses suffered by the animals. And adding the word "organic" to the formula is not a panacea. Huge industrial dairies that have earned the "organic" label have done so by eliminating certain antibiotic and hormone supplements (which is good), but still employ many of the same industrial techniques as non-organic dairies. (I'll never forget a conversation I had once with a woman who considered herself well-informed about "food" who had no idea that female dairy cows live their entire lives pregnant in order to keep them lactating. As soon as they deliver one calf they are artificially inseminated again in order to keep the milk flowing. She is typical of many who are shocked to learn the truth -- but often not shocked enough to stop supporting the system.)

(Pictured is part of the Watkins Glen, New York, Farm Sanctuary facility)

Perhaps the best part of Baur's book is the profiles he provides of many of the animals at the Farm Sanctuary facilities. They all have names and are treated as individuals. And when given the freedom to do so, express personalities every bit as unique as humans. It's amazing to read the stories of their "creatureliness" -- how they express themselves with the same range of emotions as we do. Reading these accounts supports more and more the biblical teaching that it is the image of God in man that separates him from the animals (Genesis 1:26-27) -- and it makes a huge difference. We are obviously different from "beasts" and that difference should not be ignored. But the ways in which we are similar -- feelings, emotions, bonding, personality -- are to be celebrated and protected.

The book is new in 2008. I was unfamiliar with Gene Baur and Farm Sanctuary before reading the book. If others have more background with him and his work I'd love to hear from you. (Strangely, I could only find the Kindle edition of the book at Amazon. Not sure why the hard copy doesn't come up in a search.)