Rachel Laudan is a food historian, author, and visiting scholar at the University of Texas at Austin. Her book Cuisine and Empire, “shows how merchants, missionaries, and the military took cuisines over mountains, oceans, deserts, and across political frontiers….By emphasizing how cooking turns farm products into food and by taking the globe rather than theContinue reading “Our Choices, Our Future (for food)”
Author Archives: Norm Benson
7 Million Versus Shell, really?
This is a WTF moment for me. Greenpeace UK is protesting Shell drilling for oil in the arctic, and they say nearly seven million people agree with them. Fine. I get that. What boggles me is the irony of the message their photo conveys, which is “We cannot survive without oil.” Around 7 million #PeopleVsShell,Continue reading “7 Million Versus Shell, really?”
50 Shades of Green
Or, Why Does Green Power Provide More Jobs? The other day we considered the cost of burning coal. Today, we look at one of the selling points of “green energy.” Pols and others say “green jobs” provide more jobs. The short of it, is that they need more people per kilowatt to do the jobContinue reading “50 Shades of Green”
The Cost of Coal
A recent tweet trumpeted a report that 250,000 Chinese died in 2013 due to smog from coal (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/12/china-coal-emissions-smog-deaths). The report on the deaths came partly from Greenpeace, of course. There is little question that coal is dangerous. It is dangerous to mine. Its emissions are a problem; coal ash is more radioactive than nuclear waste.Continue reading “The Cost of Coal”
The Cost of Coal
A recent tweet trumpeted a report that 250,000 Chinese died in 2013 due to smog from coal (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/12/china-coal-emissions-smog-deaths). The report on the deaths came partly from Greenpeace, of course. There is little question that coal is dangerous. It is dangerous to mine. Its emissions are a problem; coal ash is more radioactive than nuclear waste.Continue reading “The Cost of Coal”
The World is…
Over at the Serial Monography site, Jeff Benson (yes, the name is no coincidence) looks for an authentic experience: he wants a Flat White coffee like he had when he discovered it in Bali. He tries one at his local Starbucks… …by the time I had finished drinking it at home, my enthusiasm had dissolved…BecauseContinue reading “The World is…”
The World is…
Over at the Serial Monography site, Jeff Benson (yes, the name is no coincidence) looks for an authentic experience: he wants a Flat White coffee like he had when he discovered it in Bali. He tries one at his local Starbucks… …by the time I had finished drinking it at home, my enthusiasm had dissolved…Because although StarbucksContinue reading “The World is…”
Well latte duh, latte duh.
For most of humanity’s existence, our kind have worried about getting enough to eat. So we may see it as a good sign that now some of our species are worried about not getting organic milk in their lattes and frappes. “Where oh where shall I ever find a frappe made with organic milk?” oneContinue reading “Well latte duh, latte duh.”
Well Latte duh
For most of humanity’s existence, our kind have worried about getting enough to eat. So we may see it as a good sign that now some of our species are worried about not getting organic milk in their lattes and frappes. “Where oh where shall I ever find a frappe made with organic milk?” oneContinue reading “Well Latte duh”
Kinsey photo of loggers
This is from GettyImages. It is a circa 1920s photo by photographer Darius Kinsey (1869-1945). The GettyImages site says Kinsey, “was a photographer active in western Washington State from 1890 to 1940. He is best known for his images of loggers and all phases of the region’s lumber industry.” #90019216 / gettyimages.com
Nullius in Verba 