Jun
26
What Borough Council giveth, it can taketh away.
After an unnamed vendor threatened to sue over his exclusion from the Farmer’s Market, the Council voted to take back control Tuesday. Producer-Farmers, who had been given control of the market in February, were angered by the decision.
Association members Lois Stringer and Whitney Duley said they were shocked and disappointed to receive notification of the vote Tuesday morning.
“I guess there’s nothing we can do,” Duley said. “I thought it had been going extremely well. We got some new people, and we got some really nice products in.”
I hope things resolve for the best. Personally, I insist on knowing the origin of the veggies I eat. I’d love to see everyone label their produce with the state and county of origin.
Better still, Borough Council could enforce their own producer-only ordinance and tell this litigious vendor to get lost.
Feb
16
The incomparable Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver, used his TED talk to deal with diet, obesity, and what we’re doing to our children. From the site: “Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.”
Feb
13
Good News on Organics
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Finally a definition, of sorts:
New rules announced Friday say organic milk and meat must come from livestock grazing on pasture for at least four months of the year, and that 30 percent of their feed must come from grazing. The old rules said only that animals must have “access to pasture.”
At this point, I’ll take progress wherever I can find it.
Feb
6
According to an article in today’s Centre Daily Times, Bellefonte Borough Council has ceded control of the Bellefonte Farmers Market to the Bellefonte Farmers Market Association. The Association has been adamant that the market remain producer-only, and it would appear they now have to power to make it so.
One only hopes Councilman Beigle and Mayor Goldman are still willing to shop there.
Jan
21
Farmers Market Debate Reignites
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The debate over whether Bellefonte’s Farmers Market should be producer only reignited Monday night at the Borough Council meeting. The issue was tabled for now, but if you feel passionately one way or the other contact your Council member.
The Council is expected to pick up the issue again at its February 1, 2010 meeting.
Dec
15
The Associated Press, doing a rare bit of actually useful reportage, have published their exposé on how Monsanto does business. The article looks at how Monsanto allegedly controls smaller seed companies. This behavior goes hand-in-hand with how Monsanto allegedly treats farmers who refuse to buy their seeds, as illustrated in the documentary The Future of Food.
Mar
26
A Conversation with Marion Nestle
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Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics and What To Eat, will be appearing at Penn State University on April 1 at 7:00 p.m. In a taping of WPSU’s “Common Ground Lobby Talks,” Nestle will discuss food politics with host Patty Satalia and will take questions from the studio audience.
I plan to attend this event. You can RSVP via WPSU’s Facebook page.
