Tuesday Coffee Break: Snacks & Outrage

Published March 03, 2009 @ 08:45AM PT

Raiding the internet fridge for news and treats ...

- The Supreme Court will not review lawsuits against Monsanto and other US chemical companies over the ill effects of Agent Orange on veterans and Vietnamese nationals. Their reasoning? It was sold and used as a defoliant, therefore the fact that it also acted as an incredibly toxic poison whose effects were passed on to the next generation in the form of birth defects was irrelevant. I'm curious if this reasoning would be applied to suits against these chemical companies if future studies pin bad health outcomes on their widely-used agricultural pesticides and herbicides.

- Secretary Vilsack says that they'd rather fund more child nutrition programs than give subsidies to rich farmers. It's probably the only argument, and the current economic meltdown the only circumstance, that has a chance of breaking Big Ag's hammerlock on steady government funding. Vilsack said that an unidentified person with a vested interest in subsidies for high-income farm operations called this "a declaration of war."

- Seed sales are increasing as the economy does that thing it's doing. If you're planning on starting your own garden any time soon, I would recommend checking out Seeds of Change.

- Jim Harkness of the IATP writes about China's new food safety law. Devil's in the details, indeed. He recommends a reservation of judgement.

- If you're in the Greater Seattle area, you know the joy of shopping at their homegrown co-op chain, PCC Natural Markets. They have marvelous gluten-free muffins and dessert breads that they bake in-house, at least they did as of 2007. Now, they're sharing their refined sense of the delicious with the worldwide web, offering us a recipe for gluten-free buttermilk pancakes.

- The Onion: Nation Instinctively Forms Breadline

- At LaVidaLocavore, Asinus Asinum Fricat writes about the fabulousness of whole grains (including some gluten-free grains) and desmoinesdem encourages everyone to go ahead and try wild rice, which doesn't need to be soaked, btw.

- ObamaFoodorama brings us Obama's favorite cheesecake recipe from the Lincoln Birthday Bicentennial. Mmm, cheesecake.

- Lastly, you did see the two chickens breaking up the rabbit fight, right?

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Author

Natasha is an amateur eater with severe snarkolepsy and a c. 2002 blogging habit. She had a fabulous time studying ecological agriculture and policy at The Evergreen State College, and even did her homework while writing at various times for pacificviews.org, boomantribune.com, and mydd.com.