Agricultural mysteries

Exploding watermelons are a big deal.

Local food flunks economic test

Thanks to the North East Sustainable Agriculture Working Group for compiling their weekly news which included this piece - "The Locavore's Dilemma: Why Pineapples Shouldn't Be Grown in North Dakota."

NESAWG News reports "A major flaw in the case for buying local is that it is at odds with the principle of comparative advantage. This principle, which economists have understood for almost 200 years, is one of the main reasons that the vast majority of economists believe in free trade. Free trade, whether across city, state, or national boundaries, causes people to produce the goods or services for which they have a comparative advantage and, thus, makes virtually everyone wealthier. Princeton University economist Paul Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize in economics for his contributions to the economics of international trade, called comparative advantage "Ricardo's Difficult Idea" because so many non-economists deny it and are unwilling to understand it. But if people understood comparative advantage, much of the impetus for buying local foods would disappear.

Read more from Jayson L. Lusk and F. Bailey Norwood, at the Library of Economics and Liberty.

Economists, meet idealists. Shall we question the ideal of local food or the 'rule' of economics?

Future of Food Conference - Georgetown

How. did. I. miss. this.

http://washingtonpostlive.com/conferences/food/archive

Yes, there was British Royalty. More importantly, Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson were there! Check out CNN's great summary of Prince Charles' talk and links to related media.

Food deserts in mega-farmland

Check out the USDA's food desert locator, shared on CNN's foodie site Eatocracy. A food desert is a nuance of the concept of food insecurity, "a low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store."

Exploring sustainable faux-woods

My fascination with non-wood 'woods' has continued since my post on bamboo last year. BBC has an interesting feature on wood alternatives that counter the demand for teak and other unsustainable hardwoods.

Rice hulls which are powdered, blended with salt and mineral oil, and pressed to form a waterproof form a luminous wood alternative called Resysta. Sorghum stalks are a top choice for construction product manufacturers, as are hemp panels, coconut mosaic tile, and a range of bamboo products.

Speaking of bamboo - I finally bought myself a bamboo cutting board. And I'm eyeing up this bamboo 'infused' Asus laptop. Developing sustainable tastes isn't very hard when so many other grasses and grains become beautiful. But as with any new and cutting edge development, I wonder what we're missing. What is the big-picture environmental impact of producing these wood alternatives? How can you accurately estimate the conflicting values of possibly energy-intense processes for Resysta compared to old-growth forests of the Amazon? Who wins?

And is sustainability the challenge? or should we be questioning our consumption habits instead?

In praise of pasta

And now, for a foodie diversion. I joke that I would be happy to eat solely protein and fat (cheese, anyone?), my appreciation for complex carbohydrates has been growing as I've been training for a sprint triathlon. When we think carbs, we think pasta - particularly whole grain - and its flavor-absorbing friends gnocchi, rice, and quinoa. Add some variation to your balanced diet... check out Charming Italy's "Different Kinds of Pasta" poster. Having a healthy diet includes local veggies and a myriad of shaped grain products, right?