TracyFood

Monkey Monday: weekend in review, week in preview 7 November 2011 10:10 am

Posted by Tracy in : books,economics,food snobbery,geekery,meta,monkeys,news,politics,random,society , add a comment

Today’s Monkey Monday randomness starts with a a shoutback to the weekend’s successful continuation of my NaBloPoMo efforts, because they both include responses to recent food-relevant news events. (Also, and speaking of success, I am happy to report that as of checking in at NaBloPoMo Central on Saturday afternoon, I have at long last managed to sign myself up! I’m #2011 on the official blogroll, which seems auspicious.) There’s also a preview of what I’ve got planned for TracyFood this week: lots of pictures, a long-delayed recipe, and… um, I’m not sure what I’m writing about tomorrow. Open to suggestions over here…. but meanwhile, on with today’s show!

First things first, a bit of serious news: my former classmate Christine is in northern Italy, where flooding and mudslides have turned her blog away from a dreamy chronicle of emigration and gastrotouristic entrepreneurship, into the story of life in a disaster zone (the town of Monterosso, which was devastated, to put it mildly). There are links in her posts to various charities and other efforts to help support the region’s recovery, as I wrote in this weekend’s letter to global climate change, which I totally believe in and really wish would stop proving itself through dramatic, disastrous weather events. (more…)

Monkey Monday: long weekend edition 11 October 2011 8:05 am

Posted by Tracy in : consumerism,convenience,dessert,eating,events,monkeys,news,nyc,photos,pictures,politics,random,taste test , add a comment

Bear with me, readers: this post is late because our cable modem is on the fritz so I have been composing this post on my iPhone, no joke. (I started out literally thumb-typing in my phone’s web browser until I found the WordPress app, and now I’m still thumb- or index-finger-typing, but in a less cumbersome interface, so yay for that.) Which makes for a sort of clever transition to the first item I wanted to post today, which I had been considering as Monkey Monday fodder even before the passing of Steve Jobs (really!) So that’s one thing coming up. There’s also pictures: some in honor of World Egg Day, which was yesterday (again, I would’ve been on time except for ridiculous technical difficulties) and also to document the Tea and Biscuits of Triumph (which is more or less the Tracy analog of the Warren Ellis Cigarette of Victory). Here we go…

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Mixed feelings about Walmart’s sustainable agriculture plan 17 October 2010 3:31 pm*

Posted by Tracy in : agriculture,consumerism,economics,local food,Marion Nestle,news,sustainability,WFPA , add a comment

Last Thursday, on Twitter:

@jorgeimontalvo Jorge I. Montalvo
Director, Strategic Initiatives, NYS Consumer Protection Board: food policy and consumer protection
Food folks: what do you think?: Wal-Mart Plans Drive to Buy More Locally Grown Produce: http://is.gd/g1Q9v

@tracyfood Tracy
Food geek, one-time-regular blogger
@jorgeimontalvo I have more mixed feelings about Wal*Mart’s “Global Sustainable Agriculture” plan than fit in 140 chars. Must. Blog. Soon.

Here, at last, is my post.

* * * * *

News stories, in roughly the order I saw them:

Yahoo News: Walmart Unveils Global Sustainable Agriculture Goals

The New York Times (the article Jorge linked, front page below the fold in Friday’s physical business section): Wal-Mart to Buy More Local Produce

Tom Philpott on Grist: Walmart Doubles Down on Local Food

Marion Nestle, as questioned by Kerry Trueman: Eating Liberally: What’s up with Walmart? (EL‘s title: “Let’s ask Marion Nestle: Is Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Strategy For Real?”)

Corby Kummer on The Atlantic‘s fantastic food blog, where he first covered this story months ago: Walmart Goes Public With Sustainable Produce

* * * * *

My first thought was, I’ll admit, a mix of kneejerk snobbery and “Solidarity Forever”: ew, Wal*mart. (more…)

Have you heard? 18 May 2010 3:52 pm

Posted by Tracy in : geekery,health at every size,hot mess,Marion Nestle,news,politics,random,weird , 2 comments

The Partnership for a Healthier America (who should maybe think about trading that “healthier” out for “thinner,” seeing as how they talk about fat as if it’s synonymous with bad health, sigh) and Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (an industry group who at least have the honesty to put the weight obsession right in their name), in collaboration with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move (about which I’ve already had a word or two on this blog), have brokered a deal wherein food companies promised to reduce the number of calories available per year in the U.S. food supply by 1.5 trillion calories by 2015, starting with a trillion fewer calories per year by 2012. Sounds pretty super-impressive, right? Those are big numbers! (more…)