http://www.newwest.net/topic/main/C593/L/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2011 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:55:46 MST Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:55:46 MST http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/late_but_here_nonetheless_wildfire_season_starts_in_the_northern_rockies/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/late_but_here_nonetheless_wildfire_season_starts_in_the_northern_rockies/C593/C593/ Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:56:55 MST Fire season has hit the Northern Rockies and although it’s late this year, thanks to a cool, wet spring, there is plenty of fuel out there to burn. As John Adams reports in the Great Falls Tribune today, in a briefing with Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Monday, Mike Kreyenhagan, a forecaster for the Northern Rockies Coordination Center put it this way: “I view the rest of the fire season as a race between the fuels drying out and the days getting shorter and a season-ending event.  I’m not sure which on is going to win.” http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/zucchini_vandalism/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/zucchini_vandalism/C593/C593/ Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:10:58 MST Late at night. A car door slams. The sound of running feet, followed by a thump on porch and running feet again. The car speeds away. A light flashes on in the house. The front door opens, and a wail of despair as the resident sees what the vandal has done. Yes, it’s National Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/some_milk_does_a_body_good/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/some_milk_does_a_body_good/C593/C593/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:48:06 MST There is a very quiet, national campaign afoot that you may want to learn about. True, it seems each new sunrise brings new national campaigns about something or other, and so I understand the activist-panic fatigue. This one is a bit more intriguing, if only because it involves our kids. The Center for Food Safety has launched a national letter-writing campaign to change the milk being served in America’s schools. Change it for the better. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_function_of_food/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_function_of_food/C593/C593/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:35:51 MST Let’s file this one under the heading, “If It Sounds Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is.” The Wall St. Journal reports this week on a surge among food processors to create what are called functional foods. Beyond the irony here (aren’t all foods by definition functional?), the story reveals that foods “believed to possess health benefits beyond the basic function of providing nutrients” now total more than $30 billion annually. The research firm Packaged Facts anticipates that this figure will grow by 40% over the next five years. What does this mean? It means an increase in the packaged foods in the grocery which tout the additives included. Think ketchup infused with probiotics; think pasta with calcium; think, if you can, marshmallows with collagen, to—supposedly—give your skin a healthy, collagen-fed glow. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/food_for_your_brain/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/food_for_your_brain/C593/C593/ Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:35:14 MST Michael Pollan started it, at least on the national scale it has reached today . . . and the criticism of the American industrial food system continues to grow. That's good news, I would think, for everyone. More information means we can make better and better-educated decisions, in this case, about what we eat. And, what's more important than what we put into our bodies? Information and revelations like Pollan's may mean that we think twice before heading for a fast food drive-through, but then, what's wrong with thinking twice? And, so it is today, that the attack on the American industrial food system continues, with the release of a new documentary: http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_youth_shall_lead_us/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_youth_shall_lead_us/C593/C593/ Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:00:25 MST More great news about the future of local farming. The New York Times reports on an optimistic (in my opinion) national trend—more and more college students are seeking internships not on Wall Street, but on the farm. The Times reports that 1,400 farms sought interns this year, almost triple the number two years ago. The number of small farms, which attract the new agrarians and can use the cheap, enthusiastic help, has grown sharply since 2003 (this according to Katherine L. Adam, who runs the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, financed by the Department of Agriculture). This is terrific news. Sure, it’s partly a result of the economic recession we are in, but in my mind, it signifies something else—that young people are seeing the impacts they can have when they get local and get their hands in the dirt. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/its_good_for_digestion/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/its_good_for_digestion/C593/C593/ Tue, 19 May 2009 13:35:09 MST I’d like to add some heft to the old adage that farmers and ranchers are some of the most conscientious and right-minded conservationists we have (due respect to the myriad conservationist groups out there). A little more than a year ago, the Huls dairy farm in the Bitterroot Valley installed a methane digester, the first such machine in Montana (these were developed at Utah State University and installed by Andigen, of Logan, UT. According to the Ravalli Republic, the dairy, owned by four Huls brothers - Bruce, Tim, Jeff and Dan—was accustomed to loading up a truck equipped with a 63,000-gallon tank for manure slurry about 400 times a year. The smelly concoction was spread out across his pastures and hayfields. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/its_on_you_to_know_whats_in_you/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/its_on_you_to_know_whats_in_you/C593/C593/ Fri, 15 May 2009 08:31:25 MST Commercial Food Producers Shift Food Safety to Consumers—Good News For Local Growers http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_buck_stays_here_chapter_2/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_buck_stays_here_chapter_2/C593/C593/ Mon, 11 May 2009 11:56:05 MST If each household in Montana spent just $10 a week on Montana-grown food products, we would re-direct $186 million dollars each year to local farmers and ranchers. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/quick_where_does_your_food_come_from/C593/C593/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/quick_where_does_your_food_come_from/C593/C593/ Sun, 10 May 2009 06:03:40 MST Global Grocer: An instant quiz on the origins of what we eat. A frightful—if edifying—site I’ve just stumbled upon is the Global Grocer site, from Food and Water Watch (FAWW has long been sounding the alarms about our food and water systems; for instance, leading a charge against bottled water). Global Grocer lets you shop the virtual aisles of a store, filling your cart with the food you want, and tons of information about where that food comes from.