Mini-meadow

It’s a mini-meadow of weeds, according to the neighbors. This comes from Constance Bay, Ottawa, where the brave and noble Jones family lives:

Social conformity just happens. We do things because they’ve always been done that way. How we live is shaped by a zillion unwritten rules and regulations. To ignore these inherited protocols is to run the risk of being labeled eccentric.

For Henry and Vera Jones, their refusal to conform amounts to downright anti-social behaviour, at least according to the strict codes of conduct in suburbia. The Joneses, as the Citizen reported this week, outed themselves as social radicals by publicly rejecting the ideal of a manicured lawn.

I’m out of many loops, including this one about the monopolization of the dairy industry:

The government inertia over the dairy crisis is due, in large part, because the administration agrees with Big Ag that consolidation in agriculture is inevitable—even a benefit to society. Consolidation leads to lower prices—which appears to be the only wholeheartedly embraced goal of the USDA.

But the flip side to that embrace is that lower prices lead to more consolidation—and eventually there will be only a handful of corporations producing (or importing) most of our milk. To be honest, Vilsack, and even Obama, verge on hypocrisy when they decry rural depopulation and economic collapse while they endorse—tacitly or not—this continued consolidation in agriculture.

Are you familiar with black garlic? Odd looking stuff. Here’s a link to bookmark. Check back over the next few days and see how it grows. Word of Mouth is seeking suggestions for the best foodstuffs.

Out with the sardines and flax seed. For this month at least, omega-3 fatty acids are viewed as possibly a good thing to eat to prevent dementia:

In each of the study countries, except India, there was an inverse association between fish consumption and dementia prevalence. These data extend to low- and middle-income countries previous conclusions from industrialized countries that increased fish consumption is associated with lower dementia prevalence in later life.

A Christian Science Monitor writer harkened back to “The Blob” (and early Steve McQueen) when writing about the mystery goo in the Artic. It’s a marine algae bloom, and please don’t call it goo, like I just did.

Posted in Ag, Animal World, Enviro.