Food requires water!

I've been silent for a long time (not through lack of ideas or concerns...but because I've been busy) but the graphic I just explored in the LA Times is amazing and must be shared.

I'd long realized that red meat requires a lot of water per pound to produce so if we want to conserve water (something that's at the top of the news in California these days) we should eat less meat.  And, I'd realized that nut trees require a lot of water as well. But what I'd not realized is that chickpeas require so much water to grow! This amazing interactive graphic in the LA Times lets you calculate the water footprint of your meals--explore and be surprised.

Talk about this at your next dinner party!

Melissa Clark's caramelized lemon pasta!

I love Melissa Clark's recipes and her short videos are outstanding.  Here's one for a basic caramelized lemon pasta that easy, sustainable (use Meyer lemons!) and she explains why she cooks it the way she does.

Yum!

pomegranate rice!

Here's a discovery to share: pomegranate rice!

While cooking 'jazz' before a last-minute dinner party last week I scrambled around the kitchen and fridge looking for things that needed to be eaten.

I had three well ripened pomegranates lying around.  Took the seeds out and threw them in with a few cups of rice that was cooked with a rice cooker.  Amazing.

Tried it again last night but my pomegranates were not as sweet so I added a drizzle of pomegranate syrup and BOOM...a very nice accompaniment to the grilled wild salmon we had last night with friends.

The perils of non-scientific thinking...

I've written before about the value and importance of evidence-based thinking. A friend just sent me a link to a rather shocking article by Gary Baum writing in the Hollywood Reporter about rapidly declining vaccination rates in the elite schools of the Westside in Los Angeles (where I live).  In popular talks I note that non-scientific thinking is not a 'red' or 'blue' issue--it's rampant and I use the example of low vaccination rates in the Westside. Baum's article is a wake-up call for science-based policy and decision making.  Read and discuss it at your next party!

Tiny...the movie

Just saw the film Tiny last night: excellent and conversation provoking film about what size live we want to have.  The film's about the tiny house movement (imagine living in 100 square feet!) but really it's about what our goals and aspirations are.  Check it out!

American dietary guidelines and greenhouse gasses

If Americans altered their menus to conform to federal dietary recommendations, emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases tied to agricultural production could increase significantly, according to a new study by University of Michigan researchers.

Read more in the Science Daily.

Eat organic because production is good for the environment

The organic 'debate' continues!  Here's the latest I've read in Vox.

Take home for me--fewer pesticides are good but more importantly the production of organic food is better for us all!