food
All Mashed Up
Terroirism
As I write this, I am nibbling on a couple of pieces of organic stone-ground chocolate made from beans from the Dominican Republic. Produced in Somerville, Massachusetts, the chocolate is cited by Rowan Jacobsen in his new book as an example of how a food embodies and expresses its place of origin. READ MORE >>
The November Pogrom
The Case For Eating Fluffy
At the risk of seeming like I’m kissing up to the boss’s family, I have to flag this great essay by Jonathan Safran Foer in The Wall Street Journal making the Swiftian case for eating dog. After all, pigs are just as smart, but there’s nothing keeping most of us from firing up the spit-roaster. And of course, throughout history many people have taken to canine cuisine. It’s worth pointing out a few highlights from his essay. READ MORE >>
Where Is the Economic Recovery?
Washington Diarist: Common Grounded
End State
California is a mess, but I love it all the same--especially the Bay Area, where I lived for 15 years. I went to Berkeley in 1962--a refugee from Amherst College, which at that time was dominated by frat boys with high SAT scores. I didn't go to Berkeley to go to school, but to be a bus ride away from North Beach and the Jazz Workshop. In a broader sense, I went to California for the same reason that other émigrés had been going since the 1840s. I was knocking on the Golden Door. READ MORE >>
Left Behind
Sharpen Your Pencils for Education Innovation
Pop quiz: You read a draft notice for a federal grant program containing the terms, “internal validity,” “quasi-experimental,” “regression discontinuity,” and “interrupted time series.” The program in question is: a) A CDC program to fund pre-development of the porcupine flu vaccine b) An FDA program to spur commercialization of an at-home test for polonium in your food c) A NASA program to support design of a low-cost module that will allow humans to populate Venus READ MORE >>
GAO Takes Aim At Corn Ethanol
In recent weeks, Obama has been talking about the need to pare back subsidies and tax breaks for the oil industry—both here and abroad. That's fine, though as I've noted, many biofuels subsides deserve at least as much scrutiny, if not more. Fortunately, that sentiment seems to be spreading: The GAO just released a report on U.S. READ MORE >>
