Pig Futures

2009 has really not been the year of the pig. Despite the best efforts of the USDA and the EU’s Health Commissioner, the first pandemic of the twenty-first century is commonly known as swine flu – a negative association that hasn’t helped pork sales at...

The Taste of Climate Change

Beer enthusiasts, myself among them, were upset to read this week that our pints of pilsner lager might be the latest casualty of climate change. New Scientist reported the depressing news: it seems that the quality of Eastern European Saaz hops is going downhill each...

Yeast-bursts, seed packs, and extreme agriculture

IMAGE: “Endothelium”, by Philip Beesley Over on BLDGBLOG, Geoff speculates on the agricultural possibilities of “Endothelium”, an organic, automated geotextile designed by architect Philip Beesley, in which “low-power miniature...

And now the weather, brought to you by Tesco

As any self-respecting locavore can tell you, many of us have forgotten how to eat seasonally, at least in the developed world. Nonetheless, the weather still exercises a huge effect on the food we choose to buy and eat. As British supermarket giant Tesco has...

Day Out | The Mushroom Tunnel

Shiitake logs on racks in the Mittagong mushroom tunnel. All photos in this post taken by the author. As Geoff Manaugh has already mentioned on BLDGBLOG, we spent our last full day in Australia touring the Li-Sun Exotic Mushroom Farm with its founder and owner, Dr....

Publishing Food

Food publishing is a curious business: cookbook sales boom in lockstep with the rise of ready-meals, testifying to a fascination with food that elides the act of actually preparing it. Nonetheless, most follow a proven formula, leavening glossy photos of gorgeously...