articles: March 2008 Archives

In today's Press-Register, Bill Finch launches his Great Banana Growing Challenge asking local readers to share their banana-growing tips and successes, and tantalizing us with a mention of the 350-400 bananas that he harvested in his own yard.

We have a "Grand Nain" banana that we bought last spring at the Mobile Botanical Garden plant sale. It's in a nice, sunny spot and did beautifully last year. We left the stalk intact through the winter, but it hasn't put out new leaves yet and I don't know whether that's a bad sign. The top feels rather dried out, but the base still has a solid feel to it. I think the trunk is still alive as it's put out a couple of pups, but I don't know how long to give it before deciding if it's a lost cause. How I would love to get bananas in our yard! It may take a couple of years of experimenting, but we'll stick with it!

Also from Bill Finch today, an article about fava beans. I've never grown or even eaten them myself, but they are supposed to be quite a delicacy. Finch writes they should be planted in October for harvest in February through May.

Have banana stories you'd like to share? Are you a fava bean fan?

OK, this is not exactly about local food, but it's obliquely related. The anthropology department at Indiana University (one of my alma maters) is introducing a PhD in Food Studies, the first such program in the country. There was a nice article in the latest College of Arts and Sciences magazine, and Professor Stacie King had this to say:

Students will read ethnographic studies of the importance of food in contemporary cultures and then touch on a variety of topics to explore these same issues across time... We'll be able to look at how people have used food to create identity and meaning in their everyday existence.

Professors in the program also plan to have students do field work in the community, "researching a solution to a real, local, food-related problem." Political science professor and co-director of Slow Food Bloomington Christine Barbour says that "Many people become farmers or chefs because they feel passionately about food and the land. They may be very good at farming or cooking, but they do not necessarily have great organizational or marketing skills. If the food studies program can provide interns to assist with matters such as these, it has the potential to greatly benefit the community."

This article is from 2004, so I'd like to see an updated version, but it's a useful primer on the significance of product labeling (e.g. natural vs. organic, etc.).

Original article on The Green Guide.

From the Washington Post, a farmer addresses the issue of fuel efficiency in tractor-trailers vs. the fuel expended in getting food and consumers to farmers markets. His conclusion: buying local food is a sensible way to eat well, save fuel and reduce your carbon footprint.

From Culinate, a reminder that spring is the best time to harvest and eat what some consider a delicacy and some consider a weed: dandelion greens.

Do you like to eat dandelion greens?