Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

@joejoe, in the US, very little of the corn grown is fed to humans directly, since that's usually not sweet corn. Much of it goes for non-food items like biofuel, and a lot goes for HCFS.

And yes, a portion goes for animal feed. But, in a best-case scenario, the cow wouldn't be eating corn, it would be grazing on grass, which is what it evolved to eat. Eating corn is pretty unnatural for a cow.

Cattle can graze where farming is difficult, so it's not an either/or thing. And in fact, at the beginning of their lives, those corn-fed cows are grazing on grass. They're sent to feedlots later.

So if the cow isn't fed any corn, that acre of land could grow crops that humans could eat while the cow grazed elsewhere, and you could have your steak and your potato without any conflict.

meowises, it's simple...double the recipe. =)

Can't stress this enough, if your going to grow your own get a soil sample tested. Find a place that will do a soil analysis of your garden. I did one and it showed what I had to work with, it also will tell you God forbid if there is anything dangerous in your soil. I posted way back a tale of my genetically based tomato growing obsession. I never ever use chemicals and have used just plain old marigolds as bug repellant. I fertilize with crushed egg shells. Of course this is what my soil needs. Every veggie has a PH that is best for its growth, you should do the research and find out what that is so you can balance out your soil with your own compost.
I also buy local, especially at cannng time and to fill my freezer.
Growing your own food teaches you many things. It teaches you responsibility, agriculture, patience, pride and joy.
I cannot tell you how much joy there is in taking my tomatoes and making a pasta sauce that everyone fusses over. I just smile from ear to ear.
I do a small Barbara Steisand; I selected the seeds, I grew the tomatoes, I canned them, I cooked them and now I am serving them. Eveyone nods their head and says not a word while shoving pasta in their mouth, the silence is golden.
From the ground to your table. It is a miracle and a blessing.

Now that the USDA is involved in labeling mass-produced 'organic' produce and products you can take that as The Signal to begin buying ONLY from local small farmers that you have chatted up and know to be truly devoted to actually producing organically. Unless, of course, you don't mind birthing inevitable Frankenchildren and then dropping dead of cancer or who knows what other genetic mutation that may 'pop up'.

Mass producing food on factory farms, organic or not, was a thought, but it turns out that it so doesn't work. The only thing that has ever worked is local produce grown organically by knowledgable small farmers. The reason it's been done like that for centuries is because that is what centuries of sustainablity has proven true, ie Europe and Asia. It's only when the people arriving on this continent got all out of hand with greed (I really doubt it was service motivated - profit/greed has always been the bottom line in the US. It's not called Aggro-Biz for nothing) and caffiene that the all important balance was disregarded.

A friend's brother is an 'organic' farmer in Texas for Whole Foods and I was told that he still sprays herbacide with a plane covertly, because it is impossible to mono - crop on the scale that supplies Any chain without it weakening the crop to the point of vulnerability to disease and pests. That's because mono-cropping as it's done now is totally unnatural. Buy from the local organic farmer in your area and build a relationship with them so that you can meet your families need for health and well-being. The USDA is strictly about cash profit, and it has proven abundantly over a half a century that that is it's greatest priority, far above and beyond the safety and endurance of the human race.

I'm with Ed on this one. Local organic is best, but local is the weighted of the two. I've noticed a marked difference between the organics and their grocery store counterparts. The big ones that stand out in my memory are chicken, eggs, and leafy greens. However I can't always afford to drop the cash an organic price tag commands - assuming I can even find it. In my neck of the woods (fields, technically) we don't have Whole Foods or anything good like that. Just big chains - so it's pretty much a crapshoot.

D.I.Y. would be super-cool. Except I'm really good at killing plants. I annually attempt an herb garden that usually winds up dead by July. I better leave that to the pros.

And to Megnut - due in no small part to your posts (and blog), I'm meeting with a local (less than an hour away!), organic farmer this weekend and probably purchasing a CSA half-share for the 2007 season. I really like this idea and have no clue why I'm just now hearing about it. Keep up the great work.

rockchick, my meat-eating friends always try to persuade me to eat meat, too. I always think it's funny that vegetarians have the reputation for trying to "convert" people, when meat-eaters do it too!

The thought of eating something that I can't kill myself is unappetizing to me. I can catch a fish, clean and cook said fish, so I don't mind eating it. I can't imagine doing that with an animal - especially after my family killed and ate my pet rabbit (yes, I kept it as a pet, but apparently it was meant for eating, we lived in Yonkers, how was I supposed to get that). I have family in Europe and would watch them raise and slaughter and cook their animals, but it's not something that I can do. Also, the way meat is processed in this country is disgusting. I love cooking and eating vegetarian food and when I make something for meat-eating friends they are amazed at how delicious it is. However, I don't cram my eating habits down my friends' throats, even though they sometimes try to get me to eat meat...funny.

I think the NY Times Magazine article, "Unhappy Meals" has several good lines regarding minimal meat consumption:

The very quotable first sentence: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants;"

or "...a little meat won’t kill you, though it’s better approached as a side dish than as a main."

That's probably about true. As much as I love the taste of some meat dishes, I hardly sit around munching on ham all day. I don't foresee myself ever being a vegetarian but I also am not a raging carnivore. I like meat in small portions and only occasionally. Healthier that way and honestly most of my favorite foods contain meat so it would be tough to give it up completely - Pho, Bun Cha, Ostrich fillet, etc.

(From NY Times Magazine article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ei=5090&en=a18a7f35515014c7&ex=1327640400&pagewanted=all

Very very clever. I love it best made with sourdough bread.

"One eyed" anything sounds like a snake of a different sort...

Fun article though.

this was the first dish i learned to cook, and it was called, by my children's cookbook, "the gashouse special."

"Egg in the nest"! I first had this when a post-college housemate of mine made it one morning. I'm surprised I had never seen it until that point.

This dish by any other name would still taste as awesome.