Comments on: Food glorious food

By: christine

christine — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 05:22:17 +0000

Apparently in 161 BC (the same year the Roman-Jewish treaty was signed), a law was passed in Rome that forbade the consumption of fattened (on milk soaked bread) chickens.

According to the author of ‘Fresh Food from Small Spaces’, R J Ruppenthal “the price of organic and farmer’s market produce is much closer to the real cost of that food.”

So, to produce forest dwelling organic eggs the price might inevitably increase? [ http://www.liberty-livestock.co.uk/page_aboutus.htm ]

But yes, a forest dwelling chicken in Thailand has very different climatic living conditions to a range chicken in the UK. Zoos are perhaps the closest model we have of professional animal care which simulates as closely as possible natural habitats in differing climate zones from the animals place of origin. [ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbmexplorer/5304549560/ ].

Food production is greater than a localised issue. After Hurricane Katrina, he says, it took the US government 5 days to do a major food drop. In considering how a city would survive in a post-disaster environment, the capacity to feed a city that has had its major food supplies disrupted needs to be considered.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:32:19 +0000

I might be happier about eating chickens if the lived in forests. Factory farming is wicked and unhealthy for the chickens and for those who eat the chickens. ‘Organic eggs’ which are what I buy, have a good name but I rather dread learning what the word ‘organic’ means in this context.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:39:17 +0000

ps. It seems chickens originated within a forest environment. [ http://www.bangkokpost.com/feature/environment/233552/redjungle-fowl-wild-ancestors-of-the-domestic-chicken ] Organic farming practices could include greater understanding of their original environments together with contemporary chicken raising or farming practices.

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:38:00 +0000

Tom, the chicken/vegetable relationship is not clear from this video. [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2010/jan/01/ask-lucy-chicken-green-living ]

I am supposing it might vary according to the living environment you design for the chickens? [ http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1140388.htm ]

Perhaps the Rentachook program in Australia is a good model for encouraging more people into urban chicken raising? (Although a more permanent rental program could also be useful!)[ http://www.rentachook.com.au/ ]

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:01:01 +0000

In England 75% productive is normal (ie excluding, shed, paths, flowers) but an interesting issue is livestock. In the history of gardening, it is normal to keep chickens in conjunction with vegetables. The allotment regulations say this can’t be done (but it often is).

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:51:45 +0000

The German allotment – known as “Kleingaerten” or “Schrebergaerten” – had official recommendations for area usage: I seem to recall that only 10% should be put over to non-crop plants. Over the decades the typical Kleingarten has however become very much a garden to relax in, rather than a productive area. The exception is in those organizations where the dominant culture is Turkish, and here the areas of vegetable production approach 100% of the plot.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:05:13 +0000

Horticultural techniques (ie hand cultivation with a digging stick) began about 12,000 years ago and until 400 years ago were mainly used to produce food. After a short interval, I expect food production to resume its place as the main reason for horticultural activity in private gardens.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:22:31 +0000

Day lilies? That is very interesting:

“Daylilies originally came from Asia, and probably China. Chinese cooking uses them all the time, even in such starring dishes as moo shu pork and hot and sour soup. You will often see dried flowers called “golden needles.” Euell Gibbons liked to batter-fry the buds, and lots of other old-timers “creamed” their daylily tubers, which sounds unappetizing. But beyond hippie forager types and the Chinese, I’ve found no other use of the daylily as food.”

It seems that there could be an amazing cultural exchange on the use of flowers in cooking as well as a local revival!

Flowers can also be used as a food garnish. [ http://www.passion-for-parties.com/garnish-with-flowers.html ]

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:28:11 +0000

I like nasturtiums and did not know that day lilies were edible.
Re Graham Stuart Thomas, his autobiographical recollections did not appeal to me:
http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/books_reviews/graham_stuart_thomas

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:34:18 +0000

When I had gardens in London and later in Hamburg I always had Hemerocallis flava growing. It seemed very brutal to curtail the flowers’ only day of life by eating them, but I found that they were juiciest in the morning. Even better the flowers and leaves of the common nasturtium, with their peppery zing. I recall from Graham Stuart Thomas’ seminal work on herbaceous plants that records of H. flava as an Asian foodplant go back to BC times.