Lynn Rambles On

Today I picked up my library copy of the cookbook . I took it with me to the dentist office to read while I waited for my son to get his wisdom teeth extracted. As I sat down the receptionist observed my book and commented on how much she enjoyed it. I’ve been referred to the book several times this year and that’s why I was planning to read it.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to read my books from cover to cover; including the copyright notices. Can you imagine my surprise to see the book was originally published more than 10 years earlier? How come I’m just now hearing about it? (Okay, so I often have that reaction to new information.)

At my store, Neighbors Market, I sell raw milk. Learning about raw milk has been the root of many very interesting conversions and much new information for me. Often the customers buying the raw milk have been the ones to make reference to “Nourishing Traditions”. I read several pages of the opening chapter this afternoon. Most likely, I’m going to buy a copy. More importantly though, I’m going to change my foods.

Tonight, for example, I drank raw milk. Raw milk that’s starting to sour. I added (organic) chocolate sauce to it and had it for dessert. I wouldn’t be able to do that with pasturized milk – drink it past it’s “best by” date, that is. I feel like I’m thumbing my nose at the powers-that-be and it’s a good feeling.

Agile Development.
The idea of working on an Agile Development Methodology team is exciting to me because of it’s familiarity and logic. I like process but I don’t think it is a replacement for thinking. My early experience in software development was on projects that were modeled on the Capability Maturity Model. This was in the early 1990s.

While the team was intentionally working on the Capability Maturity Model processes, we all performed in a manner similar to the principles of the Agile Methods. I haven’t worked on an Agile team yet, since I haven’t worked in software for 10 years, but I know I’m going to love it.

The team I worked with on CMM was very close knit. Because our team was releatively small, even though we had specialists for documentation, testing, quality assurance, database, graphics, systems and so forth, we often moved out of our areas of specialization to do what needed to be done.

Our team also worked on site with the customer and many of us had background experience in the customer activity. This helped us stay close to the customer needs and facilitated successful software. The project didn’t move as fast as what I understand the Agile Development approach delivers, but the projects were phased in and worked from a core product and built outward from there.

The best part of both development approaches are the highlighting of communications. My experience with CMM is the striving for perfection in development practices to create more reliable software. My recollection of the CMM process is the communication between team members and rational review of code. The Agile Method seems to highlight communications with the customer. This is progress.

Micheal Pollan: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04pollan.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5124&en=3376d92653ddaa09&ex=1352005200&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
And the government would not need to pay feedlots to clean up the water or upgrade their manure pits if subsidized grain didn’t make rearing animals on feedlots more economical than keeping them on farms. Why does the farm bill pay feedlots to install waste treatment systems rather than simply pay ranchers to keep their animals on grass, where the soil would be only too happy to treat their waste at no cost?

During the fall of 2011, a huge recall of cantelope from Jensen Farms was made.  More than 20 people died from the listeria contamination.  It was widely publicized, but not the only listeria related recall during 2011.  It is obvious how the cantelope listeria spread to so many areas, but I wondered why.  Where does it come from and how does it enter the food system?

With a little research (thank you, internet!), I learned more about listeria than I ever knew I needed.  This post isn’t aboout listeria and how it lives but I did uncover a couple of interesting facts.

Listeria is known to have six different types and two of the strains are responsible for illness.  Listeria can be long lived on the equipment in processing plants.  The same strains can behave differently in different animals (for instance, cows or goats or sheep).  The bacteria can live in soil and be spread to animals through the food they eat, if that food is contaminated. Heat kills listeria and cold doesn’t.

The public and government officials want to be afraid of food and identify ways to chemically or radioactively treat the foods.  Some want to put in place (expensive) tracking tools and processes so that when  problem is found, finding the source and destination of contaminated food can be identified.

I think both solutions to the problems are band-aids for a bigger, more urgent issue.  The problem is the way we’re growing our food and the distance between where the food is grown and where it is consumed.  Food, especially “fresh” foods,  shouldn’t be traveling 1500 miles from farm to table.  It just shouldn’t.  You’re probably thinking “Why not”?

And I’m thinking I have to get to bed.  Let’s talk more about food and distance tomorrow.