Come the Revolution

Archive for January, 2008

Last month I succumbed on more than a few occasions to a cumpulsion for buying used books. I know, it’s not as worthwhile as the library. I wish it were ossible for me to access all the books I want from the library, but DC’s library system is less than efficcient. These books I purchased were often for others, but one I bought with the purpose of reading and finding out from its contents whom it best fit.

This book is How to Live Well Without Owning a Car by Chris Balish. As someone who lives well and does not want a car, I was a bit of an easy sell on this book. His descriptions of gasoline-powered-mentality [my term, not his] were eerily similar to some of the things I still feel occasionally- those vehicles are enormously helpful in terms of getting around, especially outside of densely populated metropolitan areas. Even I lust after gasoline-powered vehicles, although those tend to be two-wheeled or plug-in hybrids.

Balish has a writing style that’s easy to read and has a lot of information I am glad someone [other than myself] put together. He references the US Bureau of Labor’s statistical analysis from 2003’s average amount spent on car ownership that year (when the average gallon of gas was $1.55) as $8′410. He even provides a worksheet so you can figure out the “true financial cost” of your own vehicle. The idea of owning a car with that kind of financial breakdown is nearly as terrifying as the amount of pollution from the manufacture and function of one. Almost.

The book has a lot of good suggestions for minimizing your reliance on automobiles through public transport and biking among other means. If you’re interested in becoming less codependent in your relationship with your automobile, or end the relationship entirely, I highly recommend this book.

The beginning and end seem to be available via GoogleBooks, in case you can’t wait till your weekly trip to the library.

Last month Amanda and I were supposed to see a few farms in New York State while we were visiting the Northeast for Christmas. Well, unfortunately for us the farm visits fell through. Fortunately for us, they fell through while we were already mid-trip, and made the best of things by spending some quality time with a couple of relatives of mine. By the time we arrived there was a plate of cookies and hot tea and coffee waiting for us. This was followed by a full meal (salad, bread, vegetarian lasagna) and pie a la mode. Clearly, these are Italian relatives.

Kathy and Vinnie (always referenced that way in the family, even though Vinnie is the one there’s blood ties to) Live an hour or two north of Albany and used to have an agritourism operation long before it was paired with foodies whose babies wear organic onesies. One of the multiple facets of that operation was a goat dairy- one of the first licensed in New York. As a kid I decided against the opportunity to spend a summer working for them and hardly go a day without kicking myself for it now.

You see, Kathy and Vinnie were born and raised on Staten Island. When people asked Vinnie what he wanted to be when he grew up, he replied “a farmer,” even though he had no idea how to become one. And for a long time, he didn’t- he “retired” early and went into farming while well into middle age. They originally got a goat for their daughter- having never dealt with one before- and pretty soon became a functional and certified-to-sell dairy. They didn’t start out knowing everything- they started out with a little seed money, some broken down buildings, and a drive. The drive, I’m convinced, is genetic.

Anyway, aside from complete Italian hospitality and some much-needed encouragement, we were given some amazing stories and offers of help. As it turns out, Vinnie DIY’ed his way through a septic system, ending the construction with a ceremonial flush. They both stumbled through a lot of aspects of getting things set up and started, and occasionally along the way. It wasn’t ideal all the time, but they worked through it and are still clearly in love after years and years of it. And they clearly hope the same for us. To help a little with our stumbling, they offered to spend some time with us when we’re first setting up- giving step-by-step, hands-on instruction for things as varied as building a child-and-goat-safe (ok, at least child-safe) gate, to bookkeeping, to making goat’s milk Mozzarella (pronounced, by all but Amanda, without the final vowel).

I wish there were a proper way to thank the mentors who choose you over the years, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t. Giving some good food is as close as I figure is possible, particularly if you’re talking about Italians.

We have been sorely remiss. Up until this point our blogroll has contained a gaping void that no other blog could fill, but it’s all fixed now: we’ve added Veggie Love, a food blog written by Cian’s sister, who also happens to be one of my dearest friends and one of the most ambitious, creative cooks I’ve met. I wouldn’t cook as much as I do now if it wasn’t for her. Give it a read!

-Amanda, who is using Cian’s computer.

PS: Happy weekend!

The Post can be quite inspiring.

Paper or Plastic? Many of you know the hilarious contorted faces you sometimes get in response to “Neither- I brought my own.” I find this particularly funny because I tend to be carrying a lime green backpack. It’s pretty clear to everyone that I have a bag. They can see the straps more clearly than I consciously feel them- and yet somehow using it seems to turn me into an alien of some blue-green variety.

Now, I know I won’t always have the ability to carry a nearly-empty backpack around with me for errands. Someday I will have a the kind of job where one wears slacks and button downs, and be forced to return to the shoulder-bag-plus-backpack lifestyle of my internship and collegiate work days. At that point I believe I will begin to stow canvas totes that fit in paniers under my laptop- extra cushion plus utility. Sounds ideal, except for one thing. I have, or will be told that I have following this post, internalized the societal standards for masculinity to a degree that makes me uncomfortable carrying most tote bags. It’s true! I’ve said it! I wouldn’t be caught dead sporting a Cherry Blossom Festival tote for the pink flower on it.

So, I did some scrounging around on the internet for bags I’d be willing to carry.
the CSA bag
the Hemp
Heavy Duty Reusables
Plain Bags
Panniers
Timbuk2 (I’m not cool enough to sport a timbuk2)

Growing up, my family used plastic cups (many of which I believe came from a Disney/Burger King promotion and featured scenes from classic Disney films). Now I think they taste like dishwasher. Plastic cups, depending on the type of plastic they’re made of, may contain that hormone-disruptin’ menace, bisphenol A. With regular use (assuming you don’t regularly pour boiling water into your plastic cups), this won’t make much difference for most adults, but it’s best to choose BPA-free products for the young’ns.

But what about when you’re on the go? Although most of us don’t strictly need constant access to water, an increasingly health-conscious population has taken to carrying reusable bottles of the stuff. That habit’s a hell of a lot better than buying throwaway bottles each day, which is costly for your wallet and the environment (especially given that the water is usually filtered tap water, and the bottles may leach toxic plastic chemicals). What, then, are our water bottle options?

Glass: Cian sometimes uses glass mason jars (pints for tea, quarts for water) or swingtop beer bottles, which are handy, reusable, and don’t give water any unusual flavor. But glass is heavy and bulky and can be dangerous — especially, I’m told, when run over by a tractor. If you choose to use glass, wrapping it in a kerchief (or an old glove, or a sock, you get the idea) will minimize condensation-induced slipping for cold beverages and help keep hot beverages hot (without burning your hands).

Polycarbonate plastic: Ah, Nalgene. We love to abuse these brightly colored, indestructible bottles. If yours is anything like the one I got rid of recently, it’s been frozen, filled with near-boiling water, run through the dishwasher and cleaned inside and out with a stiff-bristled brush. All of which, it turns out, are big no-nos. See, bisphenol A is a building block of polycarbonate, and has been shown to leach from the plastic. If you decide to use a Nalgene bottle, treat it well to minimize leaching: don’t sterilize it with boiling water, don’t clean it with anything scratchy, don’t freeze it and don’t leave it sitting in the sun (in your car, for example). If you can avoid it, don’t drink water that’s been in the bottle for more than a day. (FYI, Nalgene also sells bottles made with LDPE, a cloudy-white plastic that won’t leach BPA but may leach styrene, another possible hormone mimic. It’s a judgment call.)

Aluminum Sigg aluminum bottles are popular, and with good reason. They’re lightweight, well-designed, and come in lots of useful designs and fun patterns. Like aluminum food cans, though, aluminum water bottles must be lined in order to prevent rusting and what have you, and they’re usually lined with an epoxy resin containing — wait for it — BPA. Sigg says their bottles contain a stable, taste-inert lining that has not been show to leach BPA, but they will neither confirm nor deny (last I saw) that it’s part of the chemical makeup of the lining. If you go with Sigg, treat the bottle gently to minimize chances for leaching. Beware of cheap aluminum water bottles, as these are almost certainly lined with BPA and will probably do a fair bit of leaching.

Stainless Steel This one’s my pick. Stainless steel is practical, fairly lightweight, and doesn’t slip nasty chemicals into your system. Klean Kanteen bottles are recyclable, and the company emphasizes the health of the environment and its customers. Drawbacks: Stainless steel doesn’t insulate very well, and water left in the bottle in a sunny spot may end up tasting a little metallic. Also, Klean Kanteen manufactures in China — you can read the company’s explanation on their FAQ.

When did drinking water get so freakin’ complicated? I grew up with a well-water system, complete with decorative faux-pump where the real pump used to be. Because we lived right next to a truck stop (oh yes, it was as serenely pastoral as it sounds), the water was checked for contamination fairly often. When I wanted a drink, I just turned on the faucet, waited for it to get cold, and stuck a cup underneath it.

Now, there’s a lot more to having a nice refreshing glass of water. We’ve got to think about what’s in our water and how to get it out, not to mention what we’re drinking it out of. I’ve done some research on those issues. Here’s what I found.

Filtration
If you live in an area more populated than my tiny Western Mass hometown, you’re probably on municipal water. Most municipalities treat their water with chlorine or similar chemicals called chloramines. They kill off the potentially deadly bacteria in the water (good), but leave behind toxic byproducts (bad). Chlorinated water contains THMs, which are associated with birth defects and low birth weight in newborns. Some municipalities, including DC, turned to chloramines in order to avoid chlorine byproducts, but chloraminated water is toxic to fish (when used in their tanks) and to kidney dialysis patients, who can’t drink it. All of this could be solved if we’d take care of agricultural runoff and other sources of water pollution, but that’s another post.

Luckily, standard pitcher or faucet-mounted activated carbon filtration take care of the majority of those problematic byproducts as long as you follow the instructions (which means making sure the filter stays wet, or running it under the tap for 30 seconds to re-wet it).

Fluoride isn’t as easy to get rid of. It’s added to water to help teeth stay strong and prevent cavities, which is a nice idea, but many studies have demonstrated that fluoride consumed has little or no effect on dental health. In order to be effective, it has to be applied directly to the teeth (hence, fluoride toothpaste and rinses). On top of that, fluoride consumption has been linked to a rare bone cancer in boys, and it causes white splotches (and sometimes weakness) on developing teeth. Fluoride can be removed with a reverse osmosis filtration system, but those a pretty expensive. As a general rule, adults shouldn’t worry, but babies shouldn’t be given fluoridated water in their formula.

In the past week I have spent time in a city, the suburbs, and a couple of rural areas. I also spent about 12 hours on highways, but as I drive so infrequently and this driving was related to family and farm research, I’ve decided to not feel guilty about it. If you know anything about Catholic guilt, you know. The number of SUV’s I saw on the road was impressive. I even saw more hummers than can be counted on one’s fingers (likely also toes, I gave up after I ran out of fingers). For all those out there driving monstrous vehicles, especially those who felt the need to drive at 80mph nearly in the trunk of my borrowed civic hybrid, I give you two videos.

VeggieTales is essentially Christian bible stories via 3dimensional animated vegetables. Fortunately for me, there are Silly Songs with Larry sprinkled through the videos. Otherwise I’d never have gotten through the babysitting gigs for family friends. Here is one of the non-religious Silly Songs.

On the other end of the entertainment spectrum, the Asylum Street Spankers are not for children. They’re an Austin, TX (yes, there are liberals in Texas) based political and social commentary group. They’re also hilarious and brilliant.