Monday, May 13, 2013

Radio Daze

It seems like there has been lots on the radio these past few weeks about food - and much of it worth listening to.

Michael Pollan has a new book on cooking, and appears to be on tour with it.  His interview on Science Friday was pretty interesting.   I did have some concerns, though, about who might be listening to or reading about his experiments with fermentation, and what they might come up with.   If you know me, you know I could never be one of the sanitation police, but people who do experiments with bacteria without understanding the science could be in for some trouble.  
http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/05/03/2013/michael-pollan-you-are-what-you-cook.html

And, Mark Bittman has a new book, too, and is making the rounds. This sounds like the third in a series on the same theme. Bittman's Food Matters laid out the program of part-time veganism, then the cookbook of more revised recipes followed, and now the program in detail, perhaps, with an elaborated description of being vegan before 6 p.m.   I'm a Mark Bittman fan, but I began to lose interest when someone keeps rewriting the same material.  I also have a question about vegan breakfasts and meaty dinners.  Perhaps this is the easiest rule to follow for those who have a social life.  But if I could eat fish and cheese and eggs and butter at only one meal, I'd want to be Swedish and have them for breakfast.
Bittman was interviewed on the San Francisco radio call-in show, Forum.  
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201305090900
I'm not going to buy the book - just for the tofu jerky recipe?  no -  but I still enjoy Bittman's reasonableness.

On the local scene, Andrea Davis of Quarter Acre Farm has a new radio show, Sustainable Growing, on SunFM Radio in Sonoma. Andrea is a hard-working, creative and articulate small scale organic farmer.   If you don't live in Sonoma, or aren't free to listen on Fridays at 2 p.m., you can listen via podcasts posted on the web site.
http://quarteracrefarmsonoma.com/sustainable-growing-radio-show/past-shows/