Green Options

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What was a “look, cool: wild yeast-fermented beer!” afterthought to my post on sustainable brewing has met an indignant commenter crowd who found my two-sentence description rightfully vague and careless. And so, as penance suggested by commenter koelschip, here is a complete guide to making lambic beer. Whether you are an old Belgian couple who ferments outside or a homebrewing web user with closed wild yeast inoculations in your basement, I think we can all agree that sour beer is delicious. And the greenness isn’t so bad either: reclaimed oak barrels, energy-free inoculation and all natural ingredients (provided you don’t start with the sham fruit syrups and packaged yeast…) contribute to its carbon-reduced diet.

Step #1: Move to Belgium

For purists, this is a must. Only in the Senne valley of Belgium can the brewer encounter the true wild yeasts of lambic beers which contain the essential bacterias, Bretanomyces bruxellensis and B. lambicus. In fact, to move to Belgium is the only way to enjoy an authentic lambic experience without compromising the eco-friendliness of the endeavor with trans-Atlantic shipping.

Step #2: Mash Up

A lambic wort is traditionally comprised of 60-70% barley malt and 30-40% unmalted wheat.

Editor’s Note: This post was provided by one of our paid sponsors, Earth Cinema Circle, the only DVD club dedicated to increasing social & environmental awareness through entertaining films. Written by Ariellie Ford.

Behind America’s 99-cent hamburgers and 72-ounce sodas is a key ingredient that silently fuels our fast-food nation — Corn. In KING CORN, we meet two college buddies, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who move from the east coast to the heartland to really learn where their food comes from.  They relocate to northern Iowa, home of their great-grandfathers, with a mission.  They will plant an acre of corn, follow their harvest into the world, and attempt to understand what all of us are really made of — Corn. This entertaining and informative film is now available from Earth Cinema Circle.  The following is from an interview with Curt Ellis, co-producer of the film.

Nothing could be as much a mirror of poor people’s food plight today as Thai farmers reportedly conducting armed vigils in their rice fields at night to prevent thieves from reaping the crop.

As a measure against nocturnal rice thefts, Thai authorities introduced a six o’clock p.m. curfew on combine harvesters, vehicles used to harvest the crop.

In Thailand, as in many parts of Asia, the price of rice has gone up dramatically in recent months tempting greedy and corrupt dealers to use any means available to get a hold of the pricey grain for either sell or hoarding. In fact, the hoarding of rice has been blamed for the price spirals forcing governments to impose buying rations.

According to the Asia Development Bank (ADB), approximately 1 billion Asians need assistance to cope with soaring food prices and shortages.

The purchasing power of many of Asia’s poor has been seriously eroded reversing previous gains made in fighting poverty.

The International Herald Tribune describes rice, a staple food for half of the global population, as one of the “world’s most politically fragile crop.”

How exactly does one make a vegetable farm less carnivorous than it already is? The practice of veganic - or “stock-free” - farming is beginning to take hold among some small-scale farmers in the United States and Canada. It has been a common method in Europe for years.

Veganic farmers practice organic farming by eschewing synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, but take it a step further by eliminating animal-derived farming products as well. Most organic farmers use bone meal, blood meal and animal waste fertilizer to make their plants productive, but veganic farmers and their customers see a number of problems with using animal biproducts around the plants.

Oh say can can you see beyond the jammed big box checkout aisles as Americans rev up for the Fourth of picnic parade this weekend? Let us all remember that the most patriotic food on the party menu won’t be processed, shipped 1,700 miles or stuffed in multiple 100-calorie packs. But that doesn’t mean deprivation. On my menu this weekend you’ll find what I consider the three most patriotic foods: Local beer, fresh greens and a brat from beef cattle raised on grass in a pasture.

Guess I’ve always been an unconventional American patriot. No red, white and blue holiday t-shirts for yours truly. I haven’t seen a parade in years. But I do put a lot of thought into the picnic menu. The Fourth of July reminds me to remember and rekindle Thomas Jefferson’s vision of our democracy as citizens’ everyday participation in the political system – in my case, through conscious food choices.

Make a democratic statement with your food choices this weekend. Here are the criteria that resulted in my patriotic choices:

In keeping with Honey Week here at Eat.Drink.Better, I started looking at the various ways individuals can help combat Colony Collapse Syndrome. One major impediment to the endeavor is that scientists aren’t really sure what’s causing the disappearance of honeybees. Theories range from viruses to environmental and agricultural causes. What we do know is that bees are disappearing at an alarming rate and that this will affect us in profound and irrevocable ways. One-third of the food we consume comes from pollinators. Bees are responsible for pollinating almonds, apples, soft fruit, and berries among other crops. Without them, we will lose more than honey (a tragedy in its own right!), we will lose a large portion of the biodiversity we now enjoy on our plates.

However, there are things we can do at home to help promote honeybees and their way of life.

Landi Simone the ‘Bee Lady’ of Gooserock Farm in Montville, New Jersey goes all out every year to help raise awareness about honey bees and their importance to our agriculture and eco-systems.

Landi, pictured here in her ‘bee bikini’, got together with fellow, bee buddy, Joe Treimel to show off their live bee apparel and accessories. Joe sported a bee beard. This all took place last weekend at the Essex County Environmental Center.

Read more about Landi and what is happening to honey bees in one of my earlier posts. Here’s a crazy story I saw yesterday morning on CNN.com about 12 MILLION honey bees that swarmed a Canadian highway after a truck carrying them flipped over!

My favorite honey & herb sauce . . .

I’ve not posted much yet on the Iowa floods. I think, perhaps, I was holding my breath, waiting to exhale. The exhale is likely to come out more like a long sigh.

While the floods have peaked, Iowans are now dealing with the aftermath. Many of the 36,000-plus who were evacuated have still not returned home. I imagine, when they get there, the real work will begin.

It’s devastating for the state. And, in the wider picture, devastating for all of us. Even if your home was high, dry, and several states away, you, too, will feel the impacts.

Details after the jump.

I find it hard to identify my favorite Ayurvedic remedy but if I must pinpoint a wonder-drug then honey is probably the first that comes to mind. The health benefits of honey are plenty, it has been used as a medicine for centuries.

© Kuleczka | Dreamstime.com

We’ve got some sweet posts for the week ahead. This week is Honey Week at Eat. Drink. Better. in tribute to bees and all they do for us, including that delicious honey. To kick it off, I want to share a cool bee fact and a recipe.

Did you know?

1. California’s almond orchards are the location of the largest pollination event annually. Nearly one million hives (about 50 percent) of the US honey bees are brought to the almond orchards each spring.
2. The apple crop in just New York requires about 30,000 hives.
3. 50,000 hives each year are needed for Maine’s blueberry crop.
4. According to the USDA, one-third of our diets rely on insect-pollinated plants. 80 percent of this pollination is done by bees.

Recipe for Honey Curried Cauliflower follows the jump.

Brazil’s new environment minister, Carlos Minc is committed to serious punative action when it comes to the estimated 60,000 cows that are raised on illegally deforested land in the region of Amazonia.

In fact, cattle pasture now covers 7.8% of the Amazon region, with an ever growing presence as worldwide demand for beef skyrockets. Illegal cattle grazing helped Brazil become the world’s largest beef exporter in 2004, but after several years of declining deforestation rates in the Amazon, degradation of the rain forest is again on the rise. The pressure to produce more and more has led many ranchers to ignore regulation.

It is rare to find a politician who is willing to stand up to an industry that is responsible for a significant portion of the GDP, but Minister Minc made good on his promises to crack down on illegal ranching last week when his office confiscated 3,100 cows from one rancher who used a nature reserve in the state of Para as pasture land, cutting away forest that got in the way of his cattle. Not only is Minc committed to punishing those who clearcut the Amazon, he sees a use for the contraband livestock.