It is SO hot, article, misc

Wow, peeps. I like to be hot, but this 100+ weather is excessive, even my my standards. Dios! Have been in the kitchen all day in preparation for a bridal shower tomorrow. The menu is absolutely beautiful: Chardonnay-poached salmon; arugula salad with roasted peaches, mozzarella and pistachios; MB's potato salad; an array of breads; grapefruit tart; milk chocolate-caramel-hazelnut tart; watermelon-mint lassi. Aah! The salmon is poached and both desserts are made, the peaches are bundled together just ripening away, the watermelon is chopped and awaiting a trip through the blender tomorrow. Unfortunately it's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow, but it makes me all the more glad that this is such a light and lovely amalgam of dishes! ``````

I'm not sure if any of you follow Mark Bittman on twitter, but I do and found this article he tweeted recently to be interesting and sad. What a state we're in regarding food production, eating, obesity and health in this country. We are NOT healthy, we are NOT eating well, and it shows. Literally. Why change to our food policies -the Ag Bill and such- are so dreadfully slow/non-existent is beyond me. It is so short-sighted and irresponsible.

Along these lines, if you'd like to further encourage the FDA to ban unnecessary use of antibiotics in food-producing animals -a serious problem- you can sign this petition that's being circulated by the Center for Food Safety.

And, I've just signed on to a national movement in support of fair and humane treatment, pay and rights for the workers, many of whom are migrants, who enable Florida's enormous tomato industry: "From November to May, 90% of tomatoes sourced domestically and consumed in the United States are picked by farmworkers in and around Immokalee, Florida." The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a community-based organization of migrant workers, has partnered with the Fair Food Standards Council to implement the Fair Food Program. Tuesday, July 24 will be Slave-Free Tomato Day: before, on and after that Tuesday, consider purchasing your tomatoes from farmers markets and/or supermarkets and restaurants who've signed on to the Fair Food Program (such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods). On the 24th, I and a number of other food bloggers will be dedicating a post to a recipe utilizing slave-free tomatoes and offering ways for you to take action and encourage responsible purchasing. Visit The Giving Table for more information or to sign on.

Fantastic reading, watermelon mania

Did y'all see either or both of these articles? The first, by Michael Wolff, is from the current issue of New York Magazine and is about aging and dying in the modern age of the American medical complex. What rights or lack of do we have, both the sick and infirm and the families of those individuals? How do medical interventions prolong life and nudge death away yet leave many suspended in a netherworld which surely can't be considered living.

The second, by Samantha Shapiro, is in today's NYTimes Magazine and, like Wolff's article, focuses on American medicine though through the lens of childbirth. She asks similar  questions regarding agency and decision-making: why are women in the U.S. urged towards medicalized births that often make them feel as a simple vehicle of biology rather than an empowered being able to grow and give birth to new life?

Both are excellent reads on the control/loss of control, safety and security and the very lack thereof that Americans in our medical system, albeit at opposite ends of the life cycle, face. ````````````` We've had watermelon mania over here this morning. My mom loves pickled watermelon rind so I made about 10 cups for her and they're pickling now. I'll can them tonight. With the excess of remaining flesh, I made watermelon-lime-mint lassis (yogurt-fruit drink). Delish, and I will post this incredibly simple recipe for you.