Republished with permission from the Ester Republic.

I suffer from what one might call a bit of a collection addiction. Not of trinkets, per se, but for items in which I recognize some value beyond their utility, and thus feel the compulsion, nay the responsibility, to honor, preserve, and indeed showcase that value, lest it be lost to the world forever. My collection of fine art, for instance, consists of a relatively small, but action-packed closetful of comic books, each a prime representative of what I believe to be an as-yet-unacknowledged post-modern renaissance of self-reflexive American art.

More fledgling in size (but gaining) is a collection of cookbooks that my wife and I have been putting together. (more…)

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It is a criticism that just won’t seem to go away. Doggedly persistent acolytes of “conventional” agriculture continue (and with good standing) to remind us that there is little to no scientific research to support many of the touted benefits of vegetables produced with organic, or so-called “natural systems” methods. You’ve heard the claims—fresher is more nutritious, heirloom varieties are more nutritious, unpasteurized milk is more nutritious. That these claims are largely unsubstantiated is unfortunate, yet undeniable, and the result is just more uncertainty about what we should eat. (more…)

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Who knew? What was once arguably the most benign, and successful public health measure of the 20th century has now come under scrutiny and skepticism. Throughout our state and indeed the nation, people are raising concerns about potential health risks associated with water fluoridation. While there have always been those who turn a cautious or conspiratorial eye towards socialized anything, the 21st century has without a doubt been marked by an increased skepticism in this regard. Perhaps this is a result of the greater access and availability of (dis)information that the internet makes possible, perhaps of the growing (uncomfortable) realization that neither government nor doctors nor scientists are perfect. But I’ve got to say that this one really surprised me. (more…)

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Read part 1 first here

Once upon a time there was a modest, unsuspecting Canadian corn farmer who had the great misfortune of happenstance having conspired with a strong gust of wind. Unbeknownst to the farmer, corn seed containing patented genetic material blew from a passing truck into his fields. Now, the gentle farmer had been saving his own seed for many seasons, perfecting his own special, local variety of maize, continuing one of the oldest North American traditions. However, clever agents of the company who owned these patented seeds serendipitously materialized one morning in their dark suits and dark glasses on the gentleman farmer’s land, to test his crop for evidence he had stolen their trade secret. Just as they suspected, their precious genetically-modified germplasm had indeed infiltrated the farmer’s bounty – or booty – as the man was clearly not an honest farmer but a thieving pirate! He was surreptitiously growing the company’s secret species without ever having paid for their seed. “No no,” pleaded the farmer, “it is their seed that has contaminated mine!” But the wisest and most powerful courts of the land saw through his humble guile, and the farmer was found guilty and ordered to pay reparations for his heinous crime. (more…)

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