2007 Honey Prices

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

I've now read all of Michael Pollan's books including Second Nature, A Place of My Own, and The Botany of Desire. I've just finished his latest book, Omnivores' Dilemma and if you are at all interested in what you eat daily, I would highly recommend this book. The book is basically divided into three sections. 1) Industrial-Corn which describes the corn based agricultural economy which ends in a fast food meal, 2) Pastoral-Grass which describes a pasture based agricultural system and 3) Personal-The Forest which is a foraging based system. The key is to recognize which system you are working within at any given time. This is a highly detailed, informative and thought provoking book. With every meal, you are operating within one of these systems. The industrial system is clearly the least healthy and the most environmentally damaging. The Personal system is based upon consuming what is available locally and currently in season. The pastoral system is in the middle and maintains the health of the land which producing items such as chicken, beef and pork. This winter as you catch up on your reading, I would highly recommend Omnivores Dilemma as very worthy of your time.

Why WV? - Jonathan Jessup Photos

I finally found an effective way to introduce folks to WV and to attempt to explain to them the beauty of WV. Photographer Jonathan Jessup provides all the required beautiful imagery. Below, I've cut and pasted text from his recent email which contain links to a slideshow he has done as well as a video in which he describes the process required to do his art. He describes the actions required to be "in nature" and capture some of the experience in his photographs. The YouTube video is just an incredible way to hear an artist such as Jonathan describe the creative process. Enjoy his slideshow, video, and professional website.

From Jonathan Jessup's Email:
Hello! I hope you are well this holidays! I've made a slideshow video that is linked at the top of my home page now. If you haven't already seen it, do check it out when you can. It may only work over a broadband Internet connection however.

Here is a direct link to the video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qlsFVuX6qTs

I've also made another video to perhaps enhance your experience and appreciation of nature, while in the wilderness and in nature. It is also linked to from my home page.

Here is a direct link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pLoBrVPyKcw

Michael Pollan NY Times Article - "Power Steer"

Many of the folks we know would not consume feedlot beef or confinement raised chicken or pork. This Michael Pollan article discusses a case study of a feed lot beef steer that he purchased and followed through the production system. Some alarming info about consumption of antibiotics, growth hormones and ecoli. His books and articles are very detailed and thorough and they can take some time to study. Grass fed beef, chicken, and pork have none of the issues that feedlot animals do. This is an excellent reference article that I wanted to share.