Brendan Calling

Archive for the 'food security' Category

Obama Admin: Cut Food Stamps to Pay for Race to the Top

Posted by Brendan on July 19th, 2010 filed in Democratic Idiocy, calling bullshit, economy, family, food security, hypocrisy, just gross, politics

The more you read, the more you learn that “hope and change” is a slogan, no different from “the quicker picker upper.”
The fact is, Obama wanted to cut food stamps to pay for Race to the Top, aka “No Child Left Behind” with a different name:
My point is that I have been working for school [...]

Desperately Needed Happy Post

Posted by Brendan on June 4th, 2010 filed in Philadelphia, agriculture, environment, food, food security, gardening, life, personal well-being

I’m going to give us a tiny little break from the Apocalypse in the Gulf, because by the time I post the next series of photos of oil-coated animals, I’m concerned that without something uplifting my readers are going to tear their eyeballs out.
It’s spring in Philadelphia, and my walk to work gets more pleasant [...]

Steaming Pile

Posted by Brendan on April 15th, 2010 filed in Philadelphia, food, food security, gardening, life

There is a steaming pile of filth in my backyard and I could not be happier.
That’s because the steaming pile isn’t a giant turd: it’s a heap of compost, and the steam indicates the lawn and leaf waste, along with vegetable scraps and coffee grounds I throw in every week, is beginning to cook down. [...]

Why Urban Gardening: An Answer for Atrios

Posted by Brendan on November 2nd, 2009 filed in Philadelphia, agriculture, dietary, food, food security, gardening

Atrios asks:
Please Get A Soil Lead Reading First
I guess we can make this contrarian Saturday. One thing I really don’t understand – help me! – is the regular stream of people promoting urban agriculture. I don’t understand the point. I’ve got nothing against community gardens and the like, I understand that even urban hellhole residents [...]

Stop HR 759

Posted by Brendan on May 7th, 2009 filed in big business as usual, calling bullshit, dietary, direct action, environment, food, food security, politics, youtube

Just say no to HR 759. call Congress and tell your rep to vote NO.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
he way I see it, plain old normal food has sustained humanity for millions of years, and I’m just not into injecting jellyfish genes or what-have-you into my tomatoes for a redder, shionier, [...]

Upcoming Shows…

Posted by Brendan on April 28th, 2009 filed in Philadelphia, economy, food security, old time

The Dill Pickles, who you love, will be at the Narberth Music Festival on May 17. Having spent quite a bit of time in Narberth recently, I can tell you it’s a really sweet little town, and represents a quick and easy escape from sweltering in the city. Also, the show is for a [...]

Busy Day, Light Blogging

Posted by Brendan on April 13th, 2009 filed in food, food security, meta

And perhaps no blogging. I kinda need to refresh my brain.
In other news, by day’s end my fourth raised bed will finally be done. Also, on Sunday, I dug and amended the back bed and planted a couple of arugulas. In the process, I nearly killed a sunflower seedling (last year’s flowers dropped a [...]

GMOs, Indian Suicides, and Bob Casey

Posted by Brendan on April 6th, 2009 filed in big business as usual, calling bullshit, dietary, food, food security, politics

I’ve been light on the blogging this weekend, spending most of my time in the garden, amending soil with compost, manure, and peat moss. We do everything the old-fashioned way: no chemical fertilizers, just plain old dirt and water.
Christina gets all her seeds from Seed Savers Exchange, which I highly recommend. We’re not [...]

For playmissyforme@…

Posted by Brendan on March 30th, 2009 filed in Philadelphia, direct action, food, food security

Compost is available at the Fairmount Park Recycling Center weekdays and Saturdays.
The hours kind of suck:
Monday-Friday 7:30AM-3PM
Saturday Hours:
April 4 – November 28
8AM-Noon
Ignore the language about rates; as the first sentence says “City residents are permitted to obtain compost, mulch, wood chips and manure for residential use at no cost. ” Also, this isn’t the “biosolids” [...]