Once, a few years ago, I saw these incredible flowers—kind of like giant mauve disco-ball chandeliers. When I inquired, I was told they were an incredibly invasive species of weed known as milkweed. I decided right then and there that I had to have some.
Love & Family
Reform the Farm Bill
by guest blogger, Susan Prolman. This week, the full Senate is working through the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill spends $1 trillion over 10 years and sets food and agriculture policy for our nation. The bill’s title is the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, but how much reform does it really contain?
In Memory of Jerry Goldstein,
Eco-Pioneer
When I was a little girl, one of my father’s favorite and most essential coworkers was a guy named Jerry Goldstein. I remember playing over at his house with his daughter named Alison (who was my age). I remember feeling that their family was weird like we were. Maybe even weirder. And that felt normal.
The Other Health Care Bill
by guest blogger Diana Zuckerman. Although Congress has accomplished almost nothing in the past year, the legislature is poised to pass a bipartisan bill that will affect all our health. It sailed through the Senate last week (96 to 1!) and a different version is likely to sail through the House soon. If you never heard of this bill, you should find out more.
To Know or Not to Know
I have been fascinated lately thinking about knowing versus not knowing, and the fear of knowing versus the fear of not knowing. What makes some people so curious and unafraid of asking questions, and others so fearful and reluctant to even ask, for fear of knowing the answer? Warning right up front: I don’t have the answer to that question.
Summer Wish List:
10 Things I Want to Do
I love summer sooooo much—heat and humidity and all—that I’m afraid it will be gone too soon and I won’t have enjoyed it enough. I’m trying something new this year in that I’m not planning any major summer vacations away from home. So the burden is going to be on me to have self-made fun. Here’s my wish list:
The Favored Daughter and
Why Women Will Save Afghanistan
I don’t usually like to read books like The Favored Daughter: One Woman’s Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future, by Fawzia Koofi. However, I heard the author give an interview on NPR that had me riveted.
9 Rules That Are Meant to Be Broken
by Maria and Maya Rodale. Blind obedience leads to stagnation; daring to ask questions and searching for answers makes life far more interesting. “What if” questions can keep us up all night, but any innovation started because someone wondered if it could be done, and tried to do it. Here are nine rules that you should never obey.
Scratch
Raised on America’s first organic farm, Scratch author Maria Rodale learned how to make everyday favorites from, yes, scratch — the way you remember them; the way they turn out best.
Order NowOrganic Manifesto
Drawing on findings from leading health researchers as well as conversations with both chemical and organic farmers from coast to coast, Maria Rodale irrefutably outlines the unacceptably high cost of chemical farming on our health and our environment.
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