Maine residents urged to stay vigilant for insect threats
Bangor Daily News - 7/1/2009. AUGUSTA, Maine – A Wilton woman had a nasty experience in her yard earlier this month when she opened a bag of manure compost just purchased from a big-box store. An ugly, black longhorned beetle flew out of the bag and she promptly killed the insect. Later hearing the warning from the Maine Forest Service about the dangers of the Asian longhorned beetle in firewood, the woman called the agency and reported the unusual incident, according to a press release from the Maine Department of Conservation. The compost, which contained wood product, had an Alabama address on the bag, she reported. [Photo: Emerald ash borer] |
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On scapes and goats
Bangor Daily News - 7/1/2009.By Emily Burnham – A trip to the farmers market in Orono last weekend netted us broccoli, lettuce, mint, goat cheese from Olde Oak Farm in Orono (made by a friendly goat named Sensational), a wonderful three-seed bread from Bread Box Bakery in East Orland, and garlic scapes from Double Bit Farm in Unity. |
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Here’s a true fish story
Portland Press Herald - 7/1/2009. By Meredith Goad – For most people, a brilliant fireworks display is the must-have accompaniment to the Fourth of July. For Brenda and Tanya Athanus, it's a family dinner of salmon and peas. ... Salmon and peas on Independence Day is an old Maine tradition that hearkens back to the days when wild salmon were plentiful in the state's rivers, and peas were a tasty summer holdover of the traditional English diet. Old-time Mainers didn't plan to celebrate the Fourth this way; wild-caught salmon and home-grown peas were simply the foods that were available at this time of year after a long, hard winter and cool spring. |
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No healthcare reform without food-system reform
Grist - 7/1/2009.By Tom Laskawy – The AP reports on a new state-level study of obesity rates. And the news is, well, terrifying: Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past year and didn’t decline anywhere, says a new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. ... [W]hile the nation has long been bracing for a surge in Medicare as the boomers start turning 65, the new report makes clear that fat, not just age, will fuel much of those bills. |
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