I don't care where my food comes from -- and neither should you.

UPI ^ | September 26, 2002 | Ronald Bailey

[nopardons]

Not only her staff. She's been passing off other people's recipes ( which she tends to butcher ), since she began cooking for her family and friends. You're right about this. :-)

[dennisw]

All Martha Stewart had was an herb farm and ambition in 1983. That's when a woman friend worked for her.

[nunya bidness]

It will be a great day in America when the last "independent" farmer is on welfare.

To a certain extent they already are.

However, there will be much rueage when the last family farm is replaced by the likes of federally funded corps like ADM.

You know the outfit that just loves to shove frankenfoods down your throat when not giving plane rides to little boys to Cuba.

Me? I'll be okay. I've grown resistant to the Giros the Greeks keep trying to poison me with.

[nopardons]

It started earlier than that ! When she was first married, she and a friend ( whom she later stabbed in the back TWICE )started to cook, from cover to cover, Julia Child's first cookbook, to impress their friends. Martha made a hash out of that and later was told to desist ( almost sued ) by Julia, for attempting to pass off one of JC's recipes as her own and in a botched manner.

I've read both books about Martha and since I live in Conn. , I've gotten to hear some local, first hand experiences of people who know her. BTW, she didn't even own an " herb farm " ; she owned a broken down house, a plot of land, and a kitchen garden, that she made her husband do all the dirtywork on. Later, she had her " friends " and family do most of the work.

When she " started " her first catering business, it was her " friend's " idea, her " friends " business, and Martha decided to join in; however, she managed to muscle / lie her way into being sole owner of that.

So much gossip and facts to spew about Martha ; so little time to type it all. Buy & read the books. LOL

[MarkL]

As far as meat is concerned, it is entirely possible to purchase food from local folks that are looking for a market for well raised beef, pork, lamb and chicken. We have a source for beef raised entirely on grass, fattened on organic corn. The taste is vastly superior to anything you get at the superstore.

I believe that another thing that effects the taste of beef is how the cow is slaughtered.

I was at a shooting match out in Garden City, KS, and the host was a rancher. On the last day of the match he walked up to a cow that was calmly grazing in the field, and shot it in the head. It fell over like a rock, then he cleaned it, and prepared it as a slow cooked BBQ. It was, without a doubt, the best beef I've ever tasted. He explained to me that the stress of the transportation to the slaughterhouse, and the environment of the slaugterhouse paniced the cattle, and it changed the way the meat tastes. I have no reason to disagree.

Mark

[dennisw]

Thanks much for the inside stuff. I know darn well you are geographically close to the neo-hipster colony of Westport Conn. where Martha set up shop.

She (Martha Stewart) still had enough juice and buzz way back in 1983 to "attract" my friend to work (slave?) there. Martha has insatiable drive. Maybe it's made her mad but she has it.

[eggman]

The best corn is the kind you pick and shuck as the water starts to boil. Can't get that at the farmer's market. I know, because my family has been growing corn here in Ohio for over 100 years and my uncle still grows the corn that he sells at his market stand. Day old corn just don't taste the same and it doesn't matter whether it's grown in NY, CT, Wisconsin or Ohio.

[nopardons]

Yes, I'm quite near Westport. Even before I moved to Conn., I went to boarding school with some girls from Westport, so I have some old friends here, whose families predate the " MARTHA MOVE " and who are a source of interesting / bizzare stories.

Martha has " drive " ( if that's what you want to call it ) and it's all for the sake and enhancement of Martha ! She uses and abuses and yes, enslaves people. Your poor friend ! I hope that she didn't stay long, as worse than an indentured servant, top Mad Martha. I bet she has stories to tell. :-)

[dennisw]

Give me the day old or two day old corn. Give me the hog (field) corn. Overly sweet corn is just hybrid illusion . David Copperfield magic. Feed it to the crows.

[nopardons]

How is it " day old ", since I can pick and buy it, down the street ?

FYI ... my brother used to grow corn in the backyard, on Long Island, at our summer house, when we were kids. I know what fresh corn tatses like, as well as store bought. Get off your high horse, dear; not everyone, not even " city slickers " , have to buy " old " corn. LOL

[dennisw]

Thanks NP. Thanks for the info and I won't make an a$$ out of me-self by trying to top it! Thanks!

[nopardons]

There is " sweet corn " and then there is " SWEET CORN ". FYI ... " sweet corn " has been grown for centuries ; it's the name of a certain kind of seed and NOT a hybrid .

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.

[dennisw]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.

But if course. Legitimate sweet corn is great and OK (to everything there is a season).

It's the hybrid sweet corns that screwed it all up with sweetness that lasted 5 days after picking. That stuff tastes like crap/

[AnalogReigns]

This comes from the Reason Foundation? The author sounds like a flat earther.

Clearly you don't know much about the Reason Foundation, nor flat earthers for that matter!

The author's point is that the market economy WORKS! That we in America today have the BEST food, with the BEST selection, at the BEST prices (adjusted for inflation, of course) and with the BEST safety and health, in history. Everything this guy says is backed up by facts....the idea that organically grown is more nutritious, better for you, etc, is pure hype: IT SIMPLY DOES NOT HAVE THE SCIENCE TO BACK IT UP. Of course our market economy allows consumers to choose--and many consumers choose organic, hence its availability...and that's just fine. Lets not go about being sentimental about good ol' "life on the farm" however... (having lived on a farm, I know).

Mr. Bailey's main point is though that in historically incredibly prosperous societies as in Western republics, 98% of us DON'T have to scratch out a living on a farm, like the vast majority have throughout history, or folks in places like Haiti or Bangladesh still do... This is the wonder of our system--that people CAN be ignorant of farm life, and get along great, just because our capitalist economy works so incredibly well.

Read anything by the late economist Julian Simon to see the irrefutable proof.

[AnalogReigns]

All edible corn is hybrid.

The stuff you hang on your door at Thanksgiving is "natural." Yummmm!

[eggman]

Give me the day old or two day old corn. Give me the hog (field) corn. Overly sweet corn is just hybrid illusion . David Copperfield magic. Feed it to the crows.

All sweet corn has been hybridized at some point to make it sugar enhanced. Some are just more sweet than others. But the sugars in the corn begin to convert to starches soon after the corn it picked. It doesn't matter what type of sweet corn it is.

[eggman]

How is it " day old ", since I can pick and buy it, down the street ?

I didn't say you couldn't get corn that was picked the same day in the city. You can get it anywhere, and it doesn't matter where it was grown, but it does matter when it was picked. Most stores don't sell corn that was picked that same day.

[nopardons]

That " other " stuff, tatses like cardboard !

When I talk about " sweet corn ", I mean the for real / old fashioned / antique seed variety. :-)

[nopardons]

You can't make an a$$ out of yourself ... Martha stories abound and one usually tops the last. It's a never ending source of whoops and hollers here, in her stomping grounds.

Frankly, I fail to understand how so many women got taken in by her, to begin with. Just boggles the mind !

[nopardons]

Most stores , where I live, as well as in Manhattan, do. I, OTOH, can just go down the street, get corn, and cook it ten minutes after I picked it. :-)