One of the best examples of cherry-picking has been in the story of the huge expansion of the Sahara Desert, based on a series of articles in 1991 in their highly-reputable journal Science, wherein it was found that the metaphors and images used to describe the phenomenon of drought and famine were inaccurate (a marching…

Whose science? Eating eggs is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day… http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2919284/posts (C 20) So, somehow eating eggs, and presumably the controversial cholesterol in them, does as much harm to bodily fluids and organs as smoking a pack of cigarettes? Seriously? This isn’t science, it’s hyperbole. Western science typically spins its story in…

“Diet is never going to be like any other area of science. Whatever we’ve read, whatever the competing theories, whatever the weight of op[inion, every individual is effectively conducting their own pseudo-scientific experiment in eating.”             —BBC News Magazine (Vanessa Barford, 4/17/13) Atkins and the never-ending battle over carbs Science, and here I am talking…

Why do we eat what we eat? Clearly, food beliefs and food choices are emotionally laden, yet much of the nutritional and health maintenance information provided to people has typically been based on scientific arguments, which include rational, abstract and objective concepts, such as nutrients and probabilities.[1]  These arguments and concepts typically are not what…

The first Huxley cheese, March 2015 (click here) The class? A 300-level group independent study in winter 2015.The goal? To present this fresh milk cheese to alumnae at Back-2-Bellingham in May.Why? Because the cheese making itself taps into many Huxley areas of interest — acidity, cation exchange, soil fertility, scientific method, microbiology, and more. It is the…

Chickens are laying at the Veteran’s Farm — Growing Veterans, which features a significant Huxley presence of farmers. The chicken on the left was attacked by an owl last year, but modern medicine and TLC cured the ailing chicken, now considered the alpha hen. Time for Nettle pesto — harvest with gloves, parboil, then add…

23 students + 3 faculty + 1  TA — in this hands-on intensive, we study soils, water, farms, biogeography — and the connections among them. Today, methods of soils analysis. Friday, into the county to study soils at the Lenssen Farm, and robot-farming at Louis Bouma’s on the Flynn Road in Lynden. Next week, we…

Hello students — we are now 11 strong, and it is well time to get your air tickets…both Anna and I can help. Use this blog, or our group Facebook page, or email. Alla prossima “potluck” — coming soon. One of many potlucks Preparing for departure, our own cooking classArntzen Hall All accounted for A…

Some new cheeses — with fresh milk, I’m son to make my 20th from Gianaclis Caldwell’s Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking.This summer, our class begins. Four different cheeses — some raw goat, some raw cow milk — WA state allows purchase of fresh milk. A goat cheese, for air-drying and pressing A finished goat (brined) cheese —…

Ecogastronomy is the art and science of food shopping, preparation, cooking, and presentation – with an awareness of the cultural, social, and physical environment in which all of the above occur. Cooking is an integral piece, whereby the students can marvel at both the chemical mélange and the artful timing, the real differences in cooking…