Buying locally farmed goods is not just a way to support your local economy, but a way to support the environment. The food has a lot shorter of a journey to make. Instead of traveling across the country, it just travels down the street. There are many organizations supporting local farmers that may provide information about the farms nearest you and where to shop for their goods. Eating green has a whole new meaning.

In 2007, the FDA approved the use of breeding with cloned animals to produce milk, eggs, and even meat to be sold to the public. The cloned animals themselves are not to be consumed, but their offspring don’t have such a lucky fate. Consumers have expressed their right to be able to know whether food is cloned or not. “Clone-Free” labels have been considered, but the FDA has decided to not require the labels because the cloned food is “no different” than that from a conventionally bred animal. Food producers can voluntarily label their products as clone-free, but only if the claim is valid.

The USDA considers cows conceived by in vitro fertilization to be organic. Comparing this process to cloning is questionable. Neither procedure includes natural conception, but at least in vitro fertilization still uses egg and sperm. The FDA argues that cloning is not actually genetic engineering, because the gene sequence is not altered, simply duplicated.

Cloning is a technology used to reproduce, but it has yet to be determined if it is an organic process. An organic food label is not an indicator of wholesome natural conception, for now. In the future, knowing your food source may be common knowledge. Or you might be drinking milk from the ‘same cow’ for the rest of your life without even knowing it.

Once upon a time, those who decided to go to war, were the same people who led the charge into battle. Now, the people “at the helm” are highly protected and would never dream of being in harm’s way. The heads of state and nobles of today are happy to let the poor and disenfranchised of their population fight their wars for them. What’s a casualty here and there to get to a “greater good?.

What has the world come to when those who are brave enough to shout the gospel of peace to the masses are treated as radicals and, at times, even criminals? What’s so radical about wanting people to stop killing each other? And, speaking of gospel. Although Jesus preached peace, it’s astounding how many supposedly Christian followers find a way to justify crimes against humanity in His name. How they can live with that kind of contradiction goes beyond reason.

People around the world generally cope with hardship by turning to religion and they also use their religion to guide their moral choices. More and more, religious leaders need use their influence to encourage their followers to have understanding and compassion towards others who are not like them. This is the only way that humanity can hope to join people of all faiths together to achieve their loftiest goal yet… Peace.

Groups like the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) serve as watchdogs, doing what they can to strengthen global security by reducing the risk nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Co-headed by CNN founder Ted Turner, this non-profit organization has a loud voice and prides itself on not just being able to reduce threats, but persuade others to do the same.

Now in office, President Obama proposed steps to eventually eliminate existing nuclear arsenals around the world. This begins with a lockdown on the material used to manufacture atomic weapons. ‘Rules must be binding, violations must be punished,’ he stated in an address in Prague, Czech Republic. He knows his plan will take years, but knows it is important to get the ball rolling on this issue.

While thousands of varieties of potato still grow in the Andes today, where as many as a dozen varieties may be maintained in a single household, only a few varieties were brought back to the Old World and subsequently made a staple food.  Because of this, genetic diversity amongst the potato dwindled, rendering the crop vulnerable to disease.  By the mid-19th century, Ireland’s potato varieties were so genetically similar that the crop was decimated by a plant fungus called Phytophthora infestans, more commonly known as blight. This caused the Great Irish Famine of 1845 which hit the poorer communities in Western Ireland the hardest, killing nearly a third of the Irish population and causing mass emigration from the country.

If you visit the western counties in Ireland, even today you can still see evidence everywhere of this tragic chapter in Irish history. Commonly known simply as “famine houses,” ruins of little stone cottages still litter the countryside. These houses the size of most modern kitchens were typically inhabited by families with as many as ten children – as well as their farm animals, if they were lucky enough to own any. When the famine hit, families either perished in these houses or in the “coffin ships” sailing to America (where conditions were horrible). While some were lucky enough to make the trip and reestablish themselves in America, millions of men, women, and children died. The greatest tragedy is that Ireland possessed more than enough food supply to feed its people but, because of rampant racism and classism entrenched in the British colonial government that ruled over Ireland, the British let these innocent people starve. Famine houses have been left standing to make certain that this great injustice is never forgotten and that the memory of those who died lives on.

Some say the recipe for mashed potatoes originates in 1771 when a French man named Antoine Parmentier came up with the idea of having a competition on ways to make potatoes. Having had the idea, it’s no surprise that he then won first place and then eventually began cultivating potatoes himself. The story goes that he hired a group of royal soldiers to guard his farm near Paris. But the guards were not vigilant enough; peasants stole Parmentier’s crops, effectively introducing potatoes into the cuisine of France and, much later, widespread Europe.

Etymologically, the word “potato” is a pastiche of terms made from Old and New World languages. Patata is the Spanish word for “potato” and is probably derived from the older Quechua word papa and the Taino word batata, meaning “sweet potato.”  Rich in carbohydrates, the potato is still beloved among the Irish – both in Ireland and in Irish immigrant communities in the United States.  One way to remember the Great Famine is to cook up some traditional mashed potatoes, a favorite Irish dish, in honor of the famine victims. Perhaps you have Irish ancestry that makes this dish particularly sentimental for you. Or maybe you want to take a stand against tyranny in any form, even in a form a subtle as your cuisine choices. Either way, mashed potatoes are easy and delicious to make.

The basic recipe for mashed potatoes is pretty much the same all over. What distinguishes one recipe from another are the ingredients added after the potatoes are mashed.  Many people add cheese, sour cream, bacon, garlic, onions, or herbs to flavor their potatoes.

Recipe for mashed potatoes that would make Antoine Parmentier proud:

- six potatoes (not too big, not too small)

- 1 C of heavy cream or half-half

- 1/2 C of salted butter

- salt and pepper to taste

Because they yield smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, the best varieties for mashing are Russet, Yukon Gold, or Red potatoes.

First you’ll need to peel and wash the potatoes. You can leave some the skin on the potatoes to give them more of an old-world, traditional flavor and texture. This may make mashing a bit more difficult, but it’ll be worth it, I promise.

The next step is to cut them. Make sure to cut big chunks because, although they may take a bit longer to cook they’ll absorb less water. Once chopped, add the potatoes to a medium to large-sized pot and cover them with cold water until they’re fully covered. You can add salt at this point, if you like. Put a cover on the pot and turn the burner to high until the water boils. Then, turn it down to a simmer and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. Check if the potatoes are cooked by poking a large piece with a fork or knife. The utensil should be able to go in to the vegetable easily. If not, then give them a few more minutes before taking them off the heat.

Next, drain the water from the potatoes and put them back on the stove in the same pot. Turn the burner on very low and get all or most of the water to evaporate. Don’t walk away from the pot at this stage, and be sure to stir them constantly, as you could easily burn them if too much water evaporates or if the same potatoes sit at the bottom of the pot for too long.

At the same time, you can add the cream and butter together in a separate pan and heat on low just enough to melt the butter. Then, when all the water is evaporated from the potatoes, mash them with a non-electric hand masher. This allows you to determine how smooth or how lumpy you want to make them. No matter what, avoid using an electric mixer because they tend to mix the potatoes too much and destroy the texture. Once you’ve mashed the potatoes to the perfect consistency, add the melted butter and cream mixture. That is the most basic form, but you can also get creative and add other quirky flavors to it, as well. What about mustard mashed potatoes? Or cheddar mashed potatoes? Or even basil mashed potatoes?

But however you choose to make your mashed potatoes, take a moment before you sit down to enjoy them and reflect on the complex history of this simple dish.

Giovanni Coratolo, director of Small Business Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has backed Obama’s actions, saying it will be a huge benefit to small businesses, as it will reduce the risk to banks and make it more enticing for them to give loans. So what will this mean?  

The Small Business Administration guarantees loans up to $20 billion a year in the U.S. economy and yet is projected to approve less than $10 billion in 2009.  This means that many companies seeking an SBA loan will not get approved.  Additional funding to the SBA will not do anything if we are currently using less than 50% of available funding.  How can this possibly assist the economy?

The new administration plans to temporarily eliminate some of the upfront fees on certain SBA loans and increase the guarantee caps to the lenders for these Business Loans, in order to offset administrative costs and reduce risks for lenders.  So the question then becomes: Is this enough?  Will additional funding to the SBA pay off in the long run?  

Loans are now defaulting at approximately twenty percent – an estimate which is somewhat conservative. The anticipated default rate on business loans that traditional lenders will accept is five percent.  Obama’s new plan offers an additional five percent guarantee on the defaults.  So, where does that leave you? Ten percent above the acceptable allotment! The point is that restrictions will not change much because we are still over the five percent default rate.  That’s the bad news.  

But there is significant good news here too.  Additional funding to the SBA means that something is finally being done to help small companies – not just big corporations. Including funding for small businesses in the economic stimulus package will hopefully help unfreeze the credit market and get the economy flowing freely again.  While it may take more than this to change our bleak economic situation, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.