Rachel Laudan

Here’s a link that lists some of the pieces of art that have disappeared from Mexico recently, particularly from churches.  It makes very sad reading.
What are not included in this list are manuscript cookbooks. Many of the great convents in Mexico still have magnificent manuscript cookbooks from the eighteenth century.  These are not only writen [...]

An interesting side effect of the “food crisis” (I’m still not sure I like that name) is that the hunt is on for agricultural land outside the nation state. The New Zealand dairy cooperative is looking to rent or buy land in, say, Brazil. The Chinese are looking for farm land in Africa and [...]

The Japanese are short of butter and considering emergency imports, according to the Wall Street Journal. How the worm turns, at least on the biggish historical scale.
A hundred and fifty years ago, it would have been the very rare person in Japan who would have had even the faintest clue what butter was. The [...]