"All the Women Go Home Appreciating Where Their Food Comes From": A Response to Modern Farmer's "Chicken-Slaughtering Pinup Girls"

When the Modern Farmer article “Painting the Farm Red: The Chicken-Slaughtering Pinup Girls of Marion Acres” appeared in my inbox, I took once glance, deemed it inconsequential, and deleted it. Then it started popping up all over my Facebook feed, and the images of twenty– and thirty-something women in bandanas and red lipstick leering at chickens stuffed into slaughtering cones was too difficult to ignore, so I clicked. When my friend Lora asked me for my feminist analysis, I balked, “I have no real feminist analysis. I just think this is profoundly dumb.”

Despite my initial reaction, the complex implications of that story (if you can call it that) have stuck with me and left me wondering what the piece might say about the societal fetishization of women and meat, agrarian labor, and rural culture. Turns out, I have a feminist analysis after all.

Read on in Render

Australian Participatory Music, Two Ways →

My primary framework for understanding Australia: Music from the New England Tablelands of New South Wales, 1850–1900, a collection of modern interpretations of “bush music” dating back to the latter half of the 19th century, largely comes from my own experience playing American old-time music.

Both traditions have origins in English, Scottish, Irish, and other European musical forms, and the two even share some of the same repertoire. “Barbara Allen” (track 13), arranged on this album with vocals, guitar, violin, cello, kendang (a type of skin-head drum), and clapsticks, is also one of the most popular Appalachian ballads in the old-time tradition. “William Grimes the Drover” (track 15) is another classic American folk song and is included in Cecil Sharp’s Appalachian collection.

Read on via Smithsonian Folkways

The Goat Cheeses of Georges Mill Farm →

Along the back roads of Loudon County, en route to Georges Mill Farm in Lovettsville, Virginia, there are signs that you’re still within striking distance of a major metropolitan area, as newer homes and development extend their reach among the rolling farms with old barns and white farmhouses.

But as you finally round the corner of Georges Farm Road and spot the Civil War–era stone house and the quaint barn-red Georges Mill Farm stand, you feel as if you’ve entered a landscape all its own, a historic haven very separate from the new growth in the county.

Read on in Edible DC

In These Woods →

I've been living in the woods of New Hampshire for the past month, reading and writing and thinking. These are woods are filled with things both magical and ordinary, with as many books as there are trees, as many instruments as there are pairs of hands to play them, and as many pairs of long underwear as there are cold butts.

Read on via Panda Head

Something Good from Helvetia →

Helvetia, West Virginia, is not a town you can just happen upon. About 30 miles south of Buckhannon and 40 miles southwest of Elkins (you know where those are, right?), the journey to Helvetia is a long and winding mountainous route up County Route 46. Even when you get there, it would be easy to blow right through town, were it not for the Swiss Alpine–style buildings peppered along the roadside.

The village was settled in 1869 by Swiss immigrants, many of them craftsmen, who had immigrated to Brooklyn, New York, during the Civil War. In Brooklyn, they formed a society of Swiss and German speakers called the Gruetli Verein, and together sought a place where they could live freely and practice their respective art forms. One of their members had done some surveying in West Virginia and spoke of the large tracts of land, beautiful mountains, and plentiful forests of game. The group eventually found cheap land for sale in the area and decided to establish a village, calling it Helvetia, the Latin name for Switzerland.

Read on in Gravy

Fat Tuesday: The Many Different Doughnuts Of Mardi Gras →

The history of doughnuts is intrinsically linked to the celebration of Mardi Gras. "Fat Tuesday" — the Christian day of revelry and indulgence before the austere season of Lent — features dough deep-fried in fat as its main staple.

Among the first foods to be deep-fried were Roman scriblita, a precursor to today's doughnuts and fritters. Originating in the medieval era, most Christian European traditions have developed a version of fried dough for Shrove Tuesday (another name for the day before Lent starts). The rich treats presented a way to use up all of the butter, sugar and fat in the house prior to the self-denying diets of Lent. Traditionally it was an opportunity for indulgence, a day when, once a year, communities would go through the labor-intensive and expensive process of deep-frying in order to partake in a luxurious treat.

Read on via NPR

24 Hours in D.C. with Emily Hilliard, Morgan Hungerford West, and Elizabeth Graeber →

D.C. is a unique city that has always navigated having both a national and local identity. Because of all the government and national organizations that are based here, it is also a highly transient city, and one that is swiftly evolving. The D.C. of 5 years ago looks drastically different than it does today. What’s consistently been at the root of the local D.C. culture though, from punk to riot girls to go-go, is a steadfast commitment to the homegrown and independently owned, and that value is only growing stronger. Artists are beginning to stay local instead of moving to New York, folks are starting small-batch food companies, and the DIY culture is as strong as ever. Another thing we all love about D.C. is that it’s a small city with all the benefits of a big city. This means for creatives like us that the artistic community is small and welcoming. This also means that there’s a lot to see and do, but because of the compact size, it’s possible to tackle a lot in a day.

Read on in Design*Sponge

Gas Station Delights →

Goin’ on a road trip across out East? Pick up a few cheap regional snacks on your way. If you’re headed west though, you better pack your own—it’s wild out there.

Moon Pie

Region: Across the South

Price: $0.89

A Tennessee icon, Moon Pies—the classic s’more sandwich of marshmallow & graham cracker cookies, coated in chocolate-- can be found in gas stations, bars, and juke joints across the South. Best enjoyed with an RC Cola, additional flavors include vanilla and banana. Do Moon Pies only come as “Double Deckers” these days? OPEN QUESTION.

Read on in The Runcible Spoon

How to Make Pie *Inside* a Gas Station →

Or maybe you want to make something on your trip? Here’s how to make a pie from gas station treats IN the gas station itself. It’s the next frontier in hobo-dom.

For the plate: Use the bowl from a Macaroni Bowl, or fashion one out of a Slurpee cup or nacho box.

For the crust: Using a hard dull object like a soda can or bottled water, crush up your desired crust. Suggested crust ingredients: honey roasted nuts, Utz potato chips (any flavor), cheddar & peanut butter crackers, Cliff bars, Pop Tarts, Cheez-its, Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Read on in The Runcible Spoon

Get Freshly Minted This Holiday Season →

When I was growing up, my uncle Richard farmed mint. In the late summer, he and his crew would mow the mint fields like hay and collect the leaves in enclosed wagons, then drive them down to the still, where they would seal them and pump them full of steam. The steam caused the oil in the leaves to turn to vapor, which re-liquefied when pushed through a condenser.

I have memories of driving out to the farm when Richard was distilling that season's crop into oil, catching whiffs of the mint on the air miles before we arrived. Then we'd pile in the farm truck and head down the dirt roads to the still, the mint essence becoming stronger and stronger until we were finally lifted over the boiling vat for the most intense sensory experience. One inhalation of the mint oil completely cleared out our sinuses and must have prevented us from catching the cold through the winter — a special Indiana farm remedy.

Read on via NPR