locavore

The scene outside the global climate talks in Copenhagen is a cornucopia of innovative artwork, inspiring panel discussions and provocative characters with fascinating stories to tell, the InvestigateWest team reports.

In fact, there were so many interesting events and people that the sheer number made it hard to focus on any one today, InvestigateWest correspondent Alexander Kelly told me by Skype just now.

But he’s focused enough to know that he will be doing a piece on the critique of cap-and-trade, which many economists and politicians promote but which many environmentalists in Copenhagen this week oppose.

[caption id="attachment_6879" align="alignleft" width="226" caption="In this panel discussion at a symposium known as KlimatForum09, Hanne Marstrand Strong, president of the Manitou Foundation, based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado speaks of her group, which provides land grants and financial support to religious organizations and environmental groups. InvestigateWest photo by Mark Malijan."][/caption]

And he’s considering writing about ocean acidification, which is a big concern to the maritime community of the Pacific Northwest.

Folks -- are there climate-related topics you’d like to hear about that probably are being discussed in Copenhagen?

Claiming that I subscribed to Gourmet magazine for its environmental reporting would be akin to saying I want to pick up Playboy for the articles. (Note to wife: I don't subscribe to Playboy. But if I did....)

No, let's face it: I started plunking down cash for a monthly copy of the super-glossy mag a couple of decades ago because I was -- and remain -- a foodie. A few minutes perusing Gourmet's faaaabulous images of a summer picnic in Tuscany or a Parisian dinner party inspired me to do something really special in the kitchen.

But I have to say that I'd noticed in recent years that Gourmet has been a leader in exploring the environmental consequences of the food we eat.

Once Dateline Earth noted, for example, a fascinating Gourmet piece on the downsides of wheat.

Or take a look at some of the magazine's inquiring journalism regarding genetically modified organisms.

Just the other day, Gourmet Editor Ruth Reichl was on KUOW"s "Weekday" program yakking it up with host Steve Scher about food's carbon footprint and a new movement that seeks to outdo even locavores by minimizing all energy put into food production.

Further on food: Jessica Musicar of The World in Coos Bay, OR, is the latest journo to take on the eating-local idea. Or should we say ideal? Along the Oregon coast, that apparently would mean eating mostly cranberries and blueberries. Of course, how difficult the exercise proves would depend on what one defines as "local."

Eating locally, yeah, but eating locally on a bike?  Start your day with a smile with episode two of the video  "The Hungry Intern," with Jeff Chen of High Country News pursuing lunch on two wheels. He ends up with greenhouse spinach, chicken, and a flapjack made from milled flour and eggs. Best line: "Whoa, what's that in my egg? Oh, whatever."  Chen is  not only eating locally, but he's expending calories to collect the food. Episode one, breakfast, is even more hilarious, where you seriously doubt he's got the energy to make it through the hunting and gathering.