"rhode island" news and stories

Having worked on a dairy farm for a few months, I know how difficult the life can be. At least in that case the final products were artisanal cheeses selling for upwards of $20 a pound. I can't even think what it is like to run a dairy farm selling milk. Even with government subsidies, many of the farmers actually end up selling the milk for less than their costs to produce it. In the Hudson Valley region of NY near me, there were 67 dairy farms in 1997. By 2002 there were only 45, and best estimates are that 23 remain active as of today. All these beautiful old farms are now becoming housing communities the ex-farmers can't even afford to live in.

I am a big fan of buying local and regional products and try to support all the little farmers struggling to make a living. I was very glad to hear about a new member based non-profit company called Hudson Valley Fresh. They buy high quality, hormone free milk from five dairy farms and sell it locally so that consumers can know that their milk is from nearby, not a farm thousands of miles away. The milk isn't certified organic since that is an expensive multi-year process, but it is very good milk that is going to be much fresher than milk that has traveled long distances to get to your store. It may cost a bit more, but the money is passed back to the local farmers who are getting paid much more than the average price for their milk.

New York isn't the only area where local milk is being sold. There are two producers in Rhode Island, Rhody Fresh and The Farmer's Cow offering local milk. So far these local milks are only available in limited quantities but sales are good which means that more will soon be available.. We have to support our local farmers. It's a hard life that requires great dedication and I for one like to know where my food comes from. I also want to keep as many of my dollars in my local community, helping small and family run businesses to not only survive, but to actually make a decent living. I ask all of you to do the same as much as possible I know that it is very difficult to live off of purely local products, but we can all try to do what we can.

Source

It's definitely on the Neanderthal end of the cooking spectrum. It was developed entirely by accident, when George Germon, of Al Forno in Providence, R.I., dropped a steak on the fire without realizing it.

Here's the recipe: take a steak. Preferably a boneless ribeye, and make sure it's "bone dry" - no blood or moisture at all. Burn the wood in your fireplace down to hot embers. Throw in steak. Wait - maybe five minutes per side. Remove. Eat.

Feels a little me Tarzan, you Jane, eh? Betsy Block thought so, too, and while she liked her steak, it just wasn't... what she expected. "But by no means was it -- you know -- breathtakingly good. It didn't taste, say, like a lustful, illicit encounter in a hotel room. What I mean to say, then, is that it wasn't passion on a plate, as I'd imagined. But it was good. It was more than good. It was utterly delicious. Just not like that."

Source

Many of you already know that yogurt contains a helpful bacterium called Lactococcus Lactis that helps maintain a healthy balance in your gut. L. Lactis produces lactic acid, which is used to make cheese, as well as yogurt. Scientists at Brown Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island, have altered the genetic make-up of L. Lactis so that it instead produces something called cyanovirin, a drug that has shown success in preventing HIV infection in monkeys and human cells. Many involved in the project say that this new way of producing the drug could be much cheaper and also serve as a more effective means of delivery than injected vaccines, according to a recent article in Nature. The drug-producing yogurt could be made at regular dairy facilities and it could be taken orally, like probiotic yogurt, or topically as some contraceptives are.