Nico
Muhly,

I just finished reading this article in the Times about the local/slow food movements in rural England, and there is something beautifully romantic about the whole thing. In it, Henry Shukman describes the distinction (obvious now, but not always) between organic and local, calling into question the fact that some organic food has a huge carbon footprint, having been put into a plane and shipped to wherever it is that you buy it. Good writing, too:

At a small pub table, a plain white bowl of pea and ham soup is a soft green, like the turf above the cliffs. Slender sweet juliennes of pepper are just right against the smooth texture of the soup. The fresh beer-battered haddock caught off the coast is succulent and chunky, and the leek, salmon, mussel and haddock stew, in its own pot with a lid of Cheddar-smothered mashed potatoes, is as heartwarming as seafood can be.

Mm, I want it.

In the department of Codes, the article references “Saddleback Pigs,” which is a breed I hadn’t heard of before. A little googling yielded this webpage of saddlebacks for sale, including this wonderful advertisement:

In-Pig Belle Gilt + 4 Maidens For Sale, Berkshire
Belle gilt due end Jan-lovely natured,well marked. Dam’s record 9-9,10-10,12-12,11-11,8-8,12-12.£180 Also 4 good six month old Belle gilts £140

Awesome. Damned if I know what that code means, but I like it. It reminds me of the shorthanded code to know how many people are in an orchestra: 2,2,2,2 4,3,2,btr,.1, 4prc hp cel str (min 14.12.10.8.6), meaning “two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, a bass trombone, a tuba, 4 percussionists, harp, celeste and strings with a minimum number of strings).