The Windy City Showdown begins. Nick Offerman and Craig Robinson go head to head in this long-standing MLB rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Which side are you on?
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The Windy City Showdown continues as Craig Robinson quizzes Nick Offerman about the lengths he would be willing go to for a Cubs World Series win.
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Continue reading Favorite Commercial: Chicago baseball vs. Chicago baseball – Round 2
The Windy City Showdown continues as Craig Robinson and Nick Offerman battle in the 7th inning stretch.
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Continue reading Favorite Commercial: Chicago baseball vs. Chicago baseball – Round 3
With all this talk about eating local and counting miles I thought it would be good to explain what it really means. The foundation for local eating starts with a foodshed.
Foodshed: a region or area from which a population draws its food.
The typical limit on these regions is 100 miles. Draw a 100-mile circle around where you live and that is your foodshed.
In economic terms this is ideal distance a farmer, or her goods, can travel to reach a market. That way it arrives on your plate as fresh, ripe, and nutritious as it can be.
Go outside of this limit and there is an increasing reliance on fossil fuels and a decreasing quality of the food.
For those concerned about pollution, global warming, or oil-addiction these “food miles” are a cause for concern. Farmers face similar concerns, albeit from the other side, with a rising cost of gas and oil-based fertilizers that narrow their profits.
Still for others the “go local” movement represents a desire to get the very best food they can find, and that is the fundamental reason for foodsheds.
I’ve tried to document what happens to our health with the advent of low quality food, our acceptance of it, and the difference in nutritional content.
These rings of farmland surrounding our communities represent the ideal of sustainable living. Where the countryside is not poverty-stricken, but instead a vibrant economic sector known as much for its wineries and ‘farm-days’ as it is for fresh meat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
Even more these areas are often recession proof as evidenced by their continual rapid growth during the past half-decade.
It is for all these reasons that the locavore movement is popular and gaining momentum, there is something in it for everyone. Even the beefiest of meat eaters.
For further reference I’ve pulled together several maps of America’s foodsheds. Take a look.
Continue reading Go local: an explanation of foodsheds
Baseball has it roots far back in history. A manuscript from France in 1344 has an illustration of monks and nuns playing a game of bat and ball. The modern beginnings most likely date back to the early 1700s in America. In 1744, the term “base-ball” was printed in an English book and in 1791 the town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, kicked the ball players off their field by ordinance.
The records and photos of those days show a game gaining in popularity. Teams were popping up all over for recreation (after work, weekends). Mostly playing themselves but occasionally playing teams across the river, down the road.
In the 1800s the game went huge, particularly in New York where journalists referred to it as the “national pastime”. Leagues were formed, stadiums were built, and players were paid to play the game.
By the turn of the century baseball looked like the modern-day game, with owners, presidents, managers, and star players.
Here are some photos of that era pulled from the Library of Congress Archives.
**Note: It is commonly believed that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839. This founding myth was fabricated by the prominent baseball figure A.G. Spalding to increase popularity for the game.**
