Plants phone in

[Persephone]

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PLANTS TEXT MESSAGE FARMERS WHEN THIRSTY Beginning this crop season, farmers will be able to receive text messages on their cell phones from their plants saying whether they are thirsty or not. Accent Engineering, Inc., of Lubbock, Tex., developed the SmartCropTM automated drought monitoring system based on a patent held by the Agricultural Research Service. They are offering it for sale in time for this growing season.

-- full story >

this a little too newfangled?

Persephone

[Mary Fisher]

Well it will save the growers the huge chore of looking at their crops. And no doubt be tax deductible.

Mary

[Charlie]

Industrial food production at it's finest, most efficient level. No human touch necessary, no love, no involvement with the crop. GM. Everything patented. All for a price.

Strict process control.

Fits right in with a portion of I recently posted from Orlov.

"Under strict process control procedures, agro-industrial wastes, sugar, fat and salt are combined into an appealing presentation, packaged, and reinforced by vigorous advertising. Once accepted, it beguiles the senses by its reliable consistency, creating a lifelong addiction to bad food."

Good luck to us all, Charlie

[Persephone]

Slightly OT, there was an article in the paper --LA Times? NY Times? Slate? about baking good old fashioned cakes with solid texture. It bewailed the generations who know only the packaged cake mixes that delivers a "light" texture and think that is normal.

Persephone

[Charlie]

Heh heh..ain't it the truth. Packaged cake mixes...feh!

Give us the good old fashioned "heavy and dense" cake everytime. I also would think that light texture indicates less ingredient, thus less manufacturing and shipping cost......

I don't eat much dessert, but I have a real fondness for Italian Cream Cake and Carrot Cake, both of them solid heavy cakes from scratch.

This is a good point you make, how so many are conditioned to industrial food and that the real deal is foreign to many "modern" pallets. I was re-reading some Pollan last night and he was talking about fast food and how it tastes good, but, in the case of a cheeseburger from McKrocs, he couldn't really make it taste like a real cheeseburger. Same for McNuggets...tastes good, but nothing like real chicken....nothing at all like real food.

Charlie, still waiting for the spring warmup and dryout and eyeballiin' the sky for twisters