It’s state fair season. And so it’s also the time of year when 4H clubs compete with the giant squash, and Aunt Bertie’s cherry pie and, best of all, the butter sculpture. You heard right. Up until today I had never thought about such things, but as I was going through a stack of old NYT, my eye caught a headline in the June 28th obits: Norma Lyon, Sculptured Butter at Fairs. Well gosh be darned. There she is, astride a life-size butter bull!!! She was known simply as The Butter Cow Lady. She looks pretty happy in all these photos. Just goes to show you… RIP Norma.

My husband and I ordered take out the other night from the local Japanese restaurant. We ordered three rolls, hijiki, a green salad and some dumplings. When we were done cleaning up, I took a step back and really looked at the waste generated from all the containers used to transport our meal. I’ve done this before, but never been motivated to actually stop and think long enough to want to change my behavior regarding one of NY’s diehard habits. And then I did a quick and rough calculation: I figured that if they got just 30 take out orders a night, and multiplied that times the number of days in a week, weeks in a year and then times that by the number of Japanese restaurants in Brooklyn alone…I lost track when I hit 230,000 separate pieces of plastic. I started to feel dizzy and a little sick. Not to mention guilty. Basically, that is one shitload of plastic containers. There has got to be a better way! First of all, no more take out.

Full disclosure: when I was in college and working late at night, my default meal was either a tin of sardines, triscuits and cheese, or a bag of oreos and a can of coke. Yum. And it was more likely the latter. I only wish that I had thought to occupy myself with making cameo portraits out of the creme filling. Thankfully, Judith G. Klausner has! The whole notion of a portrait sculpted out of something as ephemeral as a cookie, is deeply satisfying, and just very very funny. Thank you Erica for sending this my way. Photos by Steve Pomeroy.

Issues regarding our food supply are particularly pressing as our agricultural practices become more and more industrialized. This chart needs little explanation. Thanks Robert for posting…National Geographic via Paul Kedrosky