Gigabiting

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My This for Your That

You used to do it as a kid. You had an innate sense of the relative value of Twinkies and would broker a lunchroom exchange.

In recent years, barter has been making a comeback. This ancient form of trade is alive and well in e-commerce. Combining the DIY ethic with social networks, online barter exchanges are flourishing in the current, shaky economy. Read entire article.

image via BBC News

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Fast food for slow cooks.

Have you looked around the supermarket lately? The garlic has been peeled, the pineapples have their cores removed, and the onions are already chopped. There are pre-cooked slices of bacon and shrink-wrapped potatoes— washed and poked and ready to bake.

The ease and convenience are undeniable, as is the waste: a minimally-packaged, shelf-stable food is transformed into a product that is now encased in plastic and requires refrigeration. It has lost nutrients and gained preservatives, and its price has risen exponentially. Read entire article.

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image courtesy of Auburn Wednet

If only there were a magic potion.

One gulp and blemishes are gone, wrinkles are smoothed, and a youthful glow radiates from every pore. If only. Until that scientific break-through or rainforest miracle plant discovery, there are foods you can eat that will improve the health and appearance your complexion.

Eat your wrinkles away Read entire article.

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Forget about the 100-mile diet. How about the 100-yard diet?

Sunset Magazine has taken local foods to a whole new level with its One-Block Diet. With a long history of expertise in cooking, gardening, and DIY, and utilizing just the open space on their Menlo Park, California campus, the magazine staff is attempting to grow, cultivate, brew, ferment, breed, and distill everything needed for a complete diet. Read entire article.

Do I dare to eat a peach?

– T.S. Eliot, from the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

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There’s no two ways about it: we pay dearly for our organics. The premium is usually 20% – 100% of the price of conventional counterparts.

The Dirty Dozen

You just have to bite the bullet with these twelve fruits and vegetables. Pesticide levels are so high that even with careful washing and peeling there is no way to avoid ingesting a good-sized dose. It’s estimated that you can reduce your total pesticide exposure by 80% if you stick with organic varieties of just this dozen. Read entire article.