If you’ve ever eaten eggs that comes straight from the farm (especially one that allows its chickens to range somewhat freely), you know that nothing from the grocery store comes close in terms of flavor. Master Composter Tom Shelley and farmer Christianne White, of Ithaca, New York, are trying out a new model for getting local residents hooked on such eggs while lightening their environment footprints: exchanging compostable “trash” for a regular supply of such eggs.

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Cleanup crews and 27 skimmer boats are working to contain and remove oil from a massive spill that happened when a crude oil tanker and a barge collided Saturday in the Port Arthur Ship Channel.

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Using a variety of natural ingredients including crushed nuts, seeds, dried fruit, melted marshmallows, AND fruity pebbles (for sweetness instead of sugar), Luxirare made these edible crayons that read and look quite delicious. Be sure to check out the website for fantastic photos of the entire process.

[Via]

Attacks on humanitarian operations and a string of threats and unacceptable demands from armed groups have made it impossible for the world’s largest food aid agency to continue feeding up to one million hungry people in southern Somalia.

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With the new year quickly approaching, you may be thinking about changes you’ll want to make in 2010… and food issues may be high on your resolution priority list. Eat more fruits and vegetables… stay away from junk food… cook more… the list goes on and on…

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Ice plugged an inactive pipeline, causing it to burst, officials said Tuesday in an attempt to explain how 46,000 gallons of crude oil spewed onto the tundra near a BP Exploration processing center at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope

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As I posted earlier this week Simon Doonan did venture down to DC this week to assist and oversee the holiday decorating at the White House. The Washington Post has some photos of what Doonan and the Obamas did, and I must say, they’re pretty safe and traditional. Which I guess is appropriate for the White House. The thought of neon and snow machines and drag queen snowmen had me in at tizzy all week. But Doonan kept it cool, and oh so not gay, with his old lady decorations.

One standout in the home is the 400-pound gingerbread house made by the White House’s pastry chef Bill Yosses. It took Yosses and his team six weeks to build the monster. And as someone who obsesses over sweets as much as I do over dollhouses I must say it is quite impressive. In a year where Washingtonians say the White House Christmas decor has been scaled down, in obvious response to the economic client, this house is grand. The Washington Post slideshow is here.

If you’ve done any volunteering in homeless shelters or soup kitchens, you know that these institutions have to focus on stretching their dollars to feed as many people as possible… so organic and/or local produce may be out of the question. Santa Barbara’s Organic Soup Kitchen, a “relatively new non-profit,” takes a different approach to feeding the hungry: their mission statement proclaims that “…no person regardless of financial status shall compromise the quality of food they feed themselves or their family.”

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Not to be a Debbie Downer but as we near every gourmand’s favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, GOOD Magazine drops by like an unwanted guests bearing some tough truths about this November American holiday of feasting and giving thanks. The popular normative and celebrated mainstream history of Thanksgiving portrays “Pilgrims in brass-buckle shoes being saved from starvation in 1621 by kindly buckskin-clad Indians bearing gifts of wild game and corn.” The first documented mention of such an interaction was a letter from 1961 mentioning a feast with Native American king Massasoit and his men, but as GOOD points out, “the purpose of this letter makes it suspect: It was sent to England to attract more settlers to Plymouth Plantation. Rather than the founding document of America’s a multicultural past, it’s something of a hyped-up real-estate advertisement.” Ah, advertising, the second oldest profession!

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If you’ve spent any time looking at the marketing for educational institutions lately, you’ve likely noticed that many schools are working hard to build reputations as “green colleges.” In addition to building green, cutting energy use, and landscaping with water consumption in mind, many colleges and universities are implementing sustainability policies for their food services. Some are composting food wastes. Others are buying locally and organically. A few are even growing their own food.

At West Virginia’s Marshall University, moving towards a greener cafeteria involves… taking away the trays.

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What’s one to do with all that leftover candy from Halloween trick or treating? Turn them into a delicious treat with this non-serious baking trick suggested over at Serious Eats. Dump all the extra candy you couldn’t finish into a pie and let it all melt together (recipe here). Feel free to then submit a photo of your final Frcandyenstein entry to the popular website This Is Why You’re Fat, a home devoted to gastro-explosive creations.