Carbondale Bytelife

Found this brief article in the NYT interesting. A small meatpacker, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wanted to test all of its cows for mad cow disease. The Agriculture Department, at the behest of larger meat packers, sued in federal court to stop the company from doing it. Apparently, the test is quite expensive and, while economically feasible for a small company without many cows, woudl be quite expensive for a larger meat packer, cutting into profits. Rather than competing with Creekstone, who could advertise its beef as "tested Mad Cow Disease free", and maybe take some sales away from them, the large packers opted for the easier route and just got the tests shut down.

Labels: business, ethics, food

Pagliai’s is still frakkin' delicious. Pizza is a pretty big deal in my life, and I'm always happy to go out for a slice or three-- hadn't been to Pag's for a while, mostly on account of my extreme happiness with Marcello's Pizza in Chester.


Anyways, my little group ordered a lovely extra-cheese and garlic on the thick 'n crispy... along with a vegetarian special on the chewy thick crust. Great food, nice big drinks, and naturally saved gas by not driving to Chester.

Marcello's still gets my vote for best pizza in Southern Illinois, though-- yummy garlic butter with fresh spinach on a veggie pie sets 'em over the top in my opinion.

So let's talk pizza, 'cause I'm sorta bored with everything in Carbondale closing, etc. Feel free to leave vehement comments about your favorite Southern Illinois pizza (current, historical, whatever) and where to get it. Call out a favorite waitress! Gripe about the bathroom-- it's all game.

(And yes, that's Pizza Head above. Remember him?)

Labels: business, Carbondale, food, pizza, random post of relatively little use and even less quality of writing, southern Illinois, yummy

Blueberry Hill and Bass Farms, both on Hwy 51 by Cobden, still have strawberries as of yesterday. Blueberry Hill says their strawberry fields will only be open a few more days for picking. BH also has red raspberries available at $5 a pint for pre-picked. If you want a larger but can't get there until later in the afternoon, it's a good idea to call ahead and have berries held, as I was told they are selling out by mid afternoon.

Labels: food

Local Scouts will drop off bags for food collection at houses throughout the city tomorrow with a request to fill them with non-perishable food items and leave them out on your front porch on the 17th. The food goes to local food banks, always a worthy cause that doesn't get much notice the rest of the year.

Labels: Carbondale, donations, food

Looking for sources of local foods? The Local Harvest website lists three here in Carbondale, thought apparently Arnold's and the Downtown Farmer's Market haven't listed and the Westside Farmer's Market hasn't updated its listing since 2000. After that, you've got to go to Pomona, Grand Tower and Cape Girardeau or the Murphysboro and Anna farmer's markets.

Labels: food, southern Illinois