Today in Organic: August 27, 2009

Marigolds or smoldering coals? / Mark Andrew Boyer

• Kerry Trueman, co-founder of EatingLiberally.org, writes that James McWilliams' new book, Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong And How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly, is "the literary equivalent of a turd blossom" at Huffington Post Green. 

• What's it really going to take to get people cooking again? Oprah, says Melina Shannon-DiPietro at The Atlantic Food Channel. Why? "Last summer she put Faulkner on the "must read" list for her fans. In comparison to Faulkner, frittata is a snap."

• The Eat Real fest premieres in Oakland's Jack London Square tomorrow. "To help keep the event sustainable, festival organizers are helping vendors who don't normally use free-range and hormone-free meat secure a supply for the festival," according to the SF Gate. 

• "Hybrid crops are often bred for size and color, not nutrients," writes Heather Smith at Mother Jones, and as a result, fruits and veggies have gotten less nutritious over the past 60 years, according to USDA data.

• Gourmet magazine takes a look at the different issues that motivate French people and Americans to take climate change seriously. In the US, politicians talk about national security, but in France, "the jewels of our common cultural heritage,” or wine grapes, are the main concern.