Oklahoma Independent Media Center

How to organize a local food cooperative with the 'Oklahoma Plan'

The Oklahoma Food Cooperative will host a three day workshop on May 17, 18, 19, 2007 in Oklahoma City on how to organize and operate a local food cooperative internet-based order and delivery system.

[For a profile about the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, see this Plenty Magazine article.]

Details and draft schedule below.

The May issue of Plenty Magazine features a profile of food activist Robert Waldrop and the Oklahoma Food Coop he founded.

Y’all Bon Appétit!
How a church choir master in Oklahoma staged a local food revolution.

Oklahoma Vies For Deadly Disease Research Lab
AP - 5/7/2007 9:58 AM - Updated 5/7/2007 9:59 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Oklahoma is one of a dozen states competing to be the home for a government research lab full of killer germs like anthrax, avian flu or foot-and-mouth disease. The proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Lab will cost at least $450 million to build and will replace an aging and smaller lab at Plum Island, New York. The lab conducts research on diseases and germs to protect agriculture and livestock from foreign diseases.

The facility will be part of the Department of Homeland Security and will include at least 300 lab-related jobs in addition to construction-related jobs.

Doug Loudenback at Doug Dawgz Blog has a fabulous retrospective of the Dust Bowl era, a period of severe environmental crisis that in many ways still defines Oklahoma today -- although, as documents that Doug posts show, Oklahoma was not the only state affected.

Doug includes many stunning photos, as well as links to contemporary documents and even audio recordings.

Led by Lawton-area legislators, Oklahoma has declared watermelon a vegetable -- so eat up.

From the Guardian:

Everywhere else it is considered a fruit, but in Oklahoma the watermelon has been officially declared a vegetable.

And not just any vegetable, Oklahoma's house of representatives yesterday voted to award the watermelon the honour of official state vegetable. The official state fruit is the strawberry.

A bill on the proposal was passed yesterday by 78 votes to 19.

A triumphant senator Don Barrington, who sponsored the bill, said after the vote: "The controversy on whether watermelon is a fruit or vegetable has been officially decided by the Oklahoma legislature."

OSU-Okmulgee Culinary Graduate Serves International Cuisine at Talking Drum restaurant

Most Oklahomans would have no idea what to expect in a restaurant that specializes in African, Caribbean and Italian cuisine, but with Monday Thomas as the executive chef and owner - they can savor the world. A graduate of OSU-Okmulgee's Culinary Arts program, Chef Thomas serves a culturally diverse menu at the Talking Drum restaurant - from Italian to Creole to Caribbean to extremely tasty West African dishes. The broad spectrum of his fare reflects his many experiences and travels on the culinary career path.

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A Legislative Alert from Stone Bluff Cellars Haskell, OK- March 31, 2007
In November of 2000 the people of Oklahoma, by a 2 to 1 margin, voted to allow Oklahoma Wineries to sell wine they produce directly to liquor stores and restaurants. Since the passage of SQ688 in 2000, the number of wineries has grown from 4 to 48.

However, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision said such exclusionary laws restrict trade and are unconstitutional. An Oklahoma federal judge ruled likewise last year. Either all wineries or none at all must be allowed the privilege of direct sales.

The Oklahoma Wineries currently have bills in both the House and Senate that address two critical issues.