Another study states the obvious... but nothing will change

"Our study [also] indicates that children and adolescents who may face the greatest risks of vitamin and mineral deficiency are the least likely to be taking supplements," said Ulfat Shaikh, lead study author, assistant professor of pediatrics at the UC Davis School of Medicine and a clinician at UC Davis Children's Hospital.

And...

"The study findings seem to bear out the hypothesis that cost is a barrier to children getting vitamins. Among households considered below the poverty level, 22 percent of children used vitamins. The number jumped to 43 percent among those not considered poor. Among households not enrolled in the federal Food Stamp Program, 38 percent of children used vitamins. But in households using food stamps, vitamin use was around 18 percent. Children in 36 percent of households where there is no hunger use vitamins; only 15 percent use vitamins in households where there is "food insecurity and hunger.""

U.S. families living in poverty are less likely to be able to provide adequate nutrition for their children or to supplement their diets with vitamins to compensate... I'm guessing the situation is probably similar here... so, how do we change it?

"I don't think 9 billion [people] is better than 1 billion"

James Lovelock, the scientist who originated the Gaia theory has written a new book (The Vanishing Face of Gaia) and New Scientist has an interview with him.

Read it... It's pretty extreme stuff:

"I think it's wrong to assume we'll survive 2 °C of warming: there are already too many people on Earth. At 4 °C we could not survive with even one-tenth of our current population. The reason is we would not find enough food, unless we synthesised it. Because of this, the cull during this century is going to be huge, up to 90 per cent. The number of people remaining at the end of the century will probably be a billion or less."

I don't really have enough background to assess this at the moment, and I'm very sure my values differ from his a whole heap, but if this was a marketing ploy, it was effective, because I definitely want to read the book now!

Terraforming planet earth

Now you can replant a forest by dropping seedlings out of helicopters... Awesome! Has anyone got a spare helicopter lying around for a wee bit of ecoactivism? I fancy reforesting the Manawatu!

Should I delete the last entry?

Or should I let it stand as a record of a bad couple of days?

Who is Dr Bunny?

You may have noticed I no longer have a profile. It was woefully wrong but is proving hard to replace. You may also have noticed that I've always put my career first in any description of me. Before I had kids, being a research scientist pretty much defined me, at least as far as I was concerned. Then I became a parent, and I was a research scientist who was also a mummy... Yes, probably that way round. But now... what do I say?

My current job certainly isn't me... I mean, I think I can do it well enough... I'm enough of a control freak, but I've met people who really are compliance nerds. They are more than a tad scary... and not in ways I am, I hope :-)

So primarily I'm a mummy... mostly parenting alone, which is hard... but I'm trying not to let that difficulty define me.

And I'm passionate about... My kids of course, child development and psychology... And biology, mostly, though other science too... Books, primarily science fiction, though if a friend recommends it, I'll give it a go (and when I find the time, movies-or-TV-on-the-computer)... Mucking around on-line (I get lonely when I don't)... Politics, I'm still a greenie and a socialist and a feminist, and I still care much more than I let on... Roleplaying, sometimes, at the moment even, fresh from Kapcon, thinking about running Covenant, and with Pendragony plans to kill a dragon in a week or 2... Food and associated issues, sometimes obsessively, enjoyment tempered by past disorder... Exercise too, especially tramping and social sport, neither of which I get to do.

Usually I do what I do with enthusiasm... sometimes it starts as a show, but with effort, I can make it real.

But who is Dr Bunny? I lost my career, but I'm still here, so what's left to say about me?

Rainbow rice is nice

We have an on-going glut of zucchini from the garden, which my boys refuse to eat in visible form... a few weeks ago I started making this, which is healthyish, reasonably quick and tasty (and not bad reheated for lunch next day either). Every time I cook it, J says delightedly "This is so yum" and actually eats a large portion... so I think it is probably a useful vegetable input tool, and I think it's yum too.

Nice Rainbow Rice

Cook 1 cup of rice however you usually would, leaving it slightly on the dry side (basmati or long grain or a mixture with brown rice)... I put 1 c basmati rice with 2 and 1/8 c cold water in a big jug and nuke it for about 20 minutes until the water is absorbed.

Cut 200-300g raw animal protein thing (I've used beef schnitzel or chicken breasts or thighs) into strips and mix with 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp prepared garlic (or a 3 cloves of real stuff), 1-2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp Indian-style curry paste (I am using a mild madras at the moment)... allow to marinade in fridge if you have time (which you probably don't)...
OR shred 1 cup or so of smoked chicken or leftover cooked chicken... in this case I mix the marinade and add it when I am cooking it...
OR use a tin of drained, rinsed kidney beans.

Chop 1 small onion finely.

Assemble 2-3 cups of grated/very finely chopped colousful veges... whatever you have... at the moment I start with 1 grated carrot, 1 grated zucchini... then add a selection of: red cabbage, ordinary cabbage, broccolli, spinach, silverbeet, capsicum, runner/green beans, frozen corn and/or peas... use whatever YOU have now.

Heat a heavy frypan (large enough to contain your food heap) with enough oil to cover the bottom... Seal raw meat, then add onion and cook until meat is cooked and onion is translucent, stirring as required to make sure it doesn't stick in your pan... or cook onion 1st and add cooked meat or beans and soy + spices. Add veges, cover pan and allow them to steam until cooked, stirring occasionally (about 5 minutes). Stir in rice, mushing up all the clumps so the flavour will spread through. Allow to stand for 5 minutes or so to allow the rice to absorb the yummy liquid.

Serve garnished with chopped fresh tomatoes and cucumber, maybe some avocado... fresh peas, coriander or parsley are nice on top too... so is chopped gherkin.

This does us two meals... so I'm guessing that in recipe book terms it serves about 3-4 people.

This is a Karen recipe... so if it used excess from the garden or stuff you had in the fridge already, and you enjoyed eating it, you did good :-)

I've had this picture of Dione, one of Saturn's moons on my desktop for the last week or so and am still enjoying it, so I am sharing... I love iGoogle and Nasa's image of the day