What do you do about the recent E. coli spinach scare? According to a recent New York Times op-ed, the potentially lethal bacteria originated in the stomach of factory-farmed cows whose manure infected the spinach. So, you go to the Farmers Market.

That’s what I do every Saturday morning. And here’s why:

• A feeling of community
• Piles of red peppers, melons and eggplant, all organic and probably picked this morning
• Kids hulling corn
• A Bernese Mountain dog wagging its tail, sweeping up autumn leaves
• The politics and economics of supporting local farmers
• The fact that today when I went to purchase an acorn squash, my farmer vendor insisted I try a more exotic squash so he threw it in for free
• I like getting to know the people who grow the food that I’m eating
• Connecting to the natural ebb and flow of the seasons by virtue of the food that shows up on any given Saturday
• But most of all, I like knowing where the things that I buy come from (and snacking on the delicious free samples)

The Portland Farmers Market is such a fun place to gather that people bring their kids and dogs in droves. That fact is indicative of a larger statewide phenomenon that runs completely counter to a broader national trend. At a time when small farmers across the country are dying out in the face of industrial agriculture, the number of farmers in Oregon is on the rise, up by 55% since 1974.

Now that’s a renaissance.

Portlandia turns 21 today!

Known alternately as the Copper Goddess, the Queen of Commerce and the Statue of Liberty’s little sis, Portlandia had quite a journey to get to her perch above the main entrance of the Portland Building. She was originally cast in pieces from fiberglass molds using 1,000 lbs of copper and shipped in railroad cars, eventually ending up on Sauvie Island, where she was assembled to her 38-foot height and weight of 6½ tons. On Sunday, October 6th 1985, kneeling on a 175-foot barge, she was escorted up the Willamette River by a flotilla of Coast Guard vessels (and a canoe paddled by then Mayor Bud Clark), and then paraded down 5th Ave. before being hoisted three stories above the doorway of the Michael Graves designed Portland Building. A postmodern icon, the Portland Building houses all the city and commerce functions for The City of Portland and is the perfect pedestal for a landmark that is so symbolically linked to Portland and what the city stands for. Her trident echoes Portland’s navigational, commercial heritage. Sculptor Raymond Kaskey created Portlandia’s flowing, draped garments to suggest the meeting of Land and Sea. Contrary to some comedic critiques, she isn’t “throwing the diceâ€? with her right hand, and she only played with a yo-yo once (on one Halloween night when a perfectly scaled toy was left dangling from her finger). Her hand extends in a gesture of welcome to all who pass by. We love our big, bronze beauty.

A: Click here to find out how putting more bodies in the water might save a few.

(The Guinness Book of World Records “most people on a wave” attempt was used as a forum for discussing solutions to the shark/human “interaction” problem in Cape Town.)

I love my Apple too. I bought my first Mac in 1983 and have been using one ever since. In fact, my Apple is reminiscent of my Nikes. I think I bought my first pair in 1978. The two companies have much more in common than cool advertising and a recent technology partnership: Their size and influence have made both corporations targets for humanitarian and environmental scrutiny.

When the activist community, led by Global Exchange, decided they wanted and needed to provoke change in overseas labor practices, they made Nike their target because they were the most visible and innovative brand in the industry. Their theory of change was centered around the idea that if Nike changed, the others would follow. The good news is, they were right.

So now, acting on the same theory of change, Greenpeace has targeted Apple with a clever and strategic campaign, cajoling them to create a greener Apple. In a recent Greenpeace study, they ranked Apple the fourth worst company out of fourteen when it comes to eliminating harmful chemicals and offering product take-back programs. But, of course, Greenpeace knows that Apple is a leader and an innovator. Just like Nike, they have the capacity to change and hopefully in doing so they’ll take the rest of the industry with them. I do love my Apple, but I’d love a greener Apple more. Just do it Steve.