The Peninsula Daily News had a great story this week about a local community supported agriculture program on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula that delivers its fresh fruits and vegetables to hungry Seattleites via 27-foot engine-less sailboat.

The goods are then transported to CSA participants on cargo bicycles and tricycles. And lest you think this is just a couple bags of greens and a few strawberries, the story reports that sometimes the booty can weigh-in at upwards of 1,800 pounds.

While it takes longer (between 11 and 24 hours) to get from point A to point B, and it's more labor-intensive, the operators never have to worry about  the thing at the forefront of most distributors' minds: fuel prices.

Calling it a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Canadian scientists are working on a plan to breed cows that will, uh, pass less methane gas.

No, seriously.

As it turns out, cattle are responsible for more than 70 percent of Canada’s methane emissions. Apparently, bovine-released gas is very potent and harmful to the environment.

Kind of makes you want to run out to the nearest Fat Burger, doesn’t it? Maybe those Canadian scientists should take a look at Uncle Fred while they’re at it.

Anyway, Stephen Moore, chair of Bovine Genomics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, is studying cow genes in an effort to breed more environmentally-friendly cattle – cows that will release 25 percent less methane. 

The findings have been published in the Journal of Animal Science.

But don’t expect to have your next romantic picnic in a stockyard, Moore has said he still has more work to do before his studies are complete and can be released in general practice.

But if the goal is reduce the carbon footprint of those delicious producers of prime rib, some ranchers say get ‘em to market sooner and monitor their diet. A little fish oil in the feed reportedly helps cut down on methane gas released by cows.