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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Monsanto owned seeds?

A list I'm on had the following post by a member who is thoughtful, credible and engaged.

"I'm not able to verify the accuracy of this information, but here is
what claims to be a list of Monsanto home-garden vegetable seeds and seedlings, as offered through various companies. It appears that not all of these contain GMOs, but if you are the type of person who simply wishes not to support Monsanto, this list may be helpful: http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/02/forewarned-is-forearmed-veggie-varieties-owned-by-monsanto/"

Thanks to Monsanto's tinkering, we are now enjoying the "superweeds" that have mutated in response to seed engineered to be resistant to their herbicides. Great. I have enough weeds in the garden without ones that are even more aggressive or hardy. 

Vote with your dollars. Voice your concerns. And get ready to fight the weeds as well as the seeds.


Image thanks to www.mainefoodandfarms.com

    Wednesday, February 22, 2012

    How to cook...


    Although I find it hard to believe, I know it’s true that lots and lots and lots of people don’t know how to cook. Or think it is too difficult to do. Or say they don’t have the time to do it. It saddens me that they may never know the joy of walking into a kitchen redolent of simmering onions and bacon, or for the vegetarians, a pasta sauce slowly cooking on the back burner. Or the aroma of homemade cookies in the oven. Somehow between the 1960’s and 1980’s cooking became verboten for anyone who had a modicum of cool (not entirely true but you get my point) and then suddenly celebrity chefs made it cool again to cook, but not every day. And that revived version of cooking required shiny new pans, equipment, togs etc. to complete the look. It became a fashion statement that could cost a lot of money to do the “right” way.
    Not for me. I cook every day. I use some of the same utensils that my mother used in her kitchen more than 50 years ago. They work just fine and bring back memories of her. I have some modern conveniences as well, but do just dandy without lots of specialty gizmos. And cooking allows me to know – to the extent possible – what is in the food I put in my mouth. And when friends come over, you know as well as I do that people congregate in the kitchen for a reason – food and food preparation nurtures our spirits and our bodies. And there is something so incredibly satisfying about really making something whether it is a meal, a bookcase, a knitted scarf or a painting. I consider all of them works of creativity and art….
    Three "cooking spoons" from my mother's kitchen
    The Good Guide (online and through a Smart Phone app) allows you to find safe, healthy, green and ethical products based on scientific ratings. Recently they showed that leaving processed food behind isn’t as hard as it might seem to those who didn’t grow up cooking. Five tips from their website blog are below.
    5. Soup. These recipes and strategies for making soup, courtesy of Mark Bittman, will make you say goodbye to canned soup forever. Too difficult? Consider recommendations from GoodGuide.
    4. Pasta Sauce. The jarred versions may seem really convenient, but there’s just something about the smell of bubbling tomato sauce that can’t be beat. Here are recipes for a Five-Minute Sauce and Tomato Vodka SauceToo difficult? Consider recommendations from GoodGuide.
    3. Granola. The options are endless when it comes to making your own granola. Hate raisins? Don’t put them in. Love sunflower seeds? Throw in an extra handful. Get some ideas from this AllRecipes listToo difficult? Consider recommendations from GoodGuide.
    2. Yogurt. You’d be amazed at how simple it is to make your own yogurt. The best part? Making your own cheese is only one more step. Too difficult? Consider recommendations from GoodGuide.
    1. Pasta. It might sound labor-intensive, but there’s no comparison between fresh, homemade pasta and 

    the boxed stuff. Learn how to roll your own with this video from our friends at CHOW. Too difficult? 

    Consider recommendations from GoodGuide."


    My two cents on the whole topic of cooking: If you don’t cook, try it. If you do cook, cook more. There is nothing to lose and lots of goodness and satisfaction to gain.

    Sunday, February 19, 2012

    A good glass of wine...


    A friend, Greta Hurst of Tabula Rasa Gallery in Baroda, recently attended the 5th Annual Southwest Michigan Wine Evaluation at Lake Michigan College, Mendel Center in Benton Harbor. It was a serious, day-long event where Michigan wineries brought their wines to be blind tasted by 40 winemakers, chefs, restaurateurs, grape growers, wine enthusiasts, AND three highly trained sommeliers. Michigan wines have a reputation for being too sweet for serious oenophiles who historically have tended to dismiss them. They may need to rethink that.

    Participants tasted 59 different wines grouped into ten varietals: Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Bordeaux Blend and Cabernet Sauvignon. Each category included at least one wine from outside the region as the benchmark for that particular varietal.

    The goal:

    • to unemotionally evaluate local wines against a benchmark and provide consistent feedback to winemakers as they work to raise the bar on Michigan wine.

    Bottom line? Tasters unanimously chose Michigan wines over benchmark wines every time.

    I expect this was a lovely way to spend a day and appreciate learning of it from Greta. Hats off to Southwest Michigan’s wine country!



    Tuesday, February 14, 2012

    Continuing yesterday's conversation...


    Ron's reply had a lot of "meat" to it and seemed to be quite a bit to "bite off" and address all at one sitting. (Ok, I'm done with the food references for now...)  I will take some time responding and will come back to it from time to time. To that end....

    Ron noted his perception of the near calcification of the system since WWII. Bigger players, entrenched positions, lots of reliance on technologies that would seem to render real change unlikely as they could smack down annoyances. Yet, I'm not so sure. Lots of change is happening now because of technology and the speed with which a shared concern can be communicated and energy harnessed. Yet of course what looks like a quick action had lots of energy to go into it that wasn't visible too. Like the snow-bound pine branch that just sits and sits and sits with that mound of snow on it with nothing apparently happening, when the snow slides from the branches its likely from invisible melting that looks like a sudden change. 

    Some examples:


    • Today's New York Times had an editorial about the strides made against childhood obesity by Michele Obama's "Let's Move" initiative and her planting of a garden on the White House lawn. It took decades for obesity to become a problem (those years between WWII and say the late 80s or early 90s). As recently as 2008 more than two thirds of American adults and one third of children were obese. What numbers! And while others were attempting to address this through the traditional channels - doctors warning patients, Jenny Craig touting diets, parents approaching schools to feed their children better and making "healthier" choices like shopping at farmers markets -  the conditions were shifting into place so that when the First Lady made obesity reduction her cause (and one I heartily support) it may have been that last little bit of sunlight that caused the avalanche. My cynical side says food companies saw the opportunity to make more money by getting in front of the parade through changing formulations to eliminate the "bad" ingredients. My optimistic side said that there were people in those food companies that genuinely believed that they needed to change, after all, they had children and grandchildren too and cared about their futures. It's not a black or white issue here. It's gray. In my ideal world, big food companies aren't necessarily always the problem, its how they operate and the choices they make that put them in the category of saint or sinner.
    • There is a bit of common wisdom that I believe has roots in science, which says that we see what we think about. Or said another way, we can't see what we don't think about. So it makes sense that someone like me sees lots of things going on in the world to change the relationship we have with food. But I know I have a lot of company from people concerned with the concept of sustainability which is bringing multiple disciplines together around issues that touch on food and more. This concept has been around for a long time, but again, people are able to more easily connect now and working collaboratively is more expected, since it's not possible to deal with complex problems in isolation. (Not sure it ever really was...)  Nearby the Center for a Sustainable Future (at my Alma Mater and my professor's former home Indiana University, South Bend Campus) is an example of this. Four years old, the center is a regional, cross-state-line effort to "... engage the campus and greater Michiana communities in creating a future focused on the "triple bottom line." Choices that are good for people and the planet, as well as profits, and that take into account ecological and social performance are promoted and encouraged by the Center." Everything is connected - food and manufacturing processes and HVAC and products used to clean the floors and health and more. Once things are viewed this way it makes it difficult to consider any one thing in isolation. Sustainability is the kind of framing mechanism that is giving this change legs. And sustainability too has economic benefits.
    Sudden change takes a while. And looking at things as interconnected may help to move away from the win/lose, black/white mentality that has crept into so much of society. I'm hopeful that the conditions are such that rather than totally swallowing the efforts to change the current food system (some of which is inevitable) new recipes can be found that are beneficial to all. Call me Pollyanna. Others have. But things are happening. The key is to keep them moving.


    Image from the website of The Center for a Sustainable Future, Indiana University, South Bend
     

    Monday, February 13, 2012

    What happens when....

    In Skyping with a former professor of mine turned friend and mentor we talked about the things I'm interested in and working on to make changes to the food system. He didn't ask, but the changes I'd like to see are not most likely very different from those of many other people:

    1. I'd like to know where my food comes from and how it was grown/produced.
    2. I'd like to have real choices in all types of food, not be limited to eating GMOs, foods that have additives etc. 
    3. I'd like to be able to buy most things without having them travel hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles to get to me. 
    4. I'd like to be able to buy fresh as much of the year as reasonable and have regional food processing done (like the time when every town or area had a brewery, which is happening again....) so that I could support local growers year round. 
    5. I'd like to have more of the price I pay for food go to the people who raised/produced it and less to the intermediaries, packaging companies, shippers and marketers.
    6. I'd like to see healthy, fresh, sustainably raised/produced food available to everyone at a fair price. 
     Tall order, yes. And he raised some questions. Specifically:

    1. What happens when the activism to get these things may hit declining returns relative to the effort to get them done?
    2. What might be the countervailing activities that don't get put into action until the threat to the existing system takes a harder form?
    3. And, what may be some unintended consequences of successfully changing the food system?
    Worth some thought and some conversation....




    Wednesday, February 8, 2012

    The Future's in Farming

    Not so very long ago the numbers of farms and farmers was declining rapidly and the farmer's plight was brought to the attention of the public by Willie Nelson and Farm Aid. While all is not completely rosy in the world of smaller scale farming, it is having a renaissance. And, in my opinion, it isn't a moment too soon. As I've said many times, eating isn't optional. However I want to be able to choose what I eat, how its grown, how far it traveled etc. And without people who are willing to take the risks to grow food near me, that isn't always possible to do. But the more people who choose to make their livelihood in agriculture and food production, the more choices I will have, and the more chances I will have to be able to really know about what I'm eating with the things that I don't raise or grow myself.

    Realistically everyone can't farm, but I think everyone can raise some of their own food. And if we're lucky, everyone will be able to know at least one farmer who supplies something they eat.





    Sunday, February 5, 2012

    The evolution of Slow...

    Growing up things were too slow for my liking. Living outside of town, next door to a dairy farm and not having too many other kids around, I truly learned the meaning of slow. Time went slowly by. Seasons were clearly marked not only by weather and apparel, but by what my mother did in the kitchen and what my father did around the house. It was tedious and I wanted things to move along faster so that I could grow up, move away and be about doing important things. Looking back, it looks pretty good. Simpler, healthier and easier in many ways. 

    Over the last several decades others have begun to sense that things are moving too quickly as well. Too quickly to understand. To quickly to be done well. And too quickly to be truly savored and appreciated. In 1986 this awareness went from individuals sensing that things were slipping a bit, to what is now a world-wide movement - Slow Food, founded by Carlo Petrini. It's still not quite mainstream, but understanding the importance of paying attention to what you eat, eatingwhat is local and eating fresh rather than prepared foods is accepted, acted on and promoted by more and more people every day. It's hard work going against a culture of convenience but I see young people doing what my grandparents did. My grandfather was a butcher and I see young chefs butchering and curing their own meat and home cooks wanting to learn how to do more in their own kitchens than microwave. My grandmother made legendarily-good "pocket book rolls," yeast rolls with aroma that filled the house. Young people are baking artisan breads regularly, leaving behind the Wonder Bread-like product that so many of us grew up on.

    I don't think my parents would believe that there was a willing turning back to a world they grew up in. It was physically harder. They saw progress in prepared foods, chemical fertilizers and pesticides and all the advances of science. They believed the people in authority in those businesses always had their interests at heart. My father would never vote a stock proxy other than the way management wanted, because in his mind, "who knew the situation better than management?"

    Unfortunately, even well-intentioned actions have unintended consequences and the pesticides, and fertilizers and antibiotics and scientific advances lead to outcomes that are far from the best intentions of those involved. I don't want to believe that people knowingly do things that are harmful although I know they have in the past. Caveat emptor was a saying I grew up hearing - let the buyer beware. Good guidance for today's world and yet another piece of wisdom from my elders I see being lived out by consumers who see access to healthy, fresh food as a right for themselves, their children and their communities.