Farming isn't something so alien to me. Even though I'm a city girl, currently working on my own container garden, I can still recall the days when I was forced out of bed at an early hour before school, to help my Dad in the small, but manageable garden that would feed our family of five for the better part of the year, squishing potato bugs for a penny each, and yanking threatening weeds before they overtook our precious harvest. Across the street was a larger plot of land used by a local farmer, where he usually planted corn, pumpkins or beans that were regularly visited by a giant winged John Deere contraption, set on eliminating those very things we despised in our own garden.
Of course we borrowed corn from this field until our own were ready, and the difference in taste is still remarkable. The loving care we put into our own vegetables was so good you could taste it. Literally.
Listening to my friend recently opine how she only eats organic meat and only organic all the time, made me realize how ignorant most of the world is regarding the organic food boom. Organics take time, commitment and loving care and attention, so how do super-stores like Wal-mart and even Whole Foods for that matter, stock their shelves? I'm not saying I don't shop at Whole Foods, of course I do, it's conveniently nearly next door to my home and that is another issue for another time, but when compared with local produce bought at farmer's markets, produce bought at any of these super-stores pales in comparison. Why? Because when companies like Chiquita or Green Giant start producing organic foods your mind has to ask questions about its origins. Surely no human hand is systematically squishing bugs between their fingers for quality control, right?
To maintain quality, these huge companies have successfully lobbied to the USDA to incorporate some type of pesticide control for their quote unquote organic crops.Food companies have standards, which explain why all tomatoes are nearly the exact same size, and anyone who has experience with their own farm knows that is simply not the case. What happens to all these 'ugly ducklings'? Independent farmers struggle with keeping up with industry standards set up by these mega-giant producers.
The USDA has made it virtually impossible for small locally-based farms to certify their product organic, yet these small farms produce a far more healthy version than the type of stuff that is available to the mass market. The reason the USDA allows these lax restrictions is that as a business, they are in trouble. More people are trying to control what they put in their bodies. The government provides stipends to the large companies, but not the small independents who deserve it and the cost of certifying one vegetable far exceeds the profits some small farms might make all year. Fed up yet?
Well the meat industry is far dirtier and sordid. Even though your chicken might be free-range or organic, the term carries very little value in the real world. Big Beef, Chicken and Pork have manipulated this market to meet their ideals. It literally angers me to hear people talking so ignorantly that they only eat free-range when they have no idea what it actually means. Free range does not automatically dictate an open pasture where chickens peck to their hearts content. It means the there is a door that leads to an area where they might be allowed to roam in a mud-soaked, vitamin deprived atmosphere. The more interest people have in eating guilt-free food, the more lobbies will be presented the the USDA to thwart your efforts. I applaud Whole Foods for bringing free-range to the public vocabulary, but unless you want Whole Foods to become as ubiquitous as Wal-mart, people better start challenging their food sources regularly. I remember when I was young, my family raised a cow at a neighboring farm, that we visited quite regularly. My parents should have known then that I was vegetarian, since I would look into our giant freezer and cry over my friend Bessie, lying in peices. That said, allowing a local farm to raise your beef is probably your best option, if you can eat it!
Your best bet is to talk to your locals. My favorite farmer last year was a very kind Amish man who talked to us for 20 minutes about his special lettuces, rare breeds and varieties. We walked away with enough to tide us over til the following week to see what else he came up with. We ended up visiting him all summer, always coming home with an heirloom vegetable or some other vegetable that literally inspired awe.
My partner and I can't wait until we start our weekend dates of biking to the nearest farmers market, sampling the produce and asking questions to the caretakers of the beautiful bounty, excited about our choices, plannning the weekly menu, all without a shred of guilt at supporting unethical foods from unethical sources.
Showing posts with label produce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label produce. Show all posts
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Our Daily Bread
Our Daily Bread is a haunting, relatively new documentary about the modern food business. Visually stunning and often disturbing, this film is not for the faint of heart. As a vegan for many years, I couldn't bear to watch the scenes of abuse and slaughter unfold yet another time before my eyes, and I ended up fast-forwarding through the animal scenes and focused instead on the farming. If you could call it that. Gone are the farmers on their hands and knees, weeding their crops and caring for their plants. Here to stay are GMO crops looking slightly alien, yet identical to the thousands of others under the same roof. I found myself gazing at the beautiful symmetry of the hydroponic greenhouse, comparing it to the pyramids at the Louvre. Gigantic machines spray pesticides, thrash wheat, while workers at night quickly pluck and wrap cabbages while the machine dictates their progress. Farming is no longer romanticized in this vision of food production.
Memorable scenes include one where a huge industrial crop waterer spread its wings like a giant, graceful pterodactyl. Beautiful sunflowers are covered in a haze of pesticides.
Disturbing scenes include a baby chick processing plant where women unfeelingly toss baby chicks into a giant machine which takes them through a crazy amusement park-like ride until, presumably their death. Farmed fish swimming like sardines in a can, never given the opportunity to swim free and have a chance at life.
Despite the beauty of the film, I was left feeling dirty and sad. For most people living on a modest budget, there is little one can do to avoid the commercial food chain. Alex Jones, yesterday on his podcast on Infowars.com, was speaking of a future, fifty years from now, where we will all be vegans, not by choice, but because there will be no room to raise animals and of a future where all our food comes from genetically modified sources controlled by the government. Now is the best time to try your hand at container gardens for city-dwellers and more ambitious planting for those fortunate enough to own green space. I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but the most important thing when choosing your food is knowing where it came from, not necessarily organic, since the big producers are getting around federal guidelines and establishing their own, but local, farm-raised produce, picked and raised by loving human hands.
I'm thankful that I no longer eat meat, so I don't feel the guilt that often accompanies meat consumption, but I also feel the duty to raise my own food to keep various strains of vegetables alive, until they take that from us too.
Oh yeah, and the best part of this film? Even though it is a foreign film, there are no subtitles; the machines do the talking.
Memorable scenes include one where a huge industrial crop waterer spread its wings like a giant, graceful pterodactyl. Beautiful sunflowers are covered in a haze of pesticides.
Disturbing scenes include a baby chick processing plant where women unfeelingly toss baby chicks into a giant machine which takes them through a crazy amusement park-like ride until, presumably their death. Farmed fish swimming like sardines in a can, never given the opportunity to swim free and have a chance at life.
Despite the beauty of the film, I was left feeling dirty and sad. For most people living on a modest budget, there is little one can do to avoid the commercial food chain. Alex Jones, yesterday on his podcast on Infowars.com, was speaking of a future, fifty years from now, where we will all be vegans, not by choice, but because there will be no room to raise animals and of a future where all our food comes from genetically modified sources controlled by the government. Now is the best time to try your hand at container gardens for city-dwellers and more ambitious planting for those fortunate enough to own green space. I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but the most important thing when choosing your food is knowing where it came from, not necessarily organic, since the big producers are getting around federal guidelines and establishing their own, but local, farm-raised produce, picked and raised by loving human hands.
I'm thankful that I no longer eat meat, so I don't feel the guilt that often accompanies meat consumption, but I also feel the duty to raise my own food to keep various strains of vegetables alive, until they take that from us too.
Oh yeah, and the best part of this film? Even though it is a foreign film, there are no subtitles; the machines do the talking.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Rumor has it
Word on the street is that the Fair Food Farm Stand in Reading Terminal Market will be moving to the former home of Rick's Steaks! Yay, more visibility to veggies. Front and Center.
Rick's is moving to the basement at the Bellevue, and I'm more than happy to get that stench out of the market. While I'm happy that the farm stand is moving to a far-more visible spot in the market, I hope that they still have stuff left for my lazy bones when I get there at 3 in the afternoon.
Look for it happening soon.
Rick's is moving to the basement at the Bellevue, and I'm more than happy to get that stench out of the market. While I'm happy that the farm stand is moving to a far-more visible spot in the market, I hope that they still have stuff left for my lazy bones when I get there at 3 in the afternoon.
Look for it happening soon.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Living Local in the City
After lamenting over high-priced, imported tomatoes at Whole Foods (see Animal Vegetable Miracle post), I took the day off yesterday to check out Reading Terminal Market. Iovine's Produce stand offers a lot of organic produce, but not one sign tells you where the veggies originated, in fact a sign saying "produce from all over the world", sent a shiver down my spine.
I remembered the Fair Food Farmstand, in the North-East corner of the market, and decided to press my luck and see what I could turn up.
I was surprised to even find them open, because in the past, when I've visited on a weekday, they are often closed by the time I make the trek. I was expecting crates and crates of potatoes, which they surely had, but they also had a lot of other great items that I didn't imagine to find.
Yesterday, the Fair Food Farmstand was stocked with everything I could possible want to make a delicious dinner. Albeit a bit more expensive, the local purple kale blows conventional kale out of the water. Tomatoes, you got 'em and heirloom varieties too! Lettuce, yep, an oak leaf lettuce fresh from a farm. Mushrooms, many varieties, a rainbow offering of squash, peppers, radishes, Brussels sprouts, cranberries, apples. I've already started lining up my produce picks for a very raw Thanksgiving meal, and the Fair Food Farmstand has pretty much everything I could want. Every item here is local and organic, from small farms all over Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each item has a little sign so you know exactly what you are getting. Is it more expensive? Well, maybe. I spent 13 dollars on three very necessary items, kabocha squash, purple kale and some awesome-looking spinach. Then I went to Iovine's and spent the same amount on 4 other organic items. Maybe eating local does cost slightly more, but remember you are helping the small farming industry and not some stupid conglomerate who has no clue about tasty food.
So, just when I thought the going for local produce was getting tough, the Fair Food Farmstand saved the day. Check out your local city market for a similar stand, if it doesn't exist, press for it by contacting local farmers and co-ops into making it happen for your locality.
I remembered the Fair Food Farmstand, in the North-East corner of the market, and decided to press my luck and see what I could turn up.
I was surprised to even find them open, because in the past, when I've visited on a weekday, they are often closed by the time I make the trek. I was expecting crates and crates of potatoes, which they surely had, but they also had a lot of other great items that I didn't imagine to find.
Yesterday, the Fair Food Farmstand was stocked with everything I could possible want to make a delicious dinner. Albeit a bit more expensive, the local purple kale blows conventional kale out of the water. Tomatoes, you got 'em and heirloom varieties too! Lettuce, yep, an oak leaf lettuce fresh from a farm. Mushrooms, many varieties, a rainbow offering of squash, peppers, radishes, Brussels sprouts, cranberries, apples. I've already started lining up my produce picks for a very raw Thanksgiving meal, and the Fair Food Farmstand has pretty much everything I could want. Every item here is local and organic, from small farms all over Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each item has a little sign so you know exactly what you are getting. Is it more expensive? Well, maybe. I spent 13 dollars on three very necessary items, kabocha squash, purple kale and some awesome-looking spinach. Then I went to Iovine's and spent the same amount on 4 other organic items. Maybe eating local does cost slightly more, but remember you are helping the small farming industry and not some stupid conglomerate who has no clue about tasty food.
So, just when I thought the going for local produce was getting tough, the Fair Food Farmstand saved the day. Check out your local city market for a similar stand, if it doesn't exist, press for it by contacting local farmers and co-ops into making it happen for your locality.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
I have to admit, Barbara Kingsolver was one of my favorite authors for a long time, so when her most-recent book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was loaned to me by an Epicurean co-worker, I dove in, ravenous for what she had to offer.
The premise of the book is a hot topic in today's' green-minded culture. Eat local, eat only what you can raise yourself or what's in season, and relish the treasures of your community. Kingsolver and her clan moved to the Southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains with the goal of raising her family on the fruits of the land. She is not a vegetarian and I cringed when I read the part about her raising her own turkeys for food, but I'm also inclined to doff my hat to her; that she can raise her own food and feed her family. She is adamant about the sources of other meats, insisting on locally, grass-fed varieties, so that's all I'm going to mention about the meat-eating, but still, her approach is a noble one, ensuring that at least the animals she does consume, led a decent life eating good food too!
I haven't finished the book yet, but I am already under the influence. For years I tried to eat locally, (I think it's called macro-biotic), and with the exception of bananas or citrus fruit, managed to subsist fairly well. Today, I know a lot more than I did then.
Now, when I go to Whole Foods, because the farmer's markets have ended for the year, I scan the tags looking for locally grown food. Tomatoes, forget about it. The closest tomato I can find is shipped from Florida. Luckily I still have some growing on my back porch, but I've harvested the last few before the frost and dread life without tomatoes. Avocados? Lettuce? It all comes from California, and this is Kingsolver's main contention. We've been spoiled by luxurious produce shipped from all over the world, oblivious as to what the cost on our environment is. I spotted these lovely oranges that looked great for juicing, bu when I saw they were from South Africa, I quietly passed them by. Kingsolver, equates calories with gas mileage, and in one instance, says that eating an apple from Washington State for someone on the East Coast is similar to driving 3 hours to walk 3 miles on a treadmill. Kind of counter-productive. In a time when global warming is directly linked to issues such as these, I want to take my part in this mission and try not to eat something, just because it's exotic, looks delicious or I need it for my recipe. Chances are that that red, delicious apple, might not taste as tasty as it looks. My boyfriend thinks I'm crazy, but I put my foot down at unnecessary items that have been shipped across the ocean.
For a raw foodist like myself, it is especially difficult. We subsist on nuts, that are primarily grown in places like Thailand, and while I grapple with that issue, I must remember to choose other items that haven't travelled as far for the rest of the meal.
Right now, I'm really digging squash, all types, simply steamed and topped with my own fresh-grown parsley. You can also make a nice squash mash, with steamed squash processed with olive oil and herbs. In the northeast, pickings are slim, but this is also the time of year when home-cooked foods, like root vegetables and onions can make a great meal. Stews really benefit from local produce. Can't live without that avocado? Well neither can I, but at least if we take small steps in passing by those delicious fruits from South Africa, we are making a difference.
The premise of the book is a hot topic in today's' green-minded culture. Eat local, eat only what you can raise yourself or what's in season, and relish the treasures of your community. Kingsolver and her clan moved to the Southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains with the goal of raising her family on the fruits of the land. She is not a vegetarian and I cringed when I read the part about her raising her own turkeys for food, but I'm also inclined to doff my hat to her; that she can raise her own food and feed her family. She is adamant about the sources of other meats, insisting on locally, grass-fed varieties, so that's all I'm going to mention about the meat-eating, but still, her approach is a noble one, ensuring that at least the animals she does consume, led a decent life eating good food too!
I haven't finished the book yet, but I am already under the influence. For years I tried to eat locally, (I think it's called macro-biotic), and with the exception of bananas or citrus fruit, managed to subsist fairly well. Today, I know a lot more than I did then.
Now, when I go to Whole Foods, because the farmer's markets have ended for the year, I scan the tags looking for locally grown food. Tomatoes, forget about it. The closest tomato I can find is shipped from Florida. Luckily I still have some growing on my back porch, but I've harvested the last few before the frost and dread life without tomatoes. Avocados? Lettuce? It all comes from California, and this is Kingsolver's main contention. We've been spoiled by luxurious produce shipped from all over the world, oblivious as to what the cost on our environment is. I spotted these lovely oranges that looked great for juicing, bu when I saw they were from South Africa, I quietly passed them by. Kingsolver, equates calories with gas mileage, and in one instance, says that eating an apple from Washington State for someone on the East Coast is similar to driving 3 hours to walk 3 miles on a treadmill. Kind of counter-productive. In a time when global warming is directly linked to issues such as these, I want to take my part in this mission and try not to eat something, just because it's exotic, looks delicious or I need it for my recipe. Chances are that that red, delicious apple, might not taste as tasty as it looks. My boyfriend thinks I'm crazy, but I put my foot down at unnecessary items that have been shipped across the ocean.
For a raw foodist like myself, it is especially difficult. We subsist on nuts, that are primarily grown in places like Thailand, and while I grapple with that issue, I must remember to choose other items that haven't travelled as far for the rest of the meal.
Right now, I'm really digging squash, all types, simply steamed and topped with my own fresh-grown parsley. You can also make a nice squash mash, with steamed squash processed with olive oil and herbs. In the northeast, pickings are slim, but this is also the time of year when home-cooked foods, like root vegetables and onions can make a great meal. Stews really benefit from local produce. Can't live without that avocado? Well neither can I, but at least if we take small steps in passing by those delicious fruits from South Africa, we are making a difference.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Olympics ban Jamaicans?
My friend forwarded me this official statement from the Olympics Commission and I feel that it should be shared with as many people as possible. That is why I forwarded it to liberal radio show host Mike Malloy to see if he can delve further into this issue. I hope to hear him discuss tonight (NovaM radio)
In the meantime, the Olympics have decided to ban all these natural foods from Jamaica, basically saying that the natural diet of Jamaicans provide an unfair advantage to their athletes. This list below bans foods such as yams, breadfruit, jerk chicken and cocoa amongst others. If this isn't blatant rascism then I don't know what is. How can Michael Phelps eat plates and plates of eggs and waffles only to go on to win 9 gold medals while Jamaicans, who proved they produce some of the worlds greatest runners, have been prohibited to eat the natural produce and cultural dishes of their country and habitat? My opinion? People should be eating this stuff with wild abandon, if it helps provide an energy boost only nature can give.
Yams are banned but their American cousin, the sweet potato is not.
Cassava root is banned but the good 'ole potato is still allowed.
How is this fair? Well, who said anything about being fair?
see below:
OFFICIAL STATEMENT:In a joint statement issued by the presidents of the World Anti-Doping Agency, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the following foods have been placed on the list of banned substances issued by WADA: yam, green bananas, cocoa, dasheen, breadfruit, ackee and saltfish, mackeral run down, turned cornmeal, Jerked pork and chicken, escovietched fish Malta, Supligen, Milo (said to be the food drink of Champions), Horlicks and coconut oil. Jamaicans seem to become extremely athletic on diets with these foods. Coming out of WADA labs, one of the major banned substances from Jamaica is the Cassava root, a high fibre, high starch tuber root eaten in Jamaica. It has properties which are said to enhance endurance and cause muscle fibres to twitch faster. This comes after extensive study of the diets of the Jamaican athletes which took part in the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. Though natural foods it is felt by WADA that these foods because of their unique properties give Jamaican athletes an unfair advantage. High concentrations of carbohydrates and other naturally occurring substances are said to be mimicking the effects of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Some foods have been noted to in particular cause an unusual increase in the male hormone testosterone. As such WADA has seen it fit to add these foods to the list of banned substances. Given the sensitivity of this issue,Jamaican athletes participating in the current Olympic games underway in Beijing have not been banned but must submit to these new restrictions within the next two years. Two substances which have been discovered in testing of the Jamaican foods are “yamstenine”, a yam derivative and “cocosterone”, a derivative of the coco plant. These substances have been found to mimic nandrolone and the blood booster EPO, hence the preliminary banning of the substances themselves and the banning of the foods they derive from.This ruling will also affect other Caribbean and some African countries which share similar dietsas Jamaicans.
In the meantime, the Olympics have decided to ban all these natural foods from Jamaica, basically saying that the natural diet of Jamaicans provide an unfair advantage to their athletes. This list below bans foods such as yams, breadfruit, jerk chicken and cocoa amongst others. If this isn't blatant rascism then I don't know what is. How can Michael Phelps eat plates and plates of eggs and waffles only to go on to win 9 gold medals while Jamaicans, who proved they produce some of the worlds greatest runners, have been prohibited to eat the natural produce and cultural dishes of their country and habitat? My opinion? People should be eating this stuff with wild abandon, if it helps provide an energy boost only nature can give.
Yams are banned but their American cousin, the sweet potato is not.
Cassava root is banned but the good 'ole potato is still allowed.
How is this fair? Well, who said anything about being fair?
see below:
OFFICIAL STATEMENT:In a joint statement issued by the presidents of the World Anti-Doping Agency, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the following foods have been placed on the list of banned substances issued by WADA: yam, green bananas, cocoa, dasheen, breadfruit, ackee and saltfish, mackeral run down, turned cornmeal, Jerked pork and chicken, escovietched fish Malta, Supligen, Milo (said to be the food drink of Champions), Horlicks and coconut oil. Jamaicans seem to become extremely athletic on diets with these foods. Coming out of WADA labs, one of the major banned substances from Jamaica is the Cassava root, a high fibre, high starch tuber root eaten in Jamaica. It has properties which are said to enhance endurance and cause muscle fibres to twitch faster. This comes after extensive study of the diets of the Jamaican athletes which took part in the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. Though natural foods it is felt by WADA that these foods because of their unique properties give Jamaican athletes an unfair advantage. High concentrations of carbohydrates and other naturally occurring substances are said to be mimicking the effects of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Some foods have been noted to in particular cause an unusual increase in the male hormone testosterone. As such WADA has seen it fit to add these foods to the list of banned substances. Given the sensitivity of this issue,Jamaican athletes participating in the current Olympic games underway in Beijing have not been banned but must submit to these new restrictions within the next two years. Two substances which have been discovered in testing of the Jamaican foods are “yamstenine”, a yam derivative and “cocosterone”, a derivative of the coco plant. These substances have been found to mimic nandrolone and the blood booster EPO, hence the preliminary banning of the substances themselves and the banning of the foods they derive from.This ruling will also affect other Caribbean and some African countries which share similar dietsas Jamaicans.
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