Published on May 27th, 2009
Wendell Berry once proclaimed: “Eating is an agricultural act.” In this spirit, recipes can serve a broader purpose than just a means to filling our stomachs at mealtime. Think of recipes as edible blueprints for change. Think of the whole culinary process, from ingredient selection to end result, as an opportunity to showcase how our individual food choices can help both our nation and the world cultivate self-reliance through sustainable agriculture by focusing on what’s local and seasonal.
“Food Independence” champions this idea by celebrating and sharing summer’s bounty as we head towards the Fourth of July holiday. The Food Independence Day campaign promotes this idea by encouraging folks to eat local on July 4, as well as petitioning our country’s state governors to do the same.
How do you define “Food Independence”? What things do you do (or would like to start) that, from your perspective, make a statement about fostering a healthy, local food system? Starting a Victory Garden? Shopping at your farmers’ market? Which of your favorite recipes celebrate the flavors and bounty of your region and also manifesto your values and beliefs?
The Spinach Balls (which can be made with various greens) we serve at our Wisconsin B&B, Inn Serendipity, for me exemplify my take on food independence and how conscious eating can inspire a new take on “edible activism.” Three symbolic reasons why I think eating Spinach Balls can change the world: Read the rest of this entry »
Published on March 6th, 2009
There are contrasting approaches to population health in the news this week. Russian officials have more or less ordered Russians to change their diets – the Federal Consumer Protection Service claims Russian adults now weigh two kilos more than they did a decade ago, while children are a kilo heavier. Now that the recession is likely to drive Russians back to cheaper calorie-rich but nutrient-poor foodstuffs such as bread and potatoes, there is a fear that this weight gain, which began in the boom years, will accelerate in the bust ones. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on February 20th, 2009
As layoffs and home foreclosures continue, many Americans are experiencing hunger for the first time. Though the issue of hunger is often associated with developing countries, food bank demand in the US increased by 30% in 2008 from the previous year.
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Published on February 4th, 2009
In a meeting to discuss food security, the head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Jacques Diouf announced another 40 million people globally were pushed into hunger in 2008. As population estimates project there will be nine billion people on the planet in 2050, Diouf says food production must double in order to address current deficits and to prevent another billion people from starving.
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Published on January 12th, 2009
Recently, talking about the food crisis globally on our sister site Feel Good Style, I also thought about these same issues domestically, here in the United States, and rediscovered Feeding America (previously known as Second Harvest). Feeding America is a national supporter of local food-banks and kitchens, and they do all this through the use of grants. In their call for help they state that 35 million in the US don’t know where the next meal is coming from, stating that “one in eight Americans is struggling with hunger. Our goal is to fill their bowls with food, and their hearts and minds with hope.”
Not only is this cause to donate, but I am also reminded of how helping at a soup kitchen is one of those things that just feels really good. Their willingness to engage civil society to help care about starving citizens, shows how anyone can make changes to help the starving locally. Perhaps you own a farm, or a big garden and can donate something fresh? Or become a corporate sponsor? Feeding America states that “as a charity with national reach, we can engage the public and raise awareness of this critical issue on a national and local level.” Read the rest of this entry »
Published on December 20th, 2008
Once a year, Food Bloggers from all over the world band together for a fundraising campaign called ‘Menu for Hope’. Last year, they raised over $90K for the UN World Food Programme, the United Nations international food aid organization.This year the charity raffle goes until the 24th of December. They explain:
“Menu for Hope again raises funds for the WFP’s school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. This is the second year we are supporting this program, which assist the WFP’s efforts to supply the program by buying directly from local farmers who practice conservation farming methods. With this program, we help feed the kids (which keep them in school) and support their parents and community farming. This sustainable approach to aid is something we believe in and strongly support.”
Together they’ve whipped up a delectable list of amazing food related prizes for this raffle: Click here to view the list of all the prizes. Every US$10 donation will buy you one virtual raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on December 11th, 2008
The San Francisco Chronicle today reports that President-elect Barack Obama received a letter from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse;
volunteering her services - and those of Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl and New York Union Square restaurateur Danny Meyer - to be the first couple’s informal “kitchen cabinet” on all things culinary, from recommendations for a new White House chef to overseeing the creation of a sustainable, organic kitchen garden on the White House lawn.
In the letter, sent the day after the election, Waters wrote passionately:
At this moment you have a unique opportunity to set the tone for the changes we need to make in the way our country feeds itself. The purity and wholesomeness of your campaign can find a parallel in the purity and wholesomeness of the food at America’s most visible and symbolic address: the White House.
If the President-elect wants “real” change, he needs to take it slow - the Slow Food Movement that is.
image credit: cfishy, YesWeCanTwo, under an Attribution License
Published on November 24th, 2008
I am a commissioner on the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, an industry-funded agency and part of the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Commission Program. Among our other responsibilities to the fishing fleet, we have been charged with the enhancement of the image of the Dungeness crab industry, and to increase opportunities for profitability through promotion, education and research.
An additional requirement is the sustainability of the industry as a whole. The Oregon Dungeness crab fishery is one of the most sustainable fisheries and the most valuable ’single-species’ fishery in Oregon. The issues of Wave Energy development along with the proposed Marine Reserves off of the Oregon coast have prompted the fishing industries to make sure our concerns are heard and taken into account.
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Published on November 19th, 2008
Granted, food lovers tend to migrate toward cookbooks as their foodie literature of choice. But, particularly amidst today’s economic gloom, it’s good to keep a well-balanced diet and chew on some advice about navigating the turbulent times that lie ahead.
New York homesteader and writer Sharon Astyk delivers such inspirational, nutritional nuggets in her new book, Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front (New Society Publishers). The subtitle describes her true calling: One Woman’s Solutions to Finding Abundance for your Family while Coming to Terms with Peak Oil, Climate Change and Hard Times.
Astyk draws on her academic background and ideas developed on her prolific, widely-read blog to offer a reality check on the tough times to come: It will get worse before it gets better and she had the numbers and analysis to prove it. This book takes local, seasonal and organic eating a step further into the future – what happens when peak oil hits, everyone is homebound and farmers markets and retail in general dry up while we weather the crisis? Read the rest of this entry »
Published on November 14th, 2008
As a former restaurateur, I have always been appalled, even disgusted, at those restaurant/food blogs that feel it is their need to consistently obsess over the demises of a local entrepreneurs hard earned business. Why must we always rubberneck and concentrate on the negatives? With the state of the restaurant biz these days, do we need 5 posts-a-day on which chef is going to layoff more staff or who is about to bounce paychecks? Is this how people get their kicks?
With that mindset, I was pleasantly surprised, almost overjoyed, when Eater.com posted the following notice on Tuesday, November 11, 2008,
An emergency meeting of the Deathwatch Committee was called earlier today, with the upshot being that the Deathwatch has been suspended until further notice (but absolutely not-no way in hell-permanently). In its stead, Eater will be bringing you some new features in the coming weeks, one of which shall be called Rally Cry, which has you nominating restaurants we then collectively try to save.
The point is that we know that you know that we know that we’re all in this together. We’ve got no love for a scenario with fewer great restaurants to obsess over, so here’s us doing our part.
Two thumbs-up and a big “tip-of-the-hat”, thank you Stephen Colbert. After all, the word sustainable means “the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely.” Or at least long enough to get our fill.
Wendell Berry once proclaimed: “Eating is an agricultural act.” In this spirit, recipes can serve a broader purpose than just a means to filling our stomachs at mealtime. Think of recipes as edible blueprints for change. Think of the whole culinary process, from ingredient selection to end result, as an opportunity to showcase how our individual food choices can help both our nation and the world cultivate self-reliance through sustainable agriculture by focusing on what’s local and seasonal.
