Ten commandments?

Earlier this month I found The Ten Commandments of Food as adopted by the World Council of Churches.

https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/rev-dr-olav-fykse-tveits-address-to-the-seminar-on-food-and-water-for-life-hong-king-4-may-2019/ 

Ten is a lot to remember, isn't it? I didn't go to the sort of Sunday School where we memorized the original ten, though I do think if someone quizzed me on what is or isn't included in them, I'd probably do well. Memorizing is a lot harder now at my advanced age, so a list of three or four things is a lot easier to handle. That's probably why I like LOAF. (See the link on the right.)

On the other hand, this list of ten includes references to scripture, and thus could be a great framework for study. It also includes that all important happy item at number ten: 
Rejoice and share the sacred gift of food with all.

Lessons from Jose Andres

Listening to this while driving to Trader Joe's today
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/05/23/jose-andres-vegetables-unleashed-cookbook
made me think I ought to post a few reflections inspired by Jose Andres.

I still find myself recommending his book We Fed an Island. Yesterday I was chatting with a colleague who is involved in continuing ministry to those who suffered and were displaced by the Camp Fire. We shared stories about emergency food. I asked if she'd heard of the book; she hadn't. It's an easy read, one I wish everyone involved with emergency food would peruse. At the very least, those of us whose efforts have been frustrated by Big Relief would find a friend in this humanitarian chef.

Did you know that Andres now has a chain of plant-centered fast food restaurants? They are called Beefsteak http://beefsteakveggies.com/who-we-are/, for his favorite sandwich, with a fat juicy slice of beefsteak tomato at it's heart. In the ten minute segment today, he opines that "if we want to feed the world, vegetables are going to need to be at the center of the plate."

This made me think about "plant-based" diets, because the term is usually applied to diets that are exclusively plants (or really plants and fungi), that is, vegan. What can we call our diets when they are mostly plants, but not exclusively? Vegetarian is kind of a tired term, I think, and is based on omitting some foods from one's diet. Plant-centric seems clear, but a little technical. I'm going to start using "plant rich."

The segment ends with some political musing. And I think I've found, from Chef Jose Andres, my new tagline:
"Make America better, one plate of food at a time."

A New Look - and less wonky sidebars

Well, I've just finished a tour de links and cleaned things up a bit.
I realized in doing so that I have many more links on extra food which I could have posted, but most  can be found through the Sonoma County Food Recovery Coalition web pages, and the link is on the right.
"Extra food" is a much better way of saying food waste. We decided in our Coalition that it should only be called food waste if it ends up in the landfill. If it can be shared with people, fed to animals, or composted, it isn't waste. Our little group here in Sonoma County includes representatives from gleaning groups, food justice organizations, cooperative extension, environmental health, and waste management - and a pig farmer.

Next steps

will be to clean up the side bars. Stay tuned.

Time to revive this blog?

I seem to be hearing and reading a lot these days about the green new deal and how it relates - or doesn't - to agriculture and the food system. The current environmental crisis is not about only greenhouse gases and climate change. A systems approach is clearly needed. One that integrates global vision with local wisdom; one that has room for knowledge from science, critical use of technology, and agroecological principles; one that considers access to land, fair wages, and better diets for the world's poor.
This article from Nature makes some good points and raises some questions.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01420-2?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=453877cf49-briefing-dy-20190508&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-453877cf49-43518605