so I'm feeling sorry for all these folks who don't eat any grains at all.
I've just been exploring the Oldways http://oldwayspt.org/ website, something I'd missed somehow, and found this offer a day for September
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/get-involved/celebrate-whole-grains-month-in-september/deal-of-the-day
A couple of questions arise.
Why is there no diet pyramid for northern Europeans? Surely there are traditional ways of eating from which we could benefit? More small oily fish and rye bread for me.
And why do people keep calling quinoa and its cousins grains? They aren't, though they do fill that niche in the diet. But so does taro (poi) and I don't hear anyone promoting that - except among native Hawaiians.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Is August 15 the degree of food?
Julia Child would have been 100 today. It's always interested me that she and I shared a birthday. Makes me think about an astrology book I had once that assigned a meaning to every one of the days in the year. Surely August 15 is food?
I chatted with niece Pam today, we sang happy birthday to one another, and we talked about what is growing in our gardens and what we made with it for lunch and dinner!
The symposium remembering Julia at my alma mater will be closer to what would have been my mother's 100th birthday, in September. (My mother was another great inspiration for my life in the kitchen.) Brava to the Radcliffe Institute for streaming more of its fora. Here's the bumpf:
http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2012-siting-julia
And the keynote is by another 1968 grad, Laura Shapiro.
And I'm not going to tell anyone how many times I have watched this:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2267156929/
I chatted with niece Pam today, we sang happy birthday to one another, and we talked about what is growing in our gardens and what we made with it for lunch and dinner!
The symposium remembering Julia at my alma mater will be closer to what would have been my mother's 100th birthday, in September. (My mother was another great inspiration for my life in the kitchen.) Brava to the Radcliffe Institute for streaming more of its fora. Here's the bumpf:
http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2012-siting-julia
And the keynote is by another 1968 grad, Laura Shapiro.
And I'm not going to tell anyone how many times I have watched this:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2267156929/
Sonoma Valley Gleaning Project Launch
Our first meeting of gleaners and organizers on Monday evening held a lot of promise. I might have wished for another half dozen people, but those we had have all kinds of tentacles into the wider community: sustainability and relocalization groups, gardeners and food preservers, local politics. Stay tuned.
Very sweet potatoes
It didn't take genetic engineering or charities doling out vitamin pills for children in Mozambique and Uganda to get more Vitamin A in their diets. It just took introducing a tasty crop similar to one people already grew and ate - orange fleshed sweet potatoes as opposed to pale ones - and working the women's networks with a fun campaign (theatre and song) to promote it.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/npr.php?id=158783117
The results are truly remarkable. Two thirds of the households targeted adopted OFSP.
http://www.harvestplus.org/sites/default/files/HarvestPlus_OFSP_Infographic_web%28withlinks%29.pdf
It all made me think about my tree collard - another good source of Vitamin A that's easy to grow in mild climates and provides a continuous supply of greens under tough conditions.
Golden rice was never necessary, except in the minds of some bio-engineers with messianic longings. How often the best solution is the simplest and the closest.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/npr.php?id=158783117
The results are truly remarkable. Two thirds of the households targeted adopted OFSP.
http://www.harvestplus.org/sites/default/files/HarvestPlus_OFSP_Infographic_web%28withlinks%29.pdf
It all made me think about my tree collard - another good source of Vitamin A that's easy to grow in mild climates and provides a continuous supply of greens under tough conditions.
Golden rice was never necessary, except in the minds of some bio-engineers with messianic longings. How often the best solution is the simplest and the closest.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Let the gleans begin
It seems strange that the title of this blog finally has a solid referent. Last Thursday I picked up bags of gravenstein apples from a backyard in Temelec and took them to the Teen Center in the Springs - the first actual traffic in produce for the Sonoma Valley Gleaning Project. We are having our orientation for gleaners Monday evening, August 13 at 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Church in Sonoma. Woo-hoo!
BTW - the Valley of the Moon Teen Center is a great place. Very responsive to the needs and interests of the youth it serves. They have a small commercial kitchen, and a young woman, with a little help from the boys who were at the center that afternoon, was making brownies on contract for the Impact 100 luncheon the next day. The baking program is called "Lovin' Oven". http://www.svteens.org/programs/ They may do a preserving workshop this fall, and I hope there is a way we can hook up interest at Trinity with the Teen Center.
BTW - the Valley of the Moon Teen Center is a great place. Very responsive to the needs and interests of the youth it serves. They have a small commercial kitchen, and a young woman, with a little help from the boys who were at the center that afternoon, was making brownies on contract for the Impact 100 luncheon the next day. The baking program is called "Lovin' Oven". http://www.svteens.org/programs/ They may do a preserving workshop this fall, and I hope there is a way we can hook up interest at Trinity with the Teen Center.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
And the busy season has just begun
I've been too busy doing food system to write about it, it seems. The week of the 15th I had four meetings - the Food System Alliance, the Food System Alliance Policy Committee, the Community Garden Network, and our leadership group for the Sonoma Valley Gleaning Project.
I've just about finished the executive summary of our Sonoma County Food Action Plan, and sent off my food system news for the monthly parish newsletter. Tomorrow I need to turn to more work on the release forms and some other handouts for the Gleaning Project. Oh - and an edit of the policy and procedures document for the Committee of the Community Garden Network.
I somehow thought I had a week without meetings beginning today, but we are finally having the first meeting of the advisory board for the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative on Tuesday. So writing, one meeting, and some calls to locate where our first official glean will be are on the agenda for this week.
Yesterday I took the day off and traveled to Laytonville for a birthday party. Wouldn't you know I fell into conversation about the weather with a stranger and turned out to be talking to a fabulous gardener from Laughing Frog Farm. Here's her web site http://www.laughingfrogfarm.net/
I look forward to seeing her again and talking tomatoes at the Heirloom Festival in September.
Meanwhile the garden is producing - four kinds of tomatoes, three of summer squash, peppers, basil, and beans, which went in late, are just about ready to yield their first green fruit. Two weeks ago I got some inexpensive stone fruit at the end of the Friday farmers' market in Sonoma, and have produced three batches of jam: plum, mixed tree fruit, and the dark fruits of summer (plum-bing cherry-blackberry). The blackberries aren't great this year - not enough spring rain means smaller, seedier fruit - but what's there are ripening, and they are free.
I love canning, and we'll be doing some preserving parties at Trinity, to share the knowledge. Zucchini pickles are scheduled for our first workshop on August 11. Zucchini - a sign of God's Extravagant Generosity!
I've just about finished the executive summary of our Sonoma County Food Action Plan, and sent off my food system news for the monthly parish newsletter. Tomorrow I need to turn to more work on the release forms and some other handouts for the Gleaning Project. Oh - and an edit of the policy and procedures document for the Committee of the Community Garden Network.
I somehow thought I had a week without meetings beginning today, but we are finally having the first meeting of the advisory board for the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative on Tuesday. So writing, one meeting, and some calls to locate where our first official glean will be are on the agenda for this week.
Yesterday I took the day off and traveled to Laytonville for a birthday party. Wouldn't you know I fell into conversation about the weather with a stranger and turned out to be talking to a fabulous gardener from Laughing Frog Farm. Here's her web site http://www.laughingfrogfarm.net/
I look forward to seeing her again and talking tomatoes at the Heirloom Festival in September.
Meanwhile the garden is producing - four kinds of tomatoes, three of summer squash, peppers, basil, and beans, which went in late, are just about ready to yield their first green fruit. Two weeks ago I got some inexpensive stone fruit at the end of the Friday farmers' market in Sonoma, and have produced three batches of jam: plum, mixed tree fruit, and the dark fruits of summer (plum-bing cherry-blackberry). The blackberries aren't great this year - not enough spring rain means smaller, seedier fruit - but what's there are ripening, and they are free.
I love canning, and we'll be doing some preserving parties at Trinity, to share the knowledge. Zucchini pickles are scheduled for our first workshop on August 11. Zucchini - a sign of God's Extravagant Generosity!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Percentiles anyone?
I'm way behind in getting some things up on this blog, but here's a quick and fun way to get a picture of how you fit in globally - or perhaps how fit you are?
BMI has limited uses, I think, and can be misleading, but using this tool
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18770328
you can calculate yours and compare it with others of your sex and age in your country and around the world.
Some things were as I might have expected, in terms of which countries have the highest BMIs among women of a certain age. Others were surprising. Without disclosing any of the numbers, who knew that I would fit right in in Malta? On the other hand, I've always said that if I were anything other than Northern European descent, I'd wannabe a Polynesian.
BMI has limited uses, I think, and can be misleading, but using this tool
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18770328
you can calculate yours and compare it with others of your sex and age in your country and around the world.
Some things were as I might have expected, in terms of which countries have the highest BMIs among women of a certain age. Others were surprising. Without disclosing any of the numbers, who knew that I would fit right in in Malta? On the other hand, I've always said that if I were anything other than Northern European descent, I'd wannabe a Polynesian.
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