Well, I don't drink much anymore, and I'm really having to pace my gardening and botanizing given my beleaguered joints, but I really want to read The Drunken Botanist:
http://www.npr.org/books/titles/174632411/the-drunken-botanist-the-plants-that-created-the-worlds-great-drinks?tab=excerpt#excerpt
I recently read Amy Stewart's The Earth Moved as part of my education about soil formation, and it was so well-written it could hold the interest of even the worm squeamish and the dirt phobic.
Now a chance to bring together two life long interests in reading her most recent oeuvre. Perhaps a pleasure of ageing is that if you can't do it, you have more time and energy to read about it!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Environmentally wise isn't necessarily healthful
...not when multiple tablespoons of fat are in a food with no redeeming nutritional value.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/a-healthier-doughnut-at-least-environmentally/?smid=fb-share
Everyone knows the story by now. When trans fats (hydrogenated oils as in margarine) were removed from prepared foods, manufacturers turned to the vegetable fats which are solid at room temperature naturally. Palm oil use sky-rocketed, and rainforests were destroyed at alarming rates to make way for oil palm plantations. Orangutans were endangered with habitat loss, and green house gases increased.
Now, at the behest of a stock holder, the New York State pension fund, Dunkin' Donuts has pledged to do something about this. Imagine, sustainably produced fats in your jelly doughnut! Along with the white flour, white sugar, and God-only-knows what else.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/a-healthier-doughnut-at-least-environmentally/?smid=fb-share
Everyone knows the story by now. When trans fats (hydrogenated oils as in margarine) were removed from prepared foods, manufacturers turned to the vegetable fats which are solid at room temperature naturally. Palm oil use sky-rocketed, and rainforests were destroyed at alarming rates to make way for oil palm plantations. Orangutans were endangered with habitat loss, and green house gases increased.
Now, at the behest of a stock holder, the New York State pension fund, Dunkin' Donuts has pledged to do something about this. Imagine, sustainably produced fats in your jelly doughnut! Along with the white flour, white sugar, and God-only-knows what else.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Did You Know it's IYQ?
http://www.fao.org/quinoa-2013/press-room/news/detail/en/
Because of it's nutritional value and adaptability to harsh climates (cold, sere, high altitudes), and because it is a traditional smallholder crop, quinoa is being promoted as a contributor to solving global hunger. The indigenous people of the Andes are to be thanked for developing and maintaining so many strains of quinoa over the last 7000 years, and now for sharing their traditions with the world's peoples.
Quinoa is not, as some people refer to it, a grain, though it has similar uses. It is a member of the family Amaranthaceae, genus Chenopodium. A related common edible weed (lamb's quarters or pigweed) grows around here, and a few other relatives are grown in gardens as hot weather spinach substitutes.
If my culinary Spanish were only a little better, I'd be trying a few items from this traditional Andean cookbook:
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/aiq2013/res/es/recetarioandino.pdf
Just beautiful!
Which leads me to say, I now know what inspired the incredibly bright colors of chullos (Andean earflap hats). It's the colors of their local quinoa and potatoes!
And finally, why Mr. Google, do you not have "quinoa" in your spell checker?
I know I saw a recipe for it in your employee dining room cookbook.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
An important project
The Sonoma Valley Grange is a partner in the Gleaning Project, and a host of the Brown Baggers' Wednesday hot lunch. They really need a new kitchen. And deserve one, too, as a community anchor.
http://www.sonomanews.com/News-2013/Putting-a-new-face-on-the-Grange/
There's something wrong with the fact that poverty in the Springs had to increase for the Grange to be eligible to get a grant to provide this important community facility. But I'm glad the project is going ahead, and that the word is out.
http://www.sonomanews.com/News-2013/Putting-a-new-face-on-the-Grange/
There's something wrong with the fact that poverty in the Springs had to increase for the Grange to be eligible to get a grant to provide this important community facility. But I'm glad the project is going ahead, and that the word is out.
keeping up with the links
Specifically this time, Christian Ecology Link, a British organization. Their LOAF campaign resources have been updated.
I like the idea of a LOAF bake-off some coffee hour - loaves of various sorts made following at least one of the Local, Organic, Animal friendly, Fair-traded principles, and labeled accordingly. I wonder if anyone at my parish could get behind organizing this, just for the fun and educational value of it, and so that those of us concerned with the sustainability of our food system are recognized as having fun with food, not just being cranky about how un-green others are?
http://www.greenchristian.org.uk/resources/loaf
I like the idea of a LOAF bake-off some coffee hour - loaves of various sorts made following at least one of the Local, Organic, Animal friendly, Fair-traded principles, and labeled accordingly. I wonder if anyone at my parish could get behind organizing this, just for the fun and educational value of it, and so that those of us concerned with the sustainability of our food system are recognized as having fun with food, not just being cranky about how un-green others are?
http://www.greenchristian.org.uk/resources/loaf
Getting even fishier
And if you think that pun is bad, there are even more in this article on fraud in seafood sales:
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/02/21/seafood-fraud-study/?hpt=hp_c2
Some learnings from this piece:
* It's not just low end joints, like fast food places, which practice seafood fraud; sushi restaurants are among the worst offenders.
* Mislabeling may affect health (allergies, mercury levels), environmental health (obviously), and the pocketbook (when cheaper species are substituted for and labeled as more expensive ones).
* What's sold as snapper might be anyone of 33 different species of fish, though there is also abundant mislabeling of tuna and cod.
Legislation is needed to coordinate and render effective efforts to increase traceability (the magic word in food safety these days).
In the meantime, here's some good consumer advice from the last paragraph of the article: "[Beth Lowell of the ocean conservation group Oceana] recommends that consumers empower themselves by purchasing whole fish, which are easier to identify, and not trusting prices that seem too good to be true. She also encourages asking questions of fish vendors, such as what kind of fish it is, whether it was wild-caught or farm-raised and where, when and how the fish was caught. Even raising the question will alert the sales staff that consumers are interested in where their food comes from - and that they won’t settle for anything fishy."
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/02/21/seafood-fraud-study/?hpt=hp_c2
Some learnings from this piece:
* It's not just low end joints, like fast food places, which practice seafood fraud; sushi restaurants are among the worst offenders.
* Mislabeling may affect health (allergies, mercury levels), environmental health (obviously), and the pocketbook (when cheaper species are substituted for and labeled as more expensive ones).
* What's sold as snapper might be anyone of 33 different species of fish, though there is also abundant mislabeling of tuna and cod.
Legislation is needed to coordinate and render effective efforts to increase traceability (the magic word in food safety these days).
In the meantime, here's some good consumer advice from the last paragraph of the article: "[Beth Lowell of the ocean conservation group Oceana] recommends that consumers empower themselves by purchasing whole fish, which are easier to identify, and not trusting prices that seem too good to be true. She also encourages asking questions of fish vendors, such as what kind of fish it is, whether it was wild-caught or farm-raised and where, when and how the fish was caught. Even raising the question will alert the sales staff that consumers are interested in where their food comes from - and that they won’t settle for anything fishy."
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
O Cod, what's a person to do?
Three strands have come together here, causing my need to say something, though I am not sure just what.
Late last month I read an article in the NY Times about even more restrictions on cod fishing in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. The inexpensive fish of my youth (in Massachusetts) is on the verge of extinction. Even the fishers who resist the new lower catch limits admit that they aren't coming close to catching the current limits. You can read that whole story here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/us/officials-back-deep-cuts-in-atlantic-cod-harvest-to-save-industry.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Then a couple of days ago I saw a still ad on the corner of a web page for Carl's Jr Atlantic cod sandwich. I don't eat at Carl's Jr. - well, I don't eat fast food, but even if I did the political history of this outlet's owner would keep me away. But I wasn't surprised that they were promoting something from a threatened fishery.
I should have stopped there, but today I pursued more information, and turned up the ad campaign for this item - the basic simulated sex approach which this purveyor of fast food is famous for. You can Google it yourself if you want you to see a model 5 lbs away from emaciation except for her breasts having sex with a sandwich. I'm sure I am the only person who has looked at the sandwich, but the grilled cod is golden yellow - and frankly, all the cod I've ever cooked was white. Hmmm. Who even knows if this is cod? And if it's Atlantic cod, why was the photo shoot done in Hawaii? I suppose aging New England fisherman don't sell food to teenagers.
Another interesting twist - the print ad copy promotes the sandwich as a low calorie (the fish is grilled) treat for Lent. Okay - why not kick off Lent with sex and fast food?
This morning NPR featured a story on the Marine Stewardship Council - and the unreliability of their ratings of seafood as from sustainable fisheries.
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/12/171376617/conditions-allow-for-more-sustainable-labeled-seafood
I do wonder about this from time to time. So I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch and looked up Atlantic cod. It turns out that most of the Atlantic cod sold in the U.S. actually comes from the waters off Iceland and the Arctic Ocean off northern Norway and Russia. Line caught cod from there is given the green "best choice" rating.
But how do you know where the fish is from when you buy your sexy sandwich at Carl's Jr.? Is the minimum wage clerk there going to tell you? Does even a supervisor or somebody a few more rings up the corporate ladder know? And how does a fast food joint, where price is everything, afford sustainably harvested fish when I rarely do?
And then, to top it all off, Seafood Watch cites the MSC as its authority.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=14
Late last month I read an article in the NY Times about even more restrictions on cod fishing in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. The inexpensive fish of my youth (in Massachusetts) is on the verge of extinction. Even the fishers who resist the new lower catch limits admit that they aren't coming close to catching the current limits. You can read that whole story here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/us/officials-back-deep-cuts-in-atlantic-cod-harvest-to-save-industry.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Then a couple of days ago I saw a still ad on the corner of a web page for Carl's Jr Atlantic cod sandwich. I don't eat at Carl's Jr. - well, I don't eat fast food, but even if I did the political history of this outlet's owner would keep me away. But I wasn't surprised that they were promoting something from a threatened fishery.
I should have stopped there, but today I pursued more information, and turned up the ad campaign for this item - the basic simulated sex approach which this purveyor of fast food is famous for. You can Google it yourself if you want you to see a model 5 lbs away from emaciation except for her breasts having sex with a sandwich. I'm sure I am the only person who has looked at the sandwich, but the grilled cod is golden yellow - and frankly, all the cod I've ever cooked was white. Hmmm. Who even knows if this is cod? And if it's Atlantic cod, why was the photo shoot done in Hawaii? I suppose aging New England fisherman don't sell food to teenagers.
Another interesting twist - the print ad copy promotes the sandwich as a low calorie (the fish is grilled) treat for Lent. Okay - why not kick off Lent with sex and fast food?
This morning NPR featured a story on the Marine Stewardship Council - and the unreliability of their ratings of seafood as from sustainable fisheries.
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/12/171376617/conditions-allow-for-more-sustainable-labeled-seafood
I do wonder about this from time to time. So I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch and looked up Atlantic cod. It turns out that most of the Atlantic cod sold in the U.S. actually comes from the waters off Iceland and the Arctic Ocean off northern Norway and Russia. Line caught cod from there is given the green "best choice" rating.
But how do you know where the fish is from when you buy your sexy sandwich at Carl's Jr.? Is the minimum wage clerk there going to tell you? Does even a supervisor or somebody a few more rings up the corporate ladder know? And how does a fast food joint, where price is everything, afford sustainably harvested fish when I rarely do?
And then, to top it all off, Seafood Watch cites the MSC as its authority.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=14
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