Maximize the minimal

It's been a very busy month, leaving me wondered if retired means tired all over again.

This morning, while thinking about the days ahead when I have less teaching to do, and no commutes to Berkeley for a while, I sat down here and decided to catch up on news feeds and the spam blasts about food issues which I really do like to read when I have the time.

So I learned that the weekly Minimalist columns have come to an end. I feel like Mark Bittman has become a friend, so I was happy to read in his farewell
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/dining/26mini.html
that he will still be writing for the NYTimes Sunday magazine, and continuing his advocacy for good, accessible home cooking and a healthy planetary food system.

Perhaps I'll find some more time this weekend to review the Bittman opus and do my take on his greatest hits, but right off the top I'd say it's the more vegetables less egg frittata. When you have a garden with some kind of greens year round and friends with chickens (who've been having their winter break of late, alas - the chickens, not the friends) nothing could be more healthful, local, tasty and quick.

See highlights and search all the columns here:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/diningandwine/columns/the_minimalist/index.html

Who owns your breakfast?

and lunch and dinner?

I got an email today from Donnalee asking about corporate takeovers of organic food brands.

With a little surfing I found these maps again:

https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/organicindustry.html

Scroll down to the fourth diagram to see the hold outs. I am happy to say that I eat a lot of meals with Bob, Nancy and the Lundberg family.

The Year in Review

Why have I been away for a while? Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I do know that the emotional effort involved in taking retirement was much more than I bargained for.

Here's a photo summary of my life with food in 2010.


No, I didn't move the sign - the squash just grew.

The highlight of harvest time was participating

in a Slow Food gleaning day.

My tree collard just keeps on chugging. Right now, at Christmastide, it is the most conspicuous edible in the garden.

the dollar menu

More photo awareness.

The Value of a Dollar project was Jonathan Blaustein's attempt to show just how much of various foods a dollar can by.

So what'll it be? a double cheeseburger at McDonald's, a week's supply of lunchtime ramen, or 10 organic blueberries?

If you were hungry and counting your pennies, which would you choose?

http://www.jonathanblaustein.com/Portfolio.cfm?nK=8375

Seasonal news

Seems like news features at this time of year focus on two themes: indigenous peoples of the Americas, and FOOD.

Yesterday's California Report on public radio included a nice little story on seed saving, promoting it among backyard gardeners, descrying its decline in commercial agriculture.

I was mightily impressed by Richmond Grows seed catalog.
http://www.richmondgrows.org/
and it gave me an idea which should have been obvious - take pictures of the produce from which you save seed. I take enough pictures in the garden as it is, but I hadn't thought of it as a way to record selection of, say lettuce, over a series of seasons.

You can listen to the radio story here:
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201011191630/b
and link through to their pictures.

This was so much more interesting than another cranberry or pumpkin recipe - not that I have anything against my favorite fall fruit and veg...

of course food matters

Mark Bittman has been touring, promoting his new book, the Food Matters recipe collection. Interesting to learn that he was, before becoming a food writer, a community organizer, and has a sense of returning to a role as advocate - this time for food choices that are better for personal and planetary health.

There's a good conversation between Mark and Michael Krasny of KQED here

http://www.kqed.com/a/forum/201010271000

It includes some helpful audience comments, and some that are pure baloney and food fetishism.

People really do seem to prefer to attribute magical qualities to food, rather than using some science mixed with common sense. I do think that Bittman has his priorities in order.

Waste Not

Some weeks ago I read the book Waste by Tristram Stuart, and went around appalled at what I'd learned, wanting to ask questions everywhere and of everybody about food waste.

It influenced the handout I prepared for 10.10.10 on climate change and the food system. In my thinking it was no longer about whether you overfilled the teakettle when you set it on the burner to heat, but about the impact of over buying, over preparing and the waste that ensues, on the generation of GHGs.

I wanted to go into every food related business and ask hard questions. I actually did ask about composting at my market. And I even had to repress some urges to start dumpster diving. (Because I knew if I dove in, I probably wouldn't be able to get out - limber not being my middle name now, if it ever was...)

And, of course, I started spouting uncalled for remarks, citing glaring statistics.

Stuart has a way of doing the math and then some. For example, waste of grains in their various forms and at all levels in the US and UK would provide enough to supply the additional calories needed by the more than 1 billion hungry on earth. Not that we would ship our leftovers, but that if we waste less through buying less more grain would be left on the world market for others.

I even liked some of the retail gimmicks which Stuart referred to. How about restaurants giving smaller portions for the same price they charge now, but offering seconds to those who really are that hungry? or fining people who don't clean their plates and giving the money to a development organization? And there's the supermarket chain home economist giving tips on how to use your leftovers.

I'm resisting giving the lengthy detailed quotes here, but encourage reading the book. Stuart is UK based, but there is plenty of information about the US food system, too, and helpful charts and appendices. But it's probably not a good idea immediately after reading this to go to an ungreen potluck, or go to a restaurant where all portions are supersized, or even eat at the home of friends who don't share your sensibilities as an ecotarian. You'll be looking at all that food very differently.