Monday, July 30, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Here's an article I wish I'd have written about cooking every day for a family
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/dining/11batt.html?ex=1341892800&en=6131420c09d75726&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
This article speaks volumes about preparing ahead, making simple things like roasted chicken, rice and greens ready to work with ahead of time, cutting out labor and effort to feed a family real food. Hats off to an easy to read how to.
This article speaks volumes about preparing ahead, making simple things like roasted chicken, rice and greens ready to work with ahead of time, cutting out labor and effort to feed a family real food. Hats off to an easy to read how to.
Advertising Junk Food Makes for Heavier Kids
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118402733235161571.html
It doesn't take much arguing to determine that kids who sit in front of the television and watch junk food ads will most likely crave and ask for the food they see advertised on television. This end result can be seen on America's playgrounds as the incidence of childhood obesity increases exponentially.
Let's start going after the food manufacturers to stop making kids think that action heroes and cartoon characters have anything to do with food. Food does not come in neon green, royal blue and pink.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no purist, but food coloring and additives are one of the reasons kids have a problem with the color and taste of REAL food.
It doesn't take much arguing to determine that kids who sit in front of the television and watch junk food ads will most likely crave and ask for the food they see advertised on television. This end result can be seen on America's playgrounds as the incidence of childhood obesity increases exponentially.
Let's start going after the food manufacturers to stop making kids think that action heroes and cartoon characters have anything to do with food. Food does not come in neon green, royal blue and pink.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no purist, but food coloring and additives are one of the reasons kids have a problem with the color and taste of REAL food.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Been away a long time...
Thoughts on food abound. Always. What to cook. Who to feed? How to cook it? Who to include in the meal? The more the merrier.
That is what food is all about. Bringing people together. And aahing over the taste. And looking at the colors and smelling the smells. Food for the sake of being grateful to have the choice, the selection and the availability to relish real, good food.
It doesn't take much to make a meal from scratch. Just some time, some effort, some taste buds and curiosity.
Try to cook fish this week that you normally wouldn't cook yourself. Look up recipes to help with the preparation.
Tackle a vegetable that you don't know much about. Go to a farmers market and ask a farmer how to cook it.
Introduce your spouse/girlfriend/child/friend to an exotic food item that you know they've never tried.
Try a restaurant that you've never been to before.
Step outside your comfort zone and see how much fun exploring the world of food is. Your taste buds will thank you.
That is what food is all about. Bringing people together. And aahing over the taste. And looking at the colors and smelling the smells. Food for the sake of being grateful to have the choice, the selection and the availability to relish real, good food.
It doesn't take much to make a meal from scratch. Just some time, some effort, some taste buds and curiosity.
Try to cook fish this week that you normally wouldn't cook yourself. Look up recipes to help with the preparation.
Tackle a vegetable that you don't know much about. Go to a farmers market and ask a farmer how to cook it.
Introduce your spouse/girlfriend/child/friend to an exotic food item that you know they've never tried.
Try a restaurant that you've never been to before.
Step outside your comfort zone and see how much fun exploring the world of food is. Your taste buds will thank you.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
David and Goliath Meet in the Garden
A recent court case involving MiracleGro and TerraCycle is a perfect example of an already established corporation overstepping its turf and trying to shut out the small guy. TerraCycle, which was started by a former Princeton University student, is a growing business based on fertilizer made from worm poop! Yes, worm poop. And it has no chemical products in it.
Check out this link to hear about this court case and to understand what is going on in the world of plant fertilizers.
http://www.suedbyscotts.com/
Check out this link to hear about this court case and to understand what is going on in the world of plant fertilizers.
http://www.suedbyscotts.com/
Thursday, May 17, 2007
How to Start a Food Co-op
Came across this in the Organic Consumers' Association E-Newsletter, which is full of interesting stuff. The manual is a rich resource for any person or community of people thinking about starting a food co-op but not knowing where to start. Just as starting a farmers' market takes time, it appears that starting a cooperative is even more arduous as the planning needs to start from the seed of thought...WHY do you want to start a food co-operative?
http://www.cgin.coop/manual.pdf
http://www.cgin.coop/manual.pdf
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The 2007 Farm Bill-Baltimore Sun OpEd
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.farmbill01may01,0,7723204.story
The USDA's unhealthful budget
By Scott Kahan
Originally published May 1, 2007
A long-running contradiction in U.S. farm policy is fattening the waistlines of Americans and the profits of agribusiness at the same time. For the 30 years that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been issuing dietary guidelines, there has been a stark inconsistency between the federal government's advice and its food funding.
True, the USDA has been doing more, over time, to promote health through dietary guidelines, food pyramids and other nutrition programs. And yet more than $20 billion yearly - more than one-fifth its budget - is sunk into a farm bill that supports many of the foods its recommendations warn against. At the same time, the department virtually ignores incentives to produce, promote and consume some of the healthiest foods: fruits and vegetables.
This contradiction may play a role in today's obesity epidemic and is in part driven by a counterintuitive farm policy, highlighted by the farm bill, which is up for renewal this year in Congress. This legislation began during the Depression to protect farmers against environmental disasters and plummeting crop prices but has evolved into a massive program of handouts, largely benefiting agribusinesses. Worse, it promotes vast overproduction of crops that are the building blocks of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor, processed junk foods. It has become a "food bill."
For a half-century, the farm bill served farmers and the public well by regulating supply and stabilizing food prices. In 1973, it was overhauled to significantly increase crop production. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the U.S. food supply has since ballooned by 500 calories per person per day, and per capita food consumption has increased by more than 200 calories per day - the equivalent of more than 20 pounds of fat per year.
This mammoth oversupply would be less egregious if it were spread equally among the food groups. Instead, most funding supports just a few crops, and those lay the foundation of the standard American diet: high in sugars and empty-calorie, refined grains; high in fats; low in whole grains and fiber; and low in fruits and vegetables.
Take corn, the most highly subsidized crop, which received $9.4 billion in 2005 - nearly as much as all other crops combined. Corn production has more than doubled since the 1970s, and all this artificially cheapened corn is unloaded on the public, largely in the form of tasty but empty-calorie junk foods. Refined corn is the chief source of carbohydrates and calories in most processed foods, particularly snack foods. High-fructose corn syrup is the most widely used caloric sweetener in the United States. And corn meal is widely used as cheap animal feed to fatten factory-raised livestock.
Another example is soybeans, the fourth-most-subsidized crop. Although soy protein is a healthful meat substitute, soybeans are more commonly used in junk foods. Soybean oil accounts for 75 percent of the fat in processed foods and is commonly hydrogenated to create trans fats, which improve shelf life but are known to cause cardiovascular disease.
In contrast, healthful foods are grossly underfunded. USDA guidelines advise that fruits and vegetables make up at least one-third of daily intake, but just 5 percent of its food funding supports the fruit and vegetable industries. There is virtually no funding for public education and advertising encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption. At its peak, the "Five-a-day" campaign budget was just $3 million annually - compared with the $11 billion spent yearly in the United States for fast food and junk food advertising. McDonald's spent $500 million just promoting its "We Love To See You Smile" campaign.
This is one reason Americans don't eat fruits and vegetables. Although some surveys suggest we eat about four servings daily, this number is greatly exaggerated because French fries and potato chips are counted the same as spinach, carrots or broccoli. In fact, 25 percent of vegetables consumed in the United States are fried potatoes, making the daily consumption of healthful fruits and vegetables closer to two servings - and possibly lower in children and inner-city populations.
Farm policy is an ideal avenue to address the obesity epidemic at its roots.
As Congress considers this year's farm bill, it should rework the legislation so it meets the needs of today's food consumers, not agribusiness. The new farm bill should significantly shift funding to improve the availability, affordability and promotion of fruits, vegetables and other healthful foods.
In particular, it should include targeted investments to fruit and vegetable growers to increase the availability of fresh produce, support for the new "Fruits & Veggies - More Matters" initiative, expansion of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program to all 50 states to promote the eating of fruits and vegetables in schools, creation of incentives for fresh fruit and vegetable purchases in the Food Stamp program, and support for organic farming.
These steps could signal that our government is ready to lead the fight against obesity and diet-related chronic disease by nurturing the health-conscious lifestyle it advocates by its dietary guidelines.
Scott Kahan is a physician and postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University. He has published 13 books on medicine and nutrition. His e-mail is scott.kahan@iebn.org. Roni Neff, research director for the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, contributed to this article.
The USDA's unhealthful budget
By Scott Kahan
Originally published May 1, 2007
A long-running contradiction in U.S. farm policy is fattening the waistlines of Americans and the profits of agribusiness at the same time. For the 30 years that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been issuing dietary guidelines, there has been a stark inconsistency between the federal government's advice and its food funding.
True, the USDA has been doing more, over time, to promote health through dietary guidelines, food pyramids and other nutrition programs. And yet more than $20 billion yearly - more than one-fifth its budget - is sunk into a farm bill that supports many of the foods its recommendations warn against. At the same time, the department virtually ignores incentives to produce, promote and consume some of the healthiest foods: fruits and vegetables.
This contradiction may play a role in today's obesity epidemic and is in part driven by a counterintuitive farm policy, highlighted by the farm bill, which is up for renewal this year in Congress. This legislation began during the Depression to protect farmers against environmental disasters and plummeting crop prices but has evolved into a massive program of handouts, largely benefiting agribusinesses. Worse, it promotes vast overproduction of crops that are the building blocks of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor, processed junk foods. It has become a "food bill."
For a half-century, the farm bill served farmers and the public well by regulating supply and stabilizing food prices. In 1973, it was overhauled to significantly increase crop production. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the U.S. food supply has since ballooned by 500 calories per person per day, and per capita food consumption has increased by more than 200 calories per day - the equivalent of more than 20 pounds of fat per year.
This mammoth oversupply would be less egregious if it were spread equally among the food groups. Instead, most funding supports just a few crops, and those lay the foundation of the standard American diet: high in sugars and empty-calorie, refined grains; high in fats; low in whole grains and fiber; and low in fruits and vegetables.
Take corn, the most highly subsidized crop, which received $9.4 billion in 2005 - nearly as much as all other crops combined. Corn production has more than doubled since the 1970s, and all this artificially cheapened corn is unloaded on the public, largely in the form of tasty but empty-calorie junk foods. Refined corn is the chief source of carbohydrates and calories in most processed foods, particularly snack foods. High-fructose corn syrup is the most widely used caloric sweetener in the United States. And corn meal is widely used as cheap animal feed to fatten factory-raised livestock.
Another example is soybeans, the fourth-most-subsidized crop. Although soy protein is a healthful meat substitute, soybeans are more commonly used in junk foods. Soybean oil accounts for 75 percent of the fat in processed foods and is commonly hydrogenated to create trans fats, which improve shelf life but are known to cause cardiovascular disease.
In contrast, healthful foods are grossly underfunded. USDA guidelines advise that fruits and vegetables make up at least one-third of daily intake, but just 5 percent of its food funding supports the fruit and vegetable industries. There is virtually no funding for public education and advertising encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption. At its peak, the "Five-a-day" campaign budget was just $3 million annually - compared with the $11 billion spent yearly in the United States for fast food and junk food advertising. McDonald's spent $500 million just promoting its "We Love To See You Smile" campaign.
This is one reason Americans don't eat fruits and vegetables. Although some surveys suggest we eat about four servings daily, this number is greatly exaggerated because French fries and potato chips are counted the same as spinach, carrots or broccoli. In fact, 25 percent of vegetables consumed in the United States are fried potatoes, making the daily consumption of healthful fruits and vegetables closer to two servings - and possibly lower in children and inner-city populations.
Farm policy is an ideal avenue to address the obesity epidemic at its roots.
As Congress considers this year's farm bill, it should rework the legislation so it meets the needs of today's food consumers, not agribusiness. The new farm bill should significantly shift funding to improve the availability, affordability and promotion of fruits, vegetables and other healthful foods.
In particular, it should include targeted investments to fruit and vegetable growers to increase the availability of fresh produce, support for the new "Fruits & Veggies - More Matters" initiative, expansion of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program to all 50 states to promote the eating of fruits and vegetables in schools, creation of incentives for fresh fruit and vegetable purchases in the Food Stamp program, and support for organic farming.
These steps could signal that our government is ready to lead the fight against obesity and diet-related chronic disease by nurturing the health-conscious lifestyle it advocates by its dietary guidelines.
Scott Kahan is a physician and postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University. He has published 13 books on medicine and nutrition. His e-mail is scott.kahan@iebn.org. Roni Neff, research director for the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, contributed to this article.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Straying From the Mission of this Blog...
Politically homeless. That’s what I am. I was born into a family with Republican parents who were good people. They didn’t support any type of character assassination and they disdained the petty greed that existed in political circles, where people used their position to better their bank accounts. They were fair people who believed that every person is responsible for their own future but that having a net provided by the government is a must for any great society and caring for those who cannot care for themselves was the responsibility of the fortunate.
I came of age politically during the 80’s after graduating from high school and watching the Reagan revolution turn my parents’ party on its head. I did not agree with the tenets set forth by this man and those who followed him and couldn’t understand my peers who used the phrase, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago” as a mantra to supporting the me-only era of politics that followed. That is why I registered as a Democrat.
As I aged, I peripherally kept up with the politics of our nation and spent some time living abroad, seeing our country from the outside as non-Americans see us. I was shocked to learn that not everyone marveled at us because I had been naively raised to believe that all things American were sought after by the rest of the world. In many ways, this statement was true at the time. The world took in our media, our clothes, our music and our culture and ate it up as a way to a better life. And I agree that our impact on righting some of the worlds’ wrongs has been monumental in this view of America as “the good guys”. We have been there to support countries when the rest of the world turned its back and sacrificed our own in order to do so. We were the country having a good time while much of the rest of the world was struggling to make ends meet. We were being raised on J.R., Sesame Street, Laugh-In and The Dating Game. Our struggles were internal and the rest of the world didn’t touch us on our television screens each night. In many ways, the rest of the world didn’t exist for Americans during that era as we were far enough away from Vietnam and not yet touched by 9/11. It was an era filled with partying, cocktail parties, elegant balls and a president whose image was that of a graceful movie star, an ideologue who saw the world through a myopic paradigm of self-congratulation.
I say this not as a diatribe but as a footnote to where I find myself politically now. In this limited two party country, where these two groups control the dialogue and the money, it is becoming increasingly difficult to affect change. And for that reason am I politically homeless.
Having lost the 2000 election under dubious means, the Democratic party caved in and ceased to exist. There has hardly been one vote made in the past five years that hasn’t handed the Bush administration every single thing that it wants. There have been singular stands on principle by single members of Congress but as a whole, the entire Democratic party is as self-serving and eager to be re-elected as their Republican counterparts. Because of the stranglehold of corporate influence on our presidential and congressional elections, not the lobbyists who are their mercenaries, we have a political landscape that on the whole produces leaders who owe unto others or already possess great wealth.
I am so incredibly disappointed in the party I am registered in and the government we have at this moment that like many, I try my best to become involved locally and to work toward a different model of living. It is disheartening, despite being a country as rich as ours, as technologically advanced and as good at heart as our people are, that we are not bringing the world into the next century on a vision of compassion, ecologically advanced sustainability and moral humility…relevance to our place in the context of history.
I cannot, in my life, understand the minds that feel that taking apart a pension system and leaving future seniors with a reduced income during years they expected to get back what they gave is a good thing. Is selfishness so out of control that our country will continue to use one third of the world’s energy while only possessing one fifth of the population? How bad does it have to get before we stand up and say that we do not want a government that functions in the me-only philosophy, whether it is the personal me or the national-me, it only leads us to the downfall of what we have been privileged to live during-the era of American superiority. I have faith that we have the power to reverse this trend and recoup much of what we are losing. But I also think that we need new leaders to speak the truth to the corporate greed that runs this country, to expect our companies to act as stewards of the future, not allow money to be distributed in such a fashion that it is impossible to live on a non-corporate salary and still make ends meet.
I’m not a pessimist. I work hard at solutions in my community to bring people together, to volunteer my time and energy for doing things for others and for making a stand against inequality in the world. But I will be damned if I’m going to accept the criminal actions of those in power and stand by and allow them to rape this country and claim patriotism as their right. It is time for the Republicans in this administration to go. But it is time for the Democrats to go with them and for regular Americans to take back this country, regardless of party, and make it a vision again for the world, not a selfish, spoiled, fat, ignorant kid on the playground who keeps saying, “Me, first”.
I came of age politically during the 80’s after graduating from high school and watching the Reagan revolution turn my parents’ party on its head. I did not agree with the tenets set forth by this man and those who followed him and couldn’t understand my peers who used the phrase, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago” as a mantra to supporting the me-only era of politics that followed. That is why I registered as a Democrat.
As I aged, I peripherally kept up with the politics of our nation and spent some time living abroad, seeing our country from the outside as non-Americans see us. I was shocked to learn that not everyone marveled at us because I had been naively raised to believe that all things American were sought after by the rest of the world. In many ways, this statement was true at the time. The world took in our media, our clothes, our music and our culture and ate it up as a way to a better life. And I agree that our impact on righting some of the worlds’ wrongs has been monumental in this view of America as “the good guys”. We have been there to support countries when the rest of the world turned its back and sacrificed our own in order to do so. We were the country having a good time while much of the rest of the world was struggling to make ends meet. We were being raised on J.R., Sesame Street, Laugh-In and The Dating Game. Our struggles were internal and the rest of the world didn’t touch us on our television screens each night. In many ways, the rest of the world didn’t exist for Americans during that era as we were far enough away from Vietnam and not yet touched by 9/11. It was an era filled with partying, cocktail parties, elegant balls and a president whose image was that of a graceful movie star, an ideologue who saw the world through a myopic paradigm of self-congratulation.
I say this not as a diatribe but as a footnote to where I find myself politically now. In this limited two party country, where these two groups control the dialogue and the money, it is becoming increasingly difficult to affect change. And for that reason am I politically homeless.
Having lost the 2000 election under dubious means, the Democratic party caved in and ceased to exist. There has hardly been one vote made in the past five years that hasn’t handed the Bush administration every single thing that it wants. There have been singular stands on principle by single members of Congress but as a whole, the entire Democratic party is as self-serving and eager to be re-elected as their Republican counterparts. Because of the stranglehold of corporate influence on our presidential and congressional elections, not the lobbyists who are their mercenaries, we have a political landscape that on the whole produces leaders who owe unto others or already possess great wealth.
I am so incredibly disappointed in the party I am registered in and the government we have at this moment that like many, I try my best to become involved locally and to work toward a different model of living. It is disheartening, despite being a country as rich as ours, as technologically advanced and as good at heart as our people are, that we are not bringing the world into the next century on a vision of compassion, ecologically advanced sustainability and moral humility…relevance to our place in the context of history.
I cannot, in my life, understand the minds that feel that taking apart a pension system and leaving future seniors with a reduced income during years they expected to get back what they gave is a good thing. Is selfishness so out of control that our country will continue to use one third of the world’s energy while only possessing one fifth of the population? How bad does it have to get before we stand up and say that we do not want a government that functions in the me-only philosophy, whether it is the personal me or the national-me, it only leads us to the downfall of what we have been privileged to live during-the era of American superiority. I have faith that we have the power to reverse this trend and recoup much of what we are losing. But I also think that we need new leaders to speak the truth to the corporate greed that runs this country, to expect our companies to act as stewards of the future, not allow money to be distributed in such a fashion that it is impossible to live on a non-corporate salary and still make ends meet.
I’m not a pessimist. I work hard at solutions in my community to bring people together, to volunteer my time and energy for doing things for others and for making a stand against inequality in the world. But I will be damned if I’m going to accept the criminal actions of those in power and stand by and allow them to rape this country and claim patriotism as their right. It is time for the Republicans in this administration to go. But it is time for the Democrats to go with them and for regular Americans to take back this country, regardless of party, and make it a vision again for the world, not a selfish, spoiled, fat, ignorant kid on the playground who keeps saying, “Me, first”.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Princeton School Gardens Founder, Dorothy Mullen
With funding for deer fencing from the school district and a self-taught knowledge of organic gardening, Dorothy Mullen, a diet and lifestyle counselor in Princeton, NJ started an organic school garden at Princeton's Riverside Elementary School . "I'm so stupid, I don't know what I can't do," is the answer I got from her after asking about the history of the garden and how it had been so successful combining school gardens and curriculum. Her humble answer was a window into the enthusiasm she has brought to this "job" as a visionary, a gardener, a volunteer, an activist and someone keeps thinking outside the box.
Started as a peace-oriented community service idea after 9/11, and using merely one gardening book by author Dick Raymond, Dorothy broke ground with the first beds in October 2001. Now, the garden has grown to include a 35x65 vegetable and instrumental bed; a 25x30 boxed herb bed; a drought tolerant border lining the driveway; a 60 foot butterfly garden; a native grass garden and an instructional/curriculum garden.
As the beds have multimplied, the use of the gardens as a part of the school's curriculum has too. Teachers use the garden as a tool to teach math, science and creative writing, not to mention the growing season and vegetables, which teach children where their food comes from.
According to Dorothy, the curriculum ties were obvious. Although district and state curriculum didn't drive this type of garden-based education program, the participation rate of the faculty is now almost 100%.
Dorothy's vision is an ever-changing vista of color, growth and trial and error. She uses flowers and certain plants to divert attention away from choice vegetables in order not to go the pesticide, chemical route to gardening. She encourages parents to participate and engages families to pick a week in the summer to weed and harvest and water, while school is out of session. Her ideas know no bounds as this garden takes on an almost surreal role in the life of the school and the surrounding community.
It is a vision that should be modeled in elementary schools around the state and then expanded to middle school and high schools as well. Connecting children to the land, and to the process of growing living things and of seeing the cycles of life that coexist with the seasons reaps rewards beyond what a school classroom can provide.
We need more Dorothy Mullens who are willing to dig in and jump into an idea whose time has come. Thankfully, though, we have her to learn from.
Started as a peace-oriented community service idea after 9/11, and using merely one gardening book by author Dick Raymond, Dorothy broke ground with the first beds in October 2001. Now, the garden has grown to include a 35x65 vegetable and instrumental bed; a 25x30 boxed herb bed; a drought tolerant border lining the driveway; a 60 foot butterfly garden; a native grass garden and an instructional/curriculum garden.
As the beds have multimplied, the use of the gardens as a part of the school's curriculum has too. Teachers use the garden as a tool to teach math, science and creative writing, not to mention the growing season and vegetables, which teach children where their food comes from.
According to Dorothy, the curriculum ties were obvious. Although district and state curriculum didn't drive this type of garden-based education program, the participation rate of the faculty is now almost 100%.
Dorothy's vision is an ever-changing vista of color, growth and trial and error. She uses flowers and certain plants to divert attention away from choice vegetables in order not to go the pesticide, chemical route to gardening. She encourages parents to participate and engages families to pick a week in the summer to weed and harvest and water, while school is out of session. Her ideas know no bounds as this garden takes on an almost surreal role in the life of the school and the surrounding community.
It is a vision that should be modeled in elementary schools around the state and then expanded to middle school and high schools as well. Connecting children to the land, and to the process of growing living things and of seeing the cycles of life that coexist with the seasons reaps rewards beyond what a school classroom can provide.
We need more Dorothy Mullens who are willing to dig in and jump into an idea whose time has come. Thankfully, though, we have her to learn from.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
The Town That Tries to Keep It Country - New York Times
The Town That Tries to Keep It Country - New York Times
This NY Times article from last year highlighted our farmers' market and its impact on our community.
This NY Times article from last year highlighted our farmers' market and its impact on our community.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Burger King Breaks the Mold
Unbelievable...Burger King has seen the writing on the wall and is the first, major fast food company to say they would start buying pork and eggs from producers who use progressive animal welfare practices. What a concept. Although their inital change will only affect 2% of their purchasing, that is a huge impact when you consider how much they buy in a year. Their producers will have to wake up and start thinking about changing their farming practices, or else...
http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/burger_king.html
McDonald's, wake up. This could be the beginning of your end. But according to this article in the NY Times, McDonalds has already awoken.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/28/business/28burger.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
At Princeton's Food, Ethics and the Environment conference earlier this year, a representative from McDonalds told the audience that McDonald's could only affect the first tier supplier in their buying structure. I was able to speak to this and commented to the gentleman who was sitting like a lamb in a den of wolves (bad pun, but everyone in the room was a foodie with sustainability on their mind, not Big Macs) that it was disengenuous for McDonalds to claim that they could not affect the food chain. I stated that it was BECAUSE of companies like McDonalds, whose budgets dwarfed some countries' economies, that the state of agriculture was as it was today. What I didn't say was this...the only reason McDonalds makes so much money is because their food is cheap. Their impact on the economy of scale has been the driving force behind cheap, well traveled, over processed food. If it were expensive, nobody would buy it.
The politics of food and the consumer's purse string power are having an effect on the food supply. And not a moment too late.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-trueman/burger-king-boards-the-an_b_44526.html
http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/burger_king.html
McDonald's, wake up. This could be the beginning of your end. But according to this article in the NY Times, McDonalds has already awoken.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/28/business/28burger.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
At Princeton's Food, Ethics and the Environment conference earlier this year, a representative from McDonalds told the audience that McDonald's could only affect the first tier supplier in their buying structure. I was able to speak to this and commented to the gentleman who was sitting like a lamb in a den of wolves (bad pun, but everyone in the room was a foodie with sustainability on their mind, not Big Macs) that it was disengenuous for McDonalds to claim that they could not affect the food chain. I stated that it was BECAUSE of companies like McDonalds, whose budgets dwarfed some countries' economies, that the state of agriculture was as it was today. What I didn't say was this...the only reason McDonalds makes so much money is because their food is cheap. Their impact on the economy of scale has been the driving force behind cheap, well traveled, over processed food. If it were expensive, nobody would buy it.
The politics of food and the consumer's purse string power are having an effect on the food supply. And not a moment too late.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-trueman/burger-king-boards-the-an_b_44526.html
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Community Food Security Coalition Farm to Cafeteria Conference
The strength of the movement to bring local, farm fresh food into cafeterias across the country was evidenced by the enthusiasm, passion and attendance at the conference this past weekend in Baltimore sponsored by the Community Food Security Coalition http://www.foodsecurity.org/2007conf/ .
It is going to take me a few days to digest what I learned from the people who spoke and the folks I was able to meet and speak to personally. For one, this is a movement whose time is now. With the signing of the 2007 Farm Bill just around the corner, there will be progress made, hopefully, in funding programs that support the move toward real food, grown locally, delivered within a distance that uses as little energy as needed and pays the farmer a fair price.
There is too much energy wasted moving the food supply across this country. Our distribution systems have gotten so large that food is traveling across the country when products being grown locally are readily available in season but ignored by the economy of scale that now prevails in the food supply.
We need to find solutions to create a two-tiered distribution of food, so that smaller producers can have access to end users that are close to their farms and distribution methods do not add exorbitant costs to product sold in smaller units.
I have faith that the time has come for this to happen.
It is going to take me a few days to digest what I learned from the people who spoke and the folks I was able to meet and speak to personally. For one, this is a movement whose time is now. With the signing of the 2007 Farm Bill just around the corner, there will be progress made, hopefully, in funding programs that support the move toward real food, grown locally, delivered within a distance that uses as little energy as needed and pays the farmer a fair price.
There is too much energy wasted moving the food supply across this country. Our distribution systems have gotten so large that food is traveling across the country when products being grown locally are readily available in season but ignored by the economy of scale that now prevails in the food supply.
We need to find solutions to create a two-tiered distribution of food, so that smaller producers can have access to end users that are close to their farms and distribution methods do not add exorbitant costs to product sold in smaller units.
I have faith that the time has come for this to happen.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Where This Is Leading
An effort that is almost two years in the making is underway to bring New Jersey grown produce into New Jersey schools. This blog will serve as a resource for people to communicate throughout the state about this potential program. What better way for New Jersey farms to remain viable than to sell to the state's local schools who feed children every day?
Here in the Garden State, we are communicating with food processors who understand the importance of good food and who are willing to help us develop products that will sell to kids in the lunchroom, but will taste good!! We are developing recipes that will highlight New Jersey's premium crops, using the best of our season and making products the lunchrooms around the state can use as is or turn into mouthwatering soups, sauces and other items.
If you have a recipe you think can be turned into a food service size quantity product that kids would like, and it has vegetables that New Jersey farms grow, please contact us and let us know about it. We'll even name it after you!
If you're a farmer thinking of growing for this program, contact us to talk about what crops you grow, your pricing, distribution issues and thoughts. There are farmer grants available that we are looking in to for value-added production.
If you're a food processor who already has relationships with farms, we want to hear from you about how you purchase your produce and what products you make value-added.And if you're a food service director in any New Jersey school district, contact us now to help us help you understand your school's ability to work outside the confines of your food service contract.
We are striving to move away from the food service company control of school lunch choice and we promise to bring more local food options back into the school lunch programs in the state. Eventually, we hope to set up a B2B link here that will list farmers, processors, school districts, food service companies and distributors for a system that will be established through this program. It can only be a win-win situation for the local agricultural economy, the schools, the kids and the evolution of school food back to a more basic place where real food rules.
There is a lot to be done and it won't change overnight. But stick with us as we make these changes happen and help us along the way with your comments and suggestions.
Here in the Garden State, we are communicating with food processors who understand the importance of good food and who are willing to help us develop products that will sell to kids in the lunchroom, but will taste good!! We are developing recipes that will highlight New Jersey's premium crops, using the best of our season and making products the lunchrooms around the state can use as is or turn into mouthwatering soups, sauces and other items.
If you have a recipe you think can be turned into a food service size quantity product that kids would like, and it has vegetables that New Jersey farms grow, please contact us and let us know about it. We'll even name it after you!
If you're a farmer thinking of growing for this program, contact us to talk about what crops you grow, your pricing, distribution issues and thoughts. There are farmer grants available that we are looking in to for value-added production.
If you're a food processor who already has relationships with farms, we want to hear from you about how you purchase your produce and what products you make value-added.And if you're a food service director in any New Jersey school district, contact us now to help us help you understand your school's ability to work outside the confines of your food service contract.
We are striving to move away from the food service company control of school lunch choice and we promise to bring more local food options back into the school lunch programs in the state. Eventually, we hope to set up a B2B link here that will list farmers, processors, school districts, food service companies and distributors for a system that will be established through this program. It can only be a win-win situation for the local agricultural economy, the schools, the kids and the evolution of school food back to a more basic place where real food rules.
There is a lot to be done and it won't change overnight. But stick with us as we make these changes happen and help us along the way with your comments and suggestions.
Envisioning a Different Lunch Program World
How did we get here? When did we get rid of all the kitchens that cooked food from scratch and how will we ever go back? This is not an easy problem to solve. The evolution of the school lunch food industry is a tale that is hard to understand and incomprehensible to the average person looking to make sense of the food their child eats at school. USDA commodities dump cheap agricultural products into the school food system, virtually free food that is sometimes fresh and healthy, sometimes not. It would be interesting to see how much cheese is passed onto the schools in the commodities program--cheese, cheese everywhere.
School lunch contracts can involve government refunds for the number of students who "participate" in the school lunch program, making selling those meals a priority so that budgets can be met. And like most capitalistic markets, the cheaper the food that is bought, the more the profit that is made by the school and the food service provider so there is no incentive to sell BETTER food that might cost more. Until now.
Parents around the country are stepping up to do the research to find out how their school food service systems work. So are chefs, nutritionists and self-made activists of all walks of life. Many companies in this industry are realizing the trend toward healthier eating includes institutional food, especially where children are concerned and are proactively looking for ways to progress with this effort. Any food service provider who doesn't get this soon, will probably be asked not to have a contract renewed within the next five years if the grassroots efforts around the country continue as they have been.
Alice Waters, Toni Liquori, Ann Cooper. Google these women and see what they've done. Jamie Oliver in the UK. Lunch programs in Rome. These are the warriors in this revolution. Children need to eat food that is made as close to its natural state as is possible. So do adults. With patience, time and a good amount of brainstorming, we'll figure out how to move school food to a new future. The lunchlady promises it. Sending your kid to school with a brown bag lunch won't change what's ailing us as a society. It takes a community to make change happen. Join us.
School lunch contracts can involve government refunds for the number of students who "participate" in the school lunch program, making selling those meals a priority so that budgets can be met. And like most capitalistic markets, the cheaper the food that is bought, the more the profit that is made by the school and the food service provider so there is no incentive to sell BETTER food that might cost more. Until now.
Parents around the country are stepping up to do the research to find out how their school food service systems work. So are chefs, nutritionists and self-made activists of all walks of life. Many companies in this industry are realizing the trend toward healthier eating includes institutional food, especially where children are concerned and are proactively looking for ways to progress with this effort. Any food service provider who doesn't get this soon, will probably be asked not to have a contract renewed within the next five years if the grassroots efforts around the country continue as they have been.
Alice Waters, Toni Liquori, Ann Cooper. Google these women and see what they've done. Jamie Oliver in the UK. Lunch programs in Rome. These are the warriors in this revolution. Children need to eat food that is made as close to its natural state as is possible. So do adults. With patience, time and a good amount of brainstorming, we'll figure out how to move school food to a new future. The lunchlady promises it. Sending your kid to school with a brown bag lunch won't change what's ailing us as a society. It takes a community to make change happen. Join us.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Captain Vegetable!
Why don't we resurrect Captain Vegetable from Sesame Street to sell vegetables to kids in schools?
New York Schools Rethink the Lunchline
Chefs in New York City schools are on the front lines of revamping school food. 850,000 meals per day. That's a lot of cooking...
http://www.wnbc.com/video/9787896/index.html#
http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1421&issue=dec_05#
http://www.food-management.com/article/15469
http://www.wnbc.com/video/9787896/index.html#
http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1421&issue=dec_05#
http://www.food-management.com/article/15469
Son of West Windsor Documents History of Development- www.losinggroundmovie.com
Take a look at the story of development in New Jersey through a film made by Michael Levine, a native of West Windsor, who mourns the loss of farmland in the Garden State with his film "Losing Ground". The New York Times wrote a story about the movie and Michael's journey making the film: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/05njcol.html?ex=1173416400&en=58cd47588789b467&ei=5070
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Men for All Seasons
Two competing food revolutions are taking place in the US. Our food supply is improving and deteriorating at the same time. Whether in the offerings of grocery stores or the changes in school lunch programs around the nation, America in one regard is sliding further into a fast food abyss and on the other is climbing out into the sunshine by embracing real food.
There is a revolution happening here in our own back yard.
One person choosing to go toward the light is Mikey Azzara, a 27-year-old Lawrenceville native with a bright smile, a cheerful greeting and a passion for connecting people through food. Farmers, grocery stores managers, retail consumers and children are not immune to the spell Mikey casts with his enthusiasm.
Having been a farmer himself , Mikey knows the lay and laws of the land. He has managed an organic farm in Lawrenceville and farmed in Italy during college. He is the founder of the Lawrenceville Mainstreet Farmers’ Market which will open its third season in June on Gordon Avenue in Lawrenceville As well, he is the current program coordinator for the Northeast Organic Farming Association based in Pennington. It doesn’t stop there.
One of Mikey’s “babies” as he likes to call it, is the school garden he started three years ago at the Lawrenceville Elementary School. There, kids get to plant and harvest vegetables that are used in the school lunch program and are trotted out on “Veggie Fridays” for everyone to taste and enjoy. He says the kids love it. They all take an interest in the gardening and get to see what a connection there is to food and where it comes from. And the extra benefit is it makes many of them try vegetables they might not otherwise eat.
Next on Mikey’s efforts were the farmer-chef meetings that took place around the state in 2006. The Northeast Organic Farming Association hosted three regional meetings last year to connect chefs, farmers, food producers and journalists in an effort to embrace New Jersey’s food history and future. Mikey’s input and energy into these events was crucial and more events are being considered to further the connections that were made.
Here's a post to Chef Ann Cooper's website that Mikey wrote in 2005 http://www.chefann.com/blog/?p=123
____________
Within the past three years, Gary Giberson, executive chef at the acclaimed Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville has slowly but surely moved the school toward healthier options, removing drinks with high fructose corn syrup and replacing them with freshly made lemonade and a Mexican-inspired mint/cucumber/lime concoction that the students love among other things.
He has also formed relationships with area farms by buying seasonal products such as corn and blueberries often better priced than produce that has been shipped across the country from California or Florida. Giberson reaps the benefit of local farms in the winter by blanching and freezing many in-season products in the fall and then uses them in the dead of winter for use in muffins, casseroles and stews.
With the blessing of their food service provider, the Lawrenceville School is able to branch out beyond the company’s usual distribution choices and create other avenues of access to fresh, local products. It is a win-win situation for both the school and the farms, not to mention the students and the faculty who dine at the school.
There is a revolution happening here in our own back yard.
One person choosing to go toward the light is Mikey Azzara, a 27-year-old Lawrenceville native with a bright smile, a cheerful greeting and a passion for connecting people through food. Farmers, grocery stores managers, retail consumers and children are not immune to the spell Mikey casts with his enthusiasm.
Having been a farmer himself , Mikey knows the lay and laws of the land. He has managed an organic farm in Lawrenceville and farmed in Italy during college. He is the founder of the Lawrenceville Mainstreet Farmers’ Market which will open its third season in June on Gordon Avenue in Lawrenceville As well, he is the current program coordinator for the Northeast Organic Farming Association based in Pennington. It doesn’t stop there.
One of Mikey’s “babies” as he likes to call it, is the school garden he started three years ago at the Lawrenceville Elementary School. There, kids get to plant and harvest vegetables that are used in the school lunch program and are trotted out on “Veggie Fridays” for everyone to taste and enjoy. He says the kids love it. They all take an interest in the gardening and get to see what a connection there is to food and where it comes from. And the extra benefit is it makes many of them try vegetables they might not otherwise eat.
Next on Mikey’s efforts were the farmer-chef meetings that took place around the state in 2006. The Northeast Organic Farming Association hosted three regional meetings last year to connect chefs, farmers, food producers and journalists in an effort to embrace New Jersey’s food history and future. Mikey’s input and energy into these events was crucial and more events are being considered to further the connections that were made.
Here's a post to Chef Ann Cooper's website that Mikey wrote in 2005 http://www.chefann.com/blog/?p=123
____________
Within the past three years, Gary Giberson, executive chef at the acclaimed Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville has slowly but surely moved the school toward healthier options, removing drinks with high fructose corn syrup and replacing them with freshly made lemonade and a Mexican-inspired mint/cucumber/lime concoction that the students love among other things.
He has also formed relationships with area farms by buying seasonal products such as corn and blueberries often better priced than produce that has been shipped across the country from California or Florida. Giberson reaps the benefit of local farms in the winter by blanching and freezing many in-season products in the fall and then uses them in the dead of winter for use in muffins, casseroles and stews.
With the blessing of their food service provider, the Lawrenceville School is able to branch out beyond the company’s usual distribution choices and create other avenues of access to fresh, local products. It is a win-win situation for both the school and the farms, not to mention the students and the faculty who dine at the school.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Why I Got Involved
Community. That seems to be an emphasis for many people who think about the food they eat. The community they live in, the land they live on or near. It seems to ring true for many people that the sense of community and enhancing it, embracing it and strengthening are all reasons to get involved in local food system issues.
When I helped to start our local community farmers' market, I was relatively new to the area we lived in. Four years later, I feel rooted there and have now lived there longer than I've ever lived any place in my life. The market when it is open (almost half the year on Saturdays, May to October) is a place to see your next door neighbor, or your friend who you never seem to get to have coffee with or the place to while away a summer morning and pick through the stalls, choosing what entices you to cook that day.
The relationships I've formed through the farmers' market continue to grow each season and will be broadened as this new initiative takes root. We will establish a system in New Jersey for farms to sell to school directly. I promise.
www.westwindsorfarmersmarket.org
When I helped to start our local community farmers' market, I was relatively new to the area we lived in. Four years later, I feel rooted there and have now lived there longer than I've ever lived any place in my life. The market when it is open (almost half the year on Saturdays, May to October) is a place to see your next door neighbor, or your friend who you never seem to get to have coffee with or the place to while away a summer morning and pick through the stalls, choosing what entices you to cook that day.
The relationships I've formed through the farmers' market continue to grow each season and will be broadened as this new initiative takes root. We will establish a system in New Jersey for farms to sell to school directly. I promise.
www.westwindsorfarmersmarket.org
Friday, February 16, 2007
NOFA-NJ Winter Conference
http://www.nofanj.org/WC07main1.htm
I was a participant in the NOFA-NJ Winter Conference held at Cook College in January. Among the topics I shared my ideas about were the farm to school program currently being developed with the West Windsor-Plainsboro School district and their food service provider, Sodexho.
Farms across the state are expressing interest in learning more about this project, which hopes to bring New Jersey grown produce into New Jersey schools. Currently, a processor is being sought to turn local produce into food service quantity, value-added products to enhance the school lunch programs in each county.
We are hopeful that this effort will result in a win-win situation for all: the kids getting fresh, local products into their school lunch, the farms knowing that there will always be an end-user to buy from them each season (the schools will always need to feed kids) and the local economy, which will benefit from the cycle.
Stay with us as we grow this program. And please let us know if you are interested in learning more or can share a suggestion. We have posted this blog to open up the conversation with people we have not yet met.
I was a participant in the NOFA-NJ Winter Conference held at Cook College in January. Among the topics I shared my ideas about were the farm to school program currently being developed with the West Windsor-Plainsboro School district and their food service provider, Sodexho.
Farms across the state are expressing interest in learning more about this project, which hopes to bring New Jersey grown produce into New Jersey schools. Currently, a processor is being sought to turn local produce into food service quantity, value-added products to enhance the school lunch programs in each county.
We are hopeful that this effort will result in a win-win situation for all: the kids getting fresh, local products into their school lunch, the farms knowing that there will always be an end-user to buy from them each season (the schools will always need to feed kids) and the local economy, which will benefit from the cycle.
Stay with us as we grow this program. And please let us know if you are interested in learning more or can share a suggestion. We have posted this blog to open up the conversation with people we have not yet met.
Why School Lunch Programs Have Changed
When public schools started to contract out their school lunch programs, relieving themselves of the need to pay for labor, insurance and everything else involved in a school lunch program, they gradually turned over all decision making processes to the food service providers who offered a full range of products. Where that has led is a system where the customer (the school district, the tax payer and the families whose children go to the schools) have not been asking the provider for better food and have instead, allowed the food provider to dictate what they would buy and from whom. This has to change. If I go to a car dealership and tell them that I want to buy a green car, the dealer will find me a green car if I have the money to pay for it. Why are we accepting low quality food in our schools and not asking for a better product? Economy of scale is not allowed to be the answer. Let's find the solutions.
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