NYT article: Adapting to a changing economy

In this article appearing in the Times today we see a changing picture of Americans living in a recession and the way this down turn is affecting everyday life. I know several people who are still waiting for the other (chaotic and disastrous) shoe to drop, but I think its interesting that people are ready to make due and adapt. I am particularly interested in how this will impact the standard American diet. It seems that as meat consumption is going up in emerging economies like China, Americans are already starting to skip the red meat. This is an amazing opportunity for public health and food activists to support positive dietary changes and help folks trying to adapt to a more economical diet, that may in fact also be better for their health and the environment. The main challenge I see is getting folks to eat more whole grains and legumes and not just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread.

NYT article: Oh bees

the mystery of the disappearing bees continues and is quite disconcerting. it seems that the reasons for the decline in bee populations are still only little understood. that's why this article
appears at a good time, with suggestions on plantings and tips to encourage bees in your area. take a look and get planting!

Who is buying organic (in the late 90's...in Australia...)

This is the next installment of my literature review looking at food values and motivations that shape the alternative food system. By now organic is not really alternative, with the USDA officially governing organic standards, and organic products showing up in many conventional supermarkets all over the world. I'm interested in the evolution of organic insofar as it may provide a cautionary tale for the local foods movement. Organic has gone industrial, and it is arguable as to whether or not this is a good thing for contemporary consumers and the environment. It leads me to wonder what the path will be for "local".

Here is the article I examined and a brief annotation:

Lockie S, Lyons K, Lawrence G, Mummery K (2002). Eating ‘Green’: Motivations Behind Organic Food Consumption in Australia, Sociologia Ruralis; vol 42, no. 1.

This study utilizes focus groups and telephone surveys to identify various, and often competing motivations for choosing to purchase and consume organic products in Australia. The authors found that both organic and non-organic consumers share many of the same food related values and concerns in relation to motivations for food choice. However, different consumers place more or less weight on particular values which informs food purchases.

The central reasons for organic consumption found in this study, along with environmental concern, include a focus on personal/family health, natural content of food (amount of processing and additives), as well as price and convenience, among others. These values were shared with non-organic consumers, who put more weight on price and convenience, where as organic consumers put more weight on health and natural content. The main population associations found in the study identified increases in organic consumption among people with more education and women. The authors point out that these findings challenge the popular stereotypes of organic consumers who are often viewed as yuppies and ‘greenies’ (environmentalists). Thus, there is a wide audience for organic, but for consumers, the challenge is to balance the competing demands of values and practical concerns.

The authors note that industrial organic is an issue of concern, but do not explicitly examine it in their study. Industrial organic poses a conflict to the values of the initial organic movement that support low input, sustainable and local production, but seeks to make organic foods more available to consumers who primarily shop for food in conventional supermarkets. The authors point out that given the values of both organic and non-organic consumers, consumers in general may not be entirely opposed, though may not fully support the industrialization of organic food production.

NYT article: "Chicken Little" coming true...?

In 1991, Joan Dye Gussow published the book: "Chicken Little, Tomato Sauce, and Agriculture; Who Will Produce Tomorrow's Food?" When I first read this book it seemed to me an extreme and nightmarish vision of a food system that has completely been derailed by industry, greed and a strange form of technological optimism. I really thought of it as a cautionary tale, more than anything else; another book waking me up to the importance of understanding food production, and inspiring me to be mindful in procuring my food from sources that reflect my values of concern for the environment, labor and animals. So its pretty surprising and scary to see an article that highlights a project researching the same kind of science fiction meat production that Gussow talks about in her book. This article explores just that! Apparently, producers and researchers concerned with meeting the demand for meat of a global population growing in both size and affluence will have a greater demand, and thus a greater potential for profit, of meat. Yet its clear that the planet cannot sustain current levels of industrial meat production, so the solution being explored here is the culturing of meat in the lab. This frightens me on many levels and makes me wonder how far into Gussow's nightmare we will actually venture as a culture...

Tomatoes to help get me through the "cruelest month"

tomatoes are the epitome of summer. a fresh, local, seasonal tomato tastes like sunshine and sweetness. for me, the supermarket, flown in from who knows where, winter/spring tomatoes are just not acceptable on so many levels. the food miles of course are an important issues; a tomato from california or south america is just too drenched in guilt and petroleum for me to enjoy. not to mention they taste like nameless mush; i can't even really call those specimens tomatoes. canned tomatoes are an (less desirable) option for me out of season, when i really need a little boost of color to my diet. i confess i do balance health concerns with seasonality...and i just need the variety sometimes. so while i don't entirely adhere to a name your mileage diet, i do attempt to eat as locally and in season as possible. to this end, having roasted and frozen my over abundance of csa tomatoes have really become an amazing spring treat that helps me hold back from buying crazy supermarket veggies that i know will only disappoint in the end.
these tomatoes are a variety of beef steak, and were huge and juicy and full of flavor last summer. i had so many of them that i decided i would put some by, and am glad for it. these tomatoes were simply cut in half, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with crushed garlic and salt and roasted for about an hour on low heat (around 300 f).
for this dish, i simply sauteed an onion (from the farmer's market) in some oil, chopped the thawed roasted tomatoes, and let simmer with a little extra salt and some pepper. i tossed it through with some linguine and finished it with a little bit of chopped parsley to brighten the flavor. the end result was a satisfying (and guilt free) earthy, roasty sauce that was definitely just what i needed to help me over this april hump!

Constructing the local

In another installation of my review of articles related to local foods, I am providing an annotation of an article that focuses on one state's efforts to institutionalize local food in the effort to support the local economy. At the heart of this process are questions that I am fundamentally interested in, specifically: what is local food; how do people define local food; and what is the scale of local food. This is an interesting article that raises many of these questions, and though they are mainly unanswered, the author also points to both problems and pathways to lead those of us concerned with local foods through this process.

Hinrichs, CC (2003), The practice and politics of food system localization, Journal of Rural Studies 19, 33-45.

This paper discusses the observations of food system re-localization (defined as a return to the greater regional food self-reliance of the past) in the context of Iowa’s efforts to promote locally produced food through a program called the “Iowa grown banquet meal”, which promotes the consumption of Iowa grown food both direct to consumers (through farmer’s markets and CSA’s) and through institutional use (schools, hospitals, etc.). The author prefaces this exploration into the social construction of local foods by noting that food system localization is a desirable and socially justifiable effort, but cautions against potential problems and pitfalls in both the constructing of “local” food and the possibility of exclusionary practices, among others. Hinrichs notes the reification of local food, and seeks to look closely at the practice, in the case of Iowa, of re-localizing the food system and the processes implications.

Hinrichs notes that multiple and “sometimes contradictory” conceptualizations of local foods, and explores the discourse of local foods in the context of the “global-local” binary. She is concerned that concepts of local food do not necessarily reflect the social and environmental implications with which it implies. Among the academic discourse, Hinrichs observes the use of the local as the answer to concerns coming out of globalization in general and particularly related to the food commodity chain, noting the problematic nature of this binary thinking. Contrasting the binary perspective, she invokes a systems-oriented approach that draws from ecology to add to the understanding of the local.

Hinrichs provides a list of themes that have come to exemplify local foods that encompass issues of community, local economics, scale, bio-diversity, health and democracy, among others. In addition, in examining the commodity chain of local foods issues of local versus regional also arise, as well as the complexities of local politics in producing meaning around local food. Particularly, there is a concern that local foods have the potential of becoming an elitist commodity and excludes the majority of consumers. She also points out the potential issues around labor, exploring concerns over who will grow food as Iowa farmers age out of farming and the state as a whole loses population. She notes the deep ambivalence Iowa residents have over immigrant labor which they acknowledge as necessary to many facets of food production in the state, but are still conceived as the other and are generally unwelcome in communities.

For this program, the scale of local was the entire state of Iowa (56,000 square miles). Scale derives from the state’s efforts to promote a specific type of consumption, and to account for the variation, and particularly the sparsely populated rural areas as compared to urban centers, that encompass the local food system that is conceived. Scale of production in the state of Iowa is also of interest as Iowa has traditionally been a commodity producing agrarian industrial state. Hinrichs notes that there is a notion of small scale production intertwined with in the concept of local food, which is problematic in this context. Ultimately, a central question that remains to be answered is who grows local food?

You say its your birthday...

It was our friend Mark's birthday this weekend, and a little birdy told me peanut butter and chocolate is one of his favorite flavor combinations (I have to agree!). So I decided to go all out and make this delicious chocolate cake with a peanut-butter butter cream frosting. We all crashed about 20 minutes after eating it, but birthdays only come once a year!
This recipe is adapted from one that appeared in the Boston Globe in 2007.

Chocolate Cake:
2c granulate turbinado sugar
1 3/4c flour
3/4c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2t baking powder
1 1/2t baking soda
1t salt
2 eggs lightly beaten
1c milk
1t vanilla extract
1c boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 F, and lightly grease 2 9-inch round cake pans. Fit cake pans with parchment paper cutouts and grease as well.
In a stand mixer, combine all dry ingredients.
With mixer on low speed, blend in eggs, milk and vanilla; then start slowly adding boiling water.
Divide batter evenly into pans and bake for 30-35 minutes until cake springs back when lightly touched.
Let cool completely before frosting.

Peanut-butter frosting:
1c unsalted butter
1c lard (i prefer) or veg shortening
2lbs confectioner's sugar
2T vanilla extract
1c water
2c smooth peanut-butter

In a stand mixer, cream together butter and lard; gradually add in sugar and mix until incorporated and stiff.
With mixer running on low, slowly add vanilla and water; beat until fluffy.
Add peanut butter and beat on medium-high until fluffy.
Chill until ready to use.

NYT article: Sex and Vegans...

Well it was quite a surprise to see two of my interests, food (about which I am obviously obsessed), and sex (which I am thinking a lot about these days since I am teaching a Human Sexuality class right now) come together in a New York Times article the other day. In the article "The Carrot some Vegans Deplore" Jesella describes the trend of using female sexuality to persuade people (particularly hamburger munching men) to consider going vegan/vegetarian. It strikes me as a pretty strange tactic, and almost desperate and contradictory in so many ways for a diet that is based, at least in part, on an ethical platform to use the objectification of women to manipulate or sell the idea veganism. I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this!
Check out the full article.

Attitudes toward local foods in the UK

I thought this might be a good space to share articles that I've been reading related to my food/environment interests. I will give brief summaries here and the full citation. Here goes the first one!

Chambers S, Lobb A, Butler L, Harvey K, Traill WB, (2007). Local, national and imported foods; a qualitative study. Appetite 49, 208 -213.

This study utilized four focus groups, structured into socio-economic groupings, to identify relevant themes related to local foods in the UK, and whether attitudes varied based on SES. The themes that emerged were: cost, lifestyle, food quality, consumer ethnocentrism, choice and farmers. The context for this study is the policy interventions of the British government and position of the EU, to encourage “sustainable consumption”, with a focus of promoting direct sales of local food products. The authors observe that previous research suggests that consumers generally feel positively about locally produces foods, but at the same time there is little information in the literature regarding perceived and actual barriers to buying local foods. The authors sought to conduct focus groups to explore these issues, how they relate to consumer preference, and also obstacles in accessing these preferences.

The authors point out the lack of an official definition of “local foods”, and thus operationalize it for the purposes of their study as “products produced and sold within a 30-50 mile radius of a consumer’s home. Interviewers asked group participants to think of geographical definitions at the beginning of each session, and the consensus was close to the authors’ original definition at 20-50 miles. Also of interest was the observation that for this sample (N=33) that the overall consumption of local foods was low. Specific observations related to the themes identified include:

· Cost - local foods were viewed as more expensive than national brands and imported foods

· Lifestyle -lack of time and convenience were seen as obstacles to access local foods with a preference towards super market shopping

· Food quality – local foods were judged to be of higher quality in terms of freshness, and improved taste

· Choice – participants wanted the option to eat foods out of season (i.e. strawberries in winter) and greater variety than what is grown locally

· Ethnocentrism – belief that shopping locally would help the local economy, support farmers in the region, and also resist against purchasing from sources that were politically distasteful (in this case it was not buying French products out of dislike for the French government)

· Farmers – there were some who wanted to buy local to support farmers in the area

A little bit of comfort goes a long way...

These end of winter days get me into a bit of a funk sometimes. Its not so bad, and I'm a northeasterner through and through, so I just come to expect it. As such, I do employ some coping strategies like dragging myself to yoga class even when I really don't want to leave the apartment, napping of course, and comfort food. This macaroni and cheese does a great job on this front with a creamy saucy base that is completed by a crunchy breadcrumb topping.
Here is the basic recipe, but its easy to change it up to add variety (the one above uses bacon and pepper jack cheese to this end).
Macaroni and Cheese:

6T butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6T a-p flour
1 quart whole milk
1T dijon mustard
1 bay leaf
1t thyme
2c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1c monterey jack cheese, shredded
s&p to taste
1lb elbow pasta
2c fresh coarse crumbs
1/2c parmesan cheese
2T olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease 9x13 pan.
Melt butter in a 5-6 quart pot, and add onions.
Cook onions until clear, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile set a pot to boil for the pasta, and drain when al dente.
When onions are cooked through, stir in flour and cook for a couple of minutes.
Whisk in milk slowly, and then add mustard and bay leaf.
Bring to a simmer stirring frequently, and let simmer for about 15 minutes for flavors to develop.
Stir in cheeses and season to taste.
Stir in cooked and drained pasta; pour into baking pan.
In a small bowl mix bread crumbs with parmesan and olive oil.
Sprinkle on top, bake for about 15 minutes, until crumb topping is golden brown.