Monthly Archives: June 2011

I hate to keep bashing

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…the USDA, but man, they’re making it easy.

Marion Nestle, as usual, has an excellent point:

“But the big national outbreaks we’ve been experiencing lately are from foods that are already contaminated by the time they get to you.  Following food safety procedures makes good sense, but that’s not where the problem lies…. To stop food safety problems at their source, we need a functional food safety system.  This means rules that require all producers to follow food safety procedures and a government with the authority and resources to make sure they do.”

So USDA will spend $2 million to tell us to make our food safer, that it’s our responsibility, yet we have no control over how safe our food is until it gets to us…. unless we know our farmer or grow it ourselves.

It’s deja vu all over again.

a tale of two demonstration gardens

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I love visiting big cities. Though I live in a small-to-medium size city and love having its amenities without the traffic and expenses of big city life, there is something about checking out a town with a real functioning transportation system, a Central Business District that’s more than six blocks long, and many, many places to visit.

Thankfully, I live a short drive away from many big cities. This past weekend, my family headed to Washington, DC for a screaming trip to visit a family member in town for a conference (who lives much, much further away). Since it was the first time the kids had been there to sightsee, we crammed in several standard touristy things before we left.

And of course, since I can’t get away from food-related things, even on vacation, we drove along the National Mall and spotted the People’s Garden on the USDA‘s lawn. Beautifully manicured, the garden had a variety of crops growing, both those that people usually have growing in their backyards and those that are generally just commercially grown (I know no one who grows wheat in their backyard).

Later on, we visited the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) (which, by the way, is quite possibly the best museum I have visited in ages). It too has a demonstration garden, highlighting crops that are traditionally used in Native cooking – and used in the fantastic museum cafe.

But once I saw the two gardens, the gears started turning in my head. The comparison of the two, and their underlying reasons for development, irks me. The Smithsonian‘s vision is “shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world,” and the NMAI’s mission is to advance “knowledge and understanding of the Native cultures of the Western Hemisphere, past, present, and future, through partnership through Native people and others.” USDA’s mission involves providing “leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.” Further down the page, its strategic plan highlights key activities of the Department. Which further irks me, because “enhancing food safety” and “improving nutrition and health” only come after “expanding markets for agricultural products,” “support[ing] international economic development, ” and “further developing alternative markets for agricultural products and activities.”

Combined with the discussion several weeks ago about the disconnect between the USDA’s nutrition guidelines and its agricultural subsidy, the USDA’s demonstration garden seemed like lipstick on a pig (or, as my husband proudly said, ‘making chicken salad out of chicken shit.’ And yes, I still married him). It’s glossy, pretty, right on the Mall to advertise to tourists, and doesn’t actually reflect what the USDA does inside the Whitten Building.

In contrast, the NMAI demonstration garden is in perfect alignment with the museum’s, and the Smithsonian Institution’s, mission and vision. So although the garden is a little less glossy, and doesn’t have the broad range of crops available in the USDA garden, it does its job honestly.

Advocating for a government agency to reflect the needs of the citizens it serves is a constant struggle between competing interests. And I laud the USDA for trying to raise awareness with the People’s Garden program. But until it puts its money where its mouth is in its budget, it can do much, much better than some raised beds in a corner.

hummina hummina hummina

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This is not a photo blog. I mean, I have photos here, but I’ve probably taken them with my cell phone and they’re not the best quality.

But why the heck would I need to focus on my crappy photos when I can find such fantastic ones elsewhere?

(photo courtesy of Karen Walrond at Chookooloonks)

This photo is one of many Karen took of an amazing vegetable garden in Tobago at Kariwak Village, which looks pretty darn cool itself. I’ve never seen myself as a ‘check out things close to the equator’ kind of person, especially since my skin burns in 15 minutes on an overcast day, but Karen’s photos and descriptions of this haven may just change my mind. Enjoy the eye candy!

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Ooooh! Her Trinidad market pictures from a few days ago are also fantastic.

our daily bread

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I’m not one to wear religion on my sleeve. I had enough of it shoved down my throat as a child, thank you very much. The current polarized political climate in this country doesn’t help matters, with many on one side of the aisle wearing religion as a shield but not exactly following Biblical teachings in their daily lives. So I do attend church on occasion, quietly, at a church where I feel comfortable supporting the ministry of helping the homeless, feeding the poor, and using its resources to support the people in need in our own neighborhoods.

One of the many reasons I attend this house of worship is Randy, the pastor. His first time greeting me and my skittish then-three year old correctly identified Squidward as the weird greenish-blue bundle clutched tightly to my son’s chest, and brought a bright smile to both faces. He went to high school with the drummer from my husband’s favorite metal band. An accomplished pianist, Randy’s way with words often has a musical lilt. But his voice – strong, low, alternating between soft to quietly emphasize a point and blazing with fire-and-brimstone to drive it home – and his message of inclusiveness, diversity, and love without condition are some of the major reasons I stay. I always need to hear the message he delivers, whether or not I realize it at the time.

This past Sunday, Randy was called forward by Heather, his partner in crime, to humbly explain that he had some good news: his sermon on the differing views of food as seen by Boaz, the owner of the barley fields, and Ruth, a Moabite worker, had been chosen as the winner of an international contest as part of a food justice campaign. Randy won because his words rang out as an “inspiration for individual and collective action.” While I’m thrilled that Randy gets a trip to Switzerland this fall to deliver the sermon as part of the 2011 Churches Week of Action on Food, I’m even more interested in sharing his words with you. Whether or not you share his belief system, his writing style is clear and compelling, and people of all walks of life can identify with the message. I try to remember every day that “what separates the poor from the rest of  society is only the difference in where we were born and to whom, not the difference of who we are;” stories like this certainly help me do so.

Congratulations, Randy!

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UPDATE: Here’s the sermon, if you want to hear it in its entirety.

let’s call the whole thing off.

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Two very different articles about tomatoes caught my eye this week. One highlighted the 80+ varieties of tomatoes grown at Vikentomater in southern Sweden. The other was an excerpt from the new book “Tomatoland”  that discussed indestructible bouncing green tomatoes on the side of a Florida highway. Sadly, most consumers at supermarkets in the US are only exposed to the latter.

Having always had access to fresh tomatoes – the summer after I moved out of my parents’ house for college, leaving them empty nesters, my mother planted 24 tomato plants, just because – I know the difference between a mealy, barely red, flavor-deprived tomato and a fresh ripe one right off the vine that bursts open on your tongue. There’s no contest. But I wondered how many types of tomatoes consumers actually have access to in a store, versus what they can get if they grow them on their own?

Surreptitiously checking out a nameless Big Box High End Organic Hipster Grocery Store after work today, I found lots of tomatoes, the majority red. There were two boxes of mixed heirloom tomatoes, some orange cherry tomatoes, and red grape, red roma, red ‘salad’ (beefsteak, I presume), and two different types of red, beefsteak-ish tomatoes on the vine.  So at the Grocery Store that Tries Too Hard, there were seven varieties (and I’m being generous).  Had I visited the standard grocery store, I suspect there would be a smaller variety. Prices ranged from $1.99/lb for the romas to $5.99/lb for the heirlooms.

In contrast, I have eleven intentional tomato plants in a raised bed in my backyard, and two stragglers who reseeded themselves from a stray tomato from last summer. A neighbor and I bought most of the tomato seedlings from Cross Country Nurseries, a small nursery in a neighboring state who use organic fertilizers and natural pest control. Out of the 130 varieties they offered, I randomly picked seven, mainly because of their names (who can pass up an Old German tomato? I know I can’t). We tend to like smaller tomatoes for garnish and for Caprese salads, so many of these are cherry or grape tomatoes:

  • Coyote
  • Early Wonder
  • Grape (2)
  • Mexico Midget (2)
  • Old German
  • Red Pear (2)
  • Sun Gold

Along with my two indeterminate plants and one seedling from Grow Pittsburgh’s stand at May Market which I couldn’t resist (Dad’s Sunset, I think), I’ll have nine or ten different types of tomatoes in my backyard for about $50 in plant purchases. To break even, these plants will have to produce somewhere between 10 and 20 lbs of maters over the season. And they’ll come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors, in contrast to the homogenous ones at the store.

Tomatoes are easy plants to grow – grab a cage, a piece of bamboo (6 for under $3 at your local garden center), or a random long skinny stick to tie it to, sunlight, some water, and you’re all set. You can enjoy the variety of non-industrial, non-indestructible, non-boring tomatoes all summer long.

unintentional farmers’ market tour of the mid-atlantic

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You never notice a specific type of car until you buy it. Then, when you’re looking for your car in the supermarket parking lot, there are suddenly twenty more just like it. Thankfully, the battery hasn’t died in the key fob yet, and you can beep the horn and flash the lights until you find it.

Apparently that is now my luck with farmers’ markets. Both times I’ve traveled for work in the last month, I’ve stumbled across markets without even trying. While the first one was fairly anemic, the one in Parkersburg, WV this past week was hopping.

The first thing I saw were these posters prominently displayed in public places around town – this one, in my hotel lobby.

The market setup (the day before) with the Wood County Courthouse in the background. A great setting in downtown Parkersburg.

Signs set up in the lot nearby for guaranteed parking spaces.

And when I checked it out over lunchtime on Friday, it was bustling. Just how you expect a farmers’ market to look.

My overall impressions? The advertising was fabulous, very professional and eyecatching without looking too slick. The vendors were a nice mix of local produce and value-added goods. The band in the nearby shell kept people tapping their toes. Having the market over a lunch hour (10am-2pm) is a smart move in a city that rolls up the sidewalks after 5pm. Having WV Extension information there (both a table with a person to talk to and lots of pamphlets and handouts with recipes for food found at the market) is a great way for people who aren’t familiar with vegetables sold there to figure out what to do with them. And I even bought a market reusable bag. Because I’m a sucker for reusable bags.

Can’t wait to stumble across the next market!

planning ahead

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A few weeks ago, I realized that our garden area (such that it is) mirrored my son’s garden diorama from school. I use a closeup of it for my header, but here it is in all its fabulousness:

This was the first ‘alternative’ homework project he’s worked on and enjoyed making. We planned the diorama first before we built it, he was in charge of background decoration, and we decided on and produced the vegetable garden beds together (which is why the tomato leaves are yellow like the flowers). He was excited to do something different for homework, I was excited to get him involved in an art project, and the topic of gardening was cool to both of us.

Little did I know that our relatively unplanned garden ended up mirroring this diorama. I hurriedly planted peas on St. Patrick’s Day after dark with the floodlights on. We decided to make raised beds for the ten tomato plants I had purchased with a neighbor after I had already purchased them. And I threw some carrot seeds into the mix after I remembered the cover of this book in my mother’s gardening repertoire (which I now have – the 1975 version that’s officially older than I am, that is). Yet, our garden is shaping up just as he and I planned:

(The carrot seeds have just been planted, so no pictures yet.)

He brought the diorama home on his last day of school this week – when I get home, I want to reinforce his great plan with what’s happening outside. An art project in the winter is yet another way to get your kids connected with the garden – whether or not you realize it at the time.

That’s a lot of mouths to feed

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Food insecurity is a major buzzword (buzzphrase?) in the mainstream media these days. I’ve seen a flurry of articles recently about the issue, from both global and local perspectives. These are the horror stories that have stuck in my mind:

Pretty dire, right? We’ve grown enough food to have the population of the planet explode, only to find that the way we’ve grown all this food is messing us up even further. Excuse me while I go bury my head in the sand.

But maybe we’ve known what to do all along. The United Nations’ Save and Grow paradigm is supposedly a new one, but people have been planting this way for ages (until Big Ag showed up). And the Rodale Institute’s 27 year study of organic vs. conventional corn and soy yields shows that organic is just as productive as growing with chemicals.

Better Living Through Chemistry sounded great – but growing organic may be what saves the food supply.