Green Options

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I hate throwing anything away, especially food, and every time I do, I remind myself that there are starving people in the world and that I should be a little more conscientious. Apparently I should also be reminding myself that there are thirsty people in the world.

An article on the Environmental News Network recently pointed out that when you throw away that wilted, smelly broccoli or container of moldy, left over spaghetti you have sitting in the back of your fridge, you’re throwing away more than just food. You’re also tossing out water along with it. The article references a report by the Stockholm International Water Institute, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, and the International Water Management Institute. According to the report, the amount of food thrown away in the US alone is equivalent to turning on your faucet and dumping 40 trillion liters of water into your garbage can.

Guest contributor Pamela Price is the founder of Red, White & Grew, a blog devoted to “Promoting the Victory Garden Revival and other simple, earth-friendly endeavors as bipartisan, patriotic acts in an age of uncertainty.”

A few decades ago, Americans would have learned how to raise peas, carrots and corn under the watchful eye of a family member. That still happens, of course, in many rural areas. Alas, it happens too infrequently in suburban and urban communities. Sure, there have been pockets of progress. Community and school garden advocacy groups have helped nurture new gardeners nationwide.

But when it comes to launching a successful, full-fledged victory garden revival, one that can help ensure access to fresh grown food in tight times just as previous efforts did in WWI & WWII, the country will need legions of experienced gardeners working to educate newcomers.

Are you an accomplished green thumb? Does the idea of teaching new veggie gardeners the ropes appeal to you? If so, here are three mentoring options to explore:

Guest contributor Pamela Price is the founder of Red, White & Grew, a blog devoted to “Promoting the Victory Garden Revival and other simple, earth-friendly endeavors as bipartisan, patriotic acts in an age of uncertainty.”

Vegetable gardens are making headlines this summer.

From local and regional press reports about a rise in garden-related sales in the face of the economic downturn to the Internet buzz generated by those San Francisco-bound locavores eager to see the city’s new civic center victory garden, there’s plenty to spark interest in getting one’s dirt under one’s nails.

Yet if you’ve got only a small lot or just a patio to work with, you may feel out of the loop with the home garden craze. Prepare to join in the fun: a surprising amount of fresh produce can be grown in ordinary pots and planters.

Just ask Shannon & Jason Mullet-Bowlsby of Seattle.

It’s been all over the food blogosphere and several wire services, but in case you’ve missed what Eater SF calls the Death of Society:

The Food Network is getting into the competitive eating genre with a new series, tentatively titled “Eat the Clock.”

The show is described as a cross between an eating competition and “The Amazing Race.” Two teams of contestants rush to various Los Angeles eateries and gorge themselves in face-stuffing challenges.

Reuters, Monday, August 18, 2008

Interesting timing if you ask me with only 11 days until the ultimate celebration of the appreciation of food, Slow Food Nation ‘08.

If I had to sum up Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods (Chelsea Green Publishing, $35) in one sentence it would be, “Everything old is new again.”

Gary Paul Nabhan, PhD maybe America’s premiere Locavore. He spent years helping to compile lists of America’s endangered food products. He asks, “Do we put pretty pictures of these edibles in a museum so we can look at them?” His answer, No! We preserve foods, tastes, cultures by what Slow Food calls “eater-based conservation”. Mr. Nabhan has said that isn’t just about the genetics, “If we save a vegetable but we don’t save the recipes and the farmers don’t benefit because no one eats it, then we haven’t done our work.”

Culinary Green Washing

I have two major sustainable cuisine pet peeves; first, I have a love / hate relationship with the word “sustainable”. Yes, I know the name of my cookbook is The Sustainable Kitchen but there is no real definition of the word. Second, culinary greenwashing. The standard definition is:

“making unsubstantiated environmental claims” or “the appearance of cultivating ecological awareness in hopes of getting a higher profile [and eventually money] for whatever they happen to be selling us.”

It’s bad enough when McDonald’s, Subway and Dominos do it. I believe Americans have grown accustomed to and know what it is, industrial-scale spin. But what really gets me is when a local, independent restaurant has the nerve to manipulate us. And per usual, the mainstream press happily goes along with the illusion just because they are “local”.

On September 30, 2004 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued an interim final rule for the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) program for fish and shellfish as required by the 2002 Farm Bill. On November 10, 2005, President Bush signed Public Law 109-97, which delayed the implementation for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised and shellfish until September 30, 2008.

Under the interim final rule, fish and shellfish covered commodities must be labeled at retail to indicate their country of origin and method of production (wild and/or farm raised). However, covered commodities are excluded from mandatory COOL if they are an ingredient in a processed food item.

Food service establishments, such as restaurants, lunchrooms, cafeterias, food stands, bars, lounges and similar enterprises are exempt from the mandatory COOL requirements.

Fast forward to August 2008, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued an interim final rule for mandatory Country of Origin Labeling of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, goat meat, perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts. The 2008 Farm Bill added chicken and goat; pecans, ginseng and macadamia nuts as covered commodities to what had been previously proposed. This interim final rule (IFR) will go into effect September 30, 2008.

Offals don’t get the respect, in and out of the restaurant community, that they deserve. This is an injustice that MUST BE corrected.

Let’s start with a few definitions so that we are all on the same page. According to Offal Good, chef Chris Cosentino’s educational and inspirational website for those who are interested in learning and cooking with offals:

OFFAL those parts of a meat animal which are used as food but which are not skeletal muscle. The term literally means “off fall”, or the pieces which fall from a carcase when it is butchered. Originally the word applied principally to the entrails. It now covers insides including the HEART, LIVER, and LUNGS (collectively known as the pluck), all abdominal organs and extremities: TAILS, FEET, and HEAD including BRAINS and TONGUE. In the USA the expressions “organ meats”, “giblets” or “variety meats” are used instead.

Bibliography: Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press, 1999. pp. 548-49

© Elena Elisseeva | Dreamstime.com

Magic Mushrooms
Shiitake Mushrooms may contain compounds that improve the function of the immune system. The compounds are called high-molecular-weight polysaccharides (HMWP) are more prevalent in mushrooms grown on oak logs. More good news for mushroom lovers, the shiitake compound eritadenine may help lower cholesterol levels. Hey, at $12.99 a pound, this may finally be the cash crop you can legally grow in your basement. (Science Daily).

Can Scum Save the World?
No, not Dick Cheney. He’s too busy possibly censoring scientific reports on health impacts of global warming. I’m talking about pond scum. Plant biologists are researching pond scum, otherwise known as duckweed, as a solution to global warming, pollution from agricultural runoff, AND world hunger. Now, that’s some scum. (Science Daily).

More updates after the jump.

In keeping with Honey Week here at Eat.Drink.Better, I started looking at the various ways individuals can help combat Colony Collapse Syndrome. One major impediment to the endeavor is that scientists aren’t really sure what’s causing the disappearance of honeybees. Theories range from viruses to environmental and agricultural causes. What we do know is that bees are disappearing at an alarming rate and that this will affect us in profound and irrevocable ways. One-third of the food we consume comes from pollinators. Bees are responsible for pollinating almonds, apples, soft fruit, and berries among other crops. Without them, we will lose more than honey (a tragedy in its own right!), we will lose a large portion of the biodiversity we now enjoy on our plates.

However, there are things we can do at home to help promote honeybees and their way of life.

Landi Simone the ‘Bee Lady’ of Gooserock Farm in Montville, New Jersey goes all out every year to help raise awareness about honey bees and their importance to our agriculture and eco-systems.

Landi, pictured here in her ‘bee bikini’, got together with fellow, bee buddy, Joe Treimel to show off their live bee apparel and accessories. Joe sported a bee beard. This all took place last weekend at the Essex County Environmental Center.

Read more about Landi and what is happening to honey bees in one of my earlier posts. Here’s a crazy story I saw yesterday morning on CNN.com about 12 MILLION honey bees that swarmed a Canadian highway after a truck carrying them flipped over!

My favorite honey & herb sauce . . .