Food for Thought

I love food! Right, ok Kate, good for you, now please explain what you mean by that….

I suppose that is something of a sweeping, rather generalised statement, food being a somewhat broad category if you will.  However, in essence I mean just this I love food that is to say actual, real, coming from Mother Nature food. 

Let me clarify. As a reformed philosophy major (there is only so much black coffee and cigarettes a girl can consume in a lifetime) I was taught that a argument supported through negation is weak, but as far as I know my philosophy Professor isn’t here  – unless he is reading this blog in which case I am sorry Professor. Wirth- so I shall cross over to the dark side and give examples of things that are not (by my definition anyway) food, in order to shed light on that which is. 

Twinkies

In the event of nuclear fall out, Twinkies, cockroaches and Keith Richards shall rule the earth. In fact I think this was covered once in a family guy episode, but I digress.

Twinkies- in fact the genetic experiment that is any Hostess treat- are not food. 

However, according to the website for Hostess products. Nothing says ‘Murrrica like Twinkies. In fact the website is pretty darn tootin’ patriotic with a recipe for “ Patriotic Twinkie Pie”

Patriotic Twinkie Pie

Items Needed:

• 6-7 Hostess® Twinkies, broken or torn into 1" pieces
• 1 pint fresh blueberries  (fruit?)
• 1 lb. fresh strawberries, sliced (more fruit?…. Now hold on just a minute there, lets not get crazy)
• 2 packages (5.1 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix (that’s more like it)
• 6 cups milk (non organic, non-GMO free, non-antibiotic free red blooded American milk)
• 1 container (12 oz.) frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed (mmmmmm non-dairy, from good ol’ American non-cows)

Directions:

Place half the Twinkie pieces in a 6-quart glass trifle bowl or trifle dish. In a separate bowl, combine the pudding mix and milk and stir according to the package instructions. Spoon half of the pudding over the Twinkies. Spread the blueberries over the pudding. Top with the remaining Twinkie pieces. Spoon the remaining pudding over the Twinkies spreading evenly. Spread the sliced strawberries over the pudding. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight, until completely chilled and set. Top with the whipped topping just before serving.

YUMMUY…

Just by the by President Clinton put a Twinkie in time capsule. I hope he stuck a flag in it too!

Cheez Whiz

As a general rule, any product that substitutes a ‘z’ for an ‘s’ is not food, and should most likely be avoided. In fact this is generally a good rule of thumb when perusing the isles of your grocery store, avoid sloppy spelling for the sake of catchy marketing and you will generally be ok. Cheez Whiz (and further more is Frankensteinian counter part Easy Cheese) are so far removed from actual food I don’t know where to begin! Falling under the banner of “processed cheese foods” (part of me just died inside whilst writing that). In searching the old interweb, I had to laugh in one product description provided by Wikipedia:

Origin   United States

Source of Milk      Cows

Texture    Thick sauce

Aging time   n/a….. N/A?! is that because it is one molecule away from Windex that it is chemically and biologically impossible to age? Prying minds want to know.

Both of these examples are pretty accurate instances of what food most surely is not, and in fact in the game of "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" I am pretty sure a new category would need to be created: Chemically derived food like product. So what is food? Food is community, it is love, it is sustenance, it is life giving and life affirming. 




What, as a nation, is our seeming insistence in consuming all manner of products that are so synthetic, so processed, so fake that it is almost impossible to call them food at all. Taken in isolation, the chemicals that go into making some of the top commercial foods are enough to make the mind boggle. Sounding like something so far removed from anything edible it is enough to make one, if not simply me, gag.

Note, that I am not just talking about obvious craptacular choices such as Twinkies and Cheez Whiz, but innocuous seemingly healthy packaged and processed food such as granola and breakfast bars.

Take for instance Kellogs Nutrigrain bars. Reading the list of 56 ingredients looks more like the shopping list for a chemist than a cook. Not to mention, the bars contain TBHQ (Tertiary Butylhydroquinone), a form of butane to preserve freshness that is also used in perfumes, varnishes and oil field additives: [inset Homer Simpson] “mmmmmmm TBHQ grrrrrrrlllll”. Not to mention the inclusion of Vital Awareness’s and my own personal nemesis, High Fructose Corn Syrup.

…In other words: NOT FOOD.

It is my belief, and the growing consensus of medical science, that the cause of the western diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease are directly correlated to the rise in high sugar, highly processed foods and- I would argue- the increased consumption of animal protein, that we in the US of A consume with reckless abandon.  Sugar and animal protein are cheaper and more readily available than ever before. This shift away from making and eating real food, more importantly, whole foods in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables for the sake of convenience is quite literally killing us.

I have heard the argument that eating healthy is expensive… BOLLOCKS. I am sorry, those who know me, know I have something of a sailors mouth… but honestly it simply isn’t true. Here is why:

The Sticker

Whilst I would love, love, love, if everyone could eat organic fruit and vegetables, I recognise that organic, as in trademark USDA organic, is more cost prohibitive than conventional produce. However, USDA organic is a trademark that farmers have to pay for, and a lot of local small-scale producers simply cannot afford to pay for the inspectors to apply the brand name to their product. The thing is, most of the famers are completely organic, and probably use more organic means to their production to those who are able to pay for the USDA stamp; and it is these cats that you can find at your at your local farmers market, selling their wares at generally lower costs…. Which brings me to my next point.

Farmer’s Markets

Utilising farmers markets are the best way to get the freshest, seasonal produce on the market, not to mention you are boosting local economies, that in todays troubled economic times, is pretty spectacular.

The other weekend I went to my regular farmer’s market and came home with:

2 jars of jam (one was given to me as a gift)

1 loaf of fresh bread

1 block of grass fed cows milk feta cheese

½ pint of homemade ricotta (this was also given to me as a gift)

1 punnet of heirloom tomatoes

½ lb. burgundy string beans

5 squash blossoms (one was thrown in for free)

2 parsnips

7 large heirloom ochre

5 heirloom peppers.

A mushroom log, that will provide me with multiple fruits of gourmet shitake mushrooms.

1 bag of organic home made dog treats

(a two Bloody Mary’s with big green egg smoked heirloom tomato juice) for a grand total of $55.

Now I think, and correct me if I am wrong, this is pretty great value, not to mention a few items the farmers and producers threw in free of charge because a) I was enthusiastic and inquisitive, and b) these folks genuinely care about your patronage and will work out a deal with you if you talk to them.

Local farmers depend on word of mouth and will provide you with the best produce because you are your best advertisement. Not to mention, the closer you get to your local producer, the more great deals and occasional freebies you will encounter.

Meat

Ok, so ethical, humane and sustainable meat is more expensive than conventional factory farmed meat. It costs far less to cram your animals into cramped unsanitary living conditions and provide them cheap subsidised food that their bodies are unable to digest and them drag them to slaughter than it is to provide them within adequate space, free roam of grass pastures and ensure proper and humane processing…. Huh go figure. However, the truth is that we consume far more animal proteins than we actually need to and, like I already said, our consumption of animal protein in favour of a more plant-based diet is detrimental to our health. If we cut down on animal protein, limiting it instead to humanely raised and organic produce, and up our grain, bean and lentil intake (which, I might add are ridiculously cheap, incredible satisfying and bloody tasty) we will save money. I did this for two years whilst a poor post-grad student living in Toronto, and let me tell you I didn’t deprive myself either physically or gastronomically.

Health

With 66% of the USA obese, I think we can all agree that we are not in a great place health wise. Considering the increase of heart disease, stoke, diabetes and cancer attributed to this rise in obesity, the cost of health care in astronomical… now, tell me how expensive living healthy is.

OK so I am going to get off my soapbox now, but in all seriousness, America is an amazing nation in regards to food production. Growing up in England, we only really had two ecosystems: Flat and damp and hilly and damp. Insofar as eco-diversity goes, we were somewhat lacking. America, on the other hand is blessed with an abundance of diversity, and can pretty much grow anything. Yet, it doesn’t. The utilisation of most of US grassland for the sake of corn and soy production to both feed mass amount of cattle and chicken and produce processed and fast food,  has raped the soil and taken up valuable growing land.

I suppose what I am trying to say is: support your local farmer who is farming the way farming used to be, that is to say, environmentally sound, humane and sustainable. Visit local farmers, and shop responsibly. You will live longer, feel better and provide a better world for your progeny. Remember we vote with our dollar. We have the potential to change the current system!

In many ways the Agricultural Revolution was incredible thing, in that it enabled farmers to produce more efficiently and cut losses, and, lets face it a farmers life ‘aint easy. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and Spiderman would not be happy with what has emerged.

With that in mind, I want to end with a quote by a the former US Congressman Charlie Wilson, (TX-D):

“These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we fucked up the end game”.


Good eatin' y'all, love THE EPICUREAN