After reading an article in the NYtimes about food waste, I've suddenly become very aware of the food scraps that I indulgently toss into the trash and compost. Even though we have a compost (a couple actually), those little lumbrices (worms) can only do so much.
What would a banana peel taste like if it was candied? How long would it take for an apricot tree to grow from these pits? (Answer found.) Can you make onion soup from the outer layers of the onion?
When we pay for fruits and vegetables, we generally pay by weight. Apples, for instance, cost about $1.25 a pound in North America-- depending on if its local, organic, conventionally-grown, in-season, out of season, from a farmers' market, from a convienence store etc. How much of this apple do you actually eat? Do you eat the core? Do you keep the seeds to donate to a community garden or to plant in your own backyard? Do you peel the apple because your kids (or you) don't like the texture of the apple's skin? After cutting the apple down to edible pieces, how much are you left with? Maybe 60-90%. That might not seem like an alarming amount, but think about how many apples you eat in a week, month, year or lifetime. That's a lot of waste, per person.
A contributor to our wastefulness of food, however, is the stigma we have about what food should look like. One of the champion commitments of the food movement is to change and challenge notions of what food actually is. Whereas Chilean waxed-to-perfection apples in the grocery store certainly resemble pictures in a children's book, there are other examples of edible fruit that may have bruises, scratches or bumps. The importance of aesthetics has become a high priority of our food consumption and waste.
There's certainly more to a plant than just broccoli florets or the bulb of the beet.
To begin: an experiment in Food Scrap Merriment..
29 December 2011
20 December 2011
Mi comunidad
Hay unos pocos de photos de mi huerta comunitaria en San Cristobal. Las personas son miembros de la huerta de todos lados en la ciudad.
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| Plantas de porotos listos para plantar |
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| Las semillas |
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| Romano |
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| Las plantas aromaticas |
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| Las palas de tomates |
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| Las tomates verdes |
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| Repollo |
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| Un arbol de limones |
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| Mis amigos a la huerta |
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| Mis otros amigos a la huerta; Me estan ayudando plantar los porotos |
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| Navidad a la huerta |
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| Un horno para pizzas |
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| Al dentro del horno |
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| Fiesta |
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| Cuidado de las picas |
02 December 2011
Once I convert, will my taste-buds be converted too?
As I prepare for Shabbas, I'm confronted with a discussion Ari and I a couple of weeks ago: whether nuts would be an acceptable addition to kugel. Yup. The exciting life we lead.
Below are some photos of what we made that week.
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| 1 challah |
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| 2 challot |
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| 3 challot |
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| Four! |
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| Kugel sin nueces |
Although we share in the same excitement when preparing for Shabbas, there's a fundamental difference in our views of its festive food. Ari believes that the Ashkenazi food he's grown up with deserves the traditional recipe, tested and true from the Old Country. Kugel and challah are best enjoyed with refined flour, lots of oil, eggs and salt. And they're pretty damn good, I must say. Jews from Eastern Europe have been using the same recipes for hundreds of years and an attempt to modernize these recipes can be seen as an assault against tradition. Besides, where do we draw the line? One Friday its nuts in the kugel, the next its fish tacos or sushi and then, who knows, un-Kosher wine or bacon cheeseburgers. It's a slippy slope when we start making compromises between tradition and modernity.
But, what Ari likes to call, the "hippy" in me can't help but chime in "You know, nuts would be really good in this kugel!" or "Let me try making the challah with whole-wheat instead of bleached flour" (examples in the four photos above). And I admit: whole-wheat challah isn't as bouncy and fluffy and traditional as white challah. Kugel tastes better with that much sugar and oil. My attempts to bring a bit of modern, sustainable eating to the Shabbas table is innocent, but its reprocussions could reach far beyond a meal, say the critics.
After looking at Hazon's website (www.hazon.org) and The Jew and the Carrot (http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/), I see other young adults questioning the traditional recipes too. Our modern values of local and sustainable eating often stem from similar values that turn us towards a more religious life: questioning the monotonous daily grind most people in the 21st century find themselves in. Conscious eating helps bring us back to the basics of health and lifestyle choice, while a religious life brings us closer to The Basic: God.
While I'm still a novice in terms of Jewish study, I found a wonderful example in a recent article of the overlap between ancient tradition and modern "green" thought (http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/147068/). In the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides writes "In the summer time, cold food should be consumed; one should be sparing with condiments; vinegar should be used. During winter, warm foods should be eaten; condiments should be liberally used with a little mustard and asafetida.” (Mishne Torah, 4:8). Maimonides doesn't exactly settle the "to nut or not to nut kugel" debate, but he provides a beautiful example of how our seemingly modern whims actually take root in ancient food philosophy. I gather this isn't the only example and I intend on finding more like it!
For this Friday night, the challah is whole-wheat, the cookies are vegan, but the kugel remains nut-less. Shabbat Shalom!
While I'm still a novice in terms of Jewish study, I found a wonderful example in a recent article of the overlap between ancient tradition and modern "green" thought (http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/147068/). In the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides writes "In the summer time, cold food should be consumed; one should be sparing with condiments; vinegar should be used. During winter, warm foods should be eaten; condiments should be liberally used with a little mustard and asafetida.” (Mishne Torah, 4:8). Maimonides doesn't exactly settle the "to nut or not to nut kugel" debate, but he provides a beautiful example of how our seemingly modern whims actually take root in ancient food philosophy. I gather this isn't the only example and I intend on finding more like it!
For this Friday night, the challah is whole-wheat, the cookies are vegan, but the kugel remains nut-less. Shabbat Shalom!
21 November 2011
Balcony Container Garden; Envases de la huerta
Here's a sneak peak of what I'm going to be eating come January and February. In other words, here's a look at the beautiful container garden at my house. Hay un vistazo de voy a comer en enero y febrero-- o una mirada a mi envases de la huerta a mi casa!
A couple of weeks ago, I received seeds from Pro-Huerta, a project run by INTA (Instituto national de tecnologia agropecuaria). These seed packages were created in 1997 as a result of the Argentine economic crisis. Many people under the poverty line were unable to afford fresh fruits and vegetables. In response, INTA created paquetes de semillas which provided an Argentine household with 10 different edible plant varieties, such as lettuce, tomatoes, corn and basil.
Today, INTA continues to dispense the paquetes to members of their urban community gardens-- including me! Members start the plants at their home when they require the most tender, love and care. After a month or so, the plants are transplanted to the community garden where they have room to grow.
This project is incredibly relevant to today's economic climate in the US. Although access to fresh fruits and vegetables might seem universal in North America, it's not. Grocery stores and farmers' markets are in abundance in suburbs and gentrified urban neighborhoods, but low-income neighborhoods rarely
stock up on local and organic produce. Seed packages could be a great way to cheaply dispense organic food alternatives. Below I've outlined what a community organization can do with seed packages and information sessions, similar to what I've experienced with INTA.
Meeting #1: Seed distribution
- Take note of who is taking the seeds: what type of home environment does the person live in? How many people are in the family or household? Will they be planted directly into the ground or will containers be used?
- Make sure to outline HOW to organically grow the vegetables. What to use and what to avoid.
- Explain how to plant the seeds and if there are any differences between seed varieties.
Meeting #2: Seed update and photo sharing
- How are those plants doing?? Do some look like they need more water than others? Are they getting enough sunlight? Does your soil need to be added to with egg-shells, coffee grounds or organic fertilizer?
Meeting #3: Transplant time!
- Bring the plants in and transplant them into the garden where they will have space, soil and sunlight to grow!
...Traduccion va pronto!
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| Seedlings; plantitas |
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| Berry plant; planta de fresa |
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| Kidney beans; Porotos |
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| Tierra |
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| Menta |
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| Kidney beans; Porotos |
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| Ari disfrutando el ambiente |
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| Front Balcony; Balcon en la frente |
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| Coffee grounds for the earth. |
A couple of weeks ago, I received seeds from Pro-Huerta, a project run by INTA (Instituto national de tecnologia agropecuaria). These seed packages were created in 1997 as a result of the Argentine economic crisis. Many people under the poverty line were unable to afford fresh fruits and vegetables. In response, INTA created paquetes de semillas which provided an Argentine household with 10 different edible plant varieties, such as lettuce, tomatoes, corn and basil.
Today, INTA continues to dispense the paquetes to members of their urban community gardens-- including me! Members start the plants at their home when they require the most tender, love and care. After a month or so, the plants are transplanted to the community garden where they have room to grow.
This project is incredibly relevant to today's economic climate in the US. Although access to fresh fruits and vegetables might seem universal in North America, it's not. Grocery stores and farmers' markets are in abundance in suburbs and gentrified urban neighborhoods, but low-income neighborhoods rarely
stock up on local and organic produce. Seed packages could be a great way to cheaply dispense organic food alternatives. Below I've outlined what a community organization can do with seed packages and information sessions, similar to what I've experienced with INTA.
Meeting #1: Seed distribution
- Take note of who is taking the seeds: what type of home environment does the person live in? How many people are in the family or household? Will they be planted directly into the ground or will containers be used?
- Make sure to outline HOW to organically grow the vegetables. What to use and what to avoid.
- Explain how to plant the seeds and if there are any differences between seed varieties.
Meeting #2: Seed update and photo sharing
- How are those plants doing?? Do some look like they need more water than others? Are they getting enough sunlight? Does your soil need to be added to with egg-shells, coffee grounds or organic fertilizer?
Meeting #3: Transplant time!
- Bring the plants in and transplant them into the garden where they will have space, soil and sunlight to grow!
...Traduccion va pronto!
17 November 2011
Why a blog?
It's that time of year again: applying to graduate school!
Which means reassessing my life this past year (or the last 23 years, however you want to look at it) to see what I'm really made of and fit my life into 1-2 concise paragraphs.
What I came up with looks like the hurricane remants of an undergraduate studies calendar: political science, urban planning, food, sustainability, communitarian theory, women's studies, international development. If my wit was more self-depricating then a "that's what you get with an Arts degree" joke would be inserted here.
But its not.
In order to organize my thoughts and interests, I began to not-so-mindlessly search the World Wide Web for various sources of inspiration. What did I find? A lot of people with the same damn interests as me, which instead of being disconcerting, made me feel more energized to fight the good fight. There are people all over this here Internet writing about the food they love to eat and how it got to their plate in the first place. And its awesome. THUS, I decided to throw my hat into the ring and give it a go, but with my own spin on things.
Food is more than just what's on our plates. It's in our photo albums, on our balconies and in our backyards (if we're lucky), in our parks, in our stores, in the daily paper, and usually in the forefront of our minds. It's impossible to ignore the role food plays in our lives.
Brainwashed in political theory, I believe our food choices are a reflection of our values, abilities, motivations, and common goods. Our communities, specifically urban communities, support and influence our ideas of food. For instance, community gardens are created in times of economic crisis and university farmers' markets are organized to satisfy student demand for local, organic food.
What I hope to learn from this experience is how food, in the urban landscape, can be used to further cultivate positive community values, whether they be democratic, socialist, "green" or "Red." I want to look at how space influences the development of urban agriculture projects, as well as the transformation of home cooking.
En español...
Es el tiempo de año otro vez: aplicando a programas de maestria! Es significa que yo revaloro mi vida esta año pasado (o los 23 años pasados, sin embargo lo quiere mirar) ver lo que estoy hecho de y adjusto mi vida en 1 a 2 párrafos conciso.
Mi respuesta es como los restos de una huracán de estudios de
Which means reassessing my life this past year (or the last 23 years, however you want to look at it) to see what I'm really made of and fit my life into 1-2 concise paragraphs.
What I came up with looks like the hurricane remants of an undergraduate studies calendar: political science, urban planning, food, sustainability, communitarian theory, women's studies, international development. If my wit was more self-depricating then a "that's what you get with an Arts degree" joke would be inserted here.
But its not.
In order to organize my thoughts and interests, I began to not-so-mindlessly search the World Wide Web for various sources of inspiration. What did I find? A lot of people with the same damn interests as me, which instead of being disconcerting, made me feel more energized to fight the good fight. There are people all over this here Internet writing about the food they love to eat and how it got to their plate in the first place. And its awesome. THUS, I decided to throw my hat into the ring and give it a go, but with my own spin on things.
Food is more than just what's on our plates. It's in our photo albums, on our balconies and in our backyards (if we're lucky), in our parks, in our stores, in the daily paper, and usually in the forefront of our minds. It's impossible to ignore the role food plays in our lives.
Brainwashed in political theory, I believe our food choices are a reflection of our values, abilities, motivations, and common goods. Our communities, specifically urban communities, support and influence our ideas of food. For instance, community gardens are created in times of economic crisis and university farmers' markets are organized to satisfy student demand for local, organic food.
What I hope to learn from this experience is how food, in the urban landscape, can be used to further cultivate positive community values, whether they be democratic, socialist, "green" or "Red." I want to look at how space influences the development of urban agriculture projects, as well as the transformation of home cooking.
En español...
Es el tiempo de año otro vez: aplicando a programas de maestria! Es significa que yo revaloro mi vida esta año pasado (o los 23 años pasados, sin embargo lo quiere mirar) ver lo que estoy hecho de y adjusto mi vida en 1 a 2 párrafos conciso.
Mi respuesta es como los restos de una huracán de estudios de
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