Obama:The Pizza Delivery Guy of Change?

by intern Emily Vaughn

“Raj, does everything for you always come back to food?”

At a lecture at the New York Society for Ethical Culture last week, moderator Amy Goodman—host of the independent news program Democracy Now!—interjected this good-natured dig because Raj Patel had used food-centric case studies to answer questions about the World Bank, Haiti, carbon trading, and free market capitalism, and was starting up a new one (details later in the post).  Patel’s affirmative response made the audience chuckle, and although Patel was smiling as he said it, those familiar with Stuffed and Starved—his landmark study of the economic and political implications of global food production and trade—know that he was mostly serious. 

The connections between food and issues like social justice, international politics, and environmentalism are familiar to most anyone reading the Slow Food USA blog, as is the advice that Patel gave during the Q&A to boycott corporate industrial food and consume smarter.  But hearing his words in an auditorium of like-minded people was inspiring, and when he urged us all to learn more about the Child Nutrition Act, La Via Campesina, and the Farm Bill, and above all, to take action, it renewed my belief that there are enough people who care about these issues to make progress. 

Naomi Klein—author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine —was Patel’s co-panelist for the evening.  Among her insights was that President Obama’s best and worst qualities are the same: he’s susceptible to pressure. Patel and Klein both suggested that the supporters who were vocal and active enough to get Obama elected have backed off, leaving him free to cater to the demands of big business without citizen repercussions. Klein mentioned several times how difficult it can be for activists to stay motivated, and said that if we’re going to come away from the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s inauguration free of cynicism, we need to focus on rebuilding the infrastructure of independent social movements.

More after the jump

Food Safety at your Finger Tips

As more foodborne illness outbreaks continue to come to light, there is growing demand to know more about where foods originate. When you buy directly from the producer, i.e. at the farm or at the farmers market, there’s no need for fancy gadgets, but when that isn’t possible, you might be interested in a little help from your phone.

Thanks to Bill Marler’s Food Safety News for the tip about HarvestMark. Kind of reminds me of the microchip you can use to find your pet. So, there’s Locavore—which helps you know what’s in season near you—and now YottaMark, Inc. aims to demystify the process that brings produce to market with an iPhone app called HarvestMark.  Now you can use your iPhone to trace the origin of those leafy greens you just bought, or are contemplating buying.

How it works: you buy an item with the HarvestMark sticker with a numeric code on it. Then you can go to their website and enter the code located on the product or, just download the HarvestMark application to your phone to access this information before you decide to buy.  Here’s what you learn:

which farm was this product grown in
when was it picked
how long it has been in storage
who the middlemen were

TMI?  When it comes to learning about where your food comes from, the more the better. And maybe it will help generate even more demand for transparency in food production.

2010: International Year of Biodiversity

by intern Emily Vaughn

“In a world of increasing globalization and environmental degradation, management of its most precious living resource, biological diversity, is one of the most important and critical challenges facing humankind today.”
- Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity

While slow food advocates might value biodiversity solely for its ecological value, the UN seeks to increase awareness about the other sectors that also rely on it by naming 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB).  For example, did you know that more than 57% of the 150 most commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals in the US “have their origins in biodiversity?”  The importance of biodiversity is so far-reaching that Dr. Robert Bloomfield, director of the UK’s IYB celebrations, points to a recent international report which warns that “our neglect of the natural services provided by biodiversity is an economic catastrophe of an order of magnitude greater than the global economic crisis.”
Of course, biodiversity is hugely important in agriculture.  What better microcosm of biological interdependence is there than a farm?  Whether considering air and water purification, microbial composition of soil, erosion prevention, or disease resistance, biodiversity is always center stage in food production, and is crucial for food security.

Keep an eye on the news and our blog for coverage of IYB events and talks, especially after the February 10 North American kickoff at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.  In the meantime, check out the excellent resources for educators and concerned citizens that the IYB’s organizing body, the Conference for Biological Diversity, has prepared.

As the new biodiversity program intern at Slow Food USA, I’m excited to see worldwide attention surrounding an issue that I’ve chosen to make my own focus, and look forward to using the blog to spread the word about UN and SFUSA biodiversity projects in the coming months!

Another local food advocate joins the USDA’s leadership

by Slow Food USA staffer Gordon Jenkins

The Des Moines Register reports that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack’s current chief of staff has moved on to a position with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and is being replaced by Karen Ross, former president of the California Winegrape Growers Association and one of the “Sustainable Dozen” proposed in 2008 by Food Democracy Now for the position of USDA Secretary.

On the blog La Vida Locavore, Jill Richardson quotes Michael Dimock (president of the organization Roots of Change), who has praised Ms. Ross as an advocate for sustainable agriculture and believes she will give California’s fruit and vegetable growers a stronger voice in the USDA.

She joins Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, another important local food advocate in a top leadership role at the USDA. Their presence in D.C. represents a much-needed policy shift towards supporting local food and addressing the needs of actual farmers.

[late addition: Obamafoodorama tweets that on a conference call today Vilsack declined to confirm this news…stay tuned!]

Farming?! That’s so QUEER!

This week I attended a preview of Out Here: A Queer Farmer Film Project. A work-in-progress, this documentary centers around queer farmers helping shape today’s movement of do-it-yourselfers bringing an umm, rainbow of real food to America’s tables.

For nearly three years I was a farmer (I like to say I’m retired). I also identify as a gay man, so I was excited to see a clip of this project. Yet, part of me wondered: why a film about queer farmers? And who is this movie for? In many ways the queerness factor has nothing to do with farming. But, when you actually ask if it does you’ll spark an interesting discussion.

The panel featured queer urban farmers from NYC’s Greenthumb program, Just Food’s Livestock Training Program, the NYC Community Gardens Coalition, and a woman from Darling Doe Farm in Saugerties in the Hudson Valley.

The audience and on-screen interviewees seemed to reach consensus that there’s a natural affinity drawing us queers to agriculture today – especially in the urban environment. Is it because as gays and lesbians we’re demonstrating that alternative ways of viewing the world have equal merit? We’re successfully challenging the norms of the traditional family, so perhaps participation in new food systems and community planning are natural extensions.

I leave it to social scientists to come up with data, but discussion pointed to a seeming tendency for queer agriculturalists to address the social justice issues at play in the food system. Likely, this is because queers too, face societal injustices every day.

When we talk “identity” politics and sociology we uncover diverse perspectives, but may still overlook others. One panelist noted that skin color was the identifier people notice first – not her sexuality. Queerness has nothing to do ability to teach another how to transplant tomatoes, but race and gender certainly may provide an element of “legitimacy” in one’s work in disadvantaged communities for whom the current food system disproportionately serves.

More after the jump

The Future of Food Writing

Last night a local NYC bookstore convened some local-grown (but nationally known) food writers to discuss the state of online food writing.  The panelists were:

   
• Ed Levine, of Serious Eats
   
• Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, of Food52
   
• Cathy Erway, of Not Eating Out in NY
   
• Julie Powell, of “Julie and Julia,” and the new “Cleaving”
   
• and moderator Lynn Andrianni of Publisher’s Weekly

Each of these panelists came to online food writing from different places—with Julie P. almost the young grandmommy of the movement.  Looking at her old Salon blog, one has to smile—only 6 years old or so and it looks like an ancient artifact, a sepia-toned e-photograph of a simpler time. Fast forward to the lively, media rich sites like Serious Eats and Food52 and one is amazed at how far we’ve come. Conversation was lively, exploring how online food writing and real live books and newspapers can work together, even complement each other; what the demise of Gourmet meant, if anything; how online writing is exciting because it lacks the doubting gatekeepers of old institutions (who like to pigeonhole writers into their specific beats and who sometimes can’t think outside the box); how online writing can be used to form food communities (like Food52).

Interestingly not mentioned was how each of these folks use twitter—which most of them do!

One highlight: when Civil Eats editor Paula Crossfield asking about the transition we’ve all seen from food writing focusing solely on pleasure to food writing exploring provenance and politics. An extremely important point that hit home for this writer, certainly, as well as for Powell—now writing about whole animal butchery—and Erway—a regular on the NYC sustainable food scene.

Another highlight: a high school teacher in the audience got up and explained that he teaches a course called “Food and NYC” and asked the panelists for their suggestions on where to take a 16 year old for the afternoon in order to “enliven their relationship with food.”  What lucky high schoolers! What a great questions!  Most of the panelists seem to agree that meeting producers like bakers, pizzaiolos, farmers at the market etc. would be a great start. Also agreed upon were the ethnic culinary riches of Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Jackson Heights, Queens.  Then the conversation veered towards the idea of bringing kids to high end French restaurants and my frustration grew….then, Cathy Erway to the rescue: “bring them to an urban farm!”

Phew, all was not lost.

“What’s on Your Plate?” hits the TV waves

If you’ve been meaning to catch one of their screenings, but haven’t yet done so, take heart: “What’s On Your Plate?” will air on the Discovery Channel on Saturday, February 6th.

Consider planning a viewing party! Have a potluck, host a discussion, watch the movie in your living—anything goes.   Just make sure to save the date in your calendars now.  Click here to learn more about the film; it follows two eleven-year old multi-racial city kids as they explore their place in the food chain in New York City.  You can also read about the movie right here on our blog where we wrote about it last July.

There are additional airing dates listed on their web site.

Are Schools “Flunking” Lunch?

by Gordon Jenkins

The fundamental goal of the National School Lunch Program is to ensure that every student has daily access to a healthy meal, regardless of means. But according to a report authored by Colleen Kavanagh of the Campaign for Better Nutrition, the cost of keeping “competitive foods” (on-campus vending machines and school stores) in the lunchroom is undermining that goal.

Typically, school administrators allow vending machines and fast food stores on campus because they generate revenue for under-funded school programs. But Ms. Kavanagh’s report found that many schools are losing revenue on competitive food sales and are borrowing money from the school lunch program in order to offset those losses.

In other words, the cost of keeping Round Table Pizza in the lunchroom is preventing some schools from buying fruits and vegetables.

You can read Ms. Kavanagh’s report here.

Congress plans to renew child nutrition programs in early 2010, and strengthening nutrition standards for competitive foods is on the agenda. It’s also one of the policy goals of Slow Food USA’s Time for Lunch Campaign, which is mobilizing support for helping schools serve real food for lunch.

Michael Pollan wants you to eat food

Some people want to be told what to eat. Ever get asked about “the Slow Food diet?”  I do. Countless times I’ve explained that there is no slow food diet, that it’s not meant to be a dogmatic philosophy.  But this doesn’t stop well-intentioned people from wanting someone to spoon feed them a rubric by which they can figure out what the heck to eat. People, it seems, are overwhelmed and confused.

On “The Daily Show” the other night, Jon Stewart asked Michael Pollan to distill the 64 rules from his new book “Food Rules,” down to one simple statement.  ‘Eat food,” Pollan replied with a smile.  They both chuckled.

Some might wonder: if it’s that simple, why does Pollan keep popping out books like this? Why write a “short, radically pared down book” (his words) full of rules?  As he explains in the intro, the 64 rules are basically 64 short roads back to “eat food.”  This book is clearly intended for the overwhelmed and confused folks, not for Pollan’s faithful readers and acolytes who, by now I presume, are starting to understand the larger picture of our food system.

Pollan is the master of communication, and he somehow manages to produce a list that is decidedly not dogmatic, full of cultural expressions rather than scientific ones.  Many are retreads, i.e. if you read “Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food,” you won’t find much new to chew on here.  But this book has great potential to reach a broader audience.  It is, as Jon Stewart described it, “fun-sized.”  It’s small, easy to palm, and easy to understand.  It’s organized into three sections that act as tiers of engagement: section 1 tells you what to eat (“food,” remember?).  Once you’re eating that way, section 2 can help you figure out which foods.  Finally, section 3 can tell you how to eat them—and “chew” isn’t an exaggeration.  A bunch of them come down to chewing and it helps you realize just how far many Americans have traveled from the whole process we call eating.

Food News: Bits and Bites

What we’ll be talking about this year:  Marion Nestle outlines her predictions for the top food news issues for 2010.

Sustainable chef gets a mainstream nod: Yum Sugar readers name Rick Bayless male chef of the year.

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone—floor cleaner meets lunch? People can’t stop talking about the news that there’s ammonia in hamburgers.  You saw it in Food, Inc.  Read more in the NY Times.

One more reason to get involved in our Time for Lunch campaign: A color-coded map of obesity rates in this country—one for adults, one for children.