Category Archives: Green living

Cool food in a warming world–and how you can get a copy of “Food for the Future”!

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Gallaudet University’s Focus the Nation activities grew far larger than the organizers ever dreamed. At least that’s what it seemed. How else could you explain it when what was supposed to be one day of short lectures and panels turns into dozens of in-depth presentations both from campus experts and from guest speakers flown in for the occasion, a Green Fair, panels, workshops, and receptions? Members of Green Gallaudet not only hosted a great event but forged relationships with faculty, staff, students, and the greater D.C. community–including local businesses.

Gallaudet’s Academic Technology created a video and EcoDeaf wrote it up. When you watch the video, enlarge the view and keep your eye on the upper left corner. You might see a familiar food blogger! For my sign-challenged readers, in that snippet of the Food for the Future presentation, I’m talking about buying from local farms. You never would’ve guessed that, right? (Info on a copy of the presentation after the jump) Continue reading →

Good food gone bad

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The steamed organic tofu at Adam Express on Mount Pleasant looked so safe, so innocent. It was 9 p.m. and I was ravenous for dinner. The dish was simply tofu, lettuce, and rice. So I ordered it. Somehow, my good intentions of eating something healthy for myself and sustainable for the planet came out like this:

Beware the good food in the bad packages, my friends. Beware.

Finger food

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A few bites:

  • It turns out fermentation (at least for sauerkraut) is not so tough! In college, I made a 5-gallon bucket of it for my co-op and boy did that take a lot of shredding on the Hobart mixer. It also involved sinking my arms into salty cabbage up to my elbows, finding something that would cover the cabbage and press it just so, and then checking every few days and praying that I wouldn’t kill my fellow co-opers. Then I saw some simple, 3-to-4-day sauerkraut in action this weekend. Yes, I do mean action, because once you put cabbage and salt together, it gets fermenting and doesn’t stop. Not until you’ve eaten the whole jar, that is. This is another kick in the kiester to check out Wild Fermentation.
  • I sincerely hope I can upload a 10+ MB PowerPoint presentation on here. I’m devising one that could be useful in exploring the connection between food choices and climate change, or explaining the concept to new-comers to the idea. It’s pretty basic, but can probably teach anyone a thing or two. I know I’ve learned quite a bit during the process.
  • For example: Did you know that the food industry uses almost 1/5 of all the petroleum consumed in the United States, and 4/5 of that energy is not used to grow the food—it is consumed in processing and transporting the food? (Thanks, Michael Pollan). And did you know that landfills produced the equivalent of 147 metric tons of CO2 in 2006, and that the EPA is trying to turn it into electricity? Yep, the EPA is talking about powering hundreds of thousands of homes with landfill gas. Does that mean it will soon be my civic duty to throw things away? Maybe I should revoke that post about sustainable packaging. If we stop throwing away string cheese wrappers and pizza boxes, as I’ve been advocating, will we be cutting off one of our cheapest sources of renewable energy? And what happened to using the sun? I was really liking that idea.

This is an odd twist on saving the world, indeed.

Eating (and reading) to save the world

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It’s been a while since my passionate vegan days (around ages 15-20). But as a Google search of my name reminds me, I was once a teenaged vegan idealist who snatched at the first glimmers of the e-networking world as a member of the Vegetarian Youth Network (scroll down to “New Paltz”). On this proto-listserv, we exchanged recipes for egg-and-dairy-free baked goods along with plots for a vegan revolution.

That well-spent youth all came back to me when I picked up the book Veggie Revolution: Smart Choices for a Healthy Body and a Healthy Planet by Sally and Sara Kate Neidel (Sally is a Ph.D. — Sara  Kate I think is her daughter). This book argues that vegetarianism can help alleviate climate change, water pollution, world hunger, and pretty much every other bad thing you can think of. I bought it this weekend at Busboys and Poets and the 16-year-old vegan in me is cheering. Continue reading →

The power of sun

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The other night, I discovered a charred gash as long as my pinky finger and about as thick marring the hardcover spine of a book. The image startled me. How had The Omnivore’s Dilemma received a burn two inches long and half an inch deep, through layers of dustcover and binding, without my noticing? My glasses, which had been sitting next to the book, were also burned. One lens now oozes permanently, creating a warped spot in the lower right corner of my vision.

Did someone break into my apartment, burn my stuff with the lighter I had nearby to light candles, and leave? That seemed highly unlikely. But just to check, I tried holding the lighter to the book. It began burning a wider, messier gash than the one I had. The pinky-sized gash seems to have been made by a slower, more patient endeavor.

Had it happened while I was sleeping? Did a spark leap from the electrical outlet and ignite the book cover in a flame that went out a few minutes later? It was possible, but I would have surely smelled that or felt the heat.
Confused and unsettled, I gave up until the sun enlightened me the next morning. I picked up the book, put it down in the usual place on the night table, and noticed a bright, hot stream of light. The sun itself, with a slow and powerful presence, had reduced the work of human hands to ash and a carefully crafted pair of glasses to a fun house mirror.

It seemed fitting that such a thing would happen to a book that dedicates a great deal of time to talking about the sun and the “free lunch” it provides. In Michael Pollan’s estimation, humans would be far better off if more of them followed the example of farmers who raise grass-fed animals (or, as the farmer Pollan follows calls it, farming grass).

The idea is to let the grass soak up the sun and grow up to be tasty food, have the animals graze and poop on it, then eat the animals and/or their eggs and milk. The alternative is letting corn grow on sun and chemicals, processing the corn using polluting fuels and more chemicals, then feeding it to animals who may never have seen a blade of grass. Additional work comes in because the processed corn lacks antioxidants and generally animal-friendly elements found in grass. To round out this convoluted chain, the sun-shunning farmers must give their corn-fed critters tons of antibiotics.

We could avoid this long second scenario, Pollan concludes, if we just harnessed the free and abundant power of the sun and kept it simple. I know for sure that it’s abundant, but its power is far from simple.

The Hazon Food Conference–where Jews and food meet

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… including this here Jew. I’m going to it!

This should be quite interesting. A chance to see the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, be in the presence of a shechted goat, and see all sorts of creative foodie presenters.

Yet another great part of the Hazon Food Conference, I just learned, is a photo exhibit. I plan to submit some photos, and I thought it would be fun to have readers vote on which You are Delicious pix I should send. Please take a look at past entries or look at all the posts labeled “Feast your eyes” with photos taken by me. Then leave a comment and let me know which are worthy!

U Street Farmers Market

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Yesterday I got it into my head to stop by the U Street Farmers’ Market early.

Just to put in a quick plug for farmers’ markets, they are a wise thing to frequent. They are green as can be because they bring the produce directly from the local farmer to you (fewer food miles and less carbon emissions!), and make that important connection between the eater and where/how the food is produced. Plus the food is always fresh and delicious!

Anyway, as I was about to take off at the outrageous hour of 8:30 on a Saturday morning, I suddenly was seized with doubt. Is this one of those markets that opens at 10? Is it still happening this far into the fall? I thought some research was in order before I headed out.

The first item in a Google search was a city development firm. Uh… no. There was a lovely review of the market here, but without specifics. DCist had the right dates but the wrong times. Logan Circle News had another listing for the hours (which turned out to be correct), but didn’t mention the date range. Even El WaPo seems to have overlooked it in 2006 and I didn’t see another listing for 2007.

I am here to tell you:

U Street Farmers’ Market

14th and U Street NW

9 a.m.-1 p.m on Saturdays*

For 2007, it runs June 2 until November 17

*I don’t recommend getting there early because the city keeps these wily farmers in line with a strict ordinance that says they can’t sell anything until the stroke of 9.

Pesticide-free produce, cider, homemade pasta and free-range meat, baked goods from the Bread Line, an opportunity to donate food you buy to Martha’s Table — it’s all there for another two weeks.

And do check out the WaPo’s list of farmers’ markets for more. Just plan your arrival wisely.

The secret life of your rice cooker

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We have seen the enemy, and it is… kitchen appliances!

NPR reported recently on Japan’s struggle to achieve lower carbon emissions and its effort to target the kinds of things we leave plugged in even when we don’t need them.

It seems that the reduction Japan agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol is tougher than expected. While individuals can make a difference, the government may have taken that idea too far with an ad campaign called “Team Minus 6%.” According to the NPR story,

“[One] advertisement features a conversation between a microwave oven and a rice cooker. The message: Unplug appliances when you’re not using them.”

Unfortunately, my YouTube search failed to locate a video of this undoubtedly priceless ad.

The article goes on to examine this idea more closely:

“You might think that environmentalists would applaud, but Tetsunari Lida feels like it’s a distraction. ‘It’s nonsense,’ Lida says. ”

And Lida should know. He’s the director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies in Tokyo.

While it would be great if “kitchen activism” could save the world from the big, bad carbon emissions, I don’t think that’s the key.

My message? Keep taking public transportation and cut down on air travel, use alternative energy sources, eat locally, green up your investment portfolio, and exercise your consumer sovereignty by supporting eco-friendly companies—or better yet, start one yourself.

Buy Nothing Day

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I tried not to buy anything yesterday. When I first heard about Buy Nothing Day campaigns to get consumers to abstain from the frenzy of day-after-Thanksgiving shopping, it sounded like no big deal. I mean, many Jews do it every Saturday. But it’s tougher than you think to avoid picking up a coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts, buying a newspaper, or paying for some form of transportation.

Most of what I buy is food, so I’m going to talk about it here.

As you probably know, preparing all of your meals for the day is time-consuming, as is making your own coffee. For me, the problem is stubbornness. I am the queen of Made From Scratch. My freezer knows not the frozen entrée nor the veggie burger. The great irony is that I often give up on making my own labor-intensive food and buy a hot meal or salad bar salad that costs twice as much as the convenience foods would. At any rate, I did take the time to make breakfast and lunch.

Sparing you the rest of the details, let’s skip to about 6:30 p.m. I headed to my CSA veggie pickup with a hunger that made me dream of delicious snacks available at the nearby Dupont Whole Foods. I made it through, though, and left with another familiar irony–starving as I carried a veritable cornucopia of food. There were plenty of nutritious and tasty vegetables in there, but all required slicing, dicing, and/or cooking.

When I got home, I quickly made some dinner, rendering the not-immediately-edible goodies quite edible indeed, if I do say so myself.

As I ate triumphantly and voraciously, I congratulated myself on a day of no purchasing. Well, that is if the movie I was treated to makes it by the judges…

* * *

Here’s one dish I made, using the cukes that are coming out of my CSA at an impressive rate:

Seven O’Clock Cucumber Salad

3-6 servings

2 medium cucumbers, peeled if not organic, seeds scooped out, and diced
½ medium onion, minced
1 Tbs. umeboshi plum vinegar, or 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar plus salt to taste
1 tsp. dried mint or 1 Tbs. fresh mint (if you don’t have mint that you swiped from a nearby apartment building’s backyard on hand like I did, you can try Thai or Italian basil).
2 tsp. black sesame seeds (optional)

Toss all ingredients together. Chill for a few hours and toss again, or begin devouring right then and there.

Solar cookers in action

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Here’s a video about solar cookers! It features Louise Meyer, my neighbor who spreads the sun-cooked love.

It’s interesting that the everyday chores we take for granted can be wasting time and resources. Gathering wood for stoves, for the women in this video, takes hours at a time. While the amount they use likely doesn’t cause deforestation on the scale of paper and lumber companies, that’s also something to consider.

What do we do that’s similarly inefficient? Do solutions exist that we are unaware of or unwilling to try? Questions to ponder, my friends!

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Note: unfortunately, this does not have captions. Its story is pretty clear, though. And there are subtitles for the parts in Spanish.

Now on to the video!

More on the organization is at www.she-inc.org.