“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” - H.L. Mencken
Showing posts with label food revolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food revolution. Show all posts
I freakin' love the whole process of gardening. From taking the little seeds and nurturing them as they sprout- I love to watch the little baby seedlings grow. I become very fond of them- I kind of love them, truth be told. I think they know it, too. So when they are finally old enough to be planted in the tower, its like a Bar or Bat Mitvah. So exciting that they are old enough to live on their own!
my little babies!
Here are those babies three weeks ago- just a gleam in my eye
Even cooler is when its harvest time, and you are able to make salads and smoothies with the harvest. I have harvested three times now, and its amazing to know you grew what you are eating. This novelty, I know, is lost on old school garden growers. But for me, having been citified for so many years, I lost the relationship with growing food. I thought it was impossible, given that I live in an apartment. And above all, I wasn't interested- as everyone who has read my blogs knows, until recently I wasn't about to eat anything green.
I am invigorated by the movement when it comes to food- from the revolutionary stance, such as I take, to the nutrition freaks, to the vegans who love animals, to those who are concerned for the environment and buy local for that reason (I am one of those, too)- its a full on movement, and its exciting as hell. Like Jamie Oliver, raising so much Cain that McDonalds is going to stop using the ammonia in the McNuggets (they still will be total crap, but better than before), to documentaries about the farming industry revealing the truth about what the FDA is doing to small farmers, to local merchants trying to simply sell raw foods, or raw milk, and the people who want to buy those items (Farmageddon- click here to see movie), to all the facebook postings about Monsanto, and the revived interest in farmer's markets, urban beekeeping and gardening...its amazing! Its...GANGSTA!
Gardening is Gangsta- I told you!
Gardening is GANGSTA- especially when you do it urban style, either in an aeroponic garden tower, or guerilla gangster style- planting food bearing plants in public spaces). Eating healthy is gangsta- just check out THUG KITCHEN ("eat like you give a fuck"). I personally love when there is a saucy dose of irreverence, like PUNK ROCK HOMESTEADING ("Resistance is Fertile"). These earth friendly, body loving practices all comes from the past, but this is the future, its necessary, and its radical, revolutionary, and a movement worth joining.
Thug Kitchen is totally gangsta- love those punx!
If you think you can't grow your own fruit and vegetables because you live in an urban setting- you're wrong. Check out Garden Towers- they have a pretty sweet payment plan.
If you think you can't afford to eat locally or organic- I am doing it, and I raise a family of two teenage girls and 5 animals on one small income, smashed into a two bedroom apartment, and I'm doing it. Trust me, its not as expensive as you think.
I am gonna eat that arugula tomorrow
If you think you can't live without your certain processed foods- go back and read my first blog and keep reading until you catch up to this one- I am you. You are me. I'm on day 4 of no coca cola- the longest I have gone in 34 years without a Coke. I know how hard it is, but I also know what it feels like once you do it. Its like...discovering you were a slave and freeing yourself. Nothing bad about that. You deserve to experience it for yourself.
If you have any other resistance- look at it. The human Ego was designed to resist anything that is truly and deeply good- for you, for your life, and for the planet. The Ego is like a disease. It would prefer you be a robot to your programming, a puppet to your tastebuds and a slave to your insecurities, than to question any part of your life and habits. THATS EXACTLY WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT. Don't be a robot, or a puppet, or a slave. Question yourself. Then Occupy Yourself. Start here, start now, start small, but by all means. start. You will be in good company. And you might, like me, love it. And you might even be, like me, a GANGSTA. Yeeeoooow!
Doing things different is hard. That's probably why we often don't. I've said it before, and I'm saying it again- I refuse to be a robot, with my actions dictated by my programming.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
For me, the true act of resistance, the really radical thing any one of us can do is to question everything, starting with our own selves. So often we define ourselves by our preferences. How many times have you said, "That's just me, that's just who I am." Poppycock. There are a precious few of us who are self realized, and those people shirk the concept of "I' entirely. I'm not suggesting that, though- its too extreme for most of us, slugging out our daily lives and trying to be the best and most helpful versions of ourselves.
If you are what you eat, then you are what your taste buds tell you. Your tongue DEFINES you. Try that on for size.
In my life, as in most people's, my relationship to food is defining. For anyone new to this blog, let me give you an example. I have always hated water, and preferred cokes. I hated vegetables. I loved processed foods and fast food. Since I never gained weight, I never thought much about it- and you know as well as I do that weight is a much bigger motivator for people changing their eating habits than health. Sad but true. So for me, I wasn't motivated to change, and more than that, I enjoyed being a food brat. I thought it was funny to eat Kraft mac and cheese every day for lunch, to drink 5 cokes a day, a steak for dinner, and 10 cookies with milk before bed and a big chocolate-y coffee drink for breakfast. But when I started to look at my own resistance to even considering eating more like a GROWN UP, I had to admit, I was stuck. I was rigid about it, I wasn't going to listen to anyone who might suggest I try to drink more water, or eat some veggies. I wasn't going to listen, and I didn't listen. I was stubborn as a mule. And I know many other mules, and I know how they feel. To question our food preferences strikes at the heart of our identity.
Word up, yo
I've come a long way in a short while, if I do say so myself. However, this isn't really about me. I offer myself up as a guinea pig of sorts- this blog inspires me to continue because it might, it just might, help someone else make some better choices. Its a self fulfilling prophecy in the most positive of ways. I just know that if I can do it, you can too, no matter who you are. You have to figure out your 'why'. Mine is entirely a socio-political statement. Health was never a selling point for me, nor weight loss. My reason is entirely this- there are evil corporations that are poisoning our food sources. They seek to dominate the world food supply- and when they do, they will dominate the world. Companies like Monsanto and Bayer are killing our bees, tearing up rainforests for palm oil production, and are genetically altering our food. They feed us crap in bright packaging and we eat it. Every cent I don't spend on processed food is a cent they don't get, and every time I buy locally grown, I am supporting farmers, freedom, and the future of the planet. That is what inspires me now, about all choices I make- but it started with food, and now its taking over everything. That is why I call it a revolution- it is a personal revolution, it is a radical move to question your own proclivities and to alter your own internal system.
I am not sure if this is an ad for Coke, or a warning against it.
My new challenge? WATER. Drinking water and cutting back on Cokes (maybe even cutting them out completely- maybe). I didn't think I was ready for this, and it wasn't even really a decision I made consciously. I just chose other things besides Cokes to drink for the past two days. This might be the first time since I was 10 that I have gone two whole days without a Coke. I'm 44. 34 years. That sounds appalling, but its the truth. Coke was my water. So when I say- "If I can do it, you can too", this exact scenario comes to mind. If I can let go of a 34 year long love affair with Coca Cola, then for sure you can let go of whatever you think you never will.
So I am on day two. I am not telling myself I will never have a Coke again, but I can tell you this- the last few cokes I had, I questioned myself. I thought, "Is this really a good taste? Do you even like this?" And I found that the real answer, behind the knee jerk answer, was no, not really. Its too acidy, too sweet, leaves a strange after taste. So I asked myself what I did like about it, and really I just like the carbonation. Those bubbles are what I am after. I have been drinking sparkling water instead, and there isn't anything I don't like about it. I love this clip, below- this guy makes a pretty good point. In Mexico, high fructose corn syrup is illegal. And yet you can't even drink the water in Mexico- so even with their standards, high fructose corn syrup is not allowed. And that is the main ingredient in my favorite drink. We all know how a nail will dissolve in it. And even this isn't as compelling as the dictates of our taste buds.
Our taste buds control us. I want to propose that our taste buds make emotional connections that could be entirely based on lies. Or, our taste buds lie- and they are very, very compelling. When I do what my taste buds tell me, I am the worst kind of robot. I am letting little bumps on my tongue define a large part of who I think I am. I am letting the food corporations manipulate my taste buds into manipulating me. That makes me a big meat puppet. No thank you. I'd rather OCCUPY MYSELF! I will figure out who I really am, what I really like and want in my system, and consider the needs of the future of this planet when making my own authentic choices.
When you come right down to it, its really a trip to start dismantling your preferences. In so doing I have discovered that I also really don't like my Kraft Macaroni and cheese. Or American cheese, or white bread. Or hot dogs. I might not even really like gummy bears, but that's another blog entirely. These past two months of eating fresh food, locally grown food, I have discovered a world that was right there all the time, at which I scoffed. I actually like green food. I even kind of love it. I like fruit! Water isn't so bad, either. I have cut back on red meat to the extent that I have had it twice in two months instead of every night. I will not ever eat fast food again, ever. Who the hell am I anymore? Its crazy, but its oh so good. And in taking on this shift in my eating life, it has taken root in other areas. I accept no substitutes, I don't seek cheap thrills. I am not about to drink the Kool-Aid. I want an authentic experience in all aspects of my life. I am learning that the old adage is true, after all- we really are what we eat. Damn it all to hell- I hate it that they were right all along. Pisses me off to no end! It is a supreme insult to my inner brat to accept defeat, but the brat has run the show long enough. Its just not that cute anymore.
So- for those of you, who, like me, have a hard time with drinking water, there are some great apps out there-
And just to remind us all about the magic of water, and its ability to display the consciousness that it is-
And finally, if you are a water drinker, try to avoid water produced or bottled by Nestle. The CEO of Nestle thinks that people are 'entitled' about water, and that water needs to be privatized. Screw that guy. Learn about water- its not all the same. And try to buy those 5 gallon bottles with a little spigot to keep in your fridge and get yourself a cool water canteen or sport bottle and refill as needed for the day. No need for all the senseless waste produced by all those water bottles!
Right about the time I realized I needed to change the way I was looking at, and living, my life, I was lucky enough to have two unused garden towers in my proximity that I could learn to use. At my work, my boss had purchased two of them, but no one had championed the cause. It was perfect synchronicity. How many people living in cities don't have the option of growing their food, due to lack of soil or space? Plenty, I bet. Me included.
I also have the good fortune of having someone show me how to get these things started. There are so many ways to talk oneself out of doing something- "I don't know how", or "Maybe next week," or "I can't afford it," or "It won't work." The universe in all its goodness eliminated all such conversations from my head. If I can learn how to do these things, I can teach others. Its amazing to me that the most radical thing any of us can do is to get back to nature as much as possible- and there is nothing more natural than growing your own food.
So my friend who came to help also takes care of the garden towers at Step Up on Second, which is an organization which helps the homeless in Los Angeles. They have a small café where they serve hotdogs and hamburgers, and the homeless people on the program work the café and learn how to have a job. There are many aspects to this organization, and they are doing amazing work. One aspect is the garden towers on the roof- I think he said there were 25 of them, and they grow food that they can use to help feed the homeless people who come through while they teach them how to be self sustaining. Here is a picture below- pretty amazing. By the way- you can make monthly payments for a garden tower, and they payments are reasonable.
Garden Towers at Step Up on Vine
My friend and I first started to create the seedlings. I got seed packets of peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, arugula. We put rock wool into plastic trays with individual growing bins- you do this so the roots don't grow into each other. Then you put 4 or 5 seeds in each one, and cover with a nutrient rich covering. Its important to mark what you planted- we did it with coffee stirrers with the name of the vegetable and the date on the back. Then you soak the seed beds, but be careful not to disturb the seeds.
The start of an urban garden
If you were not going to use a tower and were going to go guerilla gardening (which I implore you to do) then you would do the same thing but you could use potting soil which is already fortified with nutrients. In guerilla urban gardening, you would plant vegetables or other edibles in public spaces, or in front of your apartment building, on medians, on the courthouse lawn, parks, etc. Nothing at all wrong with doing this! once your seedlings are good and strong, plant them where they will be able to get water- any public landscaping will have sprinkler systems.
So in about two weeks, we will have little seedlings. Every day I need to lightly water the seedlings and not leave too much water in the bottom tray- or they roots will grow down towards the water, and we'd rather encourage the plants to grow towards the sun.
Once they are seedlings, we transfer them to the garden towers. The towers only need to be filled with water and the nutrient solution and then you basically leave them alone and let them grow. You need to have access to an outlet as they need to plug in for the water to pump up through to each little basket. My first plants I put in my garden tower are growing- some died. White flies got to many of them. If you have white flies, a water and dish soap solution sprayed onto the leaves makes them go away.
Here is my vision- I want to teach people how to create urban gardens and beehives. Bees have a higher rate of survival in cities, and you can have your own source of honey. The gardens can give you certain vegetables and fruit- I am staying away from things like lettuce or herbs right now and focusing on things like tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers- its easy enough to get salad stuff from the farmer's market. I would like to help people understand the importance of buying from their local farmer's markets- its fresh, generally organic, and has not taken a lot of fossil fuels to send on trucks and airplanes from distant countries to your grocery store chain. I know we can't grow everything, and we can't buy everything at the farmer's market- but we can do a lot, and its a great start.
When I go to the farmer's market, I look at the people there and am so happy to be among like minded people. Its revolutionary. Buying local instead of at the supermarkets takes money out of the hands of those who seek to control the world's food sources.There is much more at the farmer's market than produce- there is bread, meat, fish, eggs- you can get a lot of your shopping done there. the more you buy there, the more you are telling the GMO food corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta to fuck the fuck off.
I don't think any single restaurant (a term I am using loosely here) has marketed the American Dream to Americans more than McDonalds. The golden arches are synonymous with the USA. Personally I think that is really quite sad, but, along with Coca Cola, its one of the two most enduring things this country has given the world.
I am going to go on record and state that I have not given up Cokes, not yet. Its curious to me how ingrained Coca Cola is in my life. Its to the point where I feel like I can't eat a meal without a coke. Water won't do, or juice- I don't drink alcohol- just cokes. And I am fully aware that this wonderful American legacy delivers a ton of sugar, and is acidic enough to dissolve a nail or a tooth in a matter of days- this is how I totally understand the consumers for whom all this information is so daunting they have to tune it out- our proclivities define us. And if you fuck with our definitions of ourselves, its a major threat. If someone told me I couldn't have any more Cokes, I would be pretty lost. So I have put these on my 'yet' list, a short list of which I reserve the right to maintain. Some may think it hypocritical, but I think there is another way to look at it. I think it makes my journey more relatable- there is a struggle in it to change, and I am sharing my struggle, not preaching. And I am not preaching to the choir- those who have already adopted a very organic lifestyle don't need this information. I aspire to make these choices naturally, without hesitation, but it requires that I stay on point.
McDonalds and cokes. America. So the cokes- I got that out of the way- they are still on the menu for me. But McDonalds? No way. Yet its another one of those things I understand the difficulty of giving up, I do. They have the best French fries ever. Usually their soda to syrup ratio for cokes is one of the best. The double cheeseburger really hits the spot. And of course, like most Americans, my kids ate their fair share of happy meals. But on closer inspection of what is going on with the food product McDonalds is peddling, its easy to be disturbed. The American Dream, the McHappy life they are selling us isn't what it seems. The chicken is just barely chicken- all sorts of parts of chickens one wouldn't want to ever eat are ground up with the rest- eyeballs, feet, feathers- and its such an awful concoction that a lot of bleach has to be poured into it to disinfect it all. But the bleach then removes all the color and flavor, so then a slightly pink color is added, as well as...chicken flavor. what you are tasting when you eat a chicken McNugget is an artificial chicken flavor. Let me just give you a visual to go with those fries-
If you are a parent, and you have fed your kids the seemingly innocent chicken McNugget Happy Meal- how could you not be appalled at what you have been feeding your kid? And how could you ever willingly do it again?
One thing I have discovered- if I don't want to feed it to my kid, then I don't want to eat it, either.
One would think that its hard to tamper with French fries- they are so simple- cut up French fries deep fried in oil. At least I thought so. French fries were the one thing I thought it was okay to eat. But a glance at the 17 ingredients it takes McDonalds to make such a simple thing is alarming.
Mario Dupuis, a production manager at McCain Foods in New Brunswick, discussed where the potatoes are washed, peel and cut. They are also blanched to “remove natural sugars” that would cause colour variations then soaked in dextrose for an even colour. There’s also an ingredient to prevent greying, drying to remove excess moisture and a quick-fry for 45 to 60 seconds before the fries are frozen for shipping.
The worst part are the ingredients. Instead of the standard two ingredients necessary to make french fries-potatoes and oil, there are approximately 17 as reported on the ingredients facts list on the McDonald's website.
They include:
Potatoes, canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, safflower oil, natural flavour (vegetable source), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain colour), citric acid (preservative), dimethylpolysiloxane (antifoaming agent) and cooked in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with THBQ, citric acid and dimethylpolysiloxane) and salt (silicoaluminate, dextrose, potassium iodide).
At a glance, many of the ingredients above are hazardous to human health, including those which are genetically modified (canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil), hydrogenated (soybean oil), chemically preserved and antifoaming (THBQ, citric acid, dimethylpolysiloxane), and artificially colored (sodium acid pyrophosphate).
Let me add just one more little bit of awesomeness- McDonalds was found to be putting antifreeze in its frozen drinks. Oh, they call it ethylene glycol- but its the same thing. Did you think it was fruit and ice blended together? So did everybody else.
So now you have some facts. there are more out there, if you want them. Here is an amazing fact, that makes me proud of the human race- Bolivia has rejected McDonalds. The took the power of the consumer in their own hands and stopped eating at McDonalds, forcing them to shut down all McDonalds in the country. These people refused to be suckered into participating in this rancid exchange-
McDonalds- give us your money, and we will give you carcinogens, chemicals, GMOs, worm meal, ground up chicken's eyeballs and feet- and we will flavor it to taste good, package it in bright paper and sell it to you. We will make it super easy and convenient. We will make everything super sized! We will use a clown to sell it to you- everybody loves clowns- especially serial killers! We will make billions of dollars!
America- Baaaa-aaaaa
Most of the world- The Americans like it, lets do it too. Baaaa-aaaaa
Bolivia- Get the eff out of your country!
Whoever you are, reading this right now, I hope you can consider never eating McDonalds again. I hope you decide to find something else to feed your kids. We could do what Bolivia did, but it would take a lot of us talking about it to our family and friends. You could share this very blog with everyone you know, or you could write your own. It all starts with taking a stand- all movements start with one individual refusing to accept the status quo, and then some more, and then a whole bunch.
Yesterday I bombarded the Mcdonalds facebook page with links to the above information. They blocked me! But before they did, a few people saw my posts and liked them. We could all bombard their page! Share the link from youtube about the mcnuggets. use social media to disseminate information- you could do a lot of damage in a couple of hours on facebook. And by damage, I mean good work, I mean supporting your fellow humans in discovering a better way to live. What other good work is there?
On that note, check out this amazing kid and what he has to say about 'the dark side of the industrialized food system." I would like to think this boy is the future of our society- to me, he IS the American Dream. He is my hero! And his message is important for everyone. Share it!
Now tell me, who inspires you to action more? This amazing boy, or the freaky clown? Even if the only thing you ever do to further the cause is stop eating fast food, its a start!!!
I try to post some fun stuff in between my rants, like recipes. I find that they are integral to my continued success at being a radical in my own kitchen. Being radical is, at its heart, about doing away with what doesn't work and replacing it with something newer, and more aligned with, one's new paradigm.
So having said that, I find myself a little bit at a loss still. I walk in the kitchen and I feel like I want something quick and yummy. The idea of taking time to prepare a meal- (for myself, I mean, I always prepare it for my kids and I)- is not indigenous to my being. If my kids are not home, I will literally just go for whatever is easiest and whatever is yummiest of what is easiest. Like my now infamous obsession with Kraft mac and cheese- deluxe version- its way easier than the other kind.
This recipe below does not require any cooking, so it helps it qualify for easy. Convenient- not so much. Its not something you can keep on your shelf indefinitely- you have to know you plan to eat it soon. And you have to either get, or already have- the ingredients. Like truffle oil- not a lot of people already have that, but I do. I love truffle. I used to put it on McDonalds French fries. Now I put it on salmon and tune. Sigh. But these ingredients, once you have them, last a long time, and make lots of things yummy.
Truffle salmon sashimi with arugula and shaved parmesan
This dish is one that I love at Sushi Roku in Los Angeles- where its $28 for 6 pieces. The dressing is a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, and truffle oil, with fresh ginger bits. It plays off the peppery arugula and the sharp parmesan, and the salmon (or tuna, whichever you prefer) is just the perfect vehicle to carry all those flavors.
Ingredients- (for 2)
12 pieces Salmon or tuna sashimi (I got mine from Whole Foods, by their deli department. They have a guy there who cuts it up and puts it in plastic to-go containers)
organic arugula
block aged parmesan cheese
low sodium soy sauce
sesame oil
white truffle oil
fresh ginger
Mix in a bowl two teaspoons soy sauce, two tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon truffle oil, and 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil. (At this point I taste it and decide what I want to taste more of- its sort of an organic process)
Cut up fresh ginger and put about 1 teaspoon in the oil and soy sauce mixture and let sit for a few minutes in fridge
Create a shallow bed of arugula on each plate, Spread out the sashimi so it sort of fans out nicely. Shave the parmesan cheese so there are chunks (mine in the picture isn't so much shaved as chopped- I don't have a proper shaver/grater thing)
NOW this isn't part of the recipe, but its a nice addition- a couple of avocados, sliced in small sections and also fanned out from the main dish, lightly salted. Another great addition to this- cucumbers, lightly salted and drizzled with soy sauce, with toasted sesame seeds on top-
Remove the oil and soy sauce mixture and drizzle over the sashimi. Be sparing at first and bring the rest to the table so one can add as they see fit.
This is a super light meal that is elegant and sexy and requires zero cooking. Its a total treat to the tastebuds with all that flavor going on. And its really good for you- providing you purchase all non GMO products to prepare it- hopefully you have a Trader Joe's in your town. Kikkoman soy sauce is made from non GMO soy beans.
