Meatless Monday: Slow Food Arrives in New Haven

Slow Food International is a global grassroots organization founded to “counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.” Its origins can be traced back to a protest in response to the arrival of McDonald’s near Rome’s Spanish Steps in 1986. Today there are over 100,000 members in 1300 local chapters.  One of the newest is right here in the New Haven area — Slow Food Shoreline, founded in the late summer of 2011.

The chapter’s board has been very busy over the past few months, making their presence known up and down the Connecticut shoreline. The board members were the invited guests at New Haven Green Drinks on January 18. Chapter chair Michael Cook presented a summary of the group’s history and goals with his talk: “What is the Opposite of Fast Food?” In New Haven, everyone is connected. Chris Randall, executive director of the New Haven Land Trust, was in attendance, camera in hand. You can see his photos from the evening here.

The next scheduled event is Slow Food Shoreline’s first monthly Food Swap, this coming Saturday, February 4th at Woodland Coffee. What is a food swap? According to information on the group’s website, “A Slow Food Swap is part silent auction/part village marketplace/part fun-loving open house where your homemade, homegrown, and foraged creations become your own personal currency for use in swapping with other participants.” Read more about it here. 

What else is on the calendar? On February 11, Slow Food Shoreline will be tabling at the opening of “Big Food: Health, Culture and the Evolution of Eating,” a hands-on exhibition at Yale’s Peabody Museum. And, Slow Food Happy Hour returns at New Haven’s Soul de Cuba on Monday, February 13 from 5- 7 pm. 

On December 11, I attended my first event as a chapter member — an Art Tour at the Yale University Art Gallery, led by board member Vanessa Lamers who is also a graduate student at Yale and a Wurtele Gallery Teacher at the museum. Our guide took us on a tour of food-themed pieces in the gallery’s collection — from an Assyrian tablet dating from 900 BC to a modern-day sculpture by the artist Marisol. At each piece, after listening to  a short description of the artwork and its historical context, we were asked a couple of questions to guide us in our thinking. Why did the man in the Assyrian tablet have wings? Was he plucking dates or watering them? Why are there oranges on the floor in Manet’s painting of the woman reclining in Spanish costume? What was Marisol trying to tell us in her self-portrait “Dinner Date,” where the meal before her is a TV dinner? [A particularly interesting question for s Slow Food group to consider.] This afternoon of guided reflection was a welcome break in the busyness of the holiday season and a good way to meet chapter members.

The group contemplates “Dinner Date”

Such study has been proven to increase one’s observational skills. In fact, we in the Slow Food group were being guided in our observation of works of art in much the same way new medical students are taught to observe. All first-year students at the Yale School of Medicine are required to spend time looking at paintings in a visual tutorial which has been a part of the school’s curriculum since 1999. According to a 2009 article in Yale News, Dr. Irwin Braverman had been trying to find a way to increase observational skills of medical students. Linda Friedlaender, a curator at the Yale Center for British Art, was frustrated by the misdiagnosis of her close friend’s illness. A chance meeting brought the two together, and the class was born. The program was proven so successful that by the time the article was written, a decade later, over 20 medical schools were including a similar program in their curriculums.

Have a great week. I hope to see some of you locals at one of the next Slow Food events in and around New Haven. I’ll “see” the rest of you back here next Monday.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Zone Change

On Wednesday, January 25, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new version of the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, the agency’s first update to the map since 1990. This useful tool for gardeners, farmers, foresters, nurseries, and data lovers, was jointly developed by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Oregon State University's (OSU) PRISM Climate Group. 

The new version of the map includes 13 zones, with the addition for the first time of zones 12 (50-60 degrees F) and 13 (60-70 degrees F). Each zone is a 10-degree Fahrenheit band, further divided into A and B 5-degree Fahrenheit zones. According to the official USDA press release: “Plant hardiness zones do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature for the location over a specified time. Low temperature during the winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants at specific locations.”

It should be no surprise that the map indicates that the US is a warmer place than it was two decades ago. The USDA press release also states, “The new map uses data measured at weather stations during the 30-year period 1976-2005 and is generally one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the United States.”

Many in the horticultural world feel that this map is long overdue. In 2003, according to an article in Mother Jones, the American Horticultural Society released a draft version of a new map based on data from 1986 to 2002, which showed dramatic movement of the zones northward. The USDA pulled this map from circulation, promising to release a new map in 2005.

The Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit organization with over one million members dedicated to planting trees, grew tired of waiting. The group released its own map in 2006, “in response to requests for up-to-date information.” You can view that map here. Be sure to check out the animation showing you the shift in zones from 1990 to 2006. FYI, in the 1990 map, I was in Zone 6.

Back to the new USDA map. It may have been a long time coming, but the map is extraordinarily rich in data and easy to use.

The new map is more detailed geographically and takes into account such features as hills and valleys. It has an interactive feature. You can enter your zip code to find the information for your particular microclimate. Those in the East Bay Area might even find that your town is in a cool zone nestled between two slightly warmer ones. I now live in Hardiness Zone 7a, with average annual extreme minimum temperature of 0 to 5°F. 

I’ve told you mine. Do you know your zone? Check it out here. Your new plants will thank you.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: Market Find of the Week…The Watermelon Radish

My “market find of the week” may not look like much from the outside, but if you cut one open, its inner beauty will be revealed.

I found this very large radish in the organic section of the Elm City Market, where it was being sold as a Watermelon Radish  (Raphanus sativus). 

Originally grown in China, it is also known as “Roseheart Radish,” “Chinese Red Meat Radish,” or “Beauty Heart Radish.” The pale pink to green to cream roots of Raphanus sativus are round and grow to a diameter of 4”. Its interior is bright magenta and looks much like the inside of a watermelon in color and texture. While by no means as sweet as the fruit for which it is named, this radish is not as “hot” as the more familiar red summer radishes. It has a milder taste with just the tiniest bit of a kick.

Watermelon radish is a winter vegetable. It requires cold growing conditions and does best when planted in the fall. The Chinese have long believed that this root has medicinal properties. The watermelon radish, while very low in calories, is a nutritional powerhouse, rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

This colorful, crispy treat makes a great garnish for a winter salad. And, unlike a tomato, it is now in season. I have read that watermelon radishes make a good addition to a stir-fry, but I suggest you try them raw first. No cooking is necessary to enjoy this gorgeous and tasty “market find.” A watermelon radish can really brighten up a dreary winter day.

Have a great week. “See” you next Monday.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Introducing Seafood Watch

“There are only so many fish in the sea … Millions of animals are wasted each year …  Your choices matter.”  This sums up the message of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s  Seafood Watch Program. 

The mission of the program is twofold:

• To raise consumer awareness of these issues and 
• To get savvy consumers to “step up to the plate,” by making choices that are good for them and the oceans.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program has compiled a series of guides recommending which seafood items are “Best Choices” or “Good Alternatives,” and which ones you should “Avoid.” According to information on the Monterey Bay Aquarium website, these recommendations are “science-based, peer reviewed, and use ecosystem-based criteria.”

The guides are continually updated. The newest versions were released just last week.

Regional Pocket Guides are available online for downloading here. 

The guides are also available as mobile apps for your Android or your iPhone. The mobile versions include the Project Fish Map, a database of locations where  “Best Choices” and “Good Alternatives” can be found. With this app you can help Seafood Watch “put ocean-friendly seafood on the map!”

There are even tools for chefs:

• A Buyer’s Guide and
• A Culinary Chart of Alternatives 

You can read more about Seafood Watch here and more about the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California here.

Please step up. Together we can make a difference.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: Every Cork Has a Story

Those of you who visited over the weekend saw my Saturday Short on Corky (at right). And I promised that if you returned today you would learn a great deal about wine corks, where they come from, and why their existence is endangered. This may not be a typical Meatless Monday post, but it does concern a beverage, how it is bottled, and the far-reaching ramifications of the choices the wine industry has been making over the years. For all these reasons I think this brief tale of cork has value to readers concerned about food, health, and the welfare of the planet.

All the corks in our trivet were natural corks made from the bark of the cork oak tree  (Quercus suber) which grows in a horizontal band running across Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, and Northern Africa. Cork oak trees can live to be 150-250 years old, and their bark can be harvested every 9-12 years without any damage to the tree. From the 17th century until quite recently natural cork was the material of choice for sealing wine bottles. 

In the last few decades, however, synthetic corks and other bottle closures have been capturing part of the market share, partially in response to a phenomenon known as “cork taint.” This has caused a huge controversy among oenophiles. Information posted at the UCDavis site in 2001 estimated that 2-7% of all wine sealed with natural cork falls victim to “cork taint,” caused by TCA, a fungus-produced compound, that grows in cork fiber. While this article advocated continued use of natural corks and called for finding ways to reduce the defective rate of natural corks, others in the industry have chosen to embrace synthetic corks as a means for eliminating this problem. Synthetic corks are also considerably less expensive than natural cork and provide a vehicle for branding a product with a bit of bright pop on the top of the bottle. They do, however, have their own set of cons as this article clearly outlines. New Zealand vintners have taken even more extreme measures, advocating the use of screwcaps as an alternative to any type of cork, a solution with pitfalls of its own.  

A 1999 paper written by a scientist with the National Forest Research Station in Oeiras, Portugal estimated that some 60% of the current cork harvest went to the making of corks for bottling wine and spelled out the danger if the demand for natural cork should fall. The conservation group Fauna & Flora  International currently makes the claim that the demand for cork HAS decreased, and speaks of the trend among farmers to cut down the cork trees and to replace them with a more profitable source of income such as citrus trees. The choice of “natural” or “synthetic” clearly has an impact on far more than the taste of the wine inside the bottle. Fauna & Flora International is working with organizations and landowners in Spain and Portugal to secure and manage a belt of land that includes cork oak forest, which is home of the Iberian lynx. 

By now I hope you have come to appreciate the cork at the end of your wine bottle. If you don’t plan to make trivets, there is another way you can recycle your popped corks to a good use.

You may have noticed Cork ReHarvest collection bins at your local Whole Foods Store or a number of other locations around the country. Cork ReHarvest is a collection and recycling program started in 2008 by the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance. The conservation group has two goals:

• To educate the public about the ecological importance of the Mediterranean cork forest and its role as provider of a vital source of income for family farmers who have worked the forests for generations.
and
• To collect as many as possible of the 13 billion corks used each year before they reach the landfills, and to up-cycle these used corks, without increasing their carbon footprints. The recycled corks cannot be used for wine closures, but they do get turned into a variety of useful products which vary depending on the part of the country in which they are collected. In Nebraska, RecycledFish, a nonprofit association of anglers, is developing cork bobbers. In Missouri, Yemm and Hart is using the cork in floor tiles. You can read more here. 

So, you see, every cork has a once and future story. Please think about that when you pop the cork on your next bottle of wine. 

I often blog on food or food-related topics on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Meet Corky

Corky (below) is the partially homemade, thus partially Made in the USA, wine cork trivet we gave to our son and his fiancée this past Christmas.

"Corky" required 40 corks.

After seeing such a trivet for sale online, I had decided to put my family’s collection of used wine corks to good use protecting a table from hot pots.  I was not quite ready to start from scratch. I knew I had enough corks but wasn’t sure about sizing the frame properly. I looked for a kit. None of the local craft or hobby stores in the area had such an item, but at the Home Depot online store I found the kit for the trivet you see here. Slow shipping was free at the time.

The kit arrived later than promised from China [Yikes! That was missing from the description.] via a California warehouse. The cost was pretty reasonable, but the wood was mahogany-stained vs. mahogany [as I had expected], and the 40 corks fit a little loosely in the frame and sat a bit lower than we wanted. My husband was the one who came up with the idea of adding more cork to the trivet. Hull’s in downtown New Haven had sheets of cork in several thicknesses, the middle weight perfect for our needs. We trimmed some to fit in the base, adding just enough height for the corks to rise above the frame, thus keeping any hot pot from touching the wood. We also cut thin strips to line the frame, fitting the corks more tightly together. 

After designing the pattern inside the frame, we removed the corks a pair at a time and duplicated the pattern outside. We poured some white glue into a dish and carefully applied a fairly generous amount of glue to the back of each cork, one at a time, with an inexpensive watercolor brush. Then we carefully set each one back into the frame in its proper place. Voilà!

We set a tray weighted down with a cast iron pan atop the trivet for a couple of days to let it set and dry well. And then it was ready for packing and shipping back to California where the kids live. I confess the footprint for this gift is pretty big.

The present was a big hit, evoking memories of special occasions and good times shared. We just might do this again when our cork collection is replenished, many months, if not years from now. We will probably build our own box next time. 

Someday a wine cork trivet may be a truly collectible item. Start saving your corks, and come back on Monday for my Meatless Monday post to find out why …

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: Avoid Cans When You Can

Late in November of 2011, The Harvard School of Public Health reported that volunteers who ate a 12-ounce serving of canned vegetarian soup for five days had more than a 1,200 percent increase in BPA in their urine over the volunteers who ate the same amount of fresh vegetarian soup for five days. Here is another excellent case for eating as fresh as you can, whenever you can.

What is BPA and why should you worry? Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical which has been used in the manufacture of some plastics and resins since the 1960s. It  was particularly common in polycarbonate plastics used to store food and beverages, and in a number of other items including water bottles, baby bottles and cups, and toys. BPA is listed as an endocrine disruptor by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which defines endocrine disruptors as “chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife.” For more information, read the Mayo Clinic’s response to the question, “What is BPA, and What Are the Concerns About BPA?”

The time of potential greatest risk from BPA exposure is during fetal development and in early childhood years when the body and its organs are forming. As a result of extensive lobbying by concerned citizens and activist groups, plastics containing BPA have all but disappeared from store shelves. There is still no federal legislation, but individual states passed laws which had an impact on the industry. In June, 2009, Connecticut became the first state to ban BPA from infant formula, baby food cans and jars, and from all reusable food and beverage containers; in October, 2011, California became the 11th state to take such an action. Connecticut’s ban took effect on October 1, 2011.

That’s good news for the problematic plastics. But with all the attention focused on BPA in polycarbonate, not as much attention was being paid to the BPA in resins. Epoxy resins are used to coat the inside of metal cans, to keep them from rusting, particularly when they contain an acidic product like tomatoes. The recent Harvard canned soups study leaves little doubt that BPA leaches from the lining to the food and that we are ingesting it.

Over 90% of Americans tested by the CDC were found to have residues of BPA in their bodies. On the good chance that you are not in the BPA Free 10%, you might want to consider some preventive measures for you, your family, and any future offspring.

What can you do?

• Make your own soup.
• Cook your own beans. [This will also save you money. You can freeze the extra for future use.]
• When buying canned goods look for the phrase “BPA Free Lining” on the label. You will find this on Eden Organic canned bean products.  Eden Organics has been using BPA Free cans since 1999! Muir Glen is transitioning to BPA Free liners.You can read more about BPA Free cans here. 
• To be safe, look for BPA Free stickers on any plastic products you purchase. Rubbermaid has offered a BPA Free line since 2009. 
• Purchase prepared food in glass jars. Use glass or porcelain for storing your own food.
• Never heat or microwave in plastic.
• And here is something you may not know. Stainless steel sports bottles do not contain linings of any kind. You will never find BPA there. Check out Kleen Kanteen. 

It all comes down to two rules: 

• Eat fresh when you can.
• Avoid cans when you can.

Have a great week. “See” you next Monday.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Restoring the Shine

As co-owner of a 19th century row house I am co-steward of many things — among them a staircase with 117 rungs supporting a wide handrail which wraps from the third floor to the basement. The house is on a busy corner. Dust accumulates. Time between dusting has tended to stretch out more and more each year.

One of the first resolutions for 2012 was to give the hallway a good cleaning. My co-steward handled the vacuum. The dusting fell to me. I remembered a link at Sustainable Praxis to a Huffington Post slideshow: Olive Oil Uses: 20 Bizarre Household Tips. Slide 3 initially gave me the idea for a chemical-free New Year’s cleaning. For affirmation I turned to my trusty copy of Green Cleaning for Dummies. Sure enough, page 87 suggested dabbing a cleaning cloth with olive oil for dusting furniture. Railings and furniture are both made of wood; close enough.

I tried it. Since lemon oil was an optional add, I left it out.I enjoyed the fruity smell of olive oil as I polished away and polished away (117 rungs, remember?). The wood buffed easily to a shimmery shine with no oily residue. The end result of glistening wood and dirty cloths were proof enough for me that this alternative cleaning method worked. 

When I decided to try this experiment, all I had on hand was a selection of nice extra virgin olive oils from which I chose the least expensive. In advance of the next cleaning project I’ll buy a can of a lesser grade; bouquet, color, and country of origin shouldn’t matter to the dust specks. And if I find the fruity smell is missing from the cheaper variety, I can easily add either lemon juice or lemon oil to the mix.

Sorry Old English. You are now officially banished from this hallway during my lifetime.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. These Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or take you as long to read or to try. 

But, we all know about best laid plans. In many places it is now Sunday. I’ll do better next time. At any rate, let me know how you like my Saturday Shorts.