Meatless Monday: Why I Joined CT NOFA

Today is not a typical Meatless Monday. It is Occupy Our Food Supply’s Blogger Day of Action, a day in which journalists and bloggers from around the nation are calling for the reclamation of our food systems from industrial agribusiness. It seems an appropriate day to tell you why I have recently become a member of CT NOFA, the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

I am a city dweller. I will never farm on my tiny city lot. So why join a “farming association?” CT NOFA is far more than a membership organization for farmers. In short, “CT NOFA is a growing community of farmers, gardeners, land care professionals, and consumers that encourages a healthy relationship to the natural world,” a not-for-profit which “encourages the growth of a sustainable, regional food system that is ecologically sound, economically viable and socially just” as one of its missions  You can read more here. 

CT NOFA has been on my radar for some time now. Its executive director, Bill Duesing, is well-known in the Green scene in my area. He was founding president of CT NOFA as well as founding chair of the New Haven Ecology Project and its Common Ground High School.

Under his leadership, CT NOFA became one of over 80 plaintiffs in a preemptive suit by organic seed growers, farmers, and farmer organizations to prevent Monsanto from suing farmers or seed producers should their crops become contaminated by Monsanto’s patented seeds. The suit, filed in March of 2011, is titled organic Seed Growers & Trade Association (OSGATA), et al. v. Monsanto. You can read more about the suit here. 

On February 1, Bill Duesing represented CT NOFA and its members at a hearing in Southern District Court in lower Manhattan on Monsanto’s motion to dismiss the suit. You can read the details in Bill’s blog post on the day’s activities. 

More recently, CT NOFA rallied its members to lobby AGAINST a bill raised in the CT legislature which would modify the ban on the use of pesticides on school grounds, and FOR a bill which calls for labeling of foods that contain or might contain genetically-engineered ingredients and for instituting “best practices” for farmers who choose to grow genetically-engineered crops. CT NOFA is not trying to prevent farmers from choosing to use genetically-engineered seeds. It is seeking to preserve the rights of farmers and consumers who choose not to take that route.

I support CT NOFA’s efforts to provide a safe, secure food supply in my state. That’s why I intend to be a dues-paying member from now on. I hope you’ll consider joining me as a new member of the association. Check it out. There’s a new category — introductory membership of just $15 for your first year. 

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: Gleanings from Master Gardening

Those of you who know me personally are likely aware that since January I have been on the road to becoming a Certified Master Gardener. In Connecticut, Master Gardeners do educational outreach as part of the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System. But you have to earn the title before you can dispense advice. There are many steps to certification. First up is 16 days of intense coursework. In New Haven county we meet each Thursday from 9 am to 4 pm. At each session a different expert comes to speak on a particular subject. There are handouts, quizzes, assignments. As I knew before I signed up for this program, how well a plant does depends a great deal on its environment. Soil, light, water, temperature, and the other inhabitants of its space all have a great influence upon the plant's ultimate success or failure. There are lots of topics to cover. Whatever our area of interest, we are expected to be familiar with all of them.

Two sessions ago the topic was Entomology. Insects are major players in the plant and animal kingdoms. How huge a role do they have? Here are just a few of the many things I learned on Entomology day:

• Over one million species of insects have been described, but estimates range from 1-30 million more are undescribed.
• Insects inhabit every niche in terrestrial and freshwater habitats.
• There are 4500 species of cockroaches. Only 4 are pests.
• Termites and cockroaches are closely related. A termite queen loses her wings and becomes an egg factory. Her king lives with her. She can lay 2,000 eggs a day for 45 years. [I guess the Orkin guy doesn’t have to worry.]
• Mayflies are used in water quality assessment. If you have a lot of mayflies you are doing well. The mayfly emergence at the Great Lakes can show up on doppler radar.
• Forensic entomologists use insects that inhabit decomposing remains to aid them in their legal investigations. [There is an order for when different species show up at a corpse.]
• What tool does a stumped entomologist use to identify an unfamiliar specimen? The same as the rest of us — Google search.
• Western cultures are the only ones which do not include insects in their diet [knowingly, anyway]. Perhaps we should. There are certainly plenty to go around. They are a good source of protein and fiber. The speaker said roasted insects are pleasantly crunchy and have a nutty taste.

That’s it for today. I’m off to the CT Flower Show.

Please come back Monday for the Blogger Day of Action post I am planning. Have a great weekend.

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: Healthier Options for Fat Tuesday

Mardi Gras is tomorrow, and for many that means a day of celebrations which include rich foods such as paczki, beignets, and pancakes. Mardi Gras provides an opportunity for a final day of fat and carb binging before the penitential season of Lent begins.

I have never eaten an authentic beignet, and I bet not all have you have tasted a paczki, but everyone knows pancakes. They have been around for centuries. Olney, England has held pancake races since 1445, and residents there will continue the tradition tomorrow. Last year I recounted a brief history of the Mardi Gras custom of eating pancakes, speculated on how the Olney races came to be, and sent everyone to IHOP for free pancakes. I also included a recipe for a healthy-ish pancake with historical roots of its own — cornmeal pancakes as prepared at the Boothe Memorial Park and Museum in Stratford, CT. The pancakes are easy to make; the biggest challenge  will be finding cornmeal that is non-GMO. 

A few days later, after learning just what was in those restaurant pancakes, I apologized and advised everyone they would be better off staying home and making their own. The nutritional information showed that chain pancakes were loaded with fat and salt and low in food value. The key to a better pancake is to reduce the white ingredients, increase the whole grains, and to cut the salt and fat.  As an alternative, I  included  a recipe for vegan banana pancakes  (from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz via my friend Cher).

This year I offer up a family favorite. I could doubtless tweak it to make it even healthier, but I leave that experimenting to you. This recipe has been around since my days of feeding a young, picky eater. Even left alone, this recipe is far better for you than most pancakes eaten out.

Oatmeal Pancakes 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup of quick-cooking oats

1-1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

• Whisk all ingredients in your sturdy mixing bowl until smooth. (You can thin the batter with some extra milk if it is too thick).
• Heat and grease your griddle. (To see if the griddle is hot enough, splash with a few drops of water. If the bubbles bounce around, the temperature is perfect.)
• For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle.
• Cook until pancakes are puffed and dry around the edges. Turn over and cook until the other side is delicately browned.
• Serve with maple syrup.
• You can refrigerate leftovers [This recipe makes lots of pancakes.] and microwave for later use.

Breakfast for supper can be a fun, healthy, and inexpensive tradition, particularly during a school vacation week when your kids might stay in their pajamas all day. Google “healthy pancake recipes” and see what turns up. Look for options where whole grains outweigh white ingredients, where fruit replaces some of the sugar, and where fat and salt are low.

Happy eating!

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.”