Early Thoughts on the Gospel of Food

I picked up a copy of Barry Glassner's new book The Gospel of Food the other day. With the recent trend of books on food, nutrition, and cooking getting so much attention I was excited that Glassner was tackling the subject. However, being about halfway through the book I am not that impressed. I guess after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, any book written on the subject of food would seem inferior.

But my problem with The Gospel of Food isn't just in the writing style, it's in many of Glassner's implications and conclusions. He also seems to frequently contradict himself.

Glassner starts the book off by accusing Americans, especially scientists, like the American Heart Association, and nutritionists, of succumbing to the "Gospel of Naught-the view that the worth of a meal lies principally in what it lacks." This, he argues, is why we have so many foods that are low in fat, sugar, cholesterol, carbs, additives, etc. I can accept that people often go overboard in declaring things unhealthy because they have too much fat or sugar. Too often foods are deemed unhealthy, like eggs, only to be discovered later that the dangers were over-hyped. I also agree with him that eating a variety of foods is fine. The joy we receive from eating certain foods can be a form of healing. Still, the key is moderation.

But Glassner goes too far when he sticks up for pre-packaged food, Big Food companies, irradiation, and McDonalds while he attacks the "false profits of nutrition". Glassner implies that Big Food is able to serve the public best because it gives the consumers what they want. He fails to mention the social, ethical, and environmental harms the corporations create. He does not research or question the different agricultural processes are more sustainable. He even declares the local/organic movement of not being realistic.

I also got rather bored in his section about restaurants. He writes a lot about the inside job of restaurant critics. He explains how wonderful eating meals prepared by world renown chefs can be, but admits that only the rich and powerful are able to do so. Still he goes on to describe about meals he ate and the chefs that prepared them. You know, I really don't care. I 'll never be rich or powerful and even if I were I probably wouldn't blow the years salary of waitress on such a meal.

So while there are some good things to be said in the Gospel of Food, I must also admit disappointment. My recommendation, for what it's worth, is to pick it up at the library and thumb through it. Or skip it all together and read The Omnivore's Dilemma first.

Slow Food


I first heard about the slow food movement three years ago. At first, I thought it had more to do with quality food that takes time to prepare. I soon discovered that it also involves the idea of ecoregions and honouring traditional and heirloom foods. I have to admit, I believe some of the groups involved with the slow food movement to be a bit too disconnected and elitist for my taste, but the general idea goes hand in
hand with local foods.

Slow food originated in Italy as a response to the fastfood restaurant invasion and the monoculture the industry brought with it. It's disheartening to see the havoc that fastfood and large supermarkets have on regional food producers and small artisian food shops. I am currently reading Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. The book illustrates how globalization truely is creating more homogenous eating among the world's population. Even countries like France, which is renown for it's specialty grocery shops, are seeing these shops being replaced by large supermarkets because of convenience and price.

What about here in the states? Well I belive many areas have nearly lost their traditions. Here in northern Wisconsin, we seem to have an understanding of tradition, but often lack on delivery. In the summer I frequent berry farms and farmers markets, but winter and spring allow for few options, so I do almost all of my grocery shopping this time of year at the local food co-op. Luckily, I am still able to buy regional cheeses, preserves, fish, meats, wild rice, and for awhile longer-squash. Unfortunately, there is no longer a local option for canned or frozen fruits and vegetables, which leads me to buy organic produce from Califonia. Still, I try to eat many of the regions' "slow food". So I'm putting together a list of regional foods that could be included in a slow food meal.

*Wild Rice (the true Great Lakes variety-It's greener and takes less ime to cook)
*Squash
*Fish (Lake Superior white fish and Lake Trout or walleyes and bluegills)
*Venison (I recently was given 2 hind quarters)
*Cranberries
*Apple Cider
*Blueberries (I still have some frozen from summer picking)
*Cheeses
*South Shore Brewery Beer
*Maple Syrup

This list seems to be a good representation of the foods in this region. We do have wild edibles such as mushrooms and leeks (ramps), that are wonderful when their season arrives.

For some links on the slow food movement check out
Slow Food USA and Slow Food International

Why is Price more Important Than Quality or Safety When It Comes To Our Food?


This was yet another question presented in The Omnivore's Dilemma (I'm finally almost finished). We as a consuming nation presented with Wal*Mart's to offer Everyday Low Prices, have become so obsessed with price we have turned a blind eye to the nature of our food. As Pollan points out:

"Our food system depends on consumers' not knowing much about it beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner. Cheapness and ignorance are mutually reinforcing."

This ignorance is how people are able to accept buying meat that comes from large CAFO's where the animals are treated inhumanely and pumped full of corn and drugs. I'm working on a "Factory Fresh" label I would like to put on some random meat packages at the local grocery store. Or, "Our meat has more drugs than Major League Baseball". Or even "Caged For Your Convenience". They are still a work in progress(:

Although price is often what consumers claim keeps them from buying healthy and local food, as Pollan also mentions, its often that people choose not to buy better food because they choose to spend their money elsewhere. Pollan suggests we spend one fifth of our income on food, down from one tenth in the 1950's. Instead of choosing local or organic food, Americans today are spending their money on items such as expensive electronics and cell phones. All other nations spend more of their income on food. Does that mean we are lucky? Hardly. Our cheap food is a direct result of subsidies and unsustainable agricultural practices. We may pay less at the checkout, but we pay more through taxes, health costs, pollution, and ethics.

I'm amazed at how many people do more research buying a television via Consumer Reports and flyers than their own food. We really need to get our priorities straight.

......Turkey Shmurkey


I actually didn't even plan on making a Thanksgiving dinner, but after several cups of coffee, a toasty fire in the woodstove, and the setting sun approaching, I thought "what the heck". I decided on cranberries, roasted yams and kale glazed with olive oil and maple syrup, apple pie, spiced hot apple cider, and instead of turkey a Wisconsin favourite- beer cheddar soup. I used a good dark ale from our local microbrewery South Shore Brewery, Wisco cheddar, Wisco butter, and local dairy fresh milk. Hopefully my heart will still be beating by tomorrow. I hope everyone had a safe and tasty Thanksgiving.

An Early Thought On Michael Pollan's Book The Omnivore's Dilemma:


A couple days ago I received a welcomed phone call from the library informing me that the book I had requested awhile ago, The Omnivore's Dilemma, had finally come in. I actually had forgotten I had even put it on hold. I have just started it, but it is already a fascinating read.

The author divides the book into four different food chains or meals that may reach our plate; the industrial fast-food meal, an "industrial-type" organic meal, a local organic meal, and a foraged/hunted meal. Currently I am still in the conventional industrial section.

What has really interested me thus far, (although I'm not overtaken with surprise) is the reliance of the industrial food system on corn, which is heavily reliant on chemical fertilizers and fossil fuels. According to the book, one-fourth of all items in a typical grocery store contain or was processed with corn. Many foods, like a chicken nugget, contains corn upon corn. The chicken was fed corn. There is cornstarch to hold it together, corn flour on the batter, and corn oil for frying it. It also contains leavinings, lecithin, glycerides, and citric acid-all derived from corn. Wow. Now I know why there was corn in every field where I grew up in Illinois.

One problem with corn is the amount of nitrogen that it needs to grow. Of coarse the industrial corn producers use chemical fertilizers, which end up in the wells. To this day the well at my Mother's house where I grew up has nitrate levels so high children and pregnant women aren't supposed to drink the water from it. Needless to say I bring my own artesian water.

Another huge problem is the amount of fossil fuels needed to produce industrial corn. Pollan brings up an eye-opening statistic. Because of the amount of fuel needed to create the fertilizers and pesticides, drive the tractors, and transport the corn, more than one calorie of fossil fuel energy is needed for every calorie of food produced. It doesn't take much to see that this process isn't very sustainable. Or as Pollan states it "too bad we can't simply drink the petroleum directly".

To keep this from becoming a book review, I would jsimply like to recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it, or like myself, hasn't finished it. Perhaps I will do another post on the book in the future if it's a topic I feel like discussing.

Winter Is Here, Soup Is On

We awoke to another dose of wet snow this morning. Thus far the season has been fairly dry, but cold. Hopefully we will see a snowy winter to make up for the drought the Northland is experiencing.

With winter, also comes the time to prepare hearty soups to warm the soul. The other day I prepared a simple, yet wonderful sausage kale soup. To balance the rich salty flavour of the sausage, I made a side of cranberries sweetened with maple syrup. I was still able to get local leeks, garlic, potatoes, wild rice, cranberries, maple syrup, and the kale was from Minnesota so this was a perfect meal from the Northland.


Sausage Kale Soup

2-3 Italian or similar sausages (casings removed and broken into pieces)
4 C Chicken Broth
1 Leek, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T herbs (oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary-any combination)
3 small potatoes, cubed
3 C kale, coarsely chopped
salt & pepper to taste

-in a soup pot heat the sausage on medium heat until fully cooked
-add leek, garlic. and herbs and saute until soft
-add chicken broth and heat until hot
-add potatoes and cook until almost tender
-add kale and heat until potatoes and kale is cooked to preference

*I also added some leftover wild rice-very tasty. White beans would also go well in this soup.