Real Life CSA: week 14, produce

Classic end of summer CSA share this week. Primarily a tomato explosion!

We're starting to build another stockpile of veggies in the fridge, so we're going to be eating a lot of salad, carrots, beans and dishes with eggplant this week. 

Red cabbage will definitely end up as sweet and sour red cabbage, easily our favorite preparation of this veggie. Goes great with pork chops. If you need a good recipe, I have one!

We got two kinds of parsley this week. The kind on the top in the photo is curly - the kind towards the bottom is flat. 

I LOVE this variety of green tomato. We'll definitely be eating these fresh. 

One of the pieces of our share this week illustrates a good point about CSAs in general. I reached into the bag and actually almost put my finger through this pepper.

Yeah, it is gross. We have enough green peppers from our own garden that we decided to just straight compost this pepper instead of cutting off the bad side and eating the other. It's a great reminder that the food you get in a CSA share is real food. It will rot and go bad. You'll get soft spots that turn nasty overnight, and sometimes you'll get a bad pepper in your share or a brown or wormy apple. It happens. 

Ever see those news articles about McDonald's burgers that petrify and 20 years later they basically look the same? That's the comforting thing about eating clean. The foods you eat are real - they're meant to decay, to break down. Do you want to eat something that in 20 years will look exactly the same with no visible signs that it was food? There's something unnatural about that.

You might think that a soft pepper in your share is a waste. For us, composting comes in handy, or giving certain items to the chickens. Thankfully, with the food being so fresh in a CSA share, this rarely happens. 14 weeks of food so far, and it's the only thing that has come to us past its prime. Think of what you bring home from the grocery store that goes from unripe to rotten overnight and it's easier to get over a soft pepper in your CSA share.

This weekend, I'm definitely not worried about a soft pepper, because we've got these to deal with:

It's canning time, baby.

Book Review: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906 and since that time it's become a classic example of muckraking (journalism that exposes corruption). It also is possibly the first book to address industrial agriculture - and what happens when Big Food interests run amok.

I wanted to read The Jungle because it's a classic piece of the American literary canon, and also because I was interested in early food journalism. I didn't realize that it also qualified as creative non-fiction, being centered around a fictional Lithuanian immigrant named Jurgis Rudkus who moves with his family to Chicago, following the promise of a better life. There, he gets a job in "Packingtown" at one of the meatpacking houses. And basically? It all goes to hell from there.

The horrid conditions (and I mean horrid) that Sinclair describes through Jurgis and his family caused public outcry. Sinclair himself worked undercover in the meatpacking plants for weeks, doing research. The book was originally published as a serial in a socialist newspaper (Sinclair was an active socialist), and he eventually paid to publish the first edition of the book on his own. Ironically, his goal was to further his political agenda - to expose the plight of the working man. But what the public cared about was the impact the book had on how they saw their food.

Though the government denounced his book because of his socialist agenda, President (Teddy) Roosevelt commissioned a report that confirmed Sinclair's claims. Public outcry eventually led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act (required mandatory inspections of livestock, postmortem inspections of carcasses, sanitary conditions in slaughterhouses and housing plants, and USDA monitoring of facilities) as well as the Pure Food and Drug Act, which established what would later be called the FDA, and carried penalties for mislabeling and adulteration of products, which at the time was rampant - and frankly, foul.

For all of the issues that I have with modern industrial agriculture and confined animal feeding operations, this book put into perspective how much worse it actually was 100 years ago. While there are still additives in processed food that I don't want to eat, it is because of modern food production that we can buy milk that isn't 50% chalk, and if we buy a carton of rancid yogurt at the store, we can return it for a full refund. While people still do die of food poisoning, and I'm not making light of that, the mortality rate from adulterated food is drastically lower today than it was 100 years ago, thanks in part to the legislation passed after The Jungle was published. We can definitely thank Sinclair and the other muckraking journalists at the time for that.

It's worth noting that Sinclair was disappointed that people cared more about the food they were eating than the plight of the working man, but that is sadly an issue that hasn't gotten much better today. It's important that we eat pesticide free, organic produce not just because of the danger of pesticides to our own health, but because the exposure to farm workers is orders of magnitude worse.

I wonder what Sinclair would say if he could see what his book began - and how far we still have to go.

Real Life CSA: week 13, produce

We're at the halfway point of our CSA season now, reaching the peak weeks of the tomato explosion. Some new things this week - I'm never bored with the shares. The variety keeps it interesting.

This is the last lettuce for awhile, according to our weekly email, since there was a lull in mid-summer plantings. I will definitely enjoy it this week! The jalapeno pepper joins about 12,000 others, since our own plant was quite prolific this year. I need to figure out what to do with them so we don't lose them before it's salsa time.

I love the moment where you realize you waited all winter long for a really good, ripe tomato and now you have so many they are taking over your kitchen island. The cherry tomatoes will probably go on salad, as will some of the other tomatoes. As for the rest? Who knows!

It's nice to see a winter squash - and acorn squash is one of the best. Though I told Mark we have to just call it a fall squash because I can't deal with the idea of winter right now.

These apples are a variety called Prima - excited to try them. Perhaps a galette is in order?

Already ate up these nectarines this morning for breakfast - one of them was wounded in the journey from farm to our house, so before the spot took over, I devoured them. Remember that bruised fruit is NOT rotten fruit. Just cut out the soft spots and enjoy before the bruise turns into something worse. Often fruit gets bruised because someone drops it when picking it or it just falls from the tree on its own. These are called seconds - they are often cheaper than firsts because they are a little blemished, but it can be a great way to get more fruit for your money. Particularly if you plan on eating them right away!

It's amazing the amount of food that's thrown away in this country that was wasted simply because it didn't "look right." You should certainly throw away food that's moldy, soured, stinking or rotting (or compost it!). But don't you dare throw away a bruised peach - I'll show up at your house to rescue it! Do you know how precious a truly ripe peach is? I think you do.

Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend! Get out to a farmers market and get yourself some tomatoes and some stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, etc.) - they are perfect right now. 

reading this week

Here are some of the things I've been reading and pondering lately. Check these out! 

Nudged to the Produce Aisle By a Look in the Mirror (NY Times)
A Michael Moss piece about what behavioral scientists are doing to nudge you into the produce aisle. Would you be more likely to buy healthier foods if you saw your reflection in your shopping cart?

Waste: The Dark Side of the New Coffee Craze (East Bay Express via Mark)
Article about the single-serving coffee phenomenon and how much waste it generates (it's staggering). We use a refillable container and grind our own beans, so we rarely use the plastic pods. Especially interesting to note how insanely expensive the coffee is when you buy it in the plastic pods. (Our favorite fair trade blend is about $12/pound. Your average K-Cup cost per pound? $50. Now who's elitist?)

Pesticides Taking Toll on Farmworkers (Civil Eats)
If you agree that pesticides are not something you want to ingest, you probably agree that you shouldn't be sprayed with them either. Farmworkers deserve protection from these hazardous chemicals too.

FDA sets gluten-free labeling standards (CNN Eatocracy)
The FDA set labeling guidelines that food manufacturers will need to follow starting August 5, 2014 for products claiming to be 'gluten-free.' If only they would set some standards for "farm fresh" or "natural." 

Colbert: Monsanto's 'zombie wheat' is 'return of the walking bread' (Raw Story)
This is from June, but still funny.

Food Waste - A Story of Excess
Interesting video about the sheer amount of waste our country produces.

Book Review: Homeward Bound by Emily Matchar

Emily Matchar’s Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity was an engaging exploration of today’s social fascination with and privileging of all things domestic. So many times while reading this book, I found myself nodding my head and wanting to sit up and tell anyone near me this is so TRUE or alternatively, this is so ME. I also found myself wishing it had existed when I was in graduate school, because it would have made an interesting book to add to my resource lists for my women’s and gender studies certificate (and also a great book club pick).

Matchar discusses a whole host of topics under the umbrella of this “new domesticity” – why increasing numbers of women are leaving the workforce to stay at home (primarily with children), why attachment parenting is on the rise, the striking similarities between the far right and the far left on many of these issues, and the insecurities and fears that are producing a drive toward the domestic as a safe place. With a shaky economy, lack of trust in the safety of our food and where it comes from, disillusionment with public education and decreasing (or non-existent) benefits for workers, it’s not surprising that people have turned toward areas of their lives they can control.

It’s increasingly seductive to consider leaving your 9-5 desk job and your hellish commute for a life of tomato growing and soap making, with an Etsy shop and a blog to boot. I don’t think there’s a person I know, let alone a woman, who hasn’t had some version of that daydream. Women of my generation were promised a life of fulfillment through a career and were encouraged that we could have it all if we just kept working hard – a family and home life as well as a job outside of the home. But more and more women are realizing that having it all is easier said than done – if it’s possible at all. Corporate America isn't really friendly to work-life balance in general, not just people with kids. And it’s great that more and more women are expressing themselves and connecting to online community by blogging and opening Etsy businesses, but it remains that only a tiny fraction of people can pay a mortgage and support a family on a blog or an Etsy shop.

Perhaps the most compelling idea that this book raised was a consideration of what happens when those with the most resources turn inward and focus on the individual good instead of the collective good. Historically, movements of great social change were accomplished with support from across class lines. Who is left to fight for better maternity and paternity leave policies, workplace conditions that better support work/life balance, affordable, quality daycare and access to safe, healthy foods, when those with the most resources turn away from the collective and focus only on their own home? It’s definitely an interesting question to consider.

I had no idea when I picked this book up if the author would come to the conclusion that “new domestics” are hippie wack-jobs or enlightened visionaries. And I’m glad she didn’t come to either conclusion – her final analysis and takeaway points were very carefully considered. She details many interactions with people across the entire spectrum of this movement and the book is very fair, sincere and respectful of these people and their beliefs. It certainly gave me much to think about – where do I fit in on the spectrum? 

Real Life CSA: week 12, produce

Back with the CSA after a week off, and we've got two new items as well as an explosion of tomatoes. 

Celery is a new crop for Kretschmann's this year, and this is our first taste. I'm seeing ants on a log in my future. That or part of a mirepoix. Both ends of the culinary classy spectrum, there.

The potatoes and thyme look so good next to each other, they'll probably end up that way in a dish.

I am never sad to see lettuce in our CSA. Their lettuce varieties are so flavorful, and in a house that eats salads every week, we always appreciate them. So much better than salad in a bag!

Loving all of the tomatoes we got this week. I have plans for fresh salsa this weekend, with all of our hot peppers from our own garden coming in. 

If you follow me on Instagram/Twitter (@nextgenhouse), you might have seen me declare refrigerator pickles a raging success. I opened the first jar last night and I was thrilled with the results - crispy and salty and full of dill flavor. The only pickles I like are homemade, so these are a huge treat for me.

 
Might have to try some bread and butter pickles next. And next year? I'm going to try full canning of pickles again, now that I think I've mastered the process (pickle crisper + correct cucumbers for pickling = yum).

Julia's kitchen

We recently visited friends in Virginia, and while doing some things in D.C., we stopped in to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In particular, we wanted to see Julia Child's kitchen. I've seen it before, but it's so special, I could see it again and again and notice something new every time. This time I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was part of a larger exhibit called FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000.

We didn't have much time to spend there since the museum was about to close, but I managed to make it through most of it. (Mark got mesmerized by a video of Julia Child cooking a lobster and didn't make it through the whole exhibit. I don't really blame him. She was quite the character.)

The exhibit started off by talking about how the last half of the 20th century was an incredibly transformative time for food in America - not only what we eat, but how we get our food, how we eat it, and what it means culturally.  

The centerpiece of the exhibit was a large table where people could sit and talk. There were discs of information on the table that functioned like lazy susans and were conversation starters.  

 I was really excited to come across an old copy of Mother Earth News in a display about progressive food movements. I'm a subscriber today to the same magazine!
  

The entire exhibit was fascinating, and also was beautifully designed. I wanted to read every caption (and dream of making it back there before the exhibit closes).

Of course the real highlight of the exhibit is Julia Child's kitchen, which is a reconstruction of her own home kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Paul Child, her husband, had the counters specially designed to accommodate her height, and created the pegboards that held her pans, complete with outlines.

I've always been a fan of Julia - I've read a lot of books on her life, as well as her own books. One year I was Julia for Halloween (albeit a 4'11" version of her). During our first visit to the Smithsonian exhibit, Mark noticed the saint hanging on the pegboard with her cookware. 

He did some research and found out it was Saint Pascal Baylon, one of the patron saints of cooks. So as a gift, he had this made for me to hang in our kitchen. (The photo is terrible and doesn't do it justice.)

If you take joy in cooking like I do or you enjoy eating foreign foods, you probably owe some of that to Julia Child's legacy. She made cooking outside of the box accessible to Americans with an infectious enthusiasm. She encouraged people to be fearless in the kitchen and try things they would never have considered. 

Check out episodes of "The French Chef" if you get the chance. In a world with glorified cooking shows that make everything seem glamorous and easy in the kitchen and food stylists manipulating meals to make your mouth water, it's gratifying to watch Julia drop things on the floor and make a royal mess. I especially enjoy the episode where she flops a giant fish onto her counter. 

Make it a point to see this exhibit when you're in the D.C. area!