Mash-up

I found several old drafts of posts and thought I would finish them. They are not really timely per se. These were written in the Summer and Fall of 2007 responding to some specific events at that time.

I.
Part of my brain is trying to digest all this new information about the markets and about food, which may be why I have had a hiatus in my letters to you. First, I lost a letter due to technical issues - very frustrating. Then two things happened. I spent about four hours helping out Scott at the PRMC stand selling meat and answering questions the other weekend. Also, we had this spinach debacle (and a unrelated, but similar milk debacle).

You see when I go to the farmers' market my experience is that I am generally talking with individuals who have, at the very least, a high level of expertise about what they are selling. (It turns out that these people are just generally pretty bright. Annabelle of Star Route, a polyglot, shared that the etymology of 'amok' is Indonesian.). So the market is a wealth of wonderful food and its associated knowledge. I am not an expert on broccoli raabe. I could not tell you why a given variety of apples can display such a variation in skin color. But today I got a great tip on handling broccoli raabe from Ute at Capay and Dave Hale schooled me on skin coloration, light, and fruit position in the tree regarding his lovely apples. Dave also explained that skin color is not a completely reliable indication of the apple's taste.

It turns out that giving out this information and education to the poor, uninformed masses (like me) is a challenge. Thanks to Doug's (of PRMC) patience I know enough information to explain the basics of a humane, pasture-raised, mostly organic beef operation. I owe similar thanks to most of the other vendors I frequent for their patience in answering my various and insidious questions. Now I deeply appreciate this information. I would go so far as to say I love learning about all this. I feel more connected to the people who provide my family with sustanance. I feel more tied to the food that sustains me and the land upon which it is raised. This is an important part of my life.

But as a vendor, whose business is selling meat, produce, fish, or other food related items, customer education is not one's primary mission. The challenge is, especially for specific items like humane meat and speciality produce, without education consumers may not be able to appreciate the difference between a $1.50 per pound conventional Fuji apple and a $3.00 per pound organic, heirloom Spitzenburgh apple.

So as these questions of food safety are raised into the public consciousness and concerns about the safety and quality of our food supply transiently  rise in importance, I am left thinking that we do not even have a context for the debate. The issues are very complex. This is not to say I am unsympathetic to the families of the people who became sick eating E. Coli-infected spinach or I do not care that three kids got ill allegdely related to raw milk, but these relatively minor issues (though not for the families involved) underscore how little attention is paid to the safety of our food supply. Additionally, we must understand that our individual health determines whether we can suitably and safely risk consuming products that may naturally contain healthy and potentially unhealthy bacteria. As an analogy, immunocompromised individuals should not regularly hang out with groups of pre-schoolers (noted germ carriers). It is also not recommended that raw honey be fed to small children, who have not fully developed their immune systems.

One set of solutions that the industrial food industy, especially the meat industry, wants to increase the use of is the sanitizing of food by technological means. These types of procedures, including pasteurization, irridation, chemical preservation and others, typically diminish the underlying value of the food product. In some cases, while it reduces the presence of microorganisms, the process may expose consumers to insidious long-term risks. The irradition of meat is insufficiently studied to understand if it creates any long-term risks for humans. The conventional dairy industry proposes that bovine growth hormone is completely safe, yet it is understood that bovine growth homone increases a hormone in milk called insulin-like growth factor I (IGF I). IGF I is raised in human milk drinkers versus non-milk drinkers, lending support to the notion that milk influences IGF I levels in milk stimulates IGF I levels in humans. Of course, increased levels of IGF I are linked to an increase incidence of various cancers. The conventional milk industry wants to remove the requirements on the labeling of milk (heard on radio show) because the studies show it is safe. Consumers are choosing milk from cows not treated with hormones over cows that have been treated. Safety is not a simple issue.

II.
Food is inherently political. Some have argued that farming was the beginning of (or end of) human civilization. With farming, people became fixed to the land and the right to property became the essence of the agarian society and ultimately of modern culture.

In the contemporary era, modern agricultural practices are, in part, dictated by the laws governing agricultural practices. I once asked the Three Twins ice cream guy if he ever made raw milk ice cream. He told me he was not willing to commit a felony and go to jail for ten years. Yes, making ice cream with raw milk is a felony. So these amazing diarymen out in the Fresno area are making raw milk and their Organic Pastures milk is amazing. It tastes like the essence of milk. But it is just barely legal for them to make milk this way.

In light of all the recent attention to Michael Pollen's new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and this spinach debacle, I have had enough with the food politics. From the couple of hours I have spent helping Doug and Scott at PRMC, I have learned that many of the consumers at the Sunday Marin market are wholely unaware of the key issues related to the husbandry of flora and fauna. With these people, you cannot even begin to have a discussion. It must all start with a long winded explanation of all the issues involved. Like many things religious and political, some people want the information to make a decision and some (whether they realize it or not) want the information that supports the decision they already made. Food is inherently political. If you forget the farmer and her land, you are buying a commodified food delivery system where food is widgets, where the environment is a factory, and you, the eater in your living room, are awfully like the animal in the feedlot (how can they get us fastest quickest).

III.
In the aftermath of the big dinner, I sit by the kitchen and survey the detritus. Actually, it isn't so bad and it really was worth it. I am hope you had a great meal, too.

We did a heritage turkey this year, which is an old breed of bird before they bred them for massive breasts and fast growth. It did have a different shaped breast and the meat was not as white. There was less breast meat than a standard turkey. With all the hype, I was skeptical and, with the price, was hesitant to get one as I expected to be disappointed as I have been before by the various free-range, organic, or natural birds I have had. But it was delicious. The meat had more flavor and the texture of the white meat was more like a pork loin. It was not just juicy, it had some fat in it. I realized that so much of the accompaniments of the Thanksgiving table are to cover the inherent blandness of turkey (gravy, cranberry sauce, etc.) that I had become accustomed to loading up on them to deal with the turkey. Yesterday, I reflexively put too much cranberry on my plate. In the past, typically my turkeys have been very good by most people's standards, but it was just blah to me. I think we have a new tradition...

We also tried Robert Lambert's spiced crab apples, which were excellent. He told me that this was a common old American tradition - to serve lightly sweetened/pickled crab apples with holiday roasts. The crab apples are delicious. Frankly, I am planning on saying the leftover apples for some pork as I think it will be an even better accompaniment for pork than for turkey. Enjoy your leftovers!