Is it okay to buy tomatoes in January just because they are organic? Probably not, according to an article in the New York Times that reveals seven and a half tons of tomatoes and basil are trucked or flown from Mexico every day to satisfy America’s growing taste for “organic.”

I’m pretty sure people buy organic because they want chemical- or pesticide-free food and to support the friendly looking, small-time farmer usually pictured on the labels of most organic goods. Turns out, we’ve all been duped because some suppliers are robbing Mexico’s natural resources and producing energy-intensive produce. Kind of takes the warm and fuzzy out of spending $1 more for my organic spinach.

This just reinforces Farm and a Frying Pan’s rule of prioritizing seasonal or local first, and then organic food.

My latest reading adventure involved exploring the fascinating food history in New York in Appetite City. Written by the New York Times’ ex-restaurant critic William Grimes, the book begins in the era of chophouses and oyster bars (early 1800s) then maps the city’s culinary evolution, ending with current day culinary powerhouses including Danny Meyer and Thomas Keller.

I wanted to love this book and devour its pages, but I have to admit, it was tough read.  For people who have a solid understanding of NYC’s history, this deep dive would have been a true pleasure. But for me, I would have loved a condensed feature a la New York Magazine’s style accompanied by cool pictures. Simply put, it was a little nitty-gritty for my taste.

One nugget that did stand out came when I was introduced to a furniture designer in the early 1900s who brought farm-to-table cooking to NYC. Wait, Alice didn’t start that trend? A half a century before Chez Panisse became iconic or Dan Barbar became the poster-boy of farmer-chefs, Gustav Stickley came along. In 1913, Stickley leased a twelve-story building called the Craftsman Building to showcase his furniture designs and decided to open up a restaurant inside to feed hungry customers.

Juxtaposed against the stuffy French dining rooms popular at that time, Stickely emphasized comfort and happiness. He also brushed off the idea of industrialized food, saying, “My theory about a restaurant is that to be the right sort of an eating place it must be closely related to its source of supplies.” Stickley looked to New Jersey for his produce and meat and instead of serving the rich desserts of the time, he served poached peaches and figs. His restaurant didn’t fare well as it went bankrupt in 1915, but it seems his theory lives on!

P.S. Beyond the culinary world he is pretty dang famous for his furniture too.

According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, food bloggers “have arrived”! The article comes shortly after news that the New York-based James Beard Foundation awards, the “Oscars of the Food World,” will no longer distinguish between online and print. This means that the top awards for restaurant reviewing or food writing are now open to bloggers”. Does that mean my Make Your Own Yogurt guide or Jillian’s explanation of Bumper Gardens have a chance against one of Sam Sifton’s latest restaurant reviews in the New York Times? We’ll keep dreaming.

Here is the article: “Have Food Blogs Come of Age?“!

I read an article in the NY Times that so affected me that I taped it next to my computer screen at work. It helps remind me why I pay above average prices for my local, sustainable or organic food.

The article simply illustrates how egg-laying hens are confined on American farms. Picture a newspaper unfolded in front of you and that is less space than most chickens are confined to for their entire lives.

• 97% of eggs produced in the US are from chickens that live in a cage space that equals 8 x 8 inches.
• 2% of eggs produced are from chickens that live in a cage space that equals 11 by 11 inches. Believe it or not, these eggs are classifed as “Cage-Free”.
• Only 1% of eggs come from truly “Free-Range” chickens that have the option to go outside.

If you are saddened by the fact that a chicken may have to spend its whole life confined to a space no bigger than a newspaper, take note of the type of eggs you buy next time.  Free Range = Happier Chickens = Yummier/Healthier Eggs!!

Working in the media world has opened my eyes to how far some companies will go to have their brands resonate with consumers.  Seemingly broke companies will pour millions of dollars into a single 30-second ad, they’ll hire mega movie stars to cover up the fact that their product is actually pretty lame, and fly halfway around the world to save a couple bucks on production. Basically, while the end product is beautiful, sometimes the ride to get there isn’t always pretty.

So when I came across a recent New York Times article touting that one of America’s oldest brands, Levi Strauss, is using a new advertising campaign to make a positive impact on society, I was pleasantly surprised.  Via their “Go Forth” campaign, Levi Strauss is helping Braddock, Pennsylvania, a town that has faced “decades of economic decline,” get back on their feet.

Beyond shooting the campaign in the town – they’re also using residents instead of models and depicting a realistic working environment in the ads rather than dramatized sets – Levi Strauss will be “donating more than a million dollars over a two-year period to assist Braddock in renovating a community center and further developing an urban farming program,” the article states.

I know, I know. It’s still a big company with a bigwig-advertising firm behind this campaign. And while they are presenting this is a do-good project, I know it’s also part publicity stunt. But at least the stunt will ultimately have an end result with real, tangible results that will benefit an entire town.  Even the town’s mayor, John Fetterman, has publically supported this effort as an “organic partnership” rather than a glitzy marketing campaign. Plus, the results include a program that will help residents learn how to feed themselves and teach them the importance of growing their own food!

The ad campaign start tomorrow, July 4^th, so I guess we’ll see soon enough whether or not the authenticity that Levi in trying to present comes through.

I’m so excited to tell you about a cookbook I just got called The Art of Preserving that’s full of sweet and savory recipes for enjoying seasonal produce year-round. Christina and I tried our hand at jamming last summer and I’ve been itching to try pickling ever since, but I didn’t know where to begin. Alas, this book explains it all!

There’s a section in the back that includes step-by-step instructions on how to can; and every recipe indicates how long it needs to “process”. There are also tips on using pectin (and a recipe to make your own, if you want!). Skimming over recipes like Spicy Peach-Mustard Sauce, Stone-Fruit Chutney and Pickled Roasted Peppers with Garlic left me dying to hit up the farmer’s market, where summer’s bounty is in full swing!

I tried the Pickled Beets recipe last week when I (unfortunately) got some in my CSA box. (Sorry Beets, but I thought your season was over and, quite frankly, I’m sick of you). They are still “pickling” in my cupboard, so I can’t vouch for their taste. But, I can say that the instructions and recipe were really straightforward.

Basically, you boil the beets until tender.

Then you slice up the beets and a white onion and stuff them into sterlized jars.

Finally, you pour in a mixture of vinegar, sugar and spices and process the jars for 7 minutes. The whole thing was totally fool- proof. I’m really looking forward to trying out some of the other preserving recipes and I’ll keep you posted if I come across any winners!

We all know milk does a body good, but did you know some types are better than others? Milk that comes from happy cows (i.e. those who dine on grass instead of feedlots) produce milk that is up to five times more healthy!

According to an article by ABC Science, drinking “healthier” milk can lower the risk of heart disease. The reason is because cows that eat grass produce more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than their counterparts who dine on other foods. Studies show that CLA helps lower the risk of heart attacks.

So grab a glass of (healthy) milk, skip the oreos, and drink up!

*Image compliments of Telegraph.co.uk.

We all know the powers of booze…it helps alleviate stress after a crazy day, facilitates conversation in awkward situations and even encourages dancing/displays of public nudity when consumed at large. But, it turns out that alcohol also plays a legitimate role in the kitchen because it enhances the flavor in food, according to a recent article in Fine Cooking. (If you just thought “duh, what’s your point?”, keep reading – it’s really interesting!)

According to the article, alcohol improves the flavor of food in two key ways: through evaporation and “molecular bonding.”  

Evaporation

Have you noticed when you open a bottle of scotch or port, you can catch a whiff of the alcohol almost instantly? That’s because alcohol molecules evaporate very quickly. So, if you add a splash of booze to a fruit salad, for example, it helps enhance carry the smell of the fruit to your nose more quickly and intensely – which ultimately contributes to a more satisfying dish. Just be careful how much you add. You don’t want the alcohol to make up more than 5% of the dish, otherwise it will tasty boozy.

Molecular Bonding

Another reason alcohol is so amazing in the kitchen is because it “bonds with both fat and water”. Remarkably, some seasonings (like garlic, herbs) only dissolve in fat and other flavors (like sweet, sour, salty) are only soluble with water. So in other words, alcohol is sort of like the bridge between certain flavors and food. A good example of this is when you marinate meat. By adding just a splash of neutral-tasting vodka to a marinade, it will “noticeably improve the flavor penetration of the marinade.”

 The article also debunked a common myth: alcohol doesn’t actually “burn off” during cooking. Depending upon how you cook it, the amount of alcohol retained can be as much as 75% – which may explain why best friend used to get giddy after eating Bananas Foster!!

All in all, it looks like we finally have justification for cracking open another bottle of wine or opting in for the 2-for-1 vodka deal at Safeway. So, honor culinary excellence and drink on people!

When I went online the other day to request a copy of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse for the next installment of our Food for Thought book club, I discovered that the public library has a whole slew of food-focused events happening in the next month.  As part of their Green Stacks program, which they coin a “community research for living a greener life”, they are hosting everything from a meeting on planting a victory garden to fighting global warming from your dinner plate. Bravo SF Library, bravo! Here are a list of the events.

On Wednesday, April 31^st, I’m going to attend an author talk with Novella Carpenter, the mastermind behind the book Farm City. I’ve been dying to read this book for a while now – it’s a memoir about a woman “who turned a vacant lot in downtown Oakland into a thriving farm”. I love learning about local food heroes…and who couldn’t use a little inspiration in turning urban space (hello windowsill garden) into an edible landscape. Farm City is also part of the SF Library’s On the Same Page program, San Francisco’s bi-monthly book club. So it’s on the shelves in MASSIVE volume right now. I got the book a few days ago and have been power reading ever since. Hopefully I can finish it by Wednesday!

Here are the details for the talk:

When
Wed, March 31, 2010
7:00 – 8:30pm
Where
Bernal Heights Library, Meeting Room
500 Cortland Avenue

Move over all you grumpy, fish-netted lunch ladies, ’cause there’s a new cafeteria cook in town. His name is Jaime Oliver and he’s on a mission to transform America’s food system, beginning with schools. Starting this Friday, March 26, ABC documents Jaime on his quest which kicks off in the unhealthiest place in the country: Hungtington, West Virginia. Residents here have the highest rate of death due to obesity.

I caught a sneak preview of Jaime’s new show last night and can’t wait for the rest of the series. It showed a glimpse of Jaime’s first week in the trenches of a local elementary school cafeteria, where he shadowed five lunch ladies preparing breakfast and lunch for the school’s 500 students.

OMG. You would not believe what schools are feeding children:

• Breakfast = pizza + chocolate milk. Yes, pizza!!
• Lunch = Frozen chicken nuggets + mashed potatoes (that started out as powder in a bag) + baked beans (from a can, of course) + more chocolate or strawberry milk (the strawberry milk looked like Pepto Bismol).

Like any reality show, there’s some serious drama in the works. A few of the lunch ladies gave Jaime some serious ‘tude when he suggested that they put aside their amorphous chicken-looking nuggets and try serving the kids some more wholesome, fresh meals. If you tune this Friday, I’m sure you’ll see how Jaime does just that!