Oh, America the Beautiful, where are our standards? How did Europeans, ancestral cultures to most of us, whos average crowded country would fit inside one of our national parks, somehow hoard the market share of Beautiful? They'll run overa McDonald's with a bulldozer because it threatens the way of life of their fine cheeses. They have international trade hissy fits when we try to slip modified genes into their bread. They get their favorite ham from Parma, Italy, along with a farvorite cheese, knowing these foods are linked in an ancient connection the farmers have crafted between the milk and the hogs. Oh. We were thinking Parmesan meant, not "coming from Parma," but "coming from a green shaker can." Did they kick us out for bad taste?
Chapter 1, page 4
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Scott's Note: Interspersed in the chapters are small articles written by Barbara's husband Steve, as well as short essays, menus and recipes by their daughter, Camille. Here is an article by Steve:If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast.
Chapter 1, page 5
Steven L. Hopp
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Scott's Note: There was a point when I got the giggles early on. Somethign along the lines of explaining where certain foods come from. And though it might be funny to think some folks don't know that a potato comes from underground, Barbara makes a great point:We can't know what we haven't been taught.
Chapter 1, page 12
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Scott's Note: One point I guess I never realized was how much of the U.S. foodstuffs come from just a few varieties of corn, soybean and wheat. I'm certainly hopeful that the scientests are regularly watching to make sure this doesn't happy, this is a scary thought:History has regularly proven it drastically unwise for a population to depend on just a few varieties for athe majority of its sustenance. The Irish once depended on a single potato, until the potato famine rewrote histoy and truncated many family trees. We now depend similarly on a few corn and soybean strains for the majority of calories (both animal & vegetable) eat by U.S. citizens. Our addiction to just two crops has made us the fattest people who've ever lived, dining just a few pathogens away from famine.
Chapter 3, Page 34
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Scott's Note: In the first article that Steve gives us in the book, we're presented with the grim fact that a great deal of the natural resources (i.e. OIL) used by the U.S. are used for food production, Barbara gives a strong visual here:Transporting a single calorie of perishable fresh fruit from California to New York takes about 87 calories worth of fuel. That's as efficient as driving from Philadelphia to Annapolis, and back, in order to walk three miles on a treadmill in a Maryland gym.
Chapter 4, page 68
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Scott's Note: I'm sure that Barbara didn't set out to write the book to change everyone and their habits. But more than likely set out to get people to at least think about how small changes and a little work can have a positive outcome on a community. A slogan comes to mind: "Think Globally, Act Locally." In an argument about buying locally, some folks may say that the money then doesn't go to developing nations to help them, in fact the farmers/workers in developing nations receive so very little money to begin with. Their time/energy would be better served, working the land and farming for their own communities, instead of farming and sending the produce thousands of miles away.
Concentrating on local foods means thinking of fruit invariably as the product of an orchard, and a winter squash as the fruit of an early-winter farm. It's a strategy that will keep grocery money in the neighborhood, where it gets recycled into your own school system and local businesses. The green spaces surrounding your town stay green, and farmers who live nearby get to grow more food next year, for you.
Chapter 4, page 69
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I might be back with more tidbits and sound bites as I keep reading!
6 comments:
Duchess of Narberth here. ScottE, I'm so happy you're enjoying the book. (And, I must say I'm feeling rather pleased with myself for my birthday present selection!) I haven't quite finished my copy yet -- just a few more chapters to go -- but there is so much in that is thought provoking (dare I say FOOD for thought?) that you can't not think about what you're eating and what it took to get on to your plate. Many of the passages you quoted in your post are those that stood out for me too. I also enjoyed your previous post about your own experiences living off the land in Wisconsin. Can't wait to talk with you about it some more as you get further on with the book!
Hey Em,
I am so tired this morning, I couldn't put the book down last night...I was up until just past midnight...rough considering I usually get up at 530am!
I've moved onto the chapter about raising poultry...memories flooding back...picking up a box of chirping birds at the Post...dipping their little peeps in the water to learn to drink...and the hunting of morel mushrooms...WOW!
I also grew up on a farm in Wisconsin. We also lived mostly off the land (occasionally buying bread, pasta, and other staples). We grew our vegetables, fruits, and raised beef cattle, pigs and chickens. I of course remember the not so fun items of life such as getting up really early as a child to feed the animals and clean their stalls before going to school, making hay in the summer, harvesting all the crops in the fall and all the canning. We also made our own maple syrup. The worst though was the chicken poop everywhere, made going barefoot pretty much impossible.
Yes...lots of chicken poops...and goose poops...and rabbit poops...and pig poops...and duck poops...to say nothing of all the dog poops...i'm surprised my nickname at school wasn't Stinky!
This book is great! We are so lucky in the DC area to have loads of farmers markets. They've inspired me to emphasize buying locally and cooking seasonally.
At long last I have read the book myself, and just loved it. I can barely put it into words, but I'll try with my own blog post. Stay tuned!
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