we are how we eat

#5challenge :: #foodchallenge

2011-09-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to share that my camera's back in order! It got funky a few weeks ago on the night of Slow Food USA's $5 Challenge. So now some show and tell.

It's assuring that different food movement circles are expanding and merging. I still find it interesting that I live in a country in which assumptions and stereotypes still ring loudly. It's amazing to be part of a growing movement of people who are working toward the recognition and vision that real food is, and should be, a norm. It isn't and shouldn't be hard to grow, nourish, and build community with real food.

The nation's industrial agricultural policies and economic scales make "cheap" junk-commodity-crop food really expensive - economically, in energy intensity, and in all forms of social capital. So the alternative, real food, is just as, or even cheaper, than what we see as "cheap" food.

Out of necessity, I put together meals $5 or less. I think it's an inherent characteristic of growing up and being raised in an immigrant family that grew (and still grows) plants and animals. We preserve food and stretch the dollar. By nature, I value being resourceful and frugal.

The weather's getting cooler, so in my Vietnamese family, that means soups, stews, and most anything brothy. I made my version of cháo, a warm rice porridge cooked slowly and lovingly. It's also known as congee. It's the cure for the ill, the Vietnamese penicillin. I can remember many fall and winter nights as a youngin' with my mom defrosting chicken broth and furiously chopping ginger and every member of the allium family. She would tell me how it smelt (spicy and pungent!) because most of the time, I momentarily lost the sense.

I substituted rice for cauliflower. It's a gut thing. I'm strengthening my immune system.

Some ingredients I already had made, grew, harvested, or bartered, including a quart of chicken broth, a few ounces of fish sauce, cucumber pickles, an onion, a shallot, a head of cauliflower, a few garlic cloves, one lime, and a bunch of green onions. These are a mere cents in costs.

I ended up purchasing $18.34 in other things: a bulb of ginger, mushrooms, a stalk of lemongrass, a few ounces of coconut cream, and about half a pound of chicken livers. Yep, chicken livers. Animal organs are prized and honored in Vietnamese cuisine. I can understand why: they're chock-full of nutrients! And interestingly (or not), they're relatively inexpensive in the US, if kept after processing.

I sauteed chopped ginger, lemongrass, and allium family members in a pot, and once I saw translucency, I added chopped mushrooms. Once the mushrooms wilted, I added steamed, mashed cauliflower, and chicken stock. At the moment the pot started boiling, I turned down the flame to simmer, and slowly added the coconut cream chicken livers. My mom always added meat last to keep proteins in tact.

While the pot slowly simmered, I prepped the sauce. I always wondered why my mom made sauces separately and we dipped our rolls. When I first started cooking a few years ago in my early college days, I cooked a fish-vegetable dish with fresh sauce in tact during the cooking process. Bleh. It was flat. In traditional food circles, keeping sauces separate until the end of the cooking process and right before eating leaves all the nutrients in tact without extreme denaturing. Ahh, tradition meets culture. A few teaspoons of fermented fish sauce, one squeezed lime, and finely chopped green onions.

For many reasons, I love đồ ăn chua, or pickled fermented foods. "Chua" translates to "sour". Again, it's a gut thing. And a taste thing. Also a preservation thing. In addition to the fish sauce "sauce", I added pickled cucumbers to the mix. I think preserved foods have, are, and will be a key, to ensuring not only low costs, but also food security.

I made about six servings. That's about $3.57 plus or minus a dollar, I'd say, for the other foods' amounts. While I shared this with others, the dollar amount actually stretches to the next day or two if it was just me.

The #5challenge reminded me that it's deeper than money. For people living in frontline communities most impacted by the industrial food system, including immigrant communities, money is an obstacle to (food) security, (food) sovereignty, (food) access, and getting out of poverty. The #5challenge is a solution statement to our broader #foodchallenge in this country.

Meals made with real food and love are beyond the value of $5.00. Oh so much more. The Farm Bill and the nation's agricultural subsidies and policies need to reflect and honor that.

New agrarians building bridges toward food justice

2011-09-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

The greatest challenge, and opportunity, for new agrarians in the 21st century is building bridges and respect between cross identities - class, culture, race, occupations, sexual orientation, and more - within and outside the context of food justice. As more and more types of people awake themselves to our industrial food system, we will need to be more respectful, more open-minded and open-hearted, and more responsible to ourselves, each other, and our Earth.

Preparing for the Quivira Coalition gathering.

I saw injustice. I see passion.

2011-09-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

Shared at The New Parish, Oakland, California at Food and Freedom Ride Homecoming celebration.

Ain't gonna let nobody turn me round
Turn me round, turn me round
Ain't gonna let nobody turn me round
We gonna keep on walkin', keep on talkin'
Marchin' up to Freedom Land

Ain't gonna let injustice turn me round
Turn me round, turn me round
Ain't gonna let injustice turn me round
We gonna keep on walkin', keep on talkin'
Marchin' up to Freedom Land

Ain't gonna let unreal food turn me round
Turn me round, turn me round,
Ain't gonna let unreal food turn me round
We gonna keep on walkin', keep on talkin'
Riding' up to Food and Freedom Land

I saw injustice. I see passion.

I saw Courtney Oats, a young African-American woman, in Eupora, Mississippi, just hours after two nights in jail. She had been unjustly charged for distributing the peace, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct after being followed by police putting up fliers for these rides that I helped design. I heard anger in her voice, tension in her shoulders, and tears rolling down her cheeks. I cringed, hearing her say that racial injustice is still a problem in her community and her mom exclaiming, "We need help!"

Why do we still live in a racially-divided world when I want to look beyond the color of your skin? It was then I realized food justice is racial injustice. Food justice is justice for all. We need freedom to have food and freedom.

We broke ground on a community garden that day. I saw dark, rich soil, pecan trees, and smiles all around. I heard laughter, jokes, and youth sharing with each other how to grow food.

That space is sacred, away from the steel bars, security guards, and inhospitality.

At the end of the day, I offered seeds that my family and I have saved, and told Courtney, "With sun, water, soil, seeds, and love, this garden will grow. With this garden, you will grow, and your community will grow. All of this will protect and nourish you."

I see passion in the communities most hurt like Courtney's healing all injustice with real food, their bodies and minds.

My calling.

2011-08-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

I often wonder why I'm called to do what I do, or I find myself doing what I do. Why I've applied to multiple jobs since I've graduated and haven't gotten them. With the jobs I've gotten, the circumstances didn't work out, and later realizing that it just didn't entirely suit me.

What I'm called to do and what I do doesn't necessarily fair well with our industrialized society. Every day, I'm confronted by enforced realities of paying, buying, and expending.

What I do, and more importantly, who I am, is rooted in the power of people and the planet. It always will.

Freedom Rides' buses :: Food & Freedom Rides' van

2011-08-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Freedom Riders rode in Greyhound buses down to the south. They all had a definite goal. Its as if these riders were color-blind, or rather, color-accepting, of each others' races. These buses were diamonds amongst the fields, and fifty years ago, those fields were full of violent hatred and outright discrimination. These buses were sacred spaces, bubbles of what these young Blacks and Whites wanted to see for themselves and the rest of the world. They stepped outside these buses, these sacred spaces, these bubbles with confidence, non-violence, and courage. They met resistance and allies, love and fear. They kept true to their convictions and truths.

And like the Freedom Riders of 1961, we found ourselves in a similar situation with our commemoration as Food & Freedom Riders. Our "chariot", a 15-passenger black Ford van and accompanying U-Haul, served as our sacred space and bubble from the food discrimination of industrial agriculture, acres upon acres of commodity crops, and food and social injustice we saw, heard and experienced. There were stops getting outside the van in which we met resistance, including the powers of Monsanto at their headquarters in St. Louis. Even at Monsanto's headquarters, we surprisingly met an uncommon ally; although, to a certain extent, I'm not entirely surprised because I have a lot of trust in people and people's compassion for the world. And there were stops with people who quickly became loving allies, with stories of food injustice and justice that I couldn't help but be in solidarity with, drawn to emotionally, and take action with. It is our convictions and our truths that expounded outside our van. And it is the stories we heard and felt, the food system alternatives we saw, and the shared values among the human race that keep me strong.

three days to #foodandfreedom rides

2011-08-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

it hasn't been until recently that i often find myself having to balance out the oppression of my past (realizing that the stories are similar of poor vietnamese immigrants) with the joy of the solutions and new ideas of the [food] movement. i have felt for a while that there will be a future point time in which a large % of us who grew up in an industrial world will need to heal ourselves and heal others - emotionally, physically, etc. - a "the shit hits the fan" type of ordeal. some of us (you?) are already doing that. but there will be others who are suffering and being impacted the worst. how will people respond? with violence? with love and respect for each other? i hope and try to manifest the latter.

identity and voice in the [food] movement are major questions i have. it's one of the reasons i'm on these rides and going through this upcoming journey. i need to find others who feel identity- and voice-less, or have another way of thinking about "food justice", even in the sustainable ag/public health/obesity/prevention circles. i mean, these circles are already progressive from the political right. but there are folks out there who don't have the luxury, time, or energy to think about and study "food justice" like we may do. these folks are in the frontlines, in "survival mode" - who need the most healing. and the craziest thing is that even though i don't want to identify, i am those "folk" - in the frontlines, "in survival mode", needing the most healing. if anything else, i have the privilege to see and understand all of these circles and perspectives and connect resources to needs, hearts to hearts.

"Food Allergies? None. Well, actually..."

2011-05-20T22:53:00.001-07:00

Every summer before I entered a new grade level, I was always on top of three things: school supplies (especially my neon-green pencil box during elementary school years), reading all my homework and binders from the previous school year, and filling out all the necessary enrollment forms. On these enrollment forms, I remember a particular question on the medical history document:

"Food Allergies? __________________"

I always wrote "None" or "N/A". I loved all foods then. Nothing phased me. My gut was a solid rock. I was my friends' "food garbage disposal" during recess and lunch times. Maybe my parents knew better. For some reason, I don't believe they didn't.

In the last year or so, it's been a large learning curve understanding allergies to particular foods and environmental triggers. There are a multitude of variables I believe have attributed to my sensitivities. I was born in America from a mother who just arrived to the US: new environment, new social dynamics, new people, and new foods. Talk about stress. After a year of breastfeeding, I was fed soy milk. Due to low-income status, I grew up with free breakfast and lunch programs. No need to get into that. And while my parents did their best to prepare traditional Vietnamese foods, I question all those sources: where did it come from, who grew it, and how was it grown? Long story short, I have a compromised immune system, and I believe my conception and how I grew up nutritionally has greatly affected my everyday viewpoints on food and motivations toward food justice.

The thing is, I don't think this would be such a large problem had I was born and grew up in Viet Nam. Sometimes, I feel like the most sustainable thing for me to do, from nutritional and evolutionary perspectives, is to return to Viet Nam. This isn't to say that I shine a spotlight on Viet Nam, its culture, and its cuisine. And this isn't to say that globalization hasn't reached Viet Nam, and consequently, may have influenced my nutrition and development had I was born and grew up in Viet Nam. I believe it would it may have been less of a problem: I may not have to think about food allergies, food exposures, and wellness as much as I do here in the US.

I do question the cultivation of rice and soy and introductions of sugar and wheat. Coincidentally, and like many forms of oppression across the world, these foods have one thing in common: the colonization of people.

I think about the "Vietnamese sandwich", the "bánh mì". Thin slices of delicious meat and/or fermented animal organs with rendered fat, pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cilantro and chili peppers, a dash of fish sauce, and salt and pepper. All of this wrapped up in a wheat- and rice-flour baguette slathered on the inside with liver pate and mayonnaise - French concepts combined with traditional Vietnamese foodways. While I have less qualms with the pate and mayonnaise, I'm unsure the French introduction faired well with Vietnamese nutrition.

I think about phở, a gelatin-rich animal bone broth soup with thin slices of meat and/or organs, fresh herbs, and lime. I question the origins of the noodles, bean sprouts, and ginger/black bean sauce. And here in the US and presumably other developed countries, what is the source of these ingredients sold in supermarkets and made in restaurants? I cringe thinking about MSG, preservatives, additives, sugar, and how these plants and animals are raised to create a bowl of phở.

My body is an amazing organism in and of itself while hosting many other organisms, as well. Especially because I live in an urban environment, I'm sensitive to physical spaces and how it affects my body: levels of oxygen, fumes in a room, people smoking, and inhaling exhaust while walking underneath or by a freeway. I taste the difference between a pastured egg and an industrially-raised egg, and my throat constricts unfavorably when I realize that I've eaten the later. I savor, honor, and respect an animal that has been raised with care as opposed to the rigidity, off-putting smells, and flavorless meats raised in confined spaces. I can smell if food, particularly fruits and vegetables, have been sprayed and/or washed with chemicals.

I live and nourish myself fully. If I stumble, I trust my body and mind that I'll get back up. While I don't live in fear, I do live with caution. I do my best to live in celebration. These experiences motivate me to help others live and nourish themselves fully.

Life? or Tragedy?

2011-04-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, I experienced Charlotte Salomon's "Life? or Tragedy?" at the Jewish Contemporary Museum in San Francisco . A German-Jewish artist, Saloman retreated in France during the Nazi war. With a family history of suicide, Charlotte was faced deciding between doing the same with her own life or carrying out something completely insane. She chose the later. "Life? or Tragedy?" ensued, 1300-or-so autobiographical paintings that riveted a complexity of emotions. When married, her Jewish identity was open. Upon hearing that, the Nazis captured her and her husband and brought them to an Auschwitz concentration camp. Saloman passed at the age of twenty six, just two years older than me.

I was experiencing my own uncertainty of life or tragedy while going through the exhibit. While Saloman dealt with strife in political and cultural systems, I'm dealing with strife in our current food system. Foods I had eaten before heading to the museum didn't settle well in my body. Another episode later in the day at dinner, in addition to some earlier in the week, brought this to climax. Needless to say, I'd rather enjoy other parts of life in a positive note than have an intimate relationship with the toilet.

Like Saloman, I'm at a turning point. It is my experience, my story, and life that I choose. Life's too delicious, anyway, in so many forms. And like Saloman's paintings, my art is the thousands of meals I've created to help me heal: heal my body to its fullest potential and its connection to the rest of life. The hours upon hours I've spent cooking, pickling, curing, marinating, learning, growing, foraging, and procuring the most nourishing foods and forms of life available.

Here is an attempt at communicating this art in written form.

There are many things about our modern food system that break people, our environment, and our livelihoods. The system breaks the backs and honor of farmworkers. It breaks the rivers, streams, gulfs, and oceans, polluting them with pesticides, insecticides, and chemicals unmatched for ecosystem health. It breaks the soils, leaving them malnourished and dead. It breaks human culture that has given life to people since the beginning of time. It breaks other animals and their ability to contribute to a prospering ecosystem. It breaks out economic structure, leaving the rich richer and poor poorer.

Our modern food system literally breaks my body, leaving my throat constricted, stomach bloated, and mind foggy. It leaves my skin with rashes, breath short, and body twitching. It thrashes my body and leaves me to fend for myself like the Soviets did to Cubans or now the Republicans' doing to the rest of America.

Why are there foods - why are is there life - out there devoid of nutrients and devoid of life? I can feel it in body, a visceral experience. Living takes life. When life that's been oppressed, neglected, or unable to live its fullness, I feel that. I feel oppressed, neglected, and unable to live fully. I feel it immediately in my core, in my mind, in the morsel of my every soul.

And while all plants and animals have some sorts of defense mechanisms to ward off other life, our modern food system and how we currently eat is getting farther and farther way from optimal life. Farther and farther away from our ancestors and tradition.

There is not one term of eating that I believe can encompass and influence optimal life. Omnivore. Vegetarian. Vegan. Paleo. Primal. Weston A. Price. Frutarian. Atkins. Low-carb. And hundreds more.

The only thing I believe in to nourish optimal life with eating is real food. Real food makes real people. Unreal food makes unreal people. And every time I don't eat something real, I lose life. I lose my ability to fully function in this world. I lose my ability to engage, to nourish, and love.

I want to engage, to nourish, to love. I want to live.

United States of Digestion

2011-04-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

I pledge allegiance to the flag of United States of Digestion,
and to our intestines and organs for which it stands,
one system under nourishing nutrition, indivisible,
with digestive juices, nerve receptors, and justice for all.

Modern Traditional Eats: SKSK - Soup, Kiku, Squash, Kraut

2011-03-20T23:07:00.001-07:00

Cross-posted at Nutrition by Tradition.

Youth and Traditional Foods: Our Questions, Your Questions

2011-03-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

Colin and I began talking about nutrition and health about a year ago at these bi-annual student sustainability convergences in California. Our paths initially crossed while both of us were studying at the University of California Irvine beginning in 2008 and applying ourselves in student sustainability networks. This past summer, we both hit bottom in health, finding ourselves malnourished and unstable. I found myself diagnosed with...

Cross-posted at Nutrition by Tradition.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

2010-09-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Snap. Snap. Snap.

I walk down Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, California, four hours before midnight.
At 39th Street, there are few people around.
I look through the windows, and the crowbars, of a closed and empty market store.
I see perfectly-aligned rows of commercial fruit juice, canned vegetables, and freezers full of plastic-packaged meat.
The shelves scream sugar and salt.
Zooming out from zooming in, I then read a flier on the window with big, bold words:
"We Accept EBT Here!"
I'm glad I'm accepted.
But my body cringes, back curves, and stomach clenches, not wanting those foods in me.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

I keep walking, crossing 40th, 41st, 42nd Streets.
My body opens, back straightens and stomach widens.
I see shops, markets, and more people ambling.
I stop, eyes glimmering at a restaurant boasting delectable food, and folk just as much.
My mouth salivates, anticipates, ameliorates.
The "Special" tonight - wild salmon with arugula and walnut balsamic vinaigrette dressing. $16.99.
Stickers dawn the windows: Mastercard, Visa, Discovery.
Where's "We Accept EBT Here"?
I get it. "Expensive Bread Tonight".
My body cringes, back curves, and stomach clenches.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Ahh, 51st and Telegraph. My destination: Temescal Produce Market.
I step into a petite, organized, and well-lit building.
Organic fruits and vegetables, teas, and some foods I recognize - lemongrass, ginger, mushrooms.
A medium-built groomed man greets me, smiling and enlivened, as if I'm the only one in the store.
I'm the only one in the store.
"Do you accept EBT here?" I ask.
He continues to smile. "Yeah", and hurries to finish unpacking boxes by the freezer.

My eyes explore the edibles. My mind mediates mayhem.It's my compromise. My mediary. Where I can go for some of my food nowadays.

But what is food justice if those at the market store can't dine at that restaurant, let alone may be scared of how they might be looked at, stereotyped?
And what is food justice if those at the restaurant might not shop, let alone may be scared of how they might be looked at, stereotyped?

What is food justice if what I can access, I won't, and what I can't, I want? What I won't will kill my body. What I want will kill my bank account.

In those 10 blocks of Telegraph Ave., I experience food injustice.
I am in a middle ground, the Temescal Produce Market is it.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

I snap out of my mind mayhem, and snap back to reality.
Shaken, I leave the store. My mind, full of sympathy. My hands and stomach, empty.

51st. 50th. 49th.
I hear my mom's voice in my head.
"Hải, đang làm gì? Con cần phải ăn."
"Hai, what are you doing. You need to eat."

I grab eggs, ginger, and coconut in the store.
Walking home, I acutely smell and grab mint, basil, and chives.

Snap. Snap. Snap.
Snap out of a food system favoring "the fancy" over "the faulty", profit over people and planet.
Snap into a food system favoring bountiful biodiversity, community commitment, and nutrient nourishment.

Snap. Snap. Snap.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps.
But really, Sustain Needs for All People.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Thoughts, nearly two years later.

2010-08-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

The food system is broken because my body is broken. I am mending my body. The food system will mend, and I will be a part of it. I will live to see a healed, sustainable, and nourishing food system. (July 30, 2010)

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What sustains me cannot be sustained around me. (July 30, 2010)

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I was overweight and underweight in a span of five years. (July 30, 2010)

--

My mother has always told me, "Balance. It's all about balance." (July 30, 2010)

--

If it's anything that will live beyond us humans, it will be bacteria. As I sat down for lunch earlier today which consisted of fish, raw & fermented vegetables, and loads of spices, I couldn't help but notice and cringe a bit at the cobwebs, grease, and multiple smells throughout the house. I stepped outside, and my body immediately coalesced with the sun's warmth. My mind found ease and clarity. The food on my plate was heavenly. It was loaded with good bacteria, enzymes, and nutrients surrounded by what seemed to be the bad bacteria. I am still feeling its nourishment even two hours afterwards. I can't help but constantly think that what I breathe, how I live, and what I put into my mouth will save me from day to day.

This makes me think about rural farmers. Their farms and houses may be perceived by the urban rich as the dirtiest things imaginable. Rather, it is the dirt that is allowing the food producers to be as immune as possible to the natural environment. "Getting back to the land" has entirely new meaning. It's more than "working the land" and "farm to table". It's breathing the fresh air, indirectly "eating the dirt", and being mindful of how their existence fits in with all the plants and other animals. It makes me think about a beautifully-set table glowing with delicious food. All of this surrounded by a "dirty" house and to be eaten by "dirty" hands. In the end, these farmers will be more immune than ever, nourish themselves with good bacteria, and may live longer than anyone else.

This makes me think about my family in Vietnam. Dirt poor. Rural. Little opportunities. However, if it's anything that will save and make them happiest, it will be intricately and thoughtfully prepared foods through the day. It if these "elaborate" meals with the right protein, fat, and carbohydrate balance that will save them. I want to learn more about this balance to save me and each other.

It's crazy and cool to think about my future and the fact that I need animal proteins and fats to nourish and sustain me. It certainly makes the life I've lived and the life that I will live interesting. It's also crazy to think that I'm genetically modifying myself. GMO issues aside, it's outrageous that I consume fish from Alaska, fish sauce from the Arctic, and coconuts from the Philippines. Not "local" at all. Although, I'm fortunate to have nearby grassfed beef, lamb, bison, pork, and vegetable sources. There's controversy in the last sentence because cows may not be native to California. I'm realizing that what I'm needing to survive here in California are decreasing in sustainable numbers, getting more expensive on the economic market, and may be changing my genetic make-up. I'd be interested to see what it'd be like to go back to Vietnam for a while and subsist entirely on my homeland itself. (August 10, 2010)

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Overeating is Hunger's bane.

It makes me think about my parents' and brother's voyage overseas. I'll ask them what they ate when they left and if they ever felt hungry. Even today, my parents want me to eat like no other. Maybe because in their past, there was a time when they had nothing to eat.

I started having some blueberries today, and my mind felt clearer than ever. Sweetness is my weakness. I had to stop after two handfuls because my back teeth were exclaiming, "No more!" as if the sugars in the berries were mining themselves too deep into the crevices. On another note, I can't help but contrast nutritional equivalence of Vietnamese foods to foods grown and found in the local foodsheds here. For example, when I have those blueberries, I think about lychee. Sweet corn reminds me of baby corn. Beets remind me water chestnuts. Peaches, apricots, and loquats remind me of pineapples, mangoes, and cherimoyas. I just noticed that these are all more sweet foods. Ahh, sugar!

I also started fermenting coconut (with flesh and juices). The taste is more sour and less sweet because of the sugar conversion to lactic acid. Any fermented foods, especially coconut and fruits, go into my bloodstream much slower and doesn't raise blood sugar. It's a noticeable difference between fresh coconut and fermented/cooked coconut. There are good recommendations and I've noticed recipes/trends in Nourishing Traditions to 1) ferment fruits because of the amount of sugar, 2) bake fruits (like baked apples) to lower sugar content and 3) cut off fruit and vegetable rinds because they're harder to digest.

Now that I think about it more, I can think about many instances in which fruits and high-sugar vegetables are cooked/infused. I've been to a lot of Mediterranean restaurants where they'll cook figs, dates, etc. with the meats. Coconut-chicken stews in the Caribbean. Cooked coconut milk mung beans in Vietnam. European meat stews/soups with starchy root vegetables in the winter time. Maybe there's a scientific reason why desserts are cooked/baked with loads of fat (butter).

On another note, I think meal-course "order" is fascinating. I've always wondered about appetizers, main courses, and desserts. I assume that appetizers like soups and salads with a drink (water or a lacto-fermented food) helps to get digestive enzymes flowing in the mouth, stomach, and intestines. Main courses with animal fats and proteins are the main nourishment. I assume that sweet desserts are last because they're better digested if the body has sufficient proteins and fats. Eating dessert, sugars, fruits, and high-sugar vegetables on their own cause a spike in blood sugar much higher than if they're combined with protein and fats. I hypothesize that they help stabilize the sugar found in desserts. Growing up, I went to "Bo Bay Mon" - Vietnamese restaurants that would serve seven courses of beef. Courses 1 and 2 would be light, 3-5 heavy, and 6 and 7 light. Dessert would either be cut orange slices or a sweet rice/bean custard dessert with cooked fruit in it. I've noticed similar patterns at Mediterranean, Brazilian, Italian, French, and African restaurants. This meal course order is in "American" restaurants too, but they're full of the wrong proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. (August 12, 2010)

Terra Madre and jet lag.

2008-11-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

Instead of last-minute fact-memorization and writing essays, I packed four-days' worth of clothes. As opposed to eating "shrimp-flavored" Instant Ramen, wolfing down oil-drenched and sugar-glazed donuts, and imbibing Red Bull, I savored linguini with creamy alfredo sauce and marinated shrimp, snacked on cinnamon- and honey-covered pumpkin seeds, and sampled the finest wines on Earth. I, too, crashed on my bed, fatigue and jaded. However, in lieu of doing so from standardized tests and mid-quarter stresses, I did so from this thing called "jetl ag", a sensation I haven't experienced in over a decade.

At the end of October, I attended Slow Food International's Terra Madre, a four-day gathering in Torino, Italy. It consisted of over 7,000 food producers, chefs, academics, seed savers, and students from over 1,600 food communities. I joined over 1,300 youth, who have, are, and will take on the next discussion about our global food system.

Food. Everyone eats it, yes. But it is not until you immerse yourself in another culture that food truly becomes a common language, way of thinking, and lifestyle.

Pizza and classes.

2008-10-02T00:31:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a new academic year full of courses, reading, writing, and adjustments, I find myself mostly in the kitchen - baking, sauteing, mixing, broiling, steaming, and singing.

Food staples are present. Butters, sauces, breads, and preserves are ready for my academic conundrums.

Campus fruit sustainability.

2008-09-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

My new fond friend, P.S., a first-year UC Irvine medical student, and I went fruit-hunting earlier this evening around Health Sciences. From what we know and saw, figs, guava, strawberry tree fruit, olives, peaches, apples, citrus, carob, culinary herbs, and the mother of them all - pomegranate - grow minutes from where I study, sleep, and live.

This brings new light to my campus food assessment and research. The light is bright, and I'm heading for it.

"Soon, well see chickens running around," - a professor's farewell from conversation about our scavenging. We parted. I couldn't say anything.

All I could did was place a defiant fist straight in the air. "Yes!"

Differences, Similarities, and Food.

2008-09-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

"...how we view life, how we view biology, how we view the living critters under our stewardship sets the precedent, the foundation, the philosophical pillars of how we view and honor and respect the differences among each other and from culture to culture." - Joel Salatin

The California cities of Davis and Irvine, while geographically different, unfortunately do not share the same views, even though its citizens share the same biological components that make them human beings.

The demographic, social, economic, and political differences in Davis and Irvine food systems are apparent. I'm transitioning from a summer Davis abode to the next three seasons in Irvine.

I spent two hours at the adjacent farmers' market this morning. I wasn't necessarily using my voting dollars every moment I could, as I felt some my fellow hasty Orange Countians did. I tasted, smelled, touched, heard, and saw the farmers' market. It was a territory I had once conquered but was now at the bottom of the knowledge chain, seeing that the seasons are now changing. My senses were on full frontal, recognizing prices, smells, and tastes much more keenly than before. After my first round of tastes, smells, questions, and price checks, I knew exactly where to grab my tomatoes, Chinese yardlong beans, pear squash, and others.

There was a double void. For one, images sprang up of the omnipresent food continuously available during my summer abode in Davis. Secondly, I conjured up thoughts of the summer comestibles I missed that had grown in Souther California the last three months. Every summer "Davis" moment I love and will continually cherish was masked by the aromas and tastes of Southern California delectables I had missed and were previously familiar with (avocadoes, tomatoes, Don's baked goods) and new autumn goods (persimmons, asian pears, and brussel sprouts).

My venture led to a demographic realization. I ambled down a produce aisle, noticing an Asian vendor to my right selling Japanese eggplant, bok choy, yardlong beans, Thai basil, and bitter melon to a predominently Asian crowd. On my immediate left was Anne Farms, predominantly Caucasian producers, selling their best nectarines, peaches, plouts, and pears to Caucasian consumers. I bought items from both.

Let's just say I'm in a somewhat maladroit transition at the moment. I looked at each vendor today, and whether or not our eyes met, it didn't necessarily matter. However, my ears are open and ready for their stories. This transition is soon to be a mission.

Summer loves.

2008-09-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

“That is quite industrious of you.”

I had just arrived, and I felt a void. My body, whether I liked it or not, had landed itself in Davis, CA three months ago, uncertain of the torrid heat, distinct agricultural smell, and unfamiliar territory. However, my mind couldn’t have agreed more with my summer move. I yearned for a fresh perspective, anomalous encounters, and a community. I knew what I yearned for.

But why was I organizing the Davis Student Co-op Free Box – folding clothes, categorizing items by color, and taking inventory of old cassette tapes – tasks I’m familiar with in Orange County before I moved out here. My energy was scattered, and I came back to industry. I was off to a rocky start.

“Don’t kill it! Save it.”

My core reason for traveling to Davis was to grow food. I look back at my application to intern at the UC Davis Market Garden and Student Farm.

“I want to gain the practical skills of managing a farm - knowing various plant species and nutrient cycles, learning how to operate machinery, familiarize myself with sustainable farming methods, and understanding the economics of food commodities in the market. Intrinsically, I want to gain a sense of euphoric empowerment from and celebrate the process of growing food. There are only a few things in the world that are as highly-prized, nutritious, and necessitated as food is.”

I have clipped basil for what seems like a lifetime’s worth of pesto, harvested enough slicer tomatoes to win Spain’s annual Tomatina (Tomato Fight), picked hundreds of pounds of ambrosia melon for cool summer treats, and sowed seeds until my fingers ran dry from placing individual seeds into tray-slots using the friction of my right-hand thumb and index finger. Nutrient cycles – nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and phosphorous – are my dearest friends. This boy is tractor- and Mule-certified. And the empowerment is true. There was nothing better than experiencing the seeds that I sowed burst into cotyledon leaves, transform to true leaves, be transplanted into the field, watered, harvested at its peak of eating zenith, and consumed at full glory. That is empowerment at humanity’s core.

“I am not the son of a family farmer. The closest thing I’ve come to agriculture is growing tomatoes with variable water temperatures for my sixth-grade science project. I have lived in suburban Orange County for the majority of my life, where the closest thing I have to food is the retail grocery store. Yet beyond the prodigious skyscrapers and vast miles of master-planned communities is a college student awe-inspired by the beautiful ecology of well-grown food and highly complex natural processes involved in sustainable food systems.”

I have been awe-inspired with my time on the farm. The human relationships were nurturing. Amongst the triple-digit scorches on our physically-exerting bodies, unfamiliar problems to solve, and other-animal-eaten crops to deal with, laughter was a must and not hard to find. The farm was my morning haven, waking up the body for my blood and muscles’ sake and the mind for critical thinking. I yearn to continue living in this haven, experiencing its realities.

“It felt like thousands of baby octopi swimming across your body.”

My senses – smell, sight, touch, hearing, taste, temperature, rawness - are at their prime. Similes, metaphors, and poetic prose sliver off the tip of my tongue without much difficulty. My body, mind, and communication are ostensibly in sync with each other, dependent of their individual functions but dance in unison.

I will never forget the soft wither in the winds the first week of July as I harvested basil. They hit the trees surrounding the student farm with such delicacy. Each tree was an individual wispy chime hanging loosely from a house porch situated along the coast. I took a deep, elongated breath, held it with eyes closed placing the just-cut basil in the nearest furrow, and exhaled – my body turned calm and solid. I still remember that moment to this day.

“The heart of the home.”

Davis Student Cooperative. If I was uncertain that a farm would accept a suburban boy like me to labor part-time, I couldn’t even imagine whether or not a communal space like DSC where I’d sleep, eat, and live would think to accept my presence full-time.

DSC has been my active think tank, rest tank, food tank, and action tank. This was the first summer in which I didn’t attend “school”, taking classes offered by an institution of learning, caught up in the “work” at “home” and being tested on mindful performance. Quite the coincidence, seeing that it was the summer before my possibly-final year as an undergraduate college student, while my other friends seemed tied to academic credit and/or economic compensation.

As I type this reflection this very moment, my ears are drawn to All That She Wants, a song by one of my all-time favorites - Ace of Base - and wistfully blown in the our living/music room across the ways. This is why I adore Davis Student Cooperative. Not necessarily just for Ace of Base, but for its eccentricity, authenticity, and truth.

I have smelt things I’ve never smelt before, like the upstairs bathroom, Sacramento Valley wildfires, or Jamie’s peach pie that I couldn’t taste because I was too late for dinner.

I have tasted things I’ve never tasted before. Derek’s elderberry, rose-hip kombucha. Tessa’s perfect flour-to-sugar-ratio apricot cookies. Raven’s dried figs before her coast-to-coast summer adventure. Or special cookies. Period.

I have touched things I’ve never touched before, like grey water (it’s one my closest friends now), the daintiness of lamb’s ear flourishing in the front yard, a female bed, Liz’s hugs, or Zuni’s slight abrasions on my outer calves to signal dinner.

I have heard things I’ve never heard before, like Sarah’s electric beats coming from her room randomly throughout the day, the unbearable summer fire alarms in which I still don’t understand to this day, or Jesse’s out-of-this-world rap status.

I have seen things I’ve never seen before, like the kitchen spice rack holding more jars than I could hold, Martha’s contagious smile, a male gluttamous maxim us at the Yuba City River, the moth caterpillar Jennifer helped me identify, Jesse’s movie selections, or Darrach.

And his love for KDVS at three in the morning.

I have been part of a community that I’ve never been a part of before - checking in every Wednesday night on the livelihood of the house and each other and sharing stories and meals amidst the summer sunsets. I was off to a rocky start, but I have filled my void.

Since that very first day, I’ve stopped organizing the DSC Free Box. Instead, I’ve found my loves.

Undergraduate Graduate School

2008-09-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

In the last three hours, I have felt like an undergraduate graduate student.

I am attending Terra Madre, a Slow Food International gathering of over 1,600 food communities this fall in Turin, Italy. It will be the best midterms week I will ever have. Connecting and organizing thoughts will be on the itinerary, but my Google Calendar has yet to express that.

In the next year, I am pursuing a UC Irvine Food Assessment, asking if an institution of over 30,000 mouths can be sustained from the production, distribution, and consumption of the local Orange County community. I've just started mapping resources for future research.

In the midst of it all, challenging my community and garnering campus support for a 20% shift to real food in my university by 2020.

I love my life.

But now I eat!

The Quiche. And recipes.

2008-09-02T12:30:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday brunch I made a quiche, comprised of Chinese yardlong beans, red onions, orange bell peppers, eggs, and milk. Guests were arriving at noon.

11:11 a.m. I had only cracked half the eggs.

11: 12 a.m. The next ten minutes was a chopping slurry, a constant tension between careful tending and intentional butchering. I had no recipe, but I wanted a savory dish amidst the concocting Sugarland - raspberry scones, cinnamon fruit salad, sweet breads, fruit juices, and more jams than I could make in what seemed a lifetime.

My mind jolted, mixing in ingredients haphazardly - without numbers, measuring cups, or second-hand efforts. Whether it was the fear of not having the quiche ready in time or my apathy towards cleaning copious dishes in a compact, yet cozy San Francisco apartment (probably more so the latter), I placed it, split in two entirely unequal baking dishes, into the oven. I was entirely unsure what would entail the next time I saw my friend, The Quiche. It could have over burnt, smoldering the apartment with unpleasant odors, ominous clouds, and unsettling reactions.

11:37 a.m. Could-of-should-0f-would-of. Instead, I smoldered the apartment with utensils and plates to our brunch space in the living room.

11:46 a.m. I sneaked a peak. "Umm. It hasn't changed."

Brunch ensued as guests arrived, settled in, and took their places. I took out The Quiche, and everyone ate, including myself who grabbed a hunk of a piece to satisfy my hunk of a mouth.

When I moved out of my house for the first time last year, I needed recipes. I didn't grow up in a food culture emphatic of teaching how food was made, and let alone, what went into my mouth. Recipes call for food histories, family & cultural ties, and intergenerational relationships. Recipe-documentarians are historians, telling of a part of history that saturates into every human being - food.

After brunch, I took out a piece of paper and pen. I became a historian that afternoon.

On that note, I find myself contemplating the future of American university dining - how these students, the "future of our country", eat. I do this simply because I am one. Most likely, the majority of collegiate careers eat in the service of professional cooks and may not harness these connections aforementioned fully until being forced out of that system. Thousands of recipes, and more importantly - histories, ties, and relationships as aforementioned - are missed due to a potentially-hazardous all-you-can-eat mentality. Being forced out of that system oftentimes means finding a dwelling (i.e. apartment), understanding transportation to and from dwelling, and how to transport food and water to this dwelling. These thoughts are mustered from the ultimate questions of, "How does one want to live?" and "What is my well-being?" Food, along with

And yes, if you were wondering, we had brunch at noon. Try it sometime.

Photograph courtesy N. Linesch.

31 years of age.

2008-08-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

"Where do you see yourself in 10 years? How will you have contributed towards a good, clean, and fair food system?"

I loved, love, and will love food.

My taste buds are traditionally Vietnamese - sweet, sour, and everything in between. Visiting the homeland at seven, I recollect mornings of sweet rice bread, fresh durain, and crisp parsley. I knew where my food was coming from.

My tastebuds are also American. Born in Iowa and raised in California, I've been an experiment to industrial agriculture. Following my mother to massive supermarkets has led to my disconnection with food producers. I've never met the farmer who procured the broccoli I loathed eating or the milk I imbibed. What was behind this “food”?

Which is why I study social ecology, or the relationship between humans and their environments, and specifically, humans and food. I see myself in ten years having understood this relationship. I will have apprenticed various farms by stewarding their environments sustainably. Upon such understanding, I will then grasp how the fruit of these environments – food – affects humans by studying holistic community health in graduate school.

It is understanding this relationship – humans and food – that more personal avenues can open, whether it be through culinary arts, research, public policy, teaching, food production, or a combination of the aforementioned. I find myself using food as a tool to rebuild American communities that have lost their connections to food, as I have in my own life. The idea is to plant seeds in these communities such that they may build and sustain themselves in sound ecological, economic, and equitable manners.

Photograph courtesy K. Meagher.

Grow, eat, and repeat

2008-08-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

"Eaters must understand that eating takes place inescapably in the world, that is inescapably an agricultural act; and that how we eat determines, to a considerable extend, how the world is used." - Wendell Berry

I have always been an eater. However, in the past two months, the physical process of eating has been my zenith at least three times a day. The intricacies of placing previously-living photosynthesizing organisms turned-culinary masterpieces into my mouth have gone beyond simply to fill a void in my stomach or pleasure my taste buds. My mind, heart, and body are pulsating hundreds of miles a minute, unsure of when and how to stop in this realm of sustainable food systems.

Granted, I have also been in and out, immersing myself in travels to retreats, conferences, and the backcountry in between. Thus, the lack of dictum, anecdotes, and literary proses. I've learned that my thoughts are initially raw, vulnerable, and bombarded with argument and logic. Just like the act of eating, the thought processes about food systems fairly recently are staccato and uncertain upon feedback.

Case in point. Packing thirty pounds of food into the back country - all processed, dry, and astute for ten days in the wilderness - surely conjures up such thoughts of how sustainable our ways of living. This is such the case, especially ambling alongside miles upon miles of berries, fruit, edible leaves, animals, and copious water sources along the trail. If one is to truly sustain their way of living alongside as well as sustain, nurture, and care for their surrounding environment, what are we doing by "importing" all this food?

Bearpaw Meadows, a campsite in the smack-dab middle of Kings Sequoia National Park, serves their reservations sumptuous meals. The morning we passed by, breakfast was a foray of blueberry muffins, onion-tomato-cheese omelets, potato hash-browns, coffee, and orange juice - all imported by mules along the trail. My jaw dropped, yet not enough to show any mouth interior in fear of public perception. Whether or now these foods are organic, unprocessed, and the most nutritious edibles known to human kind, I could not begin to fathom the energy cycles taken to get these culinary feats to this fairly remote enclave amidst the tallest peaks in the western United States. The mules are our trucks, cars, and transport machines. Bearpaw Meadows, dependent on those mules, is the operating civilized institution in the majority of modern society - hospitals, schools, and homes - all of which receive their food contingent upon transport.

Sustainable food is beyond organic. It is beyond health claims. It involves community-based preservation, ecological literacy, fair and humane treatment of humans and fellow species, continuous innovation, and economic equality.

Can we, as a human race, continue to slash the "Preservation" sticker onto portions of our Atlas, while detrimentally manipulating other lands and their food systems?

My mind, like my body, is hungry for more thoughts. It's a matter of hashing out the details as I attempt to do so now.

In the past month, I've eaten the best of San Louis Obispo with friends and future colleagues, at 13,800 feet altitude, in my current summer base, and soon after, the antithesis of San Francisco cuisine through Slow Food Nation. I will continue to eat, taking the moments before to acknowledge W. Berry and the fellow human beings who fully understand his sentiments.

Ideally, food systems are holistic, creating energy that reverts back to its original state: grow, eat, and repeat. It nourishes the body such that to, in some way, reincarnate our being.

An epicure-centric mind...

Sultry soil.

2008-07-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

There's nothing better than squatting two hundred and twenty one times in one-foot furrows inbetween growing-dry beans to de-weed prostrate pigweed and purslane first thing in the morning. Crouching in near fetal position while straining as many bodily muscles one could muster at eight in the morning, it was as if I entered an arid forest abyss. I was Tarzan, extending my long limbs, one at a time three feet in front, to grab hold of the next antagonists, all outsiders to the jungle bean ravines.

I was soon a father bearing toddlers, holstering copious rows upon rows of growing tomato vines. In a process called the California weave, our only instruments were tight rope and eight-foot stakes situated six feet from each other in the crop beds. The tomatoes spat all over themselves, leaving me as the parent to clean the mess. I'd tie the rope using a double half-hitch knot at the stakes' bottoms, wrestle six feet of rope underneath the viney understories, and tie at the next stake - tautly, or else it'd spit its gooey flora all over again. Like any parent-child relationship there are moments of plight. You want it to do one thing, but its resistance would push you back, and at arduous times, they'd slap you right back in the jocular.

I'd find tracts of bodily mishaps on my children. White powder covered its bottoms, still remnants of the organic sulfur sprayed as a pest management mechanism towards the renettes mites that infested my children two weeks ago. By the end of such wrangling, my finger tips had accumulated this glaucous olive green. I was a parent turned The Indredible Hulk. Good thing these youngin's didn't cry.

Soon enough, the babysitter inside me rescued baby basil that had been tormented by the automatic tractor machine unable to transplant and care for the little ones. The transplant bottoms hadn't even entered the soil, let alone the roots. The nitrogen-pelite-peat-induced roots had spent the last two months gently nursed in the greenhouse. I was not going to let these orphaned young ones obliterate in today's triple-digit temperatures.

Babysitting ran late, as I soon was student to soil management, nitrogen cycles, and incorporated manure and compost - a situation I've been comfortable with, yet becoming more reluctant to settle in, for now seventeen years.

Many roles lead to many thoughts. Many thoughts lead to many ideas. Ideas become reality. Reality is what we live in.

And who knew there are ideal foods to eat under particular temperate conditions? Fats have maximum melting points. More saturated fats (i.e. animals) have greater melting yields than unsatured fats (i.e. plants and vegetables). Thus, in direly heated times as this, I should be eating more coconuts, meats, butter, pastries, hard cheeses, and lard as opposed to vegetable oils, fish, fruits, and vegetables - items aplenty here in Davis. I'm just a melting glob of liquid.

Food Comatose.

2008-07-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

Late last evening, my mind jerked my body. Hai, go to sleep. Tomorrow's Monday. Surrounding yourself with food does that to you, especially if you are the one laboring the land in which its planted, watered, soaked, and harvested. These days, I've forgotten the Gregorian calendar and adopted the sun as my clock.

Pick-days are ostensibly a desultory task. It yields industrialism - box, walk, pluck, box, walk, wash, plastic, box.

However, it is the beauty of what is picked that heightens my senses. No where near is that industrious. The land is an orchestra of colorful instruments, altering its ensemble by changes its its climate. Each crop performs different notes, but combines for a beguiling resonance from interconnecting factors - water, air, soil, sun. This time, it feeds the audience's palette, leaving these now-transformed epicures in standing ovation.

Tonight is the tomato's solo performance. It is not nervous at all.

Some Sundays.

2008-07-06T14:09:00.001-07:00

On some Sundays, you just want to wake up at five forty-one, run around the city amongst refreshing morning air, harvest bountiful fruit, saute frittata with temple Royal mushrooms, carrots, cucumber, and jalapeno peppers in saffron oil, bake peach compote with red wine, clean the kitchen of its remnants from the festive evening before, and nestle comfortably in the best seat in the house with a novel you've waited the past one hundred and twenty hours to dive into - all by the time the first person indolently ambles downstairs, dazed at your heightened alertness at nine thirty.

To be honest with you, I'd rather do this on all Sundays.

"Don't kill it. Save it."

2008-07-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

As summer squash, zucchinni, figs, beets, onions, artichokes, and tomatoes nourish the Davis Market Garden grounds, thoughts are already accumulating as to what to grow next season and where.

Crop rotation is like societal migrations. Pests, diseases, and weeds are controlled, just as the onslaught of new faces ensures the security of all living in a particular area. Altering various crops enriches the very ground used for nourishment, just like how changing an individual's scenery every once in a while nourishes their physicality, reflexes, and intellectual mind. And like any willing society yearning for continued existence, they will have intergenerational relationships - young and younger - just as deep-rooted crops come replaced by more fibrous ones.

These interwoven connections, furthermore, are entirely dependent on familial structures. Organic vegetable production is most efficiently rotated by different crop families. Latin is the name of the game, as knowing my fellow vegetable brethren is an enviable task - brassiacaceae, chenopodiaceae, and poaceae. Who are these relatives who've been part of me the past twenty one years? What are their jobs? Where did they come from? How do I best guest them in my body?

Which reminds me, I should give my human parents a ring.

Yo' boy rode a tractor today!

One would assume a vegan diet of grains, beans, greens, vegetables, and fruit can lead to an undernourished diet. Nope, not this summer. My stomach is evolving into a capacious cauldron of palatable nutrition. These folk know how to eat!

A quicker step to my rump.

2008-06-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Not the best of rests last night. Lights flickered inbetween the crack leveling the floor and door. My next-room neighbors, as I found out later in the day, woke up sporadically throughout the early morning, causing my eyes to wince and glean from the pouring light fixtures from their windows to mine.

Seventy twenty one rang. Within minutes, my oatmeal-filled body jetted on a nearly flat-tired bicycle, swerving this campus with ease now that I've gotten acclimated with such territory. Fortunately, the morning didn't turn to lull my body to Christine's queen bed for the remainder of the day.

It wasn't even a lull, necessarily; it was surprisingly, more festive and copacetic than usual. My swagger proved boisterous. The zucchini were astounding - prodigious and ripe to perfection. The market garden was a jubilee all around. There was laughter abound from these 1980's quasi-vacuous and radical tractor training movies Raoul asked us to see before stepping onto the mechanized monsters. I mean, who can't help but cackle at the titles, "It's Not Gonna Happen to Me" and "Grandpa...can I ride that, PLEASE?"

If one knows my body, one would assume I'd knock out for the remainder of the afternoon. However, the elated swagger pressed on. I'm gradually becoming more and more comfortable, leveraging my wants with my actions - taking out the compost, utilizing the grey water system, relaxing the shoulders, and enjoying company.

I baked my first-ever bread for a dinner dessert - cranberry honey loaf with brown sugar, using the freshly extracted honey from our garden bee hives this past weekend.

While there were lauds from across the table, I couldn't help but contemplate - who should we really be thanking? The bees for the honey? The being who created bees? The plants growing the flour, sugars, and various white substances I added to the mix? How about the water sources used to wet the flour's palette?

The energy connection is prodigious, yet I, a small percentage at the end of such the connection who simply mixed in all the ingredients from far away places, lands, and spaces, was commended whole-heartedly. There is a deeper relationship than simply my adoration for food science. It is far more than staking edible content into a stainless steel bowl, interpolating them with a whisk or two, and popping them into a heat furnace until our heart contents.

One week anniversary.

2008-06-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Sundays are meant for leisure reading with a side of stevia and lemon verbana leaves in tea. These are the only Sundays I may ever want to know.

El primera dia.

2008-06-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hands-on critical thinking and learning is ostensibly the most palpable sensation I have and may ever have. Some theory in psychological research methods I may never know. What I will know is the diease-wreaking solidification of potatoes due to overexposure of sun. Super-sweet corn is best frozen right after harvest. Tomatios have an underlying bitter tang, but smoothes out its sweet sensation on the tongue without much resistence. And flowers bloom from basil. Who knew? All of this in four hours of basil clipping, potato undercutting, and eating new species of fruit-bearing plant.

And this is only the first day at the UC Davis Student Farm and Market Garden. I could find myself melting into the limpid atmosphere exuded by the amiable smiles, the sun’s warmth, and food all around me. I was settled, first going through the desultory acts of signing safety procedures, reading informational pamphlets, and finding out where everything was. I wanted to be out on the fields, tending the land, bearing the fruits of my morning’s energy.

And when I did, I was in heaven. Exultant sensations flooded my blood veins, each pulse getting faster and harder every time my eyes met those of a yuka gold potato. Eureka. Potato roots surprise you like a panhandler finding prized gold in The Rush. One moment, bulbs of circular potatoes attach themselves to theis roots, then plucked by the knobs of your fingers. The next, much larger chunks would suddenly reveal themselves deep within the nitrogenous, fertile soil. These more prodigious beasts of starch would perfectly nestle themselves in deeper, water-contained soils, making you wrestle with it to be placed into the CSA market box compared to its more nimble, younger siblings.

I yearn for seasonal awareness, as Jessy has.

These heated summer mornings can take the life out of you for the remainder of the day. Much reconsideration is needed if this summer independent project is to be accomplished.

And if every United Nations meeting ran like the one in the DSC, we’d be in a much more copacetic world.

The night before.

2008-06-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

The trees are heavens to the hot. A palpable bicycle culture calls its historical catalyst for comfort, longing, and sustainability amidst the strangling automobiles crying hullabaloos from their exhaust pipes.

I’ve subverted my co-op dinner virginity to Tessa’s delectable treats this evening – cucumber salad, barley oats, squash stir fry, and sugared figs.

The days at the student farm begin tomorrow, exulted for the unknown. I haphazardly picked up Raoul Adamchak’s book at the independent shindig, The Avid Reader, prying and scavenging into its pages for past intern experiences and seeking to fill the void of unanswered questions. Part informational, part autobiographical, I look forward to delving into its prose of dissecting the truths between organic and genetically-modified food production.

This summer: internship, independent research, preparation for next year, eating, reading, art, and traveling. Maybe attempt answering the alluding “what-to-do-with-the-rest-of-my-life” question, too. Or…maybe not.

Hai and a farm.

2008-06-21T23:47:00.000-07:00

Dozens of unknown spices. Grey water. Loads and loads of books. A stench bringing back memories of unclean rooms. Language of little comprehension.

I’ve arrived in Davis, yearning to adorn the next twelve weeks in a summer intensive program and a summer intensive lifestyle. While I do feel a bit unsettled simply due to different surroundings, I find myself at ease. I crave for the uncomfortable. I long for adventure. The next three months will leave me a changed human being. Vegan cuisine, seed planting, food production, freedom of speech, copacetic human beings, and copious knowledge.

I am not the "average" Orange Countian. I am not the "average" Davis cooperative-ian. I am an individual with vested interests for what the world has to offer and what I can offer it. I am here for reasons. I come with no expectations, lack of judgment, or sneering comment. Halcyon experiences are all I desire.

Who knows, at least I’ll find myself knowing spices, using grey water, reading books galore, and loving this stench.

Love this thing.

2008-05-29T13:11:00.001-07:00

Mapped out seasonal food. Who would've thought?

Change in global agribusiness

2008-05-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

"After six years of work, the United Nations-sponsored International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) has concluded that "modern" agriculture is not sustainable. According to the UN News Service, 'Modern agricultural practices have exhausted land and water resources, squelched diversity and left poor people vulnerable to high food prices.'

The IAASTD, after a week-long meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, pronounced the verdict of 400 scientists, government agencies and civil society participants: 'Business as usual is no longer an option.' At the meeting, 55 world governments agreed on the IAASTD final report; Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States requested more time to consider whether or not to approve it.

Reporting from Johannesburg, PAN North America Senior Scientist Marcia Ishii-Eiteman observed: 'This is a wake-up call for governments and international agencies. The survival of the planet's food systems demands global action to support agroecological farming and fair and equitable trade.' Ishii-Eiteman explained that the IAASTD calls for replacing dependence on petrochemical fuels and pesticides with 'resilient, sustainable agricultural systems, grounded in agroecological science and drawing on local, indigenous and community knowledge.

The IAASTD was bitterly attacked by Syngenta and other powerful multinational corporations but, as UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner observes: 'If our modern agricultural systems continue to focus only on maximizing production at the lowest cost, agriculture will face a major crisis in 20 to 30 years time.'"

Miss banh cuon.

2008-05-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

It was three spring breaks ago, I left for the big Apple – New York City. My brother, a struggling graphic artist living on the outskirts from Manhatten on Staten Island, was to host me for five days. By that time, I’ve yearned to visit the metropolis for years. The evening before I fared adieu, my mother prepared my favorite Vietnamese dish – banh cuon, or spring rolls. It was the as delectable as the first I’ve ever had it – shrimp juicy, the romaine lettuce and cucumber crunched loud enough to override my parents bickering, fish sauce bringing me back to memories of the homeland, and vermicelli, not too dry or wet, just perfect.

Granted, my brother was a good host, serving me the usual American food he’d been accustomed to since moving out the year before. Mornings were spent reading the New York Times over toast, jam, bacon, and strawberries. The bustling food carts in downtown Manhatten, from Greek to Mexican, Italian to every-other-culture-I-haven’t-mentioned filled my stomach mid-day. Evening dinners were calm – a protein filet and vegetables or rice.

For my final day in the city, my brother decided to reminisce. He hadn’t prepared Vietnamese food for months, and to its very coincidence, made banh cuon. He had intended on doing so all week, waiting for the big day. It looked the same. I took the first bite. Upon the fifth chew, I was in remorse. It just wasn’t the same. The shrimp was flat, the lettuce and cucumber lackluster, the fish sauce just didn’t taste like fish, and the vermicelli too dry that I had to wet the palette upon embarrassment.

I printed my flight’s ticket as soon as I left the table.

"Factory Farms Threaten Human Health"

2008-05-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

"Waste from U.S. livestock production is piling up and must be better treated, according to a new report from the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. Farm workers and neighbors of livestock facilities are suffering from high levels of respiratory ailments, including asthma, and the risk to rural drinking water sources is growing." - Worldwatch Institute

Ladder arguments for GMOs.

2008-04-29T14:43:00.001-07:00

In response to one of my acquaintance's speeches on genetically modified foods.

"I was beguiled by your GMO essay. It is a fencing issue.

I do want to expand on your population argument. While some may see a correlation between increased food production & land with increased amount of land (which has limits), food distribution is a more probable cause to the ailing food crisis.

There are a billion people in the world who don't get the right amount of calories to live. Then, there are a billion people in the world who actually overeat. Nearly a quarter of the US population is considered 'obese'. Not overweight, but obese.

Yes, GMOs may be healthier and tastier than processed foods. Granted, we won't know the concrete data until cohort studies are done. But who will be left standing in the end if we find that GMO foods have higher probabilities of human fatality -

GMO eaters or unprocessed/non-GMO/chemical-free eaters?

Unfortunately, life isn't about probabilities. We've been eating unprocessed, non-GMO, chemical-free foods for centuries. And we've lived.

'I thought about the documentary on the previous day, but I just ate it, because I was just hungry and also thought it was healthier than junk foods.'

Growing up in the United States, I've been a product of conventionally-grown, GMO-, pesticide- and herbicide-run food for the first twenty years of my life. I understand your sentiments. Granted, I'm still living.

However, education does some things to you. I don't want to sound egotistical, but I want the best life for myself. I'm also at a point where I want the best for others, too."

Mouth salivation.

2008-04-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

You don't understand how much I want to do what Michael Jones does.

"A Moveable Feast was founded in Carmel Valley in 1976 by Michael Jones. Michael has a world of experience. He trained in New York City and Ithaca, New York with Etienne Merle at Auberge du Cochon Rouge. He also served a full apprenticeship in France, Switzerland and Austria in the kitchen, dining room and as a sommelier. Michael has worked in New York, Colorado, Oregon, Mexico and the Caribbean, and brings New World freshness and innovation to the Old World techniques and tradition of service. He has owned successful restaurants in Telluride and Carmel. A Moveable Feast has been operating in Carmel Valley since 1976.

Our staff is young, enthusiastic and energetic. They love their work. Most are college or graduate students and they bring with them intelligence and a sense of responsibility as well as a love of great food and service.

We take great pride in the quality of our ingredients. We specialize in organic fruits and vegetables from small, local farms. Our fish is all from local waters, and our meats are always fresh and of the highest quality, organic and free-range wherever possible. We also pride ourselves in our flexibility. We do not do cookie-cutter events. Each party is fashioned to your individual needs. Everything is flexible, the menu, ingredients, budget, and service. We adapt to any situation."

I mean, look at how happy he is.

Bisphe, what?

2008-04-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

Mi amigo bien, Matthew S., sent me an NYT article on the detriments of bisphenol-a (BPA). Check your plastic, yo.

Food Psychology.

2008-04-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

I subscribe to Men's Health. Yes, I may have succumb to a ritual unfathomable to those who know me, but behind the 60-second chiseled-ab workouts and desultory arguments about the male sex, there's some sentient words of wisdom every now and then.

One of those sentients was an article by writer Jim Thorton on the science behind why we eat so much.

Too Much On Your Plate?
Modern food science explains why you just can't stop eating
By: Jim Thornton

Dun-don!

The moment I hear Law & Order's distinctive two-beat intro, my salivary glands flood. I watch this week's corpse discovery, then take the first commercial break to hustle out to the Sub-Zero.

Two huge scoops of Vanilla Swiss Almond Häagen-Dazs in an oversize bowl later, I'm back in the company of police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. Over the next 15 minutes, those voluptuous mounds of ice cream, along with their bustier of chocolate sauce and Reddi-wip, disappear someplace.

Under cross-examination by Jack McCoy, I could probably be witness-badgered into specifying where this someplace is. Right now, however, I'm too distracted to remember or care.

Another commercial comes on, and I feel a sudden vague sense that my life needs balance. Something crunchy, perhaps something with salt. Oh, and add something that will make this first combo of somethings easier to swallow.

By the time the jury finds the perp-o'-the-week guilty, an 8-inch stack of Zesta saltines and a 16-ounce Coke have slurried off together, crunch by crunch, sip by sip, in search of the missing Häagen-Dazs.

Most men think, if we think about it at all, that the urge to eat is simple. We become hungry, we seek food, we shovel same into our maws, we feel full, we stop. After a suitable interlude, the cycle starts anew.

But hunger (appetite's physiological accelerator) and satiety (its brakes) are not the only reasons we start and stop eating. Researchers in the burgeoning field of food psychology have pinpointed a complex web of cues in the modern environment that all but overwhelm our once-adaptive systems: societal shifts in what constitutes appropriate portion sizes; the colors, embedded scents, and promotional language used in food packaging; the distracting effects of TV viewing during meals. These are just a few of the ubiquitous hidden persuaders that have converted eating from a natural human need into a national hobby.

Part of the problem is the sheer number of times we're confronted with food decisions. According to a University of Illinois study, the average American makes more than 200 choices each day, most executed on a quasi-conscious level. Yogurt or a sticky bun for breakfast? A garden salad or Double Whopper for lunch? Celery sticks or pork rinds with a pilsner or pale ale after work?

Psychologists in labs around the world, to be sure, have an interest in understanding what motivates such decisions -- and perhaps nowhere more so than in the labs at major food corporations. Whether it's Frito-Lay or Burger King, Dannon or Pillsbury, they're all in business to optimize profits. If tweaking the minutiae of consumer psychology will make their products more tempting than the competition's, you can bet they'll do so.

"Nowadays, companies are investing a lot of money to figure out this kind of information," says Leslie Harrington, Ph.D., founder of LH Color, a Connecticut-based company that advises food manufacturers on ways to leverage color's psychological effects. "You can't change behavior by cognition alone," she says. "You need to engage a consumer's emotions, and color is just one of many ways to do this."

University and government researchers, for their part, approach food psychology from a different perspective. Most here are seeking strategies to steer us--willingly, that is--toward healthier diets, hoping in the process to not only save lives but also avoid a fortune in future medical costs from today's obesity epidemic.

For Brian Wansink, Ph.D., director of the Cornell University food and brand lab, part of the answer lies in a "know the enemy" approach. In his book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, Wansink condenses years of research into practical lessons for recognizing--and circumventing--the myriad influences that promote autopilot eating. "The goal," he says, "is to re-engineer your food life so you can enjoy eating without obsessing."

This doesn't just mean eating less junk. The same techniques that push Ho Hos and Häagen-Dazs can also help us eat better-quality fare, from five-a-day fruits and vegetables to soluble fiber and omega-3 fats. By better understanding how food psychology influences us, we can avoid being blinded by a false glow, and simultaneously add more luster to the foods our bodies really need.

The Atmospherics of Appetite

Though it doesn't appear on a list of ingredients, one of a food's most seductive additives is the setting in which it's served.

Restaurateurs from McDonald's to Ruth's Chris Steak House have long understood how critical ambience is to sales. Not surprisingly, the choice of atmosphere will differ dramatically, depending on how an establishment wants to make those sales. In the case of fast-food emporia, profits depend on speed eating, whereas at high-end restaurants, the goal is to keep diners ensconced long enough to "up-sell" them drinks, appetizers, and desserts.

One of the most common techniques used to achieve both ends is color. "Bright red, for example, is the color to stimulate your appetite," says color expert Harrington. "It also increases adrenaline and blood pressure and makes you physically want to move." It's no accident that the benches at every McDonald's are not only bright red but also bruisingly hard on the buttocks. The last thing you want en route to selling 80 billion burgers are loitering customers.

Contrast this approach with a high-end steak house. Managers here want you ravenous, too--but they also want you to linger long enough to run up a drink tab and other expenses. "These places still use red to stimulate appetite," says Harrington, "but they tone it down to a softer burgundy or wine color." The soft seating here could be endorsed by post-op hemorrhoid patients.

To further encourage leisurely dining, upscale restaurants also frequently use muted lights and soothing music. Of course, you'll never find candelabra and Chopin anywhere near a bucket of chicken. If such places can't lure clientele onto the drive-thru conveyer belt, they'll at least make their interiors as energizing to the senses as possible.

For reasons that aren't completely understood, men seem particularly vulnerable to such manipulations. "Bright lights, loud noises, and reflective surfaces cause most everyone to eat faster," says Lenny R. Vartanian, Ph.D., lead author of a recent study in Appetite that examined factors influencing food consumption. "But environmental stimulation causes men to really speed up their eating -- it has a much more exaggerated influence."

Another highly provocative sense is smell. A mere whiff of something delicious increases salivation and the release of pancreatic enzymes, readying our bodies to be fed. Wansink has dubbed this the "Cinnabon Effect" after an aroma credited with generating $200 million in annual sticky-bun sales.

"I've been in food courts where it seems like restaurants are battling," says Armand V. Cardello, Ph.D., a food psychologist at the U.S. Army Natick Labs. "Every 5 feet you walk, you're hit with a different smell."

Short of wearing nose clips, earplugs, and welder's glasses when dining out, there's not much we can do to eliminate this assault on our senses. Still, knowing what we're up against can move such marketing ploys from unconsciousness to awareness, where we have at least a fighting chance of resisting or avoiding them.

At home, where we do have some control over our eating environment, we can use these same marketing strategies to our benefit. For example, "even broccoli tastes better by candlelight," says Wansink. He recommends a few guy-specific tactics, as well. For at least 30 minutes of your meal, turn off the TV and instead play your favorite slow music softly in the background. Use decent china, which sends the message "fine dining ahead!" as opposed to plastic plates and bowls, which proclaim "time to spork down some biomass." Perhaps most important, serve food at a table where you've previously enjoyed celebratory meals -- not on a TV tray where you've previously celebrated sports victories.

If your goal is simply to eat less, try a more radical approach to ambience. "Blue is the color most associated with mold and decay in food," says Harrington. "The greatest diet tip I know is simply to put a blue lightbulb in your refrigerator."

Tricks of the Eye

Wansink passes me a liter of Sprite and two glasses, one tall and skinny, the other short and stout. We're sitting at a mahogany table inside the Cornell food and brand lab, which has been configured today to resemble a high-end kitchen. Depending on the demands of a given experiment, the same space can easily be converted into a dining room or home theater-style sports bar.

I know what Wansink is up to when he asks me to pour a standard shot of Sprite into these two different-size glasses. On the plane ride to Ithaca, I read his 2005 study in the British Medical Journal, in which he convincingly demonstrated the effects of so-called elongation bias in the pouring and consumption of alcohol.

As research dating back to the 1960s shows, people have a strong tendency to focus on height rather than width when assessing a container's volume. In the British Medical Journal study, college students tried to pour equal amounts of alcohol into two types of glasses -- tall and narrow, and short and fat -- but ended up adding 30 percent more to the squat tumblers. Wansink next studied 86 pro bartenders in Philadelphia, people with an average work experience of 6.3 years. They did only slightly better -- overpouring by an average of 20.5 percent.

Armed with this info, I feel like a mark who's become wise to the con. I grab the Sprite bottle and take my time, trickling what I am convinced is exactly one shot into each glass. When Wansink measures the respective amounts, he smiles.

"You poured 1.7 ounces into the tall container, and 2.1 ounces into the short one," he says, adding that at least I was closer to the bartenders than the students.

"But I knew the trick," I reply.

"It doesn't matter," he says. "We're all tricked by our environment, even when we 'know it.' That's why it's easier to change our environment than our minds."

The sizes of plates, bowls, mugs, candy dishes, and snack bowls have equally powerful effects on our perception and consumption patterns. The larger the container, the smaller we invariably consider the portion contained within, which just as invariably leads to overeating.

Unfortunately, research shows that dinnerware and serving sizes have continued to grow in tandem over the past 20 years. The standard dinner plate at restaurants now averages 12 inches, up from 9 inches in the '70s. As a result, portion sizes are twice as large.

What's driving this trend toward gigantism in dinnerware is a bit hard to fathom. "Doesn't it cost restaurants more to fill up larger plates?" I ask Wansink. "Who exactly benefits from this?"

He chuckles. "Nobody seems to benefit, but once 'plate escalation' starts, it takes on a life of its own." Restaurateurs who don't keep up are scared customers will feel ripped off and go elsewhere.

But Wansink thinks their fears are unfounded. After numerous studies of food portions and container size, he's concluded that we're just as satisfied by what looks like the right amount on a small plate as we are by the much larger portion that "looks right" on a larger one.

"When I first realized what an impact container size has on how much we eat," Wansink says, "I went home and made some changes." Among other things, he replaced his family's 12-inch dinner plates with an assortment of 9 to 10-inch plates he found at a garage sale, as well as new ones sold as "salad plates."

He also replaced his short, wide glasses with tall, skinny ones. He even eliminated his squat wine goblets and glasses, keeping only the champagne flutes. "Since I've been doing this research and made these changes at home," he says, "I've probably lost close to 20 pounds. All of a sudden you wake up and realize your clothes are too big."

Eating by Association

Long before he conditioned dogs to drool at the ring of a bell, Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov serendipitously discovered his lab coat could accomplish the same result. In the late 19th century, Pavlov was primarily interested in the purely digestive properties of saliva. He collected the substance every day at feeding time, when the sight and smell of kibble made the mutts' mouths water. Eventually, he noticed the dogs salivating even when he approached them without food--provided, that is, he was wearing the same lab coat he always donned at feeding time.

For most of us, a white lab coat is more likely to spike blood pressure than appetite. Nevertheless, we all proceed through life surrounded by environmental stimuli that condition our own patterns of eating behavior through association. In my case, for instance, the link between late-night TV and snacking is now so ingrained that simply turning the set on after dark makes me hungry.

Food psychologists call such habitual routines "eating scripts" and say they exert potent effects on our consumption. "Eating scripts are the icebergs of our diets," says Wansink. "We're clearly aware of some of them, but many more lurk beneath the surface of our daily activities."

For example, yesteryear's three square meals eaten with family at a sane pace at the supper table has become the stuff of museum dioramas. As our jobs have become progressively more fast paced, new scripts have emerged that seem, at least, more conducive to the hurried, multiprocessing, obsessive goal orientation so many men feel driven by.

More often than not, we either skip daytime meals entirely or relegate them to "refuel as quickly as possible" status. In fact, nearly one-third of men, compared with slightly less than one-quarter of women, admit to eating fast food regularly. No wonder Burger King's latest ad campaign touts its Texas Double Whopper as an antidote to "chick food," urging us guys to rise up and "eat like a man, man!"

The problem is, the manly way is a recipe for weight gain. A 2006 study by researchers at Brown medical school is just one of dozens in recent years linking obesity to the modern combo of a.m. fasting and p.m. overeating. Specifically, the researchers found that two common behaviors -- skipping breakfast and consuming more fast food--strongly predicted excess weight in young men.

Breaking the dine-and-dash habit and/or other dysfunctional eating scripts requires first recognizing your triggers and then rescripting your behavior. Next week, for instance, resolve to take a different route to and from work, one that steers you around the Scylla and Charybdis of fast-food alley. At the same time, brown-bag a filling, healthy lunch: Leftover chicken breast with a baked sweet potato, tuna salad with Triscuits, a turkey wrap with cranberry relish -- they'll satisfy and help you dodge the drive-thru.

Experiment until you find new patterns you can live with. Some men have success with an interception strategy: It's fine to grab a doughnut at the office, but only after you first have a piece of fruit or a stick of gum and then reassess how much you still crave the doughnut. Another tactic: Eliminate as many distractions as you can so you concentrate on your food. If you want to eat at your desk or in the car, fine -- but turn off the computer or radio when you do so. Chances are you'll eat less when you pay full attention to the ingestion process.

Engorged at the Smorgasbord

When it comes to triggering a guy's gorge reflex, variety in food is a surprisingly powerful force. Food psychologist Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., and her colleagues at Penn State University quantified this phenomenon with a substance few men ever approach with passion: yogurt. Despite its bland status, when unwitting volunteers were offered a choice of three yogurt flavors, they ate 20 percent more of it than when offered one flavor alone.

The lure of different taste sensations is not the only reason our stomachs so regularly fantasize about a gustatory ménage à trois, if not an outright cornucopian orgy. We're also, it turns out, suckers for pure visual variety in what we eat, a fact that M&M's pioneer Forrest E. Mars Sr. stumbled on back in the 1940s, to his company's everlasting success.

"A number of years ago, Mars tweaked the colors of M&M's a bit," says Harrington. "It added blue, made the red a little redder, and so forth." In the course of this color testing, a fascinating finding emerged. Even though taste testers were told that the colorings had no flavor, and that each individual M came from the same recipe as every other M, the volunteers refused to believe this. "They would swear on their life," says Harrington, "that the M&M's tasted different depending on the color."

Such is the connection between palette and palate that we should consider ourselves lucky Mars hasn't tempted us with dozens of colors. In a 2004 study in the Journal of Consumer Research, college students were given either a huge bowl of M&M's containing seven colors or a bowl filled with three additional hues. Those receiving seven colors ate, on average, 56 M&M's; those with 10 colors averaged 99 -- 77 percent more than the others.

The scientific name for this phenomenon is sensory-specific satiety, and it seems hardwired into our food-seeking physiology. "Nobody likes a monotonous diet," says Cardello. "If you're forced to eat a particular flavor for an extended period of time, your liking of that flavor will decrease." Cardello and his colleagues have made use of this tendency to help soldiers eat more in the field. Over the past 15 years, military rations have evolved from a limited variety of choices to more than 24 different entrée combinations.

Alas, for those trying to shed a few pounds or even just maintain their weight, the variety of food choices can seem inescapable. Try to limit, if not eliminate entirely, visits to smorgasbords, breakfast buffets, food courts, Korean delis, and similar settings that lay out gastronomical porn. Very few of us will order more than one dessert at a traditional sit-down eatery. At Old Country Buffet, on the other hand, who among us can resist grabbing carrot cake, a soft-serve sundae, and a brownie -- that is, on our first trip to the dessert aisle?

When you do find yourself at a food fest, be it a friend's gourmet dinner party or a business buffet, limit yourself to two items on your plate at a time. You can always go back for more, says Wansink, but establishing a buffer zone between choices will dim their allure, making it easier to control yourself.

The Language of Food Love

Anthropologist Margaret Mead, best known for her theories on free love in Samoa, made a more pragmatic, albeit less publicized, contribution to Depression-era America: convincing our ancestors to eat more organ meats, from cow hearts to hog brains to sheep kidneys. Most citizens back then found such fare disgusting. Unfortunately, the vast majority of normal meat was being shipped overseas to sustain the soldiers fighting in WWII.

Fearing widespread protein deprivation here at home, the Department of Defense recruited Mead and other leading scientists to help the public make the best of a revolting situation. Numerous strategies emerged, but Mead's was one of the most effective: a name change from "organ meats" to "variety meats."

This is hardly a flukish example. Consider the fate of the Patagonian toothfish. Despite the fact that this is neither a bass nor exclusive to Chile, its rechristening as "Chilean sea bass" triggered such a feeding frenzy in trendy diners that the species is now near extinction.

Army rations once dubbed "chicken and gravy" today sport more inviting labels, such as "chicken francesca," says Cardello. "Of course, you see this all the time in restaurants, where they come up with elaborate names for regular food items. Somehow, when we read these names, our expectations become that much higher for the products--and we end up believing they taste better."

Wansink has found that four specific forms of language are used frequently because of their ability to evoke our emotions and stoke our desires. First, linking specific foods to the geographical regions famous for their production: Omaha steaks, Maine lobsters, New Orleans Cajun gumbo, and the like. Second, nostalgic labels--Toll House cookies, Grandma's Old World manicotti--trigger associations with family, tradition, and comfort.

A glowing description of great taste is the third common tactic, and it can make our mouths water and stomachs growl as effectively as actual food. From "tender, mesquite-smoked pork loin" to "velvety lemon crème pie," just thinking about food is enough for our imaginations to bring it to life.

The fourth technique is using brand labels -- Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs, say, or Butterfinger Blizzards. After all, the original producers of these products have established emotional connections between their food and consumers -- why walk when you can piggyback a ride?

Fortunately, as with other appetite manipulators, you can fight back by simply remaining conscious of the hype that surrounds us, knowing that sea bass and toothfish are one and the same. Sometimes reading the fine print can help, as well. "Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor), peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, milk fat, skim milk, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, lactose, salt, egg whites, chocolate, artificial flavor" is less seductive than "Snickers bar."

At home, recruit your significant other to help turn language to your advantage by using the "two-word" technique. Simply append a couple of enticing descriptors to any less-than-exciting food. Skillet-braised carrots taste a lot better than the merely "cooked" kind.

When Law & Order starts, I'm ready. My salivary glands flow as before, and I still beeline to the fridge during the first commercial.

This time, however, I'm at least somewhat aware of what I'm doing.

I reach for a small bowl and a downsized scoop, then remove a box of reduced-calorie ice cream from the freezer. Thanks to the bowl, my double-breasted serving looks like the old ration, though I know objectively it's at least one-third less by volume alone.

Instead of chocolate sauce, I blanket the ice cream with fresh red raspberries before finishing it off with a dollop of Reddi-wip. I've come to love raspberries - -the result of what Cardello calls "the flavor-conditioning paradigm." When I told him I didn't crave fruits or vegetables but felt obligated to add more to my diet, he recommended gradually combining items I don't like with those I do. "Our studies have shown that after a week or so of combined exposures," he says, "people start liking the 'unpreferred' taste almost as much as they do the 'preferred' one."

The paradigm has worked with raspberries -- so much so that I've begun to consider skipping the ice cream altogether. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll try a broccoli sundae.

Thanks to a smaller spoon, it takes me as long as before to finish tonight's dessert. When the urge for saltines predictably strikes a half-hour later, I take another tip from the Wansink playbook. Instead of a full stack of Zestas in their prepackaged plastic sheath, I grab a sandwich bag I had filled earlier with 12 crackers. Instead of a Coke, I fill a high, narrow glass with skim milk.

The amazing thing about these shifts is they don't feel like dietary self-denial. In fact, the individual tweaks in my "food makeover" have proved too modest to notice. Taken together, however, the cumulative effects are unmistakable: 3 pounds already lost, more energy throughout the day, more vigorous workouts, and best of all, no sense that these benefits have stemmed from unsustainable sacrifice.

If anything, I've learned that the lessons of food psychology, applied wisely, offer the antithesis of deprivation: the ability to enjoy food a lot more while eating a lot less of it.

Strategic Eating
Four powerful countermoves against the forces of fat

1. Downsize your dishes: Unless you're eating off decades-old dishes, you probably have the newer, plus-size plates -- the kind that cause your eyes to override your appetite. Give them to Goodwill, and pick up either the 16-piece Santiago set by Dansk (10 1/2-inch dinner plates, 8-inch salad plates, and 7-inch soup bowls, $80) or the 20-piece Platinum Band set by Majestry (10 5/8-inch dinner plates, 7 3/4-inch salad plates, and 7 3/4-inch soup bowls, $60). Both are sold at bedbathandbeyond.com.

2. Be small-minded about snacks: In a recent experiment at the Cornell University food and brand lab, researchers gave study participants either a single bag containing 100 Wheat Thins or four smaller bags holding 25 Thins each, waited for the munching to subside, then did a cracker count. The tally: Those given the jumbo bag ate up to 20 percent more. Outsmart your snack habit by sticking with the tiny 100-calorie packs now being used for everything from Doritos to Goldfish.

3. Raise your glasses: Since even experienced bartenders pour more into short, wide glasses than they do into tall, narrow ones, you'll need to be creative when you play mixmaster at home. Start by using highball glasses to replace the squat tumblers you use for scotch and brandy. Next, put away your pint beer glasses and buy the pilsner kind. Finally, if you own balloon wine glasses, switch them with regular wine glasses. Just watch the red: Cornell researchers found that people inadvertently pour more red wine than white into the same-size glass.

4. Divide and dine: Until all restaurants become BYOP (bring your own plate), you'll need to shrink your serving in a different way: When your entrée arrives, dive in and eat half, then wait at least 10 minutes before coming out for round 2. While you chat and sip water, your stomach will have a chance to digest and decide whether you've had enough -- no matter what the plate's saying.

-- Heather Loeb

A Toothfish By Any Other Name?
The true identities of five foods we've been suckered into swallowing

Unappetizing Moniker: Patagonian toothfish
New and Improved Name: Chilean sea bass
History of the Switch: In 1977, fish merchant Lee Lantz traveled to Chile and "discovered" the toothfish, a species the locals deemed too oily to eat. Thirty years and Lantz's name change later, Chilean sea bass is so popular with American palates that it's almost on the verge of extinction.

Unappetizing Moniker: Rapeseed oil
New and Improved Name: Canola oil
History of the Switch: After research in the 1970s suggested that rapeseed oil's high level of erucic acid may cause heart damage, the Canadian seed-oil industry grew a strain called "low-erucic-acid rapeseed oil." In 1988, the FDA approved a name change to canola oil, and sales shot up.

Unappetizing Moniker: Prunes
New and Improved Name: Dried plums
History of the Switch: When the California Prune Board realized that the words "prune" and "laxative" were inextricably linked, they switched to "dried plums" in 2000. People bought it--in one test, tasters preferred the flavor of dried plums to prunes.

Unappetizing Moniker: Chinese Gooseberry
New and Improved Name: Kiwi
History of the Switch: In the 1960s, American produce importer Frieda Caplan renamed the Chinese gooseberry the kiwi, after New Zealand's national bird (also round, brown, and fuzzy). In no time, the fruit's popularity spiked.

Unappetizing Moniker: Dolphin
New and Improved Name: Mahimahi
History of the Switch: Even though the bony fish listed as "dolphin" on menus was unrelated to the mammal of the same name, diners still balked at ordering it. As a result, in the mid-1980s, restaurateurs started using the Hawaiian name--mahi-mahi--and all thoughts of Flipper were forgotten.

-- Heather Loeb

International Food Crises: The Dinner Table's a bit Shakey

2008-04-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Two National Public Radio stories this morning:

All Things Considered, April 21, 2008 · Global food shortages and a faltering U.S. economy are hurting food banks. Leaders in the food bank community are finding creative ways to cope. Two food-bank organizers discuss their approach to the problem. Deborah Flateman, CEO of the Maryland Food Bank, and Bob Evans, president of the United Food Bank in Mesa, Ariz., discuss their approaches to the problem in a conversation with Melissa Block.

Day to Day, April 21, 2008 · In honor of Earth Day this week, we offer a series of conversations about food's footprint. Alex Chadwick talks to Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the National Resource Defense Council, about how the food we eat contributes to greenhouse gases. Here's the link to the carbon calculator discussed by Dr. Soloman.

Click the links above to hear the segments.

Unless local food systems are established, the dinner table's going to continue to shake.

2008-04-20T23:32:00.000-07:00

Upon disclosure and intended recycling of all community college papers that have been lingering in the parental's garage since graduation, I stumbled upon a paper eminent from the rest.

Asked to visit an "foreign ethnic market" (whatever that means, I have no idea - do they think I'm xenophobic or something?), everyone in introductory anthropology "got outside their comfort zones" (again, no idea...) and tested our gastronomic palettes.

My rendezvous as a Middle Eastern garmound -

“Where are you from?” asked a middle-aged man dressed business casually.

“Vietnam,” I responded hesitantly while jotting down notes on produce.

“Vietnamese? You have all this in Vietnamese markets, no?” the man asked curiously. For a few moments, I became absolutely speechless.

“Actually, there’s quite a lot here I’m not familiar with,” I replied surprisingly. My simple visit to the Altayebat Market in Anaheim, CA soon became a cross-cultural experience. While I do have a Vietnamese ethnic background, I am a product of assimilation here in the United States. I was born in Sioux City, Iowa but lived in Orange County for a good majority of my life. Even though I have grown up with Vietnamese foods, I have become more familiar with Anglo markets as I tend to frequent Trader Joe’s or Henry’s Marketplace. Ethnocentric views aside, I spent a good amount of time in Altayebat Market’s aisles, noting similarities and differences.

“Altayebat” means “the tasty and delicious” in Arabic. The market, originally founded by Mohamed Sammy Khouraki and his wife Noha in 1983, primarily serves the Middle Eastern community but has branched to varied nationalities over the past quarter of a century. Foods within the store are labeled “halal”, meaning “permissible” in Arabic. “Halal” most frequently refers to food that is permissible according to Islamic law and religion. Situated on Ball Road and Brookhurst Street in Anaheim, the market’s mission is “to provide the freshest produce, the finest international groceries, and the choicest Halal meats – all at a price everyone can afford”.

As the largest section in the market, produce was well-presented and kept cool. The air was fresh, crisp, and cool to the touch. Similar fruits included grapes, apples, oranges, and watermelon. However, there were some unrecognizable fruits such as the quince, which is related to the apple and pear. Relative large and about four inches in diameter, quinces are yellow-brown in color and bumpy on the surface. Quinces have great big leaves, some even the same size as the actual fruit. Common vegetables in the market included squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, and carrots. Some uncommon vegetables were fava and fenugreek. Fava, which look like three times the size of regular split peas, are broad green beans in a pod. About four to five inches long, each piece of fava contained six to seven bean seeds. Fenugreek, an herb, had a yellow-orange color and is used in curries and pastes. Prices in the produce department were similar to that of an Anglo market, as they were relatively inexpensive with various marketing tools used such as “3 for $1.00” deals.

The busiest section of Altayebat Market with a constant flow of customers was the meat department situated in the back corner of the store. With a counter displaying varied Halal meats separating the customers from the workers, there was a myriad of different meats. Beef was quite prominent, ranging between $3-4 per pound. Two uncommon meats were bastirma and mortadella. Bastirma is a Middle Eastern specialty; it is beef marinated in spices and then air dried for a prolonged period of time. Mortadella is the Middle Eastern version of “bologna” and is a combination of ground beef, pistachio nuts, garlic, and varied spices. Lamb seemed to be quite popular as well with the market selling lamb shoulders and leg portions. While there were some meats that I knew such as beef patties, chicken, and ground beef, there others that weren’t quite as familiar. Large portions of beef tongue, beef brains, lamb testes and kidneys, and ox tail were sold. Even though reading some of these labels may exude putrid smells, the aromas were actually controlled and little ceased to exist. There were some other intriguing observations that I made while in the meat department. Large olives were set right next to the varied meats. At $2.49 per pound, customers could buy large, smoky, bitter alfonso olives or dark-brown almond-shaped kalamata olives. I also observed how the meat section was divided. Like in an Anglo market, Altayebat had a meat counter for customers’ customized meats and another aisle with individually-packaged meats.

My nose brought me to the next department. Placed next to the meats were the spices. With such a strong and pungent aroma, it was quite the sight to see over sixty spices by the Middle Eastern brand “Sadaf” being presented. Traditional spices included lemon pepper, baking soda, cinnamon and chili pepper. Sour orange peels, sour grapes, and regular orange peels were the fruit-induced spices. There were even some spices composed of flowers such as hibiscus and chamomile. Seeds being sold included black caraway seeds, anise, and sesame. Some other unfamiliar spices included citric acid, cardamom, frankincense, angelica, and physillium. Many types of leaf condiments were being sold such as savory, tarragon, parsley, mint, cilantro, and sage. While the quantity of spices seemed much larger than those sold in Anglo markets, the prices were similarly inexpensive ranging from $1.49 to $2.99.

The dairy section of Altayebat surprised me the most. Located in the far back of the market, the dairy section consisted of large clear refrigerators Like most Anglo markets, I expected to find milk, a familiar and staple product. However, there was none to be found! Yogurt seemed to be the substitute as there was refrigerator after refrigerator of either Alta Dena yogurt or Middle Eastern “Byblos” pasteurized cheese. There was only unsalted margarine and butter, and no salted options were found.

The baked goods section was one of my favorite experiences in the market. While I expected to find loaves of bread pre-cut in individual slices, there was none to be found! All hand-made with no cholesterol and only whole wheat, the main breads were large, circular, and flattened. Circular pocket pita breads were common as well. Baked treats were either braided or circular with either some type of nut baked with it or fruit jam inside. Some unfamiliar treats included barazi, which are sesame cookies with pistachio nuts, and ghourabia, or butter cookies that looked like flattened donuts.

Throughout my visit, there were some general, but captivating observations that I made. Displays and presentation in the store was clean, printed, easy to see, and surprisingly, mainly printed in English. A majority of the jars sold had a combination of Middle Eastern and English text with a pictorial representation of the item on the outside. There were many healthy options available: over twenty kinds of beans, a dozen type of jams including mulberry molasses, and watermelon peels, and healthy cooking oils like canola, olive, corn, and grape-seed. Compared to individual servings in Anglo markets, Altayebat sold everything in large quantities and portions. In green shirts, the employees were cordial, quick, and attentive, and communication among them was done in English.

While I would expect large parking availability in Anglo markets, there were only a dozen spots open to a constantly busy customer population; I actually had to park across the street! Grocery shopping seemed to be a family affair in which everyone helped out. While there were food items that I was unfamiliar with, I was relatively comfortable in a consumer crowd of varied background. With affordable prices, healthy food choices, and a balanced between Middle Eastern culture and the American mainstream, I would definitely consider visiting the Altayebat Market again sometime in the near future.

Bhavagad-gita's got somethin' to say.

2008-04-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

To my surprise, I stumbled upon this magnet from UC Irvine's Earth Day celebrations earlier today.

A few of them, especially the last two, ring a mildly upbraiding, yet disparately palpable, view of how food should be treated.

Click the image to enlarge.

Vermaculture, here I come.

2008-04-12T11:02:00.001-07:00

A world in one city.

2008-04-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

My first post alluded to the sensory fusion growing up with Vietnamese and American foods, particularly the butter-and-sugar-coated-toasted-white-bread slices that my aunt would deliberately plow in my face (She had good intentions - trust me). While rice was the staple, my mother would drudge away for hours on end after work to fill the kitchen with discerning aromas - spicy, sweet, succinct, and sharp - perks that I'm sure she grew up with in Vietnam thousands of miles away.

The Food & South Asian cultures seminar I'm experiencing includes weekly readings. This week's prose was brought by a NYT writer, Seth Kugal, who could sympathize with what my mother and I grew up with. Seth Kugal scoured ethnic markets at the end of February this year to catch a glimpse (and taste) of the panoply of cultural foods in one dense New York City.

Euphoria aside, can cultural demands in an urbanized city where one in three are immigrants meet sustainable practices in the long run? This is the dilemma that I faced attending a "Liberty, Innovation, and the Environment" seminar last summer in Berkeley hosted by the Institute for Humane Studies. How can generations sustain their cultural gastronomy when these generations may be physically detached from one another? In addition, how can an emigrated generation sustain the very biological needs for survival without losing cultural honor?

And when cultural foods are reintroduced to new territory, are these very practices environmentally-conscious? If the very ingredients, instruments, and cooking-ware aren't available in a new location, what cultural identities will be sacrificed?

You think you know, but you have no idea...

2008-04-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

According to good 'ol Wikipedia,

"A bushel is a unit of dry volume, usually subdivided into eight local gallons in the systems of Imperial units and U.S. customary units. It is used for volumes of dry commodities, not liquids, most often in agriculture. It is abbreviated as bsh. or bu.

* 1 U.S. bushel = 35.23907017 litres = 8 corn/dry gallons = 9.309177489 wine/liquid gallons
* 1 Imperial bushel = 36.36872 litres = 8 Imperial gallons"

Mmm. 9.3 wine gallons.

It's not just curry.

2008-04-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'm all over my seminar this quarter - "South Asian American Immigrants: Food and Belonging, language and Home".

According to the syllabus, "This seminar explores the connections between food, speaking native languages and home for South Asian American immigrants. Food and language function as metaphors of belonging. First generation immigrants negotiate their use of native languages within the dominance of English.

All South Asian American food is not curry! We discuss the subtlety of using spices, family recipes, and acquired tastes in US locations. Immigrants nostalgically recreate their homelands via food. Food plays a major role in family and social relationships. Tastes and aromas often evoke personal memory, especially from one's childhood. We discuss concepts such as "comfort foods", "ethnic foods", cooking at home versus eating out, and gender roles in food preparation. Food also marks ethnic differences from mainstream communities in the US."

A food seminar can't proceed without the physical manifestation of its very subject. Dr. Katrak introduced two Indian snacks:

Popreas, which are dried chickpeas usually eaten with various spices, such as cumin and tumeric. Dry and subtle at first, its rounded yet crisp formations progressively melts in your mouth, leaving a fresh aftertaste inkling for more.

And Butter biscuits are mixed with carroway seeds and eaten during tea time.

I don't want to lose my Vietnamese language, an asset to a culture ingrained in my family. This seminar will help me to explore this cultural dilemma I face. Will food be the answer? As with curry, it's not just phở.

2008-04-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

Avanti Cafe

Healthy Eating for College Students

2008-03-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

By Hong Kong Tran

Among today’s rapidly escalating problems, such as poverty, hunger, global warming and animal extinction, that of obesity is becoming more prominent and worthy of attention. Not surprised?

Well, you should be surprised to learn just how high and fast the obesity rate will continue to rise. This means that the chances of you, your children and your grandchildren being among that growing number will only increase, putting many at risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, the prevalence of obesity rose from 15 percent in 1976 to almost 33 percent in 2004. For those who are 12 to 19 years old, it increased to 12.4 percent from 5 percent. These numbers will continue to grow, unless there is some control on an individual level.

As college students, it is understandable that we have a hard time staying healthy with the infamous foods we eat. With the recent opening of the student center, the food courts have been drawing in students for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This convenience increases the likelihood that students will eat out, instead of making their own meals. However, this can easily change.

Listed below are a few tips that can help you form a healthier diet.

1.) Eat breakfast. For those who do not eat breakfast, start! Especially on a college campus, breakfast helps to jumpstart your day in preparation for classes, studying, playing sports, etc. Coffee and donuts do not count. Get in the habit of making a bowl of whole-grain cereal or oatmeal every morning. Add a glass of orange juice or milk and maybe some fruit.

No time? Make time. You are taking care of your body for today and tomorrow, so waking up 10 or 15 minutes earlier to prepare a healthy meal is more than worth it.

Think of how much money you will save now if you buy a box of cereal and a carton of juice that will last you a week. Also, think about how much money you will save later from paying visits to the doctor for all of those health problems you accumulated from a lack of breakfast.

2.) Drink lots and lots and lots of water. Ditch the soda and other sugar-loaded drinks and make water your new best friend forever. Eat with it, sleep with it, walk and run with it, read with it and drink (with) it! Water is really what does a body good.

3.) Don’t forget the vegetables. You are a college student—you should not have to be reminded to include vegetables in your diet. Remember the food pyramid from your wee-old days? Although you may have neglected it, the food pyramid will always remain informative and helpful.

There are many places on campus where you can get a healthy salad. Try to stay away from the processed salad dressings, many of which contain preservatives, artificial flavors and transitive fats. Olive oil, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar are all you need to make a healthy salad dressing.

4.) Fruits can be the next guilty pleasure and are such a great snack. They’re sweet in taste, but unlike chips, cookies and candy, they’re healthy. Make it a habit to pack an apple, orange or pear so you can munch on one in the no-food-allowed lecture halls.

5.) Don’t over-indulge yourself. This tip is especially for those living in the dorms (or who have a meal plan for the dining halls). Just because one card swipe will allow you to eat until you drop, it does not mean that you have to binge. Getting your money’s worth amounts to eating a healthy meal, not how much frozen yogurt you can stuff yourself with before leaving, or how many cookies and pastries you can sneak out.

6.) Food needs exercise. The two go hand-in-hand. They are like Mary-Kate and Ashley, Calvin and Hobbes, Pinky and the Brain, Britney Spears and paparazzi, or UC Irvine and Asians. Once you have regulated your eating habits, take your newfound determination to stay healthy and hit the gym.

The Anteater Recreation Center offers aerobics classes, many of which are free of charge. There is no need to visit the gym every day, but a workout at least three days a week will make you physically and mentally healthier. Healthy eating is an excellent start, but you should complete your diet with exercise.

When asked how she stays healthy in college, second-year engineering major Jennie Lee responded, “I work out, I don’t drink soda, I carry a bottle of water to class, I play badminton and I sleep at 4 a.m. and wake up at 7 a.m.” The last part is exactly what you should not do.

7.) Sleep earlier. As college students, we are more to be likely sleep-deprived, thanks to studying, homework, partying and procrastination. The trick is time-management. Set a bedtime and make it your goal for the day to be in bed by that time. Try to get at least six or seven hours of sleep a night, if not more. You will feel much more rejuvenated during class.

The point is not to keep away from the unhealthy, instant dinners and the greasy food court food forever, but to discipline yourself to eat them in moderation. You will thank yourself years later for making simple, healthy changes to your diet now.

If you actually think about it, resistance against healthy foods is not as hard to break as you might think. Get a good cookbook and learn how to cook. The worst you can do to your food is burn it. Take care of your body, as no one else will. The first step is to take responsibility and admit that your diet can improve.

The New University
University of California, Irvine
Week of March 31, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2008-03-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

UC Irvine Joins Snowballing Cage-Free Egg Trend

IRVINE, Calif. (March 26, 2008) — University of California Irvine has joined a growing movement toward improving the lives of farm animals by enacting a cage-free egg policy for campus dining facilities. Effective this month, all eggs that UC Irvine serves its students will be organic and cage-free—a new policy that drew praise from The Humane Society of the United States.

“Cramming hens inside cages so tiny they can’t even spread their wings is cruel and inhumane,” said Paul Shapiro, senior director of The HSUS’ factory farming campaign. “UC Irvine is right to join the growing number of colleges moving away from using eggs from caged hens.”

California factory farms confine approximately 19 million hens in barren battery cages so small, the birds can’t even spread their wings. Each bird has less space than a single sheet of paper on which to live.

UC Irvine joins hundreds of schools—including San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Pitzer and Concordia—in using cage-free eggs in their cafeterias. Companies such as Safeway, Burger King, Carl’s Jr. and Hardees, as well as celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck are moving away from supporting battery cages. Several grocery chains, including Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, have stopped selling cage eggs.

California city councils even have passed resolutions opposing battery cages. And last month, Californians turned in nearly 800,000 signatures to place an initiative on the November ballot to prohibit the use of battery cages in the state.

While cage-free does not mean cruelty-free, cage-free hens generally have 250-300 percent more space per bird and are able to engage in more of their natural behaviors than are caged hens. Cage-free hens may not be able to go outside, but they are able to walk, spread their wings, and lay their eggs in nests—all behaviors permanently denied to hens confined in battery cages.

Timeline

February 28, 2008—Californians submit nearly 800,000 signatures to place the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act on the November 2008 ballot.
February 2008—Safeway announces a far-reaching animal welfare program, including a purchasing preference for cage-free eggs.
December 2007—Compass Group, the world’s largest food service provider with over 7,500 U.S. clients, begins phasing out cage eggs.
March 2007—Burger King announces that it has started phasing in cage-free eggs in its North American locations.
March 2007—Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck announces that he will no longer use cage eggs in his restaurants.
September 2006—Ben & Jerry’s announces that it will phase out cage eggs in its ice creams.
May 2005—Whole Foods Market announce that they have ended sales of cage eggs.
November 2003—The Better Business Bureau rules that it is misleading to label eggs from battery-caged hens as “Animal Care Certified.”

-30-

CONTACT:
Erin Williams (301) 721-6446, ewilliams@humanesociety.org

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization—backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty—on the web at www.humanesociety.org.

The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
humanesociety.org
Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty

Interested in taking action online to help animals? Then join our online community! Go to: https://community.hsus.org/humane/join

One of the things I want to be.

2008-03-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

To my chagrin, I'm sure my parents won't shine the trophy when I plonk the news of my desire to be a farmer. Me and ba, I'll be a new type of farmer. Trust me on that one.

At the yeast of it all.

2008-03-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Across the board, large and small companies are prying for increasing wheat prices. Sounds like a paradox, yes. But it's the truth.

"The price of bakery and cereal products rose 1.8% in February, the largest monthly increase since January 1975. Overall, the cost of eating at home has risen more than 5% so far this year, the fastest rate since 1990," L.A. Times writer Jerry Hirsch notes.

Ethanol production will only stretch the agricultural demise facing our nation.

Worldly Appeal.

2008-03-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

My good friend Amrit sent me an article about Zingerman, a food franchise in Ann Harbor, Michigan, that gets more business outside than in.

I'd love to visit Ann Harbor. I was even considering going to the University of Michigan for their renown musical theater department.

While I would enjoy their Italian olive oils, European cheeses, and French vinegars, I could only continue to think of the transportation costs.

I don't know if mainstream America is ready for the concept of a sustainable restaurant, nonetheless a sustainable food system - seasonal crops, local foods, and a non-additives menu. As I do look forward to summer tomatoes, I'm not too sure if In-N-Out is. Do I see them putting up a sign mid-October saying, "No tomatoes until May"?

Diet Globalization.

2008-03-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

It's not necessarily business as usual as "food commodities" like corn, soy, and wheat become "market worthies", according to a recent New York Times article by David Streitfeld.

“Everyone wants to eat like an American on this globe,” said Daniel W. Basse of the AgResource Company, a Chicago consultancy. “But if they do, we’re going to need another two or three globes to grow it all.”

Coined "diet globalization", I can't come to terms with a McDonald's in the middle of the Sahara, let alone bread now seen in Nigeria.

"If all this suggests a golden age for American growers, it could well be brief, said Bruce Babcock, an economist at Iowa State University. He predicted that farmers would do their best to ramp up production, possibly to the point of pulling land out of conservation programs so they could plant more. 'Give farmers a price incentive, and they’ll produce,' he said."

In the name of sustainability, if not conservation, what else will go? Yes, the only thing that will prevail will be complacent humans. A ubiquitous human-filled, non-biodiverse Earth. How complacent will we be, though, when all that was given to us since the beginning of humankind, simply...vanishes?

"The Agriculture Department forecasts that world wheat production will increase 8 percent this year. In the United States, spring and durum wheat plantings are expected to rise by two million acres, helping to drive prices down to $7 a bushel, the government said."

A bit draconian, if you tell me.

Eureka! Corn?

2008-03-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

James J. Cramer's commentary on the incessant Wall-Street hounding of large agricultural businesses in a time when commodities are prized like none other was foreseeable. Why does a farmer's ostensibly prodigious opportunity to capitalize on profit through food and fuel depend on the government?

In a period of deepening worldwide food scarcity, although not necessarily blatantly so in the United States, how can we continue to rely on non-renewable concepts of energy?

"You know there's no meat in that..."

2008-03-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

"I'd like a portabello burger."
"You know there's no meat in that..."
"Yes. I do."

What kind of declarative statement is that?

And don't get me started with the plastic to-go container, wax paper for my fries in a brown-paper bag, individualized packet of plastic utensils in plastic wrap - all neatly placed in a whopping plastic carrying bag.

I declined.

High School Lunch. Ugh.

2008-03-05T11:18:00.001-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

"I'll trade my government-subsidized PB and J with your home-made turkey from Whole Foods." Even high school students face food discrimination. On a broader scale, this is a prime example of social inequality and the cradle-the-cradle effect. How can we continue to keep students in a cyclic period of marginalization in today's public education food system? Don't we want our children to be healthy, rational, free-thinking adults in society?

World v. Seed Vault

2008-03-05T11:17:00.001-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

Can a global seed vault storing potentially all of the world's biodiverse seeds be effective? Isn't this a bit counter-productive? I'm imagining a violent-threatened world of only bombs, ash, and debris fill the land except for this one seed vault that comes to rescue. Not the prettiest picture, huh?

The hand is connected to my...

2008-03-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

cast-iron.

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

They say a watched pot never boils, but a covered one boils extra quickly, saving cooking time--and energy. Using smaller appliances, like a microwave, toaster oven, rice cooker, or crock pot when appropriate to the task; choosing the right size pan and burner for meals prepared on the stove; and keeping the oven door closed while baking are other great ways to conserve energy in the kitchen. It also doesn't take as much energy to reheat food as it does to cook it in the first place, so make enough for leftovers!

When buying new appliances, look for the Energy Star label. And when picking out new pots and pans, skip the nonstick ones. Teflon is made with a chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), that is a "likely carcinogen" (according to the EPA) and a major polluter of air and water near where it's produced. Old-fashioned cast-iron pots and pans are a safe alternative, as are those made out of anodized aluminum and stainless steel (unless you're allergic to nickel).

- The Green Life

Weight Watcher's new ad

2008-03-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

"It turns out that fighting global warming is good for the waistline. If every American spent 30 minutes a day walking or cycling instead of driving, the citizenry would collectively cut carbon emissions by 64 million tons and shed 3 billion pounds of excess flab, according to Paul Higgins of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Trim even more by trading in that T-bone for tofu--livestock production produces 18 percent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization.

-—Dashka Slater, Sierra Magazine

My new favorite word

2008-03-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

gourmand

gour·mand [goor-mahnd, goor-muhnd] - noun
a person who is fond of good eating, often indiscriminatingly and to excess.

On May 11, Central County gourmands rejoiced as the Santa Ana Farmer’s Market finally opened after a three-year battle between city bureaucrats and members of the nonprofit Grain Project.

And don't ask me why I'm up at 6:32 a.m. I'm waiting outside my housemate's door to go swimming with them this morning. I missed the last two days...

Salutations Global Sustainability Classmates,

2008-03-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks for listening in on my presentation tonight. I hope you enjoyed the Tanaka Farm strawberries.

Cheers,

Thank you for the meal

2008-03-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

A sustainable food system is the holistic process from food production to consumer at which can be sustained for future generations. Globally, while we are growing food calories for everyone in the world, we are producing food at unsustainable rates through such inputs as resource distribution, inadequate water irrigation, industrial farming methods, ineffective energy usage, and genetic modification. These inputs create highly-complex networks that use prodigious human demand and large capital investments that are seen today in food production companies, packing and distribution centers, and chain supermarkets, to name a few.

UCI Dining holds such a highly-complex network, as with many colleges, universities, and social institutions around the world. The relationship between producer and consumer has been lost amidst company values of providing good products. Whether or not we realize it, nearly 14,000 meals are served each and every day on campus, half at which are in the dining commons. Not to forget the 31,000 students, and the thousands of faculty, staff, and administration. We live in a county at which agricultural acreage is decreasing, water resources are declining, and corporate-driven business is a highly-prized possession. We are surrounded by desert to the east, growing cities to the north and south, and the grandest ocean to the west. Where else are we to grow the food that we eat?

Societies are a product of university education. To imagine a student who has lost that connection to their foods' producer is a bit alarming. One can only imagine a larger and larger gap of appreciation for that farmer who grew that apple, in turn to become a student's mid-afternoon snack. Has American society seen that gap in the past fifty years?

I have yet to even begun delving into these questions, as I have only touched the brink of them I anticipated that more questions would come out of this project than answered. Here I am at the end of my project with more inquiries to explore. For the past five weeks, I have answered the "what". Now, as with many people, I look forward to answering "how?"

The past one thousand hours or so have had some of the most intensifying learning experiences I have every received. It was a cross between an environmental journalist an student - I was constantly on the threshold of being a student, yet was continuously thirsting for more information. I have never truly invested each and every day of life in the past month and a half to a project like this before. To be honest, I liked it.

I'd like to thank the following people for assisting me throughout this experience:

Kelsey M., Matt S., Yvette S., UC Irvine's "Sustainable Foods Challenge" Committee
Ryan V., Irvine Students Against Animal Cruelty
Robert P., Aramark Regional Director
Jack M., UC Irvine Director of Hospitality and Dining
Adam Curry, Director of "Bad Seed: The Truth About Our Food"
California Student Sustainability Coalition's Food Initiative
United Students for Fair Trade
Katie B., Tanaka Farms
Amrit T., personal company at Tanaka Farms
Tritia H., Orange County Farm Bureau
Lissa P., personal company at Tustin Farmers' Market
Emily B., UC Irvine Health Education
Leon B., UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems
Adam, Santa Cruz Homeless Garden Project
Maggie L., personal company at the Santa Cruz Homeless Garden Project
Bridgett, California Certified Organic Farmers
Michael Pollan, Author of The Omnivore's Dilemma
Vandana Shiva, Editor of The Food Manifesto

I look at food in an entirely different way. I came home this weekend to "get away" and finalize this project. What I realized is that I was "getting away" from my exploration of food. Granted, some people say that "nothing is better than home-cooked meals". Yet, my taste buds have been refined to local and organic food. I haven't had processed foods in months. Peaking into my home's refrigerator, I couldn't help but cringe at the lack of food that I've grown to love in the past six months. Food labels were again full of words I couldn't pronounce, the "pomegranate juice" did not taste the same regardless of the "100% juice" classification, and the tomatoes were plainly, plain. In any case, I enjoyed my conversation with the parentals about food. There is a Vietnamese food culture, while I did grow up with it, I have yet to truly explore.

Looking forward to "home",

Hooooooold on there, Cow-maker...Part VI

2008-03-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

UCI Food Service Ensures Safety of Meat After Recall

By David Lumb

Two weeks ago, the United States Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef from Southern California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Company, which is under investigation for alleged mistreatment of cattle.

Fortunately, UC Irvine students were unaffected by the USDA’s beef recall, according to Resident District Manger of Aramark Higher Education Robert Perez who oversees nearly all the food sold on campus. Perez manages every food venue on campus, including the restaurants in the East and West Food Courts and the dormitory community commons, with the exceptions of the Anthill Pub and Grill, the Rice Garden Asian Cuisine in the West Food Court and a handful of others.

Since the recall’s announcement, Perez has received e-mails from the food distribution company that delivers to the Aramark restaurants on campus, Systems and Services Company (SYSCO). The e-mails indicated which products are potentially dangerous and how to identify them. Perez complimented the system for its quick communication.

“These e-mails have showed us what companies are affected by the recall,” Perez said. “Luckily, we have not received any products from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company.” Despite the e-mail alerts, Perez instructed the managers of campus restaurants under Aramark employment to manually check all beef products that have not been eaten. As a triple-check, Perez has the records of product purchased by Aramark on file and has personally checked for any sign of the recalled meat.

According to Perez, in the event of a recalled product, protocol sent by the meat distribution company dictates what action is taken. Typically this involves returning the recalled product to the delivery company or destroying the product and notifying them of the product’s destruction.

“But we’ve never had contaminated product. If we were affected, we would pull it from the shelves and follow the recall guidelines the government wanted or guidelines from the state of California,” Perez said.

The procedures for the destruction of Westland/Hallmark Meat Company’s recalled meat are available on its Web site and state that the product is to be incinerated, disposed of in a landfill or otherwise disposed for inedible rendering, and is “not intended for pet food.”

This recall is the largest beef recall in American history, surpassing the 1999 recall of 35 million pounds of meat. The USDA, a government regulatory body, classified the risk hazard as being “a health hazard situation where there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from the use of the product.”

The USDA instated the recall after an undercover video surfaced, showing crippled and ill cattle being shoved with forklifts at a plant owned by the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company. Federal regulations call for keeping unhealthy or otherwise unfit cattle out of consumer markets because meat from such animals pose greater risk of infection from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease because they “typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak,” according to the Associated Press.

Aramark is a private corporation providing a wide range of services to schools, businesses, hospitals and correctional facilities. These services include facilities management, uniforms and work apparel, food service and refreshments, and lodging and guest accommodations. Aramark contracted SYSCO for the food service provided to UCI.

SYSCO purchases products from a food conglomerate, such as ConAgra Foods, which owns many smaller companies that produce food products. These smaller companies purchase raw food materials from even smaller companies such as the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company, which process the raw food in several plants. This hierarchy acts as a filter so that, when meat from one source (ConAgra) is contaminated and a recall is issued, the entire meat supply from that source is unaffected.

Scott Winterstein, the manager of the Anthill Pub and Grill, confirmed that the pub is “completely separate” from the Aramark corporation. Nevertheless, the pub contracts SYSCO to deliver its food products, so if there was a problem with the food distributed by SYSCO to the Aramark restaurants, there is a chance it would affect the food served at the pub. Fortunately, there has been no issue with the food distributed by SYSCO.

“In any case, we’ve received no word on the products we’ve purchased,” Winterstein said.

Something to look forward to

2008-03-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

UC Irvine's Green Actions - Dining Services

Last year, Green Campus, Dining Services, and Facilities Management established a program to reduce food waste and give back to the community. Approximately 100 pounds per week of leftover food is donated to America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest charitable hunger relief organization.

Dining Services, in cooperation with Green Campus, held a “Weigh the Waste Event” at Mesa Commons in Spring 2007. The event was followed by an educational campaign. A second event was held a month later, resulting in a 100 pound reduction in waste. The event has continued to occur on a periodic basis.

Dining Services, in cooperation with Aramark, is working to develop a sustainable food procurement plan.
Implemented a program for priority sourcing of food produced within 150 miles of campus.
Fair trade certified coffee is served at all campus dining locations.
Biodegradable containers are used for most to-go items and biodegradable plates are used in most retail dining locations.
Services patrons receive a discount for using personal mugs, reducing paper cup and lid waste.
In collaboration with Facilities Management, Dining Services has implemented a coffee grinds recycling program. These grinds are used to fertilize campus grounds.
An organic egg program was initiated to educate students about ethical issues related to caged hens. Organic eggs are offered as an option during breakfast in three campus restaurants.
Recycling bins are placed outside all campus dining locations to encourage bottle, glass, newspapers, and paper recycling.
Dining Services adheres to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch guidelines.
All dining commons have reusable service ware.
Quarterly dining service sustainability audits are performed in all retail and residential dining locations.

According to this week's New University (UCI's Campus newspaper), UCI Dining will provide certified organic eggs at all UCI Dining location, open an "ORGANICS to Go" retail location in the Student Center, offer 100% organic items at "Greens to Go", and will have an organic salad bar in the La Palma room at Mesa Commons.

Progress!

Hooooooold on there, Cow-maker...Part V

2008-03-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

And it just keeps on coming...
The Westland/Hallmark Meat Company has closed.
Two workers from the company are facing criminal charges.
Two federal meat inspectors are suspended and placed on paid administrative leave.

It can only get better from here. Right? Not really.

Here in Orange County, some restaurant and market owners are a bit riled and disgruntled. Fresca's, one of about four hundred in Orange County, was placed on the beef recall list. American Companies, a Los Angeles meat-distributor, wrongfully sent in a list of clients not knowing which restaurants and markets contracted with the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company. The recall list was placed in newspapers this past week. Owners have been losing business, an economic paradigm if not for an imbalance in the agricultural food system we see here.

Hooooooold on there, Cow-maker...Part IV

2008-02-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

Stemming from the upheavel in the recent beef recall from the Westland/Hallmark Beef Company, the federal Agricultural Department will look into more random checks of animals, getting video cameras into slaughterhouse facilities, and submitting an audit of all facilties by next month.

Industrialism in Post-Industrialism.

2008-02-28T22:55:00.001-08:00

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A lemon at one of UC Irvine's dining commons is rooted at the Oxnard Lemon Company, a packing and distribution facility representing 4,000 acres in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Tulare, Kern, Riverside, and San Diego counties. This morning, I drove nearly 400 miles among horrific Los Angeles traffic to a processing plant to better understand the food system that UC Irvine is integrated with.

Let's just say I will never drive through LA on a weekday, ever again. There were disgruntled sounds and exhaustible sighs expelling from my mouth throughout the trip. I preoccupied myself with music, the news, and "exercises" in the car (don't ask me...), but it seemed like every time I hit the brakes, I wanted to take the next exit and head back to Orange County. I stuck through it.

Upon arrival, I had instantaneous sensory images of the past - lemon grove orchards, selling lemonade at the neighborhood corner, and diluting the freshly-squeezed lemon juice in water with my mother. This time, however, the same smells and images were now associated with a 10-acre processing plant. My nose didn't match up with my eyes. There was a hint of chlorine in the air. The sun struck down on me a little hotter and stickier than usual.

A lemon is grown, picked, washed, transported to the packing the company's processing plant, rinsed in water and chlorine, clipped, rinsed in a heat tank, applied with first coating of wax brushed, separated by color, stored, rinsed again, applied with fungicide, applied with a second coating of wax, dried, separated by size, labeled, packaged, stored, and shipped to UC Irvine, where it is then stored, cut, squeezed, cut, or eaten, and thrown away into a landfill.

That's nearly two dozen processes one lemon must go through to get to a student's digestive system. I could just buy a lemon at Tanaka Farms one mile away from campus and eat it right then and there.

I was led on a tour by an amiable Frank Diaz, superintendent of the facility. He's given tours like today's to thousands of people, especially young high school students in Ventura County. He's been in the business for thirty-four years, as was his parents and family.

Much of their business is in the summer, with the peak season from early spring to early autumn. Their operations are able to produce 1,000 boxes an hour, 16 hours a day. Boxes range from 30 to 250 lemons, depending on demand. Lemons are separated and graded by color and by size. Most are 2nd grade (yellow-green and medium size), while the "hardiest" and "most prized, as Diaz explains, are 1st grade (yellow and large). UC Irvine receives 2nd grade lemons. Thirty to forty trucks come in daily to pick up the pristine and waxed food product.

A lot of their external items like cardboard boxes, stickers on the lemons, and graders (Sunkist machines that separate the lemons by color and size) are out-sourced by other companies. Their undesired lemons are either sent to other companies to use as oils or local cattle ranchers who use it for their lands.

In the near future, Diaz hopes to change to stainless steel machines, as they are "cleaner" and "more aesthetically pleasing". Paint has thinned on the metal throughout the years, and it hasn't been cost-effective for the plant to paint every so often. Diaz's eyes lightened in wonder as he began describing improvements for automation and less need for physical labor. He describes, "the largest cost is labor", and having more efficient machines would solve it.

There are grand external challenges like constant transportation issues and labor disputes. In the hub of Ventura County, transporting lemons in Southern California is an everyday strain in itself. Management is constantly stretched with union battles and employee strikes. The ability to organize and unionize is out of question, as hours are long and the word is tiresome. Mostly Hispanic and uneducated, employees are ostensibly trapped in the bottom level of an established hierarchy here in America, an employee later described while on lunch after my tour. Regardless, these people work hard. Their ethics are focused. Unfortunately, opportunities to progress are just not available.

Asked what motivates him to do what he does, Diaz finds optimism in the company. He knows that it "makes a good quality product compared to other lemon production companies". He is fortunate to have good job security, benefits, and a fortunate standard of living. "It is the only thing I know how to do", Diaz expels. Seemingly, I found that it to be the truth. He "worked up the ladder", so to speak, from general floor to machine operator to machine supervisor, and now to plant superintendent.

When I asked how he felt about being part of the food system for UC Irvine students, he finds "pride in providing a good quality product". He tells his employees to "treat it [the lemon] like it's [their's]".

I drove back to UC Irvine in silence. How could one treat it like it's their's? Most importantly, how can an imaginable dream be an inexorable reality? All I could think about was, "This is happening all throughout the nation and the world". I don't think I'll be able to eat a lemon at UC Irvine after encountering what I just went through.

Hooooooold on there, Cow-maker...Part III

2008-02-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

The Humane Society is suing The United State Agriculture Department for making a "loophole" in placing ill cows in the food supply. Although there hasn't been any reported health risks, I'm afraid that some of that meat has already been consumed. Will there be long-term risks for those who've eaten them?

Greening the fridge.

2008-02-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

Each morning, I receive daily e-mail tips from Grist about environmentally-friendly living. Today's:

"Getting a head start on the spring cleaning, Grist has written an article on how to green your fridge. One of their great tips:

Be unconventional. Keep a list on your fridge of these eight additional troublemakers: conventional versions of milk, peanut butter, baby food, ketchup, corn, cottonseed oil, beef, and soy. Each month, pick one item off the list -- corn and its byproducts (video), for example -- and find a way to feast without it. You'll be reducing your household intake of toxins, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones. The earth will be happier, too."

Energy efficiency is one major component to the UC Food System policies. It may be overlooked, but refrigeration seems to be vital for keeping food fresh and sanitation issues. Are our dining locations up-to-date with energy efficiency?

Whatever happened to the days of preserving food with salt?

UCI Dining Concept Map

2008-02-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

UCI Dining contracts with Aramark, which is in charge of Residential and Retail Dining. Residential Dining includes Mesa Commons, Brandywine Commons, and Pippin Commons. Retail Dining includes the following:

Student Center Eateries: Wendy's, Quizno's, Zot N’ Go Market, Tortilla Express, Bene Pizza & Pasta, Greens to Go, Rice Garden, Starbucks, Tortilla Express,
Social Sciences Plaza Cafe
BC’s Cavern
Phoenix Grill
Anteatery
School of the Arts Java City
Engineering Cart
Hewitt Cart
Bistro by the Bridge
C3 Convenience Stores
Medical Plaza Kiosk
Athletic Facilities Concessions

The Anthill Pub & Grill and Cafe Expresso are the two retail dining locations that are not under contract with Aramark.

SYSCO is a major food provider for Aramark, which then contracts with food conglomerates like ConAgra Foods. ConAgra Foods contracts with small food production companies, distributors, and packers. These production companies contract with farmers.

A high-desert what?

2008-02-27T22:14:00.000-08:00

I love Tritia Harrison. One of two Farmers' Market managers, Harrison is part of the Orange County Farm Bureau, a non-profit that seeks "to represent Orange County agriculture through public relations, education, and public policy advocacy in order to promote the economic viability of agriculture balanced with appropriate management of natural resources." I met her a week ago at the Irvine Farmers' Market at the University Center, where I was given an introductory tour of the market and its history. Her energy is absolutely contagious. I couldn't help but be in awe at the knowledge and networks she's gained about Orange County agriculture, its players, and producers.

The Irvine Farmers' Market, leased to the Irvine Company, traditionally was a two-isle weekly event. As demand grew, the "handshake mentality" stayed the same. This mentality, which is based on the honor system of producers providing a percentage of their sales to the bureau, is considered to be a "subculture within a subculture", Harrison describes.

A week later, I met Harrison again at the Tustin Farmers' Market. A more in-depth look into Orange County agriculture was discussed.

Congress and the State of California established farm bureaus to promote farming and agriculture. At the time, Orange County was the only county in California to sponsor Farmers' Markets. In order to sponsor them, one must be a certified farmer or a non-profit. These farmers' markets are a "direct source from the grower to the consumer".

When asked about the agriculture challenges in Orange County, Harrison points to cutting off of water, increasing gas prices, and getting reliable people to work at farmers' markets.

Farming seems slim in this area, Harrison suggests. Unless there are smarter farming methods and local politicians who are pro-agriculture business and can fight for the land to sustain food production, Harrison doesn't know where Orange County farming will go in the next five, ten, or twenty years.

"Don't look down on farming. Embrace it." She describes the ignorance seen in today's children. Many of the fifth graders she tours think most food grows on trees. There was a reason, Harrison notes, why school was in session from September to June; children could help their family on the farm in the summer months.

Her eyes then lit in titillation as I asked about her favorite seasonal food. Half of them I've never heard of before. "Food" became "foods" - white rainier cherries, grapes, strawberries, high-desert peaches, and oro blanco grapefruits.

While one may think that farmers' markets are eco-friendly already, Harrison yearns to do more. She wants every producer to have biodegradable plastic bags, as current ones are destructive and unsettling to the environment. "It's the best I can do," she proclaims moments after talking with friends about offering goat milk and seconds before picking up her cell phone to coordinate with petitioners. It is people like Tritia who ignite my passion for humanity.

Over the hills and through the farm...

2008-02-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

View Larger Map

Tanaka Farms, that is. Nestled to the east of UC Irvine off University Drive is a 10-acre 10-year organic family farm growing forty different fruits and vegetables throughout the year.

Amrit (one of my housemates) and I met up with Katie Baldwin, an employee of Tanaka Farms. Cordial and benevolent, Katie took us on a tour of the farm as we struck dialogue about the farm's history, operations, and connections with UC Irvine.

Leased to the Irvine Company since the start, the farm has stopped selling for wholesale and is now used mainly as an educational tool. Like many small, family-owned farmers throughout the nation, management decided to stop selling at farmers' markets due to economic profit. They do, however, have rich relationships with six elementary schools in the local area who purchase from the farm. Tanaka Farms is one example of how large food companies are taking advantage of the supply and demand for cheap, abundant processed foods.

Up to 20,000 people, particularly elementary school students, tour the farm on a yearly basis. Baldwin, then a college student who originally didn't know where her food came from, decided to work on a farm after graduate school. She notes the surprising unfamiliarity Orange Countians have with not knowing where their food comes from or how its grown.

While the farm is not certified organic due to inability of payment, practices on the land are still of utmost importance. Their methods are still organic in nature. Plant oils are used as natural fertilizers. Cow pea (pictured above) is a cover crop used for nitrogen fixing as the soil rests for the next rotation. All materials not used are placed in a large heap for composting (pictured below), which is one of the most valuable assets to the land, Baldwin describes.

Sitting underneath a tent, Katie an I soon got into the discussion of whether or not UC Irvine can sustain its food system with purchasing agreements from farms like Tanaka Farms in the local community. With somewhat doubt and hesitation on both ends, challenges came up. For example, from March to June, 80% of the land is used to grow strawberries. March to June at UC Irvine is Spring Quarter, and demand for food is an everyday occurrence. In addition, land is scarce in Orange County, as most is planned for development and commercial use. Areas like Tanaka Farms are hard to come by, and feeding prodigious and concentrated populations like that at UC Irvine is arduous in measurement.

I truly had a pleasant time this afternoon. My mind and body were at peace. The air was crisp and welcoming. The produce, picked that morning, couldn't have smelt or tasted any better.

Look at that lettuce - $1.99!

Déjà vu...?

2008-02-26T20:10:00.001-08:00

My Global Sustainability professor, Richard Matthew, is speaking as I type about the politics of sustainability. There are some intriguing notes that I find are central themes to sustainability. He speaks of environmental exploitation of natural resources, land, and people, seeing that society has either used privatization or collectivism to perform that exploitation. It's argued that privatization has been favored over collectivism, offering more incentives to innovate, be entrepreneurial, and increase economic viability. On the same note, privatization has been the backbone in the notion that we can now put a measurement to a commodity such as water, air, and food. Companies have taken advantage of such notions.

Two weeks ago, I attended a workshop at the Sustainable Foods, Fair Trade, and Social Justice Superconvergence - "Strengthening the Roots" - called "Sustainability 201. Through discussion among fellow students, we were able to conclude on a substantive root to the exploitation of natural resources. We looked into the early history of developed countries, and realized that once property and commodities were privatized and "owned" by people, the imbalance began. Once people begin owning commodities and setting measurements to them, society has the right to sell, buy, and trade them. How do we rebalance this? Check out what our workshop discussed in an earlier entry (Day 2 of the Superconvergence).

A bit of déjà vu, no? Just without the dreaming...

Back to the Frozens.

2008-02-26T09:01:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

Is it time to go back to the orange frozen concentrates? An analysis from slate.com thoroughly explains the complex food processes behind good ol' OJ. Frozen concentrates' rehydration compared to not-for-concentrates' evaporation uses less energy. Yet, it still seems a bit atrocious in needing to rely on Brazil and Florida, the top two orange-growing powers, to get a glass of orange juice on your table every morning. Whatever happened to buying local oranges and juicing it yourself? There was such a day...

An all-encompassing journey.

2008-02-25T22:42:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

Do your feet print big?

A new pyramid?

2008-02-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

While one may not want to confess, our nation is at an epidemic. Three out of five Americans are overweight. One out of five Americans are obese. As united states, clever marketing strategies and entrenched lifestyle modules have masked the high-induced-fructose corn syrup, enriched wheat flour, and large-words-that-I-have-no-idea-how-to-pronounce-on-the-ingredients-label.

Globally, the distributions rates are uneven. One billion overnourished people have surpassed the 800 million who are malnourished.

I visited Emily Bell, a nutritionist for UC Irvine's Health Education. Receiving her Bachelor's in Zoology and Master's in Nutrition, Emily facilitates educational workshops on nutrition and healthy eating, provides one-on-one counseling, executes programs and community outreach, and advices a body-image student group. One of the challenges she sees is getting college students like myself to make smart, rational decisions with their food.

This has greater influence than one may seem initially. At UC Irvine, students living in the dormitories must purchase mandatory meal plans, eating in one of three dining halls - Brandywine, Pippin, or Mesa. Therefore, it's imperative that a first-year college student makes rational, smart, and healthy decisions when putting food in their bodies. Our university system has such great authority, yet is highly susceptible, to the college food system. Students' minds and bodies can become vulnerable to what is being served each and every day.

A new food pyramid has been catered, requesting that people eat more nutrient-filled foods like dairy, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. In addition, physical activity has been added, suggesting at least thirty minutes for "most days of the week". One has to wonder that if there is greater demand for healthier, nutrient-filled foods, in so much as to create a new food pyramid, there are drastic changes that need to be made to the source of it - agriculture. As cliche as this may sound economically, greater demand means greater supply.

According to the Environmental Working Group, "eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 14 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day." Avoiding the most contaminated produce can lower pesticide exposure by 90%.

Similarly, there have been studies suggesting that there aren't many drastic health differences between organic and non-organic foods. There is evidence showing that more organic and sustainably-grown foods have greater concentrations of vitamin C, protein, and nitrates like iron and magnesium. Beyond the more eminent factors, more organic and sustainable foods are grown in farming methods less detrimental to the environment. Oftentimes overlooked, the methods at which industrial and conventional foods are causing more destruction that we may know. It is important for individuals to look beyond not just their personal health, but the health of their surrounding environment, as it may not around to continue the cycle of food production for future generations to come.

la rueda de la vida.

2008-02-25T22:17:00.000-08:00

Never keep your birthday a secret with those who sleep feet away from you each and every night. I tried. It failed. I still don't know how my day of birth was leaked into the IPACS House. I should have known that when you spend most of your days, weeks, and months with people who know your in's and outs, you're bound for some amor.

In the most impromptu fashion, a dozen of us headed to The Wheel of Life, a Thai vegetarian restaurant that I hadn't yet gotten my taste buds wet in. A sleek utopia of sorts among the commercialized chain restaurants and supermarkets adjacent, my mouth began to water in anticipation and my nose heightened in contact with spiced odors.

The soothing ambiance of earthly-hued decor lay in contrast to the stark, blatant stickers throughout the restaurant - "Vegetarians are sprouting up all over", "Love animals, don't eat them." 21:00 Hours meant they were kicking us out in half an hour, so acute decisions were made, servers were like human Sonic the Hedgehogs, and food was out instantaneously - hot and about to enter the stomachs of college students ready for a good fixing.

And boy was it a good fixing! Soy-protein stir fry with baby bok-choy, carrots, and shrimp-look-a-likes was exchanged for pa-nang curry on brown rice. Spicy pineapple fried rice singed the tip of the tongue, my mind and body instantaneous in grabbing the chai iced tea for recovery. Fried banana rolls, coconut ice cream, and vegan cheesecake rounded the sweet teeth. It was an all-out Thai-vegetarian food fest.

Our stomachs worked full-time tonight. As our intestines began the process, Kim, one of the restaurant owners, took some time to do what I could tell she loved to do - talk with us, her customers. Petite, yet strong, Kim reminded us to enjoy what we had now in college. Behind her glasses were eyes envisioning young adults ready to conquer the world. Needless to say, it was 9:49 and all that was left was a bunch of boisterous college students and an elder restaurant owner. It was a nice evening class - about vegetarianism and life. This time, just without the upheaval of taking notes or exams.

We departed in peace. I'm ready for the next lecture.

Much love to the IPACians,

A view on bulk-buying.

2008-02-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

Op-Ed in this week's The New University, my campus' university newspaper. It speaks the truth about our nation's food bulk-buying habits. While there wasn't much emphasis on the corporate hand of things, writer Adam Tracey leaves it to the reader, the consumer, the citizen - choose what you will, consider the consequences, and use your head. How symbolic of the food system...

Jitters.

2008-02-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

I am litterally shaking right now.

UCI Dining contracts with Oxnard Lemon Company, a licensed packing facility for Sunkist, Inc. I just got in contact with Frank Diaz, their superintendent, and he confirmed for an interview and tour of their facility for this Thursday morning. He's also going to try to help me get in contact with a lemon grower who will be coming in that day.

Can we say "presentation for my class"? Now if I could get a picture of a lemon in the dining halls...

Whenever I come home, I have this constant urge to eat food I know I shouldn't. It's as if a entirely different magnetic pull has come out of me, and the only resistance I have between that processed soda and my mouth is the knowledge I've gained.

Cheers,

Coming down to the wire.

2008-02-25T09:40:00.000-08:00

Now that I've completed my literature reviews and organized background sources, it's time to get on the road and interview!

Here's a sample e-mail I wrote recently.:

"Salutations,

My name is Hai Vo, and I am an undergraduate student at UC Irvine. My class project this quarter involves researching food sourcing on campus and the effects of sustainable agriculture. Seeing that Tanaka Farms is a local community resource, I would love to interview someone from the farm to better understand your history, operations, and possible future connections to UCI.

Due to a time-sensitive deadline for my project, an interview and tour of your farm within the next week would be greatly appreciated. My availability this week is:

Tuesday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., 2:30 - 5 p.m.
Thursday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Monday (March 3rd) 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

I can be reached at *** *** ****.

Thank you very much, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Cheers,
Hai Vo
UC Irvine"

X 4.

It's happening all over...

2008-02-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

College campuses and universities all over the nation are redefining what and how they eat. In the Winter 2008 edition of the Earth Island Journal, the feature article showcased how students and administrators are working collaboratively towards sustainability issues.

"Schools including Carleton College, University of Northern Iowa, and Bowdoin College are mounting local food initiatives. Sodexho and Aramark, the largest providers of campus dining services in the US, estimate that organic food is available on about half the campuses they serve." In particular, Aramark "has begun to build freezer facilities for some local farms to store produce for the fall semester" since campuses are generally out of season.

Sodexho uses local maple syrup and buys about $30,000 of Vermont dairy products per semester for the University of Vermont.

The University of Massachursetts at Amherst is involved with Seafood Watch, a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

Various colleges have redefined food procurement and waste, whether it may be growing their own organic gardens or instituting bring-your-own-bowl programs. "Middlebury College's composting gram has diverted 75% of campus food waste into composting operations". Its saved the college $100,000, and the compost is used for the college's grounds or given to the campus gardens.

I was introduced to the "Real Food Challenge", which is "is a national campaign that unites and empowers students and their allies to create a food system that truly nourishes people, communities, and the earth." "The central goal is to re-direct at least 20% of all the food purchased by colleges and universities (currently 4 billion dollars) toward real food within 10 years." There is a much larger network than imagined.

Can this happen at UC Irvine? I'm optimistic.

100% Un-Cotton, Agricultural Inequities

2008-02-23T22:27:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEEDS of the MOMENT.

What happened to the cotton?

"Is our farm-subsidy system too broken?", asked a February 22nd New York Times editorial? Can the House and Senate propose legislation that all farms are created equal? Unless there is true leadership who are pro-sustainable-agricultural business, there becomes more and more indication that our nation can face a food calamity. Whatever happened to simply giving farmers direct compensation as opposed to piping it through big business?

One step closer...

2008-02-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sure not many college students have been to where I've been to this afternoon. Unless you're a contracted Aramark employee, you enter an entirely new dimension when you've entered the storage refrigerator of a college dining facility.

It is with this visit that I have an idea. To better understand how UCI Dining, a food management entity that supplies about 14,000 meals a day to students, is integrated into our global food system, I will track one of its food sources: a lemon.

I invite you to the table...

2008-02-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

Collared white shirt. Black pants. Leather shoes. Thirteen-year-old tie. I was ready.

Some fellow students and I met with Jack McManus, Director of UCI's Dining and Hospitality, and Robert Perez, Regional Director for Aramark Company. It was an inviting site of dedicated students who find interest in this issue. Kelsey, Matt, and I - who have already been a part of Students for Sustainability on campus. Yvette, who's completing her senior research thesis on fair trade. And Ryan, who I networked through Irvine Students Against Animal Cruelty, joined in on the talks merely 48 hours before meeting Jack and Robert.

Initial thoughts? I appreciate people who will actively listen, engage, and do. These administrators are open ears towards student involvement, realizing that this is just as much a learning experience as it is for us students. It was a conscious effort to head into the meeting without any preconceived notions and make it clear that this is a start of a prolonged dialogue among one another. Sustainable food systems don't happen over night, and I'm ecstatic for their open-mindedness and being receptive to student concerns.

2000. More like...

2008-02-20T15:22:00.000-08:00

According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, "produce in the U.S. travels, on average, 1300 - 2000 miles from farm to consumer. Since 1970, truck shipping has dramatically increased, replacing more energy efficient transportation by rail and water."

I did a random social experiment today.

I took all the food in possession, and discovered where they were coming from. I hesitated from going beyond the food labels (calling, e-mails, and traveling to the distribution locations), for I feel I am a consumer like anyone else. Furthermore, I wanted to see how clear our food labels are.

View Larger Map

So I'm not as socially-conscious as I thought - I'm a globalized-eating machine. Here's the list:

Fallbrook, CA: Lettuce, carrots, baby broccoli, avocado, tomatoes, strawberries
Monrovia, CA: portabello mushrooms, BBQ sauce, milk, yogurt, pepper-jack cheese
Cresskill, NJ: butter
San Clemente: bread
Pasadena, CA: Shallots
San Diego, CA: Jam
Needham, MA: balsamic vinegar
Long Beach, CA: granola
Texas: eggs
South Dakota: tea
Fresno, CA: Tomatoes
Maine: Oats
Brazil: Brazil nuts
Canada: Flaxseed, Bean Salad, Cocoa
Japan: soy sauce
Italy: Pasta
Spain: Olive oil
Unknown: cake, pizza, Thai pa-nang curry

And this doesn't even consider where some of these food items were grown, let alone distributed and packaged. Don't get me started on the "unknown"'s.

Just something to consider,

Hooooooold on there, Cow-maker...Part II

2008-02-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

Remember the mishandled Westland/Hallmark Meat Company beef recall at various elementary school districts the last week? It's now state-wide - up to 143 million pounds - the largest the state has ever been involved with. Aside from the misdemeanors given to company employees for inhumane animal treatment and the lessons now learned from the incident, what environmental and sustainability consequences does this have to us? Wasted animal product must now be dealt with. And to imagine all the food, water, and energy used to prepare these animals for slaughter and procurement - now all gone to waste.

According to Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, about 60% of the American commodity corn goes to feeding livestock, and much of that goes to feeding America's 100 million beef cattle. If agricultural subsidies are being invested into corn that feeds cattle that will eventually be recalled anyway, as seen in the past week, what's the point? A combination of cheap corn, highway construction, postwar suburbs, subsidized mortages, and the G.I. Bill layed the foundation for what we have today. Find any links? They're all government policy.

Unfortunately, I, alongside fellow Americans, was not invited to the grass-fed cattle party...

"Strengthening the Roots" - Food, Justice, & Fair Trade - Day Three

2008-02-17T22:35:00.003-08:00

An early morning panel turned out to be one of the highlights of my weekend.

"If you work with the ecology rather than substitute, you'll find yourself with greater yields, and not just in the fields." - Eric Holtz Gimenez, Researcher, Activist, and ex-director of Food First, a think tank working to solve the injustices that cause hunger. Gimenez goes on to describe how "everything is designed to separate us - practitioners, educators, researchers, advocates". Political power comes from the extensive, and oftentimes, boring art of organizing. However, Gimenez calls on the power of mobilizing people, finding common projects that people can come together, and a physical place where political spaces can be shared.

"How do you look at the integration of each other and our relationships with the Earth?" questioned Robbie Jaffe, co-ex-director of the Community Agroecology Network. She brought up the concept of "interculterality", in which we're at the opportunity as humankind to look at globalization to reexamine community. In 1986, she got involved with the first California farmers' markets and alternative ways of simply "doing" agriculture. Jaffe finds the power of teaching, learning, and sharing at the heart of educational institutions.

The panel looked at the "agro-divide" in American, at which 36 million people are malnourished. Cheaper, processed food is only available to low-income people. In order for these people to continue their work, they must eat high-carbohydrate, high-salt, and high-everything-else that is subsidized by the government. The panelists called on forging alternatives to provide healthy food to all human beings and act politically to change the industrial agriculture model. Political will is brought out by social movements greater than any industrial movement, regardless of how many Benjamin's in their pockets.

Later in the afternoon, I got the opportunity to go to the Homeless Garden Project in downtown Santa Cruz with Maggie L. of UC Davis.

It was the first time I've seen thyme, oregano, lavender, rosemary, broccoli, and leeks grow from the root.

And nothing beats the end of a weekend in Santa Cruz then a drum circle!

Cheers for now and off to Orange County,

"Strengthening the Roots" - Food, Justice, & Fair Trade - Day Two

2008-02-16T22:35:00.000-08:00

I love waking up to a forty-food redwood tree four feet away. I now know what clean, crisp air smells and feels like.

I attended "Food Systems 101" for the first workshop session, where we explored the core tenants of a sustainable food system: social justice, economic viability, and environmental sustainability. It sought to explore the current food system and how colleges and universities fit into it.

A food system is the systematic process from the food source to the consumer. A sustainable food system requires ecologically-sound methods of production, which is why there are some organic farmers that aren't necessarily sustainable, depending on their operations. The difference between an industrial food system and a sustainable food system.

The industrial food system (otherwise known as corporate or conventional) includes various inputs between the producer and the consumer. As noted in an earlier post about industrial agriculture, the amount energy and commodities needed to produce a certain amount of food is growing at exponentially unsustainable rates. In a highly globalized market, profit-driven companies may take advantage of these inputs.

Then discussed in the workshop was a much more sustainable food system that can be seen in today's highly-networked world. This food system is also considered local or direct. There are much less inputs between the producer and the consumer, thereby lessening the need for unsustainable energy costs and exertions. One intriguing distinction that was made about the producers between the two systems was that in industrial agriculture, producers are a majority migrant workers, and in today's sustainable agricultural system, producers are more local and community-oriented. In addition, the producer in more sustainable food systems receives a much higher percentage for the dollar that a consumer spends. Economically-speaking, sustainability yields greater profits for those who actually produce the desired commodity. Whether it be farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture, or food cooperatives, humanity has found creative and innovative alternative food systems.

Even with this modern sustainable food system, I do find some faults. Whether it be your local organic food supermarket or a local farmer having to drive a diesel-engine truck to the farmers' market every weekend, there still lies a fundamental issue of true sustainability of and in itself. The unsustainable methods for producing these sustainable and organic commodities comes at a price. Are these foods truly sustainable if the methods used to get to your plate aren't? I argue not. In order to be truly ecologically-sound, the producer must be in direct contact with the consumer. I call this the "optimal sustainable food system". We have reached a day in age at which today's developed consumer has little, or any at all, contact with their producer.

One can argue that in order to be truly sustainable, the consumer should also be the producer. Are human beings willing to sacrifice their networked realities of work, school, and consumerist ideologies to be able to connect with their food once again?

With that question in mind, workshop participants were asked to name major issues facing today's world - health care, endangered species, air pollution, global poverty, education, etc. In all of these issues, the food system is somehow, but prodigiously, interconnected.

In the second workshop session, "Alternate Trade and Making the Movement Meaningful for Producers", Tim Galarneau of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, dialogue introduced the challenges to producers and consumers and the concept of a Food Services Working Group at an institution of higher education.

At UC Santa Cruz, Galarneau spoke of a 2002 vision to bring 100% local and organic food to the campus by student organizers. Initially scoffed at by administrators, the campus began making incremental goals each year due to increasing student demand. A working group soon started, with goals of bringing in direct, local, and organic food that is worker-supportive. The academic and activist communities soon merged, and today, UC Santa Cruz in-houses 27% of its food from local and organic sources. Serving 14,000 meals a day, UCSC alone has much food purchasing power. Garlarneau expressed the great need for student involvement in the momentum for demand. Their Food Services Working Group had the following model:

The Food Services Working Group (FSWG) consists of student leaders, local non-profit organizations, campus administration, campus dining, local farmers, and any food service stakeholders. The idea is to ameliorate relationships among the community around the concept of food sustainability for such a large institution like that of higher education. At UCSC, one for-profit distribution system called the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) supplies the college with one invoice among various local farmers and producers that provide fresh, organic, and sustainable agriculture.

Discussion soon shifted to challenges seen among food purchasing in campus dining, including unfamiliarity with seasonal foods, large quantities of food not necessarily feasible on small farms, chefs' amount of work, and campus policies. As a producer, there are difficulties with liability, support among infrastructural operations, and the scale at which college dining must provide for students. One solution offered as the power of institutional control by allowing universities the ability to purchase the "true costs" of food as opposed to various externalities inbetween producer and consumer.

The final workshop of the day offered a more theoretical and discussion-based participatory learning that I truly enjoyed being a part of. "Sustainability 201: Building Bridges and Strengthening Alliances", as led by Crystal Durham of the California Student Sustainability Coalition, and Todd McPherson of United Students for Fair Trade, sought to "foster dialogue that explores the interconnections and roots of many unsustainable practices that permeate our world".

I was introduced to "Have's" and "Have Not's" scale, a concept first presented by Nikki Henderson, a graduate student at UC Los Angeles, last October.

Among all the resources, land, and people available in the world, the global society has seen economic exploitation, whether it may be in the form of gaps between developed and developing nations, corporatization, slavery, sweatshop labor, or plantations. This exploitation has created the "Have's", including people who can afford to go to Whole Foods, drive Priuses, eat more expensive organic foods, and live in suburbia. It also creates the "Have Not's", or those who can live in more underdeveloped communities prevalent in war and violence and lacking in education and health care.

All workshop participants were put into groups of four to five, asked the following questions and proposed the following ideas:

What are the roots to this exploitation?

Greed: fear and insecurity, which leads to ownership
Ownership of resources
Taking advantage of basic rights to live (breathing, eating, drinking water)
Leaders with interior motives
Pursuit of resources: colonization/capitalism
The idea that more is better
Gaining dependence on others that otherwise should be independence
Consumerism defines individuality
Lack of transparency

How do we rebalance these resources?

Education to build local communities
Equitable distribution of markets (consumer knowledge, power choice, empowerment)
Break up corporate monopolies
Re-think coercion
Make media and corporations accountable for their changes
Understand resources that need to be rebalanced
Medium between responsible globalization and local communities
Change 1st world mindset of obsessive consumption

What ideas will we bring back to our local communities?

Education to rearrange priorities
Getting perspectives and resources from other people
Positive campaigns
Facilitate discussion among different groups that may not necessarily have been part of the dialogue
Target underrepresented groups
Provide economic solutions
Keep self-contemplative questions and discussions with others
Look at networks of power and how they can used for social equality
Re-examine budgets
Reserve the trend of consumption

There was a reoccurring common theme within this workshop about the next steps of sustainability that as the new generation of students grow older, the more it seems likely that we will look backwards into history for solutions to the future. As much as advancements seem appealing, individuals will need to begin rethinking the concept of "progression" as an integration of the past and reversal of various trends that have been detrimental to the environment.

Wait. What happened five years ago?

2008-02-16T00:22:00.001-08:00

Five summers ago, University of California Irvine Dining & Hospitality signed a multi-million dollar contract with Aramark, one of the largest national and international food service companies, to extend operations from pre-existing residential dining halls to all retail dining locations except for one coffee cart near the Physical Sciences. Aramark “provides a range of food, facility, and other support services to approximately 500 colleges and universities”, allowing for a single source for development of dining and facility management. This single source, a monoculture of sorts, would soon ripple challenges to all stakeholders in our food system - the environment, food producers, consumers, animals, and communities.

Reading over the 28-page document, the agreement is between the “University” (Regents of the University of California) and the “Contractor” (Aramark Educational Services). The contract spans for nearly a decade from August 15, 2004 to June 30, 2014. Within this span, UCI Dining only handles with one contractor as opposed to individual businesses, co-ops, consortiums, or farmers, as they did pre-2004. According to a 2006 article "Aramark: The New Bully on Campus" in UCI's Jaded Magazine, Ray Giang, then-ASUCI Executive President of Administrative Affairs, noted that “along with the benefits of consolidation fiscal stability and sheer convenience Aramark provided, ‘to be honest, the University gets a bigger kickback, too.”

Hing notes the unjust labor practices that Aramark has had a reputation for, and early looks into the contract have been tested and challenged. “Many full time Aramark employees qualify for public assistance and rely on Medi-cal, low-income housing, and other social programs” in which they are “not afforded the same rights as UC service employees” and prohibited from “organizing or unionizing for higher wages”. Under Section 4A of the contract, “all such employees are employees of the Contractor”. On January 17, 2006, UCI students rallied for insource service workers. According to the American Federation of State, County, and Muncipal Employees, “student protestors circled the flagpoles at noon, waved picket signs and heatedly changed their disapproval of the maltreatment of UCI Irvine’s minority workers.” Two months later, Chancellor Michael Drake began dialogue for an in-sourcing agreement for Food Service and Grounds Workers.

Labor challenges have also been seen not only at UC Irvine, but at other colleges, as well. At Duke University, Minnesota Daily writer John Hoff chronicaled the difficulties universities have with contracting to externals food management companies like Aramark. Their Dining Services Director, according to Hoff, “admit[ted] bring[ing] Aramark to campus was a mistake.” These mistakes included poor and tasteless service, high food prices, and apathetic responses to demands. From 2004-2006, the student government and the Student Dining Advisory Committee “voted ‘no confidence’ in Aramark.”

Aramark was ranked number one in its industry in FORTUNE magazine’s 2006 list, consistently ranking as “one of the two three admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and industry analysts”.

Sympathizing or not, all the dots don’t line up right.

There are some intriguing notes about UCI Dining's contract with Aramark.

1. In Section A (General Provisions), M (Ecological Issues), the contract states that “The Contractor is encouraged to be away of the legitimate concerns of the campus community regarding the preservation of the ecological balance in nature, and the impact of the Contractor’s business on the environment.” How is this measured? While one may seem that business is good as any each day, are there imbalances caused by the Contractor?

2. Aramark must employ the following food standards (Section 3A):

Beef – USDA inspected, Grace Choice
Ground Beef – Shall not have a fat content to exceed 22% of its weight
Poultry – USDA inspected, Grade A
Fish and Seafood – Fish must be a nationally distributed brand, packed under continuous inspection by the U.S. Department of Interior and any other applicable regulatory agencies.
Eggs and Dairy Products – USDA inspected, Grad A.
Produce – Number 1 quality.
Canned Fruits, Fruit Juices and Vegetables, USDA inspected, Grade A Fancy
All Other Food Products – Must be of comparable quality to the items specified above.
No veal products may be served.
The Contractor is encouraged to avoid meat products derived from animals raised in the South American Continent.

"No veal products"? "South American Continent"? Where did they get that from? If you were put this last side-by-side to one that contains certifications like "Grown or Raised within 250 miles from Campus", "Fair Trade Direct Purchasing", "USDA Organic", "Certified Humane", and "Monterey Bay Seafood Watch Guide 'Best' Choices", it'd be night and day.

3. Within the decade, “ARAMARK shall make a financial commitment to the University in an amount of $2,600,000 (the ‘Financial Commitment’) for food service facility renovations and for the purchase and installation of food service equipment, area treatment, signage, temporary structures for service and other costs associated with the new Student Center and other retail locations for the Campus Food Service Program on Client’s premises.” (Section 3B) Has any of this financial capital been committed to sustainable food efforts?

4. Under Section 3C, “Eating Utensils”, the “Contractor shall provide each customer with high quality disposable plastic eating utensils”, “each customer shall be provided with two napkins”, and “cups and plates may be of either Styrofoam or high quality paper”. Styrofoam and plastic seen in our dining halls are non-biodegradable, causing harm in all levels of the ecocentric food system. While some retail dining locations have provided biodegradable corn-starch to-go containers, it is ostensibly imperative to see it uniform throughout campus. In addition, providing each customer with napkins becomes a behavioral mechanism. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I can do without the large-size bag, three plastic spoons, two paper napkins, and Styrofoam cup and plastic lid for my 16 oz. three-bean chili. I paid for the chili, not the superfluous by-products that will eventually go in the landfill.

5. “The Contractor”, seen in Section 4H, “shall provide adequate training for its employees at all levels of the operations.” As the issue of sustainable food systems increases, it will be important to bring to the table all stakeholders to open the dialogue and become participatory actors in the endeavor.

6. I’m sure students think about and often wonder to change the prices for the food they purchase. Under Section 5B, University members can do just that. Price changes can be proposed in writing by July 31st of each year “with justification and/or documentation which validates the request”. Upon approved validation on August 15, the prices become effective the first of September.

Throughout the past five years, the University of California has drafted "Procedures for Implementation of UC Food Service". UC campuses are mandated to "source from producers who pay minimum wage, or higher, to workers, as required by state and federal law, and who provide safe workplaces, including protection from chemical exposure, and provision of adequate sanitary facilities and rinking water for workers, as quired by state and federal law".

Preferences, under a graded criteria, include buying local, certified organic, Certified Humane Raised & Handled (CHRH), sustainable seafood, direct, certified Fair Trade, and worker-supportive food products. The procedures include other measure including waste reduction, water conservation, energy efficiency, and much more.

Aramark has adopted a "Green Thread" into their everyday business operations by reducing their environmental footprint while operationally delivering exceptional results. Within it, they've adopted the following principles, or "pillars": sustainable food, green buildings, waste stream management, responsible procurement, energy & water conservation, and transportation.

Arguments have been made for and against our current contract with Aramark. De facto monopoly. Streamlined processes. Low costs for students. Low-quality food.

Whether or not we realize it, the following is fact. Students pay for their tuition, and students pay for their food. The question becomes a more qualitative one – How does a university, like UC Irvine with 31,000 campus community members, sustain its food system? As you’ve read, there are three varied standards for food system management at UCI – the original contract, the UC Policy on Food Practices, and Aramark’s “Green Thread”. Which one to follow?

Unless a food revolution on the UCI campus takes place, for which I don’t know the practicality of the matter, how can UCI Dining and Aramark best practice environmentally- and ecologically-sound measures to ensure a sustainable nature of feeding its community?

"Strengthening the Roots" - Food, Justice, & Fair Trade - Day One

2008-02-15T23:10:00.000-08:00

For the next few days this weekend, I will be at the UC Santa Cruz campus for a conference called "Strengthening the Roots" on sustainable foods, fair trade, and social justice. Hosted by the United Students for Fair Trade and the California Student Sustainability Coalition Foods Initiative, and the Community Agroecology Network, I look forward to interactive workshops, filling my inquisitive mind, and networking with students all across the nation who share similar interests as I do.

Upon arrival, I was lucky enough to have met Naveed, a friend of Dana, who is the significant other of Kelsey, a good friend who I'm driving up with. Complicated story, I know. All I can say is that I'm sure UC Irvine folk would appreciate their environmental consciousness much more if they get to be feet away from forty-foot redwood trees each day. It's gorgeous around here!

View Larger Map

Between arrival and the start of the conference, I had some time to visit UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. Graciously led on a tour by Leon of the beautiful 25-acre student farm, I couldn't help but contemplate what a utopia I had entered. There was a plethora of activity that I had never seen before - blueberry trees, composting, sustainable agriculture research, and leeks. Initially started by Allen Chadwick, the center was surprisingly not a part of the university's initial development plans. I couldn't help but chuckle when Leon explained how students started missing classes because of the commitment and demand on the original student farm. Today, 39 students involve themselves in a 6-month apprenticeship, maintaining the center and learning about agroecology. Apprentices become farmers, food public policy analysts, and educators.

Today, the farm holds a deep and rooted relationship with the community, students, and faculty who engage on the discussion of sustainable agriculture and food systems. UC Santa Cruz itself is surrounded by currently lush, fertile agricultural communities with a vibrant social consciousness of food systems, a distinct dichotomy from UC Irvine. Yet, Leon explains some challenges facing the center, including funding and the growing discussion of land development and expansion with the university. It was with Leon where I was first introduced the conflicting, yet lucid, concept of packing and distribution. Industrial agriculture ventures for profit, and when external networks like packing and distribution enter the food system, problems arise.

An energetic opening session included early discussion on why each of us were there for the conference and what we hoped to achieve by the end of this weekend. Opening speeches came from Robbie Jaffe and Steve Gleissman, co-founders of the Community Agroecology Network. In the past four years, Jaffe and Gleissman noted, organic food sales have risen 20%, certified fair trade sales have increased, and the number of agricultural acres have increased. However, the number of organic farmers have decreased, genetically-modified cropland have increased by 12% globally, and the greatest increase in GMOs in the last year are seen in developing nations.

Anim Steel, National BLAST Program Director for the Food Project and Real Food Challenge, took everyone on a historical journey, connecting our food roots to times of slavery. Slavery instilled the values of profit over people, food as a commodity and not community, and land as a mechanical and technological resource for exploitation. Steel recollected that the first major human campaign, the British anti-slavery campaign in the 1750's, dealt with food; it simply took a group of people with a common goal. With those in mind, he called for common, tangible, and targeted goals on a large scale in institutional food systems, using the power of youth to help mobilize that change.

Hooooooold on there, Cow-maker...

2008-02-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

FOOD FEED of the MOMENT.

Good ol' meat. As global population is expected to exponentially increase the next few decades, meat consumption is expected to do so, as well. Increased meat consumption leads to greater environmental pressures, health concerns, and energy needs. Writer Mark Bittman alludes to better waste management, eliminating subsidies, improved farming methods, innovative technology, and a return to grazed beef.

School children won't be eating beef for a while. School districts across California, including Orange County, have stopped accepting beef for the past two weeks from Hallmark Meat Packing, Co. after one its Chino-based suppliers, Westland Meat Co. was videotapped inhumanely treating ill cows. Yeah...I'd be scared, too. The State Department of Education sent an alert to all affected schools. What's happened since then? Irvine Unified School District has removed Westland from their beef supplier list, and Irvine-based In-N-Out has ended all contracts with the company.

No beef for me tonight,

Food Catalyst. Yep, Catalyst.

2008-02-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

“On college campuses, in religious organizations, among certain state and national legislators, in co-op movements, and among ecology and natural food groups, there is a feeling that food is the right place to start to focus attention and energy for change." - Francis Moore

Oh so true, Sir Moore. Oh so true.

Change was made on January 31, 2008 - only three weeks ago - when UC Irvine hosted the first annual Focus the Nation, an educational teach-in about climate change solutions alongside 1,700+ colleges and universities. The afternoon had plans for an entirely sustainable and delicious luncheon for the event's guests. Prior to that, it was pleasant to be at a round table with UCI Dining administrators, Aramark representatives, Catering Directors, and fellow students in organizing such a feat. UCI Dining contracted with Organic To-Go, a local catering and delivery company specializing in organic food.

It was awe-inspiring to see enthused administrators towards the sustainable movement. My favorite part of one of the meetings leading up to FtN was when one administrator noted how comparable biodegradable utensils and eating-ware are to conventional plastic ones currently used on campus. Let's just say my lightbulb was just as large as their's! Questions were asked, and new terms such as "locally-grown", "organic", and "certified-humane" were part of the discussion. I loved it.

The luncheon was absolute magic. Three main dishes were served:

- vegan sandwiches with olive paste, tomatoes, spinach, mashed avocado, soy mazzarella, red onion, and artisan bread

- vegetarian Thai peanut sauce wraps with cabbage, lettuce, carrots, and wheat tortillas

- Chicken-pesto sandwich with tomatoes, spinach, mazzarella, and wheat bread.

Organic cookies and brownies teased the sweet-tooth lovers, and donated organic fruit from various local Farmers' Markets rounded out the meal. Food was served on entirely biodegradable corn-processed plates and utensils, and napkins were from recycled post-paper product.

In essence, Focus the Nation was a catalyst for a new movement I see brewing on campus. Now it's time for all stakeholders to come to the table for seconds.

Check out what happened at UC Irvine's Focus the Nation:

I'm leading a student-initiated campaign for a sustainable food procurement plan at UC Irvine called "The Sustainable Food Challenge". Our TSFC Mission is to "create and implement clear guidelines that prioritize local, organic, and socially-responsible food purchasing, waste-reduction and green-dining facility standards at UC Irvine. In turn, this supports the health of consumers & workers, local economies, the environment, and sustainable agriculture."

In its early stages, I've encountered the beauty and challenges of community organizing. Like any organization, there are issues of available resources, people, time, and funding. We're truly organic in form. As we meet with administrators from UCI Dining, Aramark (the company UCI contracts its food services with), and Student Affairs, prospects and momentum are high as actions proceed. Our goals include forming a self-sustaining Food Services working group with faculty, administration, staff, and students and finalizing a sustainable procurement plan.

From farm to lab

2008-02-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

In the past two decades, a resurgence of organic agricultural methods have taken hold post American industrialism. Alongside has come important literature and research on the matter with organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, Columbia Center for International Earth Science Information Network, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Rosenzweig and Hillel (1995) have described a variety of impacts of climate change on food production and supply in Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food Supply. These include:

One. A shift in climate and agricultural zones towards the poles.
Two. Changes in production patterns due to higher temperatures.
Three. A boost in agricultural productivity due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Four. Changing precipitation patterns.
Five. Increased vulnerability of the landless and the poor.

An early 1990's global assessment from 18 different countries in over 100 sites suggested that "a doubling of the atmosphere carbon dioxide concentration will lead to only a small decrease in the global crop production...however, developing countries in lower latitudes will bear the brunt of these problems" (Rosenzweig and Parry, 1994). In addition, it has been found in the work, "Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events; Implications for Food Production, Plant Diseases, and Pests", that "global food supply may be affected by an increase in extreme weather events and climate variability associated with global warming (Rosenzweig et al., 2001).

Food security, defined as "access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life" provides people the right to an adequate diet (World Bank, 1986). This requires the active and concerted action of all countries to accomplish such a right in a sustainable manner. Doing so will depend on access to commodities and will power of the government support and the action of its people.

However, there is a parody at hand at which globally, we may not be able to sustain our food systems. 500 million people, according to the World Food Trade Model (an instrument that links countries through trade, world market prices, and financial power), were at risk of hunger in 1980. Estimates have risen to about 640 million in 2060. At this continuous rate, the amount of hungry people will increase by 1% for every 2-2.5% increase in market prices. Solutions such as shifts in planting dates, changes in irrigation systems, changes in crop variety, investment in regional and national agriculture, and policy changes are all probable.

In "How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture", sustainable agriculture is based on "relatively small, profitable farms that use fewer off-farm inputs, integrate animal and plant production where appropriate, maintain a higher biotic diversity, emphasize technologies that are appropriate to the scale of production, and make the transition to renewable forms of energy". They are less dependent on chemical inputs and economic efficiencies seen in industrial agriculture. In addition, it would involve closer connections between producer and consumer, in which food is directly marketed to locavores. (Horrigan et al., 2002).

Sustainable agriculture has been defined in various ways:

Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals - environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity...Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. What is Sustainable Agriculture? Cited 10 February 2008).

Sustainable agriculture is a model of social and economic organization based on an equitable and participatory vision of development which recognizes the environment and natural resources as the foundation of economic activity. Agriculture is sustainable when it is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, culturally appropriate, and based on a holistic scientific approach (Madden JP, Chaplowe SG, eds. For All Generations: Making World Agriculture More Sustainable. Glendale, CA: World Sustainable Agriculture Association, 1997).

Sustainable agriculture does not refer to a prescribed set of practices. Instead it challenges producers to think about the long-term implications and dynamics of agricultural systems. It also invites consumers to get more involved in agriculture by learning more about and becoming active participants in their food systems. A key goal is to understand agriculture from an ecological perspective - in terms of nutrient and energy dynamics, and interactions among plants, animals, insects, and other organisms in agroecosystems - then balance it with profit, community and consumer needs (Sustainable Agriculture Network. Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture: Ways to Enhance Profits, Protect the Environment, and Improve Quality of Life. Cited 10 February 2008).

Sustainable agriculture, as defined in Bryan McDonald's lecture in my Global Sustainability Class, "seeks to decouple agriculture intensification from environmental degradation through the greater exploitation of biological and ecological approaches to nutrient recycling, pest management, and soil erosion control" (12 February 2008).

The practice of sustainable agriculture has altered the ways relationships are built between producer and consumer. In a 2000 study by Kevin Morgan and Jonathan Murdoch, it is learned that farmers who switch from conventional to more organic methods of farming much forget many of the conventional ways of industrial agriculture in order to learn more ecologically-sound ways of production. In addition, organic farmers rescind to become "knowing agents" of the environment and their land.

In the study, "Eating 'Green': Motivations Behind Organic Food Consumption in Australia", while organic consumers expressed high motivations for eating more organically due to such issues as the environment, animal welfare, and biotechnology, their views were not drastically different from those of non-organic consumers. The greatest difference seen between the two groups is the amount of formal education; the greater the formal education, the greater consumption of organic foods. Overall, organic consumers rated health, natural content, and price as high priorities in food consideration, in that order of preference (Lockie et al., 2002).

Out in the Open Market

2008-02-12T11:17:00.001-08:00

I literally woke up my good friend Kelsey for the weekly Farmers’ Market at University Center this past Saturday. I’ve been a few times in the past, but would nervously walk by the open stations not knowing what to buy, how to test the foods for their readiness and ripeness, or how comparable the prices were to Trader Joe’s or Albertson’s only a few steps away. However, I was determined this time. The weather could not have been any better. The warm sun and clear air only excited me more. Copacetic – I was in a copacetic mood.

Aside from the dainty children, homely atmosphere, and gleeful music, I was in food heaven. I didn’t realize breakfast was in store for me at the farmers’ market. Every other food station had samples of the freshest fruit around – oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, blood oranges, and apples. It wasn’t until today that I finally paid attention to the banners behind the tents – the farm name, where the food was coming from, and how they were grown.

Unlike any food-gathering trips before, my mind was active and critically thinking -

“Should I get these certified organic strawberries from Dinuba or the conventionally-grown ones grown closer in El Segundo?”

“How about this lettuce from Fresno? Wait…it’s not organic. But it’s so much cheaper than the organic ones from Santa Clara.”

“That turkey sausage looks tempting.. Ahh no, I’m on a vegetarian diet now…”

For the first time, I felt empowered as a consumer. Sure, I’ve paid for things by myself for myself. However, I was integrating various factors into purchasing power that I felt entitled to. In buying goods, I had to weigh the benefits to my personal health, physical costs as a marginal college student, and what my dollar meant to the farmer on the other side of the cash register.

While one may perceive Orange County to be an urban metropolis, it is host to eight farmers’ markets during the length of the week. According to the Orange County Farm Bureau, “California certified farmers' markets are the real thing - places where genuine farmers sell fruits, nuts and vegetables directly to the public. Every farmer who sells at a certified market is inspected by the county agricultural commissioner to make sure he/she actually grows the commodity being sold.” (http://orange.cfbf.com/cfm.htm) Even so, it was a bit arduous and disheartening to find a lack of Orange County farms. Most of them out in the market were from San Diego County, Riverside County, and central California.

Rick Le Feuvre, Orange County Agricultural Commissioner, “has the responsibility for enforcing State-mandated agricultural and pesticide regulations and certification of commercial weighing and measuring devices throughout the County.” (http://www.ocagcomm.com/default.asp) He, alongside the commission, ensures the weights and measurements of food, prevents exotic and invasive plants and weeds, protects residents from pesticide hazards, and protects wildlife by diminishing weeds. All food sold at the farmers’ markets in Orange County are inspected to protect human health and checked to make sure they follow state-mandated agricultural policies.

I was introduced to the concept of a CSA, or community-supported agriculture, through “Garden of Eden”. It is a “program for San Diego and other southern California regions” formed by a cooperative of various organic farms in the state. Each week, gardens provide a specialized box of seasonal fruits and vegetables from the farms they network with. Patrons pay a weekly, monthly, or yearly fee, and pick up their box at the respective farmers’ market.

To me, there are social, economic, and vastly environmental implications to this phenomenon. A CSA stimulates local agricultural economies by sustaining local farms and improving entrepreneurial innovation in agroecology. It limits the amount of travel it takes from farm to table, therefore ameliorating food freshness. To that point, farmers can focus primarily on their passions – growing the freshest and most organic food as possible – without having to worry about administrative costs like energy to transport their food.

47th Avenue CSA:

Tim Lang, a professor of Food Policy at City University in London, termed the phrase “food miles”, noting that there are “hidden ecological, social and economic consequences of food production to consumers in a simple way, one which had objective reality but also connotations” (2006). ‘locale / global (food miles)’, Slow Food (Bra, Cuneo Italy), 19, May 2006, p.94-97.

A 2005 Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs report by Paul Watkiss and AEA Technology Environment called “The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development", found that "the direct environmental, social and economic costs of food transport are over £9 billion each year, and are dominated by congestion." This global account is a little over $18 billion in US dollars, respectively.

Even with a CSA, one has to wonder, “isn’t there a larger picture to consider?” Regardless of “how close” a local farm may be, there is still the question of personal behavior that can have great demands on the environment to sustain itself. Unless there is personal accountability for people to walk, bike, or utilize clean public transportation to get their food, more developed societies like the one I live in may still turn to personal automobiles that run on non-renewable energies. I wonder what people are thinking when they get local, organic, and sustainable food like through a CSA program), but in unsustainable ways (i.e. driving a diesel-engine vehicle). Isn’t this a contradiction? A paradox, perhaps? How can someone consider themselves living in sustainable manners when there are parts to their lifestyle that doesn’t lead in that direction? In order for this contradiction to subside, individuals may need to consider alterations in lifestyle. In this particular example, it may mean living closer to a local farm, farmers’ market (distribution center), or being part of a community garden.

As noted in a New York Times Opinion piece back in August 2007, local food procurement may not be the most "environmentally-friendly" option. Writer James McWilliams finds that there is scientific research from New Zealand and Britain looking at the true environmental hazards of growing the same products but in different areas, and specifically, at the pounds of carbon dioxide per ton. These studies looked not only at food miles, but also calculated water and fertilizer use, farming methods, and means of transportation. In some cases, there was much less greenhouse gas emissions from transporting food from across the globe than getting it from a local source. McWilliams stresses the analysis of demographics, farming methods, and alternatives to food transportation.

Paul and Jackie, the individuals heading the “Garden of Eden”, remembered my name at the farmers’ market! I had introduced myself a few weeks back. I was absolutely enamored, and I may consider getting a box with a few housemates soon. Good thing I live on campus.

My bag ended up with the following:
A bag of blood oranges from Dinuba, CA.
One Haas avocado from El Segundo.
One quart of orange-pomegranate juice from north San Diego.
Three packs of strawberries from Memet, CA.

Good eats,

UCI Humane Eggs - Response

2008-02-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

Which Came First, the Chicken or the Cage-Free Egg?
By Daniel Dooros

Student Affairs and UC Irvine Dining and Hospitality Services are on track to implement a plan for increasing sustainable, organic dining practices. As a result, the following has been accomplished in the last two years:

1. Adhering to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s seafood-watch guidelines.
2. Using trade-certified coffee at all Starbucks and Java City coffee brewery locations.
3. Practicing a coffee grounds recycling program in collaboration with UCI Facilities and Waste Management.
4. Collaborating with UCI Recycling and Waste Management on a coffee mug program.
5. Utilizing biodegradable plates and to-go containers whenever possible.
6. Upholding traditional recycling practices.
7. Implementing grease recycling.
8. Participating in America’s Second Harvest, a hunger-relief program, with unsold baked goods.
9. Buying locally-grown produce.
10. Offering environmentally-friendly household products for purchase.
11. Stocking reusable dishware in all dining commons—Mesa, Brandywine and Pippin.
12. Placing energy-efficient lighting wherever possible, in collaboration with the UCI Green Campus Program.
13. Purchasing Energy Star equipment and plantation-grown teak furniture for Starbucks.
14. Holding Weigh the Waste events to increase awareness of food waste.

So what about the chicken and the egg? Why is the university being accused of having egg on its face? As we have shared with those concerned about the practices of the egg industry, UCI will be implementing organic egg products this spring. We will use USDA-regulated organic eggs, meaning they come from free-range hens that are not injected with antibodies and hormones.

Student Affairs has been clear that we need to weigh and balance staffing operations and insurance costs, along with the total cost to students to attend UCI. We ran a pilot program last year, and are now ready to provide organic eggs across the campus. We planned for this price increase, as it is our responsibility to consider all student costs, not just food rates, when implementing sustainable, organic practices that increase costs on campus.

As a result, we decided to phase in all of these programs, including organic egg provision. In fact, when we informed a campus group concerned about the program, they responded with a May 2007 letter stating “Phasing in the change over time (perhaps one or two years?) would seem reasonable, given the fiscal constraints that Student Affairs is dealing with right now.” In the same letter, Vice Chancellor Manuel Gómez was lauded for having the vision to promote these practices, and for responsiveness and leadership on this issue.

UCI Dining and Hospitality is dedicated to UCI’s pursuit of sustainable practices that minimize the campus’s impact on our ecosystem. The plan to implement organic, environmentally friendly products and services, including organic eggs, was informed by a number of student voices and campus citizens’ ideas. We are pleased that last fall, PETA2 (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ youth organization) recognized UCI with straight “A’s” for nutritious, humane vegan food.

It is a wonder how setting plans and timetables to implement organic, environmentally friendly products and services can be considered “resistance to change and ignoring voices.” We remain steadfast in our belief that mutual respect and commitment to collaboration is the most effective method to advance our efforts in achieving a sustainable university.

Student Affairs is dedicated to building on our present practices as we safeguard limited resources for current and future students. We are meeting our commitments and goals according to a rubric that considers affordability for students. Let us know your ideas for increasing and improving our sustainability program efforts in dining services by visiting http://www.ucidining.com.

Dan Dooros is the assistant vice chancellor of student affairs. He can be reached at djdooros@uci.edu.

Movie Review - Bad Seed: The Truth About Our Food

2008-02-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

There is a sense of urgency among policy analysts, scientists, farmers, agriculturalists, and activists all around the world, not just the United States of America. This urgency was highly manifested in the faces, dialogue, and actions among those interviewed in the latest movie I saw, "Bad Seed: The Truth About Our Food", directed by 20-year-old Adam Curry. This urgency stresses the deleterious effects of genetically-modified crops in human health, agricultural business, global diversity and hunger, and challenges to the organic movement.

Transparency to the American public is hard to come by. Resistance to large corporations has been criminalized, as detailed by Anuradha Mittal, Director of the Oakland Institute. The United States Food and Drug Administration does not require biotechnology companies to label their genetically-modified (GM) foods; rather, is it under "voluntary consultation".

There was a large amount of scientific discussion in the film about the transfer of genes from one organism to another. Studies in rats being fed GM foods end up having misshapen, unstable, and constantly-changing cells in their bodies. This proposes a plethora of risks to human health. According to the National Research Council, half of all US births result in loss of birth or chronic illness. Currently, we don't understand the consequences of the transfer of one gene of an organism to another. Studies in rats have shown that these genes called "promoters" cause excessive cell growth, turns into dormant viruses and transfers these viruses into the organisms' tissues. Consequences in this transfer may include more homogeneous yields and loss of natural biodiversity.

I personally enjoyed hearing the stories from the farmers interviewed in the film. Doug Mosel, a fourth generation farmer, noted that today's insurmountable complexity in the food system has been a result from decades of biotechnology-endoctrination. Starting in the 1950's, farmers, alongside land-grant universities, bought into the idea of applying herbicides and pesticides to their crops to increase yields.

Howard Vlieger, an Iowan farmer, presented the modern idea of how pharmaceutical companies are integrated into today's food systems. These companies supply farmers with genetically-engineered seeds, the crops are given as food feed to people or to people directly, people see a physician due to illness (unconscious of their later prodigious bills), and the physician completing the circle by routing medicine back from the pharmaceutical.

The film debunked the myths of needing more food to supply the global hunger through GM food. According to Dr. Peter Rosset, a University of California professor, described our need to control domestic food production, assist small global farmers economically, and grow less GM crops due to their comparably lower yield to non-GM crops.

I found myself at times disgruntled at the spine-tingling images and frightening music selection. Not really what you want to see at nine in the morning. While the video-photography proved excellent, I was a bit surprised at the lack of what-to-do-next-in-this-movement footage in the documentary. Touching on consumer choice and current activism, I found myself prosing the questions - "What do we really do next?" How can large corporations like Monsanto, alter their company ideologies to suffice to sustainable agriculture? Will it take economic diversion to steer these biotech companies to realize what they're doing? Will other strategies like litigation, free markets, and command-and-control techniques save us?

Throughout the film, I couldn't help to inquire about the need for wholesalers today to label food as "organic". There used to just be food. No pesticides. No herbicides. No biotech companies. All natural and organic farming methods. Is this a green-washing effect, I see? Whatever happened to just growing food as naturally and ecologically-sound as possible? Do we need this socially-conscious labelling to scream the need to wind ourselves backwards from an abyss of agricultural blasphemy?

UCI Humane Eggs

2008-02-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

UCI Has Egg on its Face
By Claire Jean Kim, Jessica Fuentes, Elizabeth McDuffee

UC Irvine and animal cruelty should not go together. However, every day UCI Dining Services offers eggs produced by animals subjected to cruelty. We may not realize it, but every time we order scrambled eggs or a mushroom omelet in a dining hall or campus eatery, we are essentially ordering cruelty.

UCI Dining Services buys about one million eggs a year from facilities that confine hens to “battery cages.” The living space of each hen is less than the size of a single sheet of paper. Five to 10 hens are crammed into each cage so tightly that they cannot stretch their wings or walk. Indeed, they can scarcely move for the entirety of their adult lives.

Many hens die because they are injured or cannot reach food and water sources. Some try to crawl under other hens to lay their eggs. No one who has seen footage of battery cages can forget the suffering of these hens.

We believe that animals should be treated with compassion and that corporate greed is no excuse for torturing them. In the past few years, a nationwide movement has arisen to end battery-cage egg production and support more humane alternatives.

Responding to student requests, more than 300 colleges and universities have switched entirely or partially to cage-free eggs. The list of schools includes UC Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, University of Wisconsin, Tufts, Georgetown and many other prominent institutions. Corporations like Ben & Jerry’s, Wolfgang Puck, Omni Hotels and Burger King have also wholly or partly made the switch.

Retailers like Whole Foods and Wild Oats no longer sell eggs produced by battery-caged hens. Compass Group, the world’s largest food service provider, has shifted significantly toward cage-free eggs.

Numerous city councils, including several in California, have passed resolutions condemning battery cages. The European Union voted to end the use of battery cages by 2012. Environmental groups like the National Environmental Trust, Sierra Club and California Student Sustainability Coalition have urged consumers to make the switch because cage-free egg production is more sustainable.

By national consensus, we are reaching the conclusion that battery cages should not be used. So why does UCI Dining Services continue to serve us eggs obtained through cruelty?

Nearly two years ago, students and faculty approached Jack McManus, Director of Dining Services, to explain battery-cage conditions and ask UCI to switch to exclusively cage-free eggs. Last spring, after waiting a year for McManus’s reply, they began the UCI Cage-Free Egg Initiative. In addition to educating the campus about the issue and conducting demonstrations in front of Aldrich Hall, we succeeded in achieving the following:

1. We submitted the signatures of over 3,500 UCI undergraduates to Manuel Gomez, vice chancellor of student affairs, asking UCI Dining Services to switch to cage-free eggs.

2. Irvine Mayor Beth Krom wrote a letter in support of the initiative.

3. The Associated Graduate Students of UCI passed Resolution 7-29 asking UCI Dining Services to switch to cage-free eggs.

4. The New University wrote an editorial entitled “UCI Should Implement Cage-Free Eggs.”

5. Actor Alicia Silverstone wrote a New University commentary supporting the initiative.

However, nearly two years after this issue was first brought to its attention, UCI Dining Services continues to ignore the voices of the thousands of students who ask for change. It continues to serve cruelty.

Declining to support animal cruelty is one small step we can all make toward a better university and a better world. UCI and cruelty do not go together.

Jessica Fuentes is a third-year history major. Elizabeth McDuffee is a second-year humanities major. Claire Jean Kim is an associate professor in political science and Asian-American studies. Kim can be reached at cjkim@uci.edu.