Race, Class, & Gender in the Sustainable Food Movement

From Asta — Blog by Asta Schuette

June 10, 2010

I just came across a great posting on the blog, Racealicious. The author, Janani Balasubramanian seems to hit the nail on the head: the sustainable food movement appeals to the white and privileged American class through it’s role models and language.

Balasubramanian points Michael Pollen’s male-centric concept of food culture erosion in the United States. She writes, “Pollan and others situate the current state of American consumption in a patriarchal paradigm.” I have to say, after hearing Pollen speak and reading his articles and books, I came away with the same impression. Although probably not intentional, he seems to pin the blame for the lack of cooking skills in the U.S. on women rather than applauding their ascend into the public worker sphere.

These issues of race, class, and gender have irked me for a while and it’s nice to see someone write so eloquently about it. However, as a solutions oriented person, I would like to see some step that I can take to start shifting the identity of the movement.

(Cross-posted on Only An Almond Bean)

Fresh Film

From Asta — Blog by Asta Schuette

May 24, 2009

I received an e-mail about the release of the newest documentary on the food system in the U.S., “Fresh.” Since press releases are thoughtfully crafted, and I haven’t seen the film yet, I will just use their language.

“FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.”

If you’re in the Boston area there is a screening Thursday May 28th at 7 p.m.
Harvard will host the screening at: Harvard Northwest Building, 52 Oxford Street, Room B-103, Cambridge, MA 02138

The screening at Harvard will also include a truly amazing panel. So even if the film is a dud (which I highly doubt!) it’s worth going just to hear the panel. Following the screening you can experience the awesomeness of the follow local food gurus:
* Theresa McCulla (Moderator), Manager, Harvard’s Food Literacy Project
* Joel Salatin, Founder, Polyface Farms
* Will Allen, Founder, Growing Power
* Henrietta Davis, Cambridge City Council
* Michael Leviton, Chef, Lumiere Restaurant
* Ana Joanes, Director & Producer of FRESH

You can purchase tickets ($15) and find other screenings at the film’s website:
http://www.freshthemovie.com/screenings/

If you go, I would love to hear your feedback, thoughts, critiques, inspirations, etc. about Fresh.

Cross posted at Slow Food Tufts and Only An Almond Bean.

Rebuilding the Food System

From Asta — Blog by Asta Schuette

May 13, 2009

(Cross posted at www.almondbean.blogspot.com and www.slowfoodtufts.bolgspot.com)

Well, I finished my first year of graduate school! It’s been a fantastic 9 months. Although statistics got a bit hairy at times, it was a great first year. As we all know, lot of learning goes on outside the classroom as well. Recently I attended the American Planning Association's national conference in Minneapolis. It was fantastic!

The whole planning field is all new to me, but the more I learn the more I believe that urban planners will play a key role in improving the food system and food environment in the U.S. Planners work in areas critical to improving our food including transportation, community development, environmental impact, and zoning. Each of these areas can contribute to a more sustainable, safe, and healthy food system.

The conference included a number of sessions on improving the food environment and urban agriculture. Although many of the food-focused planners were primarily interested in food production in the urban setting, I see a lot of potential for linking rural and urban communities more fluidly through regional food systems. There is no way that cities will be able to produce all the food they need to sustain themselves even with SPIN farming, roof-top gardens, and greenhouses heated via aquaculture.

Of course there is still plenty to be done in the urban setting. So if you live in a city and want to get involved here are some things you can do:

- Develop a regional food policy council

- Make sure that food is in your city’s comprehensive plan (I didn’t even know such a thing existed until I attended the conference!)

- Review zoning rules for livestock

- Review zoning rules for community gardens

- Tear out your lawn and put in a vegetable garden. Jac Smit, has a great article title “Eat Half Your Law” if you want more information.

- Ask the city to line the streets with fruit bearing trees

- Ask the city to put a garden on city hall property. The White House is doing, so should you!

- Push your legislators for 10% of the food to be grown within the city

- Make sure that grocery stores can easily accessing economic incentives developed by the city to open stores in under served areas

- Work with the corner markets in your neighborhood to bring in fresh produce and low-fat dairy products

Looking at cities through the context of food, food security, and sustainability should help planners build healthier cities, healthier farms and rural communities, and reduce negative environmental externalities associated with the food we eat.

For more information check out these sites:
Agricultural Urbanism
The American Planning Association's Police Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning
Victory Gardens 2008+
American Farmland Trust
Health
NPLAN
ICUPPH

Banana Bread of Awesome is Replaced with Banana Bread of Ethereal

From Asta — Blog by Asta Schuette

February 28, 2009

Wow, I just made a banana bread recipe from Smitten Kitchen that was awesome! I added some flax seed (Yah, omega fatty acids!), left the bananas a bit chunky and used my muffin tin for speed. They turned out so good I think I am going to have to replace my “Banana Bread of Awesome” recipe with this new recipe which will be christened “Banana Bread of Ethereal”.

What I like about Deb’s site, Smitten Kitchen, is that she openly admits to what I think all of us do. That is, hunting for the best two of three recipes, combining your favorite aspects of each, and then crossing your fingers in hopes that it turns out okay. This methodology has about a 50% success rate, and when you are successful, boy, are you successful.

So, get those brown spotted, oh, so sweet bananas together and whip up some banana bread of ethereal!

For the recipe at Smitten Kitchen:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/speckled-for-the-freckled/#comment-248237

Welcome!

From Asta — Blog by Asta Schuette

February 28, 2009

This whole on-line food community thing has me tickled pink! What a great idea! I can’t wait to see what my friends are cooking, what articles they are reading, and of course sharing my own food experiences!

My kitchen triumph of the week, my first pork roast! It was supper easy and I made it in a slow cooker over night. The meat is juicy and just falls off the bone. No browning, no prep, just throw some herbs, stock and a big’ol hunk of meat in a slow cooker and call it delicious!

I will put the recipe up shortly!