What I Did this Summer

I saw a flock of Canada geese heading south on my morning walk.  With kids back in school, apples ripening on the trees, and the fall equinox quickly approaching, I find myself reflecting on the ways in which I spent the long days and warm nights of summer.

In an effort to find some balance during the fleeting, precious months of summer, I tried to limit my time on the computer (as evidenced by a longer lapse than usual between posts.) Instead, I chose to spend as much time out of doors as possible; hiking the woods and prairies, biking on paths and on streets, picnicking in city parks to the sounds of live music, camping in state parks to the sounds of bird song and night creaks, enjoying long meals on the porch or in the backyard with family and friends, swimming in a few of the many thousand freshwater lakes in the region, visiting new and old friends' farms and markets, tending home and work gardens, and taking long, long walks along Lake Michigan. 

This seems, to me, a sustainable way to enjoy life; to create more opportunities to make food, grow food, seek out real food, share food with loved ones, listen to the sounds of your neighborhood, meet your neighbors be they people, plants, or wildlife, feel sunshine on your skin,  and celebrate each and every moment of peace.  Not to stray to far from the usual format of this blog to wax poetic about the summertime....but it seems to me that I reclaimed a precious, wholesome peace by unplugging from my various e-connections and plugging into my visceral surroundings.

I also found time to read.  Fiction and nonfiction alike inspired. Among the several food books whose pages I burrowed into, including books about salmon, cod, chef-fing, and food rebels, I found one of the most enjoyable tommes to celebrate America's fine fare: American Terroir.  Through these pages, I gained a deeper appreciation for the likes of oysters, chocolate, and coffee, and remembered my fondness for wild edibles, raw milk cheese, apples, maple syrup, and honey.  Rowan Jacobsen takes North American terroir--the taste of place is the way I like to think about the term--to a new level.  I highly recommend this book for anyone who cares deeply about place based foods, farming, pleasure, and soil.

Speaking of terroir and books, my work at Milwaukee's urban Indian health center this summer involved celebrating regional food traditions through the editing and publishing of a new traditional food recipe and storybook; Mino Ayaa.  More on this soon, but in brief, the book promotes wellness through sharing seasonal wild and cultivated food recipes as well as stories from American Indian elders.  We unveiled the book this past weekend at Indian Summer Festival during our elder group's Three Sisters Stew cooking demo.   The 25th year celebration of Indian Summer, the countires largest American Indian cultural fest, included a new Tribal farmers' Market, several cooking demos, pow wows, and some really great traditionl food (wild rice cakes, bison chili and corn soup, among my favorites.) Our health center was on hand raising awareness on the ways to prevent and control diabetes.

And now its time to make the most of the harvest by canning, freezing, pickling, and drying summer's bounty and toil...to enjoy a bit of sunshine during the long, cold nights of winter.

What is on the plate for 2011?

Will Americans get ever closer to a McDonalds or have more access to fresh, local, healthy food in 2011?

The turn of the year always makes me curious for what the next 365 days will hold…. 

Nitrogen Contaminated Water 

Of course, we can expect more of the same problems to unfold: because we can suppose that Americans will continue to watch almost as much television as a full-time occupation (~35 hours each week) and will each drink over 50 gallons of sweetened beverages on average this year—we can expect that public health problems like obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes will continue to grow.  And along with many other nasty habits, because our growing population continues to choose a highly carbon intensive diet; high in industrialized meat and highly processed foods sold in highly processed packages—we will continue to raise the level of carbon in the atmosphere while it’s already at dangerous levels.  And because American farmers will apply so many pesticides and spread so much nitrogen on their fields this year, we can expect to see the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico expand even further, watch more fresh ground water become undrinkable due to nitrogen levels, and continue to put ag bees and wildlife at risk.  Another 27,000 species will likely be lost from our planet this year…with much of the loss due to agriculture.

Milwaukee Farmer's Market

But we can also anticipate more of the positives that make up the burgeoning food movement—farmers markets and the organic sector will continue to expand, as markets grew in number by 16% last year and the organic sector has grown by ~20% in each of the past several.  The increases in small scale, sustainable ag support will allow more farmers to grow more produce and to raise animals on pasture and so we’ll have access to healthier foods.  More young people will learn about food traditions and how to cook, garden, farm (this last one we’ll have to cross our fingers that more people will someday get into farming than are getting out of it) through the increasing number of programs like school gardens, college curricula, and farm internships.  Work will continue to ensure that endangered foods; like the Narragansett Turkey, Milwaukee Apple, Lake Michigan Whitefish, and Beaver Dam Pepper remain.

Will Zebra Mussels taste
anything like these
Sicilian beauties?

And we’ll likely see more innovative solutions come out of the woodwork and into the mainstream—like the invasive species diet .  Maybe this idea can be simply defined as eating invasive species so that the pressure of their invasion is reduced.  Here in Wisconsin friends and I have enjoyed delicious concoctions like invasive garlic mustard pestos, but what I really wonder about is zebra mussels—will someone find a way to harvest & eat those mollusks that are taking over Lake Michigan?  A Spanish marine biologist I met at the Salone del Gusto is successfully marketing invasive yet deliciously edible seaweed along his coast.  And a big question for the world of eco-minded nutrition professionals—will the soon to be released, USDA's 2010 Dietary Guidelines for American’s finally address sustainability???

No matter what else happens this year, the more agroecology, nutritional ecology, food biodiversity, traditional foodways, and just plain old kitchen wisdom we invest in, the more we will improve our environmental and collective health…what we put on or plates will help to shape the things to come.

Buried Treasures

Unearthing potatoes makes one think of buried treasure. Our row of Austrian Crescent and New Red elicited cries of delight as spud after glorious spud made its way into the light. We were digging for true sustenance.

The poor potato too often gets a bad rap. I hear often from clients who have been sadly misinformed that there’s no nutritive value to a potato. Whether this is a hangover from the Atkin’s diet craze or a result of misunderstood diabetic education, I’m not sure, but, “potatoes are just like white sugar” seems a common misconception. And while all things carbohydrate will eventually break down into blood glucose (our body’s preferred source of fuel) the potato has a lot more to offer than just the energy from it's storage of complex carbohydrates...

Potatoes are a good source of vitamin C, B-vitamins, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium as well as providing dietary fiber and cancer fighting antioxidants. Unfortunately, the most common form of potatoes enjoyed in the U.S.- french fries- do not get distinguishing marks for good nutrition. Ditto for processed potatoes like flakes and other such nonsense. The nutritive value remains highest when the potato remain whole- skin and all.

And while not a substitute for whole grains, unlike wheat, rye, barley, quinoa, and so on, potatoes are a good source of carbohydrate energy that can easily be grown and processed (processing is the key here) by home gardeners. Home grown carbohydrates = very local and very delicious.

Originally hailing from Peru, potatoes are now one of the world's largest crops- likely owing to the economic virtues of the energy dense tuber. The few varieties grown on a large scale and found in the grocery store (yellow, russet, and red) belie the wide diversity of potatoes that exist- there are literally thousands. A few of my favorites- Purple Peruvian, La Ratte, Adirondack Blue, Rose Finn apple, Red Norland, Russian banana, Russet Burbank. The lovely Ozette potatoe has made it’s way onto Slow Food’s Ark of Taste- a catalogue of delicious foods in danger of extinction. Farmers and gardeners keeping these varietals growing and in circulation improves biodiversity- a marker of health and resilance in our food system.

Sustainable Nutrition Bottomline:
Eat potatoes. Eat a wide variety of them. Eat them roasted, grilled, baked, and steamed. Seek out new varieties from local farmers- 'tis the season! Grow them at home- if not this year, maybe next. Seed Savers Exchange gorgeous catalogue can get you started.

If you have diabetes or suffer from “portion distortion”- a reminder: ½ cup of potato counts as one serving of carbohydrate and balanced meals include 3-5 servings of carbohydrate.