And Scariest Movie of the Year goes to...

Back to the Food Inc. post. Yes, I have seen the movie; actually I saw it earlier this fall at a lecture I had to attend for my global studies class, and never posted about it because I wanted to develop my opinions fully first (like most propaganda-doc's, such as Super-size Me or anything Michael Moore, it's a bit much to take in) so I wouldn't end up just rambling. Which.... I guess is sort of not in tune with the rhetoric of blogging... but... crap.

So now, as a punishment, I'm going to have to rely on my sub-par memory and what info I can glean from the Interwebs in order to talk about this.

In essence, the movie showcases the industrial, mechanized food industry, which is basically America's entire food industry. Wrapped up in this are several themes: the firm grasp corporate head haunchos have not just on what we eat, but on the federal regulatory commissions (FDA, USDA) in which we are supposed to place our trust, the ways in which farmers are being undermined and subjugated by laws and patents, the abominable health and safety regulations at these factory farms, the lack of worker's rights in meat factories, how much cheaper it is to buy unhealthy vs. healthy, devastating health effects of diseases like E.coli.... maybe now you realize why I was wary to write about it. I could spend a year. And wind up with a book. (And there already is one, so that's pointless.)

The movie is eye-opening, truly. It's honestly terrifying to realize how warped our food industry is, how far removed we as consumers are from the production of our food (do you know EXACTLY where a single thing in your fridge came from? What about the state? Or even the country?) and, perhaps most terrifying, that this is not a simple mistake. People in this industry are not sitting at their desks, eyes popping out of their skulls, hands glued to cheeks in an Edvard Munchian pose, screaming "WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!" Nah, they are just counting their bucks.

Looking back, I remember now that it was also the emotional impact that kept me from writing. I saw it only a couple weeks after I started this blog, and the effect of the movie was somewhat PETA-esque, in that it made me feel really really bad, but instead of just abstractly feeling bad for little baby chicks, I felt bad for my life. It was like someone ramming down my throat EVERYTHING YOU EAT IS BAD FOR YOU EVEN IF YOU THINK IT'S NOT and I was like, Jesus, I am not doing nearly enough. I mean I eat meat! And meat that is not from a tiny farm where I know for sure how the animal was raised! This was also before I started going to farmer's markets regularly, so I was like Okay so now simply buying fruits and vegetables is not enough, I have to track down where they came from. These feelings of inadequacy irked me. And I suppose that was the point of the movie: to scare you into eating healthier, or just being more conscious of what you're eating. And I totally support the latter part of that equation. I'm just not so sure about the path to it.

The one point in the film where I really remember being like Oh COME ON, was the beginning of a scene in which the words "Lifting the Veil" appeared on the screen. BUT, (and my memory may fail me a bit on the exact details of this one) right before "Veil" appeared the "e" and the "v" were switched so it said for a brief nanosecond, yes: evil. I don't think everyone noticed this, and I probably only did because I pay a lot of attention to words. And it doesn't really matter, I guess, in the larger context of the more important issues discussed, but I just sort of feel like, to me, this stuff is scary enough on its own; the facts alone are enough to make me change my lifestyle. Why do you need to insult our intelligence with the scare tactics?

So this pseudo-review ended up being more negative than I intended... most likely because the details of the movie have slipped from my consciousness but, like most things, the emotional impact has stuck with me. But in all honesty, I do encourage everyone to see it. Seriously. Just don't get hung up on negative feelings like I did. Focus on what they are actually, beyond the rhetoric, showing and telling you. Because it's really important for anyone who eats food in this country, and, unlike Super-size Me, it's not just about McDonalds--it's ALL food.

If you want to read reviews written by people who didn't wait three months, I found a list of them here. And check out Food Inc.'s website for more information. Photo from the review by the NYTimes.

reasons for buying local: status or values?

Although a little dated (it's from last summer), I just ran across an article in the NYTimes about a guy in San Francisco who started a company that will till, plant, and harvest a garden in the backyard of city-dwellers who want local food but don't want to get their shiny new jeans dirty. Apparently this is a growing trend of business start-ups, tending to the locavore needs of people with means:

Or you could just have your private chef handle all your local food needs. At their Hamptons summer house, John and Lorna Brett Howard want to eat almost exclusively local, which means that in place of one trip to the grocery store, their chef, Michael Welch, makes several trips to farm stands and the fishmonger. 

“What I’m seeing with my clients is not the trendiness or the politics,” Mr. Welch said. “They are looking only at taste.”

I can't help but wonder how right Mr. Welch is about that trendiness statement. After reading a column written by our own Joel Lovell about the Greenmarket in Brooklyn, and this level of self-righteousness he can't help but feel radiating from the fat wallets of its customers--that just because you have the money to pay $28 per pound of biodynamic grass-fed steak does not mean you are a better person--I really think trend has got to have an active role in this situation. The same way some people start shopping at J. Crew and Banana Republic when they start making money; not really because the clothes mean anything more to them deep down, but because they represent some level of "making it".

But, this is the thing: I shop farmer's markets and I've never experienced this feeling. I mean, they're just stands set up in a parking lot--about as modest as you can get. Most of the people shopping don't look rich to me. If anything, most people are toting bike helmets or bandanas and Birkenstocks. And the food isn't any more expensive. I could get a basket of 5 or 6 apples for 3 or 4 bucks, a head of romaine for $1.50; all in all I spent less at farmer's markets than I would have at jacked-up Giant Eagle or (even worse) Whole Foods.(Maybe these economic and social differences are attributable to differences in cites--I mean, Pittsburgh is not New York.)

And I guess now would be the time to mention that I do not shop at Whole Foods, which Joel mentioned along with the Greenmarket. I went there once with my mom and sister to find gluten-free pizza dough for her, and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw the price for just about every single thing in there. We left and went to Trader Joe's instead and found that, while a smaller store, they had a lot of the same lovely atypical and organic foods, but without the fancy labels and price tags. (Their produce is not local, but that's why I go to farmer's markets.) The employees dress in Hawaiin shirts, some have piercings and combat boots and jet-black hair, some are about as typical blond crew-cut American as you can get. And while I do see a few Mercedes roll into the parking lot, the clientèle is a diverse mix, and most look middle class. It's just super laid back.

So I guess maybe these self-righteous feelings arise not from the act of buying local or organic foods, but the motives for buying it and how much it costs. If you do it just because it's associated with a status of comfort--having the money not just to feed your family, but to feed your family the best of the best--or because a bunch of your cool friends are doing it, I can understand holier-than-thou concerns. But it's a little different for me. My friends generally do not shop at the places I do, so I go by myself. Actually, I've been teased for eating "weird foods" (lovingly, I'm sure,) so it's sort of been an anti-trend for me. And I do go to satisfy a certain taste for fresh, healthy foods, but it also has to do with peace of mind; doing what little I can to support a type of system that I feel better about than corporate agribusiness. And the peace of mind I get from knowing a little more about the food I eat; what's in it, where it came from. It's not really more expensive, but it does take extra travel and planning, so I guess it's a tiny bit of a commitment. It's personal, it's political, but mainly it's about values.

farmers r us

All ye Pitt students: A new club called Plant to Plate started this week at the University. Unfortunately, I missed the first meeting because the Pitt News reported that it was being held Thursday, when really it was Wednesday. My global studies professor also forwarded my class an email from Marc Schutzbank, the creator or coordinator or voice of the program..... about 5 hours after the first meeting ended. Epic fail much?

Regardless, here's the e-mail:

If you're reading to get involved in a new organic farm here in Pittsburgh - then here's your chance. Plant to Plate, a new organization developing connections between what we put in our stomachs and into the ground, will be clearing some of the land this Wednesday on November 11, 2009 from 12 - 4. (Directions Below).

The idea is this. Food is confusing, it comes from somewhere - usually Giant Eagle. It's grown far away, pumped with chemicals and then shipped here to Pittsburgh so we can buy it. That model just does not make the best tasting food - which is why we're giving you a chance to grow your own. Come work on our plot of land and the time that you put in will be paid back with boxes of produce that we grow in the farm. We just need your time.

Where: 5271 Forbes Ave It's a quick walk up Forbes past CMU. Take any 61 or 59U and get off at Plainview and walk 1 block down the hill. It'll be on your right. 

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Let you know more as I know more.

treading through unneccesary anxiety

I'm about to go to Giant Eagle to get some produce, because I didn't buy any when I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's this week even though I'm out, thinking I would be able to go to a farmer's market this weekend, but I had a hair appointment this morning and by the time I got home to feed my hungry little belly with a quick breakfast, the one in the Strip was closing soon, and I knew I'd hit traffic and would have to pay for parking...... and...... I was sleepy anyway because I got up early for the hair appointment, and I just wanted a quick little nap, it's Saturday for chrissakes---

Blahblahblah, slap me if you will, but the point I want to make is that I'm realizing it's these little inconveniences that make a lot of people (including me today) dismiss buying locally. It's just so much easier to pick up produce where you buy your milk and Eggos and Tyson dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets too. While you're at it, why not throw in your toothpaste and mascara? Why not just shop at Wal-Mart?!

This idea of convenience is one of the main factors that has driven our society to fast foods and super mega-stores, because we simply don't want to spend the time shopping around if we know we can get it cheaper there. And what if you live in a rural area? I know my mom would love to have the abundance of local farmer's markets that I do, but she doesn't (ironically, really) because there's just too much space where she is. She can buy local, but she's gotta hike to do it. And mom and pop shops, or even just alternative grocery stores? Virtually non-existent there. When it comes to food or clothes or anything really, rural areas pretty much just have the big ol' chains. The places I avoid like the plague.

It's like this trade-off  must be in the fine print of the deeds of these big country houses-- "Ah, yes, here you go, have this space, it's nice really isn't it, and so much quieter than those crazy cities, but... oh.... lack of population means lack of stores... and choices... so I hope you really like Red Lobster."

The more I write this the less I want to go to Giant Eagle, even though I can get local there probably (for about twice what I'd pay if I bought it straight from the farmer.) But if I don't go buy fresh produce today, I will have to wait until Tuesday evening, and my stomach starts feeling funny if I go too long without feeding it veggies. And I'm depleting my frozen supplies. And they're just not the same, anyway.

Words that are coming to mind: spoiled, privileged, whiny, lazy, upper-middle class.

I'm going to Nicaragua to study abroad this summer and this is one of the reasons why. To cure the gag reflexes that act up when I think of some of these words.

I may be being overly self-critical right now, so forgive me, but it's because while I feel frustrated by the obstacles of doing the "right" thing, or at least what feels right to me, I simultaneously feel like: for people who don't have the extra money or time or CAR for that matter, to try to buy local, this isn't even an issue. Getting enough food for their family is the issue.

I'm lucky to have so many options. I think I'll still go to the farmer's market Tuesday; I might as well, I can! I'll just buy salad stuff today. So my tummy doesn't hate me.

Season of the Punkin

October means one thing other than my birthday and Halloween and cold weather and the leaves changing colors:

The Pumpkin.

They're everywhere:

• I indulged in a pumpkin muffin the other week and texted my friend Kelsey to remind her that she wasn't enjoying it with me. (This is a girl who bought a corny Halloween t-shirt because a pumpkin was on it, went to a pumpkin patch and hayride with her boyfriend last weekend and enjoys pretty much any culinary expression of the plant.) She texted back along the lines of: "you bitch I hate you."
• When I look out the window of my bus as it goes down 5th Avenue, the sidewalks and grass and nearly every inch of surface area outside a church are covered with these bulbous orange gourds, and I'm always tempted to yank the cord and jump off the bus to buy one, but then realize this would mean I'd have to tote an awkward, lumpy twenty-pound ball around campus with me all day. 
• Trader Joe's has a special cinnamony, nutmegy pumpkin pancake mix for sale right now that my mom and I made for breakfast this morning. This blogger suggests enhancing the pumpkinness of this breakfast experience with TJ's pumpkin butter... we just topped them with a little cinnamon and brown sugar for fear of turning orange.

This bright, multi-functional plant makes a big appearance every fall, so I thought it only fair to give it a little limelight on my blog. After all, pumpkins are chocked full of vitamins and minerals, particularly the antioxidant beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in our bodies and can help your skin, eyes, and immune system. And they are yummy and can be converted into hundreds of different dishes, as evidenced by the recipe suggestions of these pumpkin-loonies (look, Kelsey, a club you can join.)

So go support a farmer and buy some pumpkins from a local patch and carve them up and roast the seeds and make a pie and enjoy the bounties of one simple little squash. And watch the Pumpkin King in the Nightmare Before Christmas while you're at it (and invite me because I know the words to all of the songs and will murmur them under my breath until you punch me in the arm several times.)

fer yinz pghers

Just found a cool map on the Post-Gazette website that lists all of the farmer's markets in the Pittsburgh area and color codes them according to what days they operate. Just so happens that today is Monday and there is one open in East Liberty, a mere hop and skip from my apartment.
I also stumbled upon a website that lists what's in season when, according to state.
I swear, some days I spend an hour looking for a trustworthy website about food or health and today I sit down and find two gems in about 5 minutes. The internet gods must really want me to cut down my carbon emissions or something.