I couldn't resist posting this pic having spent quite some time as a young thing watching Esther Williams doing her thing.
How
Norway is selling out-of-date food to help tackle waste
‘ A new app,
foodlist,
encourages people to take photographs of food in stores coming to the end of
its shelf life, to alert people that it needs to be eaten and where it can be
found. A company called SNÅL frukt & grøn has popped up selling
wonky vegetables, or odd coloured eggs, with a 30% discount. And the Norwegian
government says they want more of this, and quickly.’
This sounds like my kind of app. I am going to try it and will report
back 😊 BUT to make it work I need someone else to
download the app as well so we can post to each other. Anyone up for trying it
out?
http://bit.ly/2v6TyuP
Invisible Farmer
‘Invisible Farmer is
the largest ever study of Australian women on the land. This three year project
is funded by the Australian Research Council and involves a nation-wide
partnership between rural communities, academics, government and cultural organisations.’
This looks like an
excellent project. I checked out the blog and got found a blog about IIleen
Macpherson, one of twelve Australians that joined Rudolf Steiner’s
Experimental Circle the Goetheanum and of Demeter Farm in Dandenong which she
and Ernesto Genoni established as Australia’s first biodynamic farm
https://invisiblefarmer.net.au/about-2-1/
VIIth International Conference, La
Via Campesina: Euskal Herria Declaration
‘While governments
impose seed laws that ensure privatization and guarantee profits for the
transnationals, we care for our peasant seeds, created, selected and improved
by our ancestors. Our seeds are adapted to our lands, where we use
agroecological management to produce without the need to buy agro-toxics or
other external inputs. Our peasant agroecology feeds the soil with organic
matter, is based on biodiversity, and conserves and recovers peasant varieties
of seeds and animal breeds, using the knowledge of our peoples and our Mother
Earth to feed us. Its main source is the indigenous, ancestral and
popular peasant knowledge that we have accumulated for generations, day by day,
through observation and constant experimentation on our lands, shared later in
our exchanges from peasant to peasant and between our organizations. Our
agroecology has a peasant and popular character; it does not lend itself to
false solutions like “green” capitalism, carbon markets and “climate-smart”
agriculture. We reject any attempt by agribusiness to co-opt agroecology.’
Wow. My rad heart leapt into my mouth when I read this,
http://bit.ly/2w0qLJ3
Vegans, Vegetarians, and Now, the Reducetarian. What
it is and why you’ll be hearing more about it.
‘Kateman coined the term when he decided to
tackle the language surrounding “cheating” vegetarians or vegans – and those
who occasionally “fall off the bandwagon”. The self-described card-carrying
vegetarian was himself called out after accepting a piece of turkey offered
while under pressure from those at the dinner table. The moment sparked a keen
desire to steer the conversation towards positive discussion about reducing
societal consumption of meat.’
And in more trivial news…Gad I hope I
won’t be hearing more about it - the word, I mean. No quarrel with the notion
of reducing intake of meat without going vegetarian or vegan, but having to
label this is so…reducetarian.
City
dweller avoids the supermarket for a year and lives off the land
‘The only exception to the rules were 10
ingredients which Mr Brown bought at the beginning of his challenge, including
olive oil, wine, coffee, milk and a staple such as oats.’
Wimp 😊
The rise of London’s cookbook clubs
‘We're trying to encourage people to
actually cook from a new cookbook, rather than see it as something pretty with
pictures," she continues. "It's a hit if a reader takes three recipes
into their repertoire. That's what publishers tell us," says Turner – which
makes Prime's prospects look promising. That night Parle and the Dock Kitchen
team will dish up five recipes from the book to what sounds like (from the
satisfied noises I overhear from fellow diners) pretty unanimous praise.’
I’d like to know whether in fact this translates
into people cooking from the cookbooks more. For me, doing this as a convivial
act with friends in our homes would sit better.
Hundred-year-old
fruitcake found in 'excellent condition' among Antarctic artefacts
‘So what do conservators do with a 100-year-old tea cake?
According to the New Zealand-based charity, there was quite of
bit of work that went into treating the cake, including rust removal, chemical
stabilisation and coating of the tin remnants.
"Deacidification of the tin label and some physical repair
to the torn paper wrapper and tin label was also carried out," the Trust
said.
After being treated the cake, along with all artefacts found,
will be returned to the site.’
Ye gods! Surely SOMEONE should at least
taste it first!!!
Why we fell for clean eating
‘We are once again living in an
environment where ordinary food, which should be something reliable and sustaining,
has come to feel noxious. Unlike the Victorians, we do not fear that our coffee
is fake so much as that our entire pattern of eating may be bad for us, in ways
that we can’t fully identify. One of the things that makes the new wave of
wellness cookbooks so appealing is that they assure the reader that they offer
a new way of eating that comes without any fear or guilt.’
I could have grabbed any of the
paragraphs in Bee Wilson’s depressing analysis of the dangers, and yes, the
benefits when in moderation, of ‘clean eating’. But this one it seems to me
gets to the core of it – fear and guilt as driving forces in how so many people
eat now.
http://bit.ly/2uuEYSj
The Quest for the Perfect Mango Knows No Borders
‘It was on the Muslim holiday of Eid
that I went to Apna Pakistan to tell the owner that I was taking their Sindhri
mangoes home to India. The owner, a middle-aged man in white kurta-pyjama,
stood possessively beside the crates of mangoes as I examined each variety in
my hands. “If it’s for India, you must take Chaunsa then. It’s the sweetest,
and doesn’t grow in India.” However, the Chaunsa is indeed grown and eaten
across India, especially northern areas. When I revealed this, he was
astonished, much the same way I was when I first found the treasure of
Pakistani mangoes. Deep in his eyes I could see that perhaps my revelation had
broken his heart a teeny, tiny bit.’
A delightful article that leaves me
craving to walk through an Indian bazaar in mango season – though the push to
link to Partition borders on the tasteless. I have no idea what variety the
tree in my front yard is that predates (premangoes?) my stewardship, and I am
not the best steward, tho the possums seem to enjoy my laxity in netting the
tree, but I am grateful for what I do salvage.
http://bit.ly/2uMB9Uy
The sandwich that ate the world
‘In unison, the visitors bite down into
the bread’s fragile outer shell. A few fire off selfies as the customary
explosion of crumbs covers the table. This is how all banh mi experiences begin.
The bread gives way to the paté, then homemade mayonnaise, tender ham and cold
cuts of pork. Pickled carrot and daikon add sweetness, cucumber brings a cool
crunch. Cilantro. Unmistakable. A dash of Maggi Sauce for depth. Every taste
bud gets hit. Then comes the chili, like a short, sharp slap in the face. “Wake
up sunshine,” it says. “You’re in Vietnam now.”’
A neat history of what is now a staple
of Australian fast/street food, tho I have to say that the two rolls pictured
in the article wouldn’t pass muster at any of my fave banh mi – talk about
skimping on the filling – and pardon my pedantry but it is NOT a sandwich, it’s
a giant among ROLLS!
And here’s a question – as the kebab
displaced the burger and the banh mi displaced the kebab and the burger is now
displacing the banh mi, will the kebab rise again or is there some other
one-hand-juice-dripping-onto-your-shirt-late-at-night-after-a-few-bevvies about
to hit our streets? The smashed avo on toast is never going to fit the niche.
Where's the best place to find out who your real
friends are? The kitchen
‘From cooking alongside someone, you can
learn whether they are reliable and trustworthy. If we can get dinner for 14 on
the table together without fuss or bother I know for certain that this is
someone who will get me through the more dramatic events in life. Say, a
hostage situation.’
Because right now we could all do with
some humour in our lives.
http://bit.ly/2wWfBq4
