1. Chickpeace – Peace vs War Journalism
If you read nothing else of this week’s Compost, take 6
minutes to watch this today I reckon you will find it worth it.
My mate Nadyat El Gawley showed this clip at the Wollemi
Common Peace Meal I organised last week.
As a foodie and a peacenik how could I not love it.
Play it a couple of times; first for the beauty of the
images; second to consider the points it makes.
2. Artisan food and urban ‘peasants’” is
this more than just a foodie fad?
“But is it
right to celebrate producers pursuing a back-to-the-land philosophy as
"modern peasants"? After all, there are plenty of people in the world
for whom living off the land is a grinding necessity, not a lifestyle choice.
Tulloh acknowledges that the title of her book was deliberately chosen to
create debate.
"One
of the reasons I used the word 'peasant' is that I knew I could be accused of
taking a rosy view of life – but it's provocative. If you're trying to raise
awareness, it's good to poke people in the eye," she says. "We're
grappling with a food system that's not working, and I wanted to highlight the
people who are trying to change things."
This from an article re a new book hitting our foodies
shelves The Modern Peasant: Adventures in City Food, Jojo Tulloh (this is
the second person I have heard of called Jojo – Paul McCartney you have a lot
to answer for apart from Mull of Kintyre!). Being somewhat a part of the
backyard/rooftop/footpath food in the city mob here in Sydney myself, I am looking
forward to reading the book. Tulloh sounds like she is aware of and addressed
the incredulity the movement (and I guess it has earned to chops to be called a
movement now) faces. I have no illusions that what I and others of the ilk are
doing is anything like a solution to food scarcity/sustainability or bringing
down agribusiness. For me it is an continuation of what my father used to do in
our backyard and what I have always done when I could for the pleasure of the
doing and the consuming of what I have grown.
3. Can we cook ourselves thin?
“Not
everybody thinks that home cooking is healthier than eating processed food.
Although research has shown that families who cook and eat together are
healthier and less likely to overeat, some argue that this is a correlation,
rather than a causal link. Others point out that processed food contains added
vitamins and other nutrients, and that fast food outlets such as McDonald's are
cleaning up their act.
In a
recent, polemical article for The Atlantic magazine, in which he accused
the "wholesome food movement" of demonising fast-food producers, the
writer David H Freedman claimed that the scientific studies on processed foods
are inconclusive: "The fact is, there is simply no clear, credible evidence
that any aspect of food processing or storage makes a food uniquely
unhealthy." Freedman even claimed that the fast-food giants could become
our saviours, using industrial processes to make food healthier and cheaply
available, if only the health-food lobby would let them.”
Does
anyone know of a study/studies that goes further than showing just a
correlation? Particularly any studies that looked at how much was cooked in the
home x what was cooked x health ?
4. Claire Hypercalcic Calcarasol and durum
wheat
“Durum wheat is very hard, high in protein, and low in
gluten, compared to bread wheat. Australia grows the most reliably high-quality
durum wheat. It gets snapped up by Italian pasta makers (more than 50% of our
exports of durum wheat are to Italy), as well as local ones like San Remo.”
This week’s good Aussie soil is quite a mouthful. And fancy
us exporting durum what to Italy. What next, coals to Newcastle?
5. How to meat a man in New Pork City
“Now, I have a boyfriend, but I do consider myself an
amateur matchmaker. And I must say I have never seen such a promising bunch of
men in my life. Many of them were extremely obsessed with pig butchery in a way
that seemed like they weren’t looking for a significant other necessarily, but
truly, I don’t think that matters. It is the element of surprise that men
consider charming and romantic even when it is a lie. An enterprising person
could so easily sidle up to a man and talk about a shared interest with lines like,
“Hey, why do you want that pig to be delivered to you in a field?” or, “I
forget what lard is.” “
Vegetarian and vegan alert: This story describes activities
that may cause upset J
See, I KNEW I have been looking for love in all the wrong
places. I mean, a roomful of men in glasses watching a pig being
butchered...watching someone cut up a carrot just doesn’t do it for me.
6. A new age for golden oldies
No link for this one. I nice short piece from Michelle Rowe,
Food Detective, in the Australian A Plus section Saturday 3/8/2013 on
the work being done by Peter Morgan-Jones with aged care provider HammondCare
on developing the food at its facilities. A tad unsure that using ‘molecular
air’ because it has a taste but dissolves on the tongue is a good alternative
for people undergoing tube feeding (I’ll have to see just what is being
proposed) but using xanthum gum in scones, cake and sandwiches to assist people
with dysphagia swallow food better, or using agar agar in jellies for those
with a pureed diet who can’t have gelatine sound like great ways to ensure our
elderly, and foodies like me entering those years (okay, okay I am still some
way off the pureed food) have a better standard of food than my mum gets
currently.
