Free-range lobster: Food buzzwords rendered meaningless

Certain buzzwords in the food world are almost a requirement in certain circles: organic, local, cage-free, grass-fed, and free-range jump into my mind.

There is also a general consensus these terms are being diluted past the original intention as more people latch onto them as passwords connoting meaning to the consumer concerned about eating responsibility when, in fact, the word denotes nothing.

Let us take them in order: organic. I was not there at the beginning of the organic labeling discussions but I feel many people hear organic food and they feel the vegetables have received “healthier” pesticides or none at all. That is not true.

I learned in my Master Gardener Class that certain botanical pesticides have as much or more toxicity than their synthetic equivalent. Organically labeled vegetables can still be coated with pesticides and grown in monoculture plots. However, organic does mean the plant is neither irradiated nor genetically modified. Whether “organic” is better for you enzymatically or nutritionally is an issue of current debate.

Local

I spoke to Martin Ruhlig, of Ruhlig’s Produce, this year at the HomeGrown Summit. He shared a story about his relative who was part of a major grocery chain’s “buy local” campaign. The trucks picked up the produce in Michigan and drove it to the distribution hub in Ohio - where it was mixed with all of the other “local” produce and reassigned to their stores within range. What does ocal really mean?

Cage-free

Cage-free poultry does not mean the birds are roaming across the prairie digging bugs and running around. Cage-free just means they are not kept in a cage. It does not say how much room the girls have. It does not address that chickens crammed together have their beaks burned off so they are unable to harm each other in the cramped conditions. The process is called debeaking or beak trimming. I found a truly disturbing slideshow of conditions in a “cage-free” facility, click here for it.

Grass-fed

Hearing that term does not mean the animal has been munching on pastures for its entire life either. In fact, it could mean that the animal ate grass for a week or a couple of months before putting the animal on feed to fatten it up quickly and save money.

Free-range

Again, it does not necessarily mean animals roaming on pastures. The USDA regulation states the animals must be “allowed access to the outside.” A door opened for 30 minutes a day, perhaps. A door opened does not mean animals are walking through it to see the sun.

All of this brings me to my free-range lobster story.

A few years ago, I was at a restaurant in New England, looking at the menu with the server standing over the table.

I look up and address her, “Tell me where your meat comes from.”

“It is from a local farm, organic, free-range. They found a really old breed and it is a small herd.”

“OK, good to know.”

I pause, and still scanning the menu, say to my tablemates - “The lobster looks good.”

The server jumps in. “Oh yes, the lobster is free-range.”

I turn to her, trying not to laugh. “Really, free-range lobster, that is great.”

As people eat more consciously they rely on words to tell them information about the food. Unfortunately, many of those words do not mean what we think they do. We are being co-opted by words that sound healthy, free and humane. The vocabulary has been co-opted as legalese for a distasteful reality.

Here is the link to the article on annarbor.com

Chicken litter feeds cows feeds chickens feeds cows

The debate for the FDA about feeding chicken litter to cows appears to stem from their concern over Mad Cow disease, which strikes me as the tail wagging the dog. So before I talk about the dog, I will address the tail. Chicken litter, i.e. everything from the floor of a chicken house, sawdust, feathers, manure, spilled feed, etc., is being fed to cows in feedlots. The FDA temporarily banned the practice in 2003 because there was concern that the chicken feed (industrial chicken feed includes “recycled cattle proteins” and “ruminant meat and bone meal” - a.k.a. beef, in its ingredients) was spilling onto the litter and being fed back to the cows. As a chicken owner, I can verify that assumption - chickens are not neat eaters.

In February of 2003, a study done by the North American Rendering Industry, showed, “it will require feeding 10 pounds of poultry litter / cow / day for 6,442 days, or 17.65 years, to achieve a single ID50 dose!” The ID50 is the median infective dose for Mad Cow disease. Cows bred and fattened for industry live less than 2 years. The 17-year time frame is very compelling, and I can see why the FDA removed the chicken litter ban in their later rulings.

I had never heard of the National Renderers Association before reading their study, so I did some research.

Formed in 1933 as the professional association of the rendering industry, they process the leftover parts of the animals humans raise for meat and render the raw materials into usable products. As their Web site states: “Meat and bone meal, meat meal, poultry meal, hydrolyzed feather meal, blood meal, fish meal and animal fats are the primary products resulting from the rendering process. The most important and valuable use for these animal by-products is as feed ingredients for livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and companion animals.”

Nearly 59 billion pounds of animal byproducts are recycled and reused by the rendering association annually. One third to ½ of an animal we have bred for meat is not used and the renderers turn that into “feed ingredients” as well as “valuable ingredients for various soaps, paints and varnishes, cosmetics, explosives, toothpaste, pharmaceuticals, leather, textiles and lubricants.” Renderers are an integral part of the meat industry.

An association of renderers, who recycle leftover animal parts into animal food, paid for a study to show there is no harmful affect on cows eating cows (small amounts of cows). And honestly, who else has the time, inclination, or finances to run that study other than the people directly affected?

Assuming we have successfully rendered (hehe) the argument against chicken litter causing Mad Cow Disease null and void, let us return to the main point - feeding chicken litter to cows.

According to the North Carolina Extension service, the litter should be processed before being fed to cattle. There are several ways to process the litter, but the goal is to stack it to create conditions for bacteria to raise the temperature of the stack to 140 -160 degrees to kill pathogens present in raw litter (the main pathogen of concern being E. Coli).

The University of Missouri Extension has a chart discussing the nutrient basis of chicken litter. On average the litter contains 25 percent protein, which is a fairly cheap source of food for the beef farmer. The ability to recycle the huge amounts of waste from chicken factories into feed for beef in feedlots appears to be a win-win for all involved. Cheap feed for cows translates into cheap hamburgers.

Which brings us to consumer choice, and a theme I have touched on again and again - voting with your wallet. Do you want to eat cows that have ruminated litter from the floor of an industrial chicken facility, or do you want to eat animals that have masticated grass and felt the warm sun?

It is nice to have choices.

Here is the article on annarbor.com.

A CSA embodies the relationship between an entrepreneur and an investor

At a recent dinner of my parents' friends, no one at the table knew what a CSA was, and I, still addressing the “adults” as “Mr & Mrs," attempted to enlighten them. “CSAs are shorthand for Community Supported Agriculture. You purchase a share at the beginning of the season and then receive bushels of whatever is in season every week or so. It is a partnership between the farmer and the eater.”

Mrs X responded loudly, “That is the most un-American thing I have ever heard of, what happened to the idea of self-sufficiency? That reeks to me of socialism!” (It helps to imagine a glass of Sauvingon Blanc being waved around when you hear this.)

My default action when that particular emotional hot button word (aka grenade) is lobbed into the conversation is to hide under the table, or at the very least flee to the ladies room. However, an attack on healthy, local food is too important for me to ignore. Let me see if I can break down Mrs. X’s point of view (after all, she knew me as a babe).

100 strangers and I pay $400 to a farmer. The farmer purchases seeds (capital), pays for gasoline for the tractor, buys a new pair of mud boots for the season (operating expenses), hires some people to help plant the seedlings (labor) and feeds herself while caring for the green shoots growing in the fields under the rain and sun.

My initial monetary investment is transformed into lettuce, beets, chard, kale, bok choy, pole beans, squash, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, raspberries, strawberries and eggplant (to name a few).

If I were to purchase a CSA share in early March, I'd expect to start receiving food in May, and that abundance would continue till October (timing depends on the farmer). The dividend percentage on my initial investment burns through the capital every year, and thus I will need to reinvest in shares the following year (I have eaten all of the profits).

If the potatoes are hurt by the blight and the squash catches a fungal wilt, my food dividend will be commensurately smaller, as will the shares of the other 100 investors. When the farmer has a productive season, my larder will be filled to bursting as I share in the food profits.

The Farmers Marketer blog lists information about CSAs from Two Creeks Organics (I wrote about my visit to them in January), Tantre Farm, Pregitzer Farm, Portage River, Old Pine Farm Meat CSA, Needle Lane Farms, Frog Holler, Community Farm of A2, Sunseed Farm, Carpenter’s Greenhouse, and Capella Farm. I would add to this good list the Zilke Vegetable Farm, Our Family Farm and Down on the Farm - a CSA offered by the farmers in the Amish Homer Community (contact Down on the Farm, 29910 R Drive S, Homer, MI 49245, or call 517-542-2025 at 8 a.m. and ask for Amos). This list in no way is complete, but it will give you a good place to start. I recommend asking your favorite farmer at the market whether they offer one.

Personally, the best thing I have found about CSAs are the relationship between the consumer and the farmers: heck, let us say it - friendships.

Socialism? I don’t think so. For me a CSA embodies the relationship between an entrepreneur and an investor - and the dividends are paid in food - a very American and unique relationship. Oh say can you CSA?

Here is the link to the annarbor.com article!

Eggs Benedict in 6 minutes

I love Eggs Benedict. I can’t pinpoint the beginning of my love affair, because my love has always been there. As Eggs Benedict features prominently in most menus, I don't think I am the only one in love.

For over 20 years, I resigned myself to eating Eggs Benedict in restaurants because I thought the sauce was too darn hard - the classic recipe for hollandaise sauce involves a double burner, a candy thermometer, and a metal bowl (none of which we own). But last Sunday, my partner, trusting as always in the infallibility of The Joy of Cooking and spurred on by my stated desire of what I wanted for Valentine’s Day brunch, kept reading, and persevered, finding a recipe for hollandaise that doesn’t require anything special but a blender.

And we own a blender, and we have fresh eggs that need to be eaten, and the entire delicious, plate-licking meal took us 6 minutes to make, and it was the easiest at-home most decadent brunch ever.

Here is our two-person recipe for Eggs Benedict, modified with more lemon juice to ensure a big sparkle of citrus to offset the fat. Four poached eggs, turkey bacon from freezer, leftover 8 grain 3 seed bread from Zingerman's, Hollandaise sauce made in the blender: 2 egg yolks, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1/3 cup melted ghee (clarified butter), salt and pepper - voila! (Note: This timeline assumes two sets of hands, and we like our eggs runny.)

T-minus 6 minutes: Check coop for fresh eggs, return with 4 fresh new eggs to add to the 2 on the windowsill from yesterday, turn heat on for poaching egg water, melt ghee, slice off 4 chunks of turkey bacon and throw into toaster oven with slices of bread.

T-minus 5 minutes: Separate 2 egg yolks into blender, add 2 teaspoons lemon juice, grind in pepper and salt, press toast on toaster oven.

T-minus 4 minutes: Take a sip of coffee, watch the bread turn into toast.

T minus 3 minutes: Set the table, scratch the dog.

T-minus 2 minutes: Break 4 eggs into the poaching egg water

A brief step-out from our countdown. I learned to make poached eggs years ago. The trick was to create little tornadoes in the water with a spoon and then gently pour the egg into the middle of the tornado. The force of the tornado made sure the egg didn’t spread all over the place. If the egg was being difficult, you could add some vinegar to the water. I always liked making water tornadoes with my spoon - so that is what I did.

Or, that was what I did until we started keeping chickens. I don’t need to make a tornado in the water any more. A freshly laid egg has a white that is almost as firm as the yolk. I am able to simply pour it into the warm water. They are so contained unto themselves, they can be literally on top of each other and still be intact when you spoon them out.

Okay, back to the countdown.

T-minus 90 seconds: Turn blender on and start foaming the yolk and lemon juice. After 10 seconds slowly pour in the melted ghee.

T-minus 30 seconds: (This takes some maneuvering to happen all at once). Remove toast and bacon from toaster, place the four pieces onto two plates, stack turkey bacon on top, remove the poached eggs from the water and place on top of bacon, use a spatula to pour the Hollandaise onto the eggs, carry plates to table.

Breakfast! Cut into the perfectly runny eggs, the salty, tangy bacon, the warm dense bread, and spread over it all the incredibly perfect Hollandaise sauce. Smile as your tongue dances with happiness.

Here is the link to the annarbor.com article!

Unbromated flour: please label

There is a time and a place for proper labeling. For example, California airports have placards telling travelers: "This area contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or birth defects." There you are, flying home, and unless you decide to tell your boss you are going to be 3 days late because you felt like taking a scenic rail trip over the Rockies, you do not have much of a choice but to stand there, looking at the sign, and wondering whether the carcinogens are in the carpet, the seats, the ceiling, or the duct system. Should you hold your breath until your plane boards? To me that labeling is helpful in the long run, but not while you are standing there.

Food labeling is helpful immediately. The more information about what you are putting into your body the healthier choices you can make. No one is ever going to force feed you an ice cream sundae. You choose to ingest those calories and sugar with your eyes wide open and sometimes the decadent nature of the treat can add to the pleasure of eating.

Which brings me to labeling unbromated flour.

Flour? Really?

Really.

Flour or gluten is in nearly everything we eat (just ask someone with Celiac Sprue disease). As a mainstay of our Western diet, it invites a closer inspection. The buzz words on the street for flour are "unbleached and unbromated." Most people I have asked do not know what bromation is.

I learned about bromation when I worked for Zingermans Bakehouse, if you already know the facts, please excuse me for this brief recap.

You harvest wheat and you grind it into flour, good. For the first couple of hours that flour can form beautiful gluten, which are protein strands that occur when you add mechanical energy, kneading, to flour and water. After those initial hours the enzymes go wonky in the flour and will not properly form gluten. However, if you age the flour for a few weeks or so it settles down enough to form gluten and baking can commence.

As we all know, time is money. Some smart person (there is a dearth of information about this on the internet) realized that if you pump potassium bromide onto the flour it artificially ages it. Therefore the flour can be used for baking without waiting for it to age. Voila! Money saved!

Meanwhile the UK banned the use of bromide in food products nearly 20 years ago, and Canada did the same thing 15 years ago. In 1986, California passed Prop 65 (ironically, the same rule that mandates the rule of carcinogen signs in airports) and many brands (like Pepperidge Farm, Arnold, Pillsbury, and Entenmanns) switched to an unbromated flour because otherwise their packages would need a cancer warning sign when sold in California.

There are very few flour labels that say unbromated, or "aged naturally." In my small sample size of reading ingredients in products made with flour (crackers, cereal, bread, pasta, etc), I could find no mention of unbromated flour. Unbleached flour was mentioned, enriched flour was mentioned, but there was nothing about unbromated.

Finally, I learned from a woman at the supermarket (curious as to why I was taking pictures of flour bags) that bromide is used to increase the density of vegetable oil, which then ends up in citrus flavored soft drinks (look for BVO in drinks like Mountain Dew).

I am not going to get into the science of whether or not bromide is a carcinogen. I want to know what I am putting into my body so I can choose with my eyes wide open. I would like bromated flour to be labeled.

Here is the article on annarbor.com.

Eggnog to celebrate our backyard eggs!

One of my first memories of the holidays was navigating my grandparent’s home with my eyes fixed on a cup of egg nog clutched in my hands to bring to my parents. When I realized our girls would start laying around the holiday, making eggnog seemed a fine tribute to their efforts, especially after hearing a story about Salmonella being unable to survive in homemade spiked eggnog. Our girls started laying on December 26th, supported with lights, our best wishes, and laying mash (which has nutrients for strong shells).

We augmented our collection with eggs from Dragonwood Farm and plunged into making the recipe of family lore. Handed down on index cards to email, from my grandmother to my father to me.

• Dozen eggs, separated

• Cup and a half of sugar

• Beat yolks and sugar and put in huge bowl

• Add a pint of amber rum and two cups of cheap brandy

• Let sit

• Add quart of milk

• Beat quart of whipping cream

• Beat egg whites

• Add in and let sit

• Add nutmeg

  Serves 20-24

This remarkably simple recipe resulted in a great amount of nog. After folding in the egg whites and the whipped cream, the color was a soft inviting light yellow (thanks to the bright orange of the yolks, rum, and brandy). The texture felt to me like the almost melted bits at the end of a milk shake. The taste was wonderful, light, not overly alcoholic, a nice balance between kick and cream. I added cinnamon along with nutmeg and the aroma of the rum, brandy, and spices brought me back immediately to those holiday parties 20 years ago.

I like the idea of the term egg nog being a contraction of Egg ‘N Grog from the English term for Rum.

I also like the idea of expanding my repertory of egg recipes as the girls hit their stride. I feel I need to be worthy of their beautiful eggs.

Here is the article on annarbor.com.

Inaugural Introduction on AnnArbor.com

During my interview in 2005 for a job at Zingerman's Deli I told my future managers I loved eating because it is the only carnal thing you can do in public. That sophomoric, and true, sentiment aside, I am happy to talk about food as a new lead food blogger at AnnArbor.com for several reasons. Every country I visit I can't resist trying new foods. Cactus tacos with eyeball soup in Mexico? Sure. Oodles of noodles with mystery meat while crouched on a street in Vietnam? I got really good with chopsticks. Lukewarm sweet cardamom tea on an Indian train? Bring it on. Unrolling a perfect croissant while looking at Notre Dame? I will bring the napkins.

Beyond the pleasure of eating, food is company, food nourishes the soul, food engenders laughter, debate, and love. It is a universal connection one can share with any person.

Moreover, food has become very political. The locavore movement gains traction as Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver, and Prince Charles continue to push the national and international conversations forward. Educated consumers want to make choices that are tasty, healthy, and sustainable. Like a perfect mille feuille, there are thousands of layers to what at first appears very simple: the access to healthy food for all people.

I am writing for all of those "whys". Food tastes good. Dinner in company feeds my soul. Food justice sparks my passion and my intellect. I have to eat to live. I can't think of anything I would rather spend my time on.

So that explains the why; here is the "who."

I moved to Ann Arbor in the summer of 2005 - my husband works for the University. We live near enough to the stadium that on game days we don't have to turn on the radio to hear if we are winning. I am an East Coast transplant - born in Washington DC.

I shocked some city friends with our decision to get backyard chickens this summer. They should start laying this winter (I hope). Here are some pictures of our chickens and the building of the coop this summer.

I run the Westside Farmers Market during the summer season. Here is a video of us at the HomeGrown Festival (which was a blast).

I love to eat food with chopsticks. Sometimes I can read a magazine at the same time, but not always. I can laugh no matter what my utensils are.

Check out the article on annarbor.com.