Good reads

Here are a list of my favorite books about food culture and life and some that I am looking forward to reading very soon. These are not in order of which one I read first.

My Life in France, Julia Child

Julia Child introduced America to the wonders of french cuisine in her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

This Book tells the story of how that book was created and how Julia went from knowing nothing of France and french cuisine to immersing herself deeply into the french culture and learning how to love and appreciate food as one of the biggest pleasures life has to offer. It's an inspiring story and it makes you want to run into the kitchen and start cooking!

 The Apprentice: My life in the Kitchen, Jacques Pepin

This is another inspiring tale of how a young, poor boy living in the middle of World War II helps his mother in her small restaurant by peeling potatoes and doing anything he could. Then he becomes an apprentice at age 13 and his culinary adventure grows from there. His charismatic personality shines through every page and as he narrates his life he also shares delicious recipes. It makes you appreciate the unique culinary characteristics of not only every region of France but also various areas of the United States. If you enjoyed the previous book you will love this one as well!

The Sweet Life in Paris, David Lebowitz

Just looking at the cover makes me warm inside. I relived my trip to Paris reading David's story. Such great memories of walking down the streets of Ile St. Louis with all it's quaint cafes and perfect Fioe Gras shops, or walking by the Seine with a bag of sweet macaroons from LaDuree. 

His narrative is extremely funny as he not only describes his adventures and "mis" adventures in the culinary capital of the world, but also pokes fun at the sometimes -I dare to say- "annoying" french idiosyncrasy. He also adds mouth watering dessert recipes that are sure to keep you warm in the upcoming winter.

The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir, Josh Kilmer-Purcell  

This is the book I finished most recently. You might recognize these gentlemen farmers as the new stars of the reality TV Show "The Fabulous Beekman Boys" This is the story of how they decided to leave their big city life to move into a mansion they could hardly afford, in a small almost forgotten town, and start a farm with only the help of one man, his 80 goats and the internet as their main research tool. The reason I loved this book so much is because I've always considered myself a "City Girl" with aspirations to become a "Country Girl". This book inspired me so much because with every turn of the page you can see how hard these two guys worked to reach their dream of being full time farmers. But instead of being poor young boys raised in the country, they are hip New Yorkers who suddenly decide to raise their own turkeys and clean goat poop for a living. And they do it all with so much love! They get through all the hardships and they make the best of every little thing. To me it's like a modern day fairy tale.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain 

You either love him or hate him. He is raw, in your face and he tells it like it is. He is not trying to be a nice guy, in fact he loves being the "bad guy" and this book tells the story of how he became one of America's best known Chefs and TV personalities. It's a story that probably a lot of cooks and chefs can identify with, because it's not a fairytale-like description of the culinary world but the story of  extremely hard work, sweat and tears that accompany  everyone who has ever worked in a restaurant kitchen.  It's different than all the other books on this list, because it probably will not inspire you or make you feel warm and fuzzy. But it sure will make you laugh and respect everyone who works in the food industry.

Seasonal Bliss

The United States is a culture of “want it all, have it all” but what many Americans don’t realize is that this comes at a very high cost to your health and ultimately your life. Seasonal produce is called “seasonal” for a reason. You’re supposed to eat is when it’s in season. Even though I admit I get cravings for strawberries and cream in January, I know that it is unnatural for those strawberries to be in the market that time of year because it’s not the correct season for that fruit. Why not just wait until summer to have a delicious, fresh bowl of strawberries. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder. If there were no strawberries available in January we would all be so excited about them in the summer!

Eating seasonal goes hand in hand with eating local, which means buying fruits and vegetables that are grown in our area. This can reduce or even eliminate the impact on the environment from produce traveling thousands of miles to get to your table.

Eating seasonal also provides the opportunity to try new things you never thought you might like and to try all those recipes from your Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I recently discovered how delicious parsnip puree can be and have also become a pumpkin and winter squash cooking expert. In the summer, I eat fresh tomatoes every day and jar as many as possible to use over the cold months. Everything tastes better when it’s in season!

I would suggest you try it, or just make an effort to change your habits when going to the market. Buy produce when it’s in season in your area instead of buying produce that comes from 3,000 miles away., just because it's cheaper. The 30 cents you save is translated to gallons and gallons of gas used for that vegetable to travel to you and is thousands of dollars less for that local farmer whose only means of survival is to grow and sell one or 2 particular things.

 

Here is a very helpful link that tells you what is in season in your area. Happy shopping, and most of all happy and healthy eating!

 

http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?id=Seasonalfoodguides

Food Industry Facts and Stats you should be aware of

Some eye opening numbers I'd like to share:

$200 is the most migrant fruit pickers make in one week

9,222,870 pounds of pesticides were sprayed on strawberry crops in the U.S. last year

1,500 miles is the average distance traveled by fresh produce grown and sold in the U.S.

300,000 farm workers in the U.S. suffer from some form of pesticide related illness

12,250 tons of antibiotics go into livestock destined for the plate in the U.S.

100 pounds of high fructose corn syrup are consumed each year by the average American

90% of the money Americans spend on food goes to buying processed and pre-packaged food

8 quarter-pound cheeseburgers produces the same CO2 as an SUV does in 3 hours

33% of processed food tested contains mercury

for more alarming facts and stats visit http://www.takepart.com/issues/low-impact-farming/13779

Your next vacation: Organic Farm Volunteer Work

Ever thought about “working” on your vacation? Of course not, right?

Working would be the last thing you would want to do on a vacation, but after this post, you might actually change your mind.

I am always talking about the importance of eating fresh and natural food and avoiding highly processed foods. In an ideal world, natural and organic products would be more available in supermarkets for us to pick and choose. There would be a bounty of fresh, seasonal and organic vegetables and fruits, the butcher section would be filled with the best quality, organic, grass fed meats and we would never settle for less because we would be able to afford it.  But this is not my perfect world; far from it. And unfortunately supermarkets are filled with highly processed foods which, according to statistics, Americans spend 90% of their grocery budgets on. Many people not only do not have the means to buy good quality seasonal ingredients, they also don’t know how to grow their own, so they are stuck in a rut of bad choices they don’t know how to get out of. Many of these same people don’t have the means to go on long or fancy vacations either. But there just might be a way out of this rut.

This is where the “work vacation” comes into play. I recently stumbled upon the website for the WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) which connects volunteers to farms in their network. It is an opportunity to help small farms, while learning to implement ecological, low-impact methods in a hands-on manner. In other words, it’s a “farm work vacation”. This is the sort of vacation that could change your life for the better, and you might still get a tan, even if it’s a “farmer’s tan". In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles. The network of farmers is not only in the USA but all over the world!

Imagine, getting to work on an organic dairy farm in Switzerland, or a farm in Italy or France! Want to be adventurous? Why not even go to an organic cabbage farm in northern Thailand?

Far away travel is not your thing? Don’t want to spend the airfare money? You can stay in the country! There are thousands of organic farms near you that would be more than happy to have you as a volunteer and in exchange teach you about their organic practices, critter care, general homesteading, food preservation, and more. Wouldn’t it be great to come back from your vacation with something to show for it? Come back home with the knowledge to start your own little back yard operation, or even start a community garden? You’ll know how!

Make your next vacation count and take a trip to an organic farm. The farmers won’t be the only ones who appreciate it.

http://vimeo.com/6614235

WWOOF: The Movie Trailer from Ashley Terry on Vimeo.