The Feasibility of Non-Industrialized Food.
One of the biggest complaints against organic produce and free-range meat is that it’s too expensive and elitist for the “common man”. They say it’s just not feasible.
Naturally, I beg to differ. It’s entirely feasible and entirely plausible. Not as an alternative but as the norm.
It’s funny how far we’ve come when we’re not willing to pay for good, clean food anymore. It’s feasible for us to add a $10 text messaging option to our cell phones, on top of our $100 monthly bill. It’s feasible for us to have $50-100 of programming for our televisions. It’s feasible for us to buy our kids all kinds of toys and clothes. It’s feasible for us to drive vehicles that drink $3.00 of gasoline for 15 miles like a fat kid pounding milkshakes. It’s feasible for us to pay twice as much for a piece of clothing because of a 2 inch logo or insignia. But it’s not feasible to pay $1 more for something raised right.
And to borrow an argument of Michael Pollan, isn’t it funny that we would all aspire to drive a Honda as opposed to a Suzuki. Or we aspire to drive a BMW or Porsche with it’s superior craftsmanship and high-end engine, but we think all meat and produce is the same?
All meat is not created equal. Quick facts . . . 50 years ago, it took 8 years to raise a cow up for eating. It is now done in 14 months. Cows were created and evolved to eat grass. Now they eat processed corn mixed with steroids and hormones. Maybe it’s not the Doritos and fat asses stuck to the couch. Maybe it’s steroids that are giving us man tits and forcing little girls into puberty earlier and earlier.
It’s feasible. It’s entirely feasible.
I hate to sound negative. I really do. But I think some of this is just inevitable if I open my mouth.
It’s feasible.
Downgrade your cable or satellite package. Downgrade your gas guzzler for something that gets a few extra miles. Buy a few less outfits a month. And all of a sudden, eating naturally becomes a reality and less a privilege of the elite.
Good Food, Good Thought.
So I’m still reading (aka listening to the audiobook) The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Pollan made a quick comment in passing. He said a lot of people are starting to see the connection between good food and good thought. That “Good Food, Good Thought” has in a way become a sort of motto for a lot of the pastoral farmers, local eaters, and slow food proponents.
What I think he meant by this is that good food equals good thought. Or to say it more bluntly, what and how we eat is a direct reflection of what we think about the world. Pollan was echoing this comment made by Joel Salatin earlier in the book,
You know what the best kind of organic certification would be? Make an unannounced visit to a farm and take a good long look at the farmer’s bookshelf. Because what you’re feeding your emotions and thoughts is what this is really all about. The way I produce a chicken is an extension of my world view. You can learn more about that by seeing what’s sitting on my bookshelf than having me fill out a whole bunch of forms.
In this light, eating moves from being a utility to being a theological and political act. Food moves from being a commodity to being a hinge upon which we see the world. I’m not so sure I ever write anything worth reading twice, but if I did that might have been it. Eating is not a utility but a theological and political act.
You can extrapolate that out to how and what we shop for. How and what we drive. How and what we entertain ourselves. These are not utilities. These are theological and political acts.
I know. I know. I’m probably taking myself too seriously again. But I wonder if I come off like an extremist because of how far culture has moved. I’m certainly not advocating we go back to the “good old days”. Or even attempting to romanticize the past when in fact it involved way more sweat and way more tears than I’m willing to shed. Technology and science play to vital a role in my life and the lives of others for me to think otherwise. But I start to think about how most “extremists” today in regards to alternative living are in fact not doing something new, but rather are rediscovering old ways.
These days you sound like an extremist or a hippie when you start talking about eating and shopping locally. But this is something that was as normal as normal gets back in the day. To talk about eating food that is grown without added hormones and done so in sustainable ways gets you labeled as 1) elitist or 2) a zealot. But this was the only way our ancestors knew how to eat.
Good food means good thought. What we eat and how we eat it says a lot about our view of the world. Even about ourselves. Cheap, fast, processed, watered-down, accessorized, injected with junk, artificial, mass-marketed, over-marketed, over-packaged, dressed up, and the list could go and and on. It doesn’t take long to start to see the connection. Our food says a lot more about us than I think we might care to admit.
I’m working on a rather extensive project that I hope to be blogging about soon that shows just how far we’ve come and how integrated our eating is with almost everything else we do. But first I’ve got to finish up some research and crunch a lot of numbers. In the meantime, please be patient with me as I shift all of my economic talk to food talk. Which I think is the only natural progression.
Thanksgiving Fried Turkey Recipe.
Courtesy of the Queen of the South, Paula Deen.
- 1 (10-pound) turkey
- 2 tablespoons house seasoning (1 cup salt, 1/4 cup black pepper, 1/4 cup garlic powder)
- 2 tablespoons of your favorite dry rub
- 3 to 5 gallons peanut oil
Cooks Note: To measure the amount of oil needed to fry the turkey, place turkey in fryer, add water to top of turkey, remove the turkey and the water line will indicate how much oil will be needed to fry your turkey. Having too much oil can cause a fire. The pot should not be more than 3/4 full or the oil could overflow when the turkey is added.
Wash bird inside and out, and allow to drain. Rub turkey all over with House Seasoning. Coat turkey with dry rub. Allow the bird to sit until it reaches room temperature. Heat peanut oil in a turkey fryer or a very, very large stockpot to 350 degrees F. Lower turkey into hot oil, very carefully, making sure it is fully submerged. Fry turkey for 3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes per bird. Remove turkey from oil and drain on paper towels.
And watashi wa (my new catch all phrase) . . . here it is . . .
Chicken, Bacon, Mushroom Fajitas.
We were busy little cooks this week. Here’s something we made Saturday night.
Chicken, Bacon, Mushroom Fajitas
Feeds 2-4
Cost: $15.00
Ingredients:
8 burrito sized flour tortillas warmed.
3 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless (salted to your taste)
1 diced red bell pepper
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3 slices of chopped bacon, peppered
1 1/2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup of diced cilantro
1 package of taco or fajita seasoning
Directions:
1) First heat a large sized skillet over medium heat. Begin to cook the chicken breasts in the large skillet till the outsides are a golden brown and the juices are absorbed. Set them aside and salt them to your taste.
2) Next cook the bacon until the oil starts to release, then stir in the onions and bell peppers slowly. Cook them until the bacon becomes crispy and you can see through the onions. Next mix in the tomatoes and mushrooms and cook them until the mushrooms have become moist.
3) Finally cut the cooked chicken breasts into very small pieces and add them to the skillet along with the cilantro. Stir everything together and enjoy!
Thanksgiving Turkey.
This year I decided I wanted to be adventurous and do a turkey. My in-laws are ham people but there isn’t anything wrong with having turkey and ham. I did some research via GeorgiaOrganics.org and PickYourOwn.org (which is the entire country) and found a farm about 20 miles away that raises turkeys among other things. I called a little late and so I had to get put on a waiting list since there are only about a dozen or so of them. But I got the call 2 weeks ago that I’ve been bumped up to an active user and a turkey has been reserved for me. I tried to find the picture of my turkey but I accidentally deleted the email. It’s a free-range turkey raised by the fine folks over at Bay Creek Acres.
So . . . does anyone have any good turkey recipes? I kind of want to do a slow smoked turkey? Any ideas?