McDumb

Why on earth should fast food companies be helping to write health policy?

McDonald's and PepsiCo to help write UK health policy | Politics | The Guardian

Why the USDA Shouldn't Wear Two Hats

And this is why your nutrition watchdog should not also have marketing duties.

While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales - NYTimes.com

Bah - Kids Can Grow The Food, But Not Eat It

Pathetic.

School gardens: Produce kids grow is forbidden fruit in Chicago lunchrooms - chicagotribune.com

A Pay-What-You-Can Restaurant, For the Kosher

This is a really cool idea - well, an idea that's actually in practice.  It's a restaurant for people who are having trouble affording food.  They pay what they can - and it's kosher, which is good because kosher food tends to be more expensive.

A Kosher Response to Poverty

So Many Servings, So Little Time

Even with our weekly CSA delivery, I still don't get the recommended number of vegetable servings everyday. I know I should be able to (we've gotten more leafy greens this year than I've bought in my entire life, I think!), but the call of a veggie just isn't as strong (to me) as the call of...well, a cookie. If I could find excellent ways to make veggies for snacks, maybe I'd get in all my servings.

How about you? Check out the NYTimes article below, it's an interesting read.

Personal Health - Vegetable Consumption Lags, Despite Benefits - NYTimes.com

Up in Vermont, Where Everything's Fresh

A very cool idea using an old postal service truck. Hopefully more areas see this idea and run with it.

Aboard the Vegetable Express: Getting Fresh, Organic Produce to the Neighborhoods that Need them Most

Ohio Takes A Stand

Farmers and animal rights activists have reached an agreement about the future of farming in Ohio. Check it!

Move to Limit ‘Factory Farms’ Gains Momentum - NYTimes.com

Child Nutrition Act

Updated info from Slow Food on the Child Nutrition Act.

One step closer to passing the Child Nutrition Act : Slow Food USA

Nutrient content claims and health claims

This is from one of my favorite food policy blogs. The blog is written by Parker Wilde, who teaches at Tuft's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. The article is a good look at the difference between nutrient content claims and health claims.

U.S. Food Policy: A fine line: nutrient content claims and health claims

Chef Tom Colicchio on Capitol Hill

He's not the best speaker, but Chef Tom Colicchio made some good points on the Hill the other day. Check it out on YouTube:

YouTube - EdLaborDemocrats's Channel

Goat Cheese, Swiss Chard and Basil Pizza

So what do you do when you have a ton of greens in your fridge (because you've been slacking on the CSA thing this week) and you're supposed to get more veggies tomorrow?

Make pizza!

Andy and I threw this pizza together tonight in about 30 minutes, including the baking time (but not the dough rising time).  It was awesome...seriously awesome, but I'm a huge fan of goat cheese, and this pizza has it!

If you have the time, definitely make this pizza crust.  It turns out really well every time I make it and anyone that eats it, loves it.  You can do it with bread flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix, which is what I used today) and you can mix your yeast in with the flour without proofing it (for the Active Dry type), as long as your water is hot enough.  It's a very forgiving dough, and it tastes great!

Goat Cheese, Swiss Chard and Basil Pizza
by Me (with a little - or a lot - of help from Mark Bittman for the pizza dough)

Ingredients:

1 recipe of par-baked pizza dough (see below) on a cookie sheet

1 bunch of swiss chard

1 4 oz. container of goat cheese crumbles (that's right, I bought the grocery store container of pre-crumbled goat cheese.  No Greenmarket for me, I was tired.)

A few basil leaves

Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Cut the leaves away from the stem on the chard.  Chop the stems into 1" (or so) pieces. Slice the leaves into really thick ribbons.

2. Heat about 2 tbs. olive oil in a large skillet.  Put the stems in and saute for about a minute or two.  Add the leaves and cook just until they're wilted.  Take the pan off the heat (and turn the heat off).

3. Spread olive oil on your pizza crust.  Don't put on so much that it pools, or your crust will get soggy.  Just use a pastry brush, your fingers, or a paper towel to spread it on your dough.

4. Spread the chard evenly over the dough, spread the basil, then spread out the goat cheese crumbles.  I wish I would've taken a picture of this before we put it in the oven - it was so pretty!

5. Put it back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.  Goat cheese doesn't really melt, but you're looking for the crust to finish getting golden, and for the goat cheese to get a bit brown.

6.  Eat.  For dessert, check out A Long Bakes Knight.  Yes, shameless self-promotion.

Pizza Dough - makes enough for 1 large pizza
adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ingredients:
3 c. all-purpose flour, or bread flour, or a combination of both
2 tsp. active dry or instant yeast
1 to 1.5 tsp. salt (Mr. Bittman's recipe calls for 2 tsp. salt, I think even 1.5 tsp. is a bit too salty for my taste)
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 c. very warm (100 - 110 F) water

Instructions
1. Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in your food processor.  Pulse a few times to mix it up.
2. Turn the food processor on and add the olive oil and the 1 c. of water.
3. After about 30 second the dough should form into a ball that's slightly sticky.  If it's too dry, add a tsp. of water and process a bit more.  If it's too wet (unlikely), add a tsp. of flour at a time and process.
4. Once your dough has formed a slightly sticky ball, dump it out of the processor onto a lightly floured board or countertop.  Need a few strokes until it's a smooth ball.
5.  VERY LIGHTLY oil a small mixing bowl and put the dough in, then cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit until it doubles in size.  In the summer heat, it took about an hour.  In the winter, I leave it under a hot light and it still takes about an hour or an hour and a half.  If you're doing this in the morning, you can let it rise in the fridge all day.

When you're ready to make the pizza, preheat your oven to 450 F.  Oil a cookie sheet (or prepare a pizza stone, if you're feeling fancy).  Slowly start stretching or rolling the dough until you have a good size (you could make two small pizzas or one large).  I usually stretch it until it fits my cookie sheet pretty much to the edges.  Put your cookie sheet in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes.  You don't want to completely bake the dough, but you do want to get it solid enough that the toppings aren't going to burn before your dough is done.

Quick! How Do We Make the Salmon Bigger?

Really? Do we really need fish with a constant "on" button just so they get bigger? I mean, you'd think we'd learn...what with the whole "free range, organic, etc" movement getting bigger right now. I don't need hormones in my chickens or cows to make them bigger, and I don't want my salmon genetically altered to make it bigger. Sheesh. Nature, people, let's work with it, not against it.

End of soapbox. You should still read the article.

Genetically Altered Salmon Set to Move Closer to Your Table - NYTimes.com

Top Chef Takes On School Lunches

Top Chef recently did an episode that had the chefs making lunches on a school lunch budget. I wish I could have seen the episode, but the blog article is cool too. Sam Kass from the White House kitchen was the guest judge. The interesting thing - it says the chefs weren't able to complete it successfully and stay in budget.

Our Blog : 06/24/10 - Top Chef takes on school lunch : Slow Food USA

Second CSA Delivery

Here's what we got this past Thursday (I'm a little late with the post!):

summer squash
cucumber
turnips
broccoli rabe
broccoli
sugar snap peas
salad greens
parsley
basil
cabbage
swiss chard
a lettuce with red leaves...and I forget the name (fail)

Unfortunately we haven't made much this week because we had a friend in town over the weekend.  We made a great frittata tonight with all of the salad greens from this week and a few left from last week.  Monday night we made spanakopita with the swiss chard and the parsley.  Both were good, but I'm not sold on either recipe.

Tomorrow night we are going to make sugar snap peas with shrimp curry and I am really looking forward to it.  If it's better than the last two we've tried, I'll post the recipe. :)

What I've been enjoying most is making food that we're able to freeze for later.  Last week I made zucchini muffins and a loaf of zucchini bread to keep in the freezer.  The muffins have made excellent breakfasts.  We're planning to pickle the turnips and the cucumber from this week's haul.  We've never pickled before, but we're getting good at experimenting.  More soon with this week's CSA!

Go Bronx Go!

This is a great article from NYTimes on a new CSA-type program in the Bronx. It's a little different in that it's a pay-as-you-go program rather than paying all upfront like we did. Also, if the people stick with it they'll actually own shares of the farm in a few years. Members are able to influence what is grown on the farm, which is a great way to get people to join and a great way to give them produce they'll actually be able to use.

Alliance Delivers Farm-Fresh Produce to South Bronx Consumers - NYTimes.com

Oh the Pretty Greens

I'm all for farmer's markets (and I frequent the one at Union Square almost weekly), but this article makes an interesting point about farmers preferring the markets in the big cities because people will pay more for produce there, as opposed to markets in areas that really need the fresh produce - many times in their own backyards. Markets are a beautiful thing, but it's important that we focus on providing fresh food to the areas that need it, not just the areas with the biggest wallets.

The dark side of the farmers' market boom - Food Business - Salon.com

Fish Tacos!

Here it is - the first meal we've made with our CSA goodies.  We didn't use a ton of them, but we did at least start to make a dent in all of the veggies we got this week.  A very small dent.  This is the recipe we used for fish tacos.  It was actually really good, even though we were a little suspicious of the cinnamon when we first started.  Once it was almost all the way cooked though, it smelled fantastic!

The CSA veggies we used: Scapes, romaine, cilantro

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 c. nonfat sour cream
1/4 tsp. salt
2 canned chi[otle chiles in adobo, minced (our new favorite ingredient
1 Tbs. butter
1 can corn
1 chopped tomato (we used a plum because that's what we had...although more tomato would have been good I think)
1 tsp. ground cumin (or 1 tsp. cumin seeds finely chopped)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 scape
3 cloves of garlic (or, if you don't have a scape, use 4 cloves of garlic)
1 lb. tilapia fillet(s) - you could probably use another white fish
2 Tbs. lime juice
Tortillas (Andy likes corn, I really don't)

Instructions:
1. Mix sour cream, salt, and chiles in a bowl, set in the fridge.
2. Saute the next 8 ingredients (from butter to cilantro) for 5 minutes.
3. Add the tillapia, cover, and cook about 4 minutes until the fish is opaque.
4. Take the skillet off the heat and add in the lime juice.  Flake the fish as you stir in the lime juice.  Our fish wasn't quite done, so we put it back on the heat for about another minute.
5. Assemble your tacos with the fish mixture and the chipotle cream.  We topped ours with some sliced romaine lettuce and added yellow rice on the side.

Our First CSA Share!

Here it is - the pictures you've been waiting for. Ok, really it's the veggies I've been waiting for, and I was not disappointed. Oh so many. We came home and stored everything, and then sat around for an hour making a game plan for the week. Keep watching and I'll post some pictures and recipes for the meals we make. But for now, here are the pictures and a list of veggies.

Yes, two people are going to eat all these veggies in a week. Well, sort of. I plan to make zucchini bread and freeze it, so that won't be consumed this week. Also, I think we might make kale pie, and I hope that will freeze as well.

Here we have Tat soi, romaine, cilantro (or parsley, it's hard to tell from this picture) and mixed salad greens.

Kale, zucchini, summer squash, spinach, parsley, Boston bibb lettuce, garlic scapes, turnips and snow peas.

A close up, just because they're pretty.

New School Lunch Legislation

A good start, but more money for school lunches would be nice. I'm glad they included funding for the farm to school program though.

Our Blog : 06/10/10 - Child Nutrition Legislation introduced in the House : Slow Food USA

Chefs Invade the White House

Eee! I wish I could've been at the White House for the big event a few days ago. I saw pictures posted to the Twitter feed for the Beard Foundation and it looked so cool - hundreds of chefs all in their chefs whites listening to the first lady talk about the adopt a school initiative. I was so excited when I read about it. I have no problem with the occasional Kraft Mac & Cheese (I have been known to keep a box of spirals on hand), but when pizza and hot dogs are the staples of school lunches, we know that the system needs to be improved. I know the President is trying to add on a few cents to each school lunch, but I wish he'd add more. I love that chefs are willing to partner with schools to get kids excited about growing fruits and veggies and then learning how to cook with them. It's so exciting!

Nearly 1,000 Chefs Answer First Lady ‘s Call to Adopt Local Schools | Center for a Livable Future

Raw Milk Debate

Ok, so I've never actually had raw milk, but supposedly there are benefits. Have you had raw milk? What do you think about the debate for/against allowing raw milk to be consumed by the public?

Op-Ed Contributor - Cheese Heads, Unite! - NYTimes.com

Rachel Ray Speaks Out

I can't believe I'm saying this, but go Rachel Ray!

Rachael Ray's Radical EVOOlution | Food Systems Network NYC

Food Safety Bill Stuck in the Senate

I don't know that I agree that "It's a national scandal that the Senate is still sitting on that bill" but it is pretty important. I also like Jim Prevor's recommendations, especially revitalizing that Agriculture Extension Service and educating consumers.

Food Politics » Thinking about food safety

Surpluses in Zambia

How weird - in a place with pockets of malnourishment and food insecurity, an abundance of food. Of course, we have our own pockets of food insecurity (probably nowhere near the malnourishment however), and an abundance of food.

Field Notes from Zambia - Chews Wise

Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues

I'm on page 29 of 87, but I will finish it. It's a USDA report on Local Food Systems. Totally data-centric, but an interesting read.

Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues

Chilled Avocado Soup with Crab meat Salad - Recipes - The New York Times

Yum.

Chilled Avocado Soup with Crab meat Salad - Recipes - The New York Times

Artichokes

I haven't ever cooked a whole artichoke before - I usually just buy them in a can or a jar - but I would like to try it. This seems like it would be a good recipe, so maybe if I come across a good artichoke this summer I'll try it. How does one pick out a good artichoke, anyway?

The Minimalist - Artichokes Take a Dip In a Pool of Stock - NYTimes.com

101 Make Ahead Dishes

Mark Bittman (my favorite) posted 101 Make Ahead Dishes for a Thanksgiving article in the NYTimes. They're mostly vegetarian (because they tend to be side dishes, although I think most of them could also be a main dish in a larger quantity), but some do have meat.

The Minimalist - Things to Prepare Before the Turkey Goes in the Oven - NYTimes.com

Buy Your Fish Frozen

We went to a demonstration by Marcus Samuelsson and he told us the same thing - buy your fish frozen, especially if you live far away from where it was caught. If it was frozen on board the ship (or as close as possible), it will be a lot fresher than if it wasn't frozen at all before it gets to you.

Want to Eat Green? Buy Frozen | Food Systems Network NYC

Halloumi

I've become more interested in cutting down the amount of meat that I eat, so I've been spending some time reading about vegetarian recipes. This came up on my Google Reader today and looked interesting. I've never heard of Halloumi, but I might be tracking some down the next time I go to the grocery store (well, the next time I go to Fairway, because I doubt the local bodega carries it).

Vegetarian Cookout? Try Halloumi! | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

Blogs and Farms - Oh my!

This blog is my dumping ground for any food news (policy or otherwise) that I find interesting. Also, my husband and I signed up for a CSA share this year, so I want to document what we do with the produce we get! That being said, I love stories of communities banding together to tackle a lack of fresh produce. Here's an article from Slow Food NYC, which just helped build it's first neighborhood farm. The farm is in Brooklyn, and come fall will be staffed by high schoolers (bonus points for awesome).

Our Blog : 05/28/10 - Mindful digging: Slow Food NYC builds their first neighborhood farm! : Slow Food USA