Pithy thoughts on our food system

Today I ran into an old Nicholas Kristof column in the New York Times and it got me groaning inside...all over again (it's been a while since I got worked up about the sad state of the American food system). Kristof also wrote a blog post following up on his column and someone left this comment:

As I write this morning I anticipate opening eight bee hives later today to check the state of things inside. Three weeks ago with the emergence of corn seedlings on the neighboring farm the populations of bees went from an active, busy three foot cloud at the entrance of each hive, to a moribund state with only a few coming and going.

Many farm crops grow from seed which has been coated with clothianidin, a synthetic nicotine which acts as a systemic poison inside the emerging plant. Drops of solution expressed from the leaf margins carrying the attractive sweetness of sugars manufactured within the leaf attract the foraging bees. One Italian researcher showed that a bee drinking this toxic brew died within two minutes. Industrial agriculture over tens of millions of acres is also creating a natural “biocaust” besides producing unhealthful food.

— john mcdonald

This is one beekeeper's experience with our food system, but it is one experience that I'm sure is being repeated all over America right now as engineered corn hits knee high. I think sometimes it's good to hear what's going on in our agricultural system not from politicians and authors, but from the ground up. We don't hear enough from our farmers and from people who are in touch with our land, our bugs, our rivers, our animals. Most of us certainly aren't in touch -- shopping in a supermarket is so insulating. It keeps us from knowing what kinds of ecological changes our buying habits cause. But when you hear testimony from someone like the beekeeper above, it's hard to deny that with our modern, high tech eating habits we are negatively affecting a system we don't completely understand.

Sweet Annie Kale Salad

Scott and I have struggled to find a great way to prepare kale; we had almost decided that we'd never find a kale recipe that we crave. We used to put up with kale and do our best to finish the bunches that would show up in our CSA box every week. One friend of ours says that kale is a garnish, not an actual food. Until I ate this salad, I reluctantly agreed with him (silently, of course, because I would never admit ALOUD that kale is a lousy food). Suddenly, I'm happy to eat kale and Scott wants to swipe the extra bunches that other shareholders leave behind...just so he can eat this salad.

This recipe came from my chiropractor who got it from a patient. To be honest, I didn't really believe that I would like it because...well, the main ingredient is kale. But, because I was determined not to toss my kale into my compost pile, I decided to try this recipe. I made one batch of it for a pot luck last week...and, to my surprise, people not only tried it, but actually came back for seconds! Tonight we had it next to pizza topped with spinach and garlic. It was a winner again.

Kale can't be beat for its nutritional properties, and now we have a way to eat it!

Sweet Annie Kale Salad

1 large or 2 small bunches of kale (remove stems)
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 lb strawberries sliced thin

Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup raw honey (I use agave nectar instead, but less than 1/4 cup)
1 or more minced garlic cloves

Tear kale into bite sized pieces. Combine honey, garlic, and oil with whisk. Massage dressing and kale together for 5 minutes (this will soften the kale and blend flavors). The kale will appear wilted. Add raisins, pine nuts, strawberries, and toss.

"I hope I don't get heartburn."

That is what Callie said as she made her way upstairs, barbecue-sauce-covered hands in the air on her way to wash up after a very tasty dinner. Tonight was the night Scott has been waiting for since picking up our half hog last fall. Tonight was the night he finally got his barbecued slab of ribs and chicken. Such a treat for a man who eats in the Jeffersonian tradition (lots of veggies, not much meat).

As we devoured our dinner, we decided a few things. First, we decided that barbecue tastes best when the meat is happy. Or, was happy. This was a happy pig and a very happy chicken. And probably the biggest of the chickens we bought last fall from Grant Farms. Second, barbecue tastes the best when you cook it right. Around two hours wrapped in foil in a 300 degree oven and then finishing it up on the grill over low heat seemed to do the trick. Third, barbecue tastes the best when you use sauce you prepared yourself from scratch. Not the junk in the bottle from the supermarket shelf. You know, the one where the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup? Yeah, not that kind of sauce. Everybody has a different preference in barbecue sauce; we prefer our sauce Memphis style and this is the recipe we use. It's one I adapted from the ingredient list on the back of a bottle of Williams-Sonoma Memphis style sauce and it's a recipe we're constantly tweaking. Tonight it was plate-lickin' good.

The last thing we decided tonight, and the girls agreed through mouthfuls of chicken and pork, was that someday when the girls have met the man they want to marry, this is the meal we'll serve when they bring him home to meet the parents. But only if he's really a top-notch guy, a guy who deserves not only an incredible wife but also an awesome meal, because a meal this good isn't one to be wasted on a man not worthy of our daughters.

The girls at Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods in the morning

Second swim meet of the summer.

I love competitive swimming. That's all there is to it. It's in my bones. I was raised on it and in the summer it's all I want to do. Luckily, my kids dig it. So far, at least.

Brynn swam her second 25 free and 25 back today and her first 25 breaststroke. She DQ'd in breast, which was not a surprise (she finished with only one hand on the wall and may have had a few flutter kicks in there somewhere, but her kick was solid other than that). She nearly knocked a few seconds off her free time, but failed to touch the wall when she got to the other end, so she ended up actually adding a few seconds. Oh well. Her backstroke, though, rocked. She knocked off nearly eleven seconds. (!!) So, yeah, that means she wasn't going very fast the first time, but I'm stoked none the less. Before her event we had a little talk about turnover and shoulder-rolling and I think she took the turnover bit to heart, which was thrilling to see!

Brynn's at the bottom of her age group (she's six in an 8&under age group) so this year is all about learning the fundamentals and, I have to say, she's doing that well. She's improved tremendously in the past three weeks. It's such a joy to share swimming with her!

Sisters rock.