Farmer’s Night Out

I wonder if this is required visitation as part of Shut Up, Foodies?

Fashion’s Night Out @ Henri Bendel
712 Fifth Avenue New York NY 10019
212.247.1100

6-11pm Reality stars,The Fabulous Beekman Boys ,with cameras, bring the country to Fifth Ave. with a General Store. Get a 10 min reading with astrologer Susan Miller for $25; benefits Housing Works. Launch of Atelier Swarovski collection featuring Karl Lagerfeld. 6-9pm Fekkai, Marchesa and Olivia Palermo have a Red Carpet moment that you can share on Facebook/Twitter. 7-9pm Bendel illustrator, Izak, signs one of a kind “green” totes for $100; proceeds go to charity. 8:30-10:30pm Model Erin Wasson presents her jewelry collection LOWLUV. For details,go to: www.henribendel.com/happenings/2010/9/10

Snacktime, what say you?

That’s What She Said

Part of a righteous post by Zuzu on Feministe that pertains to a lot of the issues we talk about here:

[W]henever we start focusing on the health of the individual, we erase the systemic problems that contribute to health issues. This is a perfect example of the personal being political.

Institutions love to shift the burden onto the individual, because it means the institution doesn’t have to examine its own behavior or its own contribution to a problem. Let’s look at bullying. States and schools love to have zero-tolerance policies so they can look like they’re being tough on bullying — but then when bullying incidents happen, they just don’t define it as bullying, and suggest that the victim change his or her behavior. Problem solved!

Then we have childhood obesity prevention programs. Sure, they sound good, but ultimately, they put the burden on the kid to change while leaving intact many, many things that contribute to the problem. This may include fat-laden agricultural surplus products that find their way into the school lunches; vending machines and bake sales used for fundraising because taxpayer funds are unavailable; cutbacks in physical education and extracurricular sports; lack of safe spaces to walk or exercise; lack of sidewalks; corn subsidies that result in high-fructose corn syrup showing up in everything; high housing prices that lead to long parental commutes and thus a reliance on takeout over freshly-prepared foods; food deserts; aggressive marketing by fast-food outlets; food-assistance programs that are designed to dump agricultural surplus rather than provide good nutrition; agricultural subsidies that mean that vegetables are more expensive than cheap fatty meats; lack of access to affordable preventive health care; lack of education about nutrition; and on and on.

An awful lot for a little kid to carry on his or her shoulders, don’t you think?

And it’s not just kids that get this kind of treatment, it’s adults as well. How dare you be fat at me, Ms. Medicaid Recipient? Maybe they should cut your food stamps off if you’re going to be so fat! That the face of poverty is widely considered to be black, female and fat — today’s version of the Welfare Queen in her Cadillac — just makes the problem more intractable.

But it’s a fight worth having, and it’s a fight that feminists [and foodies—ed.] should be waging. So instead of scoffing next time you see someone criticizing the use of the BMI as an indicator of individual health, try listening, and considering. You might just see that the problem is bigger than you realize — and it might even hit home for you.

______________

They Must Not Know About Whole Foods In Denver

If Martinez wants each member of her household to have one peach, it’ll cost her about $3.

If she chooses Kraft macaroni and cheese, she can get 18 servings — with 400 calories and 580 milligrams of sodium in each — for the same price.

From a great piece on how farm subsidies (also–can we not just call them money subsidies?) affect access to food.

Can We Just Talk About Vinegar?

three cupcakes decorated to look like wizards; a few have glasses and look kind of geeky

When wizards are done making vinegar, they make cupcakes.

I love vinegar because it is both scientific and magical. You can combine it with baking soda to make a fizzer that will unclog your drain or you can use that same combo as lava in your homemade volcano. Just that alone makes vinegar completely rad. You can use it to clean things, it preserves cut flowers, it gets rid of rust, it can be a room deodorizer, you can use it to catch flies–it is like liquid wizard. Kombucha is basically vinegar. And you know what else vinegar does? It makes vegan cupcakes!

We love vegan baked goods here at SUF, even though none of us are vegan. So you can imagine my excitement when the New York Times Science feed led me to this story on vegan cupcakes winning some cooking contest. Ms. Winning Cupcake explains how and why the vinegar works in her wares:

“I use a combination of baking soda and vinegar — it may sound gross, but it works chemically to bind the cupcakes,” Ms. Coscarelli said. “If the flavor is there, it doesn’t matter what kinds of ingredients you’re using to hold it all together.”

She’s basically using the same principle behind the “wacky cake” recipe that has been around for ages.  Here’s another thing: I was eating a vegan brownie as I read this story. Here’s the last thing for now:  I-R-VEGAN = VINEGAR. Yep, whoa.

BK Salsa Does Right By Me!

Tasting Table sent out an email publicizing The Brooklyn Salsa Company today, and of course I ventured to their website to find out more about it, maybe put in a plug for a Little Albuquerque in Brooklyn flavor, stocked well with Hatch Green Chile.  I am that dedicated to green chile, I’m sorry.  It’s true.

So as I was perusing, getting the history, peeping the flavors,  I discovered these salsa dudes employ Glen Industries to create each wonderful jar of salsa. From the site:

Your organic salsa is made by an inspiring team of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Committed to securing opportunities for people with disabilities to realize their goals of where and how they learn, live, play, and work, Glen Industries creates an environment of independence, productivity and integration.

Pretty rad, right?

Double the Disappointment

photo of gum in a vending machine

(*^%^#$&^%$&^@#

Every day I try to get gum from the vending machine. I get other things sometime: seltzer (E4), or dried asian pear (D3) (shut up), but the gum I try for daily. Why do I say try? Because the goddamn motherfucking gum never drops down into the place where you stick your hand to get it. YET I KEEP TRYING. I know, Freud, insanity, etc. BUT LOOK! You can see that the gum packets on either side of the Doublemint are still behind the gate, but the Doublemint is in front of the gate yet still behind the plexiglass. AN INJUSTICE.

Asked and Answered

Deep thoughts at Jezebel!

Q:

Any discussion of a Food Network personality – be it Sandra’s tablescapes to Guy Fieri’s antics to Ina’s luxurious lifestyle (and I’m not even getting into Rachael Ray) – brings forth a similar barrage of passionate mixed feelings. What is it about food personalities that gets us so riled?

A:

The ambivalence towards current food celebrities, of course, is not that different from that we see leveled at any celeb: the scrutiny of appearance and private life is as cruel and irrational as that applied to all entertainers. But there’s something more, and I wonder if it doesn’t have to do with the fact that, well, we all eat.

It’s not that different, but there is something more, and it’s because we eat.