Kim O'Donnel: Meat Lover's Meatless Tour & more

Weighing in on 'The Weight of the Nation'

Two-thirds. That’s how much of a pie chart (illustrated above) represents the United States of obese and overweight America. 

This sobering data is on the very first line of “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation,” a newly released report by the Institute of Medicine. But you don’t need to be an esteemed scientist to bear witness to this country’s obesity epidemic. A quick scan of your neighborhood, workplace and community is all it takes to see just how many of us have become a fat statistic. 

Nobody likes bad news, particularly when it’s delivered in your face, documentary style, as it’s been done in “The Weight of the Nation,” the four-part film which premiered last night on HBO.   But the truth hurts -- and hopefully will help us wake up to a public health calamity of potentially catastrophic proportions.

I’m not being overly dramatic here. According to the IOM report,  we’re spending more than $190 billion a year  -- a year -- on obesity-related illnesses: Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and high blood pressure, to name just a few.   One in 5 children will be obese or overweight by the time they reach their sixth birthday.  In fact, this generation of fat kids will be the first to have a shorter life span than their parents.

Being fat is far from funny.  It is as serious as a heart attack -- and worse, if we don’t act now.

Russ and I watched the first two hour-long parts of ‘Weight’ last night, and we both can’t stop thinking about it.  It’s not just the statistics that hit us over the head; it’s the stories, the candid first-person interviews with obese Americans that tell a big piece of the complex, complicated crisis we have on our hands. 

With a problem of this scale, we tend to look for a culprit, of which there many. No one individual or entity can be blamed for the size our waistlines. Yes, it is a matter of personal responsibility to look after one’s health and well-being, and to be diligent.  Yet it’s much easier (and cheaper) to buy processed and fast food, all high in fat, sugar, salt and refined grains, than it is to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.  While the price of fruits and vegetables has gone up 117 percent since the 1980s, soft drinks have spiked just 20 percent.  So yes, you can get more sweet bang for your buck with a 32-ounce soda than with a bag of grapes. But as we’re learning now, we’re paying for our highly processed diet at the doctor’s office and in the emergency room.  In fact, as one expert in part 2 of ‘Weight’ said, Americans are “spending less on food but more on healthcare.”

Less than 3 percent of U.S. farmland is dedicated to fruits and vegetables.  This data is reflected in our supermarket experience; most aisles, as you’ll notice next time you’re there, are dedicated to processed rather than fresh food.  The CDC says that 9 out of 10 Americans fail to get their daily recommended allowance of fruits and vegetables, but the fact is, even if we all woke up tomorrow and decided we wanted to get our government-recommended servings of fruit and vegetables, there wouldn’t be enough from America’s farms to go around. 

See how complicated it is? I haven’t even scratched the surface.

I know the tendency is to step back from bad news. It’s human nature, I understand. But this isn’t just bad news; it’s colossally bad. We eat way too much and exercise way too little (if at all), a combination that if we’re not careful will surely kill us.  We can no longer point fingers but join together, crumb by crumb and step by step, to take charge of our waistlines, health and well being, and reverse this epidemic.

You don’t need an advanced degree or a guru-written book to get started. In fact, you can start right now. Put on your shoes, and walk around the block. Don’t worry how fast or slow you go. Take a friend, or a neighbor (or a neighbor’s dog) if you worry about getting lonely.  Next day, walk two blocks, and each day, add one more, and so on. 

With food, it’s gradual too.  Try an apple for crunch instead of a bag of chips. (Nobody is saying you have to give them up cold turkey.)   A box of raisins: Sweet as the sun and go a long way in a bowl of cereal or oatmeal (or just by themselves on your commute).  Okay, so you hate raisins, try a banana instead (you get the idea)!

Take a tally of your daily soda consumption and try easing up by one unit, whatever that may be.  Next week (or maybe the week after),  cut back just a little bit more.  These may seem like elementary little things, but I promise you, they add up and create a new normal, and yes, can help put an end to this horrifying and preventable epidemic.  You and me and everyone on the block, coast to coast. Let’s shoo obesity out the back door once and for all.  Won’t you join me?

P.S. Don't worry if you don't subscribe to HBO; the film segments are available online and there are 12 shorter "bonus films" worth exploring.

 

May is Mediterranean Diet Month

I’m not one to count calories and “go on a diet,” but I do like to take stock of what and how I’m eating throughout all four seasons and make adjustments on an as-needed, incremental basis.  Some folks want and need the rules, regs and structure of an eating plan; I’d rather have a template to work from so I see the possibilities rather than the limitations. I think that’s why I like the idea behind the Mediterranean Diet Month (which I’ll refer to as Med Month going forward). Organized by Oldways Preservation Trust, the Boston-based nonprofit best known for creating the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid in 1993, Med Month celebrates the traditional foodways (and ways of eating) of the 21 countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.   It’s flexible, flexitarian, encourages wine in moderation and advocates regular physical activity as a part of the equation.

As I noted here, the Med Diet has been studied worldwide for its link to longevity and lowered incidence of chronic disease (which arguably cannot be said about the American diet), and although easy to get inspired by a diet with so many virtues, it may be another story trying to put that inspiration into practice.

And before we start talking about a game plan, what is the Med Diet, anyway?  Have a look at the pyramid, pictured above. You’ll notice that the biggest chunk is populated with plant-based ingredients: fruit, veg, whole grains, beans, legumes, herbs, spices, olive oil, nuts and seeds.  Does that mean the Med Diet is vegetarian? Not at all. But it does mean that the Med Diet is saying “give (black-eyed) peas a chance” and make room for plants on the plate at every meal!

Every weekday throughout May, I’ll post a tip or trick in this space on how to incorporate the Med Diet into your life and make it irresistibly delicious (so it's change that'll stick. Here’s hoping you’ll join me for the adventure.

 

Peek at New Book: Meat Lover's Meatless Celebrations

The Fall 2012 catalog from my publisher, Da Capo Press, just arrived. Here's the bit about Meat Lover's Meatless Celebrations, which will be out in the world October 15, and Amazon now has it available for pre-order. I already know that in addition to Seattle, where I'll kick things off, I'll be making stops in Northwest Arkansas, DC and Virginia and New Mexico for demos, talks and book signings. Champing at the bit I am, so eager to share this new collection of goodies.

Old-School Meatless on this Monday

An interesting bit of culinary history fell into my lap over the weekend. While rummaging the shelves at  Pegasus Book Exchange, our neighborhood used book store, I unearthed this little gem, photographed above. Although the copy in my hands was published in 1943, Meatless Meals made its debut in 1931,  in the middle of The Great Depression. The 1943 edition of Meatless Meals coincided with the meat rationing efforts during World War II. 

 As soon as I got home, I looked up the author, Jean Prescott Adams. It turns out that Adams was a pen name for Leona Krag Malek, a Chicago journalist covering domestic arts and home economics. 

Adams was also the author of The Business of Being a Housewife: A Manual to Promote Household Efficiency, a booklet published in 1917 by the slaughterhouse and meatpacking company Armour & Company (remember their boiled ham in the tin?).   But one pseudonym wasn’t enough; in 1925, Adams wrote a daily home ec column for the Chicago Herald Examiner, where she was known as “Prudence Penny.”  (Source: Chicago Metro History Education Center)

The book is a collection of 13 menus -- Hearty Dinner, Cosmopolitan, Anniversary and Sunday Supper, to name a few -- with a heavy emphasis on cheese, eggs and legumes.  I’m intrigued by the Bean Timbales (“Supplies protein, starch, and cellulose”), the  Salsify (aka Oyster Root) in Bourguignonne butter (“Supplies starch and some minerals”) and the Vegetarian Sausages, cornmeal coated lima and navy bean patties that she seasons with ground sage, paprika and poultry season. The few items that are perhaps best left alone include the Prunes and Noodles and the equally enticing Molded Spinach Salad, a lime-flavored gelatin ring studded with black olives.

Until this weekend, I thought the the first American vegetarian cookbooks emerged in the 1950s. Has anyone seen or heard of this book before?

Food Stamps on the Chopping Block, and Why We All Need to Know About the Farm Bill

Earlier this week, the House Agriculture Committee, chaired by Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), voted to cut spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.  The cuts are part of a House budget measure authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) The proposed amount is $33 billion over 10 years at a time when nearly 15 percent of Americans are receiving food assistance. The monthly average in 2011 for SNAP participation was 44.7 million, hitting a record high of 46.5 million in December of last year.  The monthly stipend average is $134 per person, or about $4.46 a day. 

SNAP participation actually falls short of the number of people deemed by the USDA in 2010 as “food insecure” -- 48.8 million (or 17.2 million households), one third of whom are children.

The Senate isn't likely to agree to the Ryan budget or the House Ag committee changes, but what form a compromise takes is hard to tell.  SNAP could still face massive cuts.  The House Agriculture committee will revisit SNAP spending in a series of hearings for the 2012 Farm Bill that get underway next week.  The Senate Agriculture Committee will also begin marking up the farm bill on April 25.

An enormous spending package that is theoretically updated every five years, the Farm Bill was created in response to the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace. Known as the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, it was originally created to help ailing farmers and strengthen rural communities. Over the years, in addition to farm subsidies, it's come to include food stamp, school lunch and low-income nutrition programs as well as land conservation assistance. Since the 1970s, the focus of funding has swayed in the direction of commodity crops, namely corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and sugar.  If you didn’t know that SNAP (as well as school lunch and various nutrition programs) was funded by the Farm Bill, you’re not alone.  It is misleading, as writers such as Michael Pollan and Daniel Imhoff have pointed out for years; why not call it the Food and Farm Bill?

After all, for every Food Bill dollar, more than 70 cents goes to SNAP.  Yet it’s a constant and complicated battle among various constituencies that include commodity mega farms and a food-insecure population of 48 million.  In fact, the spending bill is so huge and covers so many constituencies that it’s difficult for the public to understand what’s at stake. “This omnibus nature of the Farm Bill keeps the public oblivious: it’s nearly impossible for any one person to really understand the full extent of all that’s actually covered,” writes Imhoff, who recently published the second edition of “Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill.” 

So in case you thought that the farm bill (which Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack renamed this week to the “Food, Farm and Jobs Bill) has no bearing on the non-farmer, workaday eater-citizen, think again. The nearly half-trillion-dollar budget, funded by taxpayers, impacts all of us -- rural and urban, young and old, rich and poor, in supermarkets and school cafeterias, at farmers’ markets and food pantries. As the debate unfolds, I’ll do my best to share updates. The current bill is set to expire Sept. 30.

For more info: A really good explainer from Edible Boston.

 

Nine or 10 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

Kale seedlings.

 

Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22.  You can honor Mother Nature by starting in your own kitchen.  Here are some of the ways I’ve greened up my life, which I’ll add, are all easy to implement. Try one on for size, see how it goes and add another after a few weeks. It’s amazing how quickly we can create a new normal for ourselves.

Let go of paper napkins and consider re-useable, washable cloth, even for picnics and camping.  I did this about 20 years ago and never looked back. When the cloth fades out and starts looking mangy, I toss them into the dust rag bucket.

Plant something edible. If this is your maiden voyage, consider a container rather than a  backyard patch, and try something low maintenance, like salad greens or leafy herbs.  Without a backyard of my own, I’ve become quite the container gardener, overseeing nearly a dozen pots of kale, arugula, various lettuces and a variety of herbs.  As we get closer to the solstice, I’ll plant a few varieties of small tomatoes, such as sun gold and cherry.  It is one of the most gratifying things I do for myself.

Get to know the bulk area of your supermarket. In the absence of packaging, you buy only what you need and as a result save money.  This is how I buy sugar, rice, oats, quinoa and spices.

Eat produce when it’s in season. How to do that? Head to your neighborhood farmers’ market or farm stand.  There you’ll meet the growers who will tell you everything you wanted to know about their beloved crops, and you’ll be eating fruits and veg at their peak. It’s also a chance to find out how to source local produce if your market is closed during winter.  By eating with the seasons where you live, you’re supporting both your local/regional economy and the stewards of the land.

To prolong the season, take a canning class! Home food preservation, be it freezing or canning, is a terrific way to enjoy your favorite fruit and veg when they’re gone.  I started Canning Across America nearly three years ago to learn how to pickle and preserve, and every year, I add more items to my pantry. I was just lamenting to a friend that I used the very last jar of the marinara sauce we “put up” together last summer and we’ve agreed to double our efforts this year.  And those glass jars are re-useable.

If you eat chicken, buy a whole chicken rather than parts.  You’ll save money and use the entire animal for several meals.  Here’s how: With kitchen shears, cut out the back of the chicken and reserve for stock that you can make immediately or freeze for later (I often accumulate a handful of chicken backs for a big pot of stock.).  With the back gone, the chicken will cook in about one-third of the time; a 5-pound backless bird will roast in one hour in a 400-degree oven.   Leftovers can be repurposed into salads and pilafs, as part of sandwiches, burritos, into chowders and mixed with beans.  And that stock is liquid gold, boosting the flavor of curries, stews, risotto or soup.

And if you do chicken eggs, consider getting as local as possible, as in your own backyard. If you don’t have the space or the inclination, make friends with someone who does, and see if you can get in on the loot.  The flavor and texture is incomparable with its supermarket counterparts.  Next step: head back to the farmers’ market. And when you get ready to balk at $6 or $7 for a dozen, take note that this translates to 50 cents per egg, still a bargain for about 6 grams of protein.

Learn how to eat lower on the food chain, or try at least once a week.  If protein is on your mean, start with dried beans. For newbies, I always recommend lentils, which don’t require soaking and cook in about 35 minutes.  Through beans, I have learned about the cuisines of so many parts of the world, from the Middle East to the Caribbean, India to Italy.  For beans that do require soaking, do it while your coffee is brewing in the morning, stick in the fridge and allot about an hour of simmering after a 5-minute hard boil.

Eat down the fridge, plan your meals, celebrate leftovers.  According to Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland, food waste accounts for 20 percent of U.S. landfills, the equivalent of 254 pounds per person per year.  We are guilty of wasting food, including yours truly, and we need to get better at and smarter about using what we have. When we challenge ourselves to stay away from the supermarket for a week, it’s amazing how creative and resourceful we become at mealtime.

 

An Evening with Paula Wolfert

That’s Paula Wolfert, the gregarious lady in orange, sandwiched by yours truly and my friend Jeanne Sauvage (pardon the quality of the smartphone image). We stopped by Book Larder (Seattle’s only cookbook store) last night to hear Wolfert talk about the just-released The Food of Morocco, her ninth work.  Without a doubt, Wolfert is one of the greats of the culinary world. She’s been at it since 1959 when she first went to Morocco. More than 50 years later, she’s written what will likely be dubbed the definitive volume on the foodways of a country little known to Americans. If I had to describe her work in a few words, I would say “rich in scholarship,” a sentiment I shared with her last night.  Her passion for documenting the unsung heroes of the Mediterranean kitchen is evident in all of her work, and the world is more delicious for it. 

As I listened to her story about how she got to Morocco in the first place  and how, like any significant relationship, she’s had her ups and downs with the place, I realized that I wasn’t just in the presence of culinary/anthropological greatness, but in the company of one of the finest eggs I’ve ever come to know.  Warm, funny, engaged and down to earth, Wolfert is the genuine article, a rarity when fame enters the equation.  If she breezes through your town, stop everything and introduce yourself. You’ll likely get a hug in return.

Sun-Choked Up

Topinambour. Sun root. Earth apple. These are just a few of the names for this tuber in the sunflower family, also known as the sunchoke.  It's a North American native, and contrary to popular belief, there's no relation to the Jerusalem artichoke, yet another name you might see in the supermarket produce section.

I got my mitts on a bunch over the weekend at my neighborhood farmers' market, where the grower handed me one, encouraging me to have a bite. It's got great crunch and its flavor slightly sweet, a cross between an apple and jicama.  As you can see in the photo, above, they're nubby little things that look like flower bulbs, but don't judge before you try. Because they're rich in inulin, an insoluble dietary fiber, they're touted as both intestinal boosting (in a pre-biotic sort of way) and intestinal tooting (in a fart-tastic sort of way).  The grower who got me hooked says they're also considered a diabetic-friendly starch to potatoes. 

I've been eating them raw this week with no "wind" issues but I am a frequent bean eater, so I imagine my system is used to the roughage. I plan to roast up the remaining chokes for supper,  400 degrees, with a slathering of olive oil and salt. What's your favorite way of chomping on chokes?

 

Lip-Smacking Chickpea-Lentil Combo

While paging through a newly arrived review copy of A Girl and Her Pig, by New York chef April Bloomfield, I put on the brakes for page 78, where I spotted a recipe for a salad of lentils and chickpeas and a tahini dressing. The fixins are simple, the results are revelatory.  Blown away by the umami high, the texture and freshness, we were doing little jigs in our seats at dinner. I refused to share the leftovers for next day's lunch. We served over a bed of mixed greens from the farmers' market.  Eat, rinse, repeat.

An adapted version of  Lentil and Chickpea Salad with Feta and Tahini from A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield with JJ Goode

(Note: I omitted a few ingredients from the recipe as published & adjusted amounts on others; below is my spin)

Ingredients: Lentils

1/2 cup dried Puy lentils, rinsed (also sold as Lentilles du Puy)

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon olive oil

Ingredients: Dressing and Salad

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground

1/2 large garlic clove

Maldon or another flaky sea salt

2 tablespoons well-stirred tahini paste

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained

1/2 small red onion, sliced into thin half moons

A small handful of cilantro leaves, torn

1/4 cup feta (I used sheep's milk)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Here's What You Do:

Place the lentils, garlic and olive oil in a small saucepan, along with 1 cup water (I ended up adding a wee bit more during cooking) over medim heat.  Let the water come to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook at a very gentle simmer just until they're tender, about 25 minutes.  Allow the lentils to cool, then drain.

Make the dressing: Mix together the ground coriander and cumin in a small bowl.  Mash the garlic clove half into a paste with a pinch of salt, then transfer to another small bowl. Add the tahini paste, 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice, the olive oil, 3/4 teaspoons of the spice mixture and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir the mixture well.

Toss the lentils with the drained chickpeas and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the tahini dressing and toss everything together.

Place the onion slices in a bowl, add a pinch or two of salt, then 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil and the cilantro and toss gently. Crumble in the cheese and gently toss.

Scatter a few handfuls of the chickpea-lentil mixture onto a large platter in one layer. Combine the onion-feta mixture into the bowl with the rest of the beans and gently toss. Scatter on top of the first layer on the platter. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture, followed by the sesame seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April=Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month.  I'll dish up as often as the muse allows and hope you will, too. Here's one from the vault.

 

Search Party

Is it always

Such a search

Is it always

Such an exercise

in humility

and pride

Self-control

Discipline

Exploration and determination

Is it always

So difficult

To fit

into the spokes

of another

Taste their dreams

Let them taste yours

is it always

about travel

in space

Giving up space

in order to keep another

Is it always

about

Winning the heart of another

Is it always

Going to be a question

Every time

Is it the first time

Or  the next time

Is it always going to be

So damned tricky

Hyperactive

Questions

No answers

Hope

is it ever going to be

Stop.

Someday

The earth smiles

And lets you know

That all the work

Has not gone unmarked

That goodness is a witch

That love lives

in the corners and the pockets

and the sidewalk cracks

The moves

like a jingly jangly

Hum hum hummmmm...

smell the bread

Dreams taste sweet

Time allowed

to understand

the cling clang clang

of another.

Don't miss it.

Planets move

quickly.

©2004 Kim O'Donnel