Thanks to Frank Tamborello of Hunger Action Los Angeles for alerting us to an upcoming event.
Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, Safe Food, and What to Eat, will be the principal speaker at the California Endowment's Center Scene Public Program on Food Politics:
When: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 5:30pm
Where: The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities, 1000 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles 90012
Cost: Free of charge, reservations requested
The American food system is set up for mass production and mass consumption, and we are paying the price: Obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years, and one in three American children eat fast food every day. How did we get here?
Professor Nestle will answer this question and talk about how to reverse the devastating health effects of a food system that often makes the healthier choices the harder choices. In this food policy primer and the first event in Hungry for Change: Food, Politics and Community Health, a series of Center Scene Public Programs, Nestle will discuss the challenges the public health community faces from the food system and solutions for change.
Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is a member of the Slow Food USA advisory board, and speaks and writes about issues related to food politics, nutrition, and food marketing. Her research focuses on analysis of the scientific, social, cultural, and economic factors that influence the development, implementation, and acceptance of federal dietary guidance policies. Professor Nestle's "What to Eat" blog is informative, entertaining, and updated frequently. If you haven't already bookmarked it, you'll find it here.
Laura Avery, supervisor of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market and a correspondent for KCRW's "Good Food," will moderate the conversation and lead a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Information and online reservations are available on the California Endowment's website.
Update: February 4, 2008: This event has been postponed: A new date will be posted as soon as it has been confirmed.
Slow Food Los Angeles brings together Boule Atelier and Wine Expo for a festive pre-Valentine's Day biodynamic/organic wine and artisanal sweets tasting party.
Bring your sweetheart and bring your friends to sip and taste to your heart's delight. A six-course wine and treat tasting will be served, and will feature a selection of biodynamic/organic sparkling wines and dessert wines paired with Boule's delicacies, such as macarons, pastries, and chocolates, all made by hand with sustainable local products.
Robert Rogness of Wine Expo will enlighten with his "grower champagne" wisdom, providing an education regarding the virtues and the merits of these natural wines as compared to commercially produced "brand" wines. Mark Mendoza, sommelier of Sona, will also be on hand to discuss the nuances of pairing these natural wines with the sweeter fare. Come taste, learn, and toast a sustainable future for us all.
When: Wednesday, February 6, 2008, beginning at 7:00pm
Where: Boule Atelier, 420 N. La Cienega Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90048
Cost: [Note updated information] $45 per person for Slow Food members; $50 per person for nonmembers
Reservations: Seating limited to 65, reservations may be made by email to Chelsea Wilmeth at Boule.
With its high ceilings, pale blue walls, and display cases, Boule Atelier has earned its place among L.A.'s chic shops and restaurants. Built as a temple to honor sweets in all their forms, the green tea macarons have an ephemeral finish, the long ribbons of rose marshmallows boast pretty petals, and chocolates are delicate with innovative and balanced flavors. All products are handmade from local, sustainable products by the Boule pastry team.
Wine Expo, founded in 1993, has a concentration in four areas with uncommon intensity, one being Grower Champagnes, and as a consequence, a nearly rabid loyal following. General Manager, Robert Rogness, has been in the fine wine business for over two decades. Robert is a champion of traditional, terrior and food based wines despite what the score keeping "gatekeepers" think.
† "Closing the Barn Door After the Cows Have Gotten Out": Verlyn Klinkenborg looks at the cloning debate from the perspective of both diversity and market power:
. . . I will not be eating cloned meat. The reason has nothing to do with my personal health or safety. I think the clearest way to understand the problem with cloning is to consider a broader question: Who benefits from it? Proponents will say that the consumer does, because we will get higher quality, more consistent foods from cloned animals. But the real beneficiaries are the nation's large meatpacking companies--the kind that would like it best if chickens grew in the shape of nuggets. Anyone who really cares about food--its different tastes, textures and delights--is more interested in diversity than uniformity. As it happens, the same is true for anyone who cares about farmers and their animals. An agricultural system that favors cloned animals has no room for farmers who farm in different ways. Cloning, you will hear advocates say, is just another way of making cows. But every other way — even using embryo transplants and artificial insemination — allows nature to shuffle the genetic deck. A clone does not.Read the complete op-ed piece on the New York Times site.
† Considering "Good, Clean, and Fair" from another perspective: The Ethicurean provides a summary of Eric Schlosser's remarks at the EcoFarm conference:
How we treat people at the bottom of our food chain is a reflection of our society's values. "If there are organic tomatoes being picked by indentured servants, I'd rather not have the organic tomato," he told the audience. "It doesn't matter how you’re treating the soil if you're mistreating the worker. 'Organic' is wonderful, but a whole set of interconnected values is more wonderful still."Echoes of Slow's Food's Manifesto of Quality.
Tom Philpott also comments on Eric Schlosser's presentation in his Gristmill post and the debate over genetically modified foods.
† Slow Food at Ojai's Topa Topa School: Steve Fields and Sims Brannon, leaders of Slow Food Ojai/Ventura, shared with us news of an after-school program at the Topa Topa elementary school that the Ojai/Ventura convivium is supporting:
Rachel Sanchez made it through her first 11 years without ever tasting a slice of red pepper or a cauliflower floret.Read the article on the Ventura County Star website. Steve also noted:But that changed this fall, when the fifth-grader signed up for a new after-school program at Ojai's Topa Topa School. The program is designed to promote healthy living, and Tuesdays are dedicated to cooking and nutrition--sessions that included a raw vegetable tasting.
"They were all right," Rachel said of the unfamiliar snacks. Students agreed that yogurt parfaits were the best of their afternoon creations, but they liked it all, from making cranberry-orange bread to squeezing locally grown oranges for juice.
Sims and I taught the kids how to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. It was great to see that kids really could tell the difference between real food and processed packaged food. Another of our members, Gillian McManus, is doing a class on avocados and allowing the kids to make their own guacamole.If you are in the Ojai area on Tuesday afternoons and are interested in volunteering to teach a session, please contact Steve and Sims by email.
The Santa Monica Public Library is sponsoring two public presentations and discussions that may be of interest to Slow Food members and friends:
When: Saturday, January 26, 2008, beginning at 2:00pm
Where: Santa Monica Public Library (Ocean Park Branch), 2601 Main Street, Santa Monica
Cost: Free
At 2:00pm, Judith Gerber will lead a discussion of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
This field-—local food and sustainable agriculture—-is crowded with books in increasingly predictable flavors: the earnest manual, diary of an epicure, the environmental battle cry, the accidental gardener. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is all of these, and much smarter. Kingsolver takes the genre to a new literary level; a well-paced narrative and the apparent ease of the beautiful prose makes the pages fly. Her tale is both classy and disarming, substantive and entertaining, earnest and funny. Kingsolver is a moralist ("the conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners"), but more often wry than pious. Another hazard of the genre is snobbery. You won't find it here. Seldom do paeans to heirloom tomatoes include equal respect for outstanding modern hybrids like Early Girl. Kingsolver has the ear of a journalist and the accuracy of a naturalist.
Lou is pleased to announce a special cheesemaker supper with Tony and Julie Hook of Hook's Cheese Company. Lou will host the Hooks and offer a six-course celebration of their cheese, each course accompanied by appropriate wine pairings:
When: Monday, February 11, 2008 beginning at 7:00pm
Where: Lou, 724 North Vine, Hollywood 90038
Cost: $80 per person
Reservations: Limited seating is available; reservations may be made by email to reservations [at] louonvine [dot] com or by phone to 323.962.6369.
Tony and Julie Hook are proprietors of Hook's Cheese Company, located in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Their cheese plant operates out of a repurposed blacksmith's shop constructed in the 1850s; the historic building is built into the side of a hill, the perfect environment to age their cheese. Hook's Cheese Company is a true family-owned and run business and on most Saturdays you will find Tony and Julie hand-selling their cheeses at the Dane County farmers' market.
Julie Hook won the coveted "Finest Cheese in the World" award at the World Cheese Championship in 1982, the first woman to win this award.
Hook's 10 Year Cheddar is unarguably one of the finest, super-aged cheddars in the country, if not the world. The Hooks are modern-day alchemists, masters of the process that yields cheddar that becomes nutty and complex with age, saturated with the same sort of tiny crystals of crunchy protein that are found in a good Parmesan Reggiano. All of the milk that the Hooks use in their cheese is sourced from providers that raise their cows sustainably, and without the use of bovine growth hormones.
In addition to their beloved super-aged cheddars, the Hooks also produce three stylistically different blue cheeses: Hook's Original, a double-cream named Blue Paradise, and a natural-rind, English farmhouse-style cheese named Tilston Point. Recently, they've begun to produce yet another new cheese, Sweet Constantine, which pays homage to both Parmesan and Asiago.
Slow Food on Film is an international festival of cinema and food promoted by Slow Food and Cineteca di Bologna. Its aim is the promotion of a new critical awareness of food culture through the screening of films, short films, documentaries, and TV series focusing on food-related issues in an original way, as well as on the agricultural and food industry's effect on society and the environment, and on gastronomic memory as a common heritage to be safeguarded.
Submissions are now being accepted--the deadline is March 15, 2008--in the following categories:
++ Shorts competition for international short films produced since 2006. Award for Best Short Film: Golden Snail and 5000 Euros.
++ Docs competition for international documentaries produced since 2006. Two prizes will be awarded: one for the best documentary and one for the best short documentary. Award for Best Documentary: Golden Snail and 5000 Euros. Award for Best Short Documentary: Golden Snail and 2000 Euros.
++ BFF - Best Food Feature: From a short list of five international feature films nominated by an academy of international professionals from the worlds of cinema and food the jury will select the best food feature film of the 2006-2007 season. Award for Best Feature Film: Golden Snail
++ Best TV Series: The Slow Food on Film festival will select and make an award to the television series (fiction or documentary) which, from the vast international offering, stands out for its aware, intelligent, and culturally appropriate representation of gastronomy. Award for Best TV series: Golden Snail.
The entry form and regulations are available in English; information on 2002, 2004, and 2006 winners is also available.
† A postscript to Thursday's summary: As is often the case, The Ethicurean has an informative overview, this one about cloning.
On his Chews Wise blog, Sam Fromartz not only points to the Ethicurean summary but adds his own perspective, suggesting that adoption of cloning will not be the slam-dunk some think it will be.
† "Looking Dinner in the Eye": Julia Moskin writes in the New York Times about chefs who demonstrate "empathy and respect" for the animals they use. Michael Ruhlman points out that although this may be garnering more media attention lately, it's not a new trend, or necessarily a marketing ploy. It's certainly not new to Slow Food, which has long advocated diversity, supported animal husbandry programs that protect and help revive neglected species, and has worked to promote food that is good, clean, and fair.
† More from Michael Pollan: Another Q&A, this time with Christy Harrison of Gourmet magazine's new website, in which the two discuss breakfast options, quality in culinary practices, and a possible reason for our country's nutritionism.
Thanks to Julia Carnahan for alerting us to an opportunity at the Los Angeles Music Center that may be of interest to Slow Food members and friends.
L.A. Storytellers is accepting submissions for its program, "What's Your Recipe?". As noted in the program description:
Food is often at the heart of a memorable occasion. It can reflect cultural and family traditions creating fond experiences and unforgettable stories. From a recipe passed down through generations, to a whipped-together meal that becomes the family favorite, or a special treat rarely indulged upon but always savored, there are stories behind each and every cherished delicacy. L.A. Storytellers invite you to indulge in food non-fiction and share your tasty tales.The program is intended for non-professional/recreational storytellers, and no prior experience is necessary. There is no submission fee, but participants must be at least 18 years old.
For more information, submission guidelines, and the submission form, visit the L.A. Storytellers page on the Music Center's website. Submissions are due February 4, 2008.
† Cloned Food in the Spotlight: News of the FDA's announcement that food from cloned animals and their offspring is safe for consumption has spurred discussion and concern from several quarters. Andrew Martin's article in the New York Times summarizes the FDA's statement; Jerry Hirsch in the Los Angeles Times explains why many retailers, restauranteurs, chefs, and supporters of food diversity may stand in the way of widespread adoption of cloned products. Putting aside the "Frankenfood" specter of years past, long-term safety issues and the role of diversity in the health and well-being of animals and plants are at the top of the list of concerns, as is the likelihood that products from clones or their offspring will not be labeled as such, making consumer choice much more difficult.
† Then there's "genetically fortified" food: When is a carrot not just a carrot? When it has been genetically altered to increase calcium absorption in the person who eats it? Alexis Madrigal writes about the biotech industry's focus on food that does double duty--or more--and why some people believe this might be a key to winning over consumers who want more for their money.
† Is this another sign of "nutritionism"?: Michael Pollan talks about "nutritionism"--focusing on food as the sum of its nutrients--in his new work, In Defense of Food. Pollan talked with Tara Parker-Pope (of the New York Times' "Well" blog) about this and related issues in today's Q&A post. A taste:
Americans are a people so obsessed with nutrition yet whose dietary health is so poor. That strikes me as a paradox. We worry more about nutritional health, and we see food in terms of health. Yet we’re the world champs in terms of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and the cancers linked to diet. I think it’s odd. It suggests that worrying about your dietary health is not necessarily good for your dietary health.and about the recent cloning announcements:
think the bigger concern with cloned animals is not personal health. It’s what will it take to keep a herd of genetically identical chickens, horses or pigs alive? Sex and variation is what keeps us from getting wiped out by microbes. If everything is genetically identical, one disease can come along and wipe out the entire group. You will need so many antibiotics and so much sanitation to keep a herd of these creatures going. The bigger concern should be antibiotic resistance.Read the full exchange online.
† But on a lighter topic...: Yesterday's Los Angeles Times featured "the lemon list" compiled by Amy Scattergood: "101 Things To Do With a Meyer Lemon." A delightful reading companion is Charles Antin's story, "My Little Lime-Green Lie," recently published in Food & Wine and now available online.
Many members and friends of Slow Food count The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan as one of their favorite food-related books. A member of the Slow Food USA advisory board and a frequent commentator on issues related to food production and food quality, Pollan's books and articles have been a wake-up call and a source of inspiration.
We're therefore pleased to alert you to Pollan's latest book, In Defense of Food. Subtitled "An Eater's Manifesto," the work expands on many of the points Pollan raised in his New York Times article, "Unhappy Meals," published in January 2007.
As Pollan notes in his introduction:
Most of my suggestions come down to strategies for escaping the Western diet, but before the resurgence of farmers’ markets, the rise of the organic movement, and the renaissance of local agriculture now under way across the country, stepping outside the conventional food system simply was not a realistic option for most people. Now it is. We are entering a postindustrial era of food; for the first time in a generation it is possible to leave behind the Western diet without having also to leave behind civilization. And the more eaters who vote with their forks for a different kind of food, the more commonplace and accessible such food will become. Among other things, this book is an eater’s manifesto, an invitation to join the movement that is renovating our food system in the name of health—health in the very broadest sense of that word.I doubt the last third of this book could have been written forty years ago, if only because there would have been no way to eat the way I propose without going back to the land and growing all your own food. It would have been the manifesto of a crackpot. There was really only one kind of food on the national menu, and that was whatever industry and nutritionism happened to be serving. Not anymore. Eaters have real choices now, and those choices have real consequences, for our health and the health of the land and the health of our food culture—all of which, as we will see, are inextricably linked.
++ "The Jury is In" by Bonnie Powell on The Ethicurean;
++ "Obsessed with Nutrition? That's an Eating Disorder" by Janet Maslin in The New York Times;
++ "What Would Michael Pollan Eat?" by Carol Ness in the San Francisco Chronicle (an interesting article about what's next on Pollan's writing horizon, how his emergence as a food movement leader has made him uncomfortable at times, and yes, what he eats);
++ "The Holy Church of Food" by Laura Shapiro for Slate.com; and
++ Susan Salter Reynolds' review for the Los Angeles Times.
Thanks to LAist for news that TreePeople and SEE-LA are combining forces to offer free fruit trees at several Los Angeles-area farmers' markets.
If you've been longing to grow your own apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches, or plums, or if you made a new year's resolution to grow something, this is a great opportunity to exercise your green thumb.
Locations where the trees will be distributed:
The Hollywood Sears Farmers' Market
5601 Santa Monica Boulevard
January 16 from noon until 5:30pmThe Central Avenue Farmers' Market
Washington Carver Middle School
4410 McKinley Avenue
January 12 from 8:00am until 12:30pmThe Echo Park Farmers' Market
(in the public parking lot, on Logan Street south of Sunset)
Today until 7:00pm and January 18 from 3:00pm until 7:00pmThe Watts Healthy Farmers' Market
103rd and Central Avenue
January 12 and January 19 from 10:00am until 2:00pm
A happy new year to Slow Food Los Angeles members and friends, and our wishes (and hopes) for a good, clean, and fair 2008!
Slowfoodla.com has been on a short hiatus over the holidays; regular updates and event announcements are resuming this week.