Marching into the month that brings us Spring, I am extremely excited for what is to come. But first lets review the thoughts I've thunk in the past couple weeks.
I had the oh... wait no "cream" in my coffee moment, but now it has gone a little deeper and not just coffee, but tea as well.... the freakin' disposable filters are causing some of the latest brain smoke. So going out to consume warm beverages are going to require a few more questions like is it french press or do you us a paper filter that gets tossed? and tea... my my my.... what to do about tea in general. Some specialty tea shops make the tea in a pot and pour it into a cup. Perfect. But some put them in these disposable paper filter things for me to toss. And I recon that's ok if I am going home and can put it into the compost, but I would really rather not have something that I have to deal with it at all. The other dilemma I have on tea comes after a conversation I had with a person from Equal Exchange one day, on how they are starting a line of teas. Seems that tea plantations didn't make the land reform acts that coffee and chocolate did when forming fair trade agreements. At the moment I am still drinking some green teas and matte from places I trust on some level, but am also doing my own research. Most of my "teas" these days come from herb blends and not actual tea leaves. If you have questions on this just give a shout.
Some may be wondering if I've made up with Stumptown coffee roasters since they only do french press? The answer is nope, not as long as they have that ridiculous annex. Also, why go there when I can go to Cellar Door, who I know really researches their coffee beans! And they are related to Portobello Vegan Trattoria who is ditching packaged stuff and making their own vegan cheeses and ice cream (since Coconut Bliss sold out to a cow dairy. Geeze growth is not always good folks).
Something else that I've realized I am going to have to give up are the Black Sheep bars we sell at the co-op. Most people know that this is not my favorite vegan bakery in Portland anyway, (yes, we have several these days), but I do like the peanut chocolate chip bars. I was eating them with great excitement for the fact.... well I wasn't for a spell because I was being dreamy in the thought that I should make those things myself. Those things being cookies and other such goodies. Ha! Baking is not my gift, but will soon be. See, even though the baked goods from Black Sheep come in a big tote thing, they are bound together in plastic wrap. UGH! Dovetail I still need to ask about. So long Black Sheep. Maybe I'll make my way through your bike through window, but most likely not... I'll head to Sweet Pea until the fact that they don't use organic sugar finally blows a couple brain cells and I say no... I can feel it coming. Sigh! Will someone please come up with an edible muffin/cupcake wrapper?
Now, on to what I have been reading lately. Vandana Shiva came through the state recently, and a few friends of mine got to experience her speaking in Eugene at the Food Justice conference, and then at PCC, here in Portland. It spurred me to read some more of her work, and I decided upon EARTH DEMOCRACY. I am totally enthralled. I also skimmed the Sustainable World Source Book, and I have dived head first into The Natural Kitchen by Deborah Eden Tull. All of these books, on top of some other experiences are really defining some of the goals I hope to accomplish, especially in the wake of the GMO explosion that has been happening with alfalfa and such.
In the Natural Kitchen book, Tull defines the sustainable food movement as one that "prioritizes quality and health, and provides more nutrition from simple whole foods as the alternative to overly-packaged, irradiated, shipped, and processed food that has required more energy, water, and waste than necessary." She continues with the idea that food is a "WE" thing. "It should be affordable and not something only the lucky few can afford."
This follows right along with Vandana Shiva's Principles of Earth Democracy, which I will post soon. However the basic idea is that Earth Democracy is "shaped by multiple and diverse practices of people reclaiming their resources, their livelihoods, their freedoms, their dignity, their identities, and their peace." She goes on to say that "ecological security is our most basic security; ecological identities are our most fundamental identity."
The Sustainable World book has more of the facts that some people need/like to guide them in re-evaluating their food choices, and they flat out say what many vegans have been saying for awhile now, "few personal choices and acts bring us closer to the core of sustainability... food supply is linked to all planetary sustainability issues: pollution, population, transportation, energy, social justice, economics, animal welfare, risks of GMOs, and more." Especially here in the USA, our choices are measured by where we put our dollar bill, and that measurement dictates the market. Do I want to vote for a system that kills, or one that nourishes... literally!
See, every 5 seconds a kid dies from hunger related causes. That comes out to be 16,000 every day, or approximately 963 million people worldwide that are chronically malnourished. And, I am sorry but that is fucked up! One of the arguments for GMOs and the Green Revolution was that we would increase the caloric need of an every increasing population on the planet. Note to corporations and greedy bastards: calories do not = nutrition. People all over the world are going blind from the magic rice grown and fed to kids in "developing nations" because it lacks vitamin A! Even I know that if my 1500 or so calories a day come from bagels, vegan mac n cheese, and beer, I will be full, but I will not be well!
It is projected that by the year 2025, the number of people malnourished will be 1.2 billion... those are human lives living each and every day with out what is a basic human right... food. Many of the lives that make up these numbers live in countries that are being forced to grow foods that are making people in the northern hemisphere of the planet obese and sick from heart disease, diabetes, etc. What are we doing?!
On hold I have the book Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel, which really brings into more light how the southern hemisphere is starving while the people in the north are stuffed. Tied into this is how the globalized market is creating an injustice that is making both sides ill. I might add here that this is part of what is leading to some of the revolutions around the world. People are going hungry and holding their "leaders" accountable.
I read an interview of Patel in the journal Upping The Anti. He is more involved with the Food Sovereignty movement that is also spreading in the Food Justice movement. But I think that Earth Democracy will be able to tie the sovereignty movement and the sustainability movement into a more complete food justice movement. His latest book is called The Value of Nothing, and it brings up some of what Vandana Shiva does. It includes how we value the ecology, people, cultures, animals.... Why do we see the world as so disposable? More shockingly, why do we see so many people and cultures as disposable? And that heartbreaking fact is what keeps me from wanting to purchase that baked good wrapped up all nice and tight in plastic washed down with a cup of coffee in a paper cup, or that delicious raw sandwich, chocolate, convenient bag of chips, meal in a can/box/bag. It all represents a system that says this land, these people, this water, air, resources are all disposable and I don't give a fuck about them as I consume their lives away. As Mahatma Gandhi says, "the most violent weapon on earth is the table fork."
I am now returning from the kind of tangent I hope to not make too very often, but I do sometimes think that people need to be aware that their choice effect so much and so many! That we can't just throw something away and believe that it really goes away anymore than the food on the shelves of our favorite store just magically appeared without any impact on its journey.
If we care about our health, the health of all the life forms on this planet, the health of those that come after us, we will listen, truly listen to the whole story of how our foods get to our plates. And we will tell an honest and complete story of how we made our meal.
And on that note, I am going to go try out the new tortilla press I just picked up!
And oh man! If you are not making your own nut milks yet, try hazelnut milk! so good! I am starting to get into the rhythm of soaking and blending all kinds of goodness these days. It really is just a matter of finding that perfect dance step to make it all work out!
cheers friends!
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