Here’s another installment in the lead-up to Dr. Daniel R_e’s mind-opening series on nutrition and poison foods.
I’ve been a food freak for as long as I can remember. I love eating food, cooking food, and learning about food. I’m in the process of training to grow my own food. I’ll eat darn near anything except lima beans and Rocky Mountain oysters*. I have certain favorite dishes that I seek out in every place I can, and really dig comparing notes on various restaurants with other chow fanatics. For example, between 1995 and 2005, I ate dozens of Reuben sandwiches, ordering them in many states at every joint I visited that featured them on the menu, searching for the ultimate. [Pro tip : the grand winner was and remains Chompie’s ‘Grandpa Ruby’s Reuben’ – nonpareil, and available in Tempe or Scottsdale.] Currently, I’m on a grilled cheese safari that started in June of 2008. [Current point leader : Mile High Grill in Jerome, AZ]
Sounds like fun, huh? It is. But there’s a catch. Something else that I started in June is the transition from the poison to the Poison-Free Lifestyle ™ . For those not in the know, the Poison-Free Lifestyle™ is concerned primarily with excluding from one’s eating patterns such things as chemical additives like BHT, highly-processed ingredients such as modified corn starch, animal products that have been subject to the use of antibiotics, cannibal feed, or other nasty manipulation, and produce that has been grown with the addition of chemical pesticides or fertilizers. These excluded products are broadly construed as ‘poison’ for varying reasons. The chemical pesticides are kind of a no-brainer – those are literally poison, petrochemical compounds that you wouldn’t put in your mouth under any reasonable circumstances. Ditto known FDA-approved poisons like aspartame, which has been conclusively proven to be carcinogenic. The logic of excluding chemically modified and manipulated ingredients is a little more conceptual : even though eating pure modified corn starch or soy lecithin (for a terrifying and true account of how this stuff is produced, read the excellent and unbiased “Twinkie, Deconstructed”) hasn’t been proven to be harmful, the basis for rejecting it (and a great many other things that are hidden in the ingredient lists of nearly every item in the grocery store) is that it’s a food that’s twisted out of its basic form by processes that the consumer doesn’t understand and which involve harmful chemicals and is then tucked away into foods that you’d think would be perfectly free of weird synthetic ingredients without the consumer’s knowledge. Poison-Free eaters avoid these because a) the agents used in processing these ingredients are usually literal poisons, and we don’t trust manufacturer assertions that all the poisons ‘evaporate’ or are otherwise neutralized by the process end, and b) because we object on principle to having this chemical garbage snuck into our food in the first place and then told that it’s part of a wholesome and nutritious breakfast.
‘OK’, you say, ‘Good for you, champ-o, but what does this have to do with being a food freak or your grilled cheese quest?’ Here’s the nut. If one adheres strictly to the Poison-Free rule of “Read the label and don’t eat it unless you’re OK with every ingredient on there,” it’s nearly impossible to go eat at a restaurant and it just doesn’t make sense to eat at one. See, if restaurant food costs more than home-cooked food (which it always does – often by something like a factor or eight to ten), and at the same time, the restaurant food uses ingredients that are not poison-free (which very nearly all restaurants do), then it makes no sense to pay a huge premium to a restaurant for food that you wouldn’t pay for in a grocery store in the first place. Let me repeat that : it makes no sense to pay a premium in a restaurant for food that you’d reject for your home table as ‘poison.’
So why not, you ask, only go to poison-free restaurants? The answer is simple : because they are few, and the those that exist are generally lacking in menu, quality, service, vibe, or some combination of the above. When we go out to eat, it’s for pleasure, not to force a dry quinoa steak with patchouli sauce down our gullets while the bedreaded cook inadvertently shakes hair fragments and week-old cannabis seeds from his dome into our dessert. We want a delicious variety of food served competently in a place with a hip vibe.
OK, whiner, you reply, why not just stop going out and eat at home? Well, this is the obvious solution, but what fun is that? Sometimes, we just want to get out and chill with delicious food somewhere other than the domicile, hip as it may be. Also, it’s pretty hard to engage in safari behavior when you’re the one cooking the dang quarry, since by controlling every aspect of the production, you have a pretty good idea what the results will taste like.
The essential fact is that the problem is at present insoluble. We want to go out to eat often, but it’s illogical and bad form to pay someone to poison you. If one has kids, the folly is compounded. It’s impractical and annoying to demand to see the ingredient list for every item in every restaurant kitchen. We do seek out joints that are putatively poison-free, but they are so lacking in numbers that when one adjusts for the average “bad food, bad service, or just wack” restaurant-pool attrition, they might as well not exist at all.
What we’re doing right now is allowing ourselves a certain number of poison lunches or suppers pre month so that we can satisfy our restaurant addiction. This is a stupid solution, though, and we really feel the sting of stupidity when we drop $75 for a fancy dinner that is laden with high-fructose corn syrup, gross factory-farm dairy, and pesticide-dunked leafy greens. I don’t know how long we can keep acting like idiots in this way.
In a world where almost all commercial food products are chock-full of terrible manipulations and outright deadly poisons, and the thinking household really has to be careful and read the label of what they buy to eat if they want to avoid being dogs at the antifreeze puddle, where does the restaurant trade fit in? We go to restaurants because they have tasty food and cool atmosphere. But if the food is food that we wouldn’t eat if offered to us for free in another setting, much less pay for, how can we reasonably buy it from the restaurant? We can’t, that’s how. It’s dumb, stupid, and makes no sense.
To restauranteurs : you better get wise before we do, and start making sure, when you present that bill for a costly supper, that it doesn’t represent a Jonestown bargain. (37,423)
Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:07 pm Hey if you ever feel the urge to post anything regarding growing your own foods that would be a good bit of knowledge to share. I don't have enough free time to operate a garden at the time being but I've gained enough botanical know how from the Ancient Ones to nibble my way through a long distance hike.
Oh, and on the topic of literal poisons in food... it is quite ridiculous that these substances are even put into the food in the first place. It boggles the mind, just why, even foods that don't need additives get something infused before they hit the shelves. Logic screams and throws a fit insisting that the natural, unfucked with products are going to be cheaper, and yet it is the organic products which cost the most.
Is all life one giant fucking Catch 22?
Is that book even possible to read without feeling completely bludgened to death by the sheer onslought of irony?
Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:03 pm You ain't kiddin'! The additive and manipulation jive has me furious. There's enough chemical engineering R+D devoted to producing your average toaster streudel to put Botswana on the fast track to finding the AIDS cure. It's tough to overstate the amount of surprise I experienced when I started following the 'read the label' policy. I recommend that those trying out that policy for the first time leave their guns at home.
Re : food-raising : funny you should mention that; I'm just wrapping up a battery of classes this Saturday, and I'll be producing and posting a meaty-yet-concise instructional wire series immediately thereafter. The revolution will come when we irate urbanites pick up the hoe. And I don't mean any amorous rendezvous. [sneak preview : the way to beat the 'Organic' foods racket, and it is a racket, is by growing your own poison-free chow in just a few minutes per day with proper planning!]
With regard to 'Twinkie, Decon.,' I recommend that you approach it with a sense of indignation on the one hand and a huge flagon of Laphroaig in the other. I also wear my irony-proof socks and try to forget that my entire collegiate food supply consisted of 'Sun Chips' and sugarfree gum.
Sun Dec 07, 2008 1:43 am Composting for Self-Reliance: The basics to get started now!
Like Jack in 'Sideways,' we're an infant - at least as regards our ability to look after ourselves in a real and substantial way. If we're going to get our sovereignty back, we like the bambino must first learn how to feed ourselves.
Food matters, big time. Most crucially, it's what we choose to use as fuel and building material for our bodies. Nearly as importantly, it's a major component of our cultural and social reality. No factor is as crucial to our bodily and mental health as food security -- reliable access to nutritious food.
Food can be transformed in numerous ways, but ultimately all food comes from the ground -- the soil. The food chain starts with that which grows in the ground, and much what we eat comes directly from the dirt. Everything that is in our food was once in the soil, chemically speaking. It follows, then, that anything we put in our soil will end up in our food.
This last fact, coupled with expense and ecological factors, makes plain that for best health and nutrition, we want our soil to be free of poisons. Poisons, as we understand them here, include among other things all chemical and synthetic toxins such as pesticides, herbicides, and artificial fertilizers.
How, though, are we to raise an adequate amount of food for serious self-support without the use of 'fertilizers.' especially in harsh climates?
Organic, self-produced compost is the answer. Compost that we make ourselves, controlling all inputs and results, gives our crops the nutrients they need in abundance, while freeing us from chemical residues created by commercial fertilizers.
With a properly-implemented composting plan, we can raise really substantial amounts of our own food without much delay. Here's the scoop :
- What is compost and what benefits does it provide? -
-Compost is organic matter that has fully decomposed, becoming a uniform dark, microbially-active but non-toxic, soil component material that is much like the soil type known as 'humus.'
-Compost, when added to soil, acts as an addition of live matter that promotes plant growth.
-Composting recycles spent plants back to the soil
-Compost, with its active microbe communities, attracts beneficial worms that aerate the soil, promoting root growth and good water drainage
-Compost buffers excessive sodium content -- a common problem in many arid and depleted regions
-Compost provides high-density nutrients to plants
-Compost protects plant root systems from heat and cold, and fortifies entire plant against the elements by means of better nutrition
-This same nutrition, combined with the microbial community it brings and the underground ecosystem is engenders, protects crops from disease.
- What tools do we need to start composting right now? -
-A bucket for the compost material
-A shovel to spread and stir the compost
-A pair of clippers for getting raw materials like branches down to compostable size
-A long-stemmed thermometer ("compost thermometer")
-Compost screen -- you can make this yourself in minutes
-Other useful but nonessential equipment includes a wheelbarrow, chipper / shredder, blender, gloves, and pitchfork.
-What are the popular methods of composting?
There are three major methods of composting. Each requires a correct balance of raw materials (more on this later), regular turning / agitation, and monitoring of the internal temperature of the compost as it breaks down.
1) The Pile Method : This is where you simply layer your raw organic materials into a pile in a specified place and allow it to decompose in the open. This method is popular but can be susceptible to weed germination and pests within the pile, and can be unsightly.
2) The Bin Method : Construct a wooden bin from scrap wood, old pallets, or drill aeration holes in a 30 gallon rubbish can. This method offers more control than the pile method.
3) The 'In-Vessel' Method : where a closed, rotating vessel known as a 'Compost Tumbler' or 'Compost Drum' is used. These can be bought commercially or made with some effort. The advantages of this method are considerable convenience of agitation and material addition, and nearly complete protection from weeds and pests.
-What raw materials should I use?
-We need a proper ratio of two classes of materials in our compost :
1) "Carbon inputs" - this means dried brown material like dry leaves, wood chips, and clippings
2) "Nitrogen inputs" - this means green and / or moist material such as green plant and grass waste, discarded fruit and vegetable material, coffee grounds, and manure
NOTE : the proper ratio is 25 carbon to 1 nitrogen by weight, which works out in practice to about 1 : 1 (half and half) by volume.
-What must I avoid composting for use on food crops?
-Dog, cat, and other predator manure -- these can carry persistent pathogens
-Castor and oleander products -- these materials contain persistent toxins
-Pine needles in high quantity -- these contain a persistent natural herbicide.
-So what manure is OK to compost?
-Cow (as opposed to steer) manure is best, and has properties that in practice appear to protect against certain plant diseases, such as dollar spot disease and sweet basil wilt.
-If cow manure is unavailable, look for horse manure. Horse manure is available from stables and, as a bonus, comes with straw (so you get both nitrogen and carbon inputs from one source)
-Avoid steer manure - this contains harmful amounts of sodium -- this includes all commercial manures
-Be aware that if your manure comes from animals which are fed non-organic diets and / or treated with chemicals, certain of these residues may remain in your compost. See addendum on bioremediation for details on how to mitigate this factor.
- What exactly is going on in my compost bin?
-What's happening is the biological process of decomposition, which converts solid and liquid waste into a stable, humus-like product. This is acheived through the action of bacteria. There are three types of bacteria :
-Aerobic : bacteria that need oxygen to live
-Anaerobic : bacteria that can thrive without oxygen - such as those inside your stomach
-Facultative : bacteria which can adapt to either condition
We want to encourage the action and propagation of aerobic bacteria in our compost, because this type of bacteria is best at controlling the odors of decomposition. This is done by regular agitation (mixing) of the compost as it decomposes.
-Why do I need to take the temperature of my compost every day?
-There are two reasons for this :
1) To be sure that your compost is achieving what is known as the 'thermophilic temperature range' - 114 to 160 Fahrenheit degrees. This is essential for the elimination of pathogens, pests, and weed seeds from your compost. If your compost doesn't get this hot at its core, it's not properly decomposing.
2) To judge when the compost is 'done' -- this is when it returns to the low end of a temperature bell curve.
-The heat described here is caused by the action of living microbes as they go about consuming and processing the composted material.
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