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Eat Food

Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.  -Michael Pollan

I'm reheating my food blog, Ono Bee. While maintaining the Eat Local theme, I'm also encouraged by Michael Pollan's book Food Rules and artist Terry Border (creator of the scene above) to keep it simple and fun.

 
There's so much news and information streaming toward us on a daily basis, often conflicting what was said the month before, that most people give up trying to understand it all.  What Pollan did was seek out answers to the simple question, "What should I eat?" and came up with sixty-four simple rules which could be even further reduced to seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I know, it sounds like marching orders for a little rabbit. That's why, the other  thing I plan to do with Ono Bee is to find good tasting, healthy foods to make at home or restaurants that serve the same.  It's bound to be good for all of us.

In the end, it's our healthcare system and our country, and while a growing number of us are shopping for fresh, local and organic food, the majority of Americans who end up in our healthcare system are not. Thus there is always a need for constant outreach and education. Excerpt from Healthcare:The High Cost of the American Diet. Organic Connections Magazine

Please stay tuned to www.OnoBee.com.  In the meantime, a few more food rules:

"It's better to pay the grocer than the doctor".
"If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry."
"Don't eat anything you aren't willing to kill yourself."

and more...

Photo: Food Art by Terry Border via GPL Teens

Google and the Universe

Overwhelment is about you not being up to speed with what you told the Universe that you want. -Abraham/Hicks

I use G-mail by Google, so their ads change costumes every time I open a new message. Instantaneously, ads go from yoga to Hawaii, from anti-virus software to health sites and so on. All dependant upon the content of my e-mail. Just the way the Universe responds to the thought bubbles I create.

Sometimes the search engines respond in ways that seem eerily intuitive. For example, as I was headed for my computer a few days ago my thoughts were about the foods within my 100 mile radius (Eat Local Challenge), the 100 things I wanted to get done that day refuted by thoughts of also wanting to just lay on the couch to read some of the 100 books I have stacked and waiting for me. The number 100 was #1 in my mind.

When I flipped open the cover of my laptop, the first thing that caught my eye was the headline, 100 Most Powerful Women Sorted by Rank - Forbes.com. After a few minutes looking through the list, those accomplished women made me feel as though I'm standing stone-cold still. But I couldn't find anyone that I'd want to trade places with...nada one.

That's when my answer came through: All of the 100 things I want to do, are in my life because I asked for them. They're like bubbles floating all around for me to go after, with joy. In the past, I spent more time thinking about what I didn't want and when things appeared, I had to wrestle them into submission or beat them off with a stick. The difference between overwhelm and overjoy, I've recently learned, rests in the asking.

The Universe has learned a few tricks from Google. It's gotten better and faster! Maybe the Universe created Google to get its point across to me, knowing how much time I spend at the computer. All I can say to you about either one: caveat emptor, buyer beware.

Photo: jonSpot

Food. Don't Take it for Granted.

The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they are fed. -Brillat-Savarin

 

When I read an interview with Alice Waters, author and owner of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, the current headlines of babies poisoned by milk in China, shed a different light:

"...every decision we make about the food that we eat has consequences. And they aren't just about people's personal health. There are consequences in terms of the healthcare system for all of us if people eat food that makes them sick. And there are environmental consequences. But I think the thing that people don't understand is that there are cultural consequences." (1)

As a residual of the milk situation, a particular brand of candy made in China has been taken off store shelves in Hawaii with more perhaps to follow. After sending a message along to a few people and receiving several "thank you" notes from those who often buy White Rabbit candy, I needed to hear a positive note. How vigilant do we have to be about our food sources? Who's in charge? Alice Waters continues:

"When we're eating fast food, we're not just eating the food, we're eating a set of values that comes with the food. And it's telling us that food should be cheap. It's telling us that food should be the same no matter where we are on the planet. It's telling us that advertising confers value. That it's OK to eat 24 hours a day. That there are unlimited resources. It's telling us that the work of the people who grow or raise the food is unimportant -- in fact we don't even need to know. And all of those values are informing what's happening in the world around us." (1)

She's so right. The number of women who breast- feed in China has declined as more young mothers have entered the workforce and given in to the advertised benefits of baby formulas. Many of them view instant formulas as a status symbol! (2)

Where's my positive note? I think it's time to change my tune! Except when I cook for company, food is a bother. Even though I don't use a microwave and buy organic as much as possible, according to Alice Waters, I've got fast food values. I think about food only when I'm hungry and then I want it fast. It's time to bring my yoga into the kitchen.

As I mentally prepare for the Eat Local Challenge that begins this Wednesday, the world within my 100 mile radius comes into focus. I'm looking for sources of locally grown foods to replace my favorite "foreign substances" and it sure looks as though a plan and a schedule are necessary. It's been years since I've made a weekly menu! But then all it takes is a decision and a change in attitude, a far more pleasant attitude.

Alice says, "you have to find ways of slowing it down. And this is an everyday delightful way to slow it down. Take time. Take a moment....there's pleasure in the doing. It's pleasure in work. It's something that we don't understand in this country. Work is over there and pleasure's over here..."

Consider what it would be like, if people all over the world were able to:

• Eat locally and sustainably.
• Eat seasonally.
• Eat together with friends and family.
• Believe that food should never be taken for granted.

What would need to change? What hasn't happened, yet?

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Sources:
(1) Interview with Alice Waters (Salon Life)
(2) Women worry, but many don't breastfeed in China. (AP)

Photo: happy d

Eat Local Challenge 2008

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. -Aesop

This year, Eat Local Challenge 2008 will take place in October and I've signed up once again. You may recall my first attempt last year and the list of local foods I consumed for a month. Well I stand before you, fork in hand (they don't make chopsticks for left-handed people) willing to do better this year, even hoping that some of you will join me!

When my mouse and I scurried through the web, I found that blogs and websites have increased exponentially on the subject of eating locally in just one short year! Where food is concerned, we've been inundated with the good: "eat your fruits and vegetables and avoid trans-fats", the bad:"obesity in the U.S. is at an all-time high", and the ugly: "beware of E. coli, salmonella, cancer and heart disease". Rather than retreating in fear and denial, many intelligent optimists are stepping forward with their plates and palates and suppliers are eager to meet their demands.

What I really love about the whole Eat Local/Slow Food notion, are the precepts of self-responsibility and sustainability, for the good of all concerned. Even though I made a concentrated effort for just one month last year, my buying habits have changed. I'll choose fresh, local produce at the supermarket before I buy jet-lagged, organic fruits from South America at the health food store. Many organic choices are beginning to show up in our locally owned supermarket too.The movement is fresh and raw right now but soon all of the big box stores (Wal-Mart has started in some areas) will buy and sell more local products. Good!

San Francisco hosted Slow Food Nation 2008 this past weekend and a Washington Post reporter began her article about the event saying, "This is how far some people will go these days to get locally grown food...", a perfect segue.

If you're interested, use this tool to locate your 100 mile radius, generally accepted as your "local" area, start making a list of the meals you usually consume and look for local sources or replacements. Farmers' Markets are a good place to start. Ask the folks in the produce department where you shop. Remember, all it takes are 10-20 such inquiries and they'll be telling their supervisors, "Everybody's asking for local produce!" It's my own word-of-mouth theory. Above all, keep it simple and make it fun. Change will happen, no matter who get's elected.

If you come upon a few barriers or challenges, that's all good too. Chances are others have experienced the same and that's how solutions are sought and found!

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"Adam Smith was wrong!": Clip from A Beautiful Mind (Russell Crowe), YouTube (02:42).

RESOURCES:

Sustainable Table: Buy Local tips.

Local Harvest. Find a CSA (Community Supported Ag) in your area to purchase locally grown foods. Listed for Kona is Adaptations, Inc.

Blue Ocean Institute: Guide to Ocean Friendly Fish.

The Kohala Center's "Island of Hawaii Food System Project" (pdf)

Photo by Elenapaint

"Cooking" for Me, Myself and I

When I am organized and have a refrigerator stocked with local fruits and veggies (70% of the time and getting better), this is how I assemble my breakfast/lunch. I take some local, organic lettuce greens, 2 oranges, 2 frozen bananas and a quarter-sized piece of ginger. I add some acai concentrate, Hawaiian Spirulina and Agave syrup or local honey.

 

I turn my Vita-Mix to the "variable" speed and slowly increase it to high and within less than a minute, I've taken the colorful blend to a single shade of "furple".

  You won't taste the lettuce or spirulina because of the sweetness of the fruits. This whole concoction sustains me through the day, it varies slightly with the fruits that I'm given or find at the local supermarket.  All of the fiber and goodness remains in the smoothie. It's no wonder that I'm in love with my Vita-Mix, a blender with 4 wheel drive!

A New Green on the Block

Here's another reason to seek out local foods. If you frequent the weekly farmers' markets, your patronage and support will encourage them to offer new and varied products. When they do, you'll have a chance to try foods that you may have never seen before, much less tasted.

I grew up with my Aunty Thelma's daikon-ba, pickled daikon shoots, on hot rice with a sprinkling of soy sauce. Sometimes with hot green tea added for what's known as chazuke.

My aunt grew vegetables in a designated "patch", along side her driveway and around her grey, two-story house.  Wherever she deemed the soil rich enough and the sunlight sufficient for her eggplants, string beans, daikon, etc., she planted an edible landscape and served up some of the most delicious food offerings this side of heaven!

So now, when someone offers me a sealed, plastic bag full of green stuff that I am not familiar with, my taste buds grapple. Is this something we like? Can we associate it with something good that we've had in the past? The curly leaf mustard greens on sale at Manuka Farms' booth today, fit the bill.  It was crispy and slightly bitter, like the raw onion slices that I love in my salads and because I knew that it was grown in Big Island soil, I thought of Thelma as I chewed and salivated.

Mustard Greens: Nutritional Facts

Photo: CookThink

Haumea's Garden

Thalia Davis, a Kona Yoga regular, kindly forwarded the news of this weekend's Haumea's Garden- A Local Food Exposition to be held at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort.

Thalia says that 85% of what we eat on the Big Island is shipped in. INcredible! Thanks to organizations such as The Kohala Center, our own conscious farmers, and progressive educators, we will:

...make a strong positive statement for the future of our Island’s agriculture, with an emphasis on the keiki, their education and their future participation in our communities as leaders.  We can assist our island to eat in a healthier way, creating a thriving and resilient economy while preserving our precious natural and cultural resources.-The Kohala Center

Not far from our studio, Innovations Public Charter School has started a garden program to teach kids about our environment, food and cultural history. Thalia's son attends the school so you can be sure she'll be at the summit and at the benefit concert on October 6. The proceeds from the concert will provide support for youth gardens and agricultural programs around the island.

Look at all of the participating farmers, businesses and organizations listed here:

http://www.kohalacenter.org/food/haumea.htm. It'll warm your heart and tummy to know that the Big Island is eating its way to sustainability!

Let's Eat Local

Food is the most primitive form of comfort.
-Sheila Graham

I joined the Eat Local Challenge (ELC) a month ago, inspired by the Keauhou Farmers' Market and my dear friend, Nora Bow. It was a month of education for me because I made the commitment to record my consumption of local foods and, as we all know, thirty days hath September!

I certainly fit in with the population of humans who reportedly eat from a preferred list of ten or fewer foods. It would have been opportune for me to try different fruits (but I love mangoes!) and food products for a wider variety and a more interesting read. I did, however, learn a few things, made some new connections and have some ideas for future challenges.

This is what I learned:

Your local supermarket may be a better source than the health food store, at least for fresh and local produce. I found that out within the first week.

The proper placement of the apostrophe S for the possessive noun farmers is after the S, as in Farmers' Market, not Farmer's or absent as in Farmers. I'm usually picky about such things but chose to ignore it until I began reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - A Year of Food Life. I respect her writing expertise so much more than any government entity. Mangoes may make you lazy and I'm correcting my previous posts as I find them.

It's far more healthy to feel good when eating your food than worrying about eating good food. You can take down two mangoes off a tree with one stone, if the Eat Local concept truly appeals to you and you don't obsess over it. Click here, for Food: The Science of Scrumptious. The article explains how we all have our food quirks and may even pass them on to our kids.

Pre-planned meals avoid the need for prepared meals. You'd think I would have learned this after all the years of late afternoon competitive grocery shopping.

My Eat Local focus has given me a greater appreciation of the Big Island and all that is grown here. I'm also gaining a new respect for the foodies of the world! Their enthusiasm and true joy of eating will change the way America eats, which Europeans will say is with too much worry and guilt.

Here are some links to a few happy foodies I've made contact with this past month:

Bettina and Suzanne are the high-energy writers of Loulies...for the love of food. Bettina found us through the ELC website and introduced herself.

You'll want to keep an eye on a new Hawaii publication: Hawaiian Edibles. Gloria Cohen, the publisher and editor-in-chief, promises an interesting second issue.

Kale for Sale is written by an eco-conscious foodie named Katrina and she mentioned Kona Yoga in her September 27 post along with a list of other blog sites.

I am inspired to continue my local eating focus and to try some of the recipes shared by all of my new friends. I'm also highly intrigued by the concept of a 30 day challenge so stay tuned, this is the beginning of a brand new month!

What's considered local? Take a look at this 100-mile radius map and type in your zip code. Many Eat Local enthusiasts consider local to be within that area.

Print: TaroFestival.org

Hawaiian Edibles

I picked up a copy of Edible Hawaiian Islands' premier issue at the Keauhou Farmers Market this past Saturday. Publisher and editor, Gloria Cohen, writes: Everywhere you look, there are signs that the Hawaiian Islands are in the midst of a renaissance in sustainable eating (eating locally produced food) - and we should all be a part of it.

There's an article about Richard Ha's Hamakua Springs Country Farm that reminded me of the sauce I made using their cocktail tomatoes and a cilantro pesto from Manuka Farms (9/18 on my Eat Local food list). Ha expects to produce close to 2 million pounds of tomatoes this year in all shapes, sizes and varieties! I'd say he's doing his part in "...making our state self-sufficient."

The magazine highlights farmers as well as the commercial establishments that acquire and prepare locally grown foods. It credits the top chefs who began  Hawaii Regional Cuisine (HRC), with changing the way Hawaii eats and thus raising the demand for top quality local produce and food products. Incidentally, Kona can be proud that one of the original HRC chefs is our own Amy Ferguson, owner of O's Bistro in the Crossroads Shopping Center.

At this point, you may get a complimentary copy of Edible Hawaiian Islands at all Borders stores in Hawaii, and maybe from one of the vendors at the Keauhou Farmers Market. Look for the pineapples on the cover! As for me, I want to try the Chopped Salad recipe from Restaurant Bar Acuda (page 30).

Your food choice, is your voice.

This is a typical Saturday's harvest from the Keauhou Farmers Market for me: packaged organic greens, smoothies, mangoes, lilikoi (passion fruit), tomatoes, sweet potatoes and bananas.

There definitely are more choices available to me here in Kona and on the Big Island, but I have my favorites. Now that I've become much more aware of the beauty of eating locally, it's a matter of trying new recipes and food combinations.

If it's food market panache you seek, follow Alice Waters in New York. She cruises the entire market to scan what's available, forms a menu in her head and proceeds to forage through the food stalls. I'll try this on Saturday, sans video crew.