Video on food politics

Today I saw a rarely reported story about how the food corporations (e.g., Pepsico) influence our national school policy that directs what food is served in school lunch programs. This video is about a scientific conference that the feds convened that was supposed to give input about that policy. As the story shows, a lot of the people who attended were food corporation representatives, not scientists.

Our school lunch programs are about $10 billion a year, so its clear that policies which would improve the health of our kids are not going to be happily received by food corporations, which stand to loose a lot of money if we institute healthier policies. Our corporations are profiting off of poisoning the next generation and almost no one even knows about it.

Asking good questions

I've lately developed an interest in something called permaculture and have begun taking a 6-month class on the topic. Today I was reading the textbook by Bill Mollison where he was talking about the ethical basis of permaculture and I ran across a passage that I really liked and wanted to share.

A basic question that can be asked in two ways is:

"What can I get from this land, or person?" or

"What does this person, or land, have to give if I cooperate with them?"

Of these two approaches, the former leads to war and waste, the later to peace and plenty.

Most conflicts, I find, lay in how such questions are asked, and not in the answers to any question. Or, to put it another way, we are clearly looking for the right questions rather than for answers.

These dinners are largely about community and community is about cooperation. I hope that these dinners allow us a chance to learn more fully what we have to give by sharing in community. Hope to see you soon.

February Dinner on12th Ave.

Winter Tuscan Supper

At this time of the year I often get the travel bug. Maybe it's the long, rainy Portland winter that just keeps stretching on and on, or maybe it's my ancient Gypsy ancestors calling me to the open road, but whatever the case, I'm feeling the need for a change in scenery. However, since the practicalities of life do not lend themselves to gallivanting about the world right now, I've been trying to bring the world to my kitchen lately. So for this Dinner on 12th, I thought I would bring a little Tuscany to our table. Given that we are still trying to use mostly, if not all, local ingredients for these dinners, it's going to be a winter Tuscan meal; so sorry, no fantastic fresh fava beans or tomatoes-- it's rainy and cold in Tuscany right now too. But here is what I am tentatively planning for us on Friday:

Skillet Gnocchi with Chard* and Smokey Beans*
Farro and Borlotti Salad with Shaved Pecorino
Creamed Winter Greens*
Tiramisu

* = locally grown

January Dinner on 12th

Oh it's so much easier to tout the wonders of eating locally when it's August, but January is a little trickier. But we're still going to try for this dinner to have most if not all our ingredients coming from local sources. Given the brisk weather out there, I thought a nice hearty bowl of soup and something chocolaty for desert might be comforting. So, here's the menu I'm tentatively planning on for our next dinner on this Friday:

Ribolitta (Tuscan bean soup)
Potato* and Kale* Galette
Sauteed Forgotten Purple Carrots with Arugala**
Chocolate Hazelnut* Mousse and Chocolate Shortbread Cake

* = locally grown
** = VERY locally grown -- i.e. from our garden

Interested in Solar Power?

Jenna and I just enrolled with this program (www.1bog.org) that helps people band together to buy solar panels and have them installed on their house. Once a group gets together, they are assisted in bargaining with local contractors and sellers to get a deeper discount and helped through the process of figuring out all the red tape. If you are interested in possibly getting solar on your house, read below and consider signing up. Here's what they have to say about what they do:

1 Block Off the Grid (www.1bog.org) brings people together to get solar on their homes at the same time. We negotiate on the groups' behalf and get each person a huge discount from the best installer. We make going solar simpler and more affordable for everyone involved.

What 1BOG does is organize people in a community to go through the process together. The experts from 1BOG have experience in the solar industry and can both negotiate pricing and vet the installers. Plus, since we’re not the ones selling you anything, you can trust that we’re always advocating for your best interests.

1BOG does all this work for you, from translating the tax rebates, to doing the technological research, to finding the right installer; we make the process easier, cheaper, and more comfortable (since everyone knows that everyone else is getting the same deal). During our first campaign in San Francisco, we were able to negotiate up to a 43% discount from retail.

Holiday Open House

Instead of our regular "Dinner on 12th" this month, we had our annual holiday open house last night. Many of our attendees from previous "Dinner on 12ths" were there and others that we hope will be able to join us at our table for future dinners. It was a lovely evening of food and merriment. It's wonderful and inspiring that at such a busy time of the year, people will take time out of their schedules to share some joy with friends. Thank you to all who came. And also, thank you to all who brought food for the Oregon Food Bank and for the Oregon Humane Society. We will be dropping off those donations this week.

Since food is one of the main themes of this blog, I thought I would share the menu for the open house...

Truffled baby potatoes
Smoked salmon and fried caper canapes
Raspberry-red pepper jam bites
Edamame hummus with veggies
Sundried tomato crostada
Curried cashews
Roasted garlic and onion jam bruschetta
Triple cream crostini topped with fried sage
Roasted vegetable and goat cheese empanadas
Tomato and sweet onion chutney canapes
Caramel apple shortbread tart
Gingersnap truffles
Caramel Brownie bombs (Debbie Orlando's incredible secret dessert!)
Coconut and white chocolate cookies
Oatmeal Caramelitas

Happy holidays to all and may this new year bring with it peace and joy for all around the world.

Peace,
Jenna and Jason

November 21, 2008 dinner

The last dinner was great. Jenna stuck with mostly local ingredients, even during a time when the farmer's markets are starting to hibernate for the winter. We had a full house again and a good time. Thanks everyone for being there. I took some pictures of the food and the folks.

I just finished a great book by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, where she describes her family's attempt to be "locavores" for a year, in other words to either grow or eat food produced from within a 100 miles of their home. Its a great learning experience and also a great read as Kingsolver is a well-known fiction author, having written The Poinsonwood Bible. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in local and good food.

A bed of nasturtium leaves was provided by our neighbor Stephanie.

Jenna made a cornucopia out of pizza dough as a way of celebrating the season.

A picture of the spread before everyone sits

down.

Here we are. See the conversation in action!

See ya next time.