Happy Belated Birthday Blog!

Wow, time flies. While I technically started this blog two years ago in mid-September, MMM's current manifestation really turned a year old yesterday! I wish I could say that cakes and streamers and general hoop-la was involved, but alas, yesterday I was otherwise engaged.

As you, my lovely reader know, I recently moved out to Washington, DC for a two-month contract, started a new job a week ago (sustainable ag, baby!), and then moved on Saturday! But that's not even my excuse for missing my dear blog's birthday. Yesterday, following the most enjoyable five hours of my week, working the farmers market, I proceeded to spend the rest of the day at IKEA, gazing ever-so-longingly at all the beautiful kitchen apparel, in search of bookcases. We definitely took the scenic route through the store, but when I go back this week to get the rest of the necessary shelfage, it will be purely business (haha).

So is that it? Excuses are going to form the backbone of your blog entry today? Well, kids, I am dreadfully behind - have not completed a Daring Bakers challenge in two months or Pies with That - but I will include a dessert that I helped concoct on Friday but can take no credit for the creative mind that dreamed it up (except for the vegan substitutions...)

Strawberry Shortcake Shake

1 pint vanilla non-dairy ice cream (I like So Delicious fruit-sweetened)

1 pint strawberries (if you are lucky, you can find some end-of-season berries at the market)

8 oz dark chocolate bars (70%+ for best health benefits)

1 sleeve of graham crackers (or half a recipe of home-made gluten-free vegan crackers)

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I prefer plain almond)

1. I would do this in two batches, unless you have a massive blender. Pour in the milk. Add strawberries...perhaps sliced or smashed depending on how strong your blender is. Pulse a few times.

2. Add ice cream. Pulse until pink.

3. Add chocolate bar broken up. Pulse until you get speckles.

4. Add crumbled graham crackers. Pulse until desired consistency.

5. Pour and consume. I recommend a small spoon, but you can also drink it.

No photos, but this was a solid ending to the dinner party my friend and I put on last Friday!

And this Friday is special because it is the second blog action day in which I have taken part. Our theme this year is water, so stay tuned to learn more about water and agriculture! Also, more adventures to ensue as I settle into my new kitchen!!

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

Your Morning Cuppa

Photo via prince_tigereye

♪ The best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup ♪

Many of us grew up hearing this little jingle on the TV, but few (if any) of us considered the extent of the impacts that a cup of Joe has on the environment and people. Coffee is an interesting case study of a plantation crop that has wreaked havoc on ecosystems and local human communities in the tropics for decades, but actually has the potential to be an integral part of diverse and vibrant agro-ecosystems.

Now you've heard me go on about chocolate and how the ethics of consumption depend largely on how your cacao is grown and processed. Coffee presents many of the same challenges and benefits. Acting as the foundation for the livelihoods of 25 million people's, coffee production now covers an area larger than the size of Portugal.

Modern coffee plantations capitalize on the rapid growth and high yields resulting from direct sunlight afforded crops in monocultures, with no canopy of trees. Besides the obvious downsides of habitat loss, these systems also quickly degrade as soil erodes and loses nutrients rapidly. However, traditional production methods capitalize on the nature of this understory shrub or small tree by leaving the forest intact.

Coffee-Growing Schemes

A month back, NPR host Guy Raz interviewed UC Berkeley (beat Cal) researcher Shalene Jha about how coffee cultivation can actually promote biological diversity. By maintaining a forest canopy, habitat for migratory birds, protection for essential pollinators, deterrents for pests, and water/soil filtration process are preserved. This in turn, fostering high biodiversity, also supports healthy crops and increases the resilience of such food systems! So scour the shelves of your grocery store for shade-grown coffee or google it and proceed to be overwhelmed. More and more manufacturers are jumping on board...well, maybe not Folger's.

Food for thought: Caffeine is actually the toxic substance meant to ward off seed predators in the wild...similar to nicotine in tobacco plants.

Learn More:

Maps: Coffee-Producing Regions via National Geographic or Conservation International

Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Coffee

Early Article on Shade-Grown Coffee Benefits

Coffee's Role in Climate Change Mitigation: Carbon Credits

Coffee Research: Bird-Friendly and Shade-Grown Coffee Background

Migratory Birds and Coffee

Jha's Article on Shade-Grown Coffee and Bee Diversity

Produce of the Week: Tomatoes!

Photo by Tara Maxey

The last of summer drifts away as the leaves begin to turn and flutter to the ground. But even as the weather turns (and let me tell you, the weather has definitely turned from warm and sunny to chilly and rainy), tomatoes are still around to brighten the day...for another couple of weeks.

Native to South and Central America, the tomato made its way from Montezuma's garden to Cortez's Spain (and subsequently the rest of Europe) in the early 16th century. The Italians embraced these beauties most heartily and were the first to actually cultivate the plants outside of the Americas. As a fruit from the Nightshade family, the tomato was thought to be poisonous by many, but it finally caught on in the rest of Europe and jumped over to North America in the early 18th century.

I find it fascinating that a crop that presently epitomizes a region, such as tomatoes in Italy or potatoes in Ireland, originated from a land across an ocean. Tomato breeding has led to a smaller scope of domestic diversity than the initial range of the wild plant, yet there are still more varieties (especially with the resurgence of heirloom tomatoes) than most people can handle. Take a look at this article on the impacts of tomato domestication and explore a snippet of tomato biodiversity.

As with many of the crops we have explored, tomatoes have an interesting and complex history of travel and domestication. But tomatoes are also incredibly versatile; there are just so many ways you can cook with them! Dice 'em, roast 'em, stew 'em, dry 'em, can 'em...this time of year, though, my thoughts turn to ways of preserving summer for the coming winter.

I attempted my first canning enterprise this past week. I'll get back to you in a few months as to whether they we properly canned (or whether I fell victim to botulism...). Try out this recipe for Roasted Tomato Sauce and read this sound advice before canning. I also might branch out and make tomato jam or oven-dried with my next batch of tomatoes...

Other fun recipes for end-of-summer tomatoes:

The Italian in me goes straight for bruschetta, crispy bread and drizzles of olio.

Panzanella for end-of-summer festivities

Classic and easy rustic tomato salad (basil may be getting harder to come by this time of year)

Moroccan tomato soup (dice your own tomatoes!) is perfect as fall sets in.

If you are in the mood for Indian, cauliflower tomato curry might be up your alley.

Seriously, tomatoes over polenta is fantastic and flexible (just leave out the cheese)

And Bitman blogged about season's last tomato sauce, so hop on board before it's too late!

Enjoy your season's end bounty. Stay tuned for some exciting posts in the coming week (conservation, blog action day, and one-year birthday)! Over and out!

Produce of the Week: An Apple a Day

image courtesy of Telegraph UK

Happy Autumnal Equinox! If any fruit epitomizes the autumn season, the apple would be it. And there is such a spectrum: from sweet to tart and tangy, crunchy to soft (and often mealy). Apples have an interesting history and a distinctly American character. Which is why this fruit is making a second appearance on Produce of the Week.

But apples are not American in origin. One of the achievements to emerge from the fertile crescent, this fruit made its first appearance in Kazahkstan at the birth of agriculture around 10,000 years ago! In the earliest of human civilizations, from Chinese to Egyptian to Indus, apples played a role as sustenance and luxury. The importance of apples should not be undermined, or written off as the common lunchbox fruit of today.

Apples pervade history and literature: as the impetus of Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden; the fruit of love and temptation throughout Greek mythology; cameo appearance in the Odyssey. Their reputation spans the spectrum, from virtuous to corrupt, health food to dessert. A world traveler, the apple has diversified into over 7,500 varieties worldwide. The fruit itself carries the genetic material for vastly different offspring; grown from seed, such apples are good for little more than hard cider (thank you Johnny Appleseed)! The gamut of apples today stems from long-term breeding and grafting practices of orchardists.

If ever asked about my favorite use for an apple, I would have to respond that nothing surpasses the joys of biting into a crisp and juicy piece of raw fruit. However, a close second would have to be a tasty apple crumble pie! If you don't want to go to the hassle (whatever, pies are easy) of making a full-fledged pie, try this individual-sized dessert I whipped up for this month's SOS Challenge.

Crispy Apple Bake (a healthful twist on an apple crisp)

1 medium gala, honey crisp, ambrosia, or other sweet and crisp apple

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup oat bran

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 packets of sun crystals or powdered stevia to taste (the former is part real cane sugar, which caramelizes to provide a nice crispness)

1. Cut apple in half and remove seeds/core. Place on top of foil in a pan or baking sheet.

2. Combine all filling ingredients. Stuff into the apple halves.

3. Wrap in the foil. Bake on 400F for 20 minutes. Uncover. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until apples are soft and oats are crisp.

4. Eat warm, as is or with some soy ice cream! (photo is actually of my apple crumble pie, but same idea, just no bottom crust!)

What else can you do with an apple? Possibilities are endless ... but my blog post isn't. So here are a few to try out:

Heidi's Broccoli Crunch or Curried Apple Cous Cous (this sounds familiar...)

Smitten Kitchen's Cabbage, Apple, and Walnut salad (minus the blue cheese and creme fraiche)

Just-a-tad-early-for-Thanksgiving Apple Stuffing

Baked Squash and Apples (sub olive oil for butter)

And don't forget kids, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away"... so enjoy the wealth and variety of fruit this fall!

A Veggie Considers Meat

No, I am not considering EATING meat, but the press coverage livestock has experienced lately in the foodie and agriculture world merits some attention. This industry has often held a central role in sustainability discussions, as well as those focused on rural development and food security. In the past couple of weeks, several articles (and articles on those articles) have emerged addressing the part livestock plays in climate change, land degradation, and world food system.

First, let’s establish a bit of background on the livestock industry. According the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), livestock contributes 40% to global agricultural production and is the base of sustenance (both financially and nutritionally) for close to one billion people. While it also supplies 15% of daily energy consumption and 25% of dietary protein, the industry itself experiences many market distortions fueled by poor policies that ultimately cause a disproportionately greater environmental impact than economic/human benefit. Animal-based agriculture has two faces: it is both an integral part of an agro-ecosystem’s waste and nutrient cycle, as well as a performer in the great climate change and land degradation saga. I’m going to leave out regional differences and the whole discussion on development and changing dietary preferences, but the FAO’s State of Food and Agriculture Report provides plenty of statistics and analysis to give you a good grasp of the topic.

Now that you have some context for our discussion, we can get to the meat of the issue (yes, pun intended). My biggest beef (again? groan!) with the world’s meat obsession is the discrepancy between large industrial production and small-scale traditional farming methods. Apparently, I am not the only one (of course not!). The recent deluge of articles centers around this dichotomy. Noted livestock naysayer and Guardian columnist, George Monbiot, has changed his tune from “veganism is the answer” to “it’s all about how you do it.” Monbiot argues that, “Cattle are excellent converters of grass but terrible converters of concentrated feed [like corn and soy]. The feed would have been much better used to make pork… And pigs should only be eating grain when there's a surplus -- the rest of the time they should be eating from the endless human food-waste stream.” How old-school. Can you imagine a system where the wastes of one process feed the production of another good? That sounds almost…efficient.

While animal agriculture is a major driver of deforestation, particularly in South America, and a competitor with humans for grain, it also can play an integral part in a climate and human friendly agroscape. A study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) demonstrated that raising cattle on pasture, supplementing this diet with crop residues, and restoring degraded lands will make serious inroads into curbing greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock production. As it is, most of the climate change contribution of livestock results from deforestation and land degradation (and the extent attributed to the animals is another hot point of debate). Researcher, Philip Thornton, also puts this forward as opportunity to level out the burden placedon developing nations by establishing a carbon market for these services.

So, if I have not exhausted your attention span, there is much more information available on this hot topic, and some related domestic policy issues. Here are a few more articles for your perusal:

Grist's Take on Monbiot

FDA's Proposed Regulations for Antibiotic Use in Animals and the Failure of Food Safety Legislation.

A Report on Livestock's Environmental and Social Impact to get your hands on (go Cardinal!)

World Resource Institute explains The Role of Livestock in Poverty Alleviation

On a whole livestock production is an issue on the gray scale (approach with a critical eye and an open mind). While I am not advocating that everyone now consume copious amounts of meat, if you do eat meat be conscious of the source and methods of production. Consider your choices and make educated decisions. Cheers!