Blessing the Hands that Feed Us (41 page)

The more I learn, the happier I am that I get to be part of this for the rest of my life. It is my privilege to know a little more and care a lot more and so be willing to learn and act on behalf of the fertility of the soils, the vitality of the wild, and the health of our food systems.

How odd and grand to have followed a thin thread of interest only to find myself woven into the web of life.

I'll be brief in offering my gratitudes because if I go beyond those materially involved in this book I'll have to thank multitudes of people going back many years. First, I want to say thank you to Tricia Beckner, my “feeder” for the 10-mile diet. Little did you know, Tricia, that your casual idea would take root in me and grow this book and change my life. We never know what chance encounter will change our lives, do we? Beth Vesel, my agent, is another agent of change. She sought out Joe Dominguez and me nearly twenty-five years ago after reading a magazine article about us. Beth sold us on writing
Your Money or Your Life,
then sold the proposal to Viking. Ever since she has believed in me as a writer and thinker with more to say. Kathryn Court, my editor at Viking Penguin, has been a staunch supporter and has gently given me clues as to what works and what doesn't.

Now I feel like I'm accepting an Oscar because I'm going to gush that I could not have developed the narrative of this book without Lynn Willeford, my local editor. While we share values we have polar opposite personalities—she cuts to the chase, I never met a metaphor I couldn't jam into a sentence somewhere. In fact, she doesn't much like me gushing over her. Nonetheless, it's true that I often needed her skillful surgery; she gave me unvarnished feedback that improved this book immensely. My muse and champion was—and still is—Deborah Nedelman, my writing partner. We've kept a weekly writing date since the spring of 2010. We write in silence for several hours, read aloud, offer almost homeopathic feedback that pulls the essence of the piece out. The routine has kept us both going. It turned out that both her adult children are interested in sustainable food systems and in fact her daughter Eden met with me weekly via Skype when I first got the contract to help me babble into clarity about what I really wanted to say through my story. Thank you, Eden.

Here's where other people thank their partners for patience, kindness, forbearance, editing, and taking care of the kids and dinner. I, however, live alone with my cat, and she's offered none of that kind of support. I will say that many wonderful friends and neighbors here on Whidbey heard me out when I was piecing things together, and the local farmers and chefs in this book graciously responded to my questions and reviewed my stories. I could also single out Comedy Island, my improv troupe, that cheered me on and got me to fall on the floor laughing week in and week out. And Mel Watson's weekly meditation class reminded me that I am not a writer, really, but a soul traversing lifetimes.

We call people like these godsends and I think that the divine has been sending me such guides, helpers, goads, and cheerleaders my whole life. I am profoundly grateful for the ones who showed up to help with this book and feel a shiver of anticipation as I think that more godsends are coming to send me on more holy adventures.

Introduction

1
. J. C. Rickman, D. M. Barrett, and C. M. Bruhn, “Nutritional Comparison of Fresh, Frozen and Canned Fruits and Vegetables, Part I, Vitamins C and B and Phenolic Compounds,”
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
87 (2007): 930–44.

Chapter One: Localize Me?

1
. “Diet (nutrition),”
Wikipedia,
last modified December 2, 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_%28nutrition%29.

Chapter Three: Yes! But How?

1
. Greg Lange, “Native Americans force settlers to leave Whidbey Island in August 1848,” HistoryLink.org Essay 5246, last modified February 19, 2003, http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5246.

2
. Andrew L. Stoll,
The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Anti-depression Diet and Brain Program
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001).

Chapter Four: Week One: Grounded

1
. Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops, “Demographic Trends in the 20th Century,”
Census 2000 Special Reports,
November 2002, http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf.

2
. Anuradha Mittal, “Giving Away the Farm: The 2002 Farm Bill,” Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, July 8, 2002, http://www.foodfirst.org/node/52.

3
. The NPD Group, “Snacking in America 2008,” http://www.npd.com/lps/PDF_SpecialReports/NPD_Snacking_America_TOC.pdf.

4
. Steve Martinez, “Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues,” Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, May 2010, http://www/ers.usda.gov/media/122864/en97_reportsummary_1_.pdf, accessed December 5, 2012.

Chapter Five: Week Two: Getting the Hang of It

1
. Kelly M. Adams, Karen C. Lindell, Martin Kohlmeier, and Steven H. Zeisel, “Status of Nutrition Education in Medical Schools,
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
83, no. 4 (April 2006): 941S–944S, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430660/.

2
. Barbara Bein, “Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools ‘Precarious,' Say Researchers,”
American Academy of Family Physicians
, October 20, 2010, http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/resident-student-focus/20101020nutritioneduc.html.

3
. Dictionary.com,
Columbia World of Quotations
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), http://quotes.dictionary.com/The_recommended_daily_requirement_for_hugs_is_four. Here is another source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/virginiasa400866.html.

4
. http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-questions-and-answers.html#related-outbreaks.

Chapter Six: Week Three: The Week of My Discontent

1
. USDA Economic Research Service, last modified August 6, 2012, http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/about.html.

2
. Charles Fishman, “A Farming Fairy Tale,”
Fast Company,
May 2006, http://www.fastcompany.com/56671/farming-fairy-tale.

3
. “2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics,” last modified December 4, 2011, http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm#Does_the_world_produce_enough_food_to_feed_everyone.

4
. J. Putnam, J. Allshouse, and L. S. Kantor, “U.S. Per Capita Food Supply Trends,” http://foodfarmsjobs.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/US-per-Capita-Food-Supply-Trends-More-Calories-Carbs-and-Fat.pdf.

5
. Annette Clauson, “Despite Higher Food Prices, Percent of U.S. Income Spent on Food Remains Constant,”
Amber Waves
, September 2008, http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us.aspx.

Chapter Seven: Revelations of the Final Week

1
. Anna Stern, “Saying Grace Around the World,” February 13, 2009,
Yes
!, http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/food-for-everyone/saying-grace-around-the-world (illustrations by Nikki McClure not included).

Chapter Eight: Relational Eating

1
. Thich Nhat Han,
Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book
(Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, June 2000).

2
. Jonathan Bloom,
American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It)
(Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong Books, August 2011).

3
. Michael E. Webber, “How to Make the Food System More Energy Efficient,”
Scientific American,
December 29, 2011, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=more-food-less-energy.

4
. “Food Facts,” Natural Resources Defense Council, September 2012, www.nrdc.org/living/eatingwell/files/foodwaste_2pgr.pdf.

5
. Marian Nestle, quoted from an interview with Polly Hoppin of
The Project on Science and Public Policy
, accessed December 5, 2012, http://defendingscience.org/conversation-marion-nestle-phd.

6
. Marine Conservation Society,
Good Fish Guide: The Consumer Guide to Sustainable Seafood,
accessed December 5, 2012, http://www.goodfishguide.co.uk.

7
. Environmental Working Group, “2012 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce,” accessed December 5, 2012, http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/.

Chapter Nine: Bringing Our Eating Closer to Home

1
. M. Fatih Citlak and Hüseyin Bingül, ed.
Rumi and His Sufi Path of Love
(Somerset, NJ: Tughra Books, 2007).

2
. Community Food Security Coalition,
Whole Measures for Community Food Systems: Values-Based Planning and Evaluation
, 2009, http://foodsecurity.org/pub/WholeMeasuresCFS-web.pdf.

3
. http://seattlefarmbillprinciples.org.

4
. Steve Evans, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, “How much land is needed to feed King County's population?”
2009 Farms Report
, Appendix F, http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/agriculture/future-of-farming/appendices/f-land-needed-to-feed-kc-population.pdf.

5
. Michael Pollan, “Farmer in Chief,”
New York Times,
October 9, 2008; http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?pagewanted=all.

6
. Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network,
State Poultry Processing Regulations
, August 2, 2012, http://www.extension.org/pages/33350/poultry-processing-regulations-and-exemptions.

7
. http://localfoodshift.com/.

8
. Growing Communities, accessed December 5, 2012, http://www.growingcommunities.org.

The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. To find the corresponding locations in the text of this digital version, please use the “search” function on your e-reader. Note that not all terms may be searchable.

activism:

author's changing attitude toward, 225, 250

many lenses of, 317–18

rebellion against industrial food system, 243, 244

by transformers, 294–96

agriculture:

civic, 317

industrial, 8, 52, 172, 175, 203, 236, 244, 247

preserving farmland, 247–48, 268–69

regional, 270

relational, 301

see also
farmers

agro-ecological strategies, 280

Anderson, Anders and Bertine, 247

Anderson, Dorothy, 247–48

Anderson, Terra, 277–78

Anthes, Jacob, 92

anywhere eating, 17–18, 57–59, 223

apples, 116

Ashanti grace (Ghana), 219

Attwood, Maryon, 276–77, 315

autumn, reality of, 204–6

back-to-the-land movement, 28–32, 233

Bailey, Kimberly, 144, 145–46

beans, 72, 116

baked bean recipe, 221

cooking tips, 210

hummus recipe, 26

Beckner, Tricia:

cooking dinner for, 194–96

and CSA garden, 44

and 50 percent in 50 miles, 210, 261

food supplied by, 28, 56, 72, 75, 77, 88, 97, 101, 105, 106, 117, 122, 148–49, 156, 188, 189–90, 195, 224, 261

and Kent, 44, 194–95, 313

as market gardener, 44, 128–30, 213

and relational eating, 223

and 10-mile diet, 20–21, 47, 56, 66, 88–89, 128

beets, 116

Belinda and Koren, 140–41, 198

and chickens, 205, 261

and milk, 71, 94, 130–33, 223

and regulation, 131–32

belonging, 124, 226–27, 230

Berry, Wendell, 168, 312

big vs. small producers,
see
industrial food system

biodynamic farming, 244–45, 280

bioregions, 303–4

Bishop, Clark, 209

Bittman, Mark, 158, 160

blessings, 202, 218–20, 234–35, 312–13

Bloom, Jonathan,
American Wasteland,
248

body, author's changing relationship with, 224

Boin, Patrick, 52, 182, 184

Bradford, Jason, 251

Britt and Eric,
see
Conn, Britt and Eric

Brower, Claus, 67

Brown, Vicky, 313

dessert cheese recipe, 86–87

and Kickstarter, 251, 315

and Little Brown Farm, 211, 315

local cheese from, 101, 237–38

and regulations, 238

Brownlee, Michael, 303

Brussels sprouts, recipe, 259

Buddhist grace, 218

butter, 114

caffeine, 74, 75

Callenbach, Ernest “Chick,” 266–67

calories, 58, 178, 188, 189–90

Campbell, Colin,
Forks Over Knives,
159

cancer:

author's bout with, 12, 35, 199

author's dream about, 263

and diet, 64–65

lessons learned from, 38–39

and letting go, 39–40

canning food, 205–6

Carlin, George, 205

Carron, Laurie, 44

Center for a New American Dream, 39

Center for Whole Communities, 274

Chautauqua, 11–12

cheese, 57, 211

goat (chèvre), 96–97

recipes, 86–87, 221–22

regulation of, 97, 237–38

Cherry, Lorna, 98–99

chicken, 160–61

canning, 205–6, 261

cost of, 156–58

recipe, 184–86

children, 249–50

cholesterol, 188

Christian children's prayer, 219

“circle of we,” 98

civic agriculture, 317

Coe, Helen, 93

coffee, 72, 213

comfort foods, 58

community:

author's changing relationship with, 224

belonging to, 226–27, 230

food bank in, 77, 172–73

food system for, 190, 274, 275, 303

and Food 2020, 272–86

freedom of, 312

giving back to, 232

and homecoming, 196–98, 224

home cooking in, 97–98

liberating, 201

organizations within, 228–31

and relational eating, 79, 227, 228–31, 240, 246, 270, 298

and Seattle Farm Bill, 287–88

spirit of, 227, 228

and 10-mile diet, 89, 105, 123, 124–30, 198, 199

Transition Towns, 49–50, 153–55

trust in, 130

volunteerism in, 228

community supported agriculture (CSA), 44, 103, 189, 282

becoming involved in, 166

and relational eating, 4, 224, 240

compost, 129–30, 176, 232, 280

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), 169

Conlin, Richard, 286, 289, 290

Conn, Britt and Eric, 94–96, 168, 198

family of, 314

farmland of, 46, 94, 314

income of, 213

and local food system, 278, 313, 314

permaculture method of, 94–95

and relocalization, 41

wedding of, 56, 66, 161, 223, 314

and wheat crackers, 161

conscience, 169

conscious eating, 178–82

convection oven, 112, 118

convenience, 58

Conversation Cafés, 38, 39

conviviality, 192–94, 196

cooking from scratch, 115–16, 142–43

author's relationship with, 121, 225

beans and grains, 210

benefits of, 139–42

and food costs, 134–37

mystical experience of, 124–30

for others, 202

recipes,
see
recipes

signature soup, 143–44

time involved in, 137–39

tools of the trade, 118–20

Cooper, Ann, 249–50

co-ops, 237

cottage laws movement, 297

crunch, 111–13, 196

Cuba, 246

culture, 294

D'Adamo, Peter J.,
Eat Right for Your Type,
159

Dellinger, Drew, “Hieroglyphic Stairway,” 37

Descartes, René, 197

diets and dieting, 14–16

and cancer, 64–65

and meat, 159, 180

10 percent trick, 291

Dominguez, Joe, 37–38, 265

Dorcas and James, 101

Dowdell, Jess, 10, 252

Basic Vegetable Stock, 107–9

Bread and Butter Pickles, 27

Coffee and Red Wine–Infused Lamb, 109–10

Kale Chips, 145

Local Bean Hummus, 26

Nettle Soup, 85–86

Parsnips and Aged Sheep Cheese Gratin, 221–22

and Roaming Radish, 314–15

seasonal menu by, 308–10

sources of, 212, 213

Squash Bisque, 260

Duwamish tribe, 68

Earth Day, 32–33

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, 247

Ecocentric
blog, 248

Ecological Footprint, 36

eggs, 210–11

80 percent fullness, 178

entitlement, author's changing attitude toward, 225

environment:

exponential growth, 34–35

limits to growth, 36–38

overshoot and collapse, 35–36, 40

and Peak Oil, 40–41, 153

Eric and Britt,
see
Conn, Britt and Eric

ethics, 58, 81–83, 171

ethylene gas, ripening with, 241

Exploring Island County's Food System,
277

fairness and justice, 274–75, 288

Fair Trade, 10, 167, 192, 213, 239, 257

Fallon, Sally, 146

family dinners, 193

Farm Bill, 165, 203, 287–88

farmers:

average age of, 8, 281, 298

co-ops, 237

and Food 2020, 275

making ends meet, 213

relational, 236–39, 245, 248, 250, 301

risks shouldered by, 215

supporting, 168–69

and sustainability, 164–67, 213, 215–16, 287

tax breaks for, 280–81

why they farm, 214–18

young people as, 298–301

farmers' markets, 101–4

and community, 126, 270

and cottage laws movement, 297

and 50-mile diet, 214

and market gardeners, 43, 97, 103–4

and relational eating, 236–37, 240, 252, 256

researching, 83, 107

sociability of, 6, 63, 101

three-beeters at, 63, 303

farmland, preserving, 247–48, 268–69

FASS (fat, acid, salty, sweet), 122

fast food myths, 133–39

costs of food, 134–37

preparation time, 137–39

Feldman, Judy, 277

fertility, 244–45

50 percent within 50 miles, 155, 169, 204–6, 261, 271, 296

canning food for, 205–6

shopping list for, 206–14

fish, 73

Fisher, Rhiannon, 278

Fleming, Severine von Tscharner, 300–301

food:

author's changing relationship with, 224, 231

canning, 205–6

complexity of, 203

costs of, 7, 72, 134–37, 156–58, 161, 168, 179, 201, 238, 296

donations of, 173

emotionally charged, 203–4

and fun, 204

and the future, 47–49

globally sourced, 239–40

growing, 79–80, 144

and love, 142, 202, 230–31, 232–33

messages about, 25

politics of, 203, 240, 244

preferences vs. orthodoxies, 133

small-scale vs. big producers,
see
industrial food system

and sociability, 202

at starting point, 78

and waste, 248–49

Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (2008), 102

food-borne illnesses, 131, 238, 254

Food Charrette, 284–85

food democracy, 317

food deserts, 150

food drives, 173

food hubs, 251–52

food journal, 180

Food Lifeline, 172

food map, 272–74, 293–94, 302–4

food miles, 17, 95, 123, 241, 270–72, 304

food sheds, 122, 153, 213, 285, 303–4, 307–8

food stories, 23–25

food system:

agenda for eaters in, 296

being our own, 4, 202–3, 231

benefits of, 169–72

community, 190, 274, 275, 303

complementary, 290–91

elements of, 293–94

and February 50/50, 207

health-centered, 287

household, 302

industrial,
see
industrial food system

mapping, 272–74, 293–94, 302–4

and natural world, 125, 306–7, 317

participatory, 317

person-to-person, 238–39

rebellion against, 243, 244

regional, 303–4

relational,
see
relational eating

transformers in, 294–96

food technologies, 203

Food 2020, 272–86

back casting in, 281, 284

communities in, 275

effects of, 282

goal of, 278

healthy people in, 275

how to do it, 282–85

invitation to, 283–84

justice and fairness in, 274–75

and local economy, 276

mapping your system, 272–74

meeting for planning of, 278–81

progress in, 288–90

sustainable ecosystems in, 275

vibrant farms in, 275

food value chain, 294

freedom, 244, 312

free range, 160

Fresh Food for the Table, 282

freshness, 241

frugality, 57–58, 59, 63, 243

Gerber, Georgia, 258

Gibbons, Euell, 30

GI Bill, 299

Gleeful Gleaners, 77, 229

Globescope Pacific Assembly (1989), 33–34

goat leg, 141–42, 223

Good Cheer Food Bank, 77, 172–73, 228–29, 282, 316

Goose Community Grocery Store, 61–62

government controls, 168, 237–39, 304

on cheese, 97, 237–38

on eggs, 210–11

on milk, 70, 131–32, 203, 316–17

scale-appropriate, 297–98, 317

government subsidies, 169, 238

grace, 202, 218–20, 234–35

grains, 161–63, 209–10

gratitude, 232, 234–36

Gray, Farmer, 30

Gray, Pat, 30

Greenbank Farm Training Center, 229, 277, 279, 281, 315–16

Greenhorns, 300–301

Green Revolution, 203

Growing Communities (UK), 304–6

growth:

exponential, 34–35

limits to, 36–38

Halprin, Anna, 311–12

hara hachi bu
(80 percent full), 178

Hayes, Denis, 32

health, 58, 139–40, 275

Helsing Farm, Chehalis, 103

herbs and spices, 74, 75, 117–18

Hindu grace (India), 219

Hippocrates, 118

homecoming, 196–98, 224

homegrown food, 144

honey, 71

hope, 4–5, 264–67, 269, 270, 276, 277, 282, 292

Hopkins, Rob, 42, 49

horizontal distribution, 269–71

household food system, 302

Hubbard, Lauren, 208, 209, 261

hunger, 15, 203

hunter-gatherer lifestyle, 41

Imes, Loren and Patty, 212–13

industrial food system:

and agriculture, 8, 52, 172, 175, 203, 236, 244, 247

dependence on, 3, 171–72, 201, 244, 269

efficacy of, 124, 134, 169–72, 178, 190

and ethics, 58, 171

and food-borne disease, 238, 254

hidden costs of, 201, 242–43, 248, 257

impersonal, 4, 89, 225, 240

leaving it to the experts, 201

and obesity, 232

and oil, 40, 52, 245

and price, 7, 72, 157–58, 161, 168, 179, 238, 296

and regulations, 8, 72, 168, 211, 237–39, 251, 296, 297–98, 317

relational eating vs., 224, 230, 232, 237, 240

trend toward, 99, 135, 139, 179

vs. the little guy, 8, 72, 97, 157–58, 172, 174, 175, 237, 250, 269, 295

integrity, 232

Jesperson, Annie, 217–18, 316

Jewish grace, 220

journal, keeping, 180

Jurriaans, Sieb, 258, 259

justice and fairness, 274–75, 288

Kahn, Gene, 173–77, 268