Nutritious politics, enlightenment
“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.” ~Voltaire
mural by Robb Stone in the well-traveled alley between the Village Deli and the original Bloomingfoods location downtown
Politics, like food, can be loaded with “empty calories” if it’s bad. Deciding what is good or bad is subjective…with food though, there is a lot of scientific evidence pointing out that eating a diet consisting only of little snack cakes, or thick marbled steaks, for every meal may not be good for us. In politics, the equivalent of those indulgences might be the passage of resolutions that are easily processed–but easy to forget like chips…or pork barrels…
It was the result of thinking over my decisions about food that figured largely into my deicision to agree to run for politics—yes, I know, many of you think I decided to run because I am nothing but a puppet of evil…or that I am so distraught over I-69 that I can’t see straight. Those things might be true— but my pumpkinhead actually awakened to politics, really reawakened, upon reading Fast Food Nation in 2001. After reading Eric Schlosser’s book, I reread Sinclair’s The Jungle. Those two reads—and an increasing awareness across the country about Monsanto’s bovine growth hormones, etc. were a recipe for my own strong, mostly disgusted, reactions to animal cruelty and workers rights issues…I calibrated my choices as a consumer and continue to find that those same proactive steps are often identical to those that can be made about seemingly bigger, unrelated (only at first blush) problems that have serious policy implications.
Today I took Mr. Fluck Mill around town (today he was at my mercy, MY puppet) and he was prescribed many directions by the doctor towards curing a terrible cold—the SAME cold I know many of you dear readers might have!! This calls for….drum roll…the remedy du jour at Fluck Mill Road: STIR FRY!!
On our way into town Mr. Fluck Mill noticed FARM for the first time. I was like, “Dude, where have you been, under a geode? It’s only the place that everyone is buzzing about all around town!” FARM looks to be following in the tradition of distinctly local flavor philosophies as past restaurant The Tao, or the original incarnation of the Wild Beet, the recent mission-oriented Roots (now under new ownership)…and Bloomington’s present venue for star-seeking-giving foodies who test out being gourmets at Tallent (Chef Tallent & his wife being well-known and respected for utilizing fresh local-regional ingredients!)
FARM looks as though it will aim high, with a formula of passion and culinary expertise a la Hoosier roots— launched with a serious means for business chutzpah— check out Chef-owner Daniel Orr’s bio.
A couple of years ago I was out in Northern Virginia and enjoyed a late afternoon lunch with my father. We opted for a cheese platter as a closing course to our light meal (highly unusual, for the two of us are incorrigible sweet tooths.) But the deciding factor in opting for the European way, was when our server said the platter would include an Indiana artisan cheese called “Sofia.” The same said cheese is often at the local Farmer’s Market every weekend…it’s tart, blue…made by Capriole Farmstead, a thriving goat cheese producer.
So on my grocery outing for curative stir fry ingredients today, I found some beautiful Indiana produce. The pièce de résistance are locally grown oyster mushrooms…
Now, I have some prep work to do…but in closing, I’ll just say that this topic is hardly over!! I plan to continue with this theme because it pertains to maintaining a good mood, thinking about local land use policies, our environment, family farms, energy issues, climate change, but most important of all: spending local dollars locally!
So, below is a still-life snapshot of various local-regional ingredients in my kitchen…first one to tell me what 6 items are AND where they’re from (grown, produced, or bought) then I’ll treat you to lunch at FARM when the restaurant opens! This is “first come, first serve!”
November 17th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Looks like there’s a tub of peanut butter in there. That’s what I’m zeroing in on, anyway. Mmmmm! Peanut butter! That and the bacon in the corner. Mmmmm! Bacon!
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1143/baconflowchartvj8.jpg
I recognize the cider, but don’t know where it’s from. Musgrave? And the Vermont maple syrup — we’ve had a jug of that around for years. Not much occasion for low-carbers to use syrup.
Is the bread from Natural Ovens of Manitowoc?
November 18th, 2007 at 7:59 am
Greetings from Chicago!
Wow, looks great!! Unfortunately I’ll lose the quiz, but will guess at a few…
Peanut butter from the Cereal Barn?
Musgrave Orchards apple cider
Traders Point milk (or yogurt)
Sugarbush Maple Syrup(?)
Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse Bread
Great stuff, in any case!
By the way — for local chicken, I highly recommend Schacht Farms, just south of Bloomington. They have free-range chickens, Icelandic lamb, and heritage-variety turkeys (though they are out of lambs and turkeys for the season). We have a couple of heritage turkeys (Bourbon Reds) on-order for our first attempt at an all-local Thanksgiving this year (well, mostly local — I can’t survive without cranberry sauce, and have been unable to find a cranberry bog in the area!).
Just for fun, here are some photos from our last visit to Schacht:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckimg/sets/72157602423421481/
Cheers!
November 18th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Beautiful photos! The silo is interesting—from the same era as our barns here on Fluck Mill road. Those are unusual.
Good enough for me—so, Geoff, we’ve gotta lunch date pending anyhow! The lifespan of a pin-the-tail entry is only about 24 hours so this quiz is closed now!
Good try ErictheBlue! (Peanut butter & bacon are two favorite food categories…probably the favorite of many Americans!) Those two items have complicated ramifications as suitable for my display of local-regional foods, but that’s a topic for later (peanuts aren’t grown in Indiana and Indiana Packers is owned by Mitsubishi…and the slaughtering practices are on an industrial scale.) But I included those items for their local connections and to come clean (I’m human, I love a good BLT & PBJ!!)
Sooo…here are the foods that are featured in the snapshot:
Cereal Barn fresh roasted peanut butter, Bloomington, IN
Indiana Packer bacon from the Butcher’s Block, Bloomington, IN
from Bloomingfoods:
Trader’s Point Creamery 100% Grass-fed Cow Whole Milk
locally grown oyster mushrooms
local slicing tomatoes
Eden Farm living plant Basil from Lebanon, Indiana
Sugarbush Maple Syrup, Salem, Indiana
Shagbark Hickory Syrup, Nashville, IN
Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse Bread
Musgrave Orchard Apple Cider
Tricky items:
local blackberry preserves, homemade wedding favor
local blackberry preserves, seedless, hostess gift from friend
Probably most difficult, in the zip-loc bag, an item from local Farmer’s Market:
Stone Ground “Praire Gold Soft White” Wheat Flour, ground at Ewenique Icelandic Sheep Farm, Seymour, Indiana.
And, just for fun:
a non-food item is the pair of kitchen scissors with a handle shaped like the Indiana state bird, the Cardinal…from Inner Chef!
About local Thanksgiving dinners’ regional ingredients: last year blogger Christine Barbour published an article about local ingredients for the festivity…you’ll definitely not have one iota of trouble going on an expedition for your own inspirational produce, ingredients, etc.! Still, a visit to Barbour’s “My Plate or Yours” has loads of detailed information…by a “serious” gourmet— (never, ever a hint of the pedestrian gourmand) shared generously by a local expert on food.
Okay, Geoff, you will set the date…and then we’ll talk food, politics, nutrition!!
(p.s. chutney made from local berries-apples might be a nice feature to try— in addition to renegade cranberry sauce?)
Oh, and for anyone who’s curious, the stir-fry laden with ginger, garlic, basil seems to be working on that common cold that’s going around!
November 18th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
I have a copy of The Tao cookbook, maybe I should do some investigating and put up a recipe from it using local ingredients. Sound fun? I am making a batch of White Chili for a fund raiser at work on Tuesday so stop in and have some for lunch.
November 18th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I assume it is the recipe you shared on your blog?
For me, remembering The Tao is not so much about the food (the memory of a pate appetizer is nice…) but recalling that I had finally “arrived”…I felt grown-up going out to a groovy restaurant as a college student! Funny to think now about saving my tips as a counter girl at the Village Deli to go to The Tao! It closed soon after I arrived.
November 18th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Yes, that is the recipe I will use. I hope everyone will enjoy it.
November 20th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Dammit! I missed out on a free meal . . .
Were the Oyster Mushrooms from Homestead? They make a great Mushroom Burger.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:17 am
Dear Evil Spock, You’re so popular you could probably get a free meal over at Needs of the Few offering a prize to a quiz where the winner gets to take you to lunch!
It didn’t say “Homestead” on the little sign announcing the “local oyster mushrooms” in the basket at the co-op; I was so curious about how they are grown. They were as good as a savory carnivorous ingredient…
Is Homestead the place referred to here on the “Homestead-growers blog?”
November 26th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
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Ciao