Local Delicious

Just last week I saw King Corn, a film by Aaron Woolf, Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney. Well, it’s a documentary about corn. It fundamentally retraces the corn segment of Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, but throws an interesting spin on it.

The two main characters move to their ancestral home town of Greene, Iowa and plant an acre of corn which they then follow from seed in the ground to wherever it goes, which was very enlightening. It was very nice to see what Michael Pollan was talking about in his book and there are actually a few interview segments with Michael in there too.  I found the whole effort very balanced and less pointed than the Omnivore’s Dilemma but it, none the less, conveyed the same message.

But the thing that struck me the most about what I saw was probably totally unintentional. A number of times in the movie we see humongous mounds of corn that could not fit in the town elevator silos and there’s not one bird on it!

All of my childhood experiences related to handling any kind of food in a rural setting dictate that the corn would be literally covered by opportunist birds, but no. Is it because the corn they grow in Iowa is essentially inedible or perhaps all the chemistry involved in growing it killed off the birds 500 miles around Iowa? I have no idea but it sure is odd. The next thought, naturally is, why the hell would we eat that corn if birds don’t. And yet we do. Mind is boggled. Off I go to pick some kale from my garden, I need a green smoothie to regain my balance.

I was royally ticked off today by the customer service at Hallmark Cards. I believe in the power of the collective consumer voice, so when later today I discovered that Johnsonville, the sausage people with the irritating commercials, sell products on non-recyclable meat trays, I dropped them an email as follows:

How come you don’t use recyclable trays for your meat products?

I prefer the hot Italian sausage without the skins which I brown for homemade pizza, but I’m thinking of switching to the grocery store brand, because their trays are recyclable. It’s more hassle for me, but worth it when I think that you must go through a mountain of trays every single day in your production facility.

It doesn’t make sense to me that so many trays are making the trip to the dump when there are alternatives.

Let me know…

I’ll let you know what they say.

As for Hallmark, their 1-800 number is by the phone. I’ll be giving them a call tomorrow morning, first thing.

The idea of using business to influence consumers and thereby effect positive change is one I firmly believe in. It’s also a radical idea to some.

Much to the horror of some my more “granola head” friends, as I lovely refer to them, I don’t think business or marketing are inherently or wholly evil. I know from personal experience, and that of many clients, that a business can be a great vehicle and create a greater, positive impact than an individual may be able.

“We’re on the battlefield now and we need to fight with the same weaponry. We need to not be David up against Goliath. We need to be Goliath.”

Gary Hirshberg, CEO, Stonyfield Farm
Source: Food, Inc.

I believe we can inspire change, vote with our dollars, reform big biz, reduce carbon footprint, improve the environment, support our communities and farmers, strengthen our local economies, and eat really great food…all while we “accidentally” change the world.

In fact, that’s why I started Local Delicious. I happen to believe big ripples come from little pebbles.

Think I’m crazy? Well, the tobacco companies used to wield the same power that many current food-related industries and mega-companies do. And they were brought to their knees. Why not the food industry, too?

Food, Inc. is one of the more recent films highlighting food security issues. Now the question is, how can we start being part of the solution? It’s more than being informed, it’s about taking action. Even little actions.

Learn more about the issues and what you can do to vote with your wallet at Take Part.

Other posts you may enjoy:
I lost my appetite watching Our Daily Bread
Food Fight, the movie
Eat local, change the world
Loco for local

I watched Food, Inc. last night and enjoyed it in a horrifying, “Gross, I just bought chicken. I wasn’t thinking about how it’s farmed when I made the impulse, grocery store purchase. Now I don’t know if I can actually eat it” sort of way.

Much of the information was nothing new from what I’ve seen in other similar documentaries such as Our Daily Bread (warning: do not eat in front of the TV) and the Supermarket Secrets exposé series from the UK (don’t get all superior, the exact same things happen here).

I assure you, I may have seen much of it before, but it’s no less disgusting and infuriating. Whether we’re talking about how animals are “farmed” — and I use the term loosely — or the Big Brother tactics of seed companies, or even industry/legislator incest in food regulation, I hope we start waking up en masse to the seriousness of these issues. Sooner than later.

There were a couple of angles in the film I particularly appreciated. First was an interview with Gary Hirschberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt company, especially the extended version in the special features section of the DVD. He talks about the power of consumers and business to shape how industry and mega-corporations behave, in this case Wal-Mart.

When Wal-Mart gets on the organic food bandwagon you know the concept has gone mainstream. They are in it for the profit, without a doubt, but that profit is driven by consumers. And the side effect is many more tons of pesticide and poison NOT spilling into our watersheds, as well as less crap in our food. How is that a bad thing? (Watch for a brilliant clip where a farmers happily tells Wal-Mart execs who’ve come to visit, “Wow, I’ve never even been in a Wal-Mart store, we boycott them.”)

Another great element of the film is dialogue with a farmer who clearly describes the benefits both health and environmental of choosing small scale, integrated farming methods. Watch for the description of how keeping cows, pigs and chickens together creates mutually beneficial side effects and reduces the need for artificial interference with medication and chemicals. Again, it’s worth watching the extended interview.

And finally, my favourite thing about Food, Inc. was how, after showcasing the sorry state of affairs, they wrap things up on a high note with a list of things anyone can start doing right now to vote with their dollars. The film does an excellent job of highlighting many of the entwined issues surrounding food security, then offering ways for you and I to get involved and contribute to resolving the problem. And it’s not even that hard!

Delicious.

It’s truly extraordinary that we have so much food so readily available, anywhere you might want it, at pretty much any time of the day or night. We don’t really give it much thought. It appears, we take it for granted, and we’re put out if it isn’t in perfect shape. What, the mid-winter tomatoes have a few bruises?!

I’m a TED Talks addict (and proud of it), and find they most often live up their tagline of “ideas worth sharing.” How Food Shapes Our Cities by Carolyn Steel is no exception. I enjoyed the quick history examining how cities originally grew in relation to food and how over time revolutions in transportation allowed the creation of cities that no longer have any connection to the food that feeds them.

Steel raises many important issues, from food mismanagement (half of the food produced in the US is discarded, while a billion people starve), to the obscene volume of grain it takes to feed our growing appetite for meat, to contemplating how we return to a healthy, balanced relationship between our cities and our food.

It’s food for thought…

Via the dangers of YouTube I’ve discovered a new way to “waste” time, brought to you by GOOD Magazine. First it was Drinking Water, now it’s all about food.

I love the quick, bite size snacks of information I get from the GOOD Magazine YouTube channel and, despite the fact that I too am guilty of letting food rot in the refrigerator, I come away from this clip feeling more motivated to avoid waste than bad for my occasional lapse.

I don’t know about you, but as kids we were reminded to think of all the starving kids in Africa, whenever we didn’t want to finish our dinner. One kid from school who got powdered milk in her lunch used to perform a solemn ritual each day, pouring it down the toilet and reciting with due respect, “God bless all the children in Africa” while flushing it away with a flourish.

I really can’t blame Mauvereen (really, it’s nasty stuff). In fact, maybe in her honour we could pause to consider the local hungry kids — and the ones in Africa — before we toss out that barely bruised banana.