Chicken Feed Update

Apparently chickens like to eat flowers. Hyacinth bean flowers, to be exact. They also enjoy aravaipa and yali pears. I know what you must be thinking .... and yes, it IS my job to find these things out. Cool, huh?  

Stop F*&^ing With Our Food!

U.S. Meat Farmers Brace for Limits on Antibiotics

I was really pleased to see this article on the NY Times website today (link above). Sometimes I get really bummed out thinking that our food system is never going to change, and that the effort that so many people put forth is wasted. And sometimes I think that we are on the cusp on a new global understanding of interconnectedness and responsibility in our food system and environment. Today I am leaning a little bit towards the latter thought, thanks in part to this article. I really do hope that these type of reforms go through and are not thwarted by back-room lobby deals and political horse trading. Big Meat and Big Chemical are both in bed together, and with the policy makers and enforcers in our government. Not to sound too paranoid or anything ... it is just a fact of life and politics and capitalism in our country today. In any case, if the medical community doesn't find it wise to preemptively feed our children antibiotics to prevent childhood illness and improve their growth rate, then why would we do that to animals -- especially ones that we plan to eat? There is some simple logic here that I hope is undeniable and unignorable.

For anyone who has read John Robbins' Food Revolution, I am sure that you got a chuckle out of the National Pork Producers Council's blatant denial of the risks of antibiotic use in livestock:  “There is no conclusive scientific evidence that antibiotics used in food animals have a significant impact on the effectiveness of antibiotics in people.” When the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, European Union, experts at Iowa state University and University of Minnesota, American Medical Association, Pew Charitable Trust, and Infectious Diseases Society of America (to name a few) all agree that there are serious current and potential risks to human health, it seems a little disingenuous for Big Meat to just pretend that there is nothing to worry about.

Keep your fingers crossed ... maybe things will actually change for the better, one step at a time. Until then ... know your farmer, know your food.

What do Chickens Like to Eat?

One of my responsibilities on the farm is looking after the chickens. There are maybe 30 of them in a coop next to the produce shed and I hear the roosters announcing the sunrise every morning when I get to work (and then all day long!). There also seems to be a regular crowing competition between our chickens and the neighbors' and the call and response can get very entertaining.

I don't know why exactly, but chickens are pretty darn compelling to me. I have been fascinated with them for a while, and was envious when my buddy Jax got three of them in her back yard this past Spring. While they are not all that smart, and can be pretty brutal and filthy and even mean-spirited, they are somehow captivating to me. For one thing, chickens are incredibly funny when they run. They are urgent and lean forward as if to become more aerodynamic and always make me wonder reflexively "where are their arms?!" They like to roll around in the dirt and lay on their sides and stare at you suspiciously with one eye. They have an amazing array of possible colors and patterns and styles, all adding greatly to the expression of chicken personality and individuality. And, of course, chickens have a lot to say and are vocal about their opinions and commentary.

I have begun to form a bond with my flock, whom I collectively refer to as "Ladies." I change their water daily, and have the privilege of feeding them wilted or soft or otherwise unsaleable vegetables. They all come running to the door of the coop when I arrive, as they have learned to expect me to bring them treats. I check for eggs in the nest boxes and reach under them to see if they are holding out on me. For some reason, they like to group their eggs all in the same box, even though there are about 20 boxes that they could lay in. Chicken duty may be one of my favorite farm chores.

One of the things that I have been learning is that chickens have discerning palates, just like the rest of us. So, I have been on a mission to answer the burning question: what do chickens like to eat? I am looking forward to a changing seasonal review of chicken snack preferences.

Yum List: purslane, basil, small eggplants, tomatoes, melons if they are cut open, broccoli, anything in my friend Jax's garden.

Yuck list: okra, big eggplants, winter squash, whole melons.

Camera phone video of chickens eating basil.

Veggie Face

Nature has a sense of humor. So do my co-workers on the farm.

Diet Fad Pet-Peeve Vindication

The low-carb, high-protein diets like Atkins drive me crazy. Not only do their devotees go around proclaming the virtues of meat at every meal, but they also spend considerable time trash-talking really good things, like (homemade) bread and veggies and pasta and fruit. In the nutrition class that I have been taking, there is substantial data about the myriad issues with high-protein diets ... and yet they persist, as do their dedicated subscribers. Finally, there is some pretty definitive science showing that the low-carb, high-protein diet is not all that it is hyped up to be. Long story short ... a study of more than 100,000 people over 20+ years showed a higher all-cause and cancer mortality rate for those who followed a meat-based low carb diet. The study conclusion: "A low-carbohydrate diet based on animal sources was associated with higher all-cause mortality in both men and women, whereas a vegetable-based low-carbohydrate diet was associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality rates."

Check out the article and study abstract below for more detailed information.

Article
Study  

Hooray for vegetables!

Nutrition food for thought*:

• recommended amount of protein in average American diet: 10 - 25% of total caloric intake
• sedentary Americans eat up to 50% more protein than is recommended
• potential health risks of high-protein diet: cardiovascular disease, low bone density, stress to kidney function
• increased protein intake does not result in an increase in muscle mass or enhanced athletic performace

* as summarized from Nutrition: An Applied Approach, 2nd Edition 2008

Yes, Chef!

This week I started work as a chef at a local catering company that I shall call The Kitchen. One of the fun things about this new job is that I had to acquire my tools, as well as my uniform. What girl doesn't like a little "required" shopping?

I had already purchased my white chef coat this summer, when I did my stage in a few kitchens. ("Stage" is the French term for "cooking for free.") However a real chef job necessitated both proper footwear and professional equipment. I got online and sifted through pages and pages of shoes on Zappos ... clogs, sneakers, maryjanes, Birks, Crocs, etc. (I was also shopping at the same time for my work boots for my farming job.) The Big Box of Shoes arrived a few days later and turned our living room into a shoe boutique. How fun prancing around trying on shoes without a pushy salesperson hovering over me! I took my sweet time, pantomiming cooking tasks, wearing different shoes on each foot, dashing back and forth to our dining room, but finally settled on the classic chef shoe: black danish clogs. They have served me well for my two days on clomping around The Kitchen.

The other absolute necessity was knives. Apparently the "house" knives in a commercial kitchen are notoriously dull, and no serious chef would be caught dead without their own knife kit slung over their shoulder when they arrive at work each day. This was a harder item to shop for than the shoes. After all, I am pretty much a professional shoe buyer -- been wearing them every day of my life -- but I am not a professional knife buyer. I looked online, on Craig's List, at the mall, and didn't quite know how to make a wise and also thrifty selection. Luckily, my Saturday morning ritual trip to the farmer's market provided the perfect solution for my dilemma: Sharpvan. These guys are super nice and had sharpened our kitchen knives for us before. As I was walking past the van I overheard that they sell knives as well! Even used ones! I spent a quality half-hour in the van and got all of my questions answered, received some good advice about the indispensable elements of my tool kit, held all of the knives, and walked away with a great bargain. I already have future dreams of purchasing a cleaver from them ... and maybe a Santoku knife ... there are still empty slots in my knife bag.

Well-equipped and smartly-outfitted, I worked my first two days in The Kitchen. I am very fortunate NOT to work in a Hell's Kitchen-type establishment and have not been yelled at yet, nor have I been called a donkey. My co-workers are actually incredibly helpful and very conscientious about explaining and mentoring and instructing. After all, I am a complete novice in a professional kitchen. My first two days can basically be summed up in two words: oil and mayonnaise. I worked almost exclusively on dressings and sauces and used at least 3 gallons of oil and 6 gallons of mayonnaise. I think that this job will give me a new perspective on sauces, dips, aiolis and dressings. I have already tasted more than enough mayonnaise-based recipes in two days to last me a lifetime, and I was instantly skeptical when offered "dipping sauce" for my fries at happy hour the other day. I also came away with two invaluable lessons from my fellow chefs: always rinse the capers before using them, and while it is spelled "Robot Coupe", it is pronounced "robo coo." That's plenty of lessons learned for my first week as Chef Molly.

Say NO to Frankenfish

Take a stand on the FDA's potential approval of genetically engineered salmon, check out the website and petition below, courtesy of FRESH The Movie:

http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4050

Some food for thought:

"Almost 1 million farmed salmon escape annually in Norway alone."

Fish which are genetically engineered to grow much larger than normal fish are more attractive to native (non GE) fish for breeding because of their size. Thus GE fish have a selective advantage for breeding, and create more offspring. However the offspring of genetically engineered fish have a far higher mortality rate.

"Scientists found that putting 60 genetically engineered fish into a population of 60,000 native fish could render the entire species extinct in as little as 40 years."

 - information above taken from The Food Revolution by John Robbins. p350-351