Do you want to eat arsenic and ammonia?

A large portion of my interest in food is rooted in the anger I get from discovering how corporate entities manipulate our natural food system in the name of profit while discarding any impact on human health and environmental health. By now many of us understand the underlying facts and have heard the basic framework: Corporations use their capital to impact legislation and purchase large tracts of land to produce food. The market is flooded with cheap food produced like goods in a factory. Throughout the process crutality is inflicted on animals, the land is abused, and pollution is omitted from the massive "soil to plate" route. The individual is a victim of images that instead hype false health benefits and hide the true nature of food production. In recent years the factory farming system has been shook by outbreaks of disease, bestselling books, documentaries, and the growing availability of organic and local food.

David Kirby's book "Animal Factory" provides an in your face account of the realities of this system for animals and humans alike. He gained impressive access to chicken and pig farms that revealed the horrid conditions the animals experienced even after business hours. He vividly recalls the sounds of pigs squeeling loudly while attacking each other throughout the night due to their overcrowded conditions. For those that often consider the poor treatment of animals as part of the food chain, there is ample evidence that factory farming is more than just a little bit of animal cruelty. The externalities of a factory farm extend into our drinking water, make us vulnerabile to infection, impact hunger in the developing world, and taint the nutrition in the food on your fork. His account makes vegetarianism an even more necessary path for the 21st Century. It helps your health, the earth, the animal population, our resources, and others.

Here is a clip from Democracy Now that gives a great summary of the impacts of factory farming and the challenge of ending it.

Foraging in Philadelphia Links

Last summer I lived in Portland, Oregon where food literally grows from the sidewalks in front of you. It was an incredible experience to walk through the city and find places to eat plums or easily spot an abundant patch of lavender to use in your home. The city itself is a fortunate recipient of the unique climate of the Pacific Northwest. Rainy, mild winters provide plenty of moisture while the summer days and nights rarely fall to temperatures that will ruin the lush vegetation. Since my experience in Portland, a few friends have been intrigued by the idea of foraging. Their knowledge is greater than mine in this subject. Fortunately, urban foraging comes as an extension of an individual's desire to cut out the corporate food system and attempt to live in a more sustainable way. Below is a pretty impressive Google mash-up with sites for foraging within Philadelphia. You can also check out a solid collection of research and links over at Wild Foods.

Credit goes to Aaron for sending the links.

View Philadelphia Food Harvest Map in a larger map

Super Simple Summer Vegetables and Tofu

Super Simple Summer Vegetables and Tofu
This is a simple summer recipe that does not make your kitchen a sweat room. The ingredients are a combination of cupboard staples and affordable summer ingredients. This can serve 2-4 people (or two people with plenty of leftovers). You will need to drain the tofu for about an hour before you begin preparing this meal. The actual cooking/preparation time should only take about 45 minutes. This is not a new or innovative recipe, but it is something that is healthy and enjoyable.

Ingredients:
Container of extra firm tofu
2-3 zucchini
Half of bunch of asparagus (1/2 pound)
6 oz of fresh spinach
1 Cup of Brown Basmati Rice
Trader Joe's Soyaki (or Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki) - at room temperature
Extra virgin olive oil
Cracked Pepper (optional)

1. Before you start cutting your vegetables and boiling the rice you should drain your tofu. I usually drain the tofu for at least an hour. The best way to do this is to remove the tofu from the container and place it between two plates. Squeeze each plate together over top of the sink in order to remove some of the initial water. Make sure you do not split the tofu by pushing too hard. After the initial water is removed, keep the tofu between the plates and place in the refrigerator. Place a slightly heavy object on top of the top plate in order to put pressure on the tofu and drain out the remaining juice. I recommend using the teriyaki jar or can of peanut butter. Removing the water from the tofu will allow the tofu to hold a desirable form when cooking.

2. Start cooking the brown basmati rice while you are cutting the vegetables. One cup of rice usually will take about 30-40 minutes to cook. Follow the 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice rule when cooking. Do not be afraid to add additional water if the rice begins to stick. There is no harm in extra moisture compared to the harm in burning the rice. Cutting the vegetables should be a 10-15 minute production. Cut the zucchini into medium size pieces that would be ideal for a quick saute in olive oil. Cut the asparagus into thirds (or halves) so that they can be placed nicely into steamer. When using whole leaf spinach it is a good idea to keep the spinach this size. The spinach will eventually cook down into a more manageable size.

3. Take a large pot and add a steamer basket with a small layer of water. The water should sit below the steamer basket. Turn the stove on medium-high heat so that the water should begin to boil and cause steam within 3-5 minutes. Add the asparagus to the pot and cover. While the asparagus is cooking, quickly take the tofu and cut it into cubes. A good idea is to cut the tofu in half through the center. Then keeping the halves stacked cut into 12 pieces. You should get 24 pieces of tofu from one container, give or take. Basically you are looking for pieces that can easily be steamed. Once the tofu is cut, you can add them above the asparagus. The cooking time should be differentiated by 5 minutes or so, with the asparagus taking longer. Keep the asparagus and tofu in the steamer for an additional 10-12 minutes (15-17 minutes total).

4. While the tofu and asparagus are steaming you should do a quick saute of the zucchini and spinach in a frying pan. Add a generous amount of olive oil and cook the zucchini on at least medium heat. Move the zucchini regularly in order to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Do not be afraid to add a little bit of a water once the olive oil is absorbed. After the zucchini is soft and ready to eat (about 10 minutes), add about 1/4 cup of water (2 ounces) to the pan. The liquid should give off some steam and stop the zucchini from cooking at its current rate. Now you can add the spinach to the top of the pan. The spinach should only take about 2 minutes before it is a good consistency to eat. Feel free to mix the spinach in with the zucchini as long as it does not stick to the sides of the pan. Drain any liquid that you do not want.

5. After the rice is finished add it to a plate. Top the rice with the zucchini and spinach mix. Use your judgment on how much liquid you want to be added to the rice. Once the vegetables are added, you can add the asparagus and tofu. Add the room temperature teriyaki to the top of the tofu letting it drizzle on to the rest of the ingredients. The teriyaki should replace any need to add salt. I find that it is most effective to add the teriyaki to the plate at the end of the cooking rather than adding it during the cooking process. This alleviates any possibility for burning or an unnecessary mess. Feel free to top with cracked pepper.