Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Importance Of Cooking

The Eden Project, Cornwall England. Where we all learned lessons about healthy, sustainable & ethical cooking.

Below is a New York Times article by Amanda Hesser. I like it because it emphasizes how cooking completes the picture when it comes to being healthy, environmentally conscious and maintaining family connection. It also chastises the current trend in our culture that creates a socially acceptable disdain for the craft. Many merely see it as a chore but fail to recognize it's undeniable advantages. I can appreciate that this trend may be part of the positive effect tof gender equality: I certainly remember being told as a little girl that "no man wants to marry a bad cook" (yikes!!!). How far we have come today. However we must all be cautious that every household (be it a family or house mates) needs a "Food Engineer". A term i have coined for anyone in a home who has the responsibility in ensuring that all meals are ethically & communally prepared.

The Duties of the Food Engineer

  • Select & Consult with others about possible recipes
  • Assign the task of grocery shopping
  • Assign Food Preparation Tasks: washing, chopping, cooking & cleaning
  • Policing the nutritional & Calorific Value of meals. A tip is that kids do this task well. Their job will be to determine that all meals (based on food pyramids) contain the adequate nutritional value. Once kids have to legislate this, believe me they are forced to follow their own rules :-).
Enjoy the article....

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UNTIL recently, Michelle Obama had carried out a seamless effort to get Americans to think about eating locally grown foods. By planting an organic vegetable garden at the White House and inviting schoolchildren to help sow the seeds (metaphor intended, surely), she made a bold statement: I’m going to eat in a healthful way and so should you. Consuming locally grown foods could mitigate problems like childhood obesity and the environmental harm caused by agribusiness. And Mrs. Obama — as a popular first lady with two children and roots in the working class — is the right person to lead the charge.

However, when The Washington Post asked Mrs. Obama for her favorite recipe, she replied, “You know, cooking isn’t one of my huge things.” And last month, when a boy who was visiting the White House asked her if she liked to cook, she replied: “I don’t miss cooking. I’m just fine with other people cooking.” Though delivered lightheartedly, and by someone with a very busy schedule, the message was unmistakable: everyday cooking is a chore.

Both times Mrs. Obama missed a great opportunity to get people talking about a crucial yet neglected aspect of the food discussion: cooking. Because terrific local ingredients aren’t much use if people are cooking less and less; cooking is to gardening what parenting is to childbirth. Research by the NPD Group showed that Americans ate takeout meals an average of 125 times a year in 2008, up from 72 a year in 1983. And a recent U.C.L.A. study of 32 working families found that the subjects viewed cooking from scratch as a kind of rarefied hobby.

This should come as no surprise. For most of the last century, Americans have been told repeatedly that cooking is a time-consuming drag. Companies like Kraft and General Foods promoted mix-and-eat macaroni and cheese, rice with mix-in flavor pouches and instant pudding. Pillsbury, the flour maker, became Pillsbury the biscuit, pie and cookie dough maker: baking just by turning on the oven. According to a 2008 NPD study, of all supper entrees “cooked” at home, just 58 percent were prepared with raw ingredients.

The twist, of course, is that convenience foods save neither money nor time. As Marion Nestle pointed out in her 2006 book “What to Eat,” prewashed romaine hearts cost at least $1.50 a pound more than romaine heads. And the 2006 U.C.L.A. study found that families saved little or no cooking time when they built their meals around frozen entrees and jarred pasta sauce.

As we lost our skills at the stove, we also lost something less tangible but no less important: the opportunity to spend time together in the kitchen, talking and cooking. Similarly, we gave up the chance to improve our children's eating habits by example. Studies by Harvard Medical School and the University of Minnesota show that children in families that ate together consumed more fruits and vegetables, as well as less fat and fewer snacks.

Which is why Mrs. Obama might want to expand her food message to include cooking. Just as she highlighted American fashion by wearing the clothes of young designers, she could call attention to cooking by bringing America’s talented young chefs to the White House for a food summit meeting. Then she could turn them into a national task force, asking them to reach out in their communities and give free cooking lessons to the next generation of cooks and eaters. (Her involvement might also focus the energies of her husband’s cabinet — his secretaries of agriculture, education and health, say — to embrace the cause.)

Of course, a cooking summit meeting alone is not going to change long-established habits. Mrs. Obama needs to keep the pot boiling. She could, for instance, take one of the White House chefs on the road, working the morning and talk show circuit as the president and his staff do. She could discuss her initiative while the chef showed viewers how to cook produce harvested from the White House garden. They could demonstrate that to feed a family well, all you need to know how to do is boil water, roast and season, three speedy skills that can be applied to almost any food from potatoes to salmon. Getting people to buy local ingredients is a relatively simple matter of changing purchasing behavior; getting them to cook will require a role model who really seems to mean it.

And it wouldn’t be surprising if, with a little exposure to the kitchen, Mrs. Obama took to cooking herself. Her progress could be our progress. After all, great cooking involves a blend of curiosity, determination and style, all traits she possesses. And with those arms, she could out-whisk anyone.

Amanda Hesser
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Friday, May 29, 2009

Herbs & Spices

It has been a long and busy 23 days. I had no intention of "abandoning" my blog for so long. A lot happened: It rained so much in Charleston, i got busy eating. Everything from bok choy to squash, bell peppers, tomatoes etc. Even my corn is responding to my love. I have never grown corn outside of Nigeria but it is happening. I am getting more confident about growing food that we eat back home, here in Charleston. The climate is very similar so why not?If you choose to try just go to your local African store and ask for yams for example. It is like Yucca only less starchy and a credible complex carbohydrate. Red beans (not Kidney) are the same too. The American staple menu of foods can be flat out boring. For me, if I spent a lifetime eating the foods here alone, it would be like living a lifetime without ever utilizing the right side of my brain. I find that it lacks "lingering taste". Perhaps the best way to describe this is the feeling one is let with after spending time with someone they love. Lingering taste is what keeps one from getting hungry too soon after eating. It curbs one's appetite and creates a "healthier relationship" with a dish. I think "lingering taste" ensues with the help of herbs and spices. For 4 days i kept a log of how much herbs and spices i used on typical Nigerian dishes. I used between 8 and 13! Amazing only when compared with American staple dishes. Now one can understand how eating like this can "wake up" one's taste buds.
As i detracted from eating badly this is a habit i had to re establish. Herbs and spices are the easiest to grow. Good quality garden soil, a big pot, sunny easily accessible location and your favorite herbs & spices. Good Luck!

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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Miseducation: First things First

If I had any chance of undoing bad eating habits, i had to replace them with good habits from the past. I had to think more about how i grew up...
Even though i grew up in a very busy and congested city,we had a garden. Nigeria was colonised by the British and as colonisation goes, you learn that certain things you do are "babaric" and must change. Living in the city and growing food in your property was looked down upon but my father who was highly educated and way ahead of his time assured me that " we hail from a family of farmers... you can never take the farming instinct away frompeople like us". He grew everything at the back of our modest house": corn, plantains, bananas, mangoes, papaya, chilli and every time of green leaf vegetable you can think of. He started it initially alone but i looked over his shoulders. As he was a busy working man, gardening time seemed to be the only time i could get his undivided attention. In fact he talked to me about some of his challenges too. As a result on Saturday or Sunday morning when i go into our garden, I tend to take only one of my daughters because it gives us alone time to talk. When you have one of your kids alone in conversation, one tends to see more of their personality.

I learned a lot about my tribe, it's past struggles, his thoughts about it's future etc.
I come from a very small lakeside villiage in Eastern Nigeria: Oguta. We are extremely hardworking, driven and humble as a tribe. Family is HUGE for us in a way that many may not even understand. We believe that it it is the responsibility of THE success ful member of the family to ensure the success of the others:There is no word for cousin, sister/brother in law in my language. Everyone is simply either your brother, sister mother or father. This can get alittle confusing for outsiders so you can consider yourself fully acquainted with a family when you can easily identify the "blood mother, father brother, sister and yes cousins. I know many who didn't even realise that their "uncle" was rtealy their dad's cousin: I am even guilty of this!I think the reason might be two fold. Labelling was seen to be isolating, and alienation could put one at risk of marying a relative no matter how extended.

Although my village clan was small in population, it was big on land.We lived in smaller spaces but our farms were big. We took farming seriously solely because we grew what we ate. Traditionally my people are tall with slim builds. They panick if they feel sluggish during the day; For them it means illness. They eat a hearthy cassava and deep green vegetable soup with about 1lb of fish in the morning. They leave for the farm, markets, or even office work. Lunch at noon is not common instead a lot of snacking on fruits occurs until about 5pm when families converge to cook for dinner...

In my next blog, I'll tell you how dinner goes. Meanwhile I'll be posting information on building a raised bed.

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Monday, May 4, 2009

Shopping List:
  • Organic Top Soil: You can buy this in bulk or in bags from a garden supply store. You can never have too much of this as soil is naturally "consumed" as a plant grows. When i went, i bought lots of damaged bags at half price. Even when i don't need soil i tend to stock pile this item.
  • Flower & Vegetable Soil : This is also necessary to mix in with the top soil. It must look dark black and rich. The worse it smells the better. If not buy some manure to mix into it. Rich soil is VERY essential. It is well worth the investment.
  • Organic Pesticide / insecticide: Many of the retailers on the side of this page carry this product and other products on this list.
  • Organic Fertilizer / Food: My garden needs to be fed once every couple of weeks. My daughter spreads a small amount around the edge of each plant.
  • Weed Prevention Mat: Usually comes in a black roll up to 6ft wide. (Sometimes more)
  • Hand Shovel, Fork & Gloves. If you have kids, they appreciate tools in their size too!
  • Raised bed materials: Most people do not need to create a raised bed. They are great if you want to prevent soil erosion. This is when soil is washed away by rain. I created one and i will be posting tips on how that went later.
  • Container Gardening:
  • Deep and wide Pots with drainage holes at the bottom. Plants vary with how much soil they need. So you'll need a variety, depending on what you want to grow. Salad greens, radishes, green onions, and herbs only need about five inches of soil to thrive. Tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers need 12-16 inches.
  • Potting Soil. Be aware that this is different from top soil. Potting soil drains much better than top soil. A good tip if you need to give better drainage to your garden, is to mix in potting soil.
  • Container gardens tend to dry out faster than the earth-bound variety. So be sure to water daily or even twice a day when it's really hot.
Is This Worth the Hassle?
At this point i got a little weary after i saw what it would take but here are some numbers for you to gloat about: You can harvest up to half a pound of vegetables for every square foot you plant on.
The average return on a home garden patch is $530 with a $70 average investment!


My Epiphany... The Miseducation of Florence.

Convincing My "Farmophobes"
My Epiphany

Pretty much everyone in my family is a farmophobe. A farmophobe is a word i made up and it refers to any adult who wants nothing to do with gardening. I say an adult because children need direction and good habits can always be cultivated in them. I knew something was wrong with my lifestyle when i moved to this country and gained 38lbs. I knew i wasn't eating more but wandered what had caused this weight gain that nothing i did could shift. I started taking a closer look at the quality of food i was eating and realised that processed foods and "low quality" vegetables were doing me no favors whatsoever.

I was born and raised in West Africa then moved to Europe as a teenager. These were the factors that made the effect on my "change in diet" very obvious to my body. I never felt myself: energy level down, sluggishness, moody and challenged memory. Now these were not factors that would warrant the average person to go see a doctor, but they were certainly obvious enough to me. It meant that my weight gain was not my only battle. I started getting educated....


In my culture, cooking & eating has always been a group effort...

The Misedducation Of Florence
Growing up in Africa, then Europe meant that my move to America was literally "manna from heaven". I had arrived in the promised land where all dreams come true. This may sound over board to the average American but this is how every immigrant views their accomplishment after making the move here. Food was a huge part of what we envy about America. It seems abundant and abundance is a show of wealth, wealth is a show of success, hence the seduction. Food is everywhere here so this little African girl who thought of food as someting you ate when your stomach rumbled and as a chore (The African cooking process can be deliberate & elaborate) now started seeing billboards, T.V ads and celebrations where food was abundant but with little preparation effort. Back home the only luxury to food eaten with little prep effort was that one was a guest at the host's home. Food was everywhere i went when i moved here. When i say food, i don't mean raw vegetables, i mean prepared food was every where. It seemed so instant and easily available. I never saw ads with a basket of potatoes, kale and raw fish or meat, i saw it prepared and ready to eat in pictures and T.V. Happy people in media also always seemed to be eating.... Wow my epiphany occurred, i was always thinking about food something had to change. I had to "uneducate" myself. It seemed like this great land had gotten one thing wrong. I was dissapointed. I came here to learn new things.... modernize, drop old "primitive ways". This is the land with the best academics in the world. I want them to teach me. Surely the way they do things has to be better than ours. This is why i came here. Did this mean I had to turn back and re-adopt an old way of life? I realised with wisdom that not everyone is perfect. Life is give and take. I should not villify my culture because my country was unable to stabilize itself well enough to give me opportunities to remain. Perhaps it had gotten somethings right. Now that i am here i must find ways to incorporate these ways into my new lifestyle.


In my next Blog I will tackle Shopping for things you'll need for a garden & choosing what you need.




Sunday, May 3, 2009

Starting A Garden Anywhere







  • The first thing to do is to make a list of what type of fruits or vegetables your family eats the most.
  • The next thing is to establish your lifestyle: This helps determine how much time you have to devote to maintaining your garden. Include other people in your household: children partners etc. Talk to them about your intentions and the benefits of gardening. Let Farmophobes know that they need not cringe. Get them to do simple stuff like spray organic insecticides or water the garden if they rather not get their hands dirty. If your farmophobe is a kid, ignore their protests as the benefits will not be reaped until they see the end results.
  • Kids have the most to gain both health wise, educationally and mere social consciousness. I know this because i have three two of which i battled with and one who simply joined our flow when it came to gardening.More importantly i am a working mom who has only been doing this for 2 years!
  • Make a seasonal schedule e.g one that includes only the months in the season. Add the names of the participants. Define what each activity involves at the back so all the participant has to do is turn the sheet over and they know what to do when their "turn to tend" comes up.
  • E.G Watering(W) could be described as: "Water and soak garden patch once weekly. Thyme & rosemary need not be soaked"
  • Get an old plastic container and start stockpiling all your fruit and vegetable scraps only. Please do not add any dairy or flour based products.
  • Choose a spot: Do you have ground space or container space? I do both because healthy eating is something that cannot be forced it is a slow process and a habit that is formed over time. Also having both is just more convenient.
  • Sunshine is key so find a sunny spot.

  • How Much Can You Spend? Spending more does not necessarily mean your garden will yield more; You must spend wisely initially to get a good yield hence the term you reap what you sow. Plan to spend the most on the soil and natural pest & weed prevention and of course organic fertilizers.
  • The Quality of your soil is key: Fast draining rich soil is essential(not too much sand/clay). Organic nutrient rich top soil is a VERY important investment.
  • Plant or Seeds? Seeds are great if you have time, kids or handle disappointment well.:-). For folks with kids, it is an invaluable learning process; Their little hands can feel the texture of the seeds, plant and watch the growing process. They can even photograph and keep a log. My 2nd & 5th grader aced this part of science recently just because of this learning experience. Also they learn the life skill involved with dealing with disappointment: Not every seed will sprout which is another disadvantage but seeds are by far the cheapest route. Later i will give you tips on which plants almost always sprout from seeds.
  • Plants / Seedlings provide instant gratification if like me you don't have time or patience or you are a beginner. They cost more but the success rate is higher by far. The smaller the plant the better. Once you transplant it, the plant adapts and thrives better.

  • My next entry I will introduce myself & the reasons that led me down this road...