Hunger Strike

Potatoes.  My dad hated potatoes.

Growing up in a Korean household, you eat a lot of varied things – a lot of things that most people would not consider “food” (Sea cucumbers? Congealed cow’s blood? Bellflower root? Yep, we ate them all.), but the one food item that never made an appearance? Potatoes.

It’s not that potatoes are not featured in Korean cuisine – there are plenty of recipes with them. It’s just that my dad hated them…to the point where he forbade my mom from ever buying them (Unless my brother-in-law was coming into the house. He was supposed to have potatoes. He’s Irish.) There was another reason: Hunger.

My dad was born on the island of Cheju in what is now South Korea.[1]  At the time of his birth, the island was occupied by Imperial Japan, during World War II.[2]  By the time my Dad was two years old, my paternal grandmother was working in Japan and my paternal grandfather, a radically independent fisherman with Communist leanings, had left to join the Kim Il-Sung’s Workers’ Party of North Korea. My grandfather was never to be seen again.

                     

What did this mean for my father? It meant potatoes. Endless amount of potatoes. Rice was too expensive. Potatoes were cheap. And they were ubiquitous. For those living in the relative comfort of Seoul, food was to be found through the black markets of US Army provisions[3]. But for my father, growing up on an island that was believed to be a hotbed for Communist partisans, this meant NO food. Already on the threshold of severe famine, the burn-and-slash attacks by Nationalist guerilla groups had drained the island’s resources dry. Even fishing, which had sustained the island for years, was destroyed as American and anti-Communist Nationalist navies patrolled local waters.

While war is an obvious condition for food insecurity, what we have now in the United States seems unfathomable.  According to the latest statistics from the USDA[4], 15% of Americans, or about one in seven, are using the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (“SNAP”), better known as food stamps. Despite the “recovery” from the Great Recession of 2008, food stamp usage has remained relatively high, even rising 1.8% from January of 2012.

Food banks and pantries across the US are suffering in what seems to be the perfect storm for hunger: Smaller food donations and rising ranks of needy persons. Furthermore, tight demand for food has only made this condition worse. Under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, USDA buys excess food from suppliers and donates it to local food banks. In the past year, tight supplies, due to drought and skyrocketing worldwide demand, has decreased the amount of food USDA has bought for the program and thus the amount donated to food charities.[5] On the other hand, food banks have seen the demand for their services grow, in some places by double digits, as economic recovery has not meant new jobs for many. While the newest numbers by the US Department of Labor indicate a drop in unemployment from the recent all time high of 10% in October, 2009 to 7.6%,[6] as several economists have noted, the numbers don’t reflect the real story: many unemployed have been so discouraged by the job market, they have dropped out all together, only increasing the pressure on welfare benefits such as SNAP and Social Security.

But what the numbers can’t reflect are the poignancies of hunger. While the physical effects are obvious -- malnutrition, arrested mental and physical development for children, and higher rates of disease -- the psychological effects can and do last just as long. For every person on food stamps, using the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (“WIC”) or receiving a subsidized lunch at school, there is a story of pain, humiliation and mental anguish unassuaged even when or if they ever come off the welfare rolls. As seen in Ancel Keys’ famous study on the psychological effects of hunger[7], Keys noted that subjects were prone to disordered eating habits, vacillating between devouring their food or eating so slowly as to savor every last bit of food. While Holocaust victims exemplified the conclusions of Keys’ study, his observations are no less applicable to those living in food insecure homes now. Behaviors such as hoarding, gorging or hiding food last far longer than the physical pangs of hunger. And for many, the constant insecurity of not having enough food will mark their own sense of security for years to come.

And for my father, that insecurity came in the form of a lowly potato. It was not a vegetable destined to be a chip or a fry, but a lingering symbol of poverty and hunger. It was a constant reminder of a childhood that he would rather forget. For many of America’s children, parents and so many others, they could only wish hunger was such a distant memory. Unfortunately for them, it’s an ever-present reality that will only bring more scars than they can ever hope to bear now or in the future. With or without potatoes.

This post is part of Food Bloggers Against Hunger, a collaborative effort of over 200 food bloggers, The Giving Table, Share Our Strength and the documentary, A Place at the Table to bring awareness about hunger, protect SNAP dollars for hungry families and push for anti-hunger legislation in Congress. Want to do something to fight hunger? Click here to write to your Representative, Senator or elected official that you want to end hunger in America by maintaining and prioritizing anti-hunger initiatives in Congress.

This post has been cross-posted at the Huffington Post.

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[1] Cheju Island, now a giant tourist destination for much of East Asia, was a small underdeveloped island, mainly populated by fishermen/women and small farmers in the early 20^th century.

[2] Korea was annexed in 1910 by Imperial Japan. Much like the colonial empires of 19^th and 20^th century Europe, Japan sought to dominate the Korean peninsula for strategic purposes.

[3] My mother’s first introduction to cheese and mayonnaise was from the black markets in Seoul during the Korean War. As US troops filled the city, American foodstuffs, such as chewing gum, chocolate and yes, American cheese, were introduced for the first time in Korea.

[4] http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/04/05/some-15-of-u-s-receives-food-stamps/?KEYWORDS=Food+stamp

[5] In 2011, the USDA bought 421million pounds of surplus food; in 2012, only 129. (Source, USDA).

[6] Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor

[7] The study, dubbed the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, was done in 1944-1945, not only to study the psychological aspects of hunger and starvation, but also to help direct Allied relief efforst in post-World War II Europe. The results of the experiment were summarized in 1950 in Keys’ two-volume work, The Biology of Human Starvation. Keys, A.; Brožek, J.; Henschel, A.; Mickelsen, O.; Taylor, H. L. (1950). The Biology of Human Starvation (2 volumes). St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota Press, MINNE edition.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Illustration depicting the Irish Potato Famine (Source unknown)

“I belong to the faubourg Saint-Patrice called Ireland for short”

-James Joyce  (Irish novelist, 1882-1941)

St. Patrick’s Day.  If Hallmark or McDonald’s Shamrock milkshakes has not already reminded you, it is the day to pretend your Irish, get drunk or both. Just in case you forgot, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and St. Patrick’s Day, today, is the anniversary of his death. Legend has it that St. Patrick banished all the snakes from Ireland by chasing them into the sea while he was fasting.[1]  He is also noted for his use of the shamrock, or three-leafed clover, as a pedagogical tool for explaining the Holy Trinity to Ireland.

Since the 6^th century, St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated as a saint day in Ireland and amongst the Irish, with the usual mass and feast following. Of course, leave it to the Americans to distort any “Holy-day” into a celebration of capitalism.[2]  If it’s green, a shamrock or a leprechaun on it, it’s for sale (including a special clover gold and diamond necklace at Tiffany & Co. running for the paltry sum of $1,525).  Also in homes all across North America and Ireland, “traditional” Irish food, such as soda bread, corned beef[3] and cabbage will be served in honor of the holiday.  Heck, my mom even made us corned beef and cabbage when we were kids – and we were Korean.

Interestingly enough, the corned beef and cabbage served on St. Patrick’s Day does have a history that dates back to the 17^th century.  The “corned” beef is derived from the Old English term, “corn” referring to any grain or grain-like particles.  In the case of corned beef, the corn is the coarse salt used to preserve the beef, thus “corned” beef.  Starting already in the 18^th century, both the English and the Irish made corned beef for trade across British Empire and the North America. A large part of that corned beef made for commercial and trading use was centered in coastal Ireland.

Why Ireland? Because it had plenty of land for the raising cattle.  As land for pasture became increasingly expensive during the nascent Industrial Revolution in England, Ireland became cheap source of grazing land for cattle.  With ports in near distance, shipping and trade across the Atlantic was commercially viable and economically profitable.  And as the British population became increasingly wealthy, so did their taste for Irish beef, increasing the demand for pasture throughout Ireland.

But that demand for beef came at a price.  And the price was paid by the population of Ireland.  Although 80% of the Irish population was Catholic, they owned little of the land (due to previous laws restricting the civil and property rights of Irish Catholics).  Who owned the land?  British and Anglo-Irish landed gentry (most of whom never set foot in Ireland). And guess who were their tenants?  Catholic-Irish. 

As tenants of their absentee landlords, the Catholic Irish were reduced to poverty – on a good day.  And as having little land for their own subsistence, the rest used for cattle grazing or for grain production for Britain’s growing middle-class, the tenants depended upon the lowly potato for the majority of their meals.  While earlier the potato was a supplementary crop, compared to dairy and grain products, the decreased availability of arable land pushed the potato as the main source of food for Ireland’s landless tenant farmers. By the force of poverty, these farmers went into monoculture.  By the time the Irish potato blight came along in 1844, Ireland’s fate was already a forgone conclusion.

And what does this mean for today?  As world’s appetite for meat grows larger across developing nations, such as India and China, we are seeing less and less land available to feed the world’s populations.  Currently, forty percent of the world’s grain goes toward feeding livestock. The world’s cattle consume enough grain to feed 8.7 billion people.  Seventy percent of all US grain goes to fuel or livestock consumption. There are approximately 1 billion people starving in the world today.

Are we the new British Empire?

  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

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[1] Scientific evidence points out that there snakes have never inhabited Ireland – or any other insular island, such as Greenland or Iceland.  The closest thing that Ireland has had to a snake is this thing called a “slow worm,” which is technically a legless lizard. Go figure.

[2] According to various histories of Revolutionary America, St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated for quite some time in the US.  But as the first Irish immigrants to the US had been Protestant, the traditional linking between Catholic mass and St. Patrick’s Day was disassociated. With the waves of Irish Catholic immigrants flocking to the United States in the 19^th century, the church became central again to the celebrations and parades across the country.

[3] To those who have not are not familiar with this foodstuff, corned beef is salt-cured beef (can be wet-brined, dry-cured, or tinned) to preserve it. It is in the same category of preserved meats like pastrami, bresaola, prosciutto, etc. You can just call it Anglo charcuterie.

You Can't Do That On Television

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or don’t have kids, you’ve probably heard about the “pink slime.” If not, “pink slime,” dubbed by former United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and whistleblowers Carl S. Custer and Gerald Zirnstein[1], is the scrapings of beef scraps, connective tissue and other fatty beef trimmings off the slaughterhouse floor (read: stuff that no one else will eat), ground to a gelatinous pulp, centrifuged to remove excess fat, and then treated with a “puff of ammonium hydroxide” to kill food pathogens, such as E. coli and salmonella.[2] According to Zirnstein, 70 percent of supermarket ground beef is BLBT.[3] But why can’t we see it? Because it’s often mixed in with “real” beef as filler and there are NO USDA regulations for labeling it as anything other than “100% beef.”

School kids get the delightful mixture of BLBT as well. In 2009, the USDA school lunch program bought 5.5 million pounds of the stuff. This year, the USDA was slated to buy 7 million pounds for school kitchens across the country.

            Beef Products, Inc. (BPI),[4] the sole manufacturer of this tasty concoction, calls it “Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings,” (BLBT) and claims it’s perfectly safe to eat.

            Well, surprise, surprise, beyond absolutely disgusting, the “beef” is not safe. Even without testing, the method in BLBT is made could leave you with the heebie-jeebies. BLBT is made with trimmings that have the most contact with outermost parts of the cow – the same parts that are smeared with cow manure.[5] According to the New York Time’s article on BLBT, between 2005-2009, BLBT was four times more likely to contain salmonella. Cargill, the food behemoth with a checkered food safety history, stopped using BLBT because of salmonella contamination. Even McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Burger King stopped using the “beef” as filler for their products last year.[6]  In spite of this and other reported E. coli and salmonella outbreaks, USDA still deemed the stuff safe to eat.

But can you avoid it? Yes, if you grind your own meat or avoid beef all together. What about your kids? Pack them their own lunch.

But today, after 228,000 (and counting) people signed a Change.org petition to get BLBT out of school lunches and much bad publicity, the USDA announced that school districts would be able to opt out of buying BLBT meat for school lunches.[7]

 But this doesn’t solve the problem. The larger problem lies in something else: money.

The real losers in the pink slime fight are the poor. While everyone has zeroed in on the safety issue of pink slime (and rightfully so), the safety issues are really the byproduct of ruthless penny-pinching and corporate lobbying.  The only reason why BLBT even exists is because of the lobby efforts to promote it as “beef.”[8] The reason why the USDA contracted BPI for the meat in 2000, in spite of the misgivings of the Agricultural Marketing Service (the USDA division that buys food for school lunch programs), was so they could save about $.03 (!) per pound of meat…at a total saving of about $1 million dollars a year[9], versus buying regular trimmings.[10]

According to the USDA’s own numbers, 31.6 million children receive low cost or free lunches. Even though school districts might have a choice in buying no-filler beef, the likelihood that poorer school districts can afford the cost differential for better quality beef is little to none. These are the kids who have NO choice as to the quality of food they receive. And for some, school lunches may be the only meal they get all day. Has the school lunch system gotten so bad that the USDA is willing to sell out their health for 3 fucking pennies?!

And this is the crux of the problem. The quality of children’s nutrition and food is the most important factor in the School Lunch Program – not cost. What kind of lessons are we teaching our children when we say that food comes from a centrifuge and an ammonia aerator? And worst of all, is the USDA contributing to a society of have and have not’s in which the poor only receive the dregs of food only fit for dogs, under the excuse of the bottom line?

            While many of us can be grateful for increased awareness regarding our food system, we must remember that many do NOT have those resources. If there’s any lesson to be gleaned from this scandal is that money talks – and often talks over those who have none. Civil society is the first step in making sure moneyed interests don’t win over those of social justice. Get angry...and then do something.

NB: If you want to sign up for Change.org petition to get BLBT out of school lunches, please go here: https://www.change.org/petitions/tell-usda-to-stop-using-pink-slime-in-school-food

Ground Beef

For those of you who want to be sure what’s in your ground beef, there’s a really easy way to do this: grind your own.  While you can choose any cut you like for grinding, I think it’s helpful to think what you will be using the beef for before your grind. For example, for burgers I prefer chuck and a bit of sirloin for a meaty, but not too fatty burger. Others, namely Pat LaFrieda (the meat purveyor to Minetta Tavern and other top New York restaurants), use a combination of chuck, short rib and brisket. For other recipes, such as Bolognese, plain chuck is going to be fine, since it will be cooked down with other meats and tomato. But for grinding your meat, you can use an old-fashioned meat grinder (I have one and love it) or do it in a food processor. If you choose to do it in a food processor, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

1.     Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes before your process. The processor can’t handle giant chunks of beef. Cutting it beforehand will make easier to process.

2.     Don’t put more than a pound of meat at a time. Your processor will get overworked and even worse, you will have unevenly chopped meat.

3.     Pulse, pulse, pulse. Process the meat in steps and there won’t be any temptation to over-process it into meat slime…kind of like the stuff above. This is especially important for burgers – over-processed meat will not pack nicely or cook properly.

If you are the type of person that doesn’t want to drag out the machines every single time you need ground beef, just do it all at once and freeze in portions. And yes, this method also works for pork, veal, and lamb. You’ll never go back to mystery meat again.

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[1] This comes from Michael Moss’ Pulitzer Prize winning article in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31meat.html?pagewanted=all

[2] Yes, this is the same ammonia, NH3, which is in bleach and other fine cleansing products.

[3] http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/70-percent-of-ground-beef-at-supermarkets-contains-pink-slime/

[4] The euphemism “products” for what this company is selling is pretty laughable.

[5] Quick science note: E. coli is occurs naturally in digestive systems of warm-blooded animals, including humans. While most strains of E. coli are harmless (and are good for your digestive system), there are known strains that cause food poisoning, including E. Coli O157:H7, E. Coli O121:H19, etc. In the case of beef, E. Coli O157:H7 are often present in the intestinal tracts of beef cattle. The transference of E. Coli to beef is often a result of poor food processing, animal husbandry, and/or slaughtering practices. Granted, anything food is susceptible to E. coli poisoning, but due to its natural occurrence in cattle, beef is the most suspect in E. coli outbreaks.

            Salmonella is a different story. Although it too is naturally occurring, it is primarily pathogenic, and it also resides inside intestinal systems of mammals and birds. Once again, spread through fecal matter, good animal husbandry and slaughtering practices will often cut transmission rates from animal to food. But it’s not foolproof. Thus for both salmonella and E. coli, regular testing at all food contact sites (farm to processor to retail, etc.) is critical to catch cases before the spread. Also, proper food handling (keeping food refrigerated, washing hands, cooking food thoroughly) will also cut transmission rates.

[6] This, of course, begs the question of what the hell was fast food doing placing this crap in the burgers in the first place?

[7]http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2012/03/0094.xml&contentidonly=true

[8] In a 2002 email message, Gerald Zirnstein, the USDA whistleblower mentioned above, wrote: “I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef, and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling.”

[9] One million dollars seems like a lot of money, but compared to, uh, military spending…like the C-17 fighter, which even Senator John McCain has admitted was useless, at a cost of $250,000,000 per plane, maybe we should be spending our money a little more wisely…

[10] Yes, once again, why are we using these trimmings to begin with?

Paula Deen and the American Dream

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday for those of you living in the US. And as news cycles goes in the States, there will be a full round of stories revolving around Dr. King’s legacy of civil rights, his family, or this year’s hot topic: the misquoting of Dr. King on the spanking new MLK memorial in Washington D.C.[1]

Strangely enough, this holiday weekend has coincided with another monumental announcement. Last Friday, Huffington Post broke the story that Paula Deen[2], the doyenne of butter, sugar and Southern Kitsch, has Type 2 diabetes.[3] The rumor is that she will be a spokesperson for Novartis’ diabetes drugs [4] as well.

I don’t want to trivialize the importance of Martin Luther King, but these events have more to do with each other than you think…

Let me explain.

To those of you that follow the foodietainment scene in the US, the irony is probably killing you. To refresh y’all’s memory, last year August, Anthony Bourdain, ex-chef of Les Halles & culinary pundit, called Ms. Deen, “the worst, most dangerous person in America,” for contributing to America’s obesity epidemic. He continued by saying, "She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she's proud of the fact that her food is fucking bad for you. Plus, her food sucks."[5]

Ms. Deen told Bourdain in the New York Post, “to get a life,” and then said “Not everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine. My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills.”

Whoa. Ad hominem attacks are never nice, and this one had tongues a-wagging (including a whole New York Times’ op-ed piece by Frank Bruni).[6] 

Both of them had a point. Families are struggling all over the US to pay bills and feed their families.  One in six families are receiving food stamps, a historic high. On the other hand, obesity is killing Americans. Two in three Americans are overweight and of that half are considered “obese” by medical standards.

Is there a correlation with these two facts? Uh-huh. As noted by my earlier post on childhood poverty and nutrition, people living poverty are fighting a Sisyphean battle with poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. It’s not just the amount of calories that poor families can afford; it’s also the quality of calories that people can afford. It’s cheaper to eat (insert junk food) than to eat (insert nutritious food).

It’s no wonder that there is an inverse relationship between income and obesity: in other words, the poorer you are the more likely you are to be obese. And the more obese you are the more likely you are to have Type 2 diabetes (90% of all suffering from Type 2 diabetes are obese).[7] And of course, people that live in poverty are more likely to develop diabetes.[8]

And here’s the kicker: Those living in across the Bible Belt and the Mississippi Delta, areas that have some the highest poverty rates in the nation, have the highest rates of diabetes of all.[9] I hate to tell you this Paula, but you’re a statistic.

To those who are familiar with the cannon of Southern cuisine, the incidence of obesity is not really too much of a surprise. The land of fried chicken and buttered grits does not exactly scream health food to anyone. Add endemic poverty to the mix and you have a recipe for a ready-made diabetes hotspot costing the nation $116 billion annually.

Towards the end of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, he developed the Poor People’s Campaign, to highlight the injustice of poverty. As he put it in 1967:

“In the treatment of poverty nationally, one fact stands out…There are twice as many white poor as [black] poor in the United States. Therefore I will not dwell on the experiences of poverty that derive from racial discrimination, but will discuss the poverty that affects white and [black] alike.”

            And just as poverty affects black and white alike, so does the health consequences stemming from poverty.[10] If we want to conquer diabetes, we also have to conquer poverty, obesity and a food culture that glorifries (yes, that is my bad pun) unhealthy foods. And this means you Paula. If anyone, you should understand poverty.[11] If indeed you make food for families worried about paying their bills, you should have the conscience to make sure they are eating right. And that does not mean a macaroni and cheese recipe that has butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and a can of condensed cheese soup. Embodying the American Dream is not an excuse to play Russian roulette with people’s health.

            And for God’s sake – stay away from the donuts.

           

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[1] The new monument has the words, " I was a drum major for justice peace and righteousness" inscribed on it. According to scholars, Dr. King never uttered those words in his February 1968 speech. The correct quote is as follows: "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness."

After protestors demanded the quote be erased or corrected, US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar finally admitted the error and ordered the quote be corrected on the monument.

[2] To those not living in Paula Deen is a TV food celebrity in the US. She is also known for promoting recipes such as the “The Lady’s Brunch Burger,” a bacon-fried egg-burger sandwiched between two donuts.

[3] Science note: Diabetes is basically a disease that is marked by insulin deficiencies or malfunctions. Type 1 is usually found in childhood and is a small number of cases (around 10%). The rest of cases are Type 2 – diabetes that is marked by the body’s inability use insulin efficiently, thus leading to high blood sugar levels.

[4] A Novartis representative has denied any “multi-million dollar” endorsement deal with Ms. Deen. But knowing the PR world, this could be BS. The truth? We’ll see….

[5] http://www.tvguide.com/News/Anthony-Bourdains-Celebrity-1036482.aspx

[6] Fact check: Tony Bourdain is no saint either on the health meter. He’s a known chain-smoker and if it weren’t for the fact that he has the fastest metabolism on the planet, he probably wouldn’t be as thin as he is. As for Ms. Deen, Bourdain is right. She has a full line of eponymous foodstuffs, appliances, tools, dinnerware and books as well as a hefty endorsement deal with meat processor Smithfield - she’s living high on the hog.

[7] Obesity reduces the body’s ability to use insulin properly; therefore, those who are obese are highly likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.

[8] I have yet to see hard numbers on this, but a Canadian study has shown that those living below $C15,000 are twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those with higher incomes. Research done by the Mayo Clinic has shown a strong correlation between poverty and diabetes rates.  Click here for the study.

[9]Click here for the CDC map of diabetes prevalence.

[10] Certain demographic groups, such as African-Americans and Latinos, have a higher incidence of Type 2 diabetes compared to the white population.

[11] To those who don’t know the “Paula Deen Story” it goes something like this. Deen was a dirt poor, near homeless, single mom with a bad case of agoraphobia when she started her cooking career. Through the dint of hard work and good Southern charm, she stared a catering business and restaurant that brought her to American homes everywhere – and $9.13 million a year.

This is All Tom Colicchio's Fault

I have to thank Tom Colicchio[1] for this post. If he hadn’t called me on a nasty comment on Twitter (once again, mea culpa Sr. Colicchio!) I wouldn’t be writing this right now. And that is definitely a GOOD thing.

            What was the beef about? Childhood hunger. To sum up, Tom Colicchio, Ming Tsai, Maria Hines, and Holly Smith got together to do a SNAP challenge – A delicious, healthy multicourse meal for 4 under 10 bucks. And I have to admit, they did a great job. Team Colicchio & Hines menu consisted of a carrot, apple & raisin salad with buttermilk dressing; a vegetable and beef stir fry stir-fry with brown rice; and for dessert, a panna cotta with oranges. Team Tsai & Smith weren’t too shabby either with frisee and avocado salad; chicken thighs with vegetable quinoa, and a yogurt-apple parfait for dessert.

            While I am happy to eat anything any of these chefs would serve me, a particular six-year old on the tasting panel was none too kind. Giving a serious thumb down to Team Tsai’s frisee salad and an upside-down smiley face to Team Colicchio’s carrot salad, the little critic had his work cut out for him.

            But this is not to suggest that it is the chefs’ fault. If anything, this failure in good taste (sorry kid) is a testament to the problems with childhood eating, poverty and nutrition in this nation – not the creative cooking skills of America’s finest chefs.

            Just in case you haven’t paid attention to the statistics, the only thing that seemed to go up in this year’s economy is food stamp usage. Since the beginning of the 2008 recession, food stamp usage has gone up by 66%,[2] to 15% of the US population receiving some kind of SNAP benefit. In order to qualify for SNAP benefits, a person has to be making less than 130% of the poverty rate in gross income, e.g. for a household of four, the total income must be less than $29,064 in gross income (or net income of $22,356) a year. 

            What do you get for your benefits? The maximum benefit for a family of four would be around $668 per month or $5.67 per person per day. That’s basically $1.85 cents per meal per person. No one is getting eating foie gras on food stamps – that’s for sure.[3]           

But in terms of poverty and food, not all calories are equal and part of the challenge with feeding people on food stamps is not just the paltry sum one gets for feeding oneself, but also with the nutritional quality of the food available to those who receive food stamp benefits. Spend three dollars on an 8.5 oz. bag of Cheetos, and you get 1,000 calories for two bucks.[4] Spend 1.50 on 1 pd of apples (about 4 medium) and you will get a 1,000 calories for $3.94.[5] Which is the better bargain? The Cheetos, if you are counting in terms of caloric weight. But in terms of nutritional quality, the Cheetos are a big fat negative.

    A recent study by the University of Washington bears this anecdotal evidence out. Scientists compared the price of junk food versus that of a healthier meal on a calorie-density basis. And guess what? Energy-dense foods, such as candy, pastries and chips, cost $1.76 per 1,000 calories versus $18.16 per low-density but nutritious foods, such as fresh vegetables, fruits and fish. 

            Furthermore, the study showed that low-calorie foods were more likely to increase in price, 19.5% during the 2-year study versus a 1.8% in the price of high-calorie foods.[6]

            Given the cost constraints that most SNAP recipients have, is it any wonder that SNAP usage, poverty and obesity go together? It’s far cheaper to eat a box of Twinkies than to eat a well-balanced healthy meal if you are trying to cut costs. Considering the high price of produce (we’re not talking Whole Paycheck here), the costs of a nutritious meal become not only out of reach for those in poverty – the working poor also suffer. In short – healthy and fresh fruit are becoming the property of the 1%.

            Furthermore, as many of those in poverty or low-income live in “food deserts”,[7] the access to healthy food is even more difficult to come by. While food deserts may have convenience & liquor stores, since when did the local 7-11 stock enough healthy and affordable food for a meal?  According to the US Census, 2.2% (or 2.3 million) of US households lived more than a mile from a supermarket and did not own a car. As cities and states everywhere are cutting public transportation funding, the seemingly mundane task of grocery shopping has become a costly & timely nightmare for those with little economic resources.

            What’s the solution? Well, beyond the usual, “It’s the economy, stupid” generalisms, there are some concrete policy suggestions for helping out families:

1.     Change the incentive structure, change the behavior. Changing the incentive structure for SNAP benefits would encourage the buying habits of non-processed foods. This mean could be in the form of a 50% rebate on fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and whole grains. This could also mean a restriction on soda, candy and junk foods. And USDA – I know what you’re thinking. It’s too cumbersome. That’s BS. You can’t buy cigarettes and booze with SNAP – it’s would easy enough to do the same with junk food.

2.     If you build it, they will come. Get fresh vegetables into food deserts via farmers’ markets. This is really a win-win for everyone. Farmers receive a larger profit margin by selling in farmers’ markets. People pay usually less than supermarket prices for fresh food. Everyone benefits. Already, some farmers’ markets have experimented with accepting SNAP benefits. New York City has not only accepted benefits, but also added a bonus to amplify the purchasing power of foods bought at local greenmarkets via the USDA’s Healthy Bucks program (you get an extra $2 for every $5 you spend at farmers’ markets). Even in Harlem![8] And farmers’ markets, unlike supermarkets, can cater to a wide range of ethnic and regional favorites, such as mustard greens and specialty chili peppers.  Currently, only .1% of SNAP benefits are redeemed at greenmarkets. Imagine the possibilities….

3.     If you can’t buy it, grow it. Urban farming has been usually associated with Brooklyn hipsters, but those hipsters are onto something. Cities such as Detroit are using abandoned land as sites for urban farms. Other communities are using odd spaces, such as the roof of a bowling alley, to build greenhouses. And that picky kid who didn’t like Tom’s salad? I bet he’d eat it if he grew it himself.

4.     Bring back home economics. Yeah, home-ec gets a bad rap for burnt French toast, but without those skills, many do not even the knowledge of how to cook nutritious meals or quick meals. If you can’t cook, no amount of economic or structural changes will make a difference. Get everyone back in the kitchen – mom, dad, kids – basically anyone you can find.

So thanks Tom for chewing me out. Couldn’t have written this without your help. And I promise to stay on your good side….

** Team Colicchio and Team Tsai's recipes are below the footnotes. Courtesy of Partnership for A Healthy America.

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[1] To those who don’t know Tom Colicchio, he is the man behind the highly reviewed Craft empire of restaurants (Craft, CraftSteak, Colicchio & Sons, riverpark and Craftwich) in New York City. And when he’s not running the restaurants, he’s busy being a judge on Bravo’s Top Chef. Yes, he’s famous (and I’m not).

[2] USDA provides figures for food stamp usage. In 2008, 27.8 million people were using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP” a.k.a. food stamps). By 2011, that number reached 46 million.

[3] The full set of benefits and income thresholds for SNAP can be found at the USDA’s web site: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm

[4] All the nutritional information for a bag of regular Cheetos (not the Flaming Hot kind, Puffs, or the Baked varieties) comes from the Frito Lay website.

[5] Nutritional information for a medium apple (190g) was taken from the USDA nutritional labels. Prices for apples vary across the nation, but they generally go from a buck to 3 bucks per pound.

[6] Monsivais et al. Lower-Energy-Density Diets Are Associated with Higher Monetary Costs per Kilocalorie and Are Consumed by Women of Higher Socioeconomic Status. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2009; 109 (5): 814

[7] Food deserts are locations that are lack access to fresh, affordable and nutritious food. While definitions vary, most geographers define food deserts as places that do not have supermarkets or grocery stores within a one mile radius of their given household. The USDA has an excellent graphic of how low-income areas intersect with food desserts: http://www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/march10/features/FoodDeserts.htm - box1

[8] Harlem’s Farmers Market just opened in 2010 and it’s been a rousing success. http://marcussamuelsson.com/news/have-you-been-to-harlem’s-farmers-market

Partnership  for  a  Healthier  America  Recipes  

Tom    Colicchio    and    Maria    Hines  

    

Main    Dish:  Beef  &  Vegetable  Stir  Fry  with  Brown    Rice  

Side  Dish:  Shredded  Carrot,  Apple  &  Raisin  Salad  with  Buttermilk  Dressing  

Dessert:  Buttermilk  Panna  Cotta  with  Orange  Segments     

    

Shredded  Carrot,  Apple  &  Raisin  Salad  with  Buttermilk  Dressing  

    

1     bag    whole    carrots,    peeled    and    shredded  

½     cup  raisins,  soaked    in  hot  water  

2     apples,    peeled    and    shredded  

½  cup  buttermilk  

2     tbsp  cider    vinegar    Salt    and    pepper  

    

Peel   carrots and apples and shred  with  a  box  grater. Soak  raisins  in  a  small  amount of hot water and set  aside. Slowly  whisk  the  buttermilk  into  the  cider  vinegar  to emulsify  and  season  with  salt  and pepper.  Right  before  serving,  remove  the  raisins  from    the  water  and  add  to  the  shredded carrots and  apples. Toss with the vinaigrette,    season   with    salt   and   pepper   and    serve.    

    

Beef  Stir  Fry  

Yields:    6    people      

    

1.5    pound    beef    round,    slice   thin  

1     c.    broccoli    florets,   blanched  

1     c.    snow   peas  

1  c.  button  mushrooms.    sliced   thin  

hot  sesame  oil  

regular  sesame  oil  

¼     c.    soy    sauce  

1     TB.    oyster    sauce  

1  TB.  fresh  lime  

½     c.    green    onion,    sliced    thin  

1/2    c.   peanuts  

1     c.    onion,    sliced    thin  

1     TB  garlic,  minced  

1/2  c.    cilantro,   chopped  

3     c.    brown    rice  

    

Method:  

Heat  hot  sesame  oil  and  regular  sesame  oil  in  a    pan,   then    sauté  all    ingredients

together  (except    for  rice).  Cook  rice    in  water.  3    c.  rice    and    3   1/4    c.  water.    Serve    beef    stir  fry    over  rice.  

    

Panna  Cotta  with  Orange  Segments  

1     packet  of    sugar    free    orange    Jello  

½     cup  water  

1  ½  cups  buttermilk         Orange  segments  

    

Boil    water,  pour  into  bowl  with  Jello  packet,  whisk  for  2  minutes  or  until  completely  dissolved.      Add  buttermilk  and  stir  until  combined.  Pour  into desired    container and let set uncovered  in refrigerator  for  30-­‐45  minutes until  set.  Serve  with  orange  segments.     

PHA’s Building a Healthier Future Summit
Challenge Menu 

Holly Smith & Ming Tsai
Menu
Main Dish: Braised Chicken Thighs with Herb and
Vegetable Quinoa

Frisée and Avocado Salad

Dessert: Non-Fat Greek Yogurt Parfait with Warm
Cinnamon Apples and Cashews


Chicken Thighs with Herb and Vegetable Quinoa
8 -10 servings

6 chicken thighs -boneless skinless
1 onion
3-4 cloves garlic
4 sprigs thyme or 1T dried
1 T extra virgin olive oil
½ cup sherry vinegar
¼ cup crushed tomato
2 cups chicken stock - no salt added * as needed
Kosher salt –to taste
Black Pepper-to taste
1T butter (*optional)
2 teaspoons flour (*optional)

Heat a large pan over medium high heat.  Chop
garlic and onions and set aside. Cut chicken into
small pieces.  Season with Kosher salt and black
pepper, lightly dust with flour.  Add oil to heated
pan then carefully add chicken.  As pieces brown,
make room in pan for onions and garlic.  Stir often
to prevent burning 2 minutes.  Deglaze with wine. 
Add stock, ½ of sherry vinegar and tomato.  Bring to
a simmer and cover.  After 10 minutes uncover and
add butter, reduce until a nicely bound sauce
adding additional vinegar as needed/desired. 
Serve on top of quinoa.

Quinoa
1 1/2 cups quinoa raw
2 bulbs fennel – chop small
3 cloves garlic-chopped fine
6 leaves mint - chopped
Chopped parsley
2 zucchini- diced small
1 carrot-diced small
3T extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Cayenne

Follow instructions for quinoa – while it is cooking,
chop vegetables and garlic.  In Saute pan heat
olive oil, add fennel. Toss and Season with kosher
salt.  Once lightly colored and softening- 3 minutes
add garlic, and carrot to pan and sauté another
minute to just wilt the carrot.  Remove to a bowl
and add herbs, zucchini and pinch of cayenne
pepper.  When quinoa is ready (12-14 minutes
typically) toss with the seasoned vegetables.  Taste
and adjust seasoning as desired.

Frisée and Avocado Salad
 
1 large shallot, minced
1 Tablespoon Dijon or hot mustard
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup EVOO
2 heads frisée, washed, cored and torn into pieces
1 avocado, peeled and diced
 
Combine shallot, mustard, soy sauce and vinegar in
large bowl.  Gradually pour olive oil in a steady
stream while whisking constantly to emulsify. Place
frisée and avocado in large mixing bowl and add
enough dressing to coat.  Toss well.  Season with salt
& pepper, to taste.

Non-Fat Greek Yogurt Parfait with Warm Cinnamon
Apples and Cashews
1tb butter 
3 large apples, granny or Fiji, cored and diced
(leave skin on)
Pinch cinnamon 
1/2 cup Craisins (R) 
1/2 cup apple juice 
4 cups non-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup toasted cashews

In pan melt butter, sauté apples until golden, 3 - 5
minutes.  Add cinnamon and Craisins (R).  Continue
to cook until apples are caramelized.  Add apple
juice to deglaze and cook until liquid reduced by
1/4. Serve with yogurt and sprinkle with toasted
cashews.