We sit at the end of 2011, and I love the feeling that this time is a natural pause. We sit back and take an inhale, grateful for another year lived, hopeful for what is to come.
Despite all the articles written about how e never follow through with resolutions created at this time of year, we set them anyway. And I like that. I like naming the things I want to shoot for, there is magic in doing so.
With that said though, this post isn’t about resolutions per se, as much as its about planting seeds into your consciousness for the new year. Food Practice seeds. Has a lovely ring to it doesn’t it?
My gift to you for this new year is a list of words. These are words we should all be talking about, investigating, and weaving into the fabric of our food lives. They build community, awareness, political responsibility and when taken to heart, good good food. These words are more then just a movement, they are a return to Life. Life lived wide awake, sensually, connected, and beauty filled. You think I’m kidding? Trust me, I’m not.
Food Practice Words For The New Year
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Food Practice
Food practice is the conscious devotional approach to food; its acquisition, preparation, sharing and taking in. It’s about understanding the energetic forces at play when you intentionally make a meal, as well as knowing the receptive bonding that takes place when gathered at the dinner table with those you love. Food practice is part knowledge, part politic, part sensuality and a big dose of presence. 2012 is the year of Food Practice, and you can be sure you’ll be getting much more on this growing philosophy and approach to food.
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Farm To Table
This has sprung from the local food movement and refers the path food takes from its origins at the farm. Farm To Table is concerned with the shortest route from farm to your table, which speaks to locally produced food making it into the hands of local consumer in the quickest way possible. This would normally be through CSAs, Farmer’s Markets, and local food coops. The idea here is to support your local farmer through buying your fresh whole foods directly from them, or as directly as possible. This makes your food fresher, and helps support the local economy as well as your nourishment quality. For more information, go here.
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Farm To Fork
Another name for Farm To Table.
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Slow Food
“Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries around the world who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment. A non-profit member-supported association, Slow Food was founded in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Today, we have over 100,000 members joined in 1,300 convivia – our local chapters – worldwide, as well as a network of 2,000 food communities who practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality foods.” This comes from the main Slow Food International Site. I recommend you visit it, read through it, dig yourself deep into the gorgeous movement that this is and then go to Slow Food USA. There you’ll find out more of what is going on State side, and you can find local chapters around the country to join and participate with. I belong to Slow Food Maui, and it’s already been an inspiring ride.
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CSA
From LocalHarvest.org:Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief: Advantages for farmers:
- Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
- Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
- Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow
Advantages for consumers:
- Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
- Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
- Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
- Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
- Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown
This site offers comprehensive information on various forms of CSA’s across the country, links to other countries and also a directory of CSAs that have registered with them, giving you a chance to find one near you. Go here for more information. Our CSA is Kula Fields.
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Organic
According to Wikipedia, Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. There are quite a few levels of certifications available to farms depending on what they do or don’t do to their crops. Its something very deeply worth educating yourself on. My personal opinion is that biodynamic crops are best. Look it up!
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Farmer’s Markets
Along with CSAs, Farmer’s Markets are the best way to get your food directly from the source. Farmers in a local region will come together once or twice a week to sell their goods at a centralized location in a town or city. Its the epitome of Farm To Table, and a great way to get to know your local farmers. Nothing creates community like knowing your farmer, having an ongoing awareness of what is in season and what they are planting. Know. your. food. Oh… and prices? For organic fresh whole foods, often much much cheaper then any local market! Go here for a listing of markets in your area.
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Locally Sourced
This is another buzz word to basically describe most of what is covered above. Locally sourced is important. Why? Because it supports your local economy. This is where the political aspect of food comes in. You vote with your money. Where you spend your cash speaks volumes about what is important to you. Small privately owned farms, producing high quality organic food are in severe danger of becoming overtaken by big business agriculture, which typically only grow one or two crops, use genetically modified crops and because of this, can’t possibly be organic, because such crops require pesticides. This is a very complex issue, and I encourage you to do research on this for yourself.
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Food Swaps
My first introduction to Food Swaps was when I was in Pennsylvania to do the photo shoots for this book. Anni Daulter, the writer of the book, hosted the Food Swap in her farm community and I was there to capture quite a bit of it on film. It was a fun evening and such a great experience in bounty sharing and community building. A Food Swap is basically a gathering where people of a local community come together to place their home grown or home made food bounties for display and swap out their goods for others. Everyone goes home with an amazing assortment of goods… all fresh, all local and all home grown. Go here for more information on how to run a Food Swap event, and if there are any happening near you.
Aloha…I love the design of your blog Elena. This post is great, chock full of info. I've recently become more interested in the slow food movement, for health reasons, a desire for better tasting produce and also because of a love of my local community. The idea of a food swap is so great. I'm always giving away our garden overflow (my mother is the green thumb not me, I'm just the delivery person).
Aloha Tania! I'm really excited about putting together Food Swaps in the new year. I think so many of us have access to either our own home gardens or huge abundant CSA boxes, that it would be great to share the deliciousness with everyone. What part of the island are you on?
a new food approach is one of the habits i hope to make lasting change with in the upcoming year… my kids and i are starting anew… i am a long time vegetarian, my daughter has crohn's disease and is allergic to nuts… so trying to come up with food for all of us sometimes feels daunting… but i am hoping that with the emotional energy i am now saving, i can really try to do something good for us…
Mary, I so understand. Food allergies and health issues can throw us a massive curve ball when it comes to cooking. For me one of the biggest changes I need to really stick with is limiting my eating out, by about 90%!!! which is huge, especially living on a foodie island. What I am finding though, which has been a lovely surprise is that with having a CSA box come to us, I'm relieved of the weekly stress of creating a menu out of thin air. Its so odd too, because I never really expected this to be helpful, but something about being given the produce that I THEN have to cook with and around has made my life so much easier, and varied too. Not sure this will be the case for you and your family, but in the end its learning to dance with what you have. I wish you abundant support in this new food approach for 2012!
Awesome post Elena! I'm new to your blog and love it already. Most of these terms I've heard before, but some are new to me. Lately I've started to care more aout food and trying to making conscious decisions about what I eat and where it comes from. It's a start and I have a long way to go. One thing I love about these food movements is that they restore relationships with not only food but with people. When we buy at big stores or fast food chains we fail to create relationships with the people providing the food. This is so different from society just 100 years ago, where we all cooperated and relied on each other for food production, and our relationships circled around food. And because we held each others lives in our hands by doing or not doing our part, our societies were stronger and more likely to cooperate. This may just be what our individualistic culture needs to work through our differences.
Ihilani! Welcome and Aloha! Thank you for coming by, it's so fun seeing all my fellow islanders visiting. I really love the way you speak of restoring relationships to both food and people. I couldn't have said it better myself. I also think that Maui is way ahead of the game in this country. So much of our orientation seems to be towards the land or 'aina' and supporting those that are farms and land stewards. I know there are growing communities across the US that are similar and also in Europe and across the world. It's what I find so thrilling and healing about the work that Slow Food International is doing. We are coming back to the things that sustain us in the most profound and healthiest ways, both with regard to food and community. It's an exciting time!
Aloha Elena. Great post. having just returned from a trip over seas and lost in my thoughts about food and America. While in Israel (where we were staying) there were no big box stores. If you need a chicken you go to the butcher. Lettuce you go to the farmers market. Flowers the florist. Bread the baker…all located walking distance to your home. In fact I wondered why there were 6 bakeries all within an arms reach. Well, one bakery was old world style (traditional) while the other was contemporary. Yet another focused on Kosher. I have so many more experiences but your blog reminded my of what I just experienced. Let's talk soon, or rather let's eat together soon.
Dania! Welcome home! Can't wait to see you and break bread together.
One of the most memorable experiences I have from my travels through India were the open air markets. There were so many and all of them made the most grand of our farmers markets seem like childs play in comparison. Markets opened all day every day, as farmers came in and out replenishing their goods. Similar to the reports that Jon brought back from his extensive travels in Asia, most people tend to shop for their meals on a daily basis, all within walking distance from home, and making several stops at shops that sold their specific need; butchers, bakers, produce market. It's community at an entirely different level. With that said, when I lived in Southern California, I was such a fixture at both Whole Foods and Wild Oats, that some of the employees knew me by name. The olive bar girl in Torrence saw me coming a mile away and would always have something new to report about the latest olive they just got in. (I'm an olive WHORE)
This has me thinking now as well about how we build community around our food. I'm feeling another post coming on! 🙂
I love the seeds that you are plating here Elena, may they grow and blossom beautifully in 2012! I miss much of the organic food from the Bay Area, the farmers markets, the small shops with fresh produce, the wild gardens.. Namaste sister.