Good luck and thanks for supporting your local food system!

I already shared some presidential knowledge from our friend, Tommy J., so today I figured we would fast-forward about 125 years and look at a campaign slogan often attributed to Herbert Hoover,

“A chicken in every pot. And a car in every garage, to boot.”

This slogan (whether officially used by the Hoover campaign or not) exemplifies the American ideal of democratizing the availability of meat, a symbol of status and prosperity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about equity and I quite agree, everyone–regardless of location or socioeconomic status–deserves access to healthful foods (on that note, let’s discuss food deserts at some point in the near future) but a chicken in every pot doesn’t mean chicken (or beef or pork) in every pot every day of the week.

In fact, the phrase was subjugated (as a fair many political slogans are) from its previous use by Henry IV of France,

“I want there to be no peasant in my realm so poor that he will not have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.”

A lot has changed since the turn of the fifteenth century and the rule of Henry IV, but how is it that in the evolutionary blink of an eye we have gone from viewing including meat in one meal a week as a lofty goal to feeling deprived if we forgo it for a single day?

At the risk of sounding like a hardcore militant vegetarian (I assure you that I’m not, this is fairly new territory for me and remember- mmm bacon) I find myself asking how meat was able to get top billing on our dinner (and lunch, and breakfast) plates in such a short time.

I just finished reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, and found that to be a helpful resource in starting to solve my quandary. For those of you not ready to invest time into this admittedly niche topic, I’d encourage you to read a recent NYTimes op ed piece that talks about the dangerous role of antiobiotics in meat industry intensification, The Spread of Superbugs.

Herbert Hoover was our president when the Stock Market Crash of 1929 occurred. We would do well to remember, whether in the stock market or the stockyards, unsustainable growth has serious consequences.

We have already received some fantastic essays, but are hoping to see a lot more over the next week as we approach the deadline- Friday, March 12.

If you have been holding out to hear about what kinds of prizes we are offering, please allow me the pleasure of introducing our great sponsors and prizes:

$100 Gift certificate to Grange Kitchen&Bar
Chef Brandon Johns of Grange Kitchen&Bar makes a commitment to serving fresh, local, and sustainable food and let me say, the difference in quality is obvious. I ate at Grange during restaurant week, and can’t think of many meals I’d place above that dining experience. If you frequent the Kerrytown Farmer’s Market you’ve probably crossed paths with Chef Johns while seeking out the best ingredients grown on family farms from right in our community.

$25 Gift certificates to Silvio’s Organic Pizza
If you haven’t had a chance to try a slice of Silvio’s Organic Pizza, take your next lunch break at this great pizzeria right on North U. Silvio says it best, “At Silvio’s, we use organic ingredients because we value health… ours, yours, and the health of our planet.”

Tickets to see Michael Pollan speak at MSU on April 12th
An excellent opportunity to hear Pollan, stalwart of the burgeoning movement emphasizing real food, speak live. Event details: WorldView Lecture Series: Michael Pollan

Publication in an issue of Consider
If your essay presents a compelling argument for a manner of eating that you feel is right, you might be published in Consider, a “non-partisan, non-profit publication operated by students at the University of Michigan. Consider’s purpose is to provide an open forum for discussion of significant issues of campus, community and national interest.”

Interested? Get writing! Competition Details: Essay Competition: Why Do I Eat the Way I Do?

If what you eat has become your religion, take care to serve up your message peacefully and palatably. Because it’s just food.

As the essay competition draws to an end (Just over a week left! Submissions are due Friday, March 12!) I thought that this quote really summed up much of what we are trying to achieve through the competition. Food plays important nutritional, social, and cultural roles in our lives. There are those who don’t think twice before lifting their forks and there are those who can’t eat a bite without first giving it a second thought. By sharing our ideas of what makes food good in a creative and collaborative manner, we open up the discourse in a constructive way.

To read the rest of the article, written by Eric Burkett for Grist, check out Food as America’s Newest Religion.

And a few other items of note off the interweb menu:

Organic advocates optimistic about new USDA rules
Do new rules for meat and dairy finally provide substance to the USDA Organic certification process?

Did the discovery of cooking make us human?
I haven’t had the chance to read Wrangham’s Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human yet, but this BBC article provides a brief introduction to the idea that cooking is responsible for the physiological changes that distinguish us from our primate ancestors.

The Future of School Lunch reform
A brief summary of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the sincere need for reform.
For those of our “visual learners” check out School Lunch Found Guilty a photoblog of school lunches written by a 6th grade class with discerning tastes. Granted, they are advocating for Doritos and Hi-C to replace the amorphous meals offered, but we need to start somewhere.

This is to accommodate those of you who have expressed interest in participating but are currently swamped with mid-terms and what-not. Take some time over spring break while you are relaxing on the beach, or in between hitting the slopes (or sitting at home facebooking- no judgement here) and let us know why you eat the way you do.

A brief recap of the rules: 800 words, open format, all UofM students (undergraduate, graduate, professional) are eligible to apply.

For more details, revisit the post Essay Competition: Why Do I Eat the Way I Do?”

Submit essays as a word attachment to foodethics@umich.edu

If you are still on the fence about participating and asking yourself, “what exactly are those great prizes she keeps talking about?” Rest assured, we will post a complete list of our sponsors and prizes by the week’s end and I’m sure you’ll find something worth writing about!

So if you’ve been scratching your head because we are late into February and until this very moment the most recent post was still “Amuse-bouche: Week of 2/8/10″, I feel your pain and apologize profusely.

Have any of you started giving Meatless Monday a try? I’m not a big meat-eater to begin with, so I’ve been enjoying Meat Free Mondays (and Tuesdays, and Wedenesdays…) In fact, I tend to eat only those meats that rhyme with the word Macon. I proudly identify as vegetarian but “bac-curious.” On a side note, and one that doesn’t serve my “eat less meat” cause, have you seen Jim Gaffigan’s bit on bacon? Hilarious.

I applaud all of you for making the effort to *gasp* forgo meat for at least one day a week.

All kidding aside, it can be tough to envision a plate without a hunk of animal protein on it if you grew up in the land of “meat and potatoes” (note who got top billing.) There is a tendency to view a juicy hamburger as the paragon of American cuisine. But consider this, Thomas Jefferson (founding father and generally badass American) ate meat only, “as a condiment to the vegetables which constitute my principal diet.”

I’m not trying to subvert patriotism to get you to kick your beef jerky habit, but hey, whatever works. Tell me, what are you eating on Meat Free Mondays?

First, some shameless self-promotion:
Essay Competition
Have you started writing your essay yet? The deadline is 2/26/10- don’t miss out on the chance to win great prizes and share why you eat the way you do.
Flickr: yUMgoodeats
Have you checked out the flickr pool yet? I’m doing my best to chronicle the delicious food around AA but I can’t do it alone, friends!

On to the world wide web at large:
NYTimes: One Bowl = 2 Servings. F.D.A. May Fix That.
The F.D.A. investigates how misleading nutrition labels may exacerbate the U.S. obesity epidemic.
101 Cookbooks
Not related to food ethics in AA per se, but one of my very favorite sites for great vegetarian recipes. Enjoy!
Coca-Cola Goes Green in Vancouver
Coca-Cola sets ambitious plans for a waste-free sponsorship of the 2010 Olympics. Can this beverage giant make a meaningful step towards sustainability in the industry? That would be refreshing.

But there are those other times, times when life is too hectic (at least that’s what I tell myself), or special occasions, which dictate that a meal out is in order. Dining out can mean sacrificing the authority over what exactly goes into your dish, but it needn’t mean sacrificing the quality and care for the nourishment you receive.

A few places that I really love are Grange Kitchen & Bar with its commitment to locally sourced ingredients and mindful preparation, and Seva–which my brother aptly described as “vegetarian pig out food”: huge satisfying portions that never leave you asking, “where’s the beef?”

Which restaurants around campus serve up the same wholesome experience that you provide from your own kitchen?

Let me call on that wise sage, Ferris Beuller, when I tell you this,

-Ism’s in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, “I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.” Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I’d still have to bum rides off people.”

Which is to say, if you don’t get down on vegetarianism, or veganism, or any -ism like our buddy Ferris: coo-coo-cachoo. Nobody is asking you to. But could you go one day a week without meat? Just one? Would you do it if you knew how good it was for the planet/people/animals/etc.? Hopefully you, like John Lennon, believe in yourself–but if it helps, I believe in you too.

Why bother? The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that livestock production generates 18% of all Green House Gases. Cows (especially those raised on CAFOs- Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) emit a lot of methane. Let’s be frank, we’re talking about farts here people- and it stinks.

Paul McCartney has been influential in spreading the Meat Free Mondays movement to the UK (it already has deep roots in the US and Australia) and closer to home the Michigan Sustainable Foods Initiative (MSFI) is piloting a Meatless Mondays program in the East Quad Dining Hall with the help of Chef Buzz Cummings. Interested in learning more? Check out Support Meat Free Monday.

Happy Meat Free Monday!

By: Christina Suh

An amuse-bouche is a single-bite complimentary appetizer offered by chefs and designed to “amuse the mouth” and prepare diners for the meal service to come. (Thank you Tom Colicchio and Top Chef for teaching me about practices proffered in restaurants that are surely outside of my price range.)

This new weekly feature is an opportunity for me to share articles of interest that are relevant to the conversation happening here at Food for Thought- U of M. The above image was a cartoon printed in the Michigan Daily on January 27, 2010 that takes a humorous (and for many of us, realistic) look at the college student diet. Does it bear resemblance to your own food pyramid? Share the similarities or differences by participating in our Essay Competition (don’t forget- submissions are due Friday, February 26th!)

Without further ado- a small bite to amuse and inform:
Is Food the New Sex?
A somewhat lengthy but intriguing article from Stanford University’s Policy Review looking at “what happens when, for the first time in history, adult human beings are free to have all the sex and food they want?” and how, “In just over 50 years… not for everyone, of course, but for a great many people, and for an especially large portion of sophisticated people — the moral poles of sex and food have been reversed.”
Rules Worth Following, for Everyone’s Sake
A New York Times piece by Jane E. Brody looking at Michael Pollan’s new book “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.”
Growing Sustainable Communities: Urban Farming
Have you seen Food Inc. yet? U of M Dearborn is offering a screening of the film and open discussion with filmmaker Robert Kenner on Thursday, February 18 and a one day Summit on urban farming on Friday February 19. Both events are free but require registration.
HomeGrown Local Food Summit 2010
Closer to home- a local food summit held by the great folks who run the HomeGrown Festival each year. Registration required, $30 fee. Students please note: This event takes place during spring break.