No Water, No Food

Source: No Water, No Food

Only when you have none, do you truly value food and water.  Most Americans could not have imagined being utterly without these two basics before becoming acquainted with the plight of Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina. Ironically, many people rescued from the water in New Orleans are severely dehydrated. And hungry, too.  Those who do find something to eat have experienced stomach troubles from eating spoiled food and drinking contaminated water.
Foodie attempted to find info about food being delivered to people in NOLA but could find precious little , a reflection indeed of  the supply getting through.

A few questions, comments:
Why is it taking the Navy so long to bring in food and water?
The Coast Guard is seemingly everywhere, working at a fast efficient pace.

Much of the state's National Guard is deployed in Guess Where  while the citizens of their state suffer through an acute emergency without them.
Is this how we secure our homeland?

How are assorted tv crews getting their food?

( AP photo by Melissa Philips of the Joyner family outside the Superdome, August 31, 2005)

Dr. John S. Niederhauser--In Memoriam

Source: Dr. John S. Niederhauser--In Memoriam

No brief obituary could possibly do justice to the memory of John Niederhauser, potato scientist, World Food Prize Laureate 1990, and founding board member of The Potato Museum, The FOOD Museum's originating source. John was 88 when he died in his sleep on August 12, 2005 at his home in Tucson, Arizona.

We last saw him in March, and he was up to his usual hilarious and insightful quips and quirks, discussing politics, world hunger, his beloved Mexico, and, of course, the potato, the vegetable that claimed his attention throughout his long career.

There was never a quality shaggy dog story or brief one-liner John did not appreciate, and worse, remember, in full detail. We doubt anyone ever stopped him when he would begin genially," You know the one about the duck and the anti-freeze.......please tell me if you've heard this..." because his story-telling skills were superlative.

A tall man who had been a precocious boy in Central Washington State, and top student at Cornell, earning his PhD in plant pathology in 1943, he went on to be a Rockefeller-funded scientist based in the highlands west of Mexico City. There he determined that the potato strain responsible for late-blight had originated in Mexico where wild varieties had genetic resistance to the pathogen. For 30 years he and his team worked to develop resistant potato varieties that subsistence farmers could grow, thus cutting down on expensive fungicides while also reducing their environmental impact. ( While in Mexico he also found time to become the founder and president of Little League baseball  from 1954 to 1969,  and the Latin American Commissioner from 1957 to 1969. )

Not only was potato production hugely increased in Mexico, but programs in Turkey, Bangladesh, India, Colombia and Pakistan were able to boost production four to eight times. John went on to help establish the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, and several other global agriculture initiatives.

John's wife, Ann Faber Niederhauser, with whom he raised six children, was his  companion and support in all endeavors. A gifted weaver not only of rugs and cloth, but also of memorable  gatherings of family and friends, Ann died in 2000.

Divinely (and Satanically) Inspired Eats, IV

Source: Divinely (and Satanically) Inspired Eats, IV

Alert foodie Linda B. informs us that right now on EBay the Mephistophelesiannically inclined can purchase  a hunk of sundried tomato closely resembling the big bad guy downstairs. ( Current bid, $6.66. )
Foodie herself just does not see the evil one herein.  It's that old "eye of the beholder" thing. But hey...

To quote from the seller in Grandview, MO: 

"....a manifestation of the Horned One in the form of a dried tomato discovered on my Whole Foods goat cheese (Yes, GOAT CHEESE) and tomato pizza."

 

National Rice Month is Almost Here

Source: National Rice Month is Almost Here

The first  slaves were brought to the Caribbean by Portuguese traders in 1502, beginning the transport of  African farmers to the Americas in numbers that ultimately would reach about 10 million people. ( Only six percent of these lived in North America.)
Settlers early on had killed off the native Caribbeans, and the grazing animals they introduced to the islands soon reduced native vegetation to rubble. The solution? Grow sugar cane, an import from Asia that may have started life as a wild plant in New Guinea. Problem? No workers for this intensive, hands-on crop. Solution? You know.
Soon after 20 slave farmers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 thanks to a Dutch privateer, plans were established to make use of Africans' skills as cotton, sugar and rice growers on vast plantations. In  their Adobe-available document, Rice-To-Know Facts, the National Rice Month folks note that rice was the first agribusiness-grown crop in the colonies,  underway by 1685. No mention of the people doing all that back-breaking rice business in the Carolinas, though.

Rice provides half the world with the majority of their calories and of course is central to the cuisines of Asia, and much of South America and Africa. Rice, Oryiza sativa,  we salute you!  Risotto con funghi is on our menu to kick off NR Month. It's September, by the way.

SpongeBob's Food Connection Explained

Source: SpongeBob's Food Connection Explained

Travel is enlightening indeed. While visiting  a three year-old pal, Foodie discovered that SpongeBob SquarePants, a big-eyed tv character whose bizarre physiognomy is everywhere these days , ( even on my Holiday Inn room "key",)  is a fry cook at a local joint beneath the sea called the Krusty Krab. Now Foodie had vaguely wondered how a sponge could become a key player in a cartoon but she never dreamed that said sponge would work deep in the briny frying up, what?  Who knows? Probably clams.  Seems SBSP lives in a pineapple, too. In the Pacific Ocean.

Recycling News

Source: Recycling News

Returning from a fine 12 day holiday in the DC area ( steamy) and the Berkshires ( cool), Foodie
glanced through a current copy of Ladies Home Journal  on Southwest Airlines. She was already pondering why SW, the profitable and well-run, enlightened airline, was  serving up trans-fat laden snacks, and deciding to email  the CEO. ( On the list!)  And had just read part of a nifty Chicago Trib series about the Oreo cookie--Nabisco is slaving away trying to make an Oreo without trans-fats.
( While reading the piece, Foodie was snacking on a couple Newman's Own faux Oreos, delicious, no trans fats and so wondered why this task was deemed so difficult by Nabisco. )
Anyway---there in the LHJ was a blurb about Biota Water,  a Colorado spring water touting itself as "the world's first bottled water/beverage packaged in a commercially compostable plastic bottle."  It's made from corn starch. NB  Hard to believe it's the world's first--at the Lillehammer OLympic Games in Norway all the athlete's trays were made from compostable plastic created from potato starch.
And on the same page a ladies' razor made from recycled yogurt cartons! ( Cannot recall the brand and am trying to find it.)
It's an amazing planet-- some folks try to blow each other up, others create environmentally friendly new products.

Mac Attack...Really

Source: Mac Attack...Really

People addicted to fast food, in addition to compromising their health, tend to be more grumpier.  Morgan Spurlock reports on his month long McDonald's diet that he was irritable and suffered from  terrible headaches.  He experienced nausea a the thought of his next Big Mac meal while at the same time experiencing cravings for it.  He writes in Don't Eat This Book that he became both a physical and an emotional wreck while on his fast-food-only diet which was the subject of the documentary film "Supersize Me." 

All this may explain the behavior of two Long Island men at a drive up McDonald's window recently.  Denise Bonilla reports in Newsday August 18, 2005

A 71-year-old man argued with a customer behind him at a McDonald's drive-thru, stabbed the man twice, then ordered five double-cheeseburgers and went on his way yesterday, Nassau County police said.

The argument happened when a 45-year-old man, whose name was not released by police, believed he'd been cut off in the drive-thru and started yelling at John Kent, of 924 Fulton St., Farmingdale, just before 2 p.m. Kent was in a Ford van at the McDonald's on 655 Fulton St. in Farmingdale.

The other man was with his 3-year-old daughter in an Isuzu truck, said Det. Lt. Raymond Cote, of Nassau's Eighth Squad. Kent and the man got out of their vehicles and approached each other, Cote said. Kent took out a folding knife, police said, and the man pushed Kent away, returning to his truck.

Kent then walked over to the truck, and through the open driver's side window stabbed the man in his left bicep and chest, Cote said. The daughter was not injured.

Kent then got back into his van and continued through, Cote said. The man followed Kent, writing down his license-plate number and called 911 before returning home. An ambulance took him to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow where he received six stitches, Cote said. His injury is not life-threatening.

In the meantime, Kent drove to the Eighth Precinct in Levittown to report that he had been in a fight, Cote said. Kent told police the man came at him with the knife and he knocked it to the ground. He said he then picked it up and threw it at the man in self-defense, Cote said. Witnesses support the 45-year-old man's version, he said.

Kent, who works as a steamfitter, was charged with second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, police said. He will be arraigned today in First District Court in Hempstead.

Bird Flu Flies Asian Coop

Source: Bird Flu Flies Asian Coop

According to a Wall Street Journal article( August 18) by Guy Chazan out of Moscow, the avian flu is flapping its wings and moving slowly from Asia ( Siberia) into Europe ( the Urals.)  From there it is ready to perch on the rooftops of Western Europe. The flu is moving about "20 to 30 miles a day."  The Russians have killed over 113,000 birds on private farms, and small villages have been put under quarantine. The problem is not helped by the actions of farmers who have taken to hiding their chickens in nearby forests so the government will not wipe out their family livelihoods.

Frybread Kills

Source: Frybread Kills

The grease-dripping, white flour and lard-created "frybread," found at most all Pueblo and Navajo Indian gatherings, is a killer, according to a recent column by Indian Country Today's Susan Shown Harjo. And while associated with Indian cuisine it's another dubious gift of white settlers. As Foodie reported a while back, stacks of Bluebird Flour sell for little at Basha's and other markets in Indian country--the beans and green chiles topping frybread in New Mexico provide some real nutrition but the other ingredients..

Cristeta Comerford, White House Chef

Source: Cristeta Comerford, White House Chef

Marian Burros reports in today's NY Times:  Cristeta Comerford yesterday became the first woman to be named White House executive chef after a lengthy selection process.

Laura Bush, the first lady, said she was delighted that Ms. Comerford, who has been an assistant chef in the White House since the mid-90's, had accepted the job. "Her passion for cooking can be tasted in every bite of her delicious creations," Mrs. Bush said

Ms. Comerford, who came to the United States when she was 23, received a bachelor's degree in food technology from the University of the Philippines, studied classic French cooking and worked in Austria. She also was chef at two Washington hotels. And she collaborated with the California chef John Ash to promote American game cooking.

Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, representing more than 2,000 culinary professionals in the United States, may want to take credit for Ms. Comerford's elevation. The organization sent a letter to Mrs. Bush last May, asking her to consider a woman for the job because the chef would be a role model for women.

"Throughout our history, women have been at the helm of feeding American families," the organization wrote. "Now is the time to have a woman at the helm of feeding America's first family."

But according to the White House, none of the people suggested by the organization, most of them well-known in culinary circles, were interested in the job. The pay, $80,000 to $100,000 a year with no overtime, for what is essentially a private family chef who occasionally has an opportunity to show off at a state dinner, is well below what top level chefs can earn on the outside.

And opportunities to dazzle at state dinners are few and far between in the current White House; there have been only five since Mr. Bush took office.

"I'm glad it's a woman," said Alice Waters, the noted Berkeley, Calif., restaurateur. "It can't be anything but encouraging to people to have someone at the top, particularly from another country. That particularly makes a beautiful statement that someone has succeeded to the extent that they represent the president."

SuperChefBlog has been covering the White House chef vacancy story. 

Gaza Greenhouses

Source: Gaza Greenhouses

Greenhouses and farms in Gaza owned by Israelis and staffed by Palestinian workers for years will be turned over to the Palestinian Authority in coming days, as the Israelis begin their pullout from the settlements. A private foundation has raised about $14 million to be paid to Israeli owners of the greenhouses. Many Israeli settlers had said they would destroy the greenhouses rather than see them handed to the Palestinians. About 25% of all vegetables grown in the West Bank and Gaza are grown in greenhouses, including tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers and the like.

Bovines Bother Environment

Source: Bovines Bother Environment

Cattle made environmental news in at least three separate reports this past week.

From The Week, August 12, 2005:

"A California air-quality agency is blaming cows for the San Joaquin Valley's terrible smog problem.  The flatulence and burping of the valley's 2.5 million cows produce 50 million pounds of organic compounds annually, officials say, far more pollution than is produced by cars.  Dairy farmers will now be required to install pollution-control technology and may even have to alter the cows' diets to minimize their production of gas.  "We are talking about a public health crisis," said an attorney for a local advocacy  group.  "It's not funny to joke about cow burps and farts when one in six children in Fresno is carrying an inhaler." "  Read the LA Times article.

Also from The Week, August 12, 2005:

"Nigerians don't just have to worry about terrorists bringing down planes, said Adelkunle Adekoya in Lagos' Vanguard.  Now we have to worry about cows.  Last week, a herd of cattle wandered onto the runway at Port Harcourt just as an Air France flight from Paris was landing.  The plane plowed into seven cows, crushing them all and skidding off the runway. " Read the BBC account.

From Newsday.com, August 11, 2005:

Three million gallons of liquid manure spilled from a northern New York dairy farm into a nearby river, killing what state officials estimate are hundreds of thousands of fish.

Saying NO to Trans Fats in NYC

Source: Saying NO to Trans Fats in NYC

Following up on an FDA report stating that there is essentially  no safe level of trans fats acceptable in a healthy diet, the New York City Health Department is asking local restaurants to voluntarily stop using the chemically-concocted glop New York Times reporter Marc Santora ( August 11) calls " America's most dangerous fat."  NYC health commissioner Dr. Thomas R Frieden ranked the artificial fat right up there with lead and asbestos as a threat to human health.

The FDA is requiring labeling of trans fats as of January 1, a move that has sent some food companies racing to remove the t-f's from their products. Denmark  legislated a ban on the fat in processed foods in 2003.

Trans fats turn up in many commercial baked goods, and thousands of other products including many frozen dinners and entrees. And, of course, in French fries served in fast food restaurants.

Dietary Theories

Source: Dietary Theories

As Foodie was preparing to set off on a summer escapade, she received this urgent question from inquiring website visitor Jenny:

"What is the difference between the two philosophies; Eat Right 
for Your Blood Type, and Feed Your Genes ?  It seems like there 
would be a lot of similarities and that, in the end, the 
prescriptions would be about the same?  Or am I wrong?  Please, let 
me know!!"

Anyone? Anyone? Please give this one a whirl, informed Bloggers. Meanwhile, Foodie will report in  from the road when possible. ( Lobster rolls! Crab cakes! Fried clams and cole slaw.. Blueberry pie, sweet corn, lush tomatoes...)

Elephants Give Trunks Down to Chiles

Source: Elephants Give Trunks Down to Chiles

Chile peppers are not elephants' things, not at all.  According to a piece by Bjorn Carey ( August 5) at LiveScience.com,  African farmers who plant spicy peppers around their other crops find the peppers act as a barricade against ever hungry elephants and other large veggie-eating mammals. And the bonus--Zambezi Valley farmers are turning the chiles into a hot cash crop.

"Two companies ? the African Spices Company in Zambia and the Chili Pepper Company in Zimbabwe ?produce and distribute bottled hot sauces, jams, and relishes made from the peppers. "

Remembering Hiroshima on August 6, 2005

Source: Remembering Hiroshima on August 6, 2005

Hiroshima, August 6, 1945----Lunch Box--Reiko Watanabe (15 at the time) was doing fire prevention work under the Student Mobilization Order, at a place 500 meters from the hypocenter. Her lunch box was found by school authorities under a fallen mud wall. Its contents of boiled peas and rice, a rare feast at that time, were completely carbonized. Her body was not found.

( Thanks to What Do I Know Blog, http://whatdoiknow.typepad.com/,  and  http://www.english.uiuc.edu/)

Prima Donna Heirloom Tomato Plant Produces ONE Fruit

Source: Prima Donna Heirloom Tomato Plant Produces ONE Fruit

Every day Foodie treks out to the veggie patch to munch superlative tiny round orange "cherry" tomatoes right off the vine and every day she glances at the magnificent outflung leafy green arms of her "Brandywine" tomato plant. It's huge, healthy, exuberant, and bearing ONE and only one, fruit about 3 inches in diameter. The typical differently colored ribs of said heirloom fruit are starting to show.   Foodie hovers over the one fruit of the damned thing's loins wondering whether to set up a scaffold around it, or insure it through Lloyd's of London,  or place a net under it, in case of severe wind or whatnot from Mother Nature.
Now the words of one vendor at the local Farmers Market begin to make sense--"Those pesky heirlooms are a real pain to grow...." 
Hey--it's the desert here! Be grateful you have anything at all,  Foodie ! ( Right?) ( Maybe we didn't add enough compost....)

2000 Year-Old Judean Date Palm Sprouts

Source: 2000 Year-Old Judean Date Palm Sprouts

A seed found in an archaeological dig at King Herod's palace on Mount Masada in what was ancient Judea is now a date palm seedling in an Israeli greenhouse. Carbon-dated to be about 2000 years old, the seed was one of a batch found in the dig. San Francisco Chronicle foreign service writer Matthew Kalman reported in June that the seed, planted January 25, came to life in about four weeks.

Elaine Solowey, the botanist trained at UCLA who watched over the seed, runs a greenhouse on a kibbutz in Israel's Arava desert and specializes in reviving extinct or almost extinct plants.  She says the date palm is " the oldest tree seed that's ever been sprouted."

The date palm is truly the "tree of life" to people of the Middle East--it has provided food, shelter, and shade for thousands of years. And this Judea palm, dubbed Methuselah, was ancient  Israel's power plant. Today the country grows date palms derived from California stock.

Kalman's article explains: "When the Romans invaded ancient Judea, thick forests of date palms towering up to 80 feet high and 7 miles wide covered the Jordan River valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the shores of the Dead Sea in the south. The tree so defined the local economy that Emperor Vespasian celebrated the conquest by minting the "Judea Capta," a special bronze coin that showed the Jewish state as a weeping woman beneath a date palm. "

Read the full fascinating story here.   ( We at The FOOD Museum have included this story in our Global Food Heritage section at www.foodmuseum.com)