No trip to Carolina Beach would be complete without a trip (or two…or three) to the famous Britt’s Donut Shop where the same glazed donuts have been made for over 70 years. One of the top donut shops in the country, these melt in your mouth in a way that should be illegal.

My friend Philippe made his famous Shrimp Provencale with jumbo shrimp caught off a captain’s boat that morning. Yet throughout this relaxing, wonderful trip, I kept thinking about meat.

Here, you may pause. Beach, sand, shrimp…meat? What am I talking about?

Some of you may recall my ongoing dilemma about meat. While Zomppa Tsering has been supportive about my potential in becoming a vegetarian, I am still an omnivore. I have read about CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) and factory farms and have watched videos like MeetYourMeat. (warning: video is graphic).

Julia Whitty of Mother Jones reports that global meat production is expected to double over the next four decades, with negative impact on air and water pollution, diseases, and pathogens. Leslie Hatfield of EcoCentric wrote a great article comparing CAFOs with sustainable pork practices.

So in lieu of meat, I have recently been trying more soy-based products (I am allergic to some soy). But even eating some of these products make me nervous.

• Does soy have long-term negative effects? Andreas Moritz reports that soy – especially those from genetically modified plants – can increase risk of cancers and thyroid disorders among other issues.
• Are veggie burgers really better than meat? The Cornucopia Institute has reported that most non-organic veggie burgers contain hexane, an air pollutant and neurotoxin.
• Is it false advertising to suggest soy milk has the same nutrients as regular milk? The National Milk Producers Federation says no.

But I haven’t been content with only soy-based products. I still craved meat – but was it OK for me to eat it? A couple weeks ago, I finished the book, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, which reminded me that while I eat animals, I had never watched an animal being slaughtered for my consumption. So on the Friday before I went to the beach, I visited the Homestead Harvest Farm in Wake Forest, NC. Owned and operated by the extraordinary Jan Campbell, her Animal Welfare-approved farm is a place where her chickens, ducks, and turkeys roam freely, behaving as animals do, and maturing naturally as animals should. When it came time for the processing, I observed how Jan gently stroked each chicken and talked to it through the entire process to keep it calm. The process is quick and thoughtful, and done with extreme care. She honors each life.

It was with this experience that I found myself sitting on the beach, contemplating my dilemma. Folks like Jan Campbell and farms like Homestead are as far away from CAFOs as you can get. If more people treated animals the way Jan Campbell does, our meat would be more humanely raised, healthy, and delicious.

Why do factory farms exist then? So many questions, not enough answers.

As I debated with myself about my consumption of animals one early morning on the beach, I saw a rather unusual sight.

A crab eating a jellyfish. The cycle of life and death continues.

A cycle we should honor.

]]> http://www.zomppa.com/2010/07/28/contemplating-meat-on-a-nc-beach/feed/ 5 http://www.zomppa.com/2010/07/14/photo-of-the-day-alfies-the-next-big-trend/ http://www.zomppa.com/2010/07/14/photo-of-the-day-alfies-the-next-big-trend/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:59:52 +0000 Belinda http://www.zomppa.com/?p=6177

Peace out, cupcakes. Peace out, macaroons. Peace out, whoopie pies.

The next big trend: alfajores, traditional cookies found in Peru and other South American countries. These are made by Mistti, an up-and-coming Latino-owned and -inspired gourmet bakery, laced with dulce de leche, chocolate, pecans…amazing doesn’t begin to describe them.

…in any case, as part of this goal, I have been learning as much as I can to help raise awareness of healthy eating, especially among young children. About two months ago, I spent a couple days in gorgeous, hot Charleston, South Carolina.  I was blown away by the grandeur of the majestic homes there and intrigued by all the little hidden gardens behind iron gates.

I was there for a workshop to become a Certified Food Educator through the Food Studies Institute, an innovative organization started in 1999 by the amazing and legendary Dr. Antonia Demas. Dr. Demas is a visionary gentlewoman who is not afraid to challenge, question, and educate. She realized when she was a young mother that her children weren’t always getting real food in schools.

So she decided to bring real – and whole – foods back to schools and homes. She went to get her PhD and worked with T. Colin Campbell of The China Study. She then developed a brilliant curriculum – Food is Elementary – about nutrition, healthy eating, and cultures around the world (sound like Zomppa? It’s like finding family!) It is a vegetarian-based curriculum utilizing tons of grains and whole wheats and fruits and vegetables. I was beyond impressed by some of amazing dishes we learned to make.

This workshop was hosted by Field to Plate, a food education company started by the incredible and committed Amanda Archibald. The workshop was held in an amazing beach house on Folly Beach, 15 minutes from downtown Charleston. There, I met some amazing women from all over the U.S. from all walks of life. What we share is the passion for good, healthy food and for a way to raise awareness in others how and why this issue is critical. For example, one dynamo, Tina Ruggiero, also known as the Gourmet Nutritionist, is coming out with a healthy baby food cookbook later this year (more to come!).

One particular dish Dr. Demas taught us was this amazing flourless fruit tart – so easy! Instead of flour, we used nuts, dates, dried fruit, cinnamon and vanilla as the base. Water binds it. Coconut flakes add flavor. Then you top it off with all the fruit you want. Voila! No flour, no baking, just for good-for-you-goodness.

Of course, the week was not all just us cooking – we had to explore Charleston and all its amazing restaurants, such as Slightly North of Broad with its ridiculous shrimp and grits. These grits were no joke.

Charleston is the perfect food town, perfect for folks like me to chew over how to best raise awareness that food is something we cannot take lightly, especially with our children. Workshops like this and people like Dr. Antonia Demas and Amanda Archibald all help towards this goal.

And contemplating how to do this on the beach is not a bad place to be.

On a steaming, North Carolina day was the 8th Annual Bull City Chili Challenge.

To blood.

To True Blood.

Yes, the HBO show about vampires. Now I’m not a usual vampire fan - but this could possibly be one of the best shows out there. Granted, there is enough nekkidness to make anyone blush, but this show has truly some of the best acting and casting EVER. The show is also an incredible commentary on the blurry and fluid lines between good and bad, blind faith and committed faith, love and hate, homophobia, xenophobia and whatever other phobias are out there.

Bottom line is: you must watch it!

The Season 3 premiere was this past Sunday and since I had spent the previous week watching the entire Season 2 (I don’t have HBO so I went to a friend’s house and spent HOURS catching up…which is great, but watching 4 hours in a row makes you dream about coffins. No joke.), I was beyond excited to join a potluck True Blood party with some pretty amazing girlfriends.

Our job: bring something bloody-esque. Note: enjoy these “bloody” photos!

And boy, did these women rock it!

One kicked it off with a Sookie Sunrise – a concoction of pomegranate, lemon, seltzer, and of course, gin.

Followed by a ridiculously amazing baked brie with almonds and brown sugar…and when you cut into it…raspberry preserves come oozing out….

Then it was a summer salad with strawberries, beets, and a raspberry vinegrette.

Of course there was dessert…red velvet cupcakes…

And at the end, one shocked us with this oo-ey, goo-ey, gross-looking but absolutely delicious concoction of marshmallows, chocolate, and sour cherries – complete with a wooden stake!

So you see the level of creativity and culinary geniuses I was dealing with. I wasn’t sure what I was going to make until I saw that episode in Season with Tara and Eggs eating…(I’m not going to spoil it if you haven’t seen it, but if you have, you know what I’m talkin’ about!) that dish.

I love liver – love liver – and though I’m trying to cut down on my meat intake, this was a good enough reason for me to go all out. (Sorry, vegetarians, these photos are a bit…graphic!).

So I decided do my own version and called it the Huntress Pie. I wanted to use biscuit topping but couldn’t find an organic version so I went with pizza dough. When you cut into this…the proper effect comes out. Of course, the Andouille sausage is homage to Louisiana, vodka to Sam’s bar, and the liver is homage to…you know what! Recipe below.

With these bloody awesome dishes (they were as tasty as they looked gross), what’s not to like about watching True Blood with some true friends?

Huntress Pie
Note: my measurements are not always exact

1/2 pint organic chicken livers, chopped (make sure it’s organic!)
1/2 lbs. Andouille sausage, chopped
1 pt. cooked whole wheat elbows
1 cup beef broth
1 3/4 cups Vodka garlic marinara sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
2 TB butter
1 small pizza dough ball

1. Heat butter in large skillet
2. Saute both onions until translucent
3. Add chicken livers and sausage and saute until brown
4. Slowly add beef broth, 1/4 at a time and let boil, then reduce heat
5. Let simmer for about 20-25 minutes until meats are cooked and tender Add beef broth as necessary
6. Add cooked elbow pasta and marinara sauce and combine well, heat for a few minutes
7. Pour meat and pasta mixture into Dutch oven
8. Cover with a thinly-rolled pizza dough and brush with olive oil
9. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes until dough browns

Delicious New Mexico Pueblo Indian Feast Day food platter: Pueblo oven bread baked in adobe ovens, famous Jemez red chile cheese enchiladas, Santo Domingo Pueblo tamales, and of course, potato salad.

Check out Zomppa’s guest post on OneTravel.com about Kathmandu, Nepal. Cheap Flights is a one-stop-shop to find deals on flight-hotel-car with a great blog about places around the world.

Me with Student Leaders from Technological University of Quibdo

In February I had the good fortune of having to travel to Colombia 0n business.  I am always down for a trip and as I had never been to Colombia I was eager to see what awaited me there.   My division at Phelps Stokes (the NGO I work for), Programs for Latin America and the Caribbean, works primarily with Afro-descendant and Indigenous populations, to provide more access to education and in turn support the development of  young leaders from those communities.  In 6 days I visited Bogota, Quibdo and Cartagena.  Bogota, while I didn’t get to see too much of it due to meetings, appears to be the standard capital city in the developing world with the requisite government buildings, churches, etc. and the wealth concentrated in one area while large parts of the rest of the city struggle for basic services.  It was nice and I know it deserves another visit at some point.  After Bogota came Quibdo, the capital of the state of Choco, located on the Pacific coast.

Riverside Market in Quibdo

You know you’re in Choco when you get off the plane because you are met with the most humid air you’ve felt in your life.  It is HOT with dense forest and more biodiversity than most parts of the rest of the world.    It is wealthy in all kinds of resources, especially human, and I had the opportunity to spend some time with some impressive student leaders at the university.  Choco has the highest density of Afro-Colombians in all of Colombia (which may explain why it has been so neglected by the federal government…but that’s just my opinion) and one could easily mistake Quibdo for any city in West Africa.  Choco is essentially cut off from the rest of the country and has no decent roads connecting it to the capital and barely to either Medellin or Cali.  The safest way to arrive definitely by air.  But once there, it is a bustling town sitting on the banks of the Atrato River where gold is the preferred product as opposed to fish.   I spent only one day and night in Quibdo but it felt like I was home and I look forward to my next trip there.

After short stint back in Bogota, we departed for Cartagena, the “pearl of the Caribbean.”  What an enchanting city!  The colonial zone is exquisite with wonderful little boutiques and EXCELLENT restaurants all surrounded by the muralla or fortress walls.  I ate quite well here!  And while I thoroughly enjoyed Cartagena it was a day trip to San Basilio de Palenque that truly captured my heart.  Palenque, as it’s more commonly called, is a village of about 3,500 about an hour(by car) from Cartagena that was founded by escaped slaves in the 16th century.  Once you turn off the main road you must travel on a dirt road into town.  Water is delivered  periodically to a tank that sits on a hill just outside of town.  Gravity brings the water to town, not any mechanized plumbing system or anything like that.

Statue of Benko, founder of Palenque, in the town square.

Palenque is surrounded by foothills that made it difficult for the slave owners to find them and thus over the years residents of Palenque have managed to maintain Palenquero as their common language, although fewer and fewer are able to speak it.  It is a dialect  based on the Kikongo language of the Congo and Angola with Portuguese influence.  Spanish speakers cannot understand it when it’s spoken.  We had an opportunity to visit the local school and meet with some teachers there.  Truly dedicated individuals who could just as easily work in Cartagena or any other town outside of Palenque, but they choose to work there.  Unfortunately the students were released early that day so we did not meet any of them.  Following the visit to the school we stopped by the house of a man who is the original singer for the group Sexteto de Tabala.  They have performed here in Washington at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and have traveled the world sharing their music with others.  Musician man accompanied us to our pre-arranged lunch at a local dining establishment.  Tourists do not frequent Palenque so for a group of about 6 like us, you had to call ahead to make sure they were ready for us.  And don’t expect a menu…you get what you get. I must admit that my culinary expectations were programmed to low.  Afterall I had to wash my hands in a tub of sudsy water next to the “kitchen” since there was no running water.  In the US I would be hard-pressed to eat in a restaurant like that, but for whatever reason, whenever I travel my defenses are down and I prefer to absorb the experience rather than complain about it.  We sat down for lunch in the 90 degree (in the shade) heat and awaited our 1st course.  A scorching hot chicken soup with vegetables.  Needless to say I was sweating like mad after that.  Following the soup came what I have officially declared as the best fish I have ever had in my life, Cachama.

Lunch in Palenque

As you can see, it was served in its entirety with rice, veggies and plantains on a banana leaf.  I took the first bite and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.  Next thing I knew I was scraping fish bones in search of more meat.  It was over too soon.  This scrumptious meal was accompanied by an historical account of the settling of Palenque by the 80+ year old musician (I can’t believe I didn’t get his name) and our guide for the day, Manuel.  Musician man shared with us that he only learned Spanish when he was around 50 years old or so.  Prior to that he spoke only Palenquero.  This place is absolutely fascinating and totally unique and I cannot wait to return…and really can’t wait to eat that fish again!  Until next time people!

When I was preggers with my first child, I cast my inner eye upon my heart and talked to God about all my hopes and worries.  I prayed for a healthy child who would embrace life with a curious mind and a loving heart.  But, I did not realize that I should also pray for a child who is free from eczema, asthma and allergies, especially food allergies.  If I were more aware of how prevalent food allergies have become in our country (and better yet, if I knew my darling child would not be able to share one of my favorites – king crab with legumes), I probably would have talked to God sooner, prayed harder to keep the food allergies demon at bay.  I can hear the prayer now:  “Dear God:  So, I am seeing more and more kids with food allergies.  I am scared that I would not know what to do, how to feed a child with food allergies.  I love food!  I love the freedom that comes with choosing my foods and the sense of control I feel knowing that I can eat whatever I want.  Please bless this child with the same freedom!”

Nine months afters after my son was born, our pediatrician called to tell us that the RAST test results were off the charts – in the thousands.  The alarm in her voice frightened me.  My husband and I went from loving the experience of enjoying food to dreading it.  Our little man is allergic to: wheat, soy, eggs, all seafood, tree nuts, kidney beans, peas (and some others).

My husband and I thought: “There goes bringing him to dim sum on Saturdays!  There goes traveling abroad as a family! There goes baguettes and French pastries! There goes peanut butter and jelly! There goes sushi!!!”  I’ll be honest, we focused on everything he wouldn’t be able to eat, so much so that we pumped his little body with milk, vitamins, white rice and veggies.

As a result, his early food experience was bland.   It wasn’t until one day we went to my parents’ house to pick up our little man and we saw him standing on a chair at the kitchen table helping his grandma prepare a Haitian meal that things changed.  At that moment, we realized two things:  just because he has food allergies doesn’t mean he can’t share the same love of cooking and food.  Second, he may have no control over his food allergies, but he can develop a sense of control over what he eats.  Control starts with knowing your allergies and so, that is where we began.  So we went to work. We taught him all about his allergies and we taught him early. By age two, he could list his allergies as a foodie could recite a recipe.

So here is our lessons learned:

(1) Teach your child what he/she is allergic too! Not just “I’m allergic!” or “I have celiac disease!” But more of “I’m allergic to [list the food]!”;

(2) Teach your child about the importance of reading the ingredients.  He/she may not be able to read, but he/she can tell his care provider “I’m allergic to [list the foods].  I don’t know if I can eat the cake.  What are the ingredients?”;

(3) Help your child understand how his/her body reacts when he/she eats an allergic food; and

(4) Help your child accept his/her differences by starting the conversation and setting the habits at home.  Every time we cook, we talk about the ingredients!  We also don’t always limit our menu because of his allergies (it’ helps him get comfortable with being around diners that are eating foods he can’t).

I look forward to sharing my family’s stories and experiences with food with you.  ‘Til next time!

My name is Mrs. Q and I’m an educator in the Midwest. I decided to eat school lunch every day in 2010, take a picture of the lunch, and blog about it: Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project. My goal was to raise awareness of school lunch. In particular I wanted parents to know that school lunches have gotten worse since when they were kids. The quality has decreased as more processed food products are offered to kids.

School districts aren’t cooking onsite anymore – they are bringing food in frozen and then heating it up in large ovens. Lunch ladies who know how to cook are losing their jobs and being replaced by people who don’t have training and don’t cost as much. Kids are getting fat, but even the skinny kids are not eating right. It’s not an issue of obesity, which seems to draw people in: “Let’s fight fat!” It’s not the fat kids. Instead it’s more of the dull issue of nutrition, which effects children of all sizes. American kids are malnourished; they are eating the wrong foods.

Packing lunch for your own kid is a great alternative for you, but for the kid “Joe” living in poverty who depends on the school for his best meal of the day? Joe is not getting a fresh, healthy meal. Instead Joe is getting some perversion of the USDA guidelines that specify among other things that fries are a veggie and fruit juice is a fruit. Combine daily tater tots with a fruit jello and chicken nuggets (50% chicken of less) and a piece of bread (the grain component) and his school is paving his path straight to the local fast food joint. And Joe, you only get 20 minutes in which to eat including the time you spend in line.

Oh. I forgot to say that Joe no longer gets recess in school (at my school there is no recess). Recess was cut not by the budget (recess is free after all), but instead by administrators looking to cram in more education in an already short day. And there you have Joe’s daily reality in school. No wonder he can’t sit in his chair and pay attention to his teacher.

We have to do better. We have to question everything. We owe it to Joe and every American child regardless of family income.