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/ 18 http://www.zomppa.com/2010/06/25/faith-in-rescuing-food/ http://www.zomppa.com/2010/06/25/faith-in-rescuing-food/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:41:25 +0000 Belinda http://www.zomppa.com/?p=5972 Do you ever wonder how food banks get their food?

Do you ever wonder how people without enough get their food?

Do you ever wonder if food banks run out of food?

Food banks rely on the goodness and kindness of businesses, volunteers, and supporters. It isn’t easy, but it requires hard work, dedication, and a whole lot of faith that in the end, people will not let their fellow brother/sister go hungry.

On a hot, steamy Wednesday morning, I went to follow one of these incredible volunteers, Ms. Victoria, a retiree who devotes her time driving a 10-food truck, lifting 40-lb. boxes in the NC sun, and making a whole lot of people happy. Ms. Victoria volunteers for one of the largest – and certainly most unique – rescue food missions in North Carolina. The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, started by two incredible women (with a whole lot of faith themselves) who saw a lot of food waste and decided to do something about, is more than a food bank. It’s got programs for kids – stuffing backpacks full of snacks, culinary training programs, and farming/gardening programs.

But without food, there would no programs. Without donor businesses and individuals, there would be no food. Without volunteers, there would be no one to pick up the food or prepare the food. This simple line of logic is a reminder that indeed, like it or not, we are all connected.

So we started loading a truck at 7:30 in the morning, filling it with everything from breads to meats to milk – which is a hard-to-come-by-much-desired commodity.

Then it was off to pick up food from local partners who kindly donate pounds and pounds of food each day. The first stop was Edible Art, a local bakery in Raleigh, NC. In the early morning hours before it opened, the bakery smelled like heaven…and they kept on a table all the delightful cakes and pastries leftover from the day before ready wrapped to go.

Other businesses, including Trader Joe’s, Costco, BJ’s, and a local vending company also generously donated food. The Food Shuttle never knows what kind of food they’ll get – sometimes it’s lots of produce, other times, dry goods. Sometimes, they’ll get several hundred pounds; other times, they get just a bit. On this day, we happened to be blessed with much bread and pastries. Even flowers.

One issue that arises is that oftentimes, businesses fear getting sued if someone gets sick from produce (even though there is a law protecting them from this) so they end up giving a lot more cakes and muffins. While sweet and delicious, there is the issue of giving non-nutritious food. Is it better to give any kind of food or is it a disservice giving the less fortunate sugar-packed, nutrient-less foodstuffs?

In any case, what I’m blown away is how the chefs at the sites that receive this food can whip up a meal for hundreds without knowing the ingredients until the morning of. These are true culinary geniuses. In between food pickups, Ms. Victoria and I drop food off at various sites, including the Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen, which serves over 300 people daily, the Salvation Army, and a men’s homeless shelter at a local church. We unloaded produce, bananas, frozen crabmeat, vegetables, breads with the help of, who else, volunteers at these sites.

Ms. Victoria and I return to the Shuttle, our truck almost empty, the rest going to someone else later that day. We have weighed how much food we received in donations and distributed – over 1,100 pounds.

Not bad for a morning of some muscle, heart, and a bit of faith that hunger can be eradicated.

What is your favorite food movie or book?

Movie is “Himalaya“…it is about the tradition of salt caravan between India and Nepal.

Tampopo…what I remember about the movie is that it reminded me about how sensual food is…. orgiastic (is that a word?!)

Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood. The metaphors of food, made me want to consume more food even though the main character felt that she was being consumed.

What is your favorite food movie or book?

The very first thing that came to my mind was the book Aphrodite by Isabel Allende. If you do not know anything about this book you MUST read it. It is a memoir on the intertwined nature of food and love. While I was at Cafe Atlántico I helped the chef design a Valentine’s Day menu from some of the suggested recipes in the book. It was the ultimate in sensuality and it was a SMASH! AWESOME! But then I started thinking about movies and obviously my mind turned first to “Like Water for Chocolate” (I know, I know….if it’s Latin Tonija likes it). I just love magical realism and how Esquivel used food to tell the story of this family! But there are so many other books and movies, ayayayayay!!

What is your favorite food movie or book?

The Dinner/Fart Scene in Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor. There are the most memorable family food-gathering scenes in the ENTIRE WORLD held up in this film! HILAROUS. While my family didn’t necessarily fart and curse each other out around the dinner table, this movie does remind me of the kind of crazy/ridiculous/ hilariousness/good times that CAN take place around the family dinner table. And also, the deliciousness of good ole’ soul food!

Check it ooouuutttttt!!!!!!!!

What is your favorite food movie or book?

I think that I spend more time reading my cookbooks than actual books…. I love the scene in “French Kiss” where they go to Luc’s home in the French countryside and they show his whole family sitting outside eating fabulously simple food and drinking wine. It makes me want to pack my bags and just go live in Provence! For books, I did love “Under the Tuscan Sun” because, again, it made me just want to eat olives (picked off of my tree, naturally) and fresh bread and truly enjoy life and the earth.

Another group of really incredible food books is from Ruth Reichl, the former editor of Gourmet Magazine. I’ve read “Tender at the Bone“ and “Comfort Me with Apples” and I think that there’s another one…. “Sapphire… something…” Really excellent books, especially with regard to the start of the local food movement, Alice Waters and just beautiful appreciation for food.

5 days to our one-year celebration of Zomppa on May 3. Meet our other newest contributor!

What is your favorite food movie or book?

Eat Drink Man Woman. It makes my mouth water for deliciously cooked Chinese food, and the way the father expresses his love through food and his artistry is just really cool to me.

Favorite food book is about agriculture and production of food. It’s simply and powerfully written: One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. It’s a classic to those who are interested in permaculture.

What is your favorite food movie or book?

Like Water for Chocolate, particularly the scene where she makes the quails with the rose petals. Another lesser known Italian movie that had underlying story about baking was “La Finestra Difronte” (Facing Windows), I recommend it in general. Raul Bova (aka, gorgeous sexy guy in Under the Tuscan Sun) is also in this . In real life this guy is a gem apparently, happily married with 3 kids, and mother-in-law who dotes on him, and she’s Italy’s leading divorce attorney!!!

Given my love of Italian food, I gotta give my book kudos to the “Eat” part of “Eat, Pray, Love“. I enjoyed the whole book, but have to admit that it went a little downhill for me after the “Eat” part

What is your favorite food movie or book?

My favorite movie - Like Water for Chocolate - I love that movie because it exposes the emotional process that goes into cooking a meal. I think I smiled throughout the entire movie! Rachel Getting Married - for many this movie is more about family and less about food and that is exactly why I love this movie.  Food is just as central, but less obvious. The characters bond over a meal, argue over a meal and celebrate love over a meal!

But before I get too nostalgic, we’re going to countdown to Zomppa Year 2 by introducing our contributors (including two new ones!) one by one for the next 8 days so you get to know us better. Stay tuned EVERY DAY to meet a new Zomppa…and for our Year 2 post on May 3!

Each of us answered the following (We’re doing this is in alphabetical order….):

What is your favorite food movie or book?

Tampopo – can’t really remember what it was about, except for steaming bowls of stretchy, luminous udon noodles in a little Japanese roadhouse  restaurant.  Chocolat…the chocolate, Johnny Depp, the unabashed passion, Johnny Depp….

For books, Fantastic Mr. Fox –  a hidden underworld with luscious fat chickens and hard cider…Under the Tuscan Sun – always dreamed of having my own villa…Like Water for Chocolate - I totally put my emotions into my food – and it shows!