Tag: food

Foodology: A Semester focused on the Theme of Food

Foodology: A Semester focused on the Theme of Food

Posted on by Kbaumlier

Each fall semester, Fontbonne University, which is located in St. Louis, MO, has a semester that focuses on a theme.  The theme is used across all academic studies and disciplines at the school. This past semester, the theme was Foodology: The Culture, Economics and Science of Food.  Throughout the semester, faculty and students were invited to explore the role of food in world cultures, health and science, politics and economics.

One outcome of the semester was the work done in the Visual Merchandising and Store Planning, Textiles, and Apparel Production and Evaluation courses. Students were challenged to create displays using the food theme.  Some of the pieces made included a gown is made out of 5 pounds of corn husk and “beaded with dried corn kernels.”  Another project was an installation that showed colors found in food and nature.

For the Foodology semester, the campus had events that included food tastings, film screening, and other special events.  The semester is just coming to an end, and more projects will be posted in the upcoming months on the school’s website.

 

Image Source:
http://libguides.fontbonne.edu/foodology

 

Links:

http://libguides.fontbonne.edu/foodology

A Visit to the Raleigh State Farmers Market

A Visit to the Raleigh State Farmers Market

Posted on by Kbaumlier

I recently was able to visit the Raleigh State Farmers market, which is owned by the State of North Carolina and run by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  In the state, there are five state markets and each is located in a place that is meant to be easily accessible for both farmers and buyers.

The Raleigh State market is located near the downtown area of Raleigh. I was really impressed with the setup which is comprised of various buildings, which include a farmers area, market shops, restaurant area, market import area, and also a truckers building and wholesale terminal.

I spent time in the farmers area, which was a large 30,000 square feet building where North Carolina farmers can sell local produce, plants, and other items.  At this time of the year there were lots of pecans, apples, and green vegetables for sale. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, arugula, and even strawberries are grown locally and available even in late Fall.  Since it rarely freezes at this time of year, there are a lot of cool weather crops that grow well.

As I sampled over 15 kinds of local apples, a seller talked to me about them.  I learned that there are over 46 kinds of apples grown in North Carolina, and over 2500 grown in the United States.  I tried some new varieties of apples, and ended up buying two pounds to take home.

When I asked if anyone was selling mushrooms, the farmer let me know that only local produce could be sold in the farmersfBuilding, and that no one really grows mushrooms in North Carolina. He pointed at the inside market area up the hill, and let me know that I might be able to get some there, but they would not be local.  The inside market area sellers can sell anything including bananas and kiwis from other countries.

Some of the things that are really nice about the market include:

1. The market areas are covered  Farmers and shoppers can set up and shop in both rain and shine.

2.  Some interesting vendors were there which included Annelore’s German Bakery and Yu’s salsa (The salsa was really good, we tried over 10 kinds and bought a quart of the medium sweet salsa.)

3. Some hardy and interesting plants and herbs were sale. There were some interesting succulent wreathes that were for sale that I had not seen before which really stood out and would look nice on a front door and also live through the cooler monthes.

The Raleigh State Farmers Market is open every day (!)   If you are able to visit, make sure you sample some apples and pecans, and get ready for some great tastings as you shop.  Next time I am in town, I plan to stop by again and see what is in season.

 

Links:

Raleigh State Market – www.ncagr.gov/markets/facilities/markets/raleigh/

 

The Recipe Project: Great Recipes Made Into Catchy Songs

The Recipe Project: Great Recipes Made Into Catchy Songs

Posted on by Kbaumlier

Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp, co-founders of the band One Ring Zero got a great idea.  Why not take Chef Chris Cosentino’s recipe for Brains and Eggs into a song?  The plan was to try to do it word for word, phrase for phrase, literally singing every word of the recipe.  They also decided to ask Cosentino to recommend a music style for the song.  He told them that the style of the Beastie Boys would work.  The band got to work mixing some beats and looped sequences into what ended up becoming a quirky hip-hop song, and The Recipe Project had begun.

The band went on to work with more chefs and recipes, and created a CD and book of recipes.  Today many chefs are getting “rock star status,” and the project highlights this by setting their songs to music, and also with the interviews in the book. The album features over 9 recipe songs  from well-known chefs.    The book has unusual interviews with the chefs and also the recipes in printed form so that you can cook the recipes without having to rewind the music.

One Ring Zero’s music is quirky, with unusual instruments such as the theramin, accordion, melodica, power drills, and bread machines used.  The songs are all upbeat and catchy.

Some of the songs include “Peanut Butter Brunnettes,” a recipe by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and “Spaghetti with Sweet 100 Tomatoes” by Mario Batalli, who happen to be two of my favorite chefs.  Each song has a music video that you can see on The Recipe Project website.  The “Spaghetti with Sweet 100 Tomatoes song is fast and catchy.  The video features plates of spaghetti, visual representations of the ingredients, puppets, and some stop motion animation.

Before you check out the sons and videos, I must warn you.  Once you play some of the songs you might find that you are tapping your toe, or humming the song a few hours later. They also might make you hungry or make you want to cook.

Image Source:
http://www.therecipeproject.com/

Links:
http://www.therecipeproject.com/

Thank You For Coming: A New Food + Community Space

Thank You For Coming: A New Food + Community Space

Posted on by Kbaumlier

This summer I backed a project on Kickstarter called Thank You For Coming,  a collaborative and participatory restaurant/meeting space in Los Angles, CA “where everyone can be a cook.”  The vision is for participants to be actively engaged in the space in various forms including by cooking the meal themselves, foraging or harvesting their own ingredients, or by  eating with a new tool.

Thank You For Coming raised money through Kickstarter to cover start-up costs for renovations, permits, materials, and equipment to get the space up and running.  The space is designed to be able to hold events and to be a restaurant.  Container gardens will be near the kitchen at the  3416 Glendale Blvd. location in Los Angeles.

Behind the project is a four member team consisting of Laura Noguera, Jonathan Robert, Jenn Su Taohan, and Cynthia Su Taopin, who will oversee the residency program and general operation of the space.  The space will open in June, and an ongoing residency program program will give “citizens with varying interests, desires and skills, an opportunity to cook for the public, be a farmer, play with a space, and experiment.”

Recently the Thank You For Coming space got approval from the city to operate as a restaurant.  They also bought some equipment (refrigerator, freezer, induction ranges, shelves, etc.), built furniture, removed 5 layers of paint from the cement floors of the space, and began work on plumbing and electrical upgrades.

A call for proposals for the residency program went out earlier this fall and everyone (Artists, Cooks, Plumbers, Park Rangers, Moms + Granddads, and others) have been invited apply to do a project and explore new and old ways of sharing food with people in the space.

All residents would be able to use the kitchen and space as a platform for public engagement and creative experimentation and presentation.  To start, Thank You For Coming plans to be open from Wednesday-Sunday for Lunch & Dinner.

If you are interesting in being a resident, you can email them at [email protected] and read more about the application guidelines on the Kickstarter update page.

Image Source:
http://thankyouforcoming.la/

Links:

http://thankyouforcoming.la/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1406166588/thank-you-for-coming/posts

 

Today is World Food Day : A Focus on Hunger and Agricultural Cooperatives

Today is World Food Day : A Focus on Hunger and Agricultural Cooperatives

Posted on by Kbaumlier

Today, October 16th is a worldwide event that is designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger. Today around the world people are participating by organizing a World Food day food packaging event, walking to end hunger, doing food drives, and hosting a “World Food Day meal.” The day focuses on how each of us does can do something to help stop the needless suffering of nearly a billion people worldwide who are hungry.

This year’s World Food Day theme is “Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world.” The theme is announced each spring by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This topic was chosen since
cooperatives are an important force in achieving food security.

The World Day food website reports that:“70 percent of those who face hunger live in rural areas where agriculture serves as the economic mainstay. Smallholder farmers are central to addressing hunger, yet many face barriers such as a lack of infrastructure, outdated farming practices, and a lack of access to financial services. Cooperatives improve farmers’ agricultural productivity and equip them with access to marketing, savings, credit, insurance, and technology. Farmer cooperatives serve both to connect farmers to markets and to increase food production.”

Over 1 billion individuals are members of cooperatives worldwide, generating more than 100 million jobs around the world. Areas include agriculture, forestry, fishing and livestock keeping, members participate in production, profit-sharing, cost-saving, risk-sharing and income-generating activities, which lead to better bargaining power for members as buyers and sellers in the marketplace.

More information about World Food Day and Agriculture Cooperatives can be seen on the World Day website, and in video made for the event that is on Youtube.

Image Source:
www.worldfooddayusa.org

 

Links:

www.worldfooddayusa.org

youtube video – Agricultural Cooperatives