"hunger was not an issue of scarcity but rather a matter of logistics"

"here in the United States, nearly 40 million people experience hunger every single year, including more than 11 million children that go to bed hungry every night. Yet, we're wasting more food than ever before -- more than 80 billion pounds a year, to be exact. The EPA estimates that food waste has more than doubled between 1970 and 2017, and now accounts for 27 percent of everything in our landfills. And as this food sits, it gradually rots and produces harmful methane gas, a leading contributor to global climate change. We have the waste of the food itself, the waste of all the money associated with producing this now-wasted food and the waste of labor with all of the above. And then there's the social inequity between people who really need food and can't get it and people who have too much and simply throw it away.

All of this made me realize that hunger was not an issue of scarcity but rather a matter of logistics. So in 2017, I set out to end hunger using technology. After all, food delivery apps had begun to explode on the scene, and I thought surely we can reverse-engineer this technology and get food from businesses like restaurants and grocery stores and into the hands of people in need. I believe that technology and innovation have the power to solve real problems, especially hunger. "

https://www.ted.com/talks/jasmine_crowe_what_we_re_getting_wrong_in_the_fight_to_end_hunger/transcript

Could there be an Incredible Edible Franklin?

Pam Warhurst explains how they started:

We tried to answer this simple question: Can you find a unifying language that cuts across age and income and culture that will help people themselves find a new way of living, see spaces around them differently, think about the resources they use differently, interact differently? Can we find that language? And then, can we replicate those actions? And the answer would appear to be yes, and the language would appear to be food.

Food, ah yes. We all need to eat to live. This TED Talk describes how the community of Todmorden is working to change what they eat and how they eat. The Incredible Edible Todmorden is a story worth replicating.





We have the basics of this underway already in Franklin with the Community Garden. We just need to get more folks involved.

For more information on Todmorden, visit their webpage here
http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/

Who eats the crusts of bread?

In this TED Talk, Tristram tells us something we don't normally hear or talk about.

Western countries throw out nearly half of their food, not because it’s inedible -- but because it doesn’t look appealing. Tristram Stuart delves into the shocking data of wasted food, calling for a more responsible use of global resources. 

Tristram Stuart sounds the warning bell on global food waste, calling for us to change the systems whereby large quantities of produce and other foods end up in trash heaps.

If America really has 4 times the food that we need, then the Food Pantry and others in this space are clearly in the redistribution business, and there is still plenty to do.



Approximately 15 minutes and well worth watching!

For more information on Tristram's Feeding the 5,000  http://www.feeding5k.org/ For more on his book http://www.amazon.com/Waste-Uncovering-Global-Food-Scandal/dp/0393068366/ref=la_B001ITTVXE_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347742133&sr=1-1

Originally posted to Franklin Matters
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/09/who-eats-crusts-of-bread.html

Sunday dinner

I combined a couple of recipes to put together a lasagna for our Sunday dinner. I added some steamed vegetables to a standard meat and cheese recipe.

It looks good and did come out tasting very well! There will be left overs so we'll eat well more than once this week.

What did you have for Sunday dinner?

the best ideas

Not every idea 'just' happens. Sometimes the best ones percolate for awhile. Get chewed on, stewed over before becoming fully baked.



I guess I am hungry this morning. I might as well go eat breakfast!

How many more food analogies could you come up with to talk about the origin and development of an idea?

Taste of the Region - Tonight

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Beef Stew

One of the best parts about doing a beef stew in the bag is the no fuss, no mess clean up.

I don't mind cooking as I do like to eat well. I don't mind clean up but some meals can certainly be messier than others.

This one is easy to put together. About 15 minutes to prepare the potatoes, carrots, onion and other ingredients for the bag. Then about 90 minutes to cook. About 5 minutes to rest before opening the bag and enjoying a good tasting meal.

What is one of your easy to cook meals? Please share.

Nourish life

Michael Pollan talks about the price we pay for the cheap food we eat.

"Food is not just fuel. Food is about family, food is about community, food is about identity. And we nourish all those things when we eat well."    — Michael Pollan

According to the schedule for Nourish LIfe, it doesn't look this is being shown on WGBH
http://nourishlife.org/pbs.html

Busy times

The Job Search Jam Sessions were successful on Friday. At least 60 folks were involved to learn, share and network on topics like LinkedIn, entrepreneurship, networking, interview questions, "selling yourself by the pound" and more. This is what the schedule board looked like: (the post-it notes worked nicely to allow for juggling the sessions from one time slot to another or from one room to another as capacity required).

Saturday morning I spent time with other members of the newly reforming Board of Directors for the Franklin Food Pantry. We were deep into planning and came up with our vision, mission statement and several goals for the next couple of years. More work remains to be done but we are underway. Exciting times! You'll be hearing more about this as the work gets formalized.

While walking and picking up recyclable items today (I ended up with a big bag) I was pondering on the natural cycle of seasons. Growth and renewal. Harvest and hibernation. A sherku appeared.

What are you up to?

Disclosure Announcement

Keeping my promise to let you know when things change, I do have an announcement to make. I am honored to have been offered a role on the Board of Directors for the Franklin Food Pantry.

I have accepted this role and look to help the Food Pantry in a couple of ways. One, they have expanded the membership of the Board and are embarking on a strategic plan initiative. I believe my project management skills and my work creating a good customer experience can help in this effort. Two, I will work to help the Food Pantry in their communication efforts. Drawing upon the experiences I have had using and implementing social media tools, I will help to spread the word about the work of the Food Pantry.

What won’t change?
My priorities won’t change with this new role. My number one priority remains my focus on finding appropriate full-time employment. My second priority remains contributing to the well being of my immediate and extended family.

My third priority has been giving back to my community via the work I do for Franklin Matters. I see the Food Pantry time requirements fitting within the time I have available. The Food Pantry will allow me to explore what matters in Franklin in an important way. I see this as a natural extension of the outreach efforts I have already made through the Franklin Downtown Partnership and the United Regional Chamber of Commerce.

What may change?
The Food Pantry Board is currently scheduled to meet on the last Tuesday of the month. Depending upon how the calendar works out, this poses a potential conflict with the School Committee meetings. As a result of this conflict, I may be reporting on the second School Committee meeting more from the video archive than the in person/live reporting I have been able to do.



My disclosure statement can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/p/why-franklin-matters.html

and here http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/04/disclosure-statement-updated-4809.html

Spruce Pond Creamery

It is a family tradition to walk to the local ice cream parlor at the end of the school year for a supper of ice cream.

The local choice for us is the Spruce Pond Creamery on King St in Franklin, MA. The sign was recently re-freshed to include the fact that they now offer beer and wine in the restaurant. Their flatbread sandwiches and pizza are very good. Adding the beer and wine option for the accompaniment is good.

Their ice cream take out windows are where we headed on Tuesday.

Ice cream for supper? Why not?

A banana split provides multiple food groups (dairy, nuts, and fruit) with more than enough calories for a meal.

It was good! We only do this at the end of the school year so this is a real treat and not a regular staple of our diet.

What special food treat do you enjoy?

Fight obesity!

There are a number of problems in this world but many of them pale in comparison with obesity.

Jamie Oliver did this talk at TED recently. It is a powerful and yet easy message to take a step on. Today.

Powerful? Wait until you see the wheelbarrow!

Back to school routines

This last Sunday before school opens for the new school year, I return to my cooking routine. You may recall that Dolores and I divvy up our household duties. To help her prepare for her kindergarten student friends, I do the food shopping and cooking on the weekends. During the summer, she returns to the kitchen to keep her touch up to speed. With school opening Tuesday, the teachers reporting on Monday, I returned to my cooking today.


So what's for dinner?

A fine meat loaf (recipe here)
3 bean salad (recipe here)
Steamed summer squash

My modifications

On the meatloaf, I used Progresso Italian Seasoned Bread crumbs in place of the plain.

On the 3 bean salad, I used black beans in place of the garbanzo. I did follow their suggestion to use cannellini white beans allow with the red kidney beans.

What are you doing for dinner?

Now this is an economic stimulus plan!

Now this an economic stimulus plan. Talk about a good experience this place was!, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Let's talk about a good experience:
The sign has a good play on words (seafood fresh, prices frozen)

The restaurant provided excellent food and good service in a family comfortable atmosphere.

Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale is a good experience!

www.ljfishtale.com/

There are two locations, the family restaurant is in Westbrook, CT and the drive-in restaurant is in Madison, CT.

Breaded sea scallops ready for the broiler

Breaded sea scallops ready for the broiler. Wait didn't we do this last Friday? Y, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I divided the sea scallops into three portions, three only to ensure a single level in each baking dish.

To each baking dish, I added a couple of tablespoons of white wine, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and topped it off with some Italian seasoned bread crumbs.

In the broiler for about 6-8 minutes and served directly to the plate.

Nicely done!

How do you like your scallops?

Bay scallops dressed and ready for the broiler

Bay scallops dressed and ready for the broiler, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The portions seemed skimpy so before going into the broiler, I removed one of the dishes and redistributed the contents amongst the other three remaining dishes. Much better.

The ladies were pleased! (Except there still wasn't enough)

The scallops were dressed with lemon juice, white wine, olive oil and some fresh ground pepper.

They needed only about 7 minutes under the broiler and went directly to the plate. I had prepared oven baked onion potatoes, steamed green beans and steamed baby carrots to go along with the scallops.

I do have another batch of scallops to do this way. This did come out very well, if I must say so myself.

Leftovers - desired or ?

I added a posting to the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog today to help close out our month's theme on food and learning asking for what leftovers you look forward to, or despise?

You have my permission to click on over to read and join the discussion!

"but you can't eat it as it is!"

In the film, King Corn:

Ian and Curt start the spring by injecting ammonia fertilizer. The chemical promises to increase yields fourfold, fueling the mission of abundance laid out for them. Then it’s planting time, and with a rented tractor, Ian and Curt set 31,000 seeds in the ground in 18 minutes. Their seed has been genetically modified for high yields and herbicide tolerance, and when the seedlings sprout, Ian and Curt apply a powerful spray to ensure that only their corn will thrive on their acre.

The crop that thrives on the single acre will yield 5 tons of corn. Unfortunately, the corn that is grown is not something humans can eat without further processing. The corn is "feed corn" used to fatten cattle and to make high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The prevalence of HFCS in the food we eat is astounding.

The PBS website for King Corn provides a wealth of links for further reading. Michael Pollen's site is there as is the "The truth about HFCS" which is prepared by the Corn Refiners Association.

Spend the next couple of days looking at the labels of the foods you eat at home.

Find out what does not contain HFCS.

If something contains HFCS and that surprises you, please let me know.

Thanks!

King Corn - reflections

Image via WikipediaI went to see King Corn last night. According to the Press Kit, the synopsis reads:

King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation.

In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat—and how we farm.

The questions are very troubling. I was not aware of how prevalent corn and one of the major byproducts, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is in the foods that we eat.

I had my normal at home lunch today. A Fluffanutter sandwich (which is Marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter on bread), some strawberry jam on saltine and Ritz crackers with a half glass of milk to help wash it down.

If I guessed which of the foods I ate contained High Fructose Corn Syrup, I would have left out the peanut butter, the bread, the crackers and the milk.

I was wrong to leave out the bread and crackers. The Weight Watchers Wheat Bread contains HFCS, as does the Ritz Crackers, as does the Original Nabisco Saltines. If I had Low fat saltines, I could have avoided the HFCS.

The Fluff uses corn syrup not HFCS but that quibbles.

The peanut butter and the milk are the only two items from lunch that did not contain HFCS.

My father has TypeII diabetes. One of the driving factors for this is the HFCS.

What your food labels for a few days and see what they can tell you.

What foods surprise you by containing HFCS?

Oven fried chicken

Oven fried chicken, originally uploaded by shersteve.

status check; chicken looking good in the oven.