Balance of Food

A White House year-round farmers market would boost healthy eating

_{Toronto's St. Lawrence Market is proof that a year-round farmers market is viable in a colder climate. (photo by me).}

Years from now, we may look back at Barack Obama's time in the White House, and not call it the Obama Administration, but the Organic Administration.

The references in speeches to eating better. The references from the First Lady about improving diets. The first modern-definition organic garden on the White House grounds. Now Barack Obama is talking about a White House farmers market.

One of the things that we’re trying to do now is to figure out, can we get a little farmers’ market — outside of the White House — I’m not going to have all of you all just tromping around inside — (laughter) — but right outside the White House — (laughter) — so that — so that we can and and and that is a win-win situation.

It gives suddenly D.C. more access to good, fresh food, but it also is this enormous potential revenue-maker for local farmers in the area. And and that — those kinds of connections can be made all throughout the country, and and has to be part of how we think about health.

Though this was an offhand suggestion, the logical assumption is that average Washingtonians (or tourists) could buy organic produce from the White House garden. As President Obama points out, the farmers market could be a boost for area farmers, not just in D.C. but in neighboring Maryland and Virginia.

Even without the help of the president, farmers markets are enjoying great popularity, especially at this time of year.

The other unspoken element is whether the market would be year-round. It's easy to be in love with farmers markets in August, but what about February? Except for warmer weather climates, year-round farmers markets aren't in vogue. Washington can get rather cold in the winter.

Having a year-round market, especially one endorsed by the White House, can go a long way to making year-round markets more of a reality, even in colder climates, of eating fresh all 12 months. Good habits are easier to keep without huge long breaks in between.

This is absolutely true in the northern climates. But it is possible to have year-round farmers markets in cold climates. Here are a few I have personally experienced.

Milwaukee has a year-round farmers market in its downtown area. It's even an easy walk from the train and bus station. True, you won't find much fresh fruit in February; however, there are plenty of locally produced food items.

Toronto's St. Lawrence Market would be the blueprint for how to do a year-round indoor market. Take a nice older building, preferably with two levels, and make it fun to explore all the hidden nooks full of food. The market is on the east side of downtown, and open Tuesdays-Saturdays.

On my most recent vacation, I discovered the Marche Jean-Talon in Montréal and the Marche de Vieux Port in Quebec City. The Montréal market has permanent structures on the outside parameter and a structure in the middle, some with year-round established businesses and some of the area for outdoor use by fruit and vegetable vendors. The Quebec City market is a permanent indoor year-round structure.

Having been to the Saturday market inside and outside the Ferry Building at Market Street in San Francisco last November and December 2007, there is a joy to fresh food in the middle of what would be cold back home that is very emotionally pleasing. While my only trip to Pike Place Market in Seattle was in summer, it's very easy to imagine getting lovely fresh food on the day before Christmas Eve.

Given Obama's desire for a White House farmers market, perhaps he can use some political muscle and get a year-round farmers market in an area he is very familiar with: his hometown of Chicago.

Chicago's history with food, its central location within the region, and its strong need for farmers' crops — all lend itself to having a year-round market. Yet the Windy City doesn't have one.

The highly popular Green City Market has tried to embody the spirit of a year-round market, experimenting with an indoor version, at first, during the fall, and then year-round this past winter — though the market ran 2-3 Saturdays a month in a nature museum. Despite the limited opportunity, people flocked to the site.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, known for decorating the city with beautiful growths in flowers, is much more ambivalent about beautiful growths in produce.

Getting a year-round farmers market near the White House would send a strong message of Obama's spirit toward eating better food. Getting a year-round farmers market in Chicago may be beyond the reach of the power of even President Barack Obama.

Manufacturers stepping up on getting rid of high-fructose corn syrup

Marketers are finally responding to the pressures against high-fructose corn syrup.

It's rather amazing that so long ago, when I told my friends about the evils of HFCS that people really didn't know what it was. Whether you agree with the view that HFCS is not good for you, people now know what high-fructose corn syrup is.

But there's a long way to go. The article notes that while Kraft has taken HFCS out of some products, the ingredient remains in Oreos.

Some beverage companies are also promoting their lack of HFCS. PepsiCo launched "throwback" versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew, which are essentially HFCS-free formulations in retro cans. The products proved successful, leading the company to bring them back for another eight-week run, beginning Dec. 28.

So if you missed the boat the first time, or want to stock up, you have another shot. Though an 8-week run in the middle of winter might not be the best time to think about a nice cold soft drink.

But it does mean that manufacturers are getting more serious about the ramifications of products containing high-fructose corn syrup.

Colbert weighs in on the politics of sugar

On last night's "Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert was in a "panic" over a sugar shortage. But we aren't really running out of sugar.

The current sugar crisis is political in nature, as explained by Colbert's guest Marion Nestle, NYU professor and author of the book "Food Politics."

But in Colbert's comedy, he did touch on one serious question: what if we had no sugar?

Can you imagine an America with no sugar? Juice would contain nothing but 10% juice. And we'd all be eating uncaramelized apples.

If we had less sugar, we might be able to enjoy foods without them being too sweet. The juice line is particular was hilarious, because we sell "juice cocktails" that are mostly water and high-fructose corn syrup (or even sugar). Juice is sweet.

I was on the plane back from Quebec when I was offered beverages. I asked what kind of juice they had. The flight attendant said orange and cranberry. I was excited to hear that they had cranberry; after all, it wasn't easy to find. I asked if it was 100% cranberry juice, and she got this look on her face. Turns out it was cranberry juice cocktail. The standard for that had become a juice cocktail was "juice." Not in my world.

As Americans, we could use less sugar, and more sugar, instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Politics on sugar shouldn't be the dominant force, people's health should win out.

Making fruit and fiber part of your vacation plans

Traveling and food go well together for the stomach, but not always other parts of the body. One difficult task in traveling is getting enough fruit and on a related note, fiber.

If you are used to eating fruit and high-fiber foods at home, finding those when you travel can be more difficult in more ways than one.

When you travel, finding grain- and vegetable-related carbohydrates doesn't take much skill. And when you do find fruit, it usually comes in a small glass of orange juice. Nice, but there isn't a lot of fiber in a glass of juice.

Finding whole wheat spaghetti is nearly impossible; finding regular spaghetti is easy. Again, a lack of fiber.

But traveling in summer is a great opportunity to check out the farmers markets where you are traveling, connect with local growers, and walk away with fruit and fiber for your vacation and your health.

And when traveling outside summer, consider even a nearby grocery store to stock up.

On this trip, I hit two well-known markets in these communities: in Montréal, the Marche Jean-Talon; in Quebec City, the Marche de Vieux Port. (In French, marche means market.)

Though the perception is that Montréal and Quebec City are very cold cities, they do get a rather nice summer. And despite their deserved reputations, both cities have a year-round market.

The fruit and vegetable vendors were in the open-air section, roofs but no walls, in the center of Marche Jean-Talon, located on the north side of the city. The market is just west of the Metro stop (named Jean-Talon), so you don't even need a car.

In Quebec, the structure is enclosed and located near the train station, a decent walk away from the center of Old Quebec.

The province is also known for its mushrooms, a good source of fiber. Even if you aren't into fruit or if it's less than ideal weather for fruit, there are other farmer-friendly sources.

My main conquest from Montréal was bleuets, or blueberries. I even got a container with a handle, convenient for traveling. I got a pint and made that last several days, even traveling by train from Montréal to Quebec City. And even after several days with rough treatment, they lasted very well.

On my last day in Quebec City, I had a nice little picnic consisting of a small Caesar's salad from a local grocer, small tomate (tomatoes) from the market in Quebec, and the remaining blueberries from Montréal. It was the most delightful meal I have had since Paris.

Food can get expensive when traveling. For about the same price as a McDonald's meal, I ate very well with lots of fiber as well.

Traveling usually involves getting out of routines. Especially when you are trying to be good, keeping those routines is rather important. Taking time from seeing the sights isn't high on most travelers list. Though in both cases, the markets became part of the fun.

I got to work on my French, see how two cold cities have vibrant year-round farmers markets, and how they use their markets to accent other sources of food, from meat to wine to crafts. Yes, in the province of Quebec, seeing wine for sale in a farmers market is pretty normal.

And even if you are traveling to less international-focused locales, you can find local fun and keep more regular — by adding a little fruit and fiber to your vacation fun.

Vacation and research, but really a vacation

No column this week, due to a much-needed vacation. Keep eating well and I'll have a few good stories for when I return. Bon appetit.

White House 'beer summit' concept can be used toward improving the food supply

President Barack Obama's sit-down over beer to deal with a prominent racial tension story could serve as inspiration for future methods of conflict resolution.

The meeting between President Obama, Henry Louis Gates, and James Crowley could be the beginning of using presidential power as a method to bring sides together.

In terms of the balance of food, President Obama could incorporate the harvest from the organic food garden on the White House grounds as a bounty to sway those who think our food supply is doing rather well.

In a perfect world, those who clashed with the First Lady over not using pesticides on the White House organic garden would be invitees at a long dinner table, preferably overlooking the garden itself.

Those who run Archers Daniels Midland and Cargill — pushers of high-fructose corn syrup — should sit down eating foods made with sugar side-by-side with those filled with HFCS, and then tell us how wonderful HFCS really is.

The people who don't seem to mind that our beef is filled with antibiotics and hormones should be given a plate full of grass-fed beef to see how wonderful that option is for the dinner table.

The temptation would be to invite ADM and Cargill execs to drink pure high-fructose corn syrup and tell us why it's so necessary, and the beef people to be given a plate full of antibiotics and hormones to see whether they can literally swallow them. But that would be considered mean.

Whether it's good or bad, photo ops can crash through the intense 24-hour news cycle. Regardless of party, there is something about the unofficial presidential seal of approval to an otherwise ignored problem that affects millions of people every day.

And the quality of our food supply does affect millions each day. So much of the struggle in obesity is painted as whether someone grabs for the bag of Cheetos in the store or grabs a stalk of broccoli. But the hidden costs of our food supply need to be exposed.

Since this president and the First Lady do feel like they have a stake in people eating better, what better way than to use the bully pulpit of the White House?

The cost of health care — and more specifically health care reform — is tied into improving the food supply. President Obama has spoken on several occasions to personal responsibility, and improving individual behavior.

But that improvement amongst ourselves is a much easier task if our food supply is more honest.

One reason why the White House "beer summit" had merit is that people were talking past each other on a major issue. They were talking but no one was really hearing the other side of the equation. Having those who want a healthier food supply should have a mediator with those who want the status quo. They wouldn't agree to everything from the other side, but it would be better if the discussion over improving the food supply was more knowledgeable on both sides.

Again, regardless of party, President Obama is seen as someone who brings people together who aren't on the same side. His role as a community organizer, his actions in the Illinois Senate, and in the 'beer summit' are all indicative of someone who likes to see people understand each other better.

Eating healthy should be easy for people to do, something that requires very little thought. We are a country constantly in a rush, often working more than one job or driving family members to the next event. The better our food supply is, the easier it will be for people to make true decisions over what to eat and how much to consume.

A little dialogue would be a wonderful place to start, preferably over good food.

'Fresh' accompaniment to 'Food, Inc.'

If "Food, Inc." didn't quite satisfy your thirst to learn more about how your food is being raised, you can supplement your knowledge with "Fresh."

Oh, there are a number of similarities between the two films. Both contain horror stories and uplifting stories. Both have appearances from Michael Pollan and Virginia farmer Joel Salatin. In case you have missed both films and the "Omnivore's Dilemma" (written by Pollan), Salatin is an upbeat, knowledgeable farmer whose father took over not-so-great farmland in Virginia. As Salatin puts it, "we're farming grass, not animals."

Salatin seems more celebrity than farmer these days, but he is an effective spokesperson. George Naylor, who has fought against the negative impacts of genetically modified crops, is also in both movies.

"Fresh" does spend time on the horrors of chicken farming, interviewing the amusingly named Mr. and Mrs. Fox, who apparently guard the henhouse. The interviews make you feel sorry for the couple; they almost seem like they don't want to be doing what they do. As Mrs. Fox describes how she is forced into signing a 7-year contract, you wonder why she doesn't just chuck it all.

There are some scenes to convey how poorly the chickens are treated, similar to "Food, Inc." but without as much drama.

Michael Pollan's contributions are similar to the ones in "Food, Inc." He is the prominent voice telling us how bad things are. But Pollan's take on monoculture sounded new, how bad it is when you have too much growing of one crop — corn, soybeans are the most common — and how in case of a natural disaster, having locally grown food might be what saves us from a horrible scenario.

So why spend time seeing "Fresh"? If you've seen "Food, Inc." in the theaters, you might have come out feeling depressed. "Fresh" spends more time making you feel good about what we can do.

There is the story of Will Allen, a former basketball player who played in Europe. Allen runs an urban oasis of vertical farming. We see his large hands sifting through mounds of dirt filled with worms. Good soil in urban areas is not easy to find, but he "grows" his own soil. He has 3 acres in the heart of Milwaukee, not an area you would associate with farming.

Allen, like Salatin, is a very good spokesperson. In "Fresh," Allen spoke of making sure that this bountiful locally grown food is "not just for the rich." This is a message touched upon briefly in "Food, Inc." where the haves know what's out there and have easy access to it, and the have-nots aren't even in the same zone.

We also see the story of Good Natured, an alliance of 75 farms in Kansas City. We see a supermarket that displays produce and other farm products with the farm's name next to the food, so you literally know who grew this food in front of you. A beautiful visualization that makes the impact that the food is literally local, and the farmer has a name.

I don't normally review films, and none of this constitutes an endorsement. But if your knowledge is underwhelming, or if you want to find out what your possibilities are, "Fresh" would be worth going to see, even if it may be a bit more difficult to find than "Food, Inc." "Fresh" is so fresh that imdb.com doesn't have a listing for the movie.

The lack of visibility for both movies is an ongoing tragedy since the people who really need to see these films are the audience least likely to know about them or have access to see them.