Definitions

So, just to give you a heads up, I am going to begin posting some information from my current independent study course.
I have not blogged for a few weeks, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking.
It just means that I've been thinking too much, and didn't know how to express it.
As a basic intro to what is to come, I'm going to give you 3 definitions that you might find helpful, for "Food Security", "Food Deserts", and "Urban Agriculture".

These aren't just terms created for no reason. These are actual realities, and I am in the process of learning about them, and considering how to implement change.

Food security is defined by Boyle and Holben as “access by all people at all times to sufficient food for an active and healthy life” (Boyle & Holben, 2006). “Sufficient food” can be further clarified by pointing out that nutritionally adequate and safe foods are readily available, and can be acquired in socially acceptable ways. Food insecurity is in contrast with food security, and entails limited ability to acquire nutritionally adequate and safe foods in a socially acceptable way. Individuals with food insecurity may also present with hunger or without hunger. Hunger is “the uneasy or painful sensation caused by a recurrent or involuntary lack of food, which can lead to malnutrition over time”. While food insecurity with hunger is prevalent in many societies, in the United States, it is more common to find food insecurity without hunger. Here, individuals are concerned about having enough resources to purchase food and cannot afford to eat balanced meals. They tend to purchase calorie dense foods with little nutritional value, often times resulting malnourishment presenting in overweight and obesity.

Food deserts are described by Thomas Christian, in the department of Economics in Georgia State University, as poorer neighborhoods where “food options are often limited to fast food restaurants, convenience stores, or grocery stores more poorly stocked- both in quantity and quality- than suburban groceries”. These areas are characterized by a lack of opportunities to purchase adequate nutrition, often leading to the insecurity-obesity paradox.

Urban agriculture, is well defined by Charles W. Lesher, Jr. in his literature review on Urban Agriculture: Differing Phenomena in Differing Regions of the World. He defines it as “any processes that produce traditional subsistence, nutritional or commercially profitable food or other grown or raised products, removed from rural domains, and instead cultivate them in special intensive conditions within the urban context or in its surrounding buffer, peri-urban, regions”. In order to appreciate the extent of this phenomenon, it is interesting to note that according to the website of the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center of the USDA National Agricultural Library, around 15 percent of the world's food supply is now grown in urban areas.

Sources:

Boyle, M. A., & Holben, D. H. (2006). Community Nutrition in Action: An Entrepreneurial Approach (4th ed.). USA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Christian, Thomas J. 'Grocery Store Access and the Food Insecurity–Obesity Paradox', Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 5:3, 360 - 369

Lesher, Charles W. ‘Urban Agriculture: Differing Phenomena in Differing Regions of the World’. Accessed 15 Feb 2011.

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center Website:

http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=2&tax_level=2&tax_subject=301&level3_id=0&level4_id=0&level5_id=0&topic_id=2719&&placement_default=0.

Accessed 15 Feb 2011.

New Definition of "Kitchen Garden"

Instead of a locating a kitchen garden outside, why not place it in the kitchen? This "Bright Lights" Swiss chard with parsley dancing around it graces the southern window of our little apartment.Not only does the pot add beauty to our apartment, it is practical and adds some leafy greens to our meals every once in a while. To make a quick lunch, I put 1/3 cup of couscous in a bowl, poured in 2/3 cup of hot beef broth, and allowed it to sit for 5 minutes. Then I threw in a couple of whole frozen tomatoes, and a handful of those frozen beans. Finally, I chopped up a few stems of swiss chard and parsley to add a splash of color and a bit of delicious flavor.

A little ingenuity + consistent watering = sprigs of delight.

Life Without Paper Towels

It's not that hard really. Just don't buy them. I use rags to clean in the kitchen and bathroom.
Cut up old t-shirts or other cloth for times when you want to use something disposable. These little scraps of fabric also make great tissues- they're softer on your nose than toilet paper!
Just a little thrift-tip from a busy schoolgirl :)

Beans

Cheap, healthy, full of fiber... Beans. I love them- any shape, any size. They don't have much flavor of their own, lending themselves to lots of delightful creativity.
You can buy them in a can, but canned beans have a lot of extra sodium. Plus, it's more economical to cook them yourself. And dried beans are beautiful sitting in jars around the kitchen.
For the sake of convenience, I cook a pot at one time, and then drain them and spread on a cookie tray in the freezer. Slip them into a ziploc bag, and you can grab a handful and heat them up anytime!

Basic Sketch of How to Cook Beans:

1. Place beans in a pot with plenty of water and allow to soak overnight.
2. Drain and pour in new water.
3. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes or until soft.


There are lots of variations, methods that include adding baking soda to reduce the deleterious side-effects of beans (which do tend to decline as your body becomes used to eating more fiber!), as well as changing the water more often, adding spices, etc, but this is a quick and simple way to get the job done.

To make a quick refried bean dip, I grabbed a handful of beans, a bit of beef broth, and lots of delicious spices- including cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. A clove of garlic from my garden added some additional depth to the flavor. I even threw in a few roasted peppers that I had frozen when I had an abundance from my CSA share for a bit of extra color and nutrients.


These were placed in a small pan, and heated slowly for an hour or so while I worked on homework.


Total active time required for this process? Probably 35 minutes... about the same time that it would take for me to go to the nearest grocery store for a can of refried beans. Plus- these are far more economical, low sodium, and delicious!
Good cooking doesn't require a lot of time- just a bit of planning :)

You too can make yogurt!

Even though I'm in college, I try not to eat like a college student. Being a nutrition major probably has something to do with that- but I just really value home cooked meals. Living in an apartment this year with a wonderful roommate has given me the opportunity to cook and prepare foods in simple as well as adventurous ways.
Yogurt is a staple in our fridge. We make it ourselves, and it's quite easy. It saves us a lot of money, and gives us the plain, nonfat yogurt that we really like. To enjoy, we simply toss a few frozen berries, granola, or plain rolled oats with it for breakfast. Applesauce mixed with yogurt makes for a delightful dessert as well. Here's how I make yogurt in a college apartment:

1. Pour 1/2 gallon milk into a large pot (preferably one with a thick bottom to minimize scorching)

2. At low-medium heat, bring the milk to 180 degrees farenheit.
3. Add a bit of powdered milk (optional- this makes the yogurt thicker)


4. Allow the milk to cool to 115-120 degrees (you can accelerate the cooling process by filling the sink with cold water and then placing the pot in it).
5. Add about 1/2 cup of already made yogurt. I typically use 1/2 cup from my last batch.
6. Pour into 2 quart jars and twist on a plastic lid.
7. Place in a warm water bath of 115-120 degrees for 2.5-6 or so hours. The longer you let it incubate, the firmer and more sour it will be. You can check the thickness by tilting the jar a bit.



The warm water bath can be in a cooler, or even in the same pot you heated the water in, as long as you add hot water during the incubation period or wrap the pot in a wool blanket. I was lucky enough to come across a foam insulation cube on a run through the neighborhood early in the school year, and it fits 2 quarts perfectly.
Check out the finished product!


It's simple, and saves a lot of money. Try it, and let me know if you have any questions!

Frozen

This past weekend, I ventured up north to Vermont with my parents. I was accepted to graduate school at the University of Vermont, and I wanted to visit before I made my final decision. As hard as it is, the decision is no. It's a great program, and it's hard to reject one program when I have not yet been accepted to another, but after a lot of prayer, careful consideration, and talking with others, this is not the best choice for me.

But, we had a great weekend together. Check out the newest Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor: "Euphoric Martin". We also went on a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the woods and connected with friends and relatives.
Back at Messiah, the ice clings thickly to the branches of the trees. It is beautiful. A reminder of God's incredible creativity and artwork. I'm taking sculpture this semester, and I'm sure that I will never be able to create anything as incredible as he has. Beneath these frozen shimmering twigs there is life. A promise of springtime. During the season of waiting, both for spring, and for graduate school decisions, I remember to embrace the waiting. To savor each moment.
I do not claim to be an accomplished photographer, but the sheer beauty of the ice makes taking a nice photo pretty easy!

Textbooks, Pancakes, and Shoes

I have had three recent financial dilemmas.

One was resolved the other night. Well, actually it was resolved a long time ago. Way back when I decided that education was important and worth investing money and time into. That would be about 4 years ago. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since I was looking at colleges, and making that “big step”. So the other night, when I had to purchase textbooks for the spring semester of my senior year, I could lay out the "plata". I don’t like the tune of $192, but it’s really quite low as far as textbook prices go. I’m sharing books with friends, and one class doesn’t even require a text. Ceramics. I can’t wait for that class- to feel the silky, sometimes obstinate clay beneath my fingers. I know that my obsession with the stuff will require long hours of my day- hours that I don’t really have. But I’m taking the class with one of my dearest friends, who happens to also be my roommate. So, when I typed in my credit card information to somehow magically transfer funds to the people who have the books, I had faith that they would arrive, and that the knowledge I will gain from these texts will be worth my investment. Dilemma number one: solved.

The next dilemma was on a much smaller scale. My recipe for pancakes called for 4 cups of rolled oats (I was doubling the recipe for a group of friends), and 4 cups of yogurt or buttermilk to soak them in. My yogurt is too precious to put 4 cups of it INSIDE pancakes. On top, perhaps. But not hidden inside all that gooey doughey-ness of delightful cakes. So, I cheated. I only put 1 cup of yogurt, then I put 2 cups of milk (of less value than yogurt, because I spent time on making the yogurt), and thinned it out with 1 cup of water. I don’t think anyone could even tell the difference! These pancakes are delicious, and hearty- so, I don’t think my frugality was too much of an issue.

My upcoming dilemma is yet unresolved. So, you see, I don’t like having lots of pairs of shoes. I feel that my society puts a lot of pressure on me to have the right footwear, though, so I recently caved in and bought a pair of $30 pumps that I plan to wear to a graduate school interview (if I ever get one…). I was okay with purchasing those, because, like the textbooks, they are an investment in my future education. But there’s another pair of shoes that I feel like I “need” to buy. You see, I have a pair of flats that I bought for $3 a few years ago, and I wore them a lot. They are tan, and I wore them with just about every outfit.

I took them to Africa with me. Constant contact with the soil was a bit much for them, and so the cobbler at the corner of Kabalagala and Zzimwe streets stitched them up for me- almost as good as new.
So I brought them home again (nearly 2 years ago), and I’ve been wearing them ever since. Or rather, I was wearing them. Until my roommate threw them in the trash, telling me that they are not healthy for my feet. I pulled them out of the trash. But then it became too cold to wear shoes that have dime-sized holes in the bottom, so they are simply languishing in a drawer.

I have one other pair of flats- but they are basically moccasins (fake moccasins, not to be confused with the real moccasins that I made out of deer hide). The cost of these flimsy shoes was $20. And they weren’t worth it. They wore thin very quickly. Nothing like those $3 flats. And I have 2 other pairs of shoes that I wear during the winter- one is a pair of pink boots from a friend who now lives in TX and doesn’t need them any more. The other pair is a pair of brown clogs. And I shuffle when I wear them. A man at work asked me to stop shuffling. And then, guess who, my roommate also asked me to stop shuffling. She reminded me that my feet are important, and I should take care of them. Yes, I should, but I spent money on these clogs. I feel guilty not wearing them. So now, I think that I want to invest in Toms. It sounds like a good idea- if I buy a pair for myself, a pair will also be sent to a child in need. They can be worn with many different outfits, and they’re pretty trendy right now. But I don’t know if I want to give in to the trend. This will take a few more days of consideration…