Food, attitudes, and the middle classes

I read an article today that points to some interesting facets of attitudes regarding food held by some who are known as 'middle class'. Here's my response to it.

The article puzzled me a bit at first. I couldn't understand why people were apologising for wanting to eat perfectly good food, or why eating quinoa or homous or buying organic produce could qualify a person as being a snobby middle class foodie.

Reading the comments clarified things, however! I think the point of the article is not what people eat so much as it's the desire to be fashionable and to believe that what you eat makes you better than less discerning plebs. Is that right? Using big words to describe luxury or unusual foods and ways to eat them really did begin to sound like a way to start a class war as I read further down!

I eat quinoa regularly, organic quinoa at that. I make my own homous, grind and bake with biodynamic spelt and wheat, and the list goes on. I spent about 2.5 seconds wondering if this qualifies me for groans and categorizing as was being done in this article, then decided I didn't actually care. *grin* It is interesting to observe other people's reactions to food and lifestyle choices that are different to their own.

I'm certainly not upset and don't feel the need to whinge because this food isn't available everywhere I go; by jiggity, that's why I make it at home! It's amusing to me that eating good healthy food can possibly be a status symbol - guess I just don't travel in the right social circles. *breathes sigh of relief*

Someone recently enlightened me as to the target demographic of the Guardian, the newspaper the original article came from. "The thing that made the blog even more amusing, in my personal opinion, was that it was in the Guardian. This is the title of choice for people who don't care if others call them decaffeinated/organic/veggie-munching/Fairtrade/trendies. In fact, the Guardian's food pages offer some lovely recipes, often with a veggie emphasis and plenty of baking." Thanks to Sharon for allowing me to use her words.


And now to put things into perspective. There's a movie that I saw on These Days In French Life called We Feed The World (it's a long one, but worth watching; see highlights here), that has further changed the way I think about the food I eat. There are so many tragedies behind food production on a human and animal scale, it is staggering. Here's a quote: "Any child today who dies of starvation, is in fact murdered". There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but for plain old human greed.

This afternoon I'll be buying my first box of locally grown organic produce. I suspect I won't get to much for my money, but the concept behind eating what has been produced from my own area and without chemicals, is very appealing. It's simply not feasible for me to grow enough food at home to feed my family at this point, though I'd love to get to that stage eventually.

Reusables, the un-old way

This is a drawing I did yesterday showing some of the things I've been making recently, to show some friends who have let me reap the benefit of their hard work and who I want to thank by making them something they can put to practical use.

Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

What do you use to pack lunch for yourself or for your children? I used to be like the thousands of people (millions?) who would answer that question with - plastic wrap, press seal bags, greaseproof paper, and foil.

Since an awareness for the impact I am making on the environment and my habits as a consumer in general has been growing upon me, I'm finding that using those disposable wrappings just doesn't feel right any more.

So I did some research, made many prototypes, and finally came up with a reusable sandwich wrap that I am happy with. No complaints from the children, unless it's that one of their siblings has already grabbed the wrap they were hoping to use that day!



Plastic bags have been around for 30 years now. It is estimated world wide that 1 trillion bags are used and discarded every year.
Australians use 3.92 billion plastic bags a year, that’s over 10 million new bags being used every day. An estimated 3.76 billion bags or 20,700 tonnes of plastic are disposed of in landfill sites throughout Australia every year. Australians dump 7,150 recyclable plastic bags into landfills every minute or 429,000 bags every hour.
Did you know that:
• plastics are made from non-renewable natural resources such as crude oil, gas and coal.
• just 8.7 plastic checkout bags contain enough embodied petroleum energy to drive a car 1 kilometre.
[Information above is from the Clean Up Australia website]

What can I do?
Recycle, repurpose and re-use.
Plastic bags, plastic wrap, foil, press seal bags, all add to land fill and thereby harm the environment. Press seal bags can be washed and reused, but it can be difficult to get them really clean and dry.

One alternative is the reusable sandwich wrap. It is easy to clean, just open out and wipe after each use. If the fabric backing becomes soiled, wash it in the sink with the dishes and leave to dry overnight or hang on the line - easy and hygenic.
Food stays nice and fresh all wrapped up in a neat little package, and the sandwich wrap also serves as a placemat while eating.


FAQ
What kind of plastic should be used for sandwich wraps?
Only reuse plastic that is classed as food grade. Look for strong thick plastic that previously held food. The best plastic I have found is from the bags used to hold the food I buy in bulk from Honest To Goodness, through a local co-op.

What if I don’t want to use plastic to wrap my food?
Sandwich wraps are easy to make. Try making your own from two layers of octagonal shaped fabric, with water resistant interfacing sandwiched between them.

What kind of fabric should I choose?
Natural fibres are best, cotton is recommended. Always pre-wash your fabric, and try to choose a fabric that does not wrinkle easily - once the plastic is sewn on, ironing is not an option.

Where can I get a pattern for these wraps?
Make it yourself! Experiment with different shapes to see what works best for you. Try elongating the basic octogon to fit longer sandwiches like pitta bread wraps or subs.

What if I don't have any velcro?
Put a vertical buttonhole into the tab, and sew three buttons onto the wrap where the velcro would have been, to allow for different sized food.

Birthdays and Blessings

My baby turned 19 yesterday! She left early, 4 hours of travel total as usual to and from uni, then came home for a family birthday dinner. And why not try to eat an icecream cake* with chopsticks?
Laughter, gifts, conversation, food, candles, peace.

And she gave me the best gift of all: her big, giving, compassionate, serving, birthday heart decided that she wanted to clean up the kitchen at the end of the evening...words cannot express what that means to me. I felt ill and couldn't do it, had to go to bed knowing that I'd need to tackle the mess in the morning, but having so many other things to do this would have made the next day very stressful.
Ess, remind me in a week or two to tell you just what I did today that made your gift so amazing - I can't tell you just yet, but really want to let you know how inspired you were.


* Icecream cake recipe:
Base
A yummy cookie recipe, basic butter bikkies made with freshly ground biodynamic wheat. We added chopped nuts to the mixture just before baking.
Icecream
Frozen banana, nectarine, mango and blueberries, all whizzed up till smooth and creamy.
Topping
Crushed cashews, peacans and almonds mixed with rapadura and a bit of butter, baked till just going brown.

Another school year begins

Tomorrow it starts....the beginning of a brand new school year. The last one that this century will be less than a decade old. Three children at school, one beginning university.

I aim to be more organised this year with school lunches. I have cake and slices in the freezer, fresh fruit waiting to be packed, and home made plastic lined fabric wraps to put the food in. Trying to avoid plastic as much as possible, but I'm not ready to make the break just yet. Inspired by Julie at Towards Sustainability I have made little drawstring bags and those lovely plastic lined sandwich wraps which J (year 5) calls 'nappies'. Ahem...can I ever look at them the same way again?!
Hopefully there will be some photos of these baggies to show you when a) I get organised enough to take some, and b) I find out which of the styles I have made actually turn out to be practically useful in every day real life situations.

Summer Holidays

7 Layer Dip - The Taste of Summer!

This recipe is very simple, very healthy, and I find that most people love it and many ask for the recipe after trying it. Variations of it abound: you can mash the beans or leave them whole, use whatever ingredients you have on hand as long as you stick with the salsa / sour cream / cheese mix. Big thanks to my dear friend BB for introducing me to this dish some years ago.


1 large tin of red kidney beans, drained - spread in base of pie dish

1 jar mild salsa (or hot if you prefer) - mix about 3/4 of the jar with the beans

Sour cream - spread a few generous dollops evenly over the salsa/beans

optional: 1 avocado - mash, spread over beans and salsa

Diced veggies of your choice - this bit takes the longest.

I used capsicum (red and green), tomato, lebanese cucumber, grated carrot. Use whatever veggies your family likes.

Top the lot with grated tasty cheese, serve with corn chips.




At the beach near dusk.




My breakfast on New Year's Day: lentil sprouts with fresh mango and fruit and nut gorp. Absolutely delicious.

Spiced nuts:

2 cups mixed raw nuts
3/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 cup dried fruit
1/2 - 1 cup unsweetened carob pieces
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon cold pressed olive oil
1 teaspoon good salt (vegetable salt works well)

Toss the oil through the nuts until they are well coated. Toss again to coat with the garam masala and the salt. Bake in a moderate oven until the nuts are lightly golden, allow to cool. Mix in the dried fruit and carob pieces. Dare yourself to eat just one handful :)


A panoramic shot of the beach, a lovely sheltered cove.



Ess made this wonderful meal from her Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food cookbook (highly recommended), with couscous, chickpeas, and sheep milk yogurt.
Do give Jamie's site a visit - he is doing a marvellous work and is even giving confidence to people like me who are generally completely tone deaf in a kitchen sense.

Merry Christmas 2008!

A bit late, but yes, we did have a wonderful Christmas. Lots of homemade gifts, much giving of self, and a few shop gifts. Amazingly enough excitement was still high even though there weren't enough presents to fill the sacks this year! How wonderful, I'm thrilled we were finally successful at having a simple and frugal Christmas.

End of year 5 primary school class celebration, and my dear boy was proud as punch to bring this platter for his contribution to the party food:


How can a poor packet of chips or bowl of lollies compare, I ask you?

Ordinary days are the best kind.

Bread rolls made from 100% freshly ground biodynamic organic wheat. They were delicious, and as light and fluffy as wholewheat has a right to be. How I wish they would turn out like this every time! Garlic butter goes beautifully with these, nice and warm from the oven.



Book covers: a great gift idea, and really good for protecting the book you're reading while it's being jostled around from place to place. These covers were padded with an old woolen blanket (except the middle one, that one uses ordinary synthetic wadding)





My new rag bag. The inspiration for this came from Jewells, at Eyes of Wonder, based on her clothes peg bag. I'd like to do another one with proper set in sleeves, with a more prairie dress look to it.





Some ocean scenes from Port Elliot in South Australia. I love SA; it has a character all its own that I miss. Different in so many subtle ways from NSW, though each has its own charm. SA has the distinction of being the place that nurtured me from birth to maturity, so there are memories woven into the very fabric of the place which are a comfort somehow.



A scene I love that is within walking distance from where I live.

Sprouting Shelf

Here is my sprouting set up. Small jars work best for us, as we don't go through very much of any one particular sprout very quickly. I like them when they are nice and small, seem to taste better that way. Who could have guessed that a girl who used to love weetbix, sugar and milk would one day prefer a bowl of lentil and mung bean sprouts with fresh raw almond milk!