On Friday 4/4/14, I visited El Inka for lunch, I went with a couple of my friends. A few days ago I was telling them about the assignment to go to a restaurant of another culture and one of my friends, Lucia, immediately recommended El Inka. El Inka is a Peruvian restaurant, the only one in Michigan actually. Lucia is from Peru and told me all about the cuisine before we went, it sounded really good so I was pretty excited! The restaurant was small inside and the atmosphere was cool, it definitely spoke Peru! I was slightly taken aback by the menu because all of the headings were in Spanish so I was confused but Lucia and the waitress were helpful. Unfortunately, with it being Lent and I went on a Friday, I could not eat anything that had meat in it, so this limited my choices even more... I ended up deciding to order the papa a la huancaina, which was sliced steamed potatoes topped with huancaina cream, egg and an olive. I love trying new foods and drinks, however I don't always enjoy what I try, that was the case at El Inka. The food was prepared great and the prices were reasonable, but I do not think Peruvian food is for me. I enjoy spice and the dish I ordered definitely had a kick which was nice, but it was also very salty which I didn't care for.
Overall, I did really enjoy my experience at El Inka, the owners have done a nice job with this restaurant. The owners ordered a rotisserie oven from Peru to specially cook their chicken, this ended up costing the family $18,000 because of shipping and delays!! Also, they offer Inka Kola, which is a banana cream soda, and I was excited to try this drink but they did not have any when I went... :( I might have to go back just to check that out!
We have learned a lot about the food industry in ENGL 1100 and how it influences our society in so many different ways. We have read about and discussed the meat packing industry, the fast food industry, the life of farmers and consumers, the cultural impact food can have, and the influence of food on our economy. The Kalamazoo Public Library event that I attended was about organic farmers and one of the main points to that event was about buying local produce and getting out to the farmers market. After this event I really felt the urge to go out to the first farmers market that opens this season and I cannot wait to do so. With this in mind while searching for satires about food I stumbled upon a great article called 27 Reasons to Avoid Farmers Markets by Valerie Comer. In this article she gives twenty-seven statements about food that, if agreed with, will make you never want to venture out to a farmers market. Thankfully, I do NOT agree with any of the statements she provides however I do find them to be quite entertaining!
Here is a couple of my favorite statements:
#3. I love factory-farmed meat, dairy, and eggs. All animals belong in little boxes.
#4. I love eating chemicals and pesticides. After all, if this stuff preserves food, it will preserve me, too. Won't it?
#8. I like being ignored by my growers. Why would I want better service and people paying attention to my needs? Someone trying to understand makes me uncomfortable.
#10. I love paying the middleman. Why should farmers get actual wages when we could support commodity traders instead?
#13. I adore excessive packaging. If I didn't have so much plastic to get rid of, how would I ever fill my garbage bins?
#18. I love being at the mercy of chain supermarkets, because I know they have my best interests at heart.
#25. I want to suffer from fun things like cancer, heart disease or diabetes. Maybe I'll get to die young.
and finally,
#27. I don't approve of seasons. Food is dumb if it can't figure out how to be grown 12 months of the year on all 6 continents. And in Antarctica, come to think of it.
HA! Well as you can see I found quite a few of the statements quite enjoyable....! Honestly, I really hope no one would agree with anything in this article, it would be seriously ignorant, but I would not be surprised if some people do. I mean, in reality, even though the way these statements are written in a way to make them sound ridiculous they make a great point, by choosing processed and factory produced food over organic and locally grown food we are kind of agreeing with the absurdity of these statements, right?
The overall ethical standpoint on how large companies produce food is never positive, it is horrible to think of innocent animals being locked up in cages just to get fat and then butchered so we can eat them, #3 in the article makes that point clearly.
#4 and #25 go hand in hand, of course food with preservatives will not preserve us, in fact they do the opposite. Always eating preservatives in food is terrible for our bodies.
The best part about having local farmers and an interactive community is that everyones interests are taken into account. Just like the farmers need our support, they are here to support us! I mean why would someone put all of their time and money into producing delicious and healthy food for their community if they did not care about the people buying their products, it just doesn't make sense. On the other hand, these large, food producing companies do not have the consumer in mind, it is all about money. #8 and #18 make this point pretty clear.
The final statement, #27, is just hilarious to me! The world is not meant to work perfectly, nothing is, but some people really do believe that they should be able to have whatever they want whenever they want it and this is just simple ignorance.
I believe, the whole point of this article is to snap people back into reality. So many people are so consumed by their daily lives and lifestyles that it doesn't occur to them that little things, like frequenting Walmart, can impact our world in such a drastic way. It is easy to do things the quick and simple way, save money, and make a quick meal, when in the long run it can severely damage our environment, economy, and overall societal values.
On Tuesday March 18, 2014 I attended the Oshtemo Branch Library for the discussion The Farming Life a farmers perspective with Sarah Lee. I found this to be extremely interesting given everything we have discussed in this course to date. The discussion was with three female organic farmers from the area. The first woman was Heather Colburn who owns Elderfire Farm in Dowling Michigan. Heather explained that she was inspired by her grandmother, whom had grown up on a farm. Her inspiration continues with her children who, as she explained, started enjoying healthy organic food at a young age.
The second woman was Laurie Arboreal who owns Eaters Guild Farm in Bangor, Michigan. Laurie's inspiration started at a young age when she realized how much she loved to cook, her mother did not care for cooking rather she would clean, so they made a great team in the kitchen! Laurie met her husband and joined him on an internship in agriculture which finally led them to starting their farm. Laurie grew up with a nice garden and continues that lifestyle now with her large vegetable farm, including a large herd of goats. She realizes the importance of raising a family with healthy eating habits ands would like to continue that for her daughter!
The third woman was Shauna, owner of Blue Dog Family Farm located in Bangor, Michigan. Shauna grew up on a dairy farm, which is much different from her current vegetable farm, and has kept the lifestyle going. Shaunas job on the farm includes preserving the food, the business work, keeping the children busy, and so much more that goes into being a farm wife.
All three of the farms offer CSA, community supported agriculture, shares which allow the community to help the farm. These shares are bought before the season in which they are wanted for and the money goes to the local farm, meanwhile the share holders receive a box of produce every week that is hand picked from the farm. This is a great opportunity for the community to get involved while helping out the local farmers!
One really interesting topic during the evening was about how organic farmers become certified. I personally had no previous knowledge about organic farming aside from the bits that were discussed earlier in ENGL 1100. I learned that a third party certifier comes in for inspection and grants the certification. Inspections take place once a year to ensure that the farm is still following the organic guidelines. As far as following the guidelines for chemical usage is concerned, a lot of record keeping must be done by the organic farmers, it is all about tracking such as back to the plants origin, when it was planted, transplanted, harvested, etc. Luckily, most organic farms do not need chemically enhanced soil or sprays because their soil is so rich in nutrients already!
Another interesting concept, trailing certification, was about how organic farmers nurture their soil. The three farmers explained that crop rotation is key, don't plant a leafy green plant after planting a different leafy green plant, there must be changes in what's planted in order to ensure the soils nutrients aren't becoming over used. Also, they explained that compost is hard to come by however it is necessary to keep the organic matter high, soil testing must be done to ensure the right compost is used.
We, especially those who read The Omnivore's Dilemma, learned a lot about the large commercial farms throughout the world. One big question for the local, organic farmers was how do they get around the commercial farmers who spray a lot of chemicals that cannot contaminate their land. They explained that there are buffer zones around the organic farms that cannot be farmed, however these zones ensure that the land they encompass is free from contamination. Also, they explained that if a farmer wants to switch to organic there is a three year transition period.
For the upcoming season the women explained what they are most looking forward to growing, Heather said she was really excited to grow melons however she is reconsidering now because of the lack of warm weather. Laurie is going to try a hot house approach to growing a tropical strain of mushrooms! Shauna said that she would really like to put together a baby kale salad mix.
The whole discussion that took place was really interesting, above I have just listed some of the topics that I found personally interesting, especially for this course. I definitely want to check out the farmers market around here this summer and try to find produce from the three local farms. I have never been big on organic foods, mostly because of the price, however I learned a lot about organic farming from this experience and I think I would like to try to incorporate more organic foods into my grocery list and diet!
One final note about the evening, a woman from the audience spoke up at one point to tell everyone about her farm, Tabitha Farm off of South Burdick street, because from May to November they provide a free farm stand with foods from local farms!
Well, the book Five Quarters of the Orange has really begun to twist around a lot! I have been so intrigued by this novel! I cannot seem to want to put it down, although I have had to discipline myself due to having a lot of other homework... Anyway, I would like to begin with the discussing the title of the book. Mirabelle Dartigen, Framboise's mother, was a very stern woman and did not show very much love toward her three children. Mirabelle suffered from very intense migraines throughout her adulthood and they worsened after her husband was killed in the war. These migraines seemed to stem from out of nowhere except she always smelled oranges before they came on... This was a strange occurrence for there were never any oranges around when she seemed to smell them! However, this worked to Framboise's advantage one day when she longed to venture into town with her siblings. Framboise really wanted to explore town and see a cinema and just have some fun with the siblings she had become so distant with over the past few years of them venturing off to college. She did not like that they had separate lives that she was not apart of, so when the opportunity to go to town with them arose she did everything she could to make it happen. Framboise had taken an orange and put it under the oven so its scent would fill the house and give her mother the feeling that a migraine was coming on. This had worked and Mirabelle had gone to bed early and slept into the day they wanted to go to town.
Now, the reason why Framboise had to change her name when she was an elderly woman going back to live in her hometown was because she was associated with the murder of a German soldier. This soldiers name was, Tomas Leibniz. His role in this book was as a soldier stationed in the town of Les Laveuses who had seen Framboise steal the orange that she used against her mother. After this had happened Tomas seeked out Framboise and had begun to get to know her. He used his manipulation skills to get information of out Framboise and her two siblings about the different people living in the town. Tomas would trade little items of value with the kids for information. However, this did not end well... Although his agenda did not have to do with that of the other stationed soldiers it still caused havoc among the town.
Overall, this book was really great and had my interest the whole time! I would really like to read other books written by Joanne Harris!! Also, if I didn't already mention in class, this book made me really hungry while I read it because there is so much written about food! Everything within the album that Mirabelle left for Framboise sounded delicious and I would really enjoy trying out some of the recipes that were described throughout the book!
So as you can see I switched books... I didn't initially want to because I had made it so far into The Physiology of Taste, however I now am very glad with my decision because although the other book was interesting, Five Quarters of the Orange is definitely a better choice for, not only the pace of this course but, keeping my interest for a long period of time.
Anyway, Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris is, so far, about a woman who has begun a new life back in her hometown owing a Crepe shop. She is hiding her identity from the townspeople because she does not want them to realize her relation to her deceased mother. The book hasn't gotten into much detail as of why except that her mothers reputation had been ruined. I know, from research, that her mother was to blame for the death of a German soldier, Tomas Leibniz, and this caused a lot of havoc among the town.
So as the main character, Framboise, aged she decided, especially after losing her husband, that she would return home and rebuild the house she once lived in. This took a lot of time because it had been abandoned however she made it work and eventually started the crepe shop.
When Framboise's mother passed away she was left with her album, which was basically a cookbook/diary. This album was full of her mothers recipes along with random tidbits of information about the recipes as well as very random pieces of information about her mother and her life. There were poems, words describing her current thoughts and atmosphere she was in, as well as thoughts about her family and previous life before kids.
Framboise was thought to be the favorite child of her mothers, she had one sister and a brother. Both her sister and brother had moved away after the death of their mother and the three siblings have very little contact, at least where I am in the book thus far. Except, however, Framboise's brother, Cassis, has recently spent time with her because his son and daughter in law are very keen on obtaining recipes from Framboise for their restaurant in Paris. Framboise is not a fan of this idea, only because she does not want the publicity, seeing as how she is hiding her identity and all.
The book just started to bring the title into it where I have recently stopped reading. I am very curious to continue to read because I would like to find out more about the background of the title, for it seems quite intriguing from what I just recently read. I will save that information, however, for my next blog when I, myself, have a better understanding of what is going on!
The Physiology of Taste is a book that was written in 1948 in France. I chose to read this book because it sounded interesting and I thought that from the sounds of the description my background in physiology would benefit me reading this book. So far that is accurate however I am sure that no scientific background would really be needed in reading this for the author explains what he is writing in great detail. The only difficult part of reading this book is the wording that is used and the sentence structure, this has been translated from French so I am not surprised that it is a bit of a challenge to read.
Anyway, the book begins with the author describing the senses that we all possess, he explains that there are six. When I first read this I was slightly confused because I only recall having five senses unless you count seeing dead people like from the movie The Sixth Sense... However, this is not what Brillat-Savarin was referring to when describing the sixth sense, he considered the senses to consist of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and genesic or physical love. In the beginning of this book he explains how the senses are the basis of how we live and how they play a huge role in every aspect of our lives. The reasoning for considering physical love one of the senses is because it is what brings us to the act of reproduction which is in turn how we continue a species to exist. The continuation of a species is the main goal of life on Earth.
In the second mediation, or chapter, the definition of taste is described. I would personally describe taste as being the sensation exhibited after ingesting something, I say "something" because it may not always be a type of food... However when it boils down to it, really what is food? Is it really anything we eat or is it only particles that benefit our bodies after digestion? I don't know the answer but I will not assume that food is anything that is put into our bodies. Anyway, according to Google the definition of taste is the sensation of flavor perceived in the mouth and throat on contact with a substance. Brillat-Savarin explains that taste is the one of our senses which places us in relation with sapid bodies by means of the sensation they produce in the organ destined to appreciate them.
The next few mediations refer to the origin of the sciences, the definition of appetite, on food in general, and special kinds of food. From these last mediations the most informative piece of information I thought for this blog would be about the explanation of food in the mediation about food in general. I already said that I was not sure what "food" really is however Brillat-Savarin explains that the popular answer is that food is everything that nourishes us. He further examines the scientific answer which is: we understand by food the substances which, submitted to the stomach, can be assimilated by digestion, and repair the losses which the human body suffers by the wear and tear of life.
Ohhh the Hunger Games... This book is full of adventure, friendship, hate, and most of all survival. We are taken along for the journey of Katniss Everdeen's experience with the Hunger Games and through her eyes we are learning of her experiences with all that is changing every so quickly in her life. Katniss volunteered as tribute in place of her sister, Primrose, because she could not bear allowing Prim to take part in the games. This, in the beginning, shows a lot about Katniss's character, she is a very caring individual of the people close to her. However there are not many people that Katniss is close with, really it is only her sister and best friend, Gale. She has her guard up with most people because the life she has lived made her callused and standoff-ish. However once Katniss becomes close with anyone she shows the truest sincerity in her actions and it is obvious that her friendship would be a great one to have. After the reaping Katniss and Peeta are taken away that day, straight to the capitol to begin the festivities of the Games. This would be hard for anyone who had to endure this experience but it is especially difficult for Katniss because she fears what will become of her family.
Once the games began Katniss continues to show her independence in the way she proceeds with her own survival. However, she becomes very close with another tribute, Rue, from district 11. Rue and Katniss converse about their own districts and learn a lot about one another. In district 11 the main job is crop picking, Rue explains that they are not allowed to eat anything they pick for they will be publicly beaten. This reminds me a lot of slavery and how many migrant workers are treated. Also, another aspect of Rue's life that reminds me of the migrant workers around the world today is that during the harvest season residents of District 11 are not allowed to go to school. They spend the entirety of the harvest season working and lose many of the opportunities that they could have if they attend school. Throughout this period of the games Katniss and Rue develop a comforting friendship, but it is quickly ended when Rue gets killed by other tributes. This really affects Katniss and she deals with the pain by giving Rue a proper 'funeral' by placing flowers around her body and taking the time to care for her. This also shows a lot about Katniss, the fact that she is taking the time during a dangerous situation to care for a newly made friend demonstrates that Katniss truly is a caring individual even though the front she puts up seems so tough and selfish in a way.
