A Reflection on Earthy Things

The website for that carrot cardamom soup I mentioned a while back is http://www.nibblous.com/recipe/269. Sorry I can't provide an American translation. Yummy in my tummy! Go ahead, throw in any strange root vegetables you want.

Some of you may recall that Darren was recently away for work in SF for 10 days. This was, for at least 5 days, not fun for me, I had predicted it wouldn't be fun in advance, and consequently had planned to steal off for a couple nights myself after D got back. This I did simply by going to cheap (for England) hotel at Hyde Park. That Park is fabulous--with a lake, lots of greenery, lots of happy dogs. It was a fun little getaway because I took it easy, read bits, sipped tea and coffee, ate a tofu noodle dish at Wagama's after having been mislead in that direction by a excitement inducing shop sign reading "Tofu" (it was a clothing boutique), watched a movie, and went for a short run.

Apparently while I was there the park did experience "Le Stink" though I missed it. (Is anyone like me? I always want to share the interesting things I read about in the newspaper.) There was a terrible smell wafting over the southeast of England on Friday due to the accumulation of smell from German diesel engines, Belgian chocolate factories, and Dutch pig farms. It had accumulated for a while over in northern Europe and then been moved on by strong winds. So sorry to say I missed the smells even though I was in Hyde Park where it was reportedly experienced.

While on my outings around Hyde Park I made a much anticipated trip to the new Whole Foods here. I was longing for those bins of bulk foods, for instance the black beans I like to cook up with a head of garlic. However, I came out depressed. It seemed as though they were competing with Harrod's on the first floor with the utmost decadence--beautiful foods and bread displayed in enormous stacks in the entrance area. Fabulous exotic chocolates in shiny plastic containers. An amazing food buffet. And I was depressed. I feel this may be a step in the right direction for a few who shop high end and therefore are getting an education on the value of organic food to the body, land, and peoples of the earth but I felt it was also a way to turn on the appetites of the average man and by displaying the words organic (and local in a few areas) keep the river of indulgent non-local food coming via high fuel-consuming travel methods and in high-fuel consuming packaging. It felt way to glamorous. Our food comes from dirt that we like to diminish and I feel that too much of this facade is misleading. It leads us to gluttony, poor health, and a loss of our connection to creation and our place in it. Anyone ever read the book Dominion: the Cruelty of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and a Call to Mercy? Well, I think I need to get back to where I left off.

Speaking of food (and yes my rant goes on...) this is an excerpt from my friend Jennifer's email which I just love. Her excerpt (and yes, watch "The Future of Food", it is very good):

This reminded me of the documentary, "The Future of Food". This is the description from Netlfix...."Before compiling your next grocery list, you might want to watch this eye-opening documentary, which sheds light on a shadowy relationship between agriculture, big business and government. By examining the effects of biotechnology on the nation's smallest farmers, director Deborah Koons Garcia reveals the unappetizing truth about genetically modified foods: You could unknowingly be serving them for dinner." It totally freaked me out. The ones story that stuck with me was also referenced in Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". A small farmer in Saskatchewan Canada had spent 30 years farming wheat and creating his own seed storage so he did not have to buy seed each year. To make a long story short the Canadian courts ruled that he had to destroy all of his seeds. Why? Because a neighbor's wheat had blown out of his truck into the farmer's field and sprouted up here and there. Why does this matter? Because the second man's wheat came from genetically modified seeds and the company that sold him that seed argued that the first farmer should not profit off wheat that he did not buy.  Now farmers are basically being forced to buy seeds from huge companies, huge companies that genetically modify their seeds so they only respond to the fertilizer and pest-killers that the huge company also productes.  Big business freak me out, mostly because I don't think they really care about me, they just care about making money. I hear company slogans, see the commercials, listen to the CEO (who earns millions each year) telling me they want what is best for me but honestly, do you think they care about me or their money? The government and big business share a very comfortable bed together and I don't think they will ever part. Point in case, WalMart is paid money to build their money sucking stores then drive out the small stores which offer better quality, better service and better product diversity. I am that small business in this world, I have an un-glamourous job and make very little (don't get me wrong, I love my job).