homemade blackberry marmalade

I have been so bad with blogging. Gosh. I can’t even recap all the wonderful things that have happened in just a week. I will start with this recipe that I am enjoying right now. Talking about writing and eating. When I took a class on the environment and media, discussing food issues we read Pollan (of course) and Wendell Berry who once said, “Eating is a political act.” Anyway, as they were writing about the French paradox of eating foie gras, I would find myself eating exactly that foie gras. It helped that at the time I was in Italy and one of my mom’s friends from France had brought us some foie gras. The point is that you should really try to read about food and eat that food. It’s an experience that connects you even more to food.

Blackberry Marmalade

I don’t know the difference among jelly, marmalade, preservative and jam. In Italy we really just have one “Marmellata.” Again, this is just of the many examples of American food culture: processing food for marketable reasons and food obsessions. I must say I have gotten obsessed with the all healthy food and diet. What Pollan describes as the obsession of Americans to eat healthy and yet we are not, I had totally embraced it, unfortunately through Pollan and reading other scholars like Marion Nestle. Of course it is not their fault. It is the way I absorb their information that made me obsessed. Fortunately my friends told me to slow down and enjoy food again. So I am more into the slow food movement- Stop thinking about food- enjoy it.

Anyway, going back to my homemade recipe

a package of organic blackberries

one full tablespoon of sugar cane

one big spoon of agave

1/2 cup orange juice

All you need to do is put everything in a skillet on medium (for 2 minutes) and then low heat for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is soft and caramelized. If you don’t like the chunky fruit, use the mixer to smash it. I use this fruit sauce when it is warm on top of vanilla ice cream, or when cold on wheat bread. 

How to survive misleading green advertising

I am writing this entry purposely for my students. I am teaching a class on environmental media and this week we have discussed how companies mislead us in buying something that is not really “natural” or “green.” I felt very bad today, because some of my students are actually changing their habits and when they showed up with an egg carton labeled ‘natural’ I had to tell them that there was really nothing natural about those eggs. This is frustrating for somebody who wants to change because we feel we cannot make a difference. I remember when I started getting into green stuff and I was determined to be conscious. So after extensively reading Pollan, Nestle, Wendell Berry, etc. I went to the grocery store Earth Fare and then Publix. I was with Shawn. For each item we had a conversation from 5-10 minutes on whether it was the ‘right’ choice to make. I mean we ended up getting in heated arguments over everything: from eggs to chocolate, to toilet paper. There was also the money factor. Do I spend $5 for something that I can get for $2. Moral of the story? We ended up buying maybe 10 items. I was so frustrating that I stopped buying, consuming, which is totally what green marketing is not about. As a consumer I was supposed to buy or give up and buy more.

I yet have to find a solution to my shopping habits – One solution has been to have my own organic garden. It provides control. I believe consumers want control, just not empowerment, but feel in control of their destiny. For me it was having my own garden because it allows me to control production, distribution and consumption of what I eat. Of course, I cannot produce toilet paper, pens, chocolate, etc. And of course there are times when I buy the conventional product because of convenience or money. We are not perfect, but we can take small steps.

Here few things everyone can do:

Buy Organics (USDA controls organic farming so you know that usda certified organic is real organic) USDA Organic food labeling

Organic certifications are expensive so you might still have businesses that are organic but just cannot label – Shop locally and ask questions. It’s your right to ask questions.

Read the labels- if a product lists for ingredients things you can hardly pronounce than that product is not really “natural.”

To identify GMOs products: Organic products code number start with a 9; GMOs usually start with a 4 or 3. So if the code is anything but 9, then it’s probably GMO.

Greenwise section at Publix for meat is not GMOs free (they don’t claim to be and when I asked they could not provide a definite answer, but they do not use hormones.

Cook your own meals. Stop eating out, or buying those frozen pizzas or dinner. Prioritize your life. Make it fun. For example Publix sells pizza dough. It literally only takes 20 minutes to prepare a pizza. It takes Dominos’ 45 minutes to deliver a pizza and it’s more expensive. Also cooking at home saves money. A lot of money.

Make cooking a fun habit like shopping for shoes. Cooking is enjoyable.

You might think eating healthy is expensive. That depends. Ask yourself how much food you waste by getting that “buying one get another free.” You are wasting time, food and money. You could help decrease hunger with that salad that sat on your refrigerator for a month because you got it for free. Eat less, but well. You really don’t need that extra soda or extra free burger. You don’t. Your belly does not either.  It is that easy.

Pollan provides rules to follow when planning a meal on the Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). Check it out it’s on page 392.

Are natural products natural? Most likely not. According to the USDA, ”

1. Are natural and organic foods the same?

No. The term “natural” is not regulated except for meat and poultry. It applies

broadly to foods that are minimally processed and free of synthetic

preservatives; artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and other artificial additives;

hydrogenated oils; stabilizers; and emulsifiers. Most foods labeled

natural are not subject to government controls beyond the regulations and

heath codes that apply to all foods” (“Natural and Organic Food,” 2011)