Choose, But Choose Wisely.

I read a great response by Evan Kleiman on KCRW Good Food blog to the question "What does it mean to write about food today."  "I would say that food writing today is an intellectual and emotional funnel to some of the most fundamental issues of our time."  Beautiful.  It's so true.  Eating is so much more then the basic function.  Our emotions our completely wrapped up in food along with relationships, memories, traditions, etc.  It is a part of how we express our humanity.  There's nothing better then getting together with friends and family and sharing a meal and stories and making memories.  No get together is really complete without eating, if you think about it.  This is why it's so important to really treasure this experience.  We need to understand what goes into putting that food on our plate.  The resources used, the people who planted the vegetables that we now enjoy, or, for many, the animal who endured a life of only pain and suffering, then robbed of it's short life to bring it's flesh to your plate for your enjoyment.  Enjoyment.  Your rejoicing in an unsustainable, wasteful industry consumed with misery.  When you're ingesting that flesh, you are inviting all of those emotions and cruelty inside you.  So next time you sit down to a meal, think of your intention.  Don't you want to enrich your life by feasting on delicious food that will provide you with essential nutrients?  We do have a choice.  "Choosing the default today with the knowledge we have of the general unsustainability of current food systems is almost an amoral choice."  It's not almost.  It is.  Connect the dots.  All your choices really connect to the greater whole.  "Whether that whole is sustainable and delicious or horrifying and degenerative is a choice."

My favorite part of her break down:
"Different Expressions of the Discipline

Yummyness vs. Yuckiness
Cooking Food vs. Buying Food
Health vs. Ilness
Life or Death?  Connection vs. Disconnection?
Participating in a Huge Chain of Injustice vs. Sleeping at Night?"

I choose to sleep at night with a clean conscience and a healthy, strong body.

Read the whole article: here

Now for another sustainable, delicious meal to keep you warm on these cold days.  (High of 4 degrees today...jeez.)  There's nothing better than a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter's day.  I love Isa's Bistro Broccoli Chowder from Appetite for Reduction.  (Yes, I'm completely addicted to this cookbook right now, if you didn't notice.)  The addition of potatoes and parsnips to thicken this soup is great!  And for 150 calories a serving, have at it!

Bistro Broccoli Chowder
 Serves 6

1 medium-size onion, diced small
4 cloves garlic (I double mine, of course)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch chunks (don't peel)
1/2 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into slightly less than 1/2 inch chunks
5 cups chopped broccoli, the stalks chopped into thin slices, the tops cut into small florets
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Preheat a 4-quart pot over medium heat.  Saute the onion in the olive oil for 5 to 7 minutes, until softened.  Add the garlic, rosemary, pepper, and salt and cook for a minute more.  Pour in the vegetable broth and add the potatoes and parsnips.  cover and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, lowe the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the broccoli and cook for 20 more minutes.

Add the almond milk and heat through.  Use an immersion blender to blend about half the soup, keeping it a bit chunky.  If you do't have an immersion blender (get one!), then transfer about half of the soup to a blender and puree, then add it back to the soup.  If you're using a blender, be careful not to let the steam build up while you blend.  Taste for satl and seasoning.  Serve!

Calories: 150, Calories from fat: 10, Total fat: 1.5g, Saturated fat: 0g, Trans fat: 0g, Total carb: 30g, Fiber: 7g, Sugars: 6g, Protein: 7g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 600mg, Vitamin A: 10%, Vitmain C: 150%, Calcium: 8%, Iron: 10%