Favorite Recipe? Without a doubt Lamb and Cabbage+veggies

I honestly can't say too much about this recipe because its basically just something my mom cooked up for St. Patrick's day and continued to do so ever since I was in Middle School. Its a healthy meal, a hot meal, and VERY tasty. Mouthwatering and easy to chew as well.
Its always been my favorite holiday meal because its simple and easy to make so it doesn't create a lot of fuss around the house when its being made. Since St. Patrick's day is not a very big holiday for my family and the dinner is just about the only way we celebrate it. My family on my mother's side has a lineage in Ireland and so my mom likes to go on about that nonsense but mostly I'm just concerned about eating a good dinner.

You can find the basics of this meal here:
http://glugleglutenfree.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/crockpot-lamb-and-cabbage/

This page is set up in the style of a blog post by a random mother who enjoys cooking this meal for St. Patrick's day just like my own mum. Her thought processes make me think of my own mom so much I laughed to myself when reading it. Anyways, I hope somebody reads and enjoys it as much as I did.

That's pretty much all I've got for this post. I had a fun and easy quarter with this Food Libraries class and thanks to the prof for mediating it. ;D

Poutine

Lindsey Crawford

Library 201

31 May 2010

Final Blog

Poutine: an upstate NY and Northeastern Canadian favorite side dish, sometimes served as a meal.

Ingredients (these are subject to change based on personal preference): Frozen (or homemade) french fries, 2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (the dish traditionally calls for cheese curds but you can use any cheese you like), 1 packet of turkey gravy mix (you can use the jar gravy, homemade or brown, it’s all about preference).

Cooking directions: preheat oven for frozen french fries. Then cook fries as directed. While fries are cooking, shred cheddar cheese. About 5 minutes before fries are done, whip up packet of gravy mix. When fries are completely cooked, pull them out of the oven. Then, put fries into a class cooking dish, top with cheese and then pour gravy on top. Afterwards, put the glass baking dish into the oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Voila! Eat delicious dish!

Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole

Choosing my favorite recipe would mean sharing my apple pie recipe and I have a few secret ingredients that I use; needless to say I'm not going to share that one. But I will share this one, which is pretty good if I do say so myself. I don't cook very much because my boyfriend loves cooking. When I do cook it is for the two of us and he has celiac, which means he can't eat gluten. This breakfast casserole is good even for dinner.

3 large potatoes

1lb Breakfast Sausage

7 eggs

8 oz. Cheddar Cheese

Butter

Prep:

Peel potatoes (can leave skin on)

Preheat the oven to 375.

Spray or butter 8x8 pan.

1. Remove the sausage from the casing and brown slightly. It doesn't need to be fully done because it will be going into the oven.
2. Slice the potatoes into thin slices. It is okay to leave the skin on, but many opt to peel them.
3. Lay one layer of breakfast potatoes, about the amount of one potato. Add a layer of sausage, cover with more potatoes, then add a final layer of sausage and potatoes.
4. Mix up the eggs. Feel free to add milk if you want, but it is not needed if you beat the eggs well.
5. Cover the casserole with the eggs. Jostle the pan to make sure that the egg gets into all of the layers. Cover with the cheese.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are done. Enjoy!

Recipe

This isn’t my favorite recipe (I could never choose), but one that I would definitely recommend for anyone who is interested in trying a Filipino dish. I mentioned helping my friend make lumpia growing up in a previous post, they are pretty standard. I don’t know the exact recipe, but this one that I found is close (Shanghai style). Of course you could substitute a lot of the veggies with anything you like (carrots, cilantro, green onion, celery, etc). There are tons of variation recipes online. And as a caution, it can be a tedious job rolling them, but well worth the effort. Enjoy!

Recipe: Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Spring Rolls filled with Pork)
Makes about 50 lumpia/spring rolls

Ingredients:

-1 package Lumpia wrappers (25 sheets); Chinese or Vietnamese spring roll wrappers meant for frying can be substituted.
-2 pounds ground pork
-5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
-1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:
-Using a serrated knife, cut the square lumpia wrappers in half so that you have two stacks of rectangular wrappers. Place a damp paper towel over the wrappers to keep them from drying out as you work.
-Combine the pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, eggs, and black pepper in a large bowl. Using your hands, or a rubber spatula, mix the filling well so that the seasonings are evenly distributed.
-Place one of the rectangular wrappers vertically on your work surface with the short edge facing you. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling on the wrapper about half an inch from the edge closest to you. Grasp the bottom edge of the wrapper and roll it up and over the filling, continuing to roll until 2 inches of wrapper remain.
-Dip two fingers into a bowl of water then moisten the last 2 inches of wrapper with your fingers. Finish rolling the lumpia then rest them on their seam. Continue rolling with the rest of the filling and lumpia wrappers.
-At this point, you can freeze your rolled lumpia if you wish by placing them in freezer bags and then into your freezer.
-To cook the lumpia, fill a large frying pan with about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Gently place the lumpia into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes total (if frying frozen lumpia, it will take 1 to 2 minutes longer).
-Place the fried lumpia on paper towels and serve immediately with sweet and sour sauce (bottled from the store is fine).
(Note: You can also add finely minced raw shrimp to the pork mixture if you’d like. Also, instead of ground pork, you can use ground beef, or even ground turkey)

BLog #7 LikeS legitiMate looking weBsite

1. Monsanto
- The author is a large corporation.
- The author posts this information to satisfy investors.
- The author's inherent bias is its company's personal growth.
- Information is current as the copyright is 2010.
- Intended audience is investors, future employees, journalists, and anybody who wants information on Monsanto.
- You can contact the author(s) by submitting a message for queue.
- The design is clear and suspiciously easy to use.

2. GMOs - Scitable
- I don't know, dude! The Nature Publishing Group? Who are they?
- To better educate anyone and everyone about genetically modified organisms.
- It doesn't really have one bias because its a site that publishes journals which are biased by their specific author, not the owners of the website.
- The information is as current as the journal entry you are reading is dated.
- The intended audience is anyone who wants to learn about GMOs - probably more scientists.
- Yes, they have a customer service system similar to that of Monsanto where you submit a message for queue.
- This design is not as easy to use as Monsanto because there are pictures and picture-links everywhere on the pages that makes it rather confusing - its hard to tell what is a link and what isn't before you hover the mouse over it.

3. SAY NO TO GMOs
- "Different color schemes will help you can find your way around this complex site more easily." The author is obviously a high school sophomore in web design.
- To encourage grassroot movements against GMOs.
- The author inherently dislikes the idea of GMOs.
- The information on the site is aged from 2002 to 2010 - obviously an on-going class assignment.
- The information is intended for ANYONE and EVERYONE. Probably persons 12+years old.
- The site allows you to submit an email message through an on-site page.
- The design is very easy to use but does not look very good.


I feel that the Nature Publishing, Inc. site has the best information because all of its information is submitted by scientists who are producing research on genetics industriously. These people probably exclude as much bias *as possible* for the sake of showing results and data. The only room for bias probably exists in the room for error in the interpretation of data.

SAY NO TO GMOs is obviously the least authoritative of the sites because it has a poor layout, its a ".org" meaning organization, and it is collecting information solely for the purpose of convincing people that genetic modification is a bad thing IN EVERY WAY. It wants us to abandon the technology entirely and it won't stop until GMOs are banned worldwide.

I have no qualms about eating genetically modified foods because I don't feel that modifying the genetics of the food will increase the food's detrimental effects on my health. SAY NO TO GMOs listed pages saying that rats had trouble digesting Monsanto corn and that babies have trouble with GMOs - which is probably poorly interpreted data on a study that provides nothing but faulty statistics or the results are simply due to the organisms being studied not *naturally* being adapted to eating corn yet in the first place.

I believe that information is power and that all details about a food should be published for the consumer to be read before the purchase. I think that genetically modified foods should tell us that they are such because it would allow us to make educated buyer decisions. Do GMOs look tasty? Are they plumper? Are they just as nutritious? These are the things we should be able to compare WHILE WE ARE IN THE DAMNED STORE.

Bill Lambrecht. Dinner at the new Gene Café. New York : St. Martin's Press, c2001.

GMOs, hmm...

I am a senior and will be finishing my time at western in the next few weeks. For much of my time here I have used Ebsco because I can check the box for peer-reviewed material. I have found that many of my professor do not check the credibility of the article but I know as I enter the field people will be more apt to question my research. I felt that this assignment was useful as I will be doing more research outside the protection of Western Libraries databases.
When looking at the three articles presented for this weeks blog, I begun with Monsanto. Although it is presented in an easy to view and navigate, it also has a very large bias. It is promoting the biotechnology. If you are looking to find organization that support GMOs Monsanto will provide you with that information. As we discussed in class, very person as a bias; as a student it is important to understand that and to find information that both supports and questions your opinion. Say No to GMOs also has a bias, there is just the opposite of Monsanto. This site has no specific author but does seem to be updated month. It reminds me of Wikipedia -- although there is some credible information but you have to check the sources.
I believe that the nature.com information is the most trustworthy. Although there is no quick way to contact the author, information is presented by a respectable authority and is as recent as 2008.
My thoughts on GMOs are brief. I don't know much about them but I wish as a consumer there were easy to access information that is credible but also presents both sides of the argument. I try to watch what I put in my body but I find the things I shouldn't eat taste delicious. I maintain that moderation is the best.

"Pros and Cons of GMOs." Organic. Love To Kow, September 9, 2009. Web. 25 May 2010. .

Blog assignment #7

I read through the websites, not really sure what the next one would entail. When I finished reading through all three it seemed that two had the exact opposite information in it and one included each point of view. The purpose for posting the information on each site was pretty clear. The Monsanto site seemed focused on selling their product to farmers. Since there was a product involved it was clearly not going to address any negative side effects, even if they were aware of it's existence. Saynotogmo's was a site dedicated to educating Texans,a s well as the rest of society, sbout the dangers and effects of genetically engineering food. Nature.com, at first seemed to present the advancements and benefits of GMO's. Until I read further and realized it had information in support of and against GMO's.

I believe that the Scitable (Nature.com) site had the most reliable/authoritative information. It was the only site tha It included an author This site included references and links to other pertinent information.This site had credible information clearly posted. The second most credile site was 'Saynotogmo'. including reliable references and contact info, as well as being an organization. It was obviously biased, stating only the negative aspects of Genetically modifed organisms. Monsanto was, in my opinion, the least credible due to the fact that it's main purpose was the sale of a product. Monsanto was definitely the most biased, presenting GMO as the answer to the World's lack of food. I read absolutely nothing in this website that stated anything negative about gmo's, when there obviously are numerous concerns regarding this subject.

Until I began learning about genetically modifed foods in this course, the thought never crossed my mind that they couls be harmful. Actually I was oblivious to anything about this subject. I can't really say that I will stop eating any certain foods now that I am aware of this issue either. I do pay more attention to the things I buy, however my trips to the grocery store and the foods I buy have not changed. Maybe in the future, when I am not struggling to feed a family of six, I will be able to become pickier about my selections.

I cannot think of a reason that food shouldn't need to be labeled as containing genetically modified foods, when that is exactly what it contains. Consumers in America should be able to know exactly what it is they are buying.

McHughen, Alan "Pandora's picnic basket:the potential and hazards of Genetically Modified Foods" Oxford, New York: Oxford University; Press 2010

GMOs

I thought that this assignment, as well as the corresponding in-class assignment, was very interesting and a learning experience for me regarding reliable sources. As a psychology major, I typically cite only peer-reviewed journal articles in my work. That is what we are taught to do, so I do not have much experience with other types of sources and I did not know how reliable they are in comparison to one another, I just knew that “journal articles were the most reliable and everything else is less reliable”. As for the three websites given for this assignment, I thought that the most reliable is the GMO article on nature.com. The author of the article has credentials. Even though the journal does not appear to be an academic one, I would say that it is more reliable than the other two sources. As for the other two sources, I think that they are about even when it comes to reliability. I think that the “say no to GMOs” website is the next most reliable source because they do use reliable references, have contact information, and they are an organization. Even though I believe they have good intent, they are definitely biased. As for the Monsanto source, I believe they are least reliable. I believe that they are even more biased because they are selling a product. They are going to market their products by highlighting or even misconstruing certain information and neglect information that is against their products.

As for genetically modified food itself, I do not have any qualms particularly, but I am somewhat fearful. Along with my general stance on previous posts, I do not have the time or resources to go out of my way to avoid certain foods. They are not going to have an instant effect on my health, but I am worried that there will be future effects and am very put off by what I have learned in documentaries such as Food Inc. I think that our government sucks in a lot of ways. There are so many things hidden and it is unsettling. I believe that foods should have better labeling. I would like foods to be labeled if they are genetically modified, mercury content (for fish), where it was imported from, etc. As a consumer that would be ideal. I can make more educated decisions of what I would be eating and I know it probably makes me sound lazy and that I should actually do my own research. No one is going to basically hand me the information by putting it on a label, but I think that it is more than simple research because so much is hidden well. I wonder why the FDA refuses to label for GMOs. It is scary to think that the reason they do not label is because they think that consumers would purchase less that is genetically modified food and only look at the monetary loss they would incur.

“GM faces unfair regulation in Europe” New Scientist 201 (2009): 5. Print.

Thomas, Pat. “Before you eat it ask: Just how ‘safe’ is it?” Ecologist 38 (2008): 21. Print.

Food Inc.

I mentioned to one of my co-workers that I had to watch Food Inc. for this class, her reaction told me alot about what to expect. She actually said she couldn't even finish watching it. It was either THAT BAD, or what is that saying..ignorance in bliss. Anyway, I wasn't too excited about watching Food Inc., I have to say it didn't dissapoint me.

I have to admit that this movie/documentary informed me of things that I did not know. I mean I had heard of E coli, I actually cant ever bring myself to eat at Jack in the Box because I remember years ago there was an E coli incident there. In all my ignorant bliss I really believed that something must have been done to fix such a serious problem, especially with children getting hurt by it. I never realized the extent of uncaring and inhumane treatment.

I work in the Tribal side of ICW ( Indian Child Welfare) and CPS, so I understand and see inhumanity on a regualr basis. However, I did not know that it had an effect all the way down to things sich as the food we eat. I dont think I will EVER walking into a grocery store and look at Food the same way. I've always been somewhat leary of fast food, but with four kids there are those nights that McDonalds seems so much easier than cooking. Now I realize it doesn't matter, I am putting my kids at rick regardless! That is a scarey thought, on top of the other issues for young kids.

How could the World possibly come to this? I always thought of farmers as hard-working people who loved the land we live on. I believed Farmers were people who probably didn't make much money, but had good morals and believed in waht they did. I understand that they are out there, although the reach of corporations is amazing to me.How can there be people who have the control to make a serious impact on the food industry, but don't.They could maybe even Stop the awful treatment of animals as well as the workers they employ. They must have families, and even kids at home. I wonder how 'they' would feel if one of their children died from Ecoli or Salmonella?

The Food Matrix o.o

My first reaction to the movie Food Inc. was "HOLY SHIT! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TELLING THE CLASS ABOUT A COUPLE WEEKS AGO!" What I wanted to describe to the class was that there is clearly MASSIVE amounts of energy, land, and animal life being sacrificed to bring our entire country its meals. These sacrifices are on an extraordinary scale.
This view of mine is located in a previous blog entry I had posted.

What did I find the most moving about this documentary?
The lack of faces willing to represent the machine of our food system. Not a single representative from one of the four major corporations was willing to show their face for an interview. What does this translate to in the eyes of the public? What I think it should translate to is a lack of willingness to take responsibility. The "corporation" is not a faceless entity - there are human beings working in the corporation's buildings as well as in their farms.
Every human being in America should be held accountable for their actions and the CEOs of major corporations should be no different. Regardless of what people end up thinking of them, personally.
They should at least have the courage to look a camera in the *eye* and say "What I am doing is legal, therefore, you cannot tell me it is wrong."

The methods used for creating masses of corn and wheat and patenting it is... dare I say, monopolization? And the methods of feeding the livestalk [with corn] in pens, standing knee deep in cow pie, is definitely unsanitary.
Altogether, it seems these four major corporations have taken the soul out of farming and advertise as though it still exists.

So where is the good? For all evils, there must be a good to counteract it, right?
Organic. 'nuff said.
Well maybe not. The farmer who was interviewed about his non-expansive organic farming practices was, in my opinion, a farming philosopher. And he was obviously completely connected with the production of his foods - preparing them for sale, by hand, and ON CAMERA. He showed that food can be produced in the abundance that our country needs WITHOUT relying on all of the repulsive practices of our friendly mass production corporations.

The message of this documentary was made very clear - its all in our hands, at the end of the day.
I think its a film everyone should see.
It was a pretty cool story bro.


Kevin's Law - S. 5450, 60th Cong. (2007) (enacted)

Food Inc.

Lindsey Crawford

Library 201

10 May 2010

6^th Blog

Food Inc.

Food Inc. is a good flick. It is a combination of the Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation. The first time I saw it, via Netflix last year, I was outraged, disturbed and shaken. Seeing how livestock, namely chickens, pigs and cows were treated on corporate farms was eye opening. Even more eye opening though was the way workers were treated: just like the animals, disposable and cheap. I found the chicken farming to be sharecropping for the 21^st century. The farmer never gets ahead, just has to buy more and more infrastructure, take out more and more debt. Then on the flip side there is the grass farmer. His operation is clean, natural and the animals look happy. Yet, the reality check in all of this is that the small time grass farmer cannot feed the world unless he “scales up,” which by his own admission is not something he is willing to do because it will violate the integrity of his practice. So then this all begs the question? How can we feed the world and do so in a way that has integrity and is sustainable? Obviously the way we are doing things today has a lot of negative tradeoffs. More than 60% of the American population is either overweight or obese. Childhood diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. Families are out of touch with each other because they don’t eat meals together. And what are the positive of this scenario? Cheap food, via corporate welfare for starters. I’m not sure what to make of it all. I’m not sure how fair and accurate Food Inc. is either. I mean, the reason we overeat sugar, salt and high fat foods is because these things are rare in nature. When we eat foods that are jacked up with them we cannot help but indulge in the sensory overload and crave more. That is something that Food Inc did not address; that is something that is usually not addressed at all in these journalistic views on eating habits. Although, Pollan did do a good job of talking about the biological want for the convenience of fast food. So I’m not sure what I am trying to say here, except that food and food habits is an extremely complex issue, one that cannot be covered in a documentary. Food Inc. did a good job waking the public up, but I wish it took things further.

Strum, Roland, “Childhood Obesity — What We Can Learn From Existing Data on Societal Trends, Part 1” Jan 2005. PubMed Central. CDC. Web 10 May 2010.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1323315/?report=abstract

Employee Inc.

Food Inc. is such a compelling movie. I have watched it a couple times before and each time I walk away disgusted. It isn't simply the treatment of the animals but the treatment of the people. America -- in the international community -- presents itself as this country where those that want to can make something of themselves. Think of the American dream; someone who starts out with nothing, works hard and pulls themselves up by their boot-straps. Does that really happen anymore? Can the American dream be achieved with employment opportunities presented in Food Inc? Wikipedia says, "The average chicken farmer employed by multinational corporation such as Tyson makes about $18,000 a year. However in order to make company standards they have on average invested $300,000 per chicken house with continuing mandatory upgrades." If one of those chicken house were closed, a company could pay 7.5 employees $40,000 a year. Not to say that $40,000 is a truly livable wage but it would be an upgrade. In the Human Services program we talk about shopping your morals. In our culture money drives much of what we do, so where we shop truly can effect change. I personally refuse to shop at Walmart because of the way they choose to treat their employees. There are days were I know it would be easier go pick up some really cheap items there but I am willing to pay a little more to shop at a company that treats their employees properly. We've discussed before the idea of having connection to our food; this for me is another point where I can connect. I would much rather purchase something knowing that those people who have made it possible for me to buy are being compensated properly. 


United States. Rule and Regulations and Statements of Procedure. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002. Print.

Food Inc.

It is always difficult to watch documentaries like these because ignorance is bliss. Documentaries like Bowling for Columbine, Super size Me and The Cove . I am thankful for the light that is shed on the issues that they cover, but it is disheartening at the same time. I feel like I should do something to change my behaviors in an effort to correct the problem, but I know I will likely be going back to McD's or eating the next Tyson chicken in the next few months. Psychologically, it is difficult for humans to change behavior when the environment doesn't change. Humans can't make the change by themselves, the companies do. I would recommend watching The Cove. It takes place in Japan and it is about dolphins that are hunted for their meat and are sold to markets as whale meat. Not only are people getting ripped off because whale meat is worth more than dolphin meat, but the dolphin meat has high levels of Mercury. The general population is obviously unaware of this, the government is able to cover it up. The same thing may possibly be happening in the US since when it comes to fish regulations, there are next to none.

As for Food Inc, I think that it illustrates perfectly that food that we should be eating is more expensive and it's not just an excuse. The family where the husband had diabetes and the family could only afford his meds or healthier food. I mean, there are probably some ways that they could have changed their diet that would still make it healthier than fast food, but it is difficult and takes some research to really do that, especially for working families with children. Things like the food libel laws are complete BS like when they were trying to sue Oprah for saying she won't eat hamburgers when there's no way they can prove that is what caused burger sales to drop. It's totally backwards, we should be protected from them, not the other way around.

As I mentioned earlier, I am glad to have some knowledge of what is happening after watching documentaries such as Food Inc, at the same time it is disheartening and stressful because it is difficult to fathom a solution.

Maryland. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration. Genetic Engineering: Fast Forwarding to Future Foods. Rockville: MD, 1996. Web. 7 May 2010.

Farmer's market?

Yeah that thing that... 10-3 o'clock on a Saturday?...
[ ] Kitchen
[ ] Eating Utensils
[ ] Bowls or plates
[x] Means of transportation
[ ] Any form of spices
[x] Friends with kitchen
[ ] Friends with kitchen that isn't trashed and full of dirty dishes
[ ] Oh right, and money.



Kramer, Kyle T. "The Magic of the Market." America 201.10 (2009): 9. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 5 May 2010.

Finding a connection to my food...

Unfortunately, I missed class last week due to a work issue and therefore missed knowing exactly what they assignment was. However, I did go to the Farmer's Market because it is my Saturday morning ritual this time of year. The fruit stands are my favorite. I use them as my snack for the week -- I often get fresh veggies as well. By the end of the week, whatever is left over I make a fruit salad or I'll sugar and use for a desert topping.

I enjoy going not just for the food and other good sold but the sense of community it brings. We've been talking about being connected to our food and how hunting could bring about this feeling. I have to say talking to the vendors helps me make a connection with the food I eat. Hunting would cause me to disconnect because I would feel horrible about eating something with a face. The opposite happens with my fruits and veggies; when talking to those that have had experience with it. As I buy my produce I take pride in knowing that this is from my community. I get to share in the joy of harvest. 

Farmer's Market

Going to the grocery store with four kids is hectic, however trying to bring them all to an open market with lots of people and LOTS of places to hide, is down right nerve wracking. I can honestly say that I have never been to a Farmers market before, so it was a new experience for me. My two youngest children had a blast, it was fun for them to see all the people, stands and tents. When Nikyla and Kiana get excited it includes a whole lot of running around and screaming! As we attempted to walk through the Market, I noticed that the prices were more than I had expected them to be. Although, while I was looking at prices my kids were tasting things from various stands and picking out all the things they wanted to buy.



Since my kids all love fruit I figured I would buy some and make fruit salad for a Saturday afternoon snack. My older kids helped me pick out the fruit they wanted picking strawberries, grapes and raspberries. By this time my two older kids, Dominic, Mia and I were tired of chasing the girls around.Thus, we decided that our adventure at the Farmer's market was over. Needless to say, I was not able to conduct any type of conversation with stand owners.



After we left the Farmers Market, we stopped at the grocery store to get the rest of the ingredients for our fruit salad. Cool whip is an essential for fruit salad when it comes to my kids.We went home and the kids helped me put the fruit salad together, which was fun. The entire family sat down and enjoyed the fruit salad. This assignment made for an interesting and fun day for my kids and I.


Tiemann,Thomas K., "Grower-only Farmers' Markets:Public Spaces and Third Places" Journal of Popular Culture: Vol 41 Issue 3. p467-487: June 2008

Farmer's Market

Lindsey Crawford

Library 201

2 May 2010

5th Blog

Farmers Market

I love going to the farmer’s market. When I lived in Truckee, CA, going to the farmer’s market every Thursday at the Truckee Regional Park was one of the highlights of my week. It is how I met the owner of the Sierra Valley Organic Farm and ended up volunteering there last spring. That said, the farmer’s market here in Bellingham is also fun; however, the one over at the Public Market does not have as great of a selection as the one in Truckee. It doesn’t have as much choice and the produce is a bit pricey. I like the atmosphere, the kids running around, the chatter, but it is not the same. I feel like it almost has an elitist vibe to it. Talking to a couple of the sellers gave me that impression. Like when I asked one stand--who shall remain nameless to protect their identity--about their produce operations, I got an offended reaction, like I was the health inspector or something. Luckily, other people I talked to were much more accommodating. I got talking to one seller about lettuce for a while. He was telling me how another customer was cracking down on him because his greens were unwashed. I thought that was ridiculous. Greens last longer if they are not washed. And since they are all organic, the seller is not supposed to wash them. He seemed to take great pride in his farm practices, and that customer had really set him off. We had a good rant about it all though, about how corporate farms spray their greens with all kinds of chemicals and his are all natural, yet he gets complaints. We had a good gripe session.

At the market I bought some yummy tomatoes and basil. Then I went to the co-op and got some fresh mozzarella and made a delicious fresh salad with it all. OK, so I also added bacon to it, but everything tastes better with bacon. For dessert I had some kettle corn...mmm...kettle corn. All in all my trip to the farmer’s market was fun, informative and tasty, although I miss the one back in CA--I think I miss the people there more than anything.

Vora, Shivani, “A Virtual Farmer’s Market,” Inc. Apr 2010 Vol 32 Issue 3. Ecohost. Web. 2 May 2010 (107)

Farmer's Market

I live in Seattle, so I visited the farmer’s market in U district yesterday. I’ve never been, so I didn’t know what to expect. Before I went, I looked up a recipe to make. I checked out epicurious.com and I decided to make a mango bread pudding listed right on the main page since I was in a dessert mood. When I got to the market, I thought that it was pretty much how I had pictured it to be, just more crowded than I expected. I started looking at the vendors and going in some tents to search the produce and comparing prices. I found some things to be less expensive compared to how much they’d cost at the grocery store, but I think that for the most part it was more expensive. Also, it was probably a mistake to have looked up a recipe beforehand because I did not find one thing that I needed (besides eggs which I already had at home). I ended up buying some produce as well as a cinnamon roll to go. Afterwards, I went to the Safeway across the street to buy the ingredients for my mango bread pudding.

Going to the farmer’s market was a learning experience and I definitely had a few realizations. First, I remember when we visited the archive building and read the old documents. While reading through menus and cookbooks I wondered why certain recipes were delegated to certain seasons… because recipes were made when ingredients were in season! I enjoy being able to go to the grocery store to buy produce that may not in season or locally grown. Sometimes I may be craving something and I don’t feel like waiting until summer to eat it. Secondly, I realized that I consider grocery shopping to be an autonomous matter. I like to be able to be able to easily navigate a store, find what I need, and checkout (preferably u-scan). I like to go shopping with as little assistance as possible. I noticed at the farmer’s market that this was impossible. I probably sound really antisocial right now but I usually go shopping early in the morning or later at night, soon after I have woken up or before I go to sleep, I usually just feel scrubby and not in a very social mood. The market was also pretty packed which made me feel a little claustrophobic. Something else that I realized is that not only does growing your own produce or hunting your own meat make you become more connected to it, but shopping at places like the farmers market makes you become more connected to your food and also on a social level. Many vendors were friendly, offering samples and explaining how items were grown or processed. It was also a social experience with many groups of people walking around just talking. I believe that there are many other benefits that the farmer’s market has to offer that I didn’t mention such as purchasing local products and buying healthier choices.

After visiting the farmers market I realized some pros/cons of both the market and grocery store that I was unaware of before. Although I would go back to the farmer’s market in the future, I prefer the grocery store.

Eller, Daryn. “Farmer’s Markets a Trip to Bountiful.” Vegetarian Times 297 (2002): 34-40. Print.