The Omnivore's Solution

Hey Foodies,

For those of you who were not able to see Pollan speak at Brown, here's a video of him giving the same talk at Williams College.

Enjoy!

 

The Foodie's Solution: A Post-Panel Wrap-Up

Hey Slow Foodies!

Last Thursday's panel "The Foodie's Dilemma" was a smashing success! Thanks to everyone who came, and a special thanks to our panelists, AND an especially special thanks to Jamey Lionette, owner of Lionette's Market, who provided us with a delicious spread of hummus and cheese!  

For those of you who were not able to attend, here are some photos:

Also, if you missed the discussion and would like to know was said, there is an audio recording of the event available for listening.  

And with that, let's end this post with some thoughts shared by Dr. Starr on "local food as a social movement":

"The most important thing to understand about this movement is that as a local food activist my top concern is not MY health or MY moral purity in not eating certain foods.  Although I might have those concerns, my top priority needs to be working in this movement in a way that is about "food security" and the "right to pleasure" for all people.  SInce its earliest moments, the local food movement has been about ending the rape of third world economies, which results in Americans having tomatoes in the winter and people in Central America going hungry because too much of their land is used for export crops.  And since the early 1990s, the most pathbreaking work that has happened around these issues has been done in the name of "community food security" which is about establishing secure sources of healthy and culturally appropriate food in urban communities of color, through gardens, farmers markets, special CSAs, and other innovations.  As we build this movement we need to make sure that we are doing it in a way that expands the movements' commitments to Global South people and marginalized people here.  One of the most crucial steps is figuring out how we can support the rights and dignity of farmworkers here in the US.  I actually prefer the term "community food movement" rather than "local food movement" because it says why we want local food.  We want it because eating is a community act, and we want to make sure everyone involved-all the eaters, all the producers, feel that we are looking out for each other and that we want the best for each other."

If you are looking for something to read over spring break and want to learn more about social movements and local food, check out these titles:

• Food Fight by Michael Pollan
• Colonialism and Culture by Carlos Polanyi
• The New Protectionism: Protecting the Future Against Free Trade by Tim Lang and Colin Hines

Everyone have a tasty spring break!

Updates

Hey Everyone!

Last night's meeting involved girls, carrot cake, and a live cow butchering. Sort of.

Here's the lowdown on our upcoming panel:

Slow Food BU presents
The Foodie's Dilemma: How Boston's Cheapskates Can Eat Sustainably

Thursday, February 28th 7:30 pm
Kenmore Classroom Building (565 Commonwealth Avenue), Room 101

The word is out: industrially-produced food just isn't that good for your body, the environment, and your conscience. But it's not easy to eat all that delicious, local, sustainably-produced food while trying balance your meager student budget and braving a cold winter in the city. So why bother? These foodie-experts will discuss the merits and difficulties of eating ethically:

• Jean-Claude Bourrut, Coordinator, Serving Ourselves Farm
• Chef Chris Douglass, Executive Chef and Owner, Icarus and Ashmont Grill
• Corby Kummer, Senior Editor of The Atlantic Monthly and Advisory Board member of Slow Food USA
  
• Jamey Lionette, Lionette's Market, Co-author of Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed
• Dr. A. Starr, Professor of Sociology at Chapman University (check out her Political Economy of Food course)

The event is free for BU students, faculty, and staff; it is also open to the public, with a suggested donation of $5 (proceeds go to Slow Food BU).

Partially funded by your Undergraduate Student Fee!

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More meeting round-up:

• Myles Dining Hall is going trayless on Tuesday Feb 12th!! SFBU will be there, tabling and distributing information.
  
• Get involved! We need volunteers for a number of things, including:
• Donating baked goods to the ESO/SFBU Valentine's Day Bake Sale at the GSU on Feb 14th
  
• Helping out at the SFBU tables at Myles on Feb 12th (see above) and at the GSU on Feb 14th
• Making posters about sustainable foods to hang up in Myles
• Spreadin the word about the Feb 28th panel
  
• Our own Jessica Volz has volunteered to compile a Slow Food BU Cookbook. Submit your recipes to slowfood@bu.edu, or bring them to an upcoming meeting.
• A Slow Food Night will be happening sometime in April at Myles.
  
• Our local foods tasting is postponed until after Spring Break.
• Lionnette's is doing a cow break-down on Feb. 20th. Find out what real beef looks like in this month's newsletter.
  

Other news:

• Happy Chinese New Year! 2008 is the year of the rat. It's also the year of the potato, says the UN. You decide which is tastier.
• "Buying organic meat is meating vegans halfway"
• There's still hope for the Farm Bill!
• Yum, free food :)
  

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Next meeting/potluck: Tuesday February 26th, 7:30 pm, Room 109 at 808 Commonwealth Ave (Fuller Building).

"Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler"

From Mark Bittman's most recent article in the NYT. Scary.

Michael Pollan Fan Club

Calling all Slow Foodies!

Michael Pollan

award-winning author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma

Thursday, February 21, at 6:00pm (Brown University, Salomon Center):

"In Defense of Food: The Omnivore's Solution"

What should we eat? is a question most people for most of history have
had little trouble answering. You ate what tradition (aka your mother)
and nature dictated. Now, we have something called "nutritionism," an
ideology promoted by science, the food industry, government and the
media that has hopelessly confused the issue and done nothing for our
health, except to make it worse. Pollan traces the rise and triumph of
nutritionism and the Western Diet, before proposing an alternative
approach to eating that promises to improve both our health and the
health of the environment. A book signing will follow.

Location: Salomon Center is located on Brown University's main College
Green; accessible via the Waterman Street gates and the George Street
gates.

A campus map is available online: http://fm-cad.plantops.brown.edu/maps/PAUR_Campus_Map.pdf

For more information:

Michael Pollan: http://www.michaelpollan.com/
Brown's Committee on Science and Technology Studies: http://www.brown.edu/Faculty/COSTS/

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Check out the NYT article that led to the book, and the Gourmet interview.

Welcome back y'all!

Last night we had our first meeting of the semester, and my, what a turnout. Home-baked mac and cheese, orzo-veggie salad, lemonade, fish toasts, ants on a log...yum.


We talked about upcoming events/activities:

• Spring Activities Expo, Tuesday Jan 29th from 2-6pm in Metcalf Hall
• Expert panel discussion Thursday Feb 28th at 7:30 in KCB 101 (title tbd)
• Tasting on March 4th or 5th in the Gastronomy demo kitchen
• Sid Wainer field trip
• Dinner/lunch/brunch clubs: pick a time and place, then show up!
  

And signed up for task forces: Publicity, Dining Services, and Group Liaisons. Email us if you'd like to get more involved in any of these areas. (Publicity will deal with making/posting flyers, event promotion, and just spreading the word in general; Dining Services will communicate with the DS reps, learn how DS works, plan DS-SFBU events/special nights/"SFBU-approved" foods, and scout the dining halls; Group Liaisons are our links to other student groups.)

If you're interested in getting even more involved, there are some internships available at Eat Well Guide and the Real Food Challenge. Plus, check out opportunities for farm apprenticeships through ATTRA and NOFA.

In other news...

• The real price of food is revealing itself (The Guardian and NYT).
• Michael Pollan isn't the only one exposing the food industry-- see what Raj Patel has to say in Stuffed and Starved.
• Buying food is just plain overwhelming.
• Jamie Oliver tells it like it is.

Next meeting: Tuesday February 5th, same place (room 109 @ 808 Comm Ave), same time (7:30 pm), same deal (bring treats).

More Photos...

Hey Everyone,

Here are some more photo's from last week's dinner with French Cultural Society.

Bon Appetit!