Michael Pollan is the author of several best-selling books generally about Food and Agriculture in America, such as the Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. He's also a big name in sustainable agriculture circles because he puts the important issues in an intelligent and interesting way.
He wrote a rockin' article for the New York Times recently, an open letter to the President elect.
Shortly thereafter Terry Gross interviewed him on Fresh Air, during which he proceeded to liberally quote himself in the article, so if that link expires or you don't have a NYT account, check him out there.
My thoughts: the part about how we need more young, smart farmers made me feel all warm and fuzzy, as well as justified in my life choice.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
What is raw milk and why does it matter?; I try my hand at science writing
Milking by hand is at once strenuous, kind of gross, and great fun (I admit I often find the last two to be synonymous). Cow teats: wrinkled, squishy, and limp. There’s a trick to squeezing them downward to get the milk out, and then aiming into the milk bucket rather than your boots. I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of it - I did Sunday night’s milking solo!
We usually get about a gallon of milk with each milking, which happens twice a day. It goes in the milk fridge, which is *always* full of milk. So much milk! They make kefir (essentially a yogurt equivalent) and skim the cream to make sour cream (the skimmed milk goes to the chickens); I made butter once, and I kind of want to try my hand at cheese.
What this means, though, is that we’re drinking raw milk – a contentious substance and topic in the world of food. Depending on who’s doing the talking, raw milk is either a healthful panacea or a deadly poison. It’s been a little difficult for me to sort out the facts from the two polarized viewpoints, but I think I’ve finally got the gist.
The main trouble is that cows everywhere don’t care if they get a little brown and crusty with stuff that’s only partly mud. No matter how careful people are, milk is still going to be a bit contaminated – this holds for milking done by both hand and machine. If raw milk is allowed to stay warm for too long it can start growing populations of bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When you’re only milking one or two cows, it’s easy to take the milk straight to the kitchen, filter it, and put it in the fridge to prevent that. But when you’re milking a hundred cows with a milking machine, it’s much harder to prevent bacterial growth: the milk cools more slowly when it’s collected in a big tank where fresh, warm milk constantly coming in, and the more equipment involved in the process the harder it is to make sure that everything is clean for every milking. Add the equipment and time for shipping and processing at a central plant, and the risk of dangerous contamination increases. That’s why mass-produced milk is pasteurized – by heating the milk, all the bacteria are killed and the milk can sit safely on the grocery store shelf for longer.
The raw milk enthusiasts point out that pasteurization denatures the enzyme lactase, which helps to break down the sugar in milk (lactose) and make it more digestible and bio-available; they also hold that the low level of microbes in fresh and safely stored raw milk is good for one’s immune system. I can attest that the raw milk we’re drinking is safe and delicious, and we can enjoy it because we’re being safe and careful with it. For anyone who’s dead-set on drinking raw milk but can’t keep a cow, the most trustworthy and safest raw milk will be the same stuff the farmer and her or his family are drinking.
We usually get about a gallon of milk with each milking, which happens twice a day. It goes in the milk fridge, which is *always* full of milk. So much milk! They make kefir (essentially a yogurt equivalent) and skim the cream to make sour cream (the skimmed milk goes to the chickens); I made butter once, and I kind of want to try my hand at cheese.
What this means, though, is that we’re drinking raw milk – a contentious substance and topic in the world of food. Depending on who’s doing the talking, raw milk is either a healthful panacea or a deadly poison. It’s been a little difficult for me to sort out the facts from the two polarized viewpoints, but I think I’ve finally got the gist.
The main trouble is that cows everywhere don’t care if they get a little brown and crusty with stuff that’s only partly mud. No matter how careful people are, milk is still going to be a bit contaminated – this holds for milking done by both hand and machine. If raw milk is allowed to stay warm for too long it can start growing populations of bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When you’re only milking one or two cows, it’s easy to take the milk straight to the kitchen, filter it, and put it in the fridge to prevent that. But when you’re milking a hundred cows with a milking machine, it’s much harder to prevent bacterial growth: the milk cools more slowly when it’s collected in a big tank where fresh, warm milk constantly coming in, and the more equipment involved in the process the harder it is to make sure that everything is clean for every milking. Add the equipment and time for shipping and processing at a central plant, and the risk of dangerous contamination increases. That’s why mass-produced milk is pasteurized – by heating the milk, all the bacteria are killed and the milk can sit safely on the grocery store shelf for longer.
The raw milk enthusiasts point out that pasteurization denatures the enzyme lactase, which helps to break down the sugar in milk (lactose) and make it more digestible and bio-available; they also hold that the low level of microbes in fresh and safely stored raw milk is good for one’s immune system. I can attest that the raw milk we’re drinking is safe and delicious, and we can enjoy it because we’re being safe and careful with it. For anyone who’s dead-set on drinking raw milk but can’t keep a cow, the most trustworthy and safest raw milk will be the same stuff the farmer and her or his family are drinking.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Markets!
Right now, at the end of October, my/the farm schedule is still dominated by markets. Twice a week, T and I harvest, pack the truck, and drive off to market. Working at farmers' market was one of the things I was most excited about before coming here, and after three weeks and six markets under my belt, I'm still enjoying it.
I'm kind of a farmers’ market junkie, and neither of our markets disappoints. I love markets generally for their array of colorful and healthful food, the opportunity to support local producers, the profusion of re-usable canvas bags. But it's really the people who make the market, and some wonderful characters have turned up at market. Both markets we go to have a great community of vendors, trading goods and catching up during the quiet moments between sales. There's one baker who gave us two bushels of bread that he couldn't sell one day; and there are two lovely ladies at one market who sell crepes and give them free to vendors in exchange for herbs or fruit. And I love all the friendly and wacky people who turn up as customers. They ask all kinds of questions - my favorite customer this week had a greyhound wearing a blue-flame patterned sweater, and she was absolutely delighted that we were selling golden raspberries.
I haven’t even mentioned the rush that comes from doing basic arithmetic on the fly in front of strangers (6.30 for tomatoes plus 3.50 for eggs and 2.50 for a bunch of kale leaves how much change out of a 20.00? Don't try this while sleepy.)
I worry a lot about the world’s problems. Farmers markets offer a concrete way to feel like I'm making a difference - in selling fresh, organic produce, people get the opportunity to buy and eat food that's good for both them and the environment and the farm gets to stay solvent. And I love that it provides a gathering space for the community - it's often been the place where I go to catch up with my friends.
Our markets are over at the end of October, and even though our truck brings less and less as fall frost kills the remaining crops, and even though they're time consuming, I will be sad for them to end.
I'm kind of a farmers’ market junkie, and neither of our markets disappoints. I love markets generally for their array of colorful and healthful food, the opportunity to support local producers, the profusion of re-usable canvas bags. But it's really the people who make the market, and some wonderful characters have turned up at market. Both markets we go to have a great community of vendors, trading goods and catching up during the quiet moments between sales. There's one baker who gave us two bushels of bread that he couldn't sell one day; and there are two lovely ladies at one market who sell crepes and give them free to vendors in exchange for herbs or fruit. And I love all the friendly and wacky people who turn up as customers. They ask all kinds of questions - my favorite customer this week had a greyhound wearing a blue-flame patterned sweater, and she was absolutely delighted that we were selling golden raspberries.
I haven’t even mentioned the rush that comes from doing basic arithmetic on the fly in front of strangers (6.30 for tomatoes plus 3.50 for eggs and 2.50 for a bunch of kale leaves how much change out of a 20.00? Don't try this while sleepy.)
I worry a lot about the world’s problems. Farmers markets offer a concrete way to feel like I'm making a difference - in selling fresh, organic produce, people get the opportunity to buy and eat food that's good for both them and the environment and the farm gets to stay solvent. And I love that it provides a gathering space for the community - it's often been the place where I go to catch up with my friends.
Our markets are over at the end of October, and even though our truck brings less and less as fall frost kills the remaining crops, and even though they're time consuming, I will be sad for them to end.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Thoughts on blogging
So, my posts on this blog have been sorely delayed by the conundrum of how much of this blog to make public and how much I want to keep private. I want to share how I'm doing with all the wonderful people in my life, but I want to respect the privacy of the farm where I'm working and not put all the details of its workings on the internet for anybody to read. I also want to have a place to post my musings without filling everybody's inboxes with weekly updates of "guess how many names of different varieties of hot peppers I learned *this* week!"
More detail than you needed: I thought about doing this on LiveJournal where posts can be private or public, but I didn't think my mom would want to create an LJ just so she could read the stuff I want locked for people I know. So, I'll try this for a while.
More detail than you needed: I thought about doing this on LiveJournal where posts can be private or public, but I didn't think my mom would want to create an LJ just so she could read the stuff I want locked for people I know. So, I'll try this for a while.
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