From the monthly archives:

May 2010

Are Farmers The New Celebrity Chefs?

by Janet on May 27, 2010

Will-straightFarmers are now just as celebrated as superstar chefs.

And why not?

The farm is where good food begins.

Mitchell Davis recently wrote about the “era of the celebrity farmer” for the James Beard Foundation:  Move Over Celebrity Chef, Your Farmer is Ready for His Close-Up.

Now that the pages of People are peppered with sexy chefs and millions of viewers tune in weekly to see which chef is stronger than “Iron” or who will be crowned “Top,” the celebrity spotlight is saturated with men and women in whites.  Ever hungry for the next big thing, starmakers are casting their nets further afield — into the field, in fact, to draw in the overall-clad men and women who grow and harvest the food we eat.”

We’re seeing the trend with USDA’s new program “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food,” an initiative to help more Americans understand where their food comes from and how it gets to their plate. The program hopes to connect people with their local farmers.

American farmers feed our nation and the world, but they are all local to somewhere. Get to know your local farmer, and get tolocal food pic know your food. USDA wants to foster the viability and growth of small and mid-size farms and ranches, and we want to create new opportunities for farmers and ranchers by promoting locally produced foods. We also want to build the infrastructure necessary to support a local food system, and we’ll need local partners to do that. Local and regional food systems mean fresh food, vibrant communities, a strong connection between cities and the countryside, and support for this and the next generation of farmers and ranchers.

Farmers have also become the latest stars of ad campaigns. One of the newest is for Lay’s that features the actual farmers that grow the potatoes used to make the chips.

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The farmer is definitely the hero at farmers’ markets, and many supermarkets (including Whole Foods) often tout farmers when promoting their local produce.niman beef
But you’ll also see a farmer’s presence on restaurant menus with the growing popularity of farm or estate-branded ingredients, artisan foods, heirloom vegetables and farm-to-table themed menus. There’s a tremendous interest today in food origins and traceability, which is being driven by food safety, quality and sustainability concerns.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fisbein for Time

Photo credit: Jimmy Fisbein for Time

All of these trends start with the farmer.  And the biggest rock star farmer these days is Will Allen, the founder of the Milwaukee-based nonprofit Growing Power, which has become a model for urban farming.

Allen was just recognized as a hero in Time magazine’s The 100 Most Influential People in the World issue:

A new movement is sprouting up in America’s low-income neighborhoods.  Some urban residents, sick of fast food and the scarcity of grocery stores, have decided to grow food for themselves.  One of the movement’s (literally) towering icons is Will Allen, 62, of Milwaukee’s Growing Power, Inc.  His main 2-acre Community Food Center is no larger than a small supermarket.  But it houses 20,000 plants and vegetables, thousands of fish, plus chickens, goats, ducks, rabbits and bees.  People come from around the world to marvel — and to learn.

The culinary world is also saluting the work of Will Allen.  The June issue of Bon Appetit features a great profile of this Milwaukee farmer:

“Kids are the key to improving the food system,”  Will told Bon Appetit.  “Children inherently know what good food looks like, tastes like — even if they don’t have access to it.   So kids can learn at our farms, and then share their experiences back at home.”

I agree, what a hero!  And I’d tune in to watch a show called Top Farmer or Iron Farmer. Why not?

Today’s farmers — they truly are outstanding in their field.

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First Lady to Food Companies: Trim 1 Trillion Calories

by Janet on May 17, 2010

logo_letsmoveWith the goal of reducing 1 trillion calories in food sold annually by 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama made a major announcement today related to her Let’s Move! Childhood obesity campaign.

In a press conference today, Mrs. Obama revealed that the Partnership for a Healthier America has signed an agreement with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation , which is a  partnership between 16 corporations that account for roughly 20-25% of the American food supply.

The companies pledge to cut 1 trillion calories from the food they sell by 2012, along with reducing fat, sodium, sugar and calories.   Take a look at the First Lady’s remarks below:

It’s been three months since we launched “Let’s Move,” a new initiative with an ambitious goal to help reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country and end it in a generation.

And we built this initiative around four main pillars.  We’re moving to make our schools healthier.  We’re moving to increase the amount of physical activity that our kids get at school and at home.  We’re moving to eliminate food deserts so that every American can have easy and affordable access to fresh, healthy foods right where they live.  And we’re moving to give parents the information they need to make healthy decisions for their families.  Most often, these decisions involve the food that we – that our families buy.

Now, we all know how important it is to eat less sugar and fat and more fruits and vegetables and whole grains.  But we also know that sometimes it’s just easier to grab something quick and easy at the market. [click to continue…]

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Fresh, Green Chickpeas are the New Edamame

by Janet on May 8, 2010

Photo courtesy of Flickr user bitter-sweet

Photo courtesy of Flickr user bitter-sweet

I love chickpeas. I’m crazy about chickpeas.  Perhaps you remember my previous post:  Ode to the Chickpea.

Now it’s going to be easier to find the fresh, green chickpeas that I remember enjoying in Lebanon. In fact, the raw versions of the legume (also known as green garbanzo beans) are poised to be the new edamame.

I’m all for that.

The beige, creamy orbs that we know as chickpeas are left to ripen on the plant and then shrivel into the blonde pebbles that we buy in cans or bags for the dried variety. Fresh chickpeas are picked in their infancy.  They’re still  green and encased in thin, pilant pods, much like edamame (soybeans in their shells).

Typically fresh chickpeas are available only a few weeks a year in farmer’s markets and ethnic/specialty stores, but now you can find bags of fresh chickpeas in the freezer case at certain Costco stores thanks to a new product introduced by Clearwater Country Foods. Here’s how the company describes the new product:

Traditionally, the freshly picked green garbanzo bean had only been offered seasonally in regions that grew them, and were generally seen shocked and still in the pod. Now, thanks to Clearwater Country Foods, developments have been made to pick the green garbanzo beans fresh and flash freeze them to ensure nutrition, and year round availability, while providing its versatility and convenience for the consumer.  Today this fresh-picked and nutritious Garden Green Garbanzo™ is about to make its way into the homes of all health conscious Americans and people across the globe.

I’m convinced that green garbanzos will be a major trend.  Take a look at what the Associated Press just wrote about them.

Move over, edamame?  Fresh garbanzos — the moist, raw version of a legume usually dried, canned or turned into hummus — may be the new “new” thing?…Available only a few weeks a year, fresh chickpeas are prized among in-the-know foodies and sophisticated chefs for their novelty and their young, slightly vegetal taste.

“It tastes like being outside this time of year,” says Josh DeChellis, executive chef at New York’s La Fonda Del Sol restaurant, where he chars chickpeas in their pods and dresses them with olive oil and salt.

Here’s Josh DeChellis’ recipe for Charred Chickpeas that was featured in New York Magazine.

You can also find another brand of fresh chickpeas called Califresh of California in Whole Foods and other markets.  Check out their web site for some great recipes, including Green Chickpea and Tomato Bruschetta.

An article in the LA Times interviewed several chefs about green chickpeas:

Nalin Patel, owner of Maurya Indian restaurant in Beverly Hills, says they’re popular in his native Guharat, where one might eat them roasted in the shell over a wood fire or combined with onion, chile, cilantro, lime juice and salt as an appetizer or with drinks.  When Maurya’s executive chef, Jayanta Paul, cooks at home, he likes to make fresh garbanzos with mushrooms in a Punjabi-style tomato sauce.  For a summer dish, I added fresh garbanzos to Mexican calabacitas, a combination of squash, corn, tomatoes and green chiles.

There are so many different ways to enjoy green chickpeas — steamed whole to eat as snacks, mixed in bean salads, added to rice or whole grain dishes, pasta and salsas.  You can also use as you would other chickpeas for hummus. The green color also makes for an interesting twist on guacamole.

Here’s a guacamole recipe using green chickpeas from Califresh of California.

Green Garbanzo Guacamole

2 cups fresh green (shelled) garbanzos
1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup minced white onion
1 jalapeno
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt

Cook fresh, green garbanzos for about 3 minutes in boiling water, then rinse in cold water.  In a food processor, combine fresh garbanzos, avocado, lime juice and salt.  Puree until smooth.  Remove from the processor and blend in the cilantro, onion and jalapeno.  Transfer to a serving bowl.

guacamole

Here are some other ideas for using fresh, green chickpeas:

Fresh Garbanzo Bean Salad from Taste of Beirut

Green Chickpea and Tomato Bruschetta

The Coeur D’Alene Garden Green Garbanzo Salsa

Fresh Garbanzo Bean and Smoked Salmon Pasta from Delementals

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Trends in the Natural Products Industry

by Janet on May 6, 2010

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What’s hot in “natural” foods?

Take a look at what Claudia D. O’Donnell, Chief Editor of Prepared Foods, spotted recently at the Natural Products Expo West – the world’s largest natural and organics products trade show.

These types of trade shows are one of the best ways to identify trends.

Here are some of the trends Claudia found among the offerings of over 1,800 exhibitors.

  • Beverages
  • Gluten-free baked goods
  • Açai
  • Probiotics (many products quantified microbial levels)
  • Nutrition bars
  • Yogurts (many were Greek-type)
  • Kefir-based products
  • Ready-to-drink dietary supplements for brain health (often mentioning relaxation)
  • Products for immunity
  • Virgin coconut oil (anything coconut, such as beverages, coconut milk-based ice cream and fat-replacer pastes)
  • Natural sweeteners, such as agave nectars/syrups
  • Omegas and dietary fiber
  • Lavender flavoring, which showed up in salad dressing and ice cream

Some products combined trends:

  • Turtle Mountain’s certified gluten-free, Coconut Milk Kefir with 10 Coconut_Kefir_StrawberryActive & Live Cultures, which also noted it was rich in MCFAs (medium-chain fatty acids).

Other interesting products:

Marathon of Miracles’ Baked Cashews in Added Calcium and Added Fiber varieties

Stone-Buhr’s Find the Farmer bakery mixes, which allow one to locate the farms from where grains for the flours were obtained (go to www.findthefarmer.com);

Jans’ 100% juices, in varieties such as lychee and soursop

SunOpta’s frozen Garden Green Garbanzos, with the label claims of “heart healthy,” “boosts immunity,” “provides energy” and “supports weight loss.”

Perky Jerky, a guarana-flavored, caffeinated beef jerky

perky-jerky-caffeinated-beef-jerky-2

Claudia concluded with this interesting side note of the meeting:

An undercurrent of the shifting regulatory landscape was also felt. An effigy of John McCain, who promoted and then withdrew his support of bill S. 3002 (which would impact dietary supplement regulations), was seen hanging over a toilet in one booth. Rumor also had it the FDA was “out in force” at the show, gathering information on products. As always, the show continues to both entertain and educate.

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Celebrities Are Fueling The Detox Trend, Now It’s Red Hot With The Cooler Cleanse

by Janet on May 4, 2010

398px-Salma_Hayek_CannesTaylor Swift told Access Hollywood earlier this week that she’s not getting on board with the detox trend that many of Hollywood’s starlets are trying.

“I don’t really do anything [like that],” Taylor said at the Costume Institute Gala Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday night in New York City when asked if she’d ever taken part in a detox cleanse.

Good girl.  Wish other celebrities shared her point of view.

But that’s not the case.  Juice fasts and detox diets are all the range — and their popularity is being fueled by Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyonce, Donna Karan and other bold-face names.

The latest to join the ranks is Salma Hayek. So disappointed to see this respected actress get behind a new company called Cooler Cleanse.  It turns out that Salma is a veteran of the juice cleanse and has used the regimens to prepare for big events — from walking the red carpet to walking down the aisle (which she did recently).

Salma paired up with long-time friend and juice master Eric Helms (no relation to me!), the founder of Juice Generation, to bring her detox diet right to your door step.  The products are currently only available in New York, but they’ll be shipping nationally in June.

For $58 per day, you can have the fresh-pressed fruit and vegetable juices delivered every morning for a 3, 5 or even 30-day detox.  The varieties include a green juice with cucumber and spinach, a grapefruit mint, a red juice with beets and apples, carrot juice, young coconut water, and nut milks sweetened with dates. The company also offers a four-course raw food cleanse made by a vegan chef for $62 a day.

The Cooler Cleanse site features all sorts of praise for the program, including an article that quotes Vogue staffers who say they use the drinks to get in shape for the summer “with visions of string bikinis, exposed thighs and cropped tees…”

I much prefer this article in Vogue magazine that does a great job of debunking some of the myths about detox diets. Here’s a summary of how they’ve broken down the claims and busted them wide open… [click to continue…]

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The Appealing Allure of an Organic Label

by Janet on May 2, 2010

organic-food-usda-9451I recently wrote about the impact of a health halo — including “low-fat” labels that end up enticing you to eat even more.

Now there’s similar evidence that “organic” labels can lead you to overeat.  The labels tend to make people think their organic snack has a lot fewer calories than it really does.

These findings were presented at this week’s Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Cornell researchers found that  people who ate organic cookies labeled as “organic” believed their snack contained 40% fewer calories than the same cookies that had no label, according to Jenny Wan-Chen Lee, a graduate student at Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab.

“An organic label gives a food a “health halo,” said coauthor Brian Wansink, Cornell professor and author of the books Marketing Nutrition and Mindless Eating.

It’s the same basic reason people tend to overeat any snack food that’s labeled as healthy or low fat. They underestimate the calories and over-reward themselves by eating more.”

The study even identified two personality types most likely to make these low estimates – people who claim to “usually buy organic foods,” and those who typically read labels for nutrition information.

What if you don’t want to overeat an organic food? [click to continue…]

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