Organic GMO Aggravation

I saw a couple great articles yesterday about the ongoing battle between people who advocate GMO's (genetically modified organisms) and those who advocate organic food, and I thought I would share them with you.

First, there was this article in the NYT about a genetic food scientist and an organic farmer who are happily married. The piece was well written, although the article itself had little substance to offer other than the fact that these two people, representatives of competing (sometimes violently so) ideologies, can actually tolerate one another's presence. Kinda cool right?

Which brings me to the second article, published in the Los Angeles Times. This article, with the byline "Let's not join one of the armed camps deeply suspicious of one another shouting past each other," is aimed at food movement "independents," also known as the majority of Americans who have some interest in their food but who don't have several hours each day to devote to food policy. What this article essentially says is that there is a great conversation to be had about GMO's and organic food, and we should all chill out and have good, logical discussions without ripping each others heads off.

Generally speaking, articles saying we should all just get along kind of piss me off. However, this specific article intrigued me, because while it did have some of that annoying "us common folks are the ones who get it" edge to it, it also had some really good points. Such as:

"Agriculture is a business. Farming without a financial motive is gardening." (I'm sure he's used this one before, but it's still funny)

and

"Over the last 50 years, American farmers performed an agricultural miracle, all but eliminating hunger as a serious health issue in this country." (How much of that miracle actually relied on modern farming practices and pesticides is up for debate, but I'll give him this one)

but

"That battle has been won, and... the demands of today are different."(Hell yes)

and

"There's no free pass on progress. Just because you've always farmed a certain way does not mean that you are owed the right to continue farming that way in the future." (Hallelujah)

and finally...

"Don't assume that those who disagree with you are evil, stupid or greedy. And even when they are, that doesn't relieve you of the responsibility for making a constructive and convincing argument." (What are you looking at me for? He said that way better then I can)

So overall, pretty good articles, and proof that the debate over GMO food will be around for some time to come. And yet, I can't help but feel hopeful that we can all take a chill pill and, well, maybe just all get along.

Farmville photo by sabrina.dent

Michael Pollan Cements His Status As My Freaking Hero

I like Michael Pollan for many reasons, the obvious being that he is THE leading voice in the local, organic food movement. His books have singlehandedly brought the food policy discussion into settings where it was never before conceivable, ranging from cocktail parties to office water coolers. If it were not for Pollan, the current food movement would look absolutely nothing it does today.

Another obvious reason why I admire Pollan is that I happen to like his particular food philosophy, which he sums up in seven simple words: "eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Who can argue with that? Even I, a known connoisseur of bacon in its myriad forms, and a person who consumes quantities of food at the occasional Dim Sum Sunday that no sane observer could call "not too much," can find little wrong with Pollans statement.

Which brings me to the less obvious reason why I like Michael Pollan -- Michael Pollan is Mellow. Mellow with a capital "M." Here is a guy who has devoted his entire life to the study of food policy, yet who sums up that life's work in "eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Seriously. Can you imagine PETA getting a crowd rowdy with a reasonable statement like that? Now way -- they have "Meat is Murder" and "Save the Sea Kittens" (I am not even joking about that last one). Or on the other end of the spectrum -- try getting farmers and middle Americans angry over Pollan's slogan. Not gonna work. Instead, we hear hyperbole about rising food prices, our planets inability to feed the people who live on it, and how the government is trying to control us. This is the real reason why Michael Pollan is my hero. He is so mellow in his approach and policies (in addition to just plain being right, which I admit helps) that no one can successfully argue with him.

Take for example Pollan's recent NPR debate with Blake Hurst, a blogger who wrote The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals (you can listen to the interview here). The debate begins with Pollan, in his mellow, even-keeled voice, outlining his basic position. Great. Cue Hurst.

The first thing we hear from him (in a pronounced twang) is a hokey, overpracticed statement about how it is not true when Pollan says the agricultural industry hides behind farmers. Really, Hurst continues, the only person who helped him write his essay was his wife, (she needed to "help him sound out the big words" since he is no intellectual). He talked about how he wasn't really growing a mono culture since he switches between soybeans and corn every year. He talked about how it was unfair of Pollan to ask him and other farmers to go back to the farming methods their grandparents had used in the 1930's. In other words, he used some well known, cheap debating techniques to try and score points with NPR's listeners, and he did it all in that twang and using these rehearsed colloquialisms that made me want to punch him in the face. In then process however, he left himself open to about 1000 different logical attacks from Pollan, and I couldn't wait for Pollan to seize on one and jump down his throat.

But he didn't. Pollan remained calm as an organic cucumber. He just kept making his points in that same mellow tone of voice. And I eventually realized why. As the debate went on, Hurst became more and more flustered, and less able to respond to anything Pollan said. The debate wasn't going the way Hurst had planned it at all. His whole shtick was to play the part of the small farmer being yelled at by some agri-intellectual who didn't know what he was talking about. But Pollan didn't take the bait. He refused to get ruffled, no matter how little sense Hurst made. And the more Hurst realized that Pollan wasn't going to let him play his part, the less sense he started making. By the time the debate ended, all Hurst's little colloquialisms were gone, and even the twang had softened. There could be no doubt who finished on top.

Please listen to the full interview to see the master at work. We could all stand to take a lesson in mellowness from this man, not the least of which is to eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

Review of Zaca Organic Hangover Patches

Well, I didn't have a hangover...

I received two free Zaca organic hangover patches for review a few months ago and have been anxiously waiting for a good time to try them out. These patches are exactly what they sound like - they are similar to the nicotine patches smokers use to quit except instead of nicotine they leech "hangover stopping" herbs and supplements into the bloodstream.

This past weekend presented the perfect opportunity to test the patches out - Sunday was San Francisco's Bay to Breakers. For those who haven't heard of Bay to Breakers, it is a "marathon" stretching from the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. In reality, it is a seven mile walk filled with extravagant costumes, huge floats (many containing kegs) and enough alcohol consumption per capita to lay waste (wasted?) the entire route.

Since the race starts early in the morning, I put the patch on at around 8 AM. Almost immediately I felt a nice jolt - whatever herbs were in the patch really perked me up - I didn't even need my morning coffee. At around 9:00 I met some friends out in the street and started celebrating. As the day moved along, I continued to feel upbeat and energized (for the record, I did plan on recording my entire day for this review, but lost my camera sometime around 1 PM).

(Pouring one out for the homies)

The party started slowing down at around 1:30, but I stayed in the park with some friends until around 3:00. Still, I was disappointed; with this much time to recover before even going to bed, there was little reason for me to be hung over, patch or no patch. Determined to continue the experiment however, I left the patch on as we went out for food and then back to my apartment to watch a movie.

I was still feeling good at around 10PM that night and got into bed expecting no problems what-so-ever the following morning. "All in all," I thought to myself, "the hangover patches might actually be worth it." Then it happened. Out of nowhere: PANIC ATTACK.

I am not at all prone to panic attacks, so it took a few minutes before I even realized what was happening. All I know is that one second I was thoroughly enjoying my comfy bed, and the next I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest and I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight. After trying some deep breathing and meditation to calm myself down (no success) I got up and washed the patch off. From that point on it took about an hour of pacing up and down my apartment and trying desperately to concentrate to bring myself back down. I ended up getting to bed at around midnight for about six hours of extremely fitful sleep.

Can I say for sure that these patches caused this random panic attack? No I cannot. However, the fact remains that I have never really had a panic attack before, and while this was my first time at Bay to Breakers, it was NOT my first time enjoying the San Francisco street party scene. Coincidence? It's possible. But let's just say I am in no hurry to put my second free patch to the test.

Images provided by Zacalife.com and The Green Dude himself

Great Sustainable Food Resource

I think that my love of food is the number two reason why I am so interested in green (right after my love of the ocean, which is coincidentally related to my love of food). Anyway, since moving to San Francisco I have been just totally inundated with the most unbelievable fresh, organic, hormone free fair trade (yada yada yada) fruits, vegetables and meats. The stuff is really everywhere. I even get it delivered to my home once a week thanks to my local CSA.

Recently I had some friends in town who were complaining that they just can't get food like this near them. While that is somewhat true, I told them that there are almost no places in this great country where you can't get fresh fruits and veggies at a farmers market or participate in a CSA if you really take the time to make it happen. The variety may not be as good as it is here, but there is no need to subsist on a Safeway diet.

So I introduced my friends to this great site where you can find local farmers markets, CSA's recipes - you name it. Everything you need for healthy, organic food.

Enjoy.

Review of Cline Organic Cool Climate Syrah

I had this wine at one of my favorite restaurants a few weeks ago and I have to say I was very impressed with it. I am not (repeat - NOT) one of those unfortunate individuals who thinks that organic wine is inherently inferior. These poor saps are holding over their prejudices from a time when the only people making organic wine were people who knew a lot more about growing an organic grape than they did about making a good wine. This is no longer true, and I hope more winos like myself will try wines such as this Syrah and wake up to the incredible new world of good, organic wine.

I should probably make a clarification here - this is not the first good organic wine I have tasted. I find that, nowadays, it is pretty easy to find a good organic wine. This is however the first GREAT organic wine I have tasted. This wine would be fabulous organic or not, and the fact that it is organic just makes it that much cooler.

Some quick tasting notes - Very powerful, full on the pallate, but soft enough to go with spicy fish (I had a thai shrimp curry). Definite note of bacon fat (I love typing that) and smooth after-taste.

Go get this wine yo! Cline Cool Climate Syrah

Image provided by Cline Cellars