Category Archives: Food Sustainability

Americans Asked to Go Meatless and Wheatless During World War I

Portrait
  • Biographical/Historical:
    • Cushman Parker was an American illustrator and portrait painter. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1881, he studied at the Academie Julian, and was a member of the Society of Illustrators. Parker’s magazine illustrations appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. He died in 1940.
    • World War I began as a conflict between the Allies (France, the United Kingdom, and Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie ignited the war in 1914. Italy joined the Allies in 1915, followed by the United States in 1917. A ceasefire was declared at 11 AM on 11 November 1918. Food shortages were widespread in Europe during the war. Even before the United States entered the war, American relief organizations were shipping food overseas. On the home front, it was hoped that Americans would adjust their eating habits in such a way as to conserve food that could then be sent abroad. Americans were told to go meatless and wheatless and to eat more corn and fish. Americans were also encouraged to plant victory gardens and to can fruits and vegetables. The poster was a major tool for broad dissemination of information during the war. Countries on both sides of the conflict distributed posters widely to garner support, urge action, and boost morale.
    • Poster Available Click Here

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Wellness Resources for Afro-Cubans

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Photo by Amberly Ellis (ReglaSoul)

Former Multi-Cultural Cooking Network contributing writer Amberly Ellis caught the attention of remezcla.com for the amazing work she and Alexey Rodriguez provide in the wellness space specifically for Afro-Cubans.

Their monthly signature Afro-Vegan cooking workshop, though predominantly run by an Afro-Cuban instructor, is powered by both groups on the island and across the larger diaspora. The cooking workshops, which take place in the couple’s apartment, are small in scale but bring in a handful of Regla residents, Cubans from other areas and those visiting the island.  READ MORE

 

Do Food Expiration Dates Really Matter?

You open the fridge, drag out the cottage cheese, check for fur, and if there isn’t any, you say, “Honey? Will you sniff this?” This is not, however, expiredfoodthe approved method of checking for freshness. The approved way lies in a voluntary system of labeling.

Yes, voluntary. The only items required by federal law to be labeled for expiration are infant formula and some baby foods; some states also mandate pulling dairy from store shelves on the expiration date.

Learn the Lingo of Expiration Dates

This brings us to terminology. The actual term “Expiration Date” refers to the last date a food should be eaten or used. Last means last — proceed at your own risk.

Other, more commonly spotted terms are:

  • “Sell by” date. The labeling “sell by”
  • “Best if used by (or before)”
  • “Born on” date
  • “Guaranteed fresh”
  • “Use by” 
  • “Pack” 

Find out what these terms mean at Web MD

Puerto Rico’s Eco-Farmers Go Back To The Land

In Puerto Rico, the word jíbaro brings to mind a classic image: a rural peasant working his land, wearing a straw hat and overalls. Machete in one hand, plantains in the other. But it also become a derogatory term, signifying backwardness. You hear it all the time – “Don’t be a jíbaro, don’t be stupid.”

However, a new generation of eco-farmers in Puerto Rico are working to bring pride back to the jíbaro lifestyle.  Young people all over Puerto Rico are heading back to the land and starting organic farms up in the mountains, growing everything from coffee to kale. The island has fertile soils and a year-round growing season, yet Over 85% of Puerto Rico’s food is imported. This new generation of hipster jíbaros are working the change that, by promoting organic agriculture and starting alternative businesses serving healthy good. At the same time, they’re trying to figure out how sustainable farming can provide solutions to tough problems facing Puerto Rico today, from obesity to food security.

READ MORE

History of American Cooking- Colonial Williamsburg Experience

Yes, Colonial Williamsburg is a great place for the foodie with a history. You will not taste the food because it is not allowed but behold preparation of food and watch how cooking in the U.S.A.’s early days foreshadows our one pot meals which continue today. 

The Amish: Food History and Traditions

The History and Culture

The Amish make their homes in rural areas in twenty-two U.S. states and Ontario, Canada. The states with the largest Amish populations are Ohio and Pennsylvania. The oldest Amish community (and the one most familiar to non-Amish) is made up of about 16,000 people living around Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Amish living there are primarily Pennsylvania Dutch (people of German descent), but not all Pennsylvania Dutch are Amish. Deutsch is the German-language word for German, so the name Pennsylvania Dutch comes from “Pennsylvania Deutsch.” The food of Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish are similar, due to their common German heritage. Read more: Food in United States Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch – Amish Food, Amish Cuisine – traditional, popular, dishes, diet, history, common, meals, main, people, favorite, types, make, customs, fruits, country, bread, vegetables, bread, typical, eating

Women Cooking Together

Foods:

The Amish generally eat foods produced in their own gardens or on their farms. As a rule, they do not eat processed, store-bought foods, such as corn flakes or potato chips. Homegrown fruits and vegetables, eaten fresh, canned, or frozen, play a very important part in the Amish diet. Vegetables often found in Amish meals include peas, corn, zucchini, beets, beans, rhubarb, and many others. Cabbage and potatoes are especially important. Sauerkraut—a type of pickled cabbage—appears at many Amish meals

Snow Cream Recipe

The cream based variety of Snow Cream is of old lineage. It is known in continental Europe at least as early as the late 15th or early 16th century where it can be found in the Dutch recipe collection now known as KANTL Gent 15.  It has been suggested that “Snow” may be even older than that.

The common ingredients for early recipes is egg whites, cream, rosewater and sugar, whipped until stiff. Other flavouring agents, e.g. cloves or ginger, are also known from various recipes. It is the process of whipping cream until stiff that is often likened to snow as can be seen in passages such as “Beat your cream with a stick until the Snow rises …“.  It was often draped over another item to give the appearance of snow having fallen over the item.-(Wikepedia)

Suggestion by Patsy M. Johnson- She ate this as a child and suggests grabbing the second snowfall not first.  Her mother used evaporated milk for the recipe.

Basic Ingredients can be mixed with purified apples or other fruits.

History of the Pumpkin

Pumpkins are believed to have originated in North America. Seeds from related plants have been found in Mexico dating back to 7000 to 5500 B.C.

References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for “large melon” which is “pepon.” “Pepon” was changed by the French into “pompon.” The English changed “pompon” to “Pumpion.” American colonists changed “pumpion” into “pumpkin.”

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Native American Indians used pumpkin as a staple in their diets centuries before the pilgrims landed. They also dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. Indians would also roast long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and eat them. When white settlers arrived, they saw the pumpkins grown by the Indians and pumpkin soon became a staple in their diets. As today, early settlers used them in a wide variety of recipes from desserts to stews and soups. The origin of pumpkin pie is thought to have occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and then filled it with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in the hot ashes of a dying fire.

Random Info About the Pumpkin:

  • Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
  • Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
  • Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.
  • Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.
  • Native Americans called pumpkins “isqoutm squash.”
  • Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.