Jun 11

Food Deserts in Farm Country

A friend of mine liked a post on LinkedIn about a grocery store opening in his town northeast of Boston. This, and a trip to my hometown, got me thinking about food deserts and how they may be more prevalent in rural areas than in cities.

What’s a food desert? It’s an urban neighborhood that’s more than a mile from a full-service grocery store, or a rural area that’s more than 10 miles from a grocery. The classic urban food desert has convenience stores or bodegas that sell food as an afterthought to cigarettes, beer, soda, and rolling papers. [Remember I live in a state where recreational marijuana is legal.] There may be a couple of sad bananas or green potatoes for sale, but not much else in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables. And unprocessed meat? Forget about it. To get produce or fresh meat, residents in urban food deserts have to take mass transit. Ever try to schlep full grocery bags on a bus or up and down subway stairs? Not an easy task, even for those in good physical shape. Lack of access to nutritious food is a definition of food insecurity.
While it seems counterintuitive, farm country is more at risk for food deserts. Consider the following:
• Mass transit is uncommon in the country. A car is necessary to go grocery shopping. This can be problematic for elderly folks who no longer drive or, as is the case in my hometown, bad weather makes any grocery store hard to access.
• Despite city folks’ conception, very few farm communities are fully self-sufficient. Pepsi orchards don’t exist. As farms get larger and devoted to commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, tobacco), it can be more difficult to find locally-grown produce. Fruit and vegetable stands are mostly seasonal.
• Little family-run grocery stores have gone the way of the dodo bird in the country, especially as families move to suburbs or cities. Chain groceries are reluctant to move into rural areas. Amazon Fresh will never serve sparsely-populated areas. The cost of fuel to reach isolated communities is too high. Dollar stores are popular in the area near my hometown, but they don’t stock fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables. Walmart has moved into the grocery business; however, a superstore can still be far away from the smallest towns.
Here are a few potential solutions to rural food deserts. One innovation that deserves preservation from politics is the use of Electronic Benefit Transfers (alias Food Stamps) for farmers’ market and fruit/vegetable stand purchases. This program benefits both farmer and consumer. Another possibility that’s been used in Seattle food deserts is the grocery van. This is analogous to a food truck, although the contents are produce, dairy, and selected staples. Community-supported agriculture boxes could be expanded beyond the growing season and include items other than produce. Other creative ideas are needed to improve access to groceries in remote areas.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/11/food-deserts-in-farm-country/

Jun 08

I Am Home

Although I was raised in Hannibal, I consider Ithaca where I grew into myself. Although the Cornell campus and city bear little resemblance to what they were when I started college here, I still consider it home. The hills. Cayuga Lake. The Ithaca Commons.

This morning my former roommate Anne and I went out to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology for a tour. I’d never been out there before. Julian had collaborated with some of the staff on their projects back when he was working in the Neurobiology and Behavior department. As it happened, our tour guide today was one of those collaborators. We didn’t see a whole lot of birds, but we walked through several habitats at the facility.

Later in the morning I walked up to the Veterinary College. There’s an entirely new entrance and library. In addition, the college just opened a companion animal clinic. We were shown around by two members of the college staff and a woman who just finished her first year in vet school. The clinic isn’t fully equipped yet (no x-ray, exam tables, or other furnishings), but it’s much more light and airy than the small animal clinic I took my cat Chubbette to when she was diagnosed with diabetes. The new clinic has separate waiting and exam areas for cats and dogs. It was worth the hike.

More fun and frivolity to come.

Home sweet home. McGraw Tower and Uris Library.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/08/i-am-home/

Jun 05

Copacetic Corn Salad

There was a potluck at work last week. Since I was leaving for New York late that day, I needed something quick that wouldn’t produce too many leftovers for Julian. I knew we had several odds and ends of corn in the freezer, so I decided to make a corn salad on the way home the night before.

I picked up a bell pepper, beefsteak tomato, and a bag of spinach at the fruit stand on the way home. After the dinner dishes were done, I microwaved about 2 pounds of frozen corn until the kernels were thawed. While the corn was in the microwave, I whisked together a quick olive oil-white wine vinegar-Dijon mustard dressing. I cut up the bell pepper, tomato, and a bit of onion while the corn was cooling. Julian suggested not adding the vinaigrette  until  just before serving. I also kept the spinach and basil out of the bowl until lunch time. The salad was a big hit, so much so that there was only about 1/3 cup left at the end of the potluck for Julian.

Given the success with my coworkers, I decided to try the recipe with a more challenging audience: My family. I had to do some adaptation, since my hometown’s grocery store didn’t have any fresh basil. The frozen corn I bought was more like what’s grown for cattle, but I used it anyway. I put tomato, bell pepper, celery, and onion into the salad, along with fresh oregano. I left out the spinach to keep the kids happy. Success again. My mother liked it, and she prefers canned to frozen corn. You can probably even use sweet corn cut off the cob, provided it’s not too starchy. You can add any fresh herb or dried seasoning you want, depending on the other components of your meal. And feel free to add any vegetable taking up space in your produce bin. One pound of frozen corn will probably feed 4-6 in a meal.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/05/copacetic-corn-salad/

Jun 04

No. Such. Thing.

The biggest falsehood about a successful person is that s/he is self-made. There is no such thing as a self-made person. Let me start from the beginning:

  • The person was born. There were two people involved in this process, directly or indirectly.
  • The person was raised by at least one parent or guardian. Granted, some childhood homes are more chaotic than others.
  • The person went to school and learned from teachers. Again, some teachers are better than others.
  • The person had to get capital to start business from somewhere. S/he didn’t print the money. It had to come from inheritance, saving money from another job, crowdfunding, or getting a loan from a bank. Other humans were in on any transaction.
  • The person had to hire people.
  • The person had to sell products or services to other people.
  • Even the Unabomber had to go into town to buy pork and beans sometime.

The next time you hear someone touting him/herself as self-made, be dubious. Failure to acknowledge the role of others in one’s success is delusional. This is another phrase that should be expunged from the business vocabulary.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/04/no-such-thing/

Jun 03

Fish Fry Stand Smackdown

Upstate New York and western Washington have iconic fish fry stands: Rudy’s in Oswego and Ivar’s in the Seattle area. Both serve fried fish and seafood, with a few offerings for landlubbers. So, for the benefit of my friends on either end of the country, here’s my comparison of the two restaurants.

Branches. There is only one Rudy’s, on the shore of Lake Ontario. Ivar’s has numerous branches in the Seattle area. The original Ivar’s is in downtown Seattle, below Pike Place Market. Other outlets include the Salmon House on South Lake Union and fast food stands throughout the region.

Founding and Founders. Rudy’s opened in 1936, Ivar’s two years later. Both founders died in the 1980’s. Rudy’s is still owned by the same family. Ivar’s was sold to a management firm years ago. Rudy let his food do the talking. Ivar Haglund was a Seattle celebrity with appearances on radio and TV. When a truck full of syrup overturned on a local street many years ago, Ivar rushed to the scene with pancakes as a publicity stunt.

Ambience. Rudy’s is a drive-in. You order at the counter and eat in your car or at picnic tables. Rudy’s added a few tables inside the building in an earlier expansion. Ivar’s offers table service at the original and Salmon House restaurants.

Season. Rudy’s opens around St. Patrick’s Day and closes around Columbus Day. Trust me, you do NOT want to be eating at a picnic table near Lake Ontario in December. Ivar’s branches are open year-round.

The Fish. Deep fryers play a big role at both restaurants. The type of fish fried is similar (haddock, pollock). Ivar’s also has fried salmon, which strikes me as very wrong.

Sides and Other Offerings. As you can imagine, French fries and onion rings are served at both restaurants. Rudy’s also has other fried vegetables and poutine. The non-fish specialty at Rudy’s is the Texas Hot, a hot dog with diced onions, mustard, and chili on top. To go full Upstate, you can get a Coney Hot – an all-pork sausage dolled up with the fixings. Rudy’s also has an ice cream bar, presumably to compete with the soft-serve stand down the street. Ivar’s does chowder. Unlike most chowder houses in Seattle, Ivar’s also serves Manhattan clam chowder alongside the cream-based New England style.

Gulls. The ubiquitous flying rats make nuisances of themselves at both places. Rudy’s strongly discourages patrons from feeding gulls. (The gulls help themselves quite well, thank you very much.) On the other hand, Ivar encouraged feeding fries to the gulls.

Personal Preference. I don’t have a strong bias for or against either. I do need to have a Coney Hot on any trip Back East when Rudy’s is open. The Ivar’s quick-serve restaurants are easy places for lunch at home. Whatever’s convenient.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/03/fish-fry-stand-smackdown/

Jun 03

Reunion Time

I’m en route to New York to visit family and attend my Cornell Reunion. To my mind, Reunion is the most fun you can have fully clothed and without illegal substances. I see plenty of friends I knew back in the day; in addition I meet new people I never ran across and who become friends. Visiting the campus is always an interesting experience. Sometimes I even see people I knew from grad school. (Most people from my undergrad days are either long retired or dead.)

Another reunion will occur, this time with high school friends. I’d emailed one of my classmates to tell her that I’d be in town. She got hold of two other friends, and a flurry of texts began. Julian brought my phone up from the office while I was making dinner and said, “Your phone is making noise. You may want to see what’s going on.” The texts continued through dinner, complete with snarky remarks about one classmate’s husband being outnumbered by women (three daughters). Julian’s comment: “How many texts does it take for four women to make a dinner date?”

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/06/03/reunion-time/

May 26

Preferred Habitats

Some people are drawn to places similar to where they grew up. Others go for the exact opposite of the environments of their childhoods. The preferred habitats may be natural or human-made. When given a choice, people gravitate to where they can be most themselves and at peace.

Julian grew up in Miami, long before Miami Vice and other developments made the city a hipster magnet. Surfside, the city where his mother lived for years, used to be considered “God’s Waiting Room” before the high-rise condos and hotels oozed onto that barrier island. He escaped as soon as possible after high school. After a year at Georgia Tech, he finished his bachelors’ degree at the University of Wisconsin. He and his friends would spend summers backpacking in the Rockies and the Cascades. Our first vacation together was to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada, and we’ve since spent time in the Alps, Great Smokies, and Sierras. For years he had the idea of moving to Montana near Glacier National Park, and still brings up that possibility from time to time.

I made my own escape, from a farm in upstate New York to Dallas after graduating from Cornell. While city life holds a lot of appeal to me (job opportunities, great restaurants, diverse populations), I have the need to be near large natural bodies of water. My astrology-minded friends would tell me it’s because I’m a Pisces. I grew up 10 miles from Lake Ontario, and a creek was down the road from my childhood home. My sorority had a killer view of Cayuga Lake. We’d often gather on the back porch or look out the windows at the sunset over the lake and West Hill. My grad school apartment, on the aptly-named Grandview Court, also overlooked the lake. [One of my undergrad classmates wrote and recorded the semi-official anthem, “Ithaca Sunset”,  many years ago.] Dallas and Greensboro don’t have much in the way of bodies of water. Dallas has two “lakes”, and the Trinity River is little more than a drainage ditch. There are two lakes on the north end of Greensboro, Brandt and Townsend. Even though we lived nearby, we never went up there. I used to walk around the ponds in Country Park, which was the extent of my aquatic views. We visited the coast twice, both times when we were looking to adopt our first male Russian Blue kitten, Jasper.

The Seattle area makes both of us happy, geographically speaking. We can be in the mountains in one or two hours. Mount Rainier looms over the skyline on sunny days. I’ve got Puget Sound and Lake Washington. The Sammamish in our back yard is a happy bonus. I think we’ll stay for a while.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/05/26/preferred-habitats/

May 25

Neli, Screen Addict

Neli can text, turn on iTunes, and play games on the iPhone. Yes, there are smart phone games for smart cats. For example, here is the one that Neli is playing in the above video while Julian is watching football. The object of the game is to catch and crush the animated bugs. She’s so addicted that she’ll come running if she hears the click when Julian unlocks his iPhone.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/05/25/neli-screen-addict/

May 19

Tunes for Menial Tasks

After I took the picture of the steamboats (see A Serendipitous Sight), I put the phone on the dining room table. Somehow Neli managed to get Siri to play my iTunes. She sat next to the phone and listened intently. This cat is WAY too smart for our own good,

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/05/19/tunes-for-menial-tasks/

May 19

A Serendipitous Sight

Sometimes serendipity strikes in the midst of menial tasks. I was attempting to scrape the schmutz out of the gas grill when I heard a steam whistle. Since Casa Sammamish is nowhere near an old railroad, it had to be the mini steamboats. I ran downstairs and grabbed the phone to take a picture. Last year a whole flotilla went past. I saw only three today.

The first two steamboats.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/05/19/a-serendipitous-sight/

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