Dharma Feast Cookbook

Genetically modified foods and choice

It’s not a shock anymore that genetically modified foods have an impact on the humans who eat them. We know many of the genes survive the digestion process and are absorbed into the body, wreaking all kinds of havoc, from increased allergic reactions to autoimmune diseases, as well as crossing the placental barrier into unborn babies. 

It should be a no-brainer to require labeling of the products containing such ingredients so consumers can choose whether or not to eat them. According to public opinion polls, ”a majority of consumers asked would not eat GE food if they had a choice” and “more than 90% of Americans support mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods.” (In fact, “a recent poll released by ABC News found that 93 percent of the American public wants the federal government to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. As ABC News stated, ‘Such near-unanimity in public opinion is rare.’”) But in the U.S., at least, such requirements are still a long way off, even though they are labeled in Australia, China, the 15 European Union nations, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, and many other countries. 

At the moment, the only way to insure you’re not eating them is exclusively to eat organic foods. This makes it easy in the grocery store but forget it when you go out to eat. Servers—and even managers many times—often don’t know enough about the items on their menus to tell you honestly if they’re organic or not. A safe bet is, if you’re eating in a chain, the ingredients are sourced as cheaply as possible; they’re filled with GMO corn and soy, baby.

There are so many groups advocating for labeling and I support them one hundred percent. But I found a new person to lobby today and was amazed at his reach—this man “determines how one out of every $3 spent on groceries in the United States is spent.”

Manolo Reyes is this man and he is the V.P. of produce and floral for Wal-Mart. As I said in a previous post, Wal-Mart is often the only grocery store in many small towns across America. What they stock is what America eats for dinner. So not having a choice about whether or not to buy GMO products is a huge deal. 

Let me state that statistic again—ONE THIRD of the money spent on groceries in the U.S. is spent at Wal-Mart. How and where we spend our money is, for most of us, the most powerful daily political statement we make. When we put a product back on the shelves, we tell that food company that we don’t like what they’re doing. The more people who speak this way the more powerful the message is. My friend in a small town in Southern Arkansas remembers this when she pushes her Wal-Mart cart full of as many organic foods as possible up to the checkout line. She’s got a voice, and she’s using it.

Use yours. Don’t buy products you suspect or know contain GMOs. Go to justlabelit.org and sign the petition. And call Manolo Reyes and let him know you don’t want unlabeled GMO products in your Wal-Mart.

Gluten free: maybe

I have celiac disease, which means I can’t digest gluten. In fact, it makes me really sick if I eat even a little. Like if I lick my finger after touching a piece of bread.

That’s partly why I am so meticulous about reading labels—I’m looking to see if there’s some little ingredient tucked away in that list that’s going to make my life hell for four days and only slightly less hell for the next two weeks as my system recovers.

So I look for that gluten free label.

But, in the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Sadly, that’s the case with “gluten free.” Turns out there’s no real standard for what it means, despite the fact that the FDA called for a definition in 2008. (Um, it’s 2012, for those of you keeping track at home.)

What this means is that there are all kinds of products out there that aren’t GF but are being sold with a GF label. There are the worst offenders, people who are trying to cash in on the lucrative GF market, like the guy who bought regular bread and put it in new bags under his Great Specialty Products label, with heartbreaking results.

Then there are the companies that decide for themselves how much gluten can be in a product and still be called “gluten free.” But if someone really needs it to be GF, like me, then it doesn’t work for there to be a different standard for every company. If it says GF, I have to know that it really is GF.

So I’m mad. There’s already so very little I can eat when it comes to what’s on the grocery shelves. I have to admit I’m excited when I see something I can put back on my list because there’s a GF alternative. And now I can’t trust the label. I’m back to square one, crossing off everything that isn’t naturally GF.

I don’t know what to advise you, other than “only eat things that are usually gluten free.” I know that’s not helpful. But until (once again) we get a clear definition of what we’re eating, I can’t recommend you run out and look for the GF label if you really have trouble with gluten.

Cozy reading, rainy day

Today, in honor of It’s Been Raining for a Week Day, I’m snuggled up reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Here is a paragraph that had me wiggling, going “Yes, yes, yes!” in my head:

“‘Eating is an agricultural act,’ as Wendell Berry famously said. It is also an ecological act, and a political act, too. Though much has been done to obscure this simple fact, how and what we eat determines to a great extent the use we make of the world—and what is to become of it. To eat with a fuller consciousness of all that is at stake might sound like a burden, but in practice few things in life can afford quite as much satisfaction. By comparison, the pleasures of eating industrially [i.e., eating foods produced by industrial farming/agriculture techniques], which is to say eating in ignorance, are fleeting.”

The best daal recipe in the world

This daal recipe is from our good friend from Pakistan. Since she introduced this to us it has been our standard daal recipe, and everybody who eats it loves it. What makes it so distinct, so true to its roots, is the tarka—browned onions and garlic in oil stirred into the daal right before serving. In Pakistan, most families have their traditional tarka recipe that is handed down within their family from generation to generation. The onions and garlic need to be browned to the point that you worry they’re getting too dark and maybe even burnt. At medium heat, you keep scraping the onions from the bottom of the pan over and over for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can also use other spices in the tarka such as bay leaves, curry leaves, lemon, coriander powder, green chiles, and mustard seeds.

Serves  3–5

1 cup red lentils

3 cups water

1 medium tomato, chopped

1–3 teaspoons sea salt to taste (If the daal lacks flavor, add more salt.)

1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric 1 dried red chile

For Tarka 

Half a small onion

4–5 tablespoons safflower oil, enough to cover bottom of pan, onions, and garlic

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

3 cloves garlic, sliced into thin rounds

2–3 tablespoons lemon juice

Prep Time 40 minutes (Includes preparation time for tarka)

For Daal–In a saucepan, combine red lentils and water and bring to a boil on medium heat. As it begins to boil, skim off lentil residue so water is clear.

While lentils are boiling, add tomato, sea salt, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and chile. Let spices boil for about a minute and then turn heat down to medium low and cover saucepan.

Keep at a low boil for the next 10–15 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, uncover saucepan and let excess water boil away. Prepare Tarka (below) during this time.

Turn heat off and cover saucepan. Daal should be fairly thick. If thinner daal is desired, add water. Boil uncovered if thicker daal is desired.

For Tarka–While daal is slowly boiling, cut onion in half lengthwise. With cut side facing down, slice it thinly, starting from side, not top or bottom.

Put oil in a small frying pan. Turn heat to medium and add cumin seeds. When they begin to sizzle and the scent of the cumin is obvious, add onions.

Add garlic to frying pan. As garlic and onion begin to brown, add lemon juice. (Stand back—oil will sizzle.) Continue to let the onions and garlic brown, but keep them from turning black or burning. Sauté until onions and garlic are nicely brown all over.

Uncover daal and pour in tarka. Don’t mix. Immediately cover daal so flavors of tarka stay in saucepan and don’t evaporate. Be careful—the tarka will sizzle very loudly when it is added. After about a minute, uncover saucepan and mix daal and tarka together. Serve hot over brown basmati rice.

Rosemary Cashews

Coating roasted cashews with butter and fresh rosemary makes them quite rich and gives them a wonderful flavor. Serve them as a small side dish or use them to top a salad. Whether it’s for a special occasion or with a simple meal, they make the simplest of salads seem festive, while adding protein to a meal.

Serves  3

1 cup cashews 1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped

Pinch of sea salt

Prep Time 25 minutes

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spread cashews on baking sheet; roast in oven for 10–15 minutes, depending on your oven. Watch closely so they don’t burn. Melt butter. Add rosemary and a pinch of salt; mix. Remove cashews from oven. Put in bowl. Pour rosemary butter over nuts; mix to coat nuts.

Local Food, Two More Options

So it’s Local Food Month here for Theresa. It just keeps popping up in my mind. This may be because I’m going to be at back-to-back book signings at farmers markets next weekend.

Yes, farmers markets! Talk about knowing your farmer! He or she is right there in front of you, waiting to talk to you about the fresh, picked-that-morning produce in their booth. Even if a booth isn’t sporting an Organic banner, ask, because odds are they are, it’s just the process for getting certified can be pricy and you can’t have that banner unless you’re certified.

To find a farmers market in the United States go to Local Harvest, localharvest.org, also lists local farmers markets. There are lots of farmers markets that are not registered—check local papers.

You can also go to ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets and type in a state. This will provide a list of all the farmers markets registered with the USDA.

To find a farmers market internationally, check in travel guide books or search for “farmers markets” for the city or region you are in on the internet. You can also check city websites—they often provide a list.

Another great way to support local agriculture is to buy produce from a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, a farm that brings its produce directly to a home or drop-off point. They provide delicious recipe ideas with each box so, if you’re wondering what to do with fennel, there’s an idea right there waiting for you.

Go to localharvest.org and click on the “CSA” tab. For international CSAs, again, search the web for your country or region.

Here’s a list straight from the Local Harvest website discussing the benefits of CSAs:

Advantages for consumers:

• Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
• Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
• Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
• Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
• Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown 

When you buy food directly from farmers markets and CSAs, you don’t have to look at tags on supermarket shelves to see where a food is from or wonder if it’s really in season. You know you’re getting seasonal produce full of all the nutrients a plant only gets from ripening on a plant and being picked and delivered the same day. 

Happy eating!

Refined white flour? Nope

My tip for the day: cut out refined white flour.

It’s been known for over a century that this kind of flour has no nutritional value and does, in fact, contain pesticides and fillers that are actually harmful to our bodies. It is a fact that eating a lot of foods containing refined white flour is linked to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, vitamin deficiencies, and allergies. 

Besides the dearth of nutrition and pesticide residue, another reason to cut out refined white flour is gluten (gluten is found in any flour made from wheat, barley, or rye„ but today I’m focusing on white flour. ;) ) Gluten affects everyone—some more, some less. It damages the lining of the small intestine and blocks the absorption of nutrients. In fact, many diagnosed vitamin B deficiencies can be traced to eating gluten. 

I know, this sounds like I’m asking you to give up everything with gluten in it, but you don’t need to be that drastic. Just do two simple things—

1. Instead of buying white bread, choose a whole-grain one. 

2. Look at the ingredients in processed foods. If it lists “refined white flour” or “white flour,” choose another brand.

Two easy steps to be more healthy from this day forward!

USDA and Local Food

Yeah, all right, I gave you a scary post the other day about how our food distribution model, and so our species, was doomed. 

But I gave you a place to start! Buy local! Yay!

Today Michael Pollan, food god, listed a USDA website discussing this exact idea, and how thousands of farmers and ranchers across the nation are investing in just that.

From the site: “Recent growth in the demand for locally- and regionally-produced food has opened up new market opportunities for farmers, ranchers and food businesses. Americans are interested in learning more about where their food comes from, a trend that benefits all of U.S. agriculture.”

Um, and all of us, too. 

I love that tagline: KNOW YOUR FARMER. KNOW YOUR FOOD.

Maybe because it’s right in line with my own?: Eat what you want. Know what you eat.

Whatever the reason, I’m ridiculously excited about all this and I really want everyone to go look at this site. Right now. :D

The website can be found here.

Here’s a link to the What and Why page…

and here’s a link directly to the map showing local food producers nationwide. These are the farmers and ranchers across America who are selling their food locally, so make a list of them and look/ask for their produce at your grocery store.

You may not think requesting stores to stock specific items will make much of a difference, but I know a woman who lives in a small town in Arkansas who does just that and lo if those items don’t show up. 

The power to buy good, local food is in our hands! We can make it happen!