Subject: Re: Gussow on Nutrition/Food Systems

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 11:53:15 -0500

Dear Karen,

Thanks for your Sanet post.  

I'm an organic grower with a CSA share membership.  The biggest complaint I
get is that I provide my share holders with too much food!  We designed our
planting schemes to provide our shareholders with 5 days worth of the USDA
recommended 5-6 servings per day of fruits and vegetables.  

Folks simply aren't eating as much as they should of what they should.  One
of the problems is they are "too busy"  Another is that folks simply don't
know how to cook anymore.  I've been running a series in our newsletter on
how to cook.  Basics like cutting up veggies, definitions of cooking terms,
and what cooking methods can be applied to what produce.  Like any other
skill, cooking takes practice.  I'm considering teaching cooking classes next
season.

If you have any suggestions on how to help folks over come their "kitchen
impairments," their "too much effort for just me," or their "I don't have
time," please let us know.

Marcie
Full Circle Organic Farm

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From: dGianni <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 18:56:54 -0800 (PST)

On Wed, 11 Dec 1996 [email-masked] wrote:

> Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 11:53:15 -0500
> From: [email-masked]
> To: [email-masked]
> Cc: [email-masked]
> Subject: Re: Gussow on Nutrition/Food Systems
> 
> Dear Karen,
> 
> (snipped)  One
> of the problems is they are "too busy" ...(snip)
> 

When I hear people say, "I'm too busy, no time..." etc., etc., I take 
them to mean that they 1) don't yet realize that they need to plan ahead 
and organize the cooking chores (among a few people, if necessary) and 2) 
they aren't yet invested enough in thinking "organics" to make the 
commitment to plan ahead and organize their cooking. To belong to a CSA 
is a statement, but if they don't actually support the longevity of the 
CSA, it's kind of lip service.

Along with teaching HOW to cut up veggies and teaching recipes, I would
develop a focus on STRATEGY: Take the 5-10 minutes to wash, cut prepare,
etc. the evening before. Get help from other household members that are
eating the food.  Try to create the situation where all the prep is done
before the hour the meal is expected to be eaten. THAT takes energy and
effort. One reason agribusinesses are able to wipe out small farmers who
defy the synthetic pesticide/fertilizer pressures successfully laid on
by the chemical industry is because they know that mass marketing has 
propagandized consumers to think they want FAST, EASY, COSMETIC food. The 
economic pressures on larger numbers of people mean less time at home and 
more time working.  STRATEGY in the kitchen is essential to overcome the 
efforts of agribusiness to PESTICIDE THE WORLD! Join the resistance or 
shop at non organic sources, eat processed foods, cook minute rice, buy 
spam...you know what I mean. ;)
DGH