Learn How To Cook Videos

For the past year I’ve been trying to spark up the debate about our messed up food system and what to do about it here at A Lucid Spoonful and over at the Slow Food Nation blog. Now, I am proud to announce that there is a formidable new kid on the block, Civil Eats, a place to further the discussion with many voices and a hope for changing the debate. www.civileats.com explores the connections between the food system and the environment, the politics of consumer choices, and the actions we can take to change the way we think about food everyday. I hope you will join us there and take part in the conversation!

As you might have noticed, posts here lately have been fewer and further between. I don’t mean to abandon my readers, its just that I’ve been writing up a storm on the Slow Food Nation blog in the past few weeks. Here is the beginning of today’s post on the movie FLOW, a film about the politics of water:

Water is a vital part of life, but should it be a commodity? This is the question FLOW explores, not just in developing countries where the issue seems paramount, but in the United States as well. Water is currently a $400 billion industry, the third largest behind oil and electricity. Because of pollution, scarcity and corporate control, it is the largest issue facing humanity in this century.

Of the 6 billion people on Earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe drinking water. In addition, contaminated drinking water kills more humans than AIDS or war. A lack of infrastructure or aging infrastructure that a government can’t afford to upgrade are the leading reasons private companies are invited in to make water distribution deals. But when a private industry, which is beholden to shareholders, gets control of a local water supply, a basic human need, the result is that the community using the water is at risk.

Keep reading…

I’m happy to announce that the videos of the Food for Thought talks at Slow Food Nation are now up on the Slow Food Nation site. Now you can enjoy them for free, and not miss out on the conversation that there about the state of food policy in America, from global warming, to farm worker justice, to education and more. Enjoy!

As readers know, I spent labor day weekend hanging around at Slow Food Nation in San Francisco, taking in the talks, as well as the blackberry mint coolers and masa cakes of change for an improved future food system in America. It was a celebration of food but also a virtual manifesto that brought out 60,000 like-minded and/or curious, hungry folks to partake in the various events, from music, to tastings, to idea-sharing.

Food for Thought got down and dirty with the food policy discussion, featuring the biggest names in food, notably Wendall Berry, Carlo Petrini, Vandana Shiva, Michael Pollan, and Raj Patel. I confess, I’m a wonk. So I took it in like a succulent meal, taking furious notes and even writing a breakdown for the Slow Food Nation blog for day 1 and day 2.

Above is the video for the panel on the world food crisis, which was the opening star-studded talk at Food for Thought. Keep an eye on the Slow Food Nation site in the coming weeks for all of the panel videos, free for all to view. One of the biggest takeaways from the conference was that we can’t think about the environment, oil dependency, education, health, or most anything else without dealing with the issues surrounding food. All of the panels were enlightening, but I highly recommend the panel on climate change and food, and the Slow Food Nation panel featuring Wendall Berry, who if you couldn’t tell by now is my food warrior hero. I even waited in an hour-long line to have him sign my copy of The Unsettling of America (a prescient book of essays about our culture and agricultural policies, published in 1977). Berry was humble, but everyone sharing the stage with him had taken inspiration from his writing. He said he felt a change coming, alas. When I met him I shook his hand and let him know that our generation was taking him up on that. I hope to be proven correct.

Are you as sick of the food system we’ve gotten stuck with as I am? I know there are at least a few of you out there, so here is something empowering that every individual (and those on their email lists) can do to demand change from Washington: Sign the Food Declaration!

On Thursday, at the rotunda inside City Hall in San Francisco, the Food Declaration was read aloud for a crowd of 200 people to hear. Framers of the document, including Dan Imhoff, Alice Waters, Michael Pollan and many other food and agriculture policy thinkers have been working on creating a concise document that clearly states the kind of policy that is needed right now. It gives policymakers distinct guidelines, and endorsements from professionals in different fields who can act as advisers.

The petition has been getting tons of signatures at Slow Food Nation, where it is visible for all to see and sign, and afterward it will travel around the country to Slow Food convivia and NGOs who will host signing parties of their own. Meanwhile, endorsements and comments can be posted on the Food Declaration website, so that everyone can get in on the conversation. Roots of Change, Slow Food USA and other like-minded groups hope that by Spring 2009, the petition will be in Washington, D.C. for a final signing event, and then will be presented to Congress.

File this under totally hilarious!

Jake and Amir are two best friends (sort of) who have a podcast where they talk about being BFFs. The podcast started off as an office joke but now it’s a pretty big deal on the web.

Amir’s character is known for eating a totally unhealthy diet. His staple food/meal (if you could call it a meal) is actually a box of chicken McNuggets from McDonalds. Amir has even been known to abstain from drinking water. Crazy kid.

If there was an exact opposite version of We Like It Raw, Amir would be me and the site would be called “We Like It Cooked”. Amir would post stuff like this.

Anyway, on a recent episode of their show Amir talked about doing the Master Cleanse. I found it so funny, random, and crazy that I just had to post it here. Hopefully you enjoy too!