Farming, Cooking, and Eating (but not necessarily in that order...)

Yesterday, I took my first macrobiotic cooking class with Gabriella, who also led our macrobiotic store tour at Whole Foods the other week. It was a very small class – I was one of five women who attended – but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was very informal and we just asked questions as Gabriella cooked. We covered quite a range of topics, including the sugar blues, peoples’ disconnection from nature and food, the meat and dairy industries, the medical profession, and Gabriella’s background in Hungary, where she lived for 11 years and ran a macrobiotic health center. Overall, it was one of those situations where I was unable to pinpoint something specific that I learned…you know, one revelatory fact, but it was entirely enjoyable. Gabriella is very sweet and open to all kinds of conversations…

She also happens to have the most amazing collection of kitchenware – everything out of natural materials (ceramic, glass, wood), of course, in keeping with macrobiotic principles. There wasn’t a piece of plastic in sight, which is a goal I’d love to set for my own kitchen when J and I finally set roots down in a more permanent location (soon! Location TBA!). I spent most of the four hours I was at her house in awe of her beautiful dishes and her stove – oh the stove! She has a Viking industrial model that I was just swooning over. Despite all my kitchenware envy, I did actually unglue my eyes a moment to enjoy the wonderful food she prepared for us. Once again, surprise surprise, I left home without my camera, so you will have to imagine the following: tempeh nori rolls, kukicha tea, sweet adzuki bean soup, gomoku (healing rice dish), asparagus salad with French sauce vinaigrette (and arame, which actually tasted good), pickles, and the most beautiful blueberry pie.

(leftover gomoku that I got to take home, with a bit of arame that snuck into the bowl)

One would think I would have felt completely stuffed with all that food, but I really didn’t. I didn’t have the desire to eat any more (and, in fact, I skipped dinner when I never skip a meal), but the food was so fresh and balanced that I didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least. Oh macrobiotics, what did I ever do without you? So I went merrily home after a lovely afternoon with a packet full of recipes to try….but now comes the time when I actually have to apply the inspiration that has been bestowed upon me. That is certainly the hard part. I feel so good after eating a properly prepared macrobiotic meal, but it’s so easy to fall back into normal/lazy routines. I still have a weakness for smoothies, which have temporarily taken the place of my baking habit. (I just need something sweet, darn it!) I’ve learned, and have felt intuitively, that super cold beverages plus the tropical fruit are hard on your kidneys and do, in fact, make your body feel cold…but I continue to blend them up, nonetheless. Gabriella recommended a sweet vegetable tea in the afternoon to cut sweet cravings, but once again, it’s one of those things I have to make myself do. In yoga, we speak of samskaras, which are basically ruts or habits formed over many lifetimes. My samskaras are deeply trenched and hard to climb out of, but I am willing to try. Really, I am. Macrobiotics seems worth it to me.

Chicago Cultural Center - location of the 2007 Family Farmed Expo

So there you have the eating/cooking portion of the post, but I’d like to back up a bit in the food cycle now to share with you a bit of my weekend. J and I attended the Family Farmed Expo on Saturday (a festival dedicated to locally grown food), which, sadly, was not as exciting as I’d hoped. The vibe was heavily in favor of meat and dairy farmers, almost to the exclusion of any vegetable growers. I guess I was living in Veganworld when I expected the whole expo to be dedicated to fresh veggies. To give you some idea of the vibe I’m referring to, here is one of the booths that was set up:

Naturally, I have quite an objection to the term “food animals.” The whole concept of animals being placed on this earth to serve us as food or otherwise is repulsive to me. Luckily, Mercy for Animals was at least set up in a booth directly across from them (a bit of vegan justice!). There were presentations throughout the day, as well as a mini-film festival. I was looking forward to watching The Meatrix and its sequels, but once again, we vegans were under-served…they supposedly couldn’t find the presenters who were going to discuss the short films, so the expo workers decided to move on to the next film…a film about cheese making! Unfortunately, I kid you not. (*Just so you know, The Meatrix is in support of family farming, not necessarily a vegan lifestyle, but I still wanted to see it.) This dairy domination kind of seemed to be the theme for the day. In a presentation about the corporate takeover of organic foods, the speaker's sentiment could be summed up with "Walmart is okay. Corporate takeover isn't bad. Things are the way they are." When I saw him up close later in the day, I noticed that he was wearing a shirt with the embroidered logo of Organic Valley (milk products, etc. which are sold at - you guessed it - Walmart). No wonder he was such a moron. *cough cough*

We did get a respite from the land of animal foods with a cooking demo (or should I say, uncooking demo?) by Chicago’s own Karyn Calabrese – the owner of Karyn’s Cooked and Karyn’s Fresh Corner in Lincoln Park (her raw café and gourmet raw restaurant). I failed to get a good picture, but you can get some idea of what she looks like here:

It bothered me how everyone was bowing down to her. Sure, she looks pretty good for being 60, but people were worshipping her like she was some kind of goddess. It was pretty funny, because she forgot to bring an avocado, and she was making a bit of a scene asking her ladies in waiting where her avocado was. “I can’t believe I’m going to make this without avocado!” she exclaimed. I bet they got an ear-full later on. Further complaints: the entire demo was like a peddling session for Karyn’s products (supplements, etc), which seemed rather tacky to me. Also, the raw food diet was presented as the great almighty cure for what ails you, and that simply isn’t true. People wanted to believe her, though, because that is the kind of power she commands when she stands in front of an audience. She is charismatic and is a good chef, but her snobbishness turns me off.

Before I get to the high note of the day, I just have to sound off on one more annoyance: Chipotle was one of the sponsors for the whole event. Recently, I saw a billboard while walking downtown proclaiming that Chipotle only uses “natural” chickens in their food. I guess they are now saying that they support local farms here in Illinois (chicken farms, naturally)…but come on, no former blood brother of McDonald's can be considered noble in my book. And of course we know that eating “naturally” raised chickens does not spare you from eating an animal that was cruelly treated somewhere down the line. It just disappoints me that an event celebrating local food could be financially backed by a line of restaurants indicative of the trend toward homogenization and destruction of regional food preparation.

So finally, there is some good news. The world is not as bleak and dim as my assessment of the event would imply. The highlight of the day came at the very last workshop we attended, which was all about edible landscapes (in other words, growing food in your yard). The first two presenters were quite a bore, but the finale more than made up for it. The last presenter spoke all about permaculture, which was totally fascinating. I was interested in growing my own food before I heard him speak, but I’m so excited about it now. The concept of growing food and flowers and everything else all mixed together is so intriguing, as is the concept of working with (not against) Nature so that you aren’t slaving away in the garden so much. I’m eager to learn more. Next up on my list of books to read are all the permaculture books Chi-Pub-Lib has to offer. Then, I will just have to wait until I have a house with a yard… Food, Not Lawns!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my little food outings. I am particularly excited about the Green Festival in April, which I think will be a lot less depressing than the expo this weekend with all its animal exploitation. In fact, I believe the GF is only serving vegetarian and vegan food. J and I have become increasingly interested in living a simplified, sustainable life, especially over the past six months or so, so the Green Festival couldn’t have come at a better time.

Hope you all are well and staying dry. Spring is certainly here. =)