Who will Feel the Global Food Crisis?*

As the end of the year approaches, experts all over the globe are starting to talk more about the impending global food crisis. Several regions are expected to suffer from food insecurity next year, though some for different reasons than others.

India, Afghanistan, and Egypt are all suffering from terrible droughts. This means that a large portion of their domestic crops are likely to suffer, and with cereal prices at record highs, they won’t be able to import as much grain as they usually do.

Some areas, such as Haiti, are experiencing the opposite extreme climate-wise, with a horrible monsoon season wreaking havoc on their infrastructure, and leaving them especially susceptible to food-insecurity.

It seems to me that the immediate problem driving the global food crisis is the recent insane weather patterns, which have brought droughts to many regions, including many of those that contain high concentrations of farmers who produce food for export. One can identify all sorts of local problems that contribute to food insecurity, but in reality those problems are just being exacerbated by these unfortunate weather patterns, which are reducing the amount of food available to be distributed around the globe.

The people who will struggle the most are those in smaller, underdeveloped countries where government support is scarce. While the impending food crisis is a global phenomenon, it is the smaller countries who lack a “safety net” who will truly feel the hunger.

Guns, Germs, and Steel Analysis

 In his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond seeks an explanation for the vast difference in the amounts of material wealth held by people in different geographic locations. By going back to a time predating civilization and tracing the growth of societies in different regions in the world, Diamond came up with a hypothesis that uses differences in natural food resources to explain the differing rates at which societies advance technologically.

Diamond identifies two simple grains--barley and wheat-- as the keys which provided the first steps for advancement to the people in areas where those grains grew naturally, such as the Fertile Crescent. In comparison to the taro and bananas which were popular foods for cultivation in tropical climates, grains were easier to mass produce and store, which gave its cultivators two advantages: they could adopt a sedentary lifestyle since they no longer had to rely on hunting and foraging to feed themselves, and they could produce enough sustainable nutrition to feed a growing population, thus giving their society chance to flourish without the pressure of hunger.

Diamond also studied patterns in animal domestication throughout history. He found that, amazingly, in the entire history of domestication, only 14 animals have ever been successfully domesticated for use as food. 13 of those originated in Eurasia. People living near the Fertile Crescent had access to a plethora of large animals, who not only provided valuable protein, but also milk, wool, leather, and most importantly, labor.

Early farmers found that horses or mules were invaluable to the farm. When hooked up to a plow, these beasts of burden could easily increase the efficiency of farm-work, once again allowing certain geographically lucky societies to spend more time honing their techniques and technologies. On the other hand, societies in Africa would certainly have their hands full if they wanted to tame the wild beasts of the safari. The people of New Guinea domesticated the pig, but this animal is pretty useless as a laborer.

According to Diamond, these plants and animals gave certain lucky groups of people the ability to focus their energies on creating new innovations which then give them an even greater advantage over smaller societies in places like New Guinea, who rely on less efficient crops and livestock to sustain their populations. Those less fortunate societies had to spend the majority of their time and energy trying to eke a living out of the land, and thus they have little time for thought about technological advancement.

Certainly the answer to why certain geographic locations see more human prosperity than others has more complexity to it. However, I think Diamond’s link between civilization and food resources is a very logical starting point for explaining the great mystery of inequality in the world.

Watching what We Eat

Cooking shows have never been quite as popular in the U.S. as they are now. It seems as though nearly everybody today has an opinion as to who the greatest celebrity chef is.

At the same time, modern U.S. Americans have adapted to a fast-food-intensive culinary tradition. If American’s really hate working in the kitchen so badly, why do they love to watch others do it?

In order to examine the American fascination with food television, I’ve identified 3 subtypes of food shows: 1) the classic cooking demonstration, 2) the food/travel memoir, and 3) the reality/competition show. Though each of these subtypes celebrate food and cooking, they do so in very different ways, and attract very different viewers. In order to understand the American fascination with food television, we have to understand what each subtype offers its viewers.

I’ll start with the traditional food demonstration show. This is the style of cooking show that was pioneered by Julia Childs, and is still well executed by celebrity chefs such as Ina Garten and Giada De Laurentiis. Typically, in these shows, the chef introduces a list of recipe and then shows viewers how to execute the menu step-by-step. This type of cooking show is for viewers who enjoy cooking and want to learn new recipes or techniques, however, one can look at the Food Network program schedule and see that the traditional food demonstration show is falling out of favor with audiences.

It seems likely that the recent decrease in the popularity of these shows is an indicator of a nation-wide lack of interest in cooking. If people aren’t tuning into the Food Network to learn about cooking, then what are they watching?

Some people are more interested in shows about travel, where they can witness the sights and cultures of faraway lands through the lens of a camera. These shows, like Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods, feed the eyes of viewers, especially. Essentially, a host will visit a different town, city, or country each episode, and go about finding the best and most quintessential foods that the region has to offer. They may also take part in different cultural rituals or pastimes, giving viewers an in-depth look at the way others live.

These shows are, in my opinion, the most genuine celebration of food because they generally attempt to emphasize, rather than disguise or adulterate, the impact of culinary traditions throughout the world. These shows foster a growing appreciation for home-cooked food in the U.S. by allowing viewers to see another person pouring their love and labor into a dish--finding enjoyment in creating something to feed friends and family. Viewers might see the food that others are making in their homes, and think, “Hey, I should fire up my own stove.” Unfortunately, I don’t think many viewers act on that impulse. It takes too long... too expensive... Burger King, yadda yadda yadda.

Once again, most people aren’t watching television in an attempt to learn or, god forbid, to better themselves. When we’re watching television, that’s all we’re doing: watching. A great big spread of food is a wonderful visual spectacle, and ever-hungry Americans are the perfect spectators. While these shows are good for getting stomachs rumbling, I don’t think they give viewers much impetus to cook for themselves, especially as half the meals consumed on these shows are made in restaurants.

Most recently, food television has taken on an entirely new meaning with the creation of reality kitchen shows and cooking competition. While the trend began with some high-quality shows such as Iron Chef and Kitchen Nightmares, it has expanded into a seemingly uncontrollable abomination. These shows, though built on the premise of cooking, are really about drama--the golden idol of U.S. television networks.

There is a great deal of excitement to be found in the kitchen, and network executives are constantly dreaming up ways to exploit it. Thus, we see competition shows reaching farther to put chefs in extreme conditions, and reality shows like the U.S. version of Kitchen Nightmares, which downplays the food completely and instead shows more footage of Gordon Ramsay arguing with restaurant owners. These shows are probably the most popular on the Food Network, and unfortunately, they’re no more about food or cooking than Jersey Shore is.

It’s sad to see that the growing American interest in food television really has so little to do with the food. I worry that commercializing and adulterating  the subject of cooking in the way that Food Network does will only increase the disconnect that Americans feel with their culinary traditions. Food is an object of the real world--to be experienced by all of the senses. We should be careful, as a society, not to let food become a passive experience

The End of Peanuts*

To many Americans, rich, creamy, nutritious peanut butter is regarded as a mainstay staple of the childhood diet. Picky children who will eat nothing else can be pacified by a simple “PB&J.” Peanut butter can be applied to almost any unsavory fruit or vegetable and they instantly become edible.  For decades, peanut butter sandwiches have populated kids’ lunchboxes.
However, in the past two decades, schools around the country have grown increasingly cautious with the infamous allergen. Some schools have gone so far as to ban peanut products from campuses completely.

As a person who spent his childhood cautiously navigating a lunchroom full of allergenic time-bombs, I can understand why some people may think peanut prohibition is a good idea. I can also see why it would be a big mistake.

Like it or not, primary school is where youngsters learn how to navigate the world around them. We learn how to build and maintain relationships, how to follow orders, how to question authority, and how make independent choices, including the choice of what to eat.

As a child with a peanut allergy, the school lunchroom was where I learned to select safe foods. The lunchroom was where I became aware of the constant threat of consuming something toxic, and it’s where I learned to ask what the heck I’m eating.

When children with severe food allergies don’t learn to be wary of what they eat, that is where the real threat is born. A child who was coddled a and kept in an allergen-free environment won’t gain a real understanding of how to operate independently in a world full of allergens. I think it’s better to allow the possibility that a child might have an allergic reaction in school, where they have immediate access to medical help, than to leave them to figure it out when they’re out on their own.

This Thanksgiving, I went with my family to eat at Boudro’s on the Riverwalk. They had a fantastic four-course Thanksgiving menu that consisted of a green apple and butternut squash soup, a cranberry and walnut salad, your choice of turkey breast or a ribeye for the main course, and a pumpkin creme brulee.

As I was ordering from their special holiday menu, the only choice I needed to make was whether to eat turkey or steak (the answer was obvious: steak). I paid little attention to the rest of the menu.

When the soup came, it looked gorgeous. It was a beautiful green and was garnished with a little dollop of sour cream and tiny little leaflets of some green herb. I mixed the sour cream garnish into my soup thoroughly before eating it. It was delicious, and I wondered allowed what that little unrecognizable herb was.

The when the waiter came by a couple minutes later, my dad asked what was in the garnish. The waiter replied, “Just sour cream, tarragon, and a bit of ground peanut.”

I gulped down a big mouthful of my peanut-contaminated soup.

Needless to say, the rest of the meal was a bit uncomfortable. The waiter brought me black and white soup, which I played with nervously until it was simply gray, and it was time for the next course.

Luckily I didn’t react to the peanut, and the rest of the meal was relatively uneventful. However, my uncomfortable experience at Thanksgiving dinner served as a valuable reminder to always read the menu, and to always let my server know I have a food allergy.

When considering whether to allow allergens in the classroom, we should consider the fact that these children will be living with allergens for their entire lives. It’s like teaching abstinence in the place of traditional sex ed., it doesn’t prepare students for the reality of the real world. It actually does the opposite by creating a false sense of security in the minds of vulnerable kids.

Anthony Bourdain "Guts and Glory" Review

On Nov. 8, notorious chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain visited Trinity University’s Laurie Auditorium, delivering a raw and unfiltered lecture which touched on everything from his mottled personal history to his merciless evaluations of television’s favorite celebrity chefs. 

The beginning of his lecture read like one big roast of the Food Network’s southern sweetheart, Paula Deen. In a stitching bit of stand-up comedy, Bourdain poked fun at Deen’s penchant for battering and frying every food item in sight and admonished her for encouraging people around the world to eat such fattening foods. He talked about Deen’s secret struggle with Diabetes, inquiring why she continues to perpetuate the growth of a disease with which she is personally afflicted by promoting unhealthy eating habits. One can tell that Bourdain values traditional cooking and that he resents the commercialization of the food industry.

From his rant about Deen, Bourdain segwayed into a chat about other celebrity chefs, complementing some (i.e. Andrew Zimmern and Giada De Laurentiis) and debasing others (i.e. Guy Fieri and Adam Richman). Bourdain noted that as a television chef, one must take into consideration the fact that their show is being broadcast across the globe, and that those shows affect how foreign countries assess American values. He argues that if a hungry family somewhere across the globe turns on their television only to see Adam Richman trying miserably to stomach several hundred raw oysters, this may proliferate anti-American sentiments.

Bourdain talked about his own show, too. He showed several of his favorite clips from his Travel Channel show, “No Reservations,” sharing some hilarious anecdotes about the people involved in producing the show.  He stressed the importance of building comfortable relationships with the people he films and interviews. According to Bourdain, he and his crew may spend the whole day getting to know the locals before they are ready to film an interview. He says that the relationships he builds with these people are key to producing good television.

According to Bourdain, one of his most important rules when travel is don’t insult the locals. He recounted some truly disgusting meals he had to endure while filming his show, including a lightly cooked warthog rectum. He says that no matter how horrible you think the food is, if somebody cooks something for you in their home, you eat it and you ask for seconds. Bourdain explained that a dish he finds frightening might be another person’s livelihood, and to reject their food is to harm their pride. According to Bourdain, the people he films are acutely aware of the fact that they are representing their country on international television, and they spare no expense to serve him the best dishes they know. Bourdain must always be an appreciative guest, happy to share the traditions of his hosts.

Bourdain encourages fan’s of “No Reservations” (which just ended it’s final season) to tune in to his upcoming show on CNN, called “Parts Unknown.” He said that his new show will be just like “No Reservations,” only this time he’ll be able to reach out to areas that the Travel Channel wouldn’t allow, making for a better, bolder show.

Food Demo Part 1: Prep-work

I recently stumbled upon an opportunity to run a full two-hour cooking demonstration as a project for my Hunger and Abundance class at UTSA. The terms were simple: I would be provided a fully equipped demo kitchen, a budget for ingredients, and an audience, and all I had to do in return was cook a few simple dishes. 

I was thrilled! If I could pull the thing off, I would have a great grade and great experience. If this demo went well, it would be a small affirmation of my ability to cook food professionally. A bit of proof that I’m not in over my head with this “foodie” business. Either way, this opportunity to run a cooking demo on my own terms was one that few aspiring chefs are afforded, and I set out with the deepest intentions of not screwing this up. 

I started by conceptualizing my menu. I needed to think of a theme. I don’t know what possessed me, but I decided to build my first cooking demo around vegetarian comfort food. I spent hours thumbing through every cookbook or food magazine that I owned, looking for dishes that adhered to my seemingly oxymoronic theme. 

My goal was to develop a menu of three or four items which could be cooked in about two hours altogether. I figured that a soup would be the perfect dish to begin the demo with, as it could be started and then left to simmer while another dish was started. I settled on a potato cream soup with roasted red peppers from the Culinary Institute of America’s vegetarian cookbook. I’d never prepared the recipe before, but the thought of warm potatoes, peppers, and parmesan. 

I figured that I could make an appetizer last, as it would most likely take the least time, so I decided to leave that decision for last and focus on my entree. I obsessed over that entree for days, scouring every vegetarian cooking book, blog, or website I could find, looking for some vegetarian dish that looked hearty and/or comforting. I was at a disadvantage, it seemed, as I was completely lacking personal experience in the realm of vegetarian cuisine. But after much vigorous reminiscing, I recalled a particularly comforting dish that I would always order when my mother used to take me and my sister to La Madeleine,  a cozy french cafe chain, during the winter. The Spinach Pochette at La Madeleine was one of my favorite meals as a child, my grandmother having instilled in me a serious love for leafy greens at a very young age. The earthy spinach, paired with a savory cheese mixture, and folded into a flaky pastry resonates with me as the epitome of simple french comfort food. I decided to take the best things about this recipe and incorporate them into an entree. I found a recipe for spinach and goat cheese quiche with sun-dried tomatoes. It looked perfect: earthy spinach and tomatoes, savory and creamy goat cheese and parmesan, and a nice, flaky pie crust. 

I figured that for the demo, I could make the crust and filling while the soup finished and let the quiche bake while I made the appetizer, which by this time I’d decided would be elegantly simple zucchini pancakes: little fried zucchini fritters that I’d serve with creamy tzatziki sauce. So my menu was set--assuming I could learn to successfully make all of these dishes in the week-and-a-half I had before the demo. Once I learned the recipes I’d have to figure out how to time the demo, check to make sure that the demo kitchen we were using (at the UTSA rec. center) had all of the supplies we needed, round up any unaccounted for supplies, buy ingredients, and finally, cook the entire meal under the watch of dozens of hungry eyes. Yikes!

Just as I began experiencing the early stages of a nervous breakdown, two other students from the class approached me, asking if I needed help cooking during the demo. Though I had initially envisioned myself running the entire demo, the prospect of having three chefs, each one preparing a different meal, seemed like a great way to alleviate some of the stress I’d been accumulating over the project.  Needless to say, I accepted their help with open arms. 

The first sous-chef to approach me was Randall, a tall, skinny military man with a surprising passion for food. He was a cook at The Cheesecake Factory--which, lets face it, is essentially just Olive Garden for the slightly more affluent--but his cooking skills and knowledge were impressive nevertheless. I’d also noticed that Randall was a rather talkative guy, and I was relieved to have someone else in the kitchen who could fill my awkward pauses. 

My second sous-chef was Shane Jones, a young man whose natural curiosity more than made up for his relative lack of knowledge in the kitchen. Though I had my doubts initially, he learned quickly and would eventually gave a great performance at the demo. 

I held a practice session, for which I had great expectations, at my apartment one week before the demo. I wanted to run it like a rehearsal, practicing the order in which we would perform different steps and keeping time to ensure that we would be orderly and precise on the day of the demo.  I thought that we could practice speaking aloud as we cooked and find a little chemistry between us to keep our audience entertained. I was greatly disappointed.        

I have myself to blame for the failure of our practice session. With two chefs and a mound of ingredients sitting before me, I realized exactly how much more effort I would need to put into this demo to make it run smoothly.  I hadn’t given Randall or Shane copies of the recipes they were preparing, so they both had to learn how to make them. Also, I hadn’t yet developed a concrete plan for how to order the preparation of the three menu items. Furthermore, there were several things that needed to be prepped in advance, and since I hadn’t done that, we had to spend a lot of time on prep work. 

The resulting rehearsal was a lot messier than I’d hoped. We all ended up working on our separate dishes simultaneously, and it was impossible to convince either of my sous-chefs to treat the practice like a real demo. The food came out well, with the exception of my dish. I’d given Randall the task of making the soup and had Shane make the zucchini pancakes. I was going to make the quiche... for the first time. I’d never made my own pie crust before, and it is just as difficult as everyone says. To make a light, flaky pie crust requires finesse, agility, and most importantly, practice. I don’t think I need to tell you that my pie crust came out thick and as hard as stone. I would have to put in a lot of time with the rolling pin before I could make crust worthy of being served. 

Though not what I expected, the practice had taught me some valuable lessons, the most important of which is that if you want to be respected in any kitchen, even your own, you have to be prepared. You have to know exactly what you’re doing and be prepared to delegate, these things are essential.  I knew that I couldn’t let the demo look anything like our practice run, so I had to get control of things quickly.

My first concern was figuring out how I could arrange these three menu items, each of which with very different cooking times, into a cohesive demo without leaving any gaps. I didn’t want us twiddling our thumbs while we waited for the quiche to cook, and I didn’t want to confuse people by constantly jumping around from one recipe to another. I developed and itinerary which explicitly listed the order in which every step of each recipe would be performed. I wanted my sous-chefs to be able to refer to it during the demo and know exactly what they needed to do next. Since the quiche had a rather long baking time, I decided that I would make two quiches the night before and reheat them at the demo. Also, any items that needed to be peeled or chopped in bulk were done ahead of time to eliminate down-time during the demo.

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Food Demo Itinerary:
Prep at home:

• quiche filling (fully prepped) or full quiche to be reheated
• pie dough

Prep in Kitchen:

• potatoes (peeled)
• zuchinni (grated and dried)
• peppers (blanched)

Step One: Start soup/ Knife Demo

1. Randall- Soup  Roast peppers (cut, put in oven)
2. Pillow- Leeks (cut and water bath), start melting butter, peel chop and add garlic.
3. Randall- Steam show peppers, peel and chop pre-blanched peppers
4. Randall-  Add peppers and leeks
5. Randall- Demo peeling and dicing 1 or 2 potatoes, ask for volunteers to dice pre-peeled potatoes
6. Randall- Add potatoes, add vegetable broth, add thyme. Start simmer (Timer: 30 min)

Step Two: Mixing Dough, Rolling Dough, Start Blind Bake

1. Making Dough

1. Pillow- Take pre-mixed dough out of fridge.  Mix dough in processor. Ice water, sift flour and salt, add butter, add water slowly)
2. Pillow- Knead and roll show-dough, put in fridge.

2. Rolling Pre-made Dough

1. Pillow- Roll out dough
2. Pillow- Cut dough. Roll onto pie tin.
3. Pillow- Crimp Edges Preheat Oven 375

3. Blind-baking

1. Pillow- Prick bottoms with fork. Shape foil and add dry beans
2. Pillow- Bake crusts (Timer: 10)

Step Three: Quiche Filling, Finish Soup

1. Quiche Filling (Make double recipe ahead of time)
1. Pillow- Heat oil
2. Pillow- (Onion Dicing demo) Add garlic and onions
3. Pillow- add spinach and saute. season and let drain in colander.
4. Pillow- whisk together cream and eggs.
5. Pillow- Add goat cheese, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach.
6. Pillow- Pour into crusts and bake at 350 (Set timer 40 min)

   2.     Finish Soup

1. Randall- Heat cream for soup
2. Randall- Puree soup with immersion blender.
3. Randall- Add heated cream and season
4. Randall- chop chives, grate parmesan for garnish, set aside for later. Keep soup warm.

Step Four: Tzatziki Sauce and Zucchini Pancakes

1. Tzatziki Sauce (Double this Recipe)
1. Pillow- Grate zucchini and squeeze dry.
2. Pillow- add yogurt, sour cream, oil, dill, and cucumber in processor. blend.
3. Pillow- pour sauce into bowl and add lemon zest and juice.

1. Zucchini Pancakes (Double this recipe and make very small cakes)
1. Shane- Grate show zucchini, salt, and set aside to dry.
2. Shane- Whisk eggs in bowl and add flour. Mix.
3. Shane- Chop herbs and crumble feta. Add to egg mixture.
4. Shane- Heat oil in pan.
5. Shane- Add walnuts and pre-grated zucchini.
6. Shane- fry small spoonfuls to make enough cakes for everyone
7. Shane- Salt finished pancakes.

Step 5: Taste and serve.

• Slice quiche and display on platter
• Arrange pancakes neatly around bowl of tzatziki.
• Serve out of dutch oven. Garnish with chives and parmesan.
• Set out disposable cutlery and dishes
• Help serve guests and relax.

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My next big task was to master the pie crust. I tried several different recipes over several days, most often coming up with pie crusts that were either too doughy or too crumbly. Eventually, I came across a recipe that worked, and I stuck to it. The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of flour, two sticks of butter (one cold and one frozen), cubed, salt, to taste, and just enough ice-cold water to form a cohesive dough. As you can see, this recipe requires a bit of guess-work, and it took me several long nights to get it down. I had to be able to make this recipe without any hitches on the day of the demo, and eventually I mastered the pernicious pastry, though I’ll never look at a pie the same way again. Now I only had to cook the dang thing at the demo, and I'd be done.

Part 2: The Show Coming soon!