Meet the Local Food Leaders

The idea of “being a Food Leader” can be a bit abstract and confusing. It is definitely different from being a Food Entrepreneur, which is a leader who takes the initiative to create something that does not currently exist in their society. Being a Food Leader is more diverse, it is something everyone can be.

How to become one? Well… You don’t have to “startup” your own food project–even though that would be really awesome! Food leaders first focus on their relationship with food, make changes as they feel needed, then share and learn with others their experience. It requires is one understand why we eat the way we do and then have the motivation to make improved food decisions everyday. Every bite, every dollar, every hour has an impact on our food system.

Now don’t get me wrong, we need entrepreneurs and change makers greatly in society. Many of them begin the dialog, ask the initial question (Why doesn’t UT have an academic program to study food?!)… But not everyone can be an entrepreneur. Great teams are full of leaders with unique and individual skill sets.

Being a Food Leader doesn’t mean you have to make all of the decisions, but you will to have to understand how you play an important role in changing the food system. So begin to ask yourself, why do I eat the way I do? Am I ok with that? Why? Why not?

These were some of the questions UT Food Studies Alumni Alejandra and I decided to ask some of the Local Food Leaders at the 2012 Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) Conference. We wanted to understand what do “Food Leaders” do and more importantly why. So, we created a short video for you, the next generation of food leaders, to help inspire your food studies and projects. Share it with your friends, teachers, mentors, co-workers and everyone who loves food, because we can all become Food Leaders simply by beginning to use food as a lens to understand ourselves and the world around us.

Great thanks to all the Food Leaders that participated in the video and sharing their story.

Jerry Cunningham, Proprietor of Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill
Alexandra Maria Landeros, Writer and Editor for Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Nick Latham, Founder of My Country Co-op
Brandi Clark, President of Austin EcoNetwork
Marla Camp, Publisher of Edible Austin
Ronda Rutledge, Executive Director of the Sustainable Food Center
Michael Olson, Author of Food Chain Radio and MetroFarm.com
Patty Lovera, Assistant Director of Food & Water Watch
Dustin Fedako, CEO of East Austin Compost Peddlers
Aurora Porter, Marketing & Communications for Vital Farms
Scott Price, Consultant for Slow Money Austin and SRP Consulting
Kathryn Hutchison, Marketing for Greenling.com & VP Austin Food Blogger Alliance
Judith McGeary, Executive Director of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Pamela Walker, Author of Growing Good Things to Eat-Texas A&M
Kelsey Coto, President of Food Studies at The University of Texas at Austin
Ellen, Blogger/Educator for The Homegrown Revival
Heather Frambach, Outreach Manager for HOPE Farmers Market
Evan Driscoll, Farm Hand at Green Gate Farms
Jessie Griffiths’, Chef/Owner of Dai Due Supper Club

Special thanks to Edible Austin, Slow Food Austin, Greenling, UT Food Studies and Alejandra Spector for sponsorship and support producing this video.

Video Produced by Daniel “Asiago” Heron

The Hunt for Red Gold

Cayucero at sea Photo by Michael Bonfigli

I have never been a big fan of eating lobster or really had any sort of opinion on them for that matter. I mean, I love seafood, but lobster just isn’t really my thing. After reading an article about lobster diving along the Miskito Coast, my thoughts on lobster changed. Lobster is no longer an empty space in my brain, and here’s why.

The Miskito Coast is an indigenous region of Central America, specifically Honduras and Nicaragua, where the lobster industry thrives. Commonly referred to as “red gold,” lobster diving has been the main source of income on the Miskito Coast since the 1970s, but it did not evolve into an industry until the 1980s, when demand for lobster increased in the United States. Besides drug trafficking, catching lobster is really the only option for men living along the coast. But what once used to be an easy and safe occupation, has now turned into a dangerous and life-threatening line of work that is the main cause of injury and devastation among families living along the Miskito Coast.

Typical diving trips last about 12 days. Industrial size boats pick up divers on the Bay Islands of Honduras, and in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and are transported to the Miskito keys to the lobster bays. Upon arrival to the lobster bed, scuba tanks are loaded into individual canoes, and the men are ready for work. There are two jobs a Miskito Indian can choose from while working on the boat, a diver (buzo), or a canoeman (cayucero).  Both work hand in hand, and combine their expertise to catch as many lobsters as they can from their trip out to sea.  When the day is over, they return to the main ship with all the other buzos and cayuceros to collect all the lobsters caught from the day and to get ready for the next.

Welcome to the Food Studies Project

Hello, I’m Asiago, lead organizer for The Food Studies Project. My last name is “Heron” named in honor of the Great Blue Heron. I am told by people during my time at UT Austin that I have an inspiring personal story to tell. I would like to share an abridged version of my story, give thanks for the education I have received, and invite you all to come fly with me this winter. I have always had an interest in food, probably because I was pulled out of elementary school when I was seven years old, and spent most of life at home eating and watching the Food Network. Sadly though, I did not learn much about food or cooking sitting in front of the television. I just ended up eating more. It got to the point that I had to eat something every time I sat down to watch TV. By the time I was 13, I was already an obese teen who spent his days playing games, only pausing to go steal cigarettes and food, which I called “Game Fuel”, at my neighborhood market. My life was wasting away because I never left the nest, never built the courage to take that first leap. I started learning how to fly when I decided to go back to school at the age of 20. I started a new life thanks to junior college. At the time, I could not imagine that taking a Spanish class would not only guide me to UT Austin but also teach me how to fly around the world.

source: wikipedia.org

Education helped me think differently about food, and it naturally changed my unhealthy ways. Studying foreign cultures and languages brought me awareness about the importance and meaning of food. Meanwhile, my concern grew for the future of food throughout the world. My first couple of years at UT, I did not know I had this food focus in my studies. It wasn’t until I came upon Dr. Rebecca Torres’ course “Farming, Food, and Global Hunger” that I realized I had always had great interests and concerns with food in all of my classes.

The Scientist

This video has been out for a while, but I only just saw it. It took me by surprise while I was at the movies a few nights ago. I was having a nice conversation with my roommate when this video came on before the previews, and we both fell silent. I was eager to see where the video was going, what the point of it was. I knew it had something to do with sustainable farm practices, ethical treatment of animals, or organic food or something. The suspense was daunting, but when the end finally came, I was confounded. I was expecting to see an advertisement for PETA or Slow Food, something of the sort, but instead, I saw Chipotle.

I always knew Chipotle was different from other fast food restaurants, but I didn’t know it was such an advocate for naturally raised food. I was intrigued. After visiting the Chipotle website, scavenging through their links, and reading through their history, I found out a few interesting things about Chipotle I hadn’t known before. Maybe you haven’t either.

The carnitas at Chipotle is probably my favorite item to order on the menu, and now I know why. Turns out Chipotle sources 100% of their pork from farmers who follow these guidelines: raise animals in a humane way, feed animals a vegetarian diet, never give animals hormones, and allow the animals to display their natural tendencies. To add to that, 85% of their beef is sourced from farmers who follow the same guidelines, and they won’t stop until they reach 100%. Chipotle also tries to buy locally (within 350 miles from the store) when it can. Overall, I was just very impressed as I read through their facts and philosophies. There are many other initiatives Chipotle is taking to make the world a better place. Take a look for yourself here.

I was equally impressed with the video as well. I felt it went through the evolution of industrialization of food in a simple and understandable manner. I especially liked the part at 1:10 when the video shows the farmer’s remorse of how he raised his animals. I’m sure a lot of farmers feel the same way and are conflicted between providing for themselves and raising good, respectable food.

I think Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle, is on to something good. Maybe his business model can act as a catalyst of change, and other restaurants will start doing the same. Until then, support your local Chipotle.

FYI: McDonald’s doesn’t own Chipotle. McDonald’s was an investor until 2006. Chipotle is now it’s own public stock on the NYSE.

Food Sovereignty in Bolivia

Two weeks before the Fall 2011 semester started, I had the honor of being part of a Food First delegation in Bolivia with the amazing new project Food Sovereignty Tours.

It is hard to summarize all the new information that was presented to me by Bolivian locals and from the wonderful professionals–now friends–that I met on the trip. Being the youngster on the trip, I did not feel ready to engage in the subject of Food Sovereignty and Climate Change. Even though I did not have much of a background in many of the discussion topics, it did not take an expert to see the shocking reality of the world food system in Bolivia. How the Global North uses beautiful counties like Bolivia in the Global South to aid their own food security. How food is no longer a human right but a commodity used to control populations and benefit certain wealthy nations. As an undergraduate in college, we read a lot about the injustices and unfair issues throughout the world, but lack the reality of experiencing it. I wish my school would had some sort of Study Abroad Program like this. Wake up tours. I wasn’t able to get a scholarship or university credit for the tour (I funded it with the rest of my emergency savings and donations from a few professors who believe in my future) yet it was worth it because I went in with just an interest in food security and left a food activist.

On Killing Chickens

After a 26-hour cross-country road trip from Texas to Virginia, my two friends and I arrived at our buddy’s farm in the early afternoon. He greeted us with a smile and asked if we were ready to slaughter some chickens. Over the next 2 hours we learned the entire process: catching the chickens, slitting their throats, plucking and dressing. I have to admit that it was difficult for me to make my first fatal cut (as they say, the first one really is the hardest), but, by chicken number 30, the killing wasn’t much different than any other job. We ate the birds two days later at my friends wedding reception (the reason for our road trip). It was the first time I had eaten an animal that I’d killed.

When I got back from my trip, I told several friends and family members about my chicken killing experience. I wasn’t surprised that many of them were uncomfortable with the idea of killing an animal, but what surprised me was their apparent disgust of my having eaten the very animals I had dispatched. The most resonating of these comments came from a friend of mine who said “I prefer not to think about the fact the the food I eat was killed.”

This experience caused me to think about how we view food in industrialized countries like America. Walking through the open markets SE Asia, I became acutely aware that many people in the world are much more familiar and comfortable with the knowledge that the seasoned chunks of protein on their plate came a living, breathing creature. Dead chickens and fish hung proudly in racks on the food stands, live animals paced about anxiously in their cages, turtles were being killed and de-shelled and there were even dogs for sale (although no one buying them was looking for a new pet). All of this was in stark contrast to the nice, neat meat display at my local grocery store where chicken breasts sit proudly in their Styrofoam containers alongside lean ground beef and trimmed steaks.

What does this separation from the source do to our society’s approach to food? Would you eat less beef if you knew the cow it came from? What if you had to kill that cow? How much of that leftover chicken would go to waste if you understood the work it took to catch, kill, pluck and dress? Perhaps a greater understanding of where our food comes from and how it got on our plate would help to cure some of our current food ills, or at least give us a new appreciation for the fact the we don’t have to kill our dinner. After all, the chicken may or may not have come before the egg, but it definitely beat the Styrofoam.

Bringing HER into my life

There are certain books and that are just perfect for Food Studies. I am slowly making a list of ones that I think are essential for students interested in studying food. These books seem to come into my life just at the right time. My new companion, “Bringing it to the Table” by Wendell Berry, was love at first sight. After reading the first chapter “Nature as Measure”, Berry’s ideas started to connect the pieces in my life. In combination with my first garden project, it is helping me start a new relationship with Nature, education, work, mom, the women of my life.

Nature as my love

Source: thisfromthat.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/brain1.jpg

My love for productivity seems to be an addiction. Several people have told me that my lust to accomplish many things quickly and efficiently is a result of capitalistic culture. I often feel that I am behind in life and I need to study harder and experience more. I work hard just to work more. The demand for “more” is constantly going up, at the cost of quality and joy in my life and culture. As an American, I notice the effort to produce and buy more food at cheaper prices; if money controls our decisions then money is our liberty. Regardless economic wealth, I feel security in surplus, maximized time, the big stack of pancakes, a pantry filled with food, an alcohol collection (even if I don’t drink), papers published, books read…  to horde, and do the things I want to do.

The Other Little Things

As I mentioned in my last post, the little things were powerful enough to change my life. But of course, there are other little things that I have experienced abroad that I wouldn’t like to live with forever. Some are comical, but many are sad truths about the world and food. Experiencing these other little things motivated me to question and think how I can change the world.

 

The Little Things

During the last few years, I have been blessed to have experienced several foreign countries. Traveling internationally I think is what got me into studying food, because I enjoy seeing how people around the world treat food. It is amazing to learn about food taboos, etiquette, and I like to challenge my palate. Weird food combinations, smells, and at times disturbing appearances can be surprising at times, but it brings more understanding about the meaning food. Setting cuisine aside, I find that it is always the little things associated with food that end up having an impact on my life, because the little things reveal a deeper meaning about society.

 

Here are few examples that changed my life:

 

Sharing a single car of beer

Beer is so important. It would take forever to analyze its social importance, but the point I want to make is that beer promotes sharing. In Salvador, Brazil, it is common to share a single can (350ml) of cerveja, dividing it amongst a table of glasses. In my culture, each person would get his/her own can.

Brazilian Food Vocab

With Latin American Studies, I study mostly languages: Spanish and Portuguese with an attempt at Quechua once. This semester I am doing an exchange program in the Brazil with hopes to master Brazilian. Last month, I spent in Salvador da Bahia and found the vocabulary Brazilians used to describe their meals very interesting. It left me wondering how to translate some of these words and phrases. Translations are debatable but one thing I learned was that the words we use can change our relationships with food. Here are few Brazilian Food Vocab examples: