Is Cooking a Necessity?

I was on a conference call this morning to prepare for a panel I will sit on in a few weeks. The panel session, which focuses on women leaders in local food, is part of the Women's Leadership Conference at UVa. I feel quite honored to have even been asked to sit on the panel and really look forward to the discussion. I'll be sitting with three other women who have really played an impressive role in the local food movement. (As a side note - I'm finally convinced "real/local food" is a movement after Oprah hosted Michael Pollan on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure Oprah is the barometer for social movements these days. )

But back to the conversation today.....

We were discussing challenges of working in the local food movement (or maybe it was opportunities - sometimes I get these mixed up), and briefly talked about youth and young adults generally lacking cooking skills or knowledge. We didn't talk in too much detail on this subject, but a few comments really inspired some deeper thought. Specifically, encouraging consumers to purchase and eat whole foods implies a necessity for cooking and spending more time in the kitchen. Ok, this seems obvious when I put it in writing, but I had just never thought of it as a "necessity" to teach people cooking skills if we want them to buy whole food - duh. Until today, I think I've seen learning/teaching cooking as an enjoyable skill that would be a shame to lose. I've thought the same thing about canning and preserving food (see post from this summer) - a skill that is important because it is a part of our heritage - not a determinant of the success of a "social movement."

So now I'm left wondering - is learning to cook and preserve food a necessity? If so, what are the implications for "leaders in the local food movement"? On that same note, what are the implications for women in the local food movement? This is especially relevant for this panel for the Women in Leadership Conference and, of course, because I am a woman, but I think its worth pondering for anyone (including men) interested in food.

Women have spent decades working to get out of the kitchen. Are we suggesting a return to hours slaving over the stove and potentially "missing out" on professional opportunities? What about all of the women who fought so hard for women's rights and empowerment? (Laurel Thatcher Ulrich who famously said "Well behaved women seldom make history" would probably throttle me right now if she was reading this).

Well, my response is we shouldn't ignore this dilemma, but we also sure shouldn't let it stop teaching people to cook! I think there is a tremendous opportunity to think creatively and not only make "cooking cool" as was suggested on my phone call today, but to really think about how we cook and who is doing it. Cooking should become thought of as an opportunity to spend quality time with people we love creating something delicious and nourishing. Too poetic? philosophical? Probably a little, but not a total long shot. Cooking real, whole, local food doesn't have to be daunting task. Cooking should be fun!

So how do we make it fun? How do we teach people the skills while still recognizing the busy schedules many people juggle (single mothers/fathers especially)? How about those hours I've already put in sweating over a stove canning pickles and making applesauce? A memorable experience, but one I'm not sure most people would find "fun" and especially not "cool." Do people need to just get their priorities straight and commit more time to cooking (as I've heard suggested by more than one "foodie")? Are cooking skills really a necessity to the success of the local food movement?

I clearly don't have answers to all of these questions, or really any of these questions for that matter. But after spending at least a few hours thinking about this, I am sure it will take many more hours and many more ideas to come up with innovative solutions. To get that process started - what do you think???

In the spirit of this conversation about cooking local, real, whole food, here's a picture of vegetable soup I made a few weeks ago. Carrots and cauliflower fresh from the UVa Community Garden, green beans and corn from the farm and garden put away in the freezer this summer and fresh herbs clipped from outside my front door. A lot of work or a delicious masterpiece???

Mid-week entertainment

These are two photographs from earlier this winter.......thought they might provoke a little chuckle.....

This is when the UVa Community Garden moved the cold frame up to the Hereford garden. I was confident it would fit in the back of my truck before we loaded it. Did I mention it is 12 feet long? Oh, and I drove on the road with it like this - I had to climb in the passenger side to get in the truck....and Wynnie rode in the back to hold it steady. Not the brightest idea we've ever had. I think we'll enlist someone with a full size truck to help if we move it again.

This is one of my sister's hand crafted chicken houses at her house in Arkansas. She really enjoys building things out of scraps, although rarely fully finishes a single project (note the lack of shingles). I thought this one was especially creative. I think she should make a series of them - the chickens could then decide which house to roost in depending on their mood. :)

Happy Wednesday!!!!

Sprouts

**disclaimer: I have no idea why this is all underlined in blue - just consider it a snazzier version of a normal post....

Well, the new year is off with a whiz, bang, boom! I've spent the past two weeks of "break" as busy as ever between a one week business class at Darden and a one week externship at the Local Food Hub. Both educational, entertaining, and interesting experiences - maybe I'll write about them sometime.... :)

For now, I wanted to share pictures of my sprouting herbs. My sister gave me a windowsill herb planting "kit" for Christmas. Since my beautiful and plentiful herbs finally went kaput after the mega snowstorm dumped on them, I decided to try planting these inside. The kit contained seeds for sage, oregano, and basil - what some would consider the classic kitchen herbs.

So, I planted them a few weeks ago in two sets of three pots, put them in a sunny window, sprayed them with water twice a day, and waited.......

Now the seeds in the middle pots are sprouting! Of course I didn't actually label them, though, so I'm not really sure what is sprouting. With just the cotyledons showing, I won't be able to tell until the first true leaves come along either - darn. I really need to get better at record keeping and organization. Oh well, for now, I'll just enjoy the little sprouts.

There's something inspiring about planting a seed and watching it grow. It's really pretty amazing what can come out of such a small seed. I once read an article/essay/something or other about tomato seeds as the most amazing, efficient energy packets. It was an interesting thought - how the tiny seed (which is very easy to transport) can grow and produce so much energy (in the form of food calories) with minimal inputs - sun, water, soil. I wish I could find that article again - I bet I have it somewhere around the house. Hmm......again, I should really get better at that thing called organization......

I'm also trying to grow some mint from a sprig plucked from the garden - supposedly it will grow roots in a cup of water--I'm still waiting to be impressed. For now, I share my herb sprouts - any guesses what they are?

Did I mention I also potted some more spider plants? I think they are on a mission to take over our house..... I'm also still trying to figure out this new camera - lots of jazzy options.