Exactly one year ago today, I had the incredible opportunity to sit in on a lecture given by investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser. He is most notably recognized as the author of the New York Times best-seller, Fast Food Nation, and co-narrator for the film, Food, Inc. I originally intended to create this post on the night that I attended the lecture, but I never finished it, and so there it sat, in my drafts box, collecting dust…until now!

That evening, Schlosser discussed the many food industry-related problems that our nation and our world face and the solutions we could undertake to help solve them. Like many, he believes that our modern food production system cannot continue operating in the unsustainable ways it has been since World War II. Before then, farmers grew food less intensively and sold it locally and consumers were more frugal, cooked more meals at home, and conserved food resources to a higher degree out of necessity and common sense. Your parents would never allow you to throw away half of your dinner or package it in something you’d just end up tossing out. It would be wasted money, time, and effort spanning from the farm all the way to your parents’ wallets. Why then did it become so acceptable today?

Since World War II, we’ve gradually transformed into what many consider, a disposable society. The land we grow food upon, the livestock that we raise for consumption, the people that grow and transport our food, even the food items themselves have all become disposable. It’s a system built entirely for efficiency and profit as opposed to sustainability and nourishment. Our ignorance about how the modern food industry operates is what keeps the system running and that’s exactly why there’s so much controversy surrounding it. This is quite obvious now that so much light has been shed on the issue, thanks to investigative journalists like Schlosser, but when the system was first drafted and implemented, it was accepted as convenient, beneficial, and necessary. Everything became shrink-wrapped and branded, losing all previous identity beyond a name.

More recently however, our notions about food and modern food production have been traveling in the opposite direction. Fad, craze, trend - call it what you will - consumers have raised hell and have been pushing for better and higher standards when it comes to the food they eat. Local, free range, and organic foods are no longer uncommon items purchased only by wealthy elitists, but are food items demanded by average people who care about what they eat, where their food comes from, and how it was produced. Buying locally grown food often times means that you’re eating healthier foods that are actually grown using organic methods, not simply certified as “organic”, but it also means that you’re actively supporting your local economy and getting more bang for your buck. The less miles your food traveled to get to you, the better. Buying locally builds relationships between producers and consumers and nurtures the idea of community.

Schlosser calls this push for a more sustainable food system the leading movement on college campuses today and it all starts with buying locally. It’s become a pretty large movement off of college campuses as well with hypermarkets, like Walmart, and fast food chains, like McDonald’s, seeking to keep up with the Joneses and embrace local food.

Schlosser concluded his lecture that night on a positive note saying, “All of the solutions to these problems can be found right here, in Syracuse…if you care to look.”

It was quite an honor to sit in the presence of a major proponent of the modern food movement and learn from his great body of knowledge and experiences as an investigative journalist. However, I am still slightly upset about missing a Michael Pollan lecture that took place in Syracuse after finding out about it just days after it happened. I will get another chance someday!

My advice: stay eager, never stop learning, and remain alert to the world around you. You’re a big part of it, no matter how big or small your contribution. We need you!

Swedish almond cake. This deliciousness is the result of needing an excuse to use my KitchenAid tonight (even though the recipe regards the use of a mixer as unnecessary) and to satiate my desire for this amazing, in all actuality, giant almond cookie. If you’re looking to fulfill your almond cravings, follow this link for the recipe. Smaklig måltid!

Tonight’s dinner: sautéed ratatouille!

Acrylic on canvas painting of a coffee plant that my brother painted. After a frame support repair, it’ll be hanging on the wall in our new apartment kitchen. Post-repair and installation photos will likely follow soon.

After craving funnel cake for much of yesterday when I was at Coney Island, I decided to make my own today. I’ve been waiting to do this for a while, but now it’s something I can cross off my bucket list.

After seeing Disney Pixar’s animated film, Ratatouille, some time ago, I felt how I assume many people felt: wanting to try this supposedly overwhelming French vegetable dish, known as ratatouille. After researching what ingredients make up the dish, I discovered that there are a couple ways in which the dish can be prepared. The first being Michel Guérard’s gorgeous, concentrically layered and baked version, referred to as confit byaldi, and the other being the sautéed altogether on the stove version. I was fortunate enough to come across a recipe for the version seen in the animated film shortly after its release, but I left it bookmarked for countless months before I would ever try my hand at it.

The first time I actually made a ratatouille dish was in the food science course that I took this past semester at Syracuse University, my last semester as a SUNY-ESF undergraduate. It was one of the dishes we were allowed to prepare during our vegetable lab and was called garden ratatouille. Having wanted to try ratatouille and create it for quite some time, I selected it as my dish to prepare. Initially, it seemed like it might be difficult to complete. I’d never cooked much with zucchini or eggplant, so I had no idea how to dice either of them, being cylindrical fruits and all.

Fortunately, with some help from our chef and pointers on the technique, I was well on my way to making ratatouille for the first time. The version I created that day in lab was the simple sautéed version. It was much easier to prepare than I originally imagined and it was delicious. I used this recipe a few more times for dinners at my college apartment until I wanted to change it up and create the baked version. I came across the recipe on one of my favorite food and cooking websites, Smitten Kitchen.

Creating this masterpiece, however, required a few tools that I didn’t have on hand: a mandoline slicer to speed up the uniform slicing of all those colorful fruits/vegetables and a stoneware baking dish that would accommodate them. After a brief trip to Target, an inexpensive mandoline slicer and a killer baking dish from Giada De Laurentiis had joined our kitchen armada in the fight against hunger and bad food.

Almost as soon as we got home, I washed and set up the mandoline and began slicing away at the fruits/vegetables. The slicing process was so much faster and the slices came out much more uniform for everything except the eggplant. This mandoline slicer did not do so well with slicing eggplant. The eggplant’s unfamiliar spongy interior and tough skin must have confused the mandoline and so it retaliated by destroying much of the eggplant. Thus I believe that it is probably easier to slice eggplant by hand for this recipe unless you have a top notch mandoline.

We carefully arranged all of the ingredients in the baking dish, took many photos, painstakingly cut an oval of parchment to cover the dish, and baked it to absolute perfection.

After having tasted both versions that I know of for ratatouille, I much prefer this version. There is so much more texture and flavor present in this dish. If you’ve been thinking about giving this recipe a try, stop thinking about it and just do it. Your taste buds and your stomach will be grateful.

I’ve neglected to post routine updates on this one, but the avocado plant I’m growing is now at day 168. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. Since I started it back in October, I’ve started four other avocado seeds as well, but none of them have sprouted much vegetation yet, only small shoots with no leaves and lots of roots. As you can see in this photo, I transplanted the avocado plant into soil a while ago and it’s been growing very well. The leaves are huge!