The time has come to say goodbye to blogger.
I've decided to combine my blog with another site I was working on, Soup and Bread. Soup and Bread started as a way to collect and share the soup and bread recipes from dinner parties that I used to have with a group of friends. When I found myself wanting to write about a new soup recipe I had tried and not knowing whether I should post it here or on Soup and Bread, I decided it was time to merge the two. Plus, thanks to some help from Lucas and Wordpress, Soup and Bread is much more attractive than this site could ever be.
So, I hope you follow me over to soupandbread.org where I will continue writing about what I've been up to and posting lots more recipes. I'd also love any feedback you have to offer on the new site.
Saturday 11 April 2009
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Poisoning La Frontera
Tomorrow, the U.S. Border Patrol will unleash it's newest weapon to combat illegal entry into the US -- poisoning over 1 mile of plant life along the Rio Grande River through aerial spraying of the herbicide Imazapyr. If the $2.1 million project is deemed "successful" (¿on what terms?) it may be replicated along 130 miles of the river bank/border with Mexico. This is wrong on so many levels, it is hard to know where to begin. There's the potential of poisoning the water supply of the Texas and Mexican border towns of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, killing wildlife or at minimum destroying wildlife habitat, and once again, making the border crossing even more dangerous for individuals who will simply find other, more dangerours ways to cross. This policy makes no environment sense, it makes no humanitarian sense and it makes no economic sense. Herbicides are not going to solve the problem of the US immigration system.
Read more about the project in the Houston Chronicle
Read more about the project in the Houston Chronicle
Sunday 22 March 2009
Bagels! Yum.
This afternoon Ruth and I very successfully made bagels. I've got NY Jew in my blood and I'm serious about my bagels. I like them dense and chewy and the version of a bagel I ate here was made by Menonites and it just can't compare to H&H. I was a little wary that our bagels would turn out really cakey, since we just downloaded the recipes from the a random recipe site on the internet, but they were perfectly crisped on the outside, covered to the brim in sesame seeds and delicously chewy inside. Ruth was wondering why she felt so satisfied with what was actually a pretty easy achievement, and I think it's because not only did we make yummy bagels for today, but in doing so we successfully eliminated bagel-longing from life in Xela. It turns out it only takes about 2 hours, start to finish, to make bagels and there are no odd ingredients required. We can eat bagels all the time. The entrepreneurial wheels are turning and we've been thinking about how we can bring these delicious bagels to a wider audience in Xela. They're so fun to make, but there's only so many we can eat ourselves...For more photos of the fun day, check out Ruth's site.
Here's the recipe we used:
INGREDIENTS
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
DIRECTIONS
Combine yeast, water, salt and 3 tbsp. sugar in a bowl and let rest 10 minutes. Add the flour to the yeast mixture. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes. Cut the dough into 10 portions and shape into smooth balls. Poke a hole in the center with your finger, and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape. Cover, let rise 30-45 minutes.
Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water, add the remaining tbsp. of sugar and bring to a boil. When the bagels are finished rising, put 4 or 5 bagels into the water, and cook 3 minutes on each side. Remove the bagels from the water, place on a greased baking sheer and bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, flipping the bagels half way through.
Enjoy fresh out of the oven with a little cream cheese!
Saturday 21 March 2009
Hacia un nuevo sistema financero rural
I spent the better part of the past three days at an international microfinance conference outside of Xela. Entitled “Hacia un nuevo sistema financiero rural” (Towards a new rural finance system), the conference hosted presenters from throughout Central and South America discussing challenges, opportunities and innovations to providing financial services in rural areas of Latin America. The organization I’m working with, the Union de Agricultores Minifundistas, was one of the sponsoring organizations of the conference, so I’ve been involved with some of the planning for the past two months (making menu suggestions, aiding with other logistics, but basically just watching other people do these things and realizing that my idea of a good mid-conference snack may not be the same as the average Guatemalan’s and it’s probably best to keep my mouth shut). I’ve been waiting for the conference and hoping that it will provide some more context and depth of understanding for the work I’m involved with at UAM.
Microfinance is one of UAM’s program areas, though not really the area I’ve most been involved with and a topic I have minimal experience with beyond case studies of the Grameen Bank I read in college and Muhammud Yunus’ autobiography I found in out apartment in Xela. UAM is in the process of reviewing all of their micro-finance policies, and through reading these documents and participating in a few meetings (and side conversations with another intern focusing on micro-finance) I have learned quite a bit. But what I’ve most learned is that rural micro-finance is damn hard.
The conference confirmed that, yes, micro-finance is incredibly tricky to implement in extremely poor rural areas, but did provide several strategies for success and examples of creative innovations that were quite inspiring. These included financial products that I had not traditional associated with micro-finance but that are an essential part of rural financial services-products such as affordable life insurance policies (an excellent example from Mexico), and access to savings accounts. Many countries have laws strictly forbidding micro-finance organizations from providing savings account services, so the obstacles to widening access to rural savings accounts are formidable. However, Brazil offers a really interesting example of an innovative approach to rural savings. In Brazil, tiny, rural tiendas have been granted status as banking institutions to host savings accounts for local residents and the number of rural residents with savings accounts has skyrocketed.
The importance of savings was emphasized throughout the conference as a means of promoting decreasing vulnerability of rural residents where micro-loans often have the opposite effect. While micro-loans can be incredibly helpful, they are always a risk and can create an ensuing sense of insecurity, especially when the loan has been used for agricultural production which is dependent on many factors beyond the borrowers control-including weather and international markets. Savings were also highlighted as a strategy to help make better use of remittances to help people in rural areas escape cycles of poverty. Without a place to put remittances, they are spent rapidly on home construction or other durable goods. While these are certainly essential investments, I seen first hand in Guatemala the construction of very elaborate houses in rural areas and wonder whether with better access to savings, people would construct the same kind of houses or would choose to construct something more economical and save the remaining funds to help avert potential future destabilizing events (family illness, bad weather, fall in prices etc.) When there’s no safe place to put the dollars, why not invest them in fancy construction materials?
The topic that seemed to be looming over the whole conference was the current world economic crisis. While so much media attention has been paid to job loss and recession in developed countries, little media attention has been directed to the impacts on people in developing countries, especially Central and South America. Central American economies rely heavily on remittances from family members working in the states to meet the needs of their citizens and particularly those form rural areas with fewer job opportunities. (By 2006, remittances were composing close to 10% of the Guatemalan GDP). With job loss in the US, particularly in industries heavily populated by immigrants such as construction, restaurants etc. remittances are definitely going to continue to decrease. Donations to organizations working in Latin America have decreased as well. (As an example, US-based Heifer International, a fabulous organization and one of UAM’s main partners, was forced to cut their Guatemala staff by 50% this year! In testament of the amazing dedication of their staff, all 7 employees who were laid off are working this entire year without pay to continue the level of work they had been doing previously).
While these are clearly all incredibly negative impacts of the economic crisis on rural development in Latin America, there was also a prevailing sense of hope amongst conference i in the potential long-term impacts of the crisis on the financial sector. What speaker after speaker continued to emphasize was the importance of confidence and relationships between micro-finance lenders and clients in creating a successful financial system. This kind of confidence, the accessibility and the direct relationships, the transparency and accountability inherent in these examples of rural micro-finance are in complete contrast to the financial system that created the current economic crisis—a financial system based on speculation and lack of regulation and transparency. While it may be a bit too early to be looking for silver linings to the economic crisis, there was hope amongst conference participants that the kind of financial system they are trying to create will not only gain legitimacy in the current climate, but may even serve as a model for reform of the world financial market. I must admit that my cynisim is a little bit too high to have much faith in the latter, but I do see alternative financial systems and micro-credit in particular gaining both respectability and prominence.
Microfinance is one of UAM’s program areas, though not really the area I’ve most been involved with and a topic I have minimal experience with beyond case studies of the Grameen Bank I read in college and Muhammud Yunus’ autobiography I found in out apartment in Xela. UAM is in the process of reviewing all of their micro-finance policies, and through reading these documents and participating in a few meetings (and side conversations with another intern focusing on micro-finance) I have learned quite a bit. But what I’ve most learned is that rural micro-finance is damn hard.
The conference confirmed that, yes, micro-finance is incredibly tricky to implement in extremely poor rural areas, but did provide several strategies for success and examples of creative innovations that were quite inspiring. These included financial products that I had not traditional associated with micro-finance but that are an essential part of rural financial services-products such as affordable life insurance policies (an excellent example from Mexico), and access to savings accounts. Many countries have laws strictly forbidding micro-finance organizations from providing savings account services, so the obstacles to widening access to rural savings accounts are formidable. However, Brazil offers a really interesting example of an innovative approach to rural savings. In Brazil, tiny, rural tiendas have been granted status as banking institutions to host savings accounts for local residents and the number of rural residents with savings accounts has skyrocketed.
The importance of savings was emphasized throughout the conference as a means of promoting decreasing vulnerability of rural residents where micro-loans often have the opposite effect. While micro-loans can be incredibly helpful, they are always a risk and can create an ensuing sense of insecurity, especially when the loan has been used for agricultural production which is dependent on many factors beyond the borrowers control-including weather and international markets. Savings were also highlighted as a strategy to help make better use of remittances to help people in rural areas escape cycles of poverty. Without a place to put remittances, they are spent rapidly on home construction or other durable goods. While these are certainly essential investments, I seen first hand in Guatemala the construction of very elaborate houses in rural areas and wonder whether with better access to savings, people would construct the same kind of houses or would choose to construct something more economical and save the remaining funds to help avert potential future destabilizing events (family illness, bad weather, fall in prices etc.) When there’s no safe place to put the dollars, why not invest them in fancy construction materials?
The topic that seemed to be looming over the whole conference was the current world economic crisis. While so much media attention has been paid to job loss and recession in developed countries, little media attention has been directed to the impacts on people in developing countries, especially Central and South America. Central American economies rely heavily on remittances from family members working in the states to meet the needs of their citizens and particularly those form rural areas with fewer job opportunities. (By 2006, remittances were composing close to 10% of the Guatemalan GDP). With job loss in the US, particularly in industries heavily populated by immigrants such as construction, restaurants etc. remittances are definitely going to continue to decrease. Donations to organizations working in Latin America have decreased as well. (As an example, US-based Heifer International, a fabulous organization and one of UAM’s main partners, was forced to cut their Guatemala staff by 50% this year! In testament of the amazing dedication of their staff, all 7 employees who were laid off are working this entire year without pay to continue the level of work they had been doing previously).
While these are clearly all incredibly negative impacts of the economic crisis on rural development in Latin America, there was also a prevailing sense of hope amongst conference i in the potential long-term impacts of the crisis on the financial sector. What speaker after speaker continued to emphasize was the importance of confidence and relationships between micro-finance lenders and clients in creating a successful financial system. This kind of confidence, the accessibility and the direct relationships, the transparency and accountability inherent in these examples of rural micro-finance are in complete contrast to the financial system that created the current economic crisis—a financial system based on speculation and lack of regulation and transparency. While it may be a bit too early to be looking for silver linings to the economic crisis, there was hope amongst conference participants that the kind of financial system they are trying to create will not only gain legitimacy in the current climate, but may even serve as a model for reform of the world financial market. I must admit that my cynisim is a little bit too high to have much faith in the latter, but I do see alternative financial systems and micro-credit in particular gaining both respectability and prominence.
Sunday 8 March 2009
Tulate
I was fortunate to spend the better part of this weekend at the beach in Tulate with Omar, Vanessa and Ruth. It's now been confirmed for the 100th time, I am an ocean person. I believe that there are ocean people and there are mountain people, and maybe a few mixed up in between. I fit snuggly in the ocean camp. Something happens as we are descending from Xela, down the curvy road heading towards the coast. As soon as we start to sense the heat, some 1000 meters or so below Xela, I feel this sense of comfort, like I am back where I belong. It is hot and humid and buggy, but something about it puts me at ease. So it isn't just an aversion to the dark, dreary winters of New England, but some kind of attraction to this heat, this closeness of the sea. I feel this sense of anticipation and excitement.
Perhaps it is something about beginnings. I grew up just a few miles from the beach. I remember surviving high school math class because I could look out the window of the classroom, on the third floor of a building perched high up on a hill in New Haven, and I could see the coast and feel some sense of freedom from the boredom of the class, some kind of opportuntity. I guess I still feel that possibility when I'm near the water. Time to start figuring out how to live near the coast again...
Guatemalan beaches have pretty poor reputations and I'm yet to understand why. This was wide open pacific, dark, soft sand and very few other people in site; Fish shacks that serve tasty ceviche and cold beer with limes; warm but refreshing, clean water. I couldn't ask for much more. Ruth took quite a few pictures, including of the pigs (literally cerdos, not people with large appetites) who ate next to us last night. I'll post a link when she puts them online...
Friday 6 March 2009
Cooking Class Part Two
Today was another adventure at Intecap making something resembling paella minus the meat (a good thing for me!). The surprising and somewhat good thing was that three of our group members didn't show up, so it was just me and Eloisa. I should mention that none of them called to advise that they weren't coming. Luckily we were responsible for buying the ingredients this week, so we had the food with us. The other three were supposed to bring the pots and pans, but luckily Eloisa is allowed to store pots and pans in the kitchen because she is also taking the International Cooking course. A very friendly group of other students lent us their second paella pan and we were on our way! Well, until we realized there was no water... We waited, and luckily around 5:30 the water had returned and we got cooking.
This class was actually quite fun--much more what I had originally imagined--me and Eloisa chatting and cooking and ending up with something fairly tasty. I was even reconsidering my earlier decision that this week would be my last. But then we were told the ingredients to bring for the next week's recipe and I promptly reconsidered my decision to reconsider my decision to quit the class. I'm not sure what the name of the dish is, but it's supposedly from France. It has the following ingredients. Read them and you tell me if you'd be interested in eating this dish....
Shrimp
Bacon
Cheddar cheese (1/2 lb!)
Soy sauce
Orange juice
I'm not really sure what Japanese-Vermont raise person landed in France and decided to make this dish, but I think I'd rather keep guessing than try it for myself.
Pues, adios Intecap, it's been weird.
This class was actually quite fun--much more what I had originally imagined--me and Eloisa chatting and cooking and ending up with something fairly tasty. I was even reconsidering my earlier decision that this week would be my last. But then we were told the ingredients to bring for the next week's recipe and I promptly reconsidered my decision to reconsider my decision to quit the class. I'm not sure what the name of the dish is, but it's supposedly from France. It has the following ingredients. Read them and you tell me if you'd be interested in eating this dish....
Shrimp
Bacon
Cheddar cheese (1/2 lb!)
Soy sauce
Orange juice
I'm not really sure what Japanese-Vermont raise person landed in France and decided to make this dish, but I think I'd rather keep guessing than try it for myself.
Pues, adios Intecap, it's been weird.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Cooking Class Guatemalan Style
A few weeks ago I began taking a cooking class at a place in Xela called Intecap (Instituto Técnico de Capacitación y Productividad). It’s basically adult ed meets community college meets vocational high school. They offer certificate programs in a variety of areas including mechanics, culinary arts, and welding. However, they also offer non-certificate courses for the average person with a passing interest in these topics. When Eloisa told me that she’d signed up for both International Cuisine and Mediterranean Cooking, I said, “sign me up!” What better way to improve my Spanish than while learning a few new tricks in the kitchen and getting to spend more time with Eloisa. And the class only cost Q100 for 8 4-hour sessions! I left the rest of the world to Eloisa and chose to focus on the Mediterranean.
Alas, I feel a bit duped.
To begin with, the class may have only cost Q100, but the students have to provide every last ingredient and cooking implement. So each week, we have a recipe, divide up the ingredients, head to the market and end up spending anywhere between Q25 and Q75 extra. If we’re lucky, our cooking group partners (we’re 5 to a group) remember to bring pots, pans, soap, sponges, towels etc. Sometimes they forget and have to run out and get them at Hiper Pais, which is conveniently located next door but not so conveniently owned by Walmart and incredibly expensive. Essentially, Intecap provides a room with industrial kitchen floors, a six-burner stove and a convection oven that usually works. You could also say, they provide instruction, but this is really a stretch given that the teacher is usually not in the room (I have no idea where she goes during this time. It is impossible to find her even when there are literally baking dishes exploding in the oven).
So the disorganization and lack of instruction aside, you might think that it’s all worthwhile because I’m getting to learn to cook some yummy new things. Prepare yourself, I’m about to be food snobby and I know this and I apologize, but here it comes…
The recipes are terrible! They’re not actually Mediterranean food. Ok, I should rephrase that. They’re Mediterranean food with a Guatemalan touch. For example the pesto we made on night two…it had crema in it! Now, last time I spoke with an Italian (yesterday. Eloisa’s husband is from Italy) he confirmed that pesto is not made with crema. He also confirmed that calzones are not made with cottage cheese. Gross. I could understand if mozzarella weren’t widely available here, but it is, and so is parmesan.
We’re making something paella-like this week, and I’m trying to be a bit excited. But last week Eloisa and I played hooky and made brownies in my apartment and it was so much more fun….
Alas, I feel a bit duped.
To begin with, the class may have only cost Q100, but the students have to provide every last ingredient and cooking implement. So each week, we have a recipe, divide up the ingredients, head to the market and end up spending anywhere between Q25 and Q75 extra. If we’re lucky, our cooking group partners (we’re 5 to a group) remember to bring pots, pans, soap, sponges, towels etc. Sometimes they forget and have to run out and get them at Hiper Pais, which is conveniently located next door but not so conveniently owned by Walmart and incredibly expensive. Essentially, Intecap provides a room with industrial kitchen floors, a six-burner stove and a convection oven that usually works. You could also say, they provide instruction, but this is really a stretch given that the teacher is usually not in the room (I have no idea where she goes during this time. It is impossible to find her even when there are literally baking dishes exploding in the oven).
So the disorganization and lack of instruction aside, you might think that it’s all worthwhile because I’m getting to learn to cook some yummy new things. Prepare yourself, I’m about to be food snobby and I know this and I apologize, but here it comes…
The recipes are terrible! They’re not actually Mediterranean food. Ok, I should rephrase that. They’re Mediterranean food with a Guatemalan touch. For example the pesto we made on night two…it had crema in it! Now, last time I spoke with an Italian (yesterday. Eloisa’s husband is from Italy) he confirmed that pesto is not made with crema. He also confirmed that calzones are not made with cottage cheese. Gross. I could understand if mozzarella weren’t widely available here, but it is, and so is parmesan.
We’re making something paella-like this week, and I’m trying to be a bit excited. But last week Eloisa and I played hooky and made brownies in my apartment and it was so much more fun….
Sunday 8 February 2009
Working at last
As many of you know, I spent several weeks worrying that I wouldn't find interesting work here, that nothing was going to come through etc. etc. I had contacted several organizations in mid-December and heard back from just a few before departing for my visit stateside, all of which said, "great, we're on vacation until January, let's talk then." And the great thing is that they actually meant it! All of a sudden, the second week of January, everything seemed to come together at once and I had three Xela-based NGOs thinking I was going to start working for them. After almost committing to one organization, ECAO, the source of our weekly delivered bag of semi-organic vegetables, I chose to settle in to a position with the Union de Agricultures Minifundistas (essentailly Union of Small Farmers).
UAM is based in Xela but works with farmer associations throughout the country, promoting organic and sustainable agriculture techniques, as well as alternative trade networks. I've been really impressed by the politics to date-definitely a bit more progressive than I had expected. They're part of a network of organizations working on food sovereignty in Guatemala, the Redssag (Red de Seguridad y Soberanma Alimentaria de Guatemala). Additionally their two major projects at the moment are partnerships with Heifer International and Veterinarios sin Fronteras promoting a variety of sustainable agriculture techniques, including "etnoveterinaria" which is animal raising with entirely herbal medicines instead of traditional chemical vaccines.
I'm largely working on a project related to commercialization of value-added farm products--helping promote the sales and exchanges of products like dried fruits, coffee, jams, nuts etc. I'm working on collecting data about the production potential of different communities partially to pursue new sales chanels for products but also to facilitate product exchanges (without $) between different communities. Last week I had the opportunity to visit several farmers associations and have a much better idea about the challenges they face. While the drive was long and bumpy, a had the chance to see parts of the country I've never seen before, including very arid pasture at 4000 meters and the garlic producing capital of the country. Anyway, pretty interesting stuff so far and my spanish is improving. It's great to feel like I can work in Spanish--reading reports, doing research, interviewing people etc. and hopefully will learn a lot about international sustainable agricultural movements in the process.
UAM is based in Xela but works with farmer associations throughout the country, promoting organic and sustainable agriculture techniques, as well as alternative trade networks. I've been really impressed by the politics to date-definitely a bit more progressive than I had expected. They're part of a network of organizations working on food sovereignty in Guatemala, the Redssag (Red de Seguridad y Soberanma Alimentaria de Guatemala). Additionally their two major projects at the moment are partnerships with Heifer International and Veterinarios sin Fronteras promoting a variety of sustainable agriculture techniques, including "etnoveterinaria" which is animal raising with entirely herbal medicines instead of traditional chemical vaccines.
I'm largely working on a project related to commercialization of value-added farm products--helping promote the sales and exchanges of products like dried fruits, coffee, jams, nuts etc. I'm working on collecting data about the production potential of different communities partially to pursue new sales chanels for products but also to facilitate product exchanges (without $) between different communities. Last week I had the opportunity to visit several farmers associations and have a much better idea about the challenges they face. While the drive was long and bumpy, a had the chance to see parts of the country I've never seen before, including very arid pasture at 4000 meters and the garlic producing capital of the country. Anyway, pretty interesting stuff so far and my spanish is improving. It's great to feel like I can work in Spanish--reading reports, doing research, interviewing people etc. and hopefully will learn a lot about international sustainable agricultural movements in the process.
All you readers are on to something great!
So Lucas stumbled upon a ridiculous website today $timator.com that estimates the value of a website if you were to sell it.And wowsers, I'm rich! According to stimator.com this very website is worth $5,280,436. No need to find a paying job ever!
Plug in your domain name and have a few laughs!
Wednesday 21 January 2009
Farm Worker Injustice
While many sustainable food advocates have been concentrating in recent weeks on influencing Obama’s choices for USDA secretary and undersecretaries, significant changes in farm policy were being made in 11th hour rule making by the Bush administration in departments outside the Department of Agriculture.
Last Saturday, new laws went into effect that essentially gut the labor protections present in the existing agricultural guest worker program (referred to as H2A for the name of the visa that temporary foreign agricultural workers receive). While Obama stayed any still-pending new regulations put forth by the Bush administration during the last days of his term, the reforms to the H2A program had already gone into effect.
The H2A program is a very complex agricultural guest-worker program that was established in 1986 after passage of the most recent major immigration reform. The H2A program was not the first agricultural guest worker program—the “Bracero Program” in which thousands of Mexicans were admitted annually to work on US farms was created back in the 1940s. While H2A workers currently represent under 3% of the farm labor force, their influence is particularly felt on the east coast, where many orchards rely on Haitian and Jamaican fruit pickers. The H2A program has been highly contested in proposed immigration reforms by both growers, who find the paperwork required to apply for guest workers overly burdensome, and by farm worker and immigrant advocates who argue that guest workers are subject to exploitation, particularly since they are not allowed to change employers once in the US.
It appears that large-scale growers have had their demands met. The new regulations make it far easier for growers to hire H2A workers by reducing requirements that growers attempt to recruit domestic workers first. Additionally, while growers were formerly required to pay the local “prevailing wage,” a new formula for calculating the required wages for H2A workers will serve to dramatically lower hourly pay. Finally, and perhaps most offensively, the Department of Labor effectively eliminated government oversight of the program. Reducing law enforcement in an industry know for labor violations, in the words of the advocacy organization, Farmworker Justice, “will only make a bad program worse”. For a complete report on the Department of Labor rule changes, see Farmworker Justice’s report “Litany of Abuses: More-not fewer-labor protections Needed in the H2A guestworker program”
The history of hired farmworkers within the US agricultural system and the public policies constructed to address farmworkers is a history of ambivalence. We are a country divided about the role of farmworkers, continuing to debate their rights and their place in agriculture. What is not up for debate is that we are faced with a serious problem within the agricultural sector. As a nation we lack a coherent policy on farm labor. The agricultural sector has been treated as an exception to U.S. law since colonial times when Thomas Jefferson identified farmers as the underpinnings of a democratic nation. But the system that this agricultural exceptionalism has enabled us to create is not a just one. The farmworker poverty endemic to this system must be addressed in future public policy and programs while also ensuring adequate farm labor supply. Recent changes to the H2A program only set us back in our pursuit of a more just agricultural system. Please join me in urging congress to overturn these new regulations and support a food and farm policy that provides healthy food for all, grown under free and fair working conditions. Take action with the United Farm Workers here.
Last Saturday, new laws went into effect that essentially gut the labor protections present in the existing agricultural guest worker program (referred to as H2A for the name of the visa that temporary foreign agricultural workers receive). While Obama stayed any still-pending new regulations put forth by the Bush administration during the last days of his term, the reforms to the H2A program had already gone into effect.
The H2A program is a very complex agricultural guest-worker program that was established in 1986 after passage of the most recent major immigration reform. The H2A program was not the first agricultural guest worker program—the “Bracero Program” in which thousands of Mexicans were admitted annually to work on US farms was created back in the 1940s. While H2A workers currently represent under 3% of the farm labor force, their influence is particularly felt on the east coast, where many orchards rely on Haitian and Jamaican fruit pickers. The H2A program has been highly contested in proposed immigration reforms by both growers, who find the paperwork required to apply for guest workers overly burdensome, and by farm worker and immigrant advocates who argue that guest workers are subject to exploitation, particularly since they are not allowed to change employers once in the US.
It appears that large-scale growers have had their demands met. The new regulations make it far easier for growers to hire H2A workers by reducing requirements that growers attempt to recruit domestic workers first. Additionally, while growers were formerly required to pay the local “prevailing wage,” a new formula for calculating the required wages for H2A workers will serve to dramatically lower hourly pay. Finally, and perhaps most offensively, the Department of Labor effectively eliminated government oversight of the program. Reducing law enforcement in an industry know for labor violations, in the words of the advocacy organization, Farmworker Justice, “will only make a bad program worse”. For a complete report on the Department of Labor rule changes, see Farmworker Justice’s report “Litany of Abuses: More-not fewer-labor protections Needed in the H2A guestworker program”
The history of hired farmworkers within the US agricultural system and the public policies constructed to address farmworkers is a history of ambivalence. We are a country divided about the role of farmworkers, continuing to debate their rights and their place in agriculture. What is not up for debate is that we are faced with a serious problem within the agricultural sector. As a nation we lack a coherent policy on farm labor. The agricultural sector has been treated as an exception to U.S. law since colonial times when Thomas Jefferson identified farmers as the underpinnings of a democratic nation. But the system that this agricultural exceptionalism has enabled us to create is not a just one. The farmworker poverty endemic to this system must be addressed in future public policy and programs while also ensuring adequate farm labor supply. Recent changes to the H2A program only set us back in our pursuit of a more just agricultural system. Please join me in urging congress to overturn these new regulations and support a food and farm policy that provides healthy food for all, grown under free and fair working conditions. Take action with the United Farm Workers here.
Sunday 18 January 2009
Baby Shower
This afternoon I went to my first Guatemalan baby shower. My friend Ana's sister Ingrid is very pregnant (about one week short of 9 months) with her second baby. I have never been to a US baby shower, so it's a bit hard to compare them. Actually, that's not true. While visiting Boston a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to a very unconventional cocktail-party baby shower. I know there weren't going to be any pink and blue colored cocktails at this party (though purple and yellow jello in a plastic baggy did make an appearance). But I'm pretty sure that this baby shower was a lot like conventional baby showers in the US--food, games, opening of presents and oohing and aahing over cute baby booties, hats and onesies.
Because Ana was one of the organizers, I arrived before the party really started and got to help make chicken salad sandwiches and began to feel pretty comfortable hanging out in the kitchen with the great group of women (Ana's sisters, sisters-in-law, aunts etc.). But when the games began, I was a bit lost. Why are baby shower games so ridiculous? Wrapping toilet paper around the pregnant person's belly? Wearing garbage-bag-sized fake diapers? The one that took the cake was this game called "patito" in which one person is blindfolded and then everyone else in the room switches seats. The blindfolded person has to approach someone and say "patito, patito" to which the person responds, "cuya cuya". From these words, the blindfolded person has to guess who they're talking to. Oh, and the blindfolded person can touch the other person (also a little weird to do with people I've never met.) But the kicker was that I didn't know who anyone was even when I wasn't blindfolded! I knew Ana and her two sisters, but they were in the kitchen cooking. So when it was my turn, I just guessed..."Ingrid's sister-in-law?" "Ingrid's aunt?" "Ingrid's cousin?" (which turned out to be correct. A good thing, since my family vocabulary was running low). Then we played a few games in which we offered advice to Ingrid. This was also somewhat difficult, since I've never had a baby. But I made something up. And perhaps something even a bit more profound than the 7-year old who advised Ingrid that she should always bathe her baby. But not much more profound.
Anyway, I'm still convinced baby showers are an odd thing, but it was a lot of fun to get to go to this one and I'm really thankful for being invited. If anyone can explain to me why we call these things "showers" I, along with about 20 Guatemalan women, am quite curious. Where does that use of the word shower come from?
Because Ana was one of the organizers, I arrived before the party really started and got to help make chicken salad sandwiches and began to feel pretty comfortable hanging out in the kitchen with the great group of women (Ana's sisters, sisters-in-law, aunts etc.). But when the games began, I was a bit lost. Why are baby shower games so ridiculous? Wrapping toilet paper around the pregnant person's belly? Wearing garbage-bag-sized fake diapers? The one that took the cake was this game called "patito" in which one person is blindfolded and then everyone else in the room switches seats. The blindfolded person has to approach someone and say "patito, patito" to which the person responds, "cuya cuya". From these words, the blindfolded person has to guess who they're talking to. Oh, and the blindfolded person can touch the other person (also a little weird to do with people I've never met.) But the kicker was that I didn't know who anyone was even when I wasn't blindfolded! I knew Ana and her two sisters, but they were in the kitchen cooking. So when it was my turn, I just guessed..."Ingrid's sister-in-law?" "Ingrid's aunt?" "Ingrid's cousin?" (which turned out to be correct. A good thing, since my family vocabulary was running low). Then we played a few games in which we offered advice to Ingrid. This was also somewhat difficult, since I've never had a baby. But I made something up. And perhaps something even a bit more profound than the 7-year old who advised Ingrid that she should always bathe her baby. But not much more profound.
Anyway, I'm still convinced baby showers are an odd thing, but it was a lot of fun to get to go to this one and I'm really thankful for being invited. If anyone can explain to me why we call these things "showers" I, along with about 20 Guatemalan women, am quite curious. Where does that use of the word shower come from?
Saturday 17 January 2009
Queso de Cabra
Last summer I began experimenting with making cheese. I purchased some supplies from the New England Cheese Making Supply Company and started with what is probably the simplest of cheeses, ricotta. I also had fun making mozarella, which must be stretched and kneaded to obtain its stringy consistency. I’ve long wanted to make goat cheese, which is one of my favorite kinds of cheese and another easy one to make since it requires no aging and does not need to be pressed like hard cheeses.
When I saw a man with two goats at the market yesterday, I knew my time had come to try making goat cheese. Apparently Friday is goat day, because I then saw several other people with two goats in tow and small bags full of cups. They generally sell by the cup, but I asked to purchase a litre (about 5 of these little cups). The milk was squeezed into a bag and I took it home, as fresh as can be, to make the cheese. Now that’s raw milk cheese! With the addition of a few teaspoons of cider vinegar and a tiny pinch of vegetarian rennet, the curds separated from the whey. After a few hours hanging in cheesecloth, the whey had fully drained and I was left with a nice, soft, mild goat cheese. I added a bit of cheese salt and freshly ground pepper for a bit more flavor, then sprinkled the cheese over a salad of tomatoes and basil from our terrace garden. ¡Que rica! The salad was part of a birthday lunch for our friend and neighbor, Furio, who’s from Italy. So this almost-Caprese salad was a nice treat. Now that I’m back in the groove of cheesemaking, I’m ready to give mozarella another go. Unfortunately, cows are a bit large to take to market every Friday, so I’ll have to settle for refrigerated milk…
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Pie at last
Back at Thanksgiving, I promised to post the recipe for the zapote pie I made if the pie turned out well. Although my lack of posting might suggest the pie was a kitchen disaster, it actually turned out quite well -- nice smooth texture, a beautiful pink-orange color, not overly sweet and a nice combination of textures. So while I did not actually write everything down as I was making it, I think I have fairly accurately recreated what I did that day. Zapotes might be tricky to find north of the Rio Grande, but you never know just what you might find in your neighborhood bodega...
Zapote Pie with Coconut Macadamia Crust
Ingredients
Crust:
1.5 C. flour
1/2 C. salted macadamia nuts, lightlt toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted
1 stick butter
1/3 C. sugar
2 egg yolks
Filling:
2/3 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 12 oz can coconut milk (unsweetened)
2 C. zapote, mashed
Directions for preparing crust:
Combine the flour, nuts, sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until the dough resembles coarse meal. Stir in the egg yolks. Press dough into a 9-inch pie pan and refrigerate until firm.
Directions for preparing filling:
Combine the sugar, salt, ginger and nutmeg in a small bowl. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the zapote and the sugar mixture to the eggs and stir to combine. Add the coconut milk and stir until just blended.
Baking:
Pre-heat the oven to 350. Remove the crust from the refrigerator. Cover the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 10 minutes or until just starting to turn golden. Remove the crust from the oven, remove the parchment paper and pie weights and let cool. Turn the oven temperature up to 375. Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 50 min. - 1hr or until a tester inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean.
¡Buen Provecho!
Zapote Pie with Coconut Macadamia Crust
Ingredients
Crust:
1.5 C. flour
1/2 C. salted macadamia nuts, lightlt toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted
1 stick butter
1/3 C. sugar
2 egg yolks
Filling:
2/3 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 12 oz can coconut milk (unsweetened)
2 C. zapote, mashed
Directions for preparing crust:
Combine the flour, nuts, sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until the dough resembles coarse meal. Stir in the egg yolks. Press dough into a 9-inch pie pan and refrigerate until firm.
Directions for preparing filling:
Combine the sugar, salt, ginger and nutmeg in a small bowl. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the zapote and the sugar mixture to the eggs and stir to combine. Add the coconut milk and stir until just blended.
Baking:
Pre-heat the oven to 350. Remove the crust from the refrigerator. Cover the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 10 minutes or until just starting to turn golden. Remove the crust from the oven, remove the parchment paper and pie weights and let cool. Turn the oven temperature up to 375. Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 50 min. - 1hr or until a tester inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean.
¡Buen Provecho!
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