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.

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!

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.

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?

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…

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!

Paches

Assembling the paches

Yesterday I learned one more traditional Guatemalan dish, Paches, or tamales de arroz. These tamales are a traditional Christmas treat, though they are definitely available throughout the rest of the year, however they are more reserved for special occassions.

This cooking lesson was led by my former teacher, Ana, a great cook with whom I've exchanged lots of recipes. Essentially our Spanish classes always seemed to morph into descriptions of our craziest kitchen exploits, favorite foods, market trips etc. It is thanks to her that I learned correct Spanish words for describing specific kinds of baking pans, stirring spoons, the difference between simmering and boiling and other details that might not emerge in most students' intermediate Spanish classes.

Paches can be made for the vegetarian, but to truly embrace this food, you must embrace a favorite ingredient of mine, bacon fat. Luckily, Ana's husband's aunt (aunt-in-law?) has pigs and sells fresh, fresh mantequa de cerdo. If you can't find lard/bacon fat or for some reason have ethical/health/religious objections to using it, you can substitute vegetable shortening. I asked if butter would work, and it will, but shortening is aparently better.

The other great thing about this recipe is that if you've mastered it, you've essentially mastered another classic Guatemalan dish, Pepian. The only difference between the sauce in this recipe and pepian is the addition of a lone chile.

I think I've decided that paches are definitely not my favorite Guatemalan food (my stomach is in accord on this one--perhaps all my years of pseudo-vegetarianism didn't quite prepare me for the meatiness of these tamales). However, they're a classic and everyone else seems to love them. This recipe makes about 30 large paches. Enough for a great fiesta. Give it a try and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/3 lb lard
2 lbs ground rice
3 oz. sesame seeds
3 oz. pumpkin seeds
1 chile guacaye (dry, spicy pepper)
1 chile pasa (dried bell pepper)
4 plum tomatoes
1 in. cinnamon stick
Salt to taste
Pinch of saffron
3 lbs chicken (or 2.5 if it's already de-boned, fileted etc.)
1 white bread roll (pan frances here)
2 red peppers, juliened
1/2 C. olives
1/2 C. dried plums
1/2 C. raisins
3 manojos de ojas de Maxam (roughly translates to three bundles of these big green leaves of the Maxam tree. You can subtitute banana leaves. In total about 50 leaves)

Directions
Bring 2-3 litres of water to boil in a very large pot and add lard.
Add the rice and saffron and stir constantly until rice is cooked through, adding heated water as needed. (The final consistency should be like cream of wheat). Season with salt (about 2 tbps) to taste while cooking. Set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, toast the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds until lightly browned. In a pan, roast the tomatoes until browned on all sides and softened. Soak the bread in water until thoroughly moistened. Put the seeds, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, salt (about 1 tbsp) and 3/4 C. water in the blender and blend until smooth. Remove the sauce from the blender and add the bread and a little more water. Blend the bread to absorb all the remaining contents of the blender and add to the sauce. Season with additional salt if necessary. Clean and wash the chicken and cut into large-bite-sized pieces. Stir the chicken into the sauce.
To assemble the paches
Place one small leaf inside a larger leaf. Place about 3/4 cup of rice in the middle of the small leaf. Spoon the sauce and a piece of chicken over the center of the rice. Add one piece each of pepper, olive, plum and raisin to the rice and press in firmly. Roll the leaves up (hard to describe without demonstrating--fold up the two sides of the paches to meet in the middle and then roll these pieces together until they meet the rice. Then fold in the two ends so you have a nice tight package of rice. Repeat with the outer leaf). Repeat until all the ingredients are used up.

Cooking the paches

To cook the paches
Place a rack or pieces of maxam leaves on the bottom of a very large pot and cover with water. Fill the pot with the paches in concentric cirlces. Cover the top layer with a plastic bag, sealing in the sides to ensure that no vapor will escape. Trust me, the bag doesn't melt. This remains a mystery. Cook over medium heat for approximately 1.5 hours. The maxam leaves will turn a darker shade of green and when done, the cooked paches will sound hollow when tapped. Or, remove one, taste it, and decide if you think it's cooked through.

Tasting the paches

Buen Provecho!