I feel I should begin this post by sharing some of my darker food past. I was not a born organic zealot, I was a convert. I grew up eating like most other American kids; cheeseburgers, spaghetti made with ground beef, the occasional trip to McDonald's. At the time, there wasn't much information to indicate that any of those choices were ill-informed. My Mom made good food with ingredients purchased from the supermarket, a place most of us assume carries products which are safe for consumption.
My girlfriend Anna ate only organic foods. We used to tease her about how much more expensive her groceries were, and as far as I could tell they didn't taste any different than the non-organic versions I was buying.
Then I started reading. An article here, a book there. Before I had kids I wanted to be an investigative journalist. In college I got straight A's in English, Journalism, and Research Writing. Also Chemistry, which is sometimes a handy research skill. What I have learned is that there is a lot more involved in the production of food than just food. Politics, money, lobbying, more money, and a lot of very badly done science. I understand that it's a widely accepted industry standard for companies seeking USDA or FDA approval to conduct their own research, but anyone who's taken a high school-level biology class knows that such a practice violates some of the most basic premises of science. Science is supposed to be objective and conducted without bias. If you are a multi-million dollar company trying to bring your product to market, you cannot be objective. Also, you're going to keep throwing money at your experiments until you get the results you want.
I'd already decided we would stop purchasing certain foods unless they were organic or, if they lacked certification, passed what I felt were reasonable quality tests. First on that list was ground beef, a product which has been in the hot seat of the food safety debate for years. We buy only organic ground beef from Costco or from PCC, which carries two brands of ground beef; one is certified organic and one is not. The reason for the non-certification is that Country Natural(the brand) is a collection of family-owned farms and ranches who graze their cows in open country, and not every piece of grass and weed can be tested and certified as organic. I don't think being certified organic necessarily guarantees the quality of a product, nor does it promise that the animal in question was ideally raised. "Organic" doesn't mean "grass-fed" when it comes to beef, but it does mean "not washed in ammonia" like 70% of the ground beef on the market today.
This isn't news to those of you who've seen the movie Food Inc. I watched it twice this week and, while it wasn't all new information, it did serve to reaffirm my determination to know what's in the food I'm eating and feeding to my children. Then I read
this article in the NY Times. The practice of washing beef trimmings(trimmings as opposed to whole cuts of meat) in ammonia to kill bacteria like E. coli and salmonella was engineered by the company
Beef Products Inc., in an effort to utilize otherwise-useless scraps of cow leftover from commercial slaughter. At least, they were useless with regard to food intended for human consumption. The scraps which are now processed, cleansed and combined with 70% of commercially sold beef(fast food chains, supermarkets, and school lunches) used to be reserved for pet food and other non-human consumption. The contamination rate of these "trimmings" is very high, due to the fact that many of them literally wind up on the floor of the slaughterhouse. The trimmings are processed to remove most of the fat and connective tissue, then ammonia is added in high enough levels to kill the bacteria not only in the finished product, but also any bacteria which may be present in the ground beef it is intended to be combined with. The goal of this practice is two-fold: to increase the volume of ground beef using a cheap filler, and to kill harmful bacteria.
So the logic is, save money by using cheap, contaminated trimmings and then make them safe to eat by adding chemicals.
Um, what?
Why don't we spare ourselves the ammonia by eating only meat that was clean to begin with?
Oh, right: because you can't make as much money that way.
People who are critical of the organic movement often cite the fact that the U.S. feeds so much of the world's population, and is in a position to do so because of innovations in food production which afford high-output for low-cost. My concern is this: you get what you pay for. If you're paying .99 cents for a cheeseburger, you might feel like you're getting a bargain. What you need to consider is that for only .99 cents, someone is still making a profit, which has to make you wonder what that cheeseburger is actually worth.
I'm well aware that raising cattle as ruminants instead of corn-eating machines costs money. It requires a lot of land, produces leaner meat, and results in a product that costs more for the consumer to purchase. Traditionally, people tend to consume less of something that's more expensive. I don't think this is a bad thing. Broccoli is cheaper than rib eye. Cost aside, there should be proportionally more broccoli in our diet than rib eye. If the price tag contributes to reasonable ratios, so much the better. I'm perfectly happy to pay top-dollar for a high-quality product. I'm not happy to be assured I'm getting a quality product at a reasonable price when there are ingredients in that product not listed on the label. Beef Products Inc. managed to convince the USDA that the ammonia they use should be considered a "processing agent" and not an actual ingredient, so it doesn't have to be listed on the package as an ingredient. The only ingredient listed in Beef Products Inc. hamburger filler is: beef. That's it. Pardon my skepticism, but I don't feel like that single word tells the whole story.
A friend e-mailed me some time ago to share my concerns over food safety and then asked a really compelling question: how should it change the way we eat?
Lots of ways, but the bottom line is this: less meat. There's no way around it. It takes a while to shift your thinking away from American portion sizes, but the fact of the matter is that the average American consumes way more meat than is necessary or healthy(200 lbs per year. Per person.). That deserves more than a parenthetical reference: 200 lbs of meat per year. No wonder we're a nation of obese diabetics. What we need to get away from is the idea of meat as a main entree, as the central item on the plate. It's not that I'm opposed to meat consumption; I love a good cut of meat and I will never, ever be a vegetarian. But I definitely eat less of it than I used to, both for health reasons and economic ones.
The idea that food should be cheap is also something that should be done away with. The reality is that good food isn't cheap(which is why income is the single greatest predictor of obesity rates), and it shouldn't be. I'm not interested in what can be produced at the fastest rate in the greatest volume for as little investment as possible. I'm interested in real, good, healthy food. I will cut back elsewhere, but the quality of the food I put into my childrens' bodies isn't something I'm willing to compromise. The question shouldn't be whether I can afford to feed my kids healthy food, it should be "Can I afford not to?" Think of it as preventative care: you won't have to spend money on the medical costs of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, cancer, acid reflux, food poisoning, and a host of other things that can cost a lot more than organic food.
To that end, two things about the way I cook have changed: the proportion of meat to other ingredients has shifted considerably; also, I think of a meal less in terms of a recipe and more in terms of whole foods. Chicken, brown rice, broccoli. That's a meal. I love cooking, I love experimenting with different spices and flavors, but for the time being I've decided I need to simplify. My kids actually prefer to eat this way; they're not terribly interested in cuisine, they just want food.
Another great way to use less meat is to make soup. I still need to nail down more precise proportions for ingredients before I post recipes for all of them, but two of our favorites have been a potato, leek and kale soup with bacon, and a chicken tortilla soup with black beans. The kids won't touch anything with kale in it, but Jack actually loves the tortilla soup. I buy organic chicken stock in bulk from Costco, use a single chicken breast for an entire pot of soup and I can feed my family a delicious, healthy dinner for around $10. No ammonia necessary.
Chicken Tortilla Soup with Black Beans
1 onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 TBS chili powder
1 TBS ground cumin
pinch of red pepper flakes OR 1 chopped jalapeno(optional, especially if cooking for children)
3 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 quart chicken stock
10-15 corn tortillas, cut into strips
1 bone-in skin-on chicken breast, roasted and shredded
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Sour cream, fresh lime, chopped cilantro, and grated cheese for serving
Salt and pepper the chicken breast and roast in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, shred by hand into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
Over medium heat, drizzle a large soup pot with olive oil(I like to use a little butter too). Saute the onion and celery until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, chili powder, red pepper flakes(if using) and cumin and saute 1 minute more(don't cook it any longer or the garlic could burn).
Toss in the tomatoes, juice and all, then add the chicken stock. Simmer 15-20 minutes.
Using an immersion blender or blending in a regular blender in batches, puree the soup. Return to the pot and add the corn tortillas. Simmer until the tortillas have disintegrated and thickened the soup. If your soup gets too thick, add some more stock or water 1 cup at a time until you get the consistency you want. The soup should be fairly thick.
Add the black beans and the shredded chicken breast. Simmer everything together for about 5 minutes, and season with salt and pepper. This soup is perfectly tasty on its own, but is also delicious with any(or all) of the toppings I've suggested.
Note: this recipe is really flexible. I've made it using an onion, celery and carrot base but also with a pure onion base; use any combination of these you have on hand, but don't leave out the onion. The carrot and celery are less important, but add a nice complexity and subtle sweetness which balances the heat. I love this soup spicy, so I often wait to add the red pepper flakes until after I puree everything, remove a portion for the kids and then add as much heat has I want. Jalapenos have great flavor, but if you don't like the heat remove the seeds before adding. Keep in mind that the corn tortillas will absorb a lot of the heat, so you have a chance to tone it down if you get overzealous with the red pepper flakes.
Also, I've used different blends of chili powder in this, everything from plain chili powder to chipotle and all are delicious. The smoky flavor of the chipotle was amazing, but if you prefer a milder soup stick with plain chili powder.
I've seen recipes that call for adding canned corn, but I found I didn't care for the texture. The chicken and the black beans have a nice smooth texture that compliment the texture of the soup, but I thought the corn was too crunchy and too sweet.
