TedxManhattan opened with this great clip featuring Birke Baher (Age 11) speaking at last year's TedX Asheville. He really does say it all... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Id9caYw-Y&feature=relmfu

Back in another life, I was an art student.  If you know a lot of pastry chefs, it's not unusual. I went.  I think I made it through a year though I wasn't in class at all the second semester.

Having to tell my parents that I had a back up plan, I decided culinary school sounded cool.

No one back then went to culinary school, there weren't that many of them and at the time I was in Philly and there was one not far from my apartment. Yes, I went into it for all the right reasons.

Early on, perhaps still in art school, I fell in love with Ethiopian cooking. Today at the Union Square farmers market, I saw that Hot Bread Kitchen was selling Injera, the bread that is used as the utensil. Rip off a piece and grab the food with that. Here's an Ansel Adams quality photo of the bread that barely made it through the day in my bag.

Injera is usually served round and flat, covering a big plate.

When I got home, I started looking for the African cookbook I bought back then. Still have it. Always will. Love this book.

Really, more cookbooks should be published this way.

I've see this book around quite a bit over the years.  Same design, same spine. I like that a simple book like this that probably was someone's baby and took not a lot to publish, has lasted in the universe.

So many big, fancy books come and go now.

Here's a sample recipe of the Eggplant Chuney

Yes, I'm getting lazy. Photos of recipes. Last week it was a drawing of eaten food...photographed.

When we talk about traceability and sustainability and all the other hot abilities right now, it's also good to talk about the traceability of culture and traditions.  I think this is where we lose the tracing.

New things come out all the time. Seems not so special anymore. So much of what was really special about finally having your own cookbook, is now quite often, just special to you.

They publish and then they don't. We use the recipe and then it's over. I've been going nuts these days trying to find my aunt's struffoli recipe. It's the traditional Italian honey balls that you see a lot of around Christmas.

I'll post it when I find it. I think it's lousy of me not to know where it is, with her handwriting. Like everything else, I still want to tell my daughter that I know where it came from.

On that note, I'm off to the TEDxManhattan conference today.  The sub-title is "Changing the Way We Eat".

You can view it in real time online. www.tedxmanhattan.org Tweeters and the like will be going social media crazy in the back row keeping everyone up to date and we'll be sitting there, watching the speakers, getting inspired, eating sustainable food and listening to music. If I'm not mistaken, it's the only TEDx about food.

So get your Birkenstocks, get your butt to a viewing party and get those idea flowing.

Happy Snow Day,

Heather

From Farm Aid:

Incredible news—more than 500,000 supporters have commented on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) petition to have genetically engineered (GE) foods labeled!

If you haven't commented on the petition yet, it's not too late.

As family farm supporters, you and I want to know what's in our food and how it was grown or raised. We try to be informed eaters.

But here in the U.S. there's no requirement that food with GE ingredients be labeled.

That's why Farm Aid has joined hundreds of organizations across the country calling on the FDA to mandate labeling for all GE foods.

Already, more than 500,000 people have signed the petition—will you help us get to 1 million and protect our food supply and our family farmers in the process?

This campaign isn't just about our rights as eaters—it's critical for farmers too. Farmers should have the right to purchase, plant and save non-GE seeds, and grow their crops without fear of GE contamination. Lack of regulation of genetic engineering violates basic rights of both farmers and eaters.

We know that mandatory labeling of GE foods will not fix all that's wrong with genetic engineering, but it's an important step. Labeling GE ingredients will let you and I decide what kind of food we eat and feed our families. Labeling GE food will help family farmers who do not plant GE seeds have a stronger market for selling their goods.

Tell the FDA that it's our right to have mandatory labeling of all GE foods.

Sincerely,

Hilde Steffey
Program Director, Farm Aid

501 Cambridge Street, Third Floor, Cambridge, MA 02141
Toll Free: 1-800-Farm-Aid Fax: 617-354-6992

Food Almanac 2012: Forecasting the Year Ahead in Food, Farm Policy, and Politics

Since 1818, The Farmers Almanac has provided farmers with uncannily accurate weather predictions based on the predictions of their esteemed weather prognosticator, Caleb Weatherbee.

On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, the 2nd Annual NYC Food Almanac will predict what will - and call for what should - happen during 2012 in the food and farm policy and politics affecting New York City, the northeast region, the nation, and our planet.

The Food Almanac 2012 panelists include:

Brian Halweil, Worldwatch Institute and Edible East End (Moderator)

Cheryl Rogowski, W. Rogowski Farm

Mark Dunlea, Hunger Action Network of New York State

Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez, Print Restaurant

David Haight, American Farmland Trust

Thomas Forster, The New School

The evening will begin with networking and seasonal hors d'oeuvres from The Cleaver Co. A simple winter supper will follow the panel discussion and Q&A. Wine and local beer will be served.

Proceeds from this event will benefit Food Systems Network NYC, a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to ensuring the health and well-being of New Yorkers through access to good, wholesome, nutritious, and safe food and to supporting a strong, sustainable regional farm and food economy.

FSNYC brings together regional and local stakeholders - from producers to distributors, advocates, officials, and eaters - to generate synergies that will help defeat hunger, improve health, and create a vital, regional food sector. FSNYC is a program of The Fund for the City of New York.

When: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 6:30 to 9 pm

Where: 632Below, 632 Hudson Street (b/t Jane and Horatio Streets) New York, NY 10014

Tickets: $35 - FSNYC members (please contact Gabrielle Blavatsky for discount code), $45 - non-members*

Purchase Tickets Here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/220929

*Become a member of FSNYC today to receive discounts on this and future events! Visit our website to join now!

Food Systems Network NYC