Under the Covers: Getcha grub on

Posted by Sarah van Schagen at 3:19 PM on 21 Apr 2006

Read more about: books | food | organic food

Grub, as defined in the book of the same name by Anna Lappé and Bryant Terry:

grub* (grəb), n.

1. Grub is organic and sustainably raised whole and locally grown foods;
2. Grub is produced with fairness from seed to table;
3. Grub is good for our bodies, our communities, and our environment.

*Grub should be universal ... and it's delicious.

Last night, I went with a cadre of social Gristers to a book reading and signing by Lappé and Terry at the Elliott Bay bookstore. Their book, Grub: ideas for an urban organic kitchen, is half scary facts and figures about our food system and the chemicals therein, half earth- and people-healthy menu plans (complete with soundtrack suggestions and short poems and essays to compliment the meal), and 10 percent resource guide. (And apparently I suck at math.)

Much like the book, the reading was a good mix of factual bits and personal stories about the authors' relationship with food, spiced with bits of humor. Lappé, coauthor (along with her mother, Frances Moore Lappé) of Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet and cofounder of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund, joked about a book she reads when she needs a laugh, Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastics. Terry, a chef and founding director of b-healthy!, chuckled about his past forays into fruitarianism and even breatharianism before realizing he was a "grubarian," adding that "to embrace grub, you don't have to give up anything -- except maybe a mouthful of pesticides." The real fun, however, began after the bookstore event.

After signing books for eager Grubbies, Lappé and Terry headed to a blink-and-you'll-miss-it hole-in-the-wall bar for an afterparty -- and I use the term loosely -- co-hosted by Grist and fellow greenbloggers WorldChanging. It was a cozy, mellow gathering, attended by a good half of the audience. Good drinks, good laughs, good-looking people. Jealous? Uh-huh, thought so.

But don't despair, the duo is still on their book tour and may soon be in a town near you. Check out their upcoming events, many of which include meals and cooking demos.

And in the meantime, check out Grub or one of these other books that look so good you could eat 'em right up:

Organic, INC.: Natural Foods and How They Grew by Samuel Fromartz,
The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans by Patricia Klindienst,
Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection by Jessica Prentice.

For story: Under the Covers: Getcha grub on
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Eating Local in the Blogs

An informal group of food bloggers will be exploring the issues and tastes around eating locally during the month of May. The HQ for the diffuse event is Locavores. I'm going to give it a try---it will be a great challenge to my cooking skills and a chance to think more carefully about what I'm eating.

by meander at 8:19 AM on 22 Apr 2006

Shameless plug

Anna will be reading from Grub on April 29 at my own Maverick Farms in Western N.C., with a dinner to follow.

Victual Reality

by Tom Philpott at 8:29 AM on 22 Apr 2006

Grubtastic

Though I know there are a number of books out there that talk about the downfalls of the current food system, I'm glad to see a fresh one come along that informs as well as inspires change by offering advice on how to do so.

Victoria E Model, Writer, Environmentalist http://victoria-e.com/

by VictoriaE at 9:36 AM on 22 Apr 2006

Locavores

Thanks, Meander, for this link. The photo of those four strong women standing outside the Berkeley farmers' market is truly inspiring.

Here in NYC, I wish we had a resource directing us to sources of locally grown food. There probably is, in fact, only I do not know what it is.

My husband, who buys and prepares most of our food, comments that it is all very well and good for Californians to be "locavorous" (sorry, "locavore" is not the happiest of neologisms: "a being who subsists on the flesh of crazy women"?), since you guys have one or another growing season all year long. But in places such as the Northeast, with long, non-productive winters, some falling away from 100% is going to be inevitable, save for the very tough and the very well organized. One month a year, say August or September, is doable, I guess, to get into the principle of the thing. Still, we will want our pasta and olive oil from the Mediterranean.

I was very impressed by the mother's book when I read it in the mid-1970s, and I look forward to seeing what her daughter has written. Frances Moore Lappe, the Goddess of Complex Proteins, used two different arguments for vegetarianism: it is more healthful not to eat meat; and it is better for the nourishment of humanity to use a piece of land to raise grains or (especially) legumes instead of cattle. I will be interested to see what Anna's new take on the ethical considerations is.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 10:04 AM on 22 Apr 2006
[ Parent ]

Local Harvest

Caniscandida,

Check out www.localharvest.org (sorry, the href link doesn't want to work for some reason).

They have a searchable database that lists grocery stores, farmer's markets, food co-ops, CSAs, even restaraunts that offer locally produced food. You can search by zip code to narrow the offerings in Manhattan.

NYC actually has a ton of availability of local food - more so, I am finding, than up here in the boonies of South Salem. I know the food market in Union Square each week has very many local farms represented. Also, I managed to find some good restaraunts in my old 'hood (UWS) that are devoted to local food; Louie's, on Amsterdam and 81st, grow all their own herbs (in a rooftop garden on the East Side) and produce fabulous, fresh, simple dishes that never fail to impress; Cooke's Corner (Amsterdam & 90th) was devoted to a small rotating menu of local foods, but sadly, I think they have closed - check out their sister restaraunt Pizza Bola, which is at (I think) Ams & 92 or 93rd (on the West side of the street); there is a Vintage wine store on B'way between 92/93rd that sells only wines made in NY state. Whatever your neighborhood, I'm sure you'll find some good recommendations on Local Harvest.

I'm not sure if you eat meat at all, but if so, check out www.flyingpigsfarm.com for out-of-this-WORLD local pork.

Bon appetit!

Kaela

by kmp at 10:11 AM on 24 Apr 2006

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