Labor Day Eat-In

Slow Food USA has been pushing a new campaign called "Time for Lunch." The idea is to get schools to serve kids real food. Our food system needs to be overhauled, and starting with the food that the government feeds kids in schools in an excellent place to start. 

As part of the Time for Lunch campaign, on Labor Day, there were "Eat-Ins" organized by Slow Food members and held all over the country.  My friend Anna and I went to the one here in Alameda at Franklin Park. It was a potluck so we brought a baguette from the Feel Good Bakery and some Humboldt Fog Cheese from Farmstead Cheeses and Wines.  The weather on Labor Day was gorgeous, so we rode our bikes over to the park.  Often times food can be hit or miss when there are potlucks. Well, not at this potluck! Practically every dish I tried was absolutely delicious!

From the Slow Food website: 

The National School Lunch Program provides a meal to more than 30 million children every school day. 

By giving schools the resources to serve real food, we can grant 30 million children the freedom to be healthy. By teaching children to eat well, we can make a down payment on health care reform. By providing children with locally grown fruits and vegetables, we can support local farmers and create green jobs in our communities. By purchasing local food, we can stop wasting oil on transportation and start curbing global warming. By raising children who enjoy real food, we can start laying the foundation for America's future prosperity.

This fall, the Child Nutrition Act, which is the bill that governs the National School Lunch Program, is up for reauthorization in Congress. By passing a Child Nutrition Act that works for children, our nation can take the first step towards a future where no child is denied his or her right to be healthy and where every child enjoys real food.

That’s why it’s time for Congress and the Obama Administration to: 

1. INVEST IN CHILDREN’S HEALTH.  

Give schools just one dollar more per day for each child’s lunch.

2. PROTECT AGAINST FOODS THAT PUT CHILDREN AT RISK. 

Establish strong standards for all food sold at school, including food from vending machines and 

school fast food. 

3. TEACH CHILDREN HEALTHY HABITS THAT WILL LAST THROUGH LIFE.  

Fund grants for innovative Farm to School programs and school gardens.

4. GIVE SCHOOLS THE INCENTIVE TO BUY LOCAL.  

Establish financial incentives that encourage schools to buy food from local farms for all child 

nutrition programs.

5. CREATE GREEN JOBS WITH A SCHOOL LUNCH CORPS.  

Train underemployed Americans to be the teachers, farmers, cooks, and administrators our 

school cafeterias need.

More details can be found here. 

Slow Food USA has an online petition that has been signed by 21,868 people so far.  It only takes a minute to sign it. If you believe in what is trying to be accomplished by this campaign please go and sign the petition here.

Anna at the Eat-In

Enjoying my delicious plate of food

August Meeting - Fantastic Fruit Crisps and Cobblers

For the August meeting we focused on Summer Fruit desserts. I rode my bike to the Old Oakland Friday farmers market that morning and bought lots of fruit. My messenger bag was heavier and fuller than it is when I carry my books to school. It was a full load! 

The blackberries and raspberries

We had blackberries, raspberries, white nectarines, yellow nectarines and peaches.  I let everyone figure out what type of crisp and cobbler they wanted to make. They came to the agreement of having a blackberry and raspberry crisp and a nectarine and raspberry cobbler. 

Preparing the fruit

Smile!

Layers of white and yellow nectarines

The raspberry and nectarines all ready to have the cobbler dough put on top

Out of the oven with a nice golden brown cobbler topping

Mariah showing off the lovely crisp topping 

Mixing the berries with the sugar

Ready to go in the oven

Chester stirring the custard for the ice cream

To go along with our fruit desserts we made cinnamon ice cream. Instead of simply putting the cream, sugar and flavoring into the ice cream maker, we made a custard based ice cream. This means that there are egg yolks in it and we make a custard as the base of the ice cream. This produces a smoother and creamier ice cream. It also takes a little more work. But in the end it is worth it! To make the cinnamon we steeped a couple of cinnamon sticks in the cream before we used it. This produces a subtle cinnamon flavor. This technique can be used for other flavors as well. For example, it is possible to make an incredible mint chocolate chip (or simply mint) ice cream by steeping fresh mint leaves in the cream (this even gives the ice cream a slight natural green tint). 

The final creamy, cold and delicious product

A little runny, but delicious none the less!

Picture perfect berry crisp