Are you between the ages of 3 to 18 or have a child who is in that age range? If so, you can receive a free healthy meal at the Presbyterian Hospital cafeteria between 1:00 and 7:00 p.m., seven days a week. The cafeteria is located on level 5-2, north side of the hospital, located at 1100 Central Ave. SE (map)
No identification is necessary, and any child or youth of 3-18 years of age qualifies. You will need to order from a cashier and sign a log showing that you received a meal. The meal must be eaten at the hospital. A voucher is not necessary.
The program is sponsored by Presbyterian Community Health.
The tomatoes, chard, and peppers in the basement system are now growing vigorously! The tomatoes especially have surged in height. As you can see below, in just four days each tomato plant gained about five to seven inches!
Left: Grow bed on 5/27/2011 Right: Grow bed four days later on 5/31/2011
I needed to transplant these tomatoes, because I was heading out on vacation, and I worried that they would grow into the light, causing a fire hazard. Originally, I planned to transplant these into my outdoor aquaponic system; however, they had grown so fast that the outdoor system didnt yet have the necessary nitrate levels. Instead, I transplanted them into pots with soil. To make up for these, just before I left, I planted more tomato seeds, in addition to cucumbers and summer squash. By the time I return, I expect they will have sprouted and the outdoor system will have enough nitrate to receive them. Im interested to compare the growth and output of the tomatoes that spend their whole life in the aquaponic system, the ones I transplanted to soil, and others that Ive had in soil since seedling stage.
I was happy to discover through this indoor tomato experiment that tomatoes could thrive in shallow grow beds. The expanded clay grow bed is only about three or four inches deep, yet the plants grew tremendously. You can see from the photos below that once I washed the clay pebbles out of the roots, they were only a few inches long. Of course this is a direct result of the aquaponic growing method: with nutrient rich water delivered regularly right to the plant, roots do not need to travel far to find sustenance.
Roots of heirloom tomato before transplant 6/1/2011
I reason that the shallow bed worked well because of the cool temperatures in the basement. Outside, such shallow beds would fail because the tomatos shallow roots would get baked in the sun. If I used this for future indoor projects, it means I could reduce the amount of media I need to purchase and the amount of weight the table must support.
Meanwhile, the chard has grown rapidly and the hot peppers have sprouted flowers (much to my surprise because of the dominance of blue light from the metal halide bulb).
Two types of rainbow chard in clay grow bed on 5/31/2011
Recently, Katies been making a recipe for buffalo cauliflower to take to potlucks, and its pretty good. If she drives to the potluck (i.e., Jake is in the passenger seat keeping the crock pot from tipping over), about half makes it there. None ever makes it home.
For the last couple weeks, weve had chicken on our minds. We put almost 100 lbs in the freezer (details coming soon), and weve been thinking about what we can do to clear out a little space. (We had to eat all the ice cream that was in there to make room for the chicken. Now weve got to eat some chicken to make room for more ice cream. Its a delicious cycle.)
Then, we remembered that we hadnt posted a strata recipe for July yet! Keen observers will notice three things at this point: 1. a typical strata recipe for us includes at least one type of meat and one type of vegetable, 2. both chicken and cauliflower are excellent when seasoned with a little Essence de Buffalo, and 3. chicken and cauliflower in a buffalo-flavored strata would be awesome! Ok, lets get to it.
This is what our freezer looks like right now. Ice cubes, schnitzelbank, chicken breasts, chicken drumsticks, pulled chicken, whole pioneer chickens for roasting, and a few ccs of air. Theres more chicken in the door, and even more chicken in the freezer in the garage.
We started with a bag of pulled chicken, a little over 1 lb. It came directly out of the freezer, where we used it as a sculpture titled, inside of a ziploc bag. We put it in a bowl with 4 Tablespoons butter and 0.25 c hot sauce, but in the future, well probably just make a big batch of buffalo sauce (we like 50% butter, 50% hot sauce) beforehand and use half a cup of it here. This whole mix went in the microwave until the butter was melted and the chicken had thawed.
We cut one head of cauliflower up into pieces (it weighed about 2.7 lbs), and added another half cup of buffalo sauce in the form of 4 Tablespoons butter and 0.25 cup hot sauce. This went in the microwave until the cauliflower was cooked. After cooking, both the chicken and the cauliflower are buffalo flavored, but its a little more subtle than we were hoping for. We could increase the sauce-to-chicken (or cauliflower) ratio, or add extra sauce to the finished product.
We made the layers in a 9" x 13" pan as usual: bread, cauliflower, chicken, cheese.
Then more bread, cauliflower, chicken, and cheese.
And then the egg mixture. Its normally 3 cups milk, 6 eggs, and a bunch of seasonings. We replaced half a cup of milk with more buffalo sauce, but the milk dilutes the buffalo flavor quite a bit. Well definitely need some more buffalo sauce to pour over the finished product. The seasonings we added were 0.5 teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, and onion powder, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Beat the mixture well and pour into the pan over the bread-cheese-cauliflower-chicken layers. Set it in the fridge overnight or for several hours to let the buffaloes get accustomed to their new range.
Bake at 375 °F for 50-60 min, until the middle is pretty solid and the top looks toasty brown.
Cut into pieces, and top with appropriate sauces. As we mentioned above, the seasonings added to the chicken and cauliflower werent quite as in-your-face as buffalo sauce is meant to be, so we added some extra buffalo flavoring. Then the buffaloes were really in our face, so we added some feta cheese sauce (blue cheese sauce would also be good). Mmmmm. Its like a stampede in your mouth.
What do you do when you have an abundance of chicken? What else is good with a buffalo sauce? Let us know in the comments section below!
The recipe: 10 slices of bread (at least) 1 lb shredded cheese (we used Monterrey jack)
1 lb pulled chicken
1 head cauliflower (2.5-3 lbs) 1.5 cups buffalo sauce 0.5 teaspoon each salt, black pepper, and onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 6 eggs 2.5 cups milk
Cook cauliflower and chicken, season with half a cup of buffalo sauce each. Layer the bread, meat, cauliflower, and cheese in a 9" x 13" pan, starting with bread and ending with cheese. Beat together remaining buffalo sauce, eggs, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Pour over layers and set in fridge for several hours or overnight. Bake at 375 °F for 50-60 min, until golden brown and delicious-smelling. Serve with additional buffalo sauce and bleu or feta cheese sauce if desired. Fall into food coma, reflect deeply on the recipe and any improvements that could be made, and post comments on this page.
"While they earn more money in the United States than in their home countries, unauthorized immigrants suffer disproportionately from food insecurity and poverty once they arrive. While legal immigrants, refugees, and guest workers all face challenges, no group of immigrants is more harmed by hunger and poverty than those without documentation." from Immigration, Hunger and Opportunity, Bread for the World Institute and Bread for the World
How do you measure food insecurity among immigrants, refugees and people seeking asylum in the United States? Each of these groups faces a different set of circumstances. Yet, they have something in common. They came to our country to improve their circumstances or to escape from an unbearable situation. Agencies like Catholic Charities and Lutheran Family Services provide a support system for refugees and asylees, although this does not necessarily solve their hunger problems.
Photo: Bread for the World (Laura Pohl)
The situation for immigrants varies, depending on their region of origin and their legal status. A report published a couple of years ago by the Bread for the World Institute and Bread for the World, entitled Immigration, Hunger and Opportunity, points out that most immigrants to the United States have come from Latin America. This is particularly true for unauthorized immigration. More than 80 percent of all unauthorized immigrants to the United States come from Latin America, with 60 percent coming from Mexico.
The biggest challenge is for undocumented immigrants. "While they earn more money in the United States than in their home countries, unauthorized immigrants suffer disproportionately from food insecurity and poverty once they arrive. While legal immigrants, refugees, and guest workers all face challenges, no group of immigrants is more harmed by hunger and poverty than those without documentation," said the report. Here is the link to the report (in PDF format)
The video above tells the story of one immigrant, which is one of a set of videos on hunger an immigration that Bread for the World produced in recent years.
Data Collected from Several Small Studies
Photo: Food Research and Action Center
A more recent report from the Food Research and Action Center and Childrens HealthWatch points out that no data is collected at the national level focused on food insecurity among immigrants and refugees. However, the report--entitled Food Insecurity among Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylees --cites several small studies that examined hunger among immigrants and refugees who have come to our country from various parts of the world.
"In these studies, estimates of food insecurity vary greatly, depending on the population focus, with most estimates ranging between 30 and 60 percent, though rates as high as 80 percent have been documented among some vulnerable farmworkers in the southwest U.S.," said the report.
"It is also important to note that some studies identify participants as foreign-born without indicating whether they are refugees or asylees. This makes it challenging to estimate food insecurity among these similar, but different, groups."
Here are some highlights from the report
Research conducted by Children’s HealthWatch demonstrates high rates of food insecurity among foreign-born households with children in its five research sites, a particularly vulnerable group. For example, in a study of Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean mothers compared to U.S.-born mothers, rates of household food insecurity among foreign-born mothers were significantly higher – 46 percent for families with Mexican mothers, 30 percent for Central American mothers, and 31 percent for Caribbean mothers, compared to 16 percent for families with U.S.-born mothers.
Rates of child food insecurity were notably different among four groups --- 34 percent among families with Mexican mothers, 19 percent for those with Central American mothers, and 18 percent for those with Caribbean mothers, compared to 6 percent among families with U.S.-born mothers.
Similarly, in a large study of 44,919 mothers with young children, 23.7 percent of the foreign-born mothers reported some level of food insecurity compared to just 12.7 percent of U.S.-born mothers. In this study, among young children with foreign-born mothers, the odds of food insecurity were more than three times as great as compared to young children with U.S.-born mothers.
Advocacy Solutions
"In addition to improving employment and income, connecting immigrant and refugee families to public nutrition assistance programs and private emergency food assistance is an important way to reduce food insecurity among this population," said the FRAC/Childrens HealthWatch report. "In particular, rates of participation in WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) among foreign-born families are high since generally there are no immigration-related eligibility requirements with WIC. The same cannot be said for SNAP, though research has demonstrated the value of food assistance for all Americans."
"Because a substantial percentage of undocumented immigrants in the United States lives in poverty and because legalization would help them escape hunger, immigration reform fits [our domestic agenda], said Bread for the World. "We advocate for legislation that ensures a place at the table for everyone in the United States, regardless of legal status. And we anticipate that hundreds of thousands of people would be lifted out of hunger and poverty almost immediately if they are given a pathway to citizenship."
"Immigration reform also fits Bread’s international agenda. We add specific value to the immigration reform discussion by focusing on its root causes: hunger and poverty in home countries. Our longstanding advocacy for poverty-focused development assistance is one way that we help moderate the flow of immigrants to the United States," added Bread for the World.
I first learned about aquaponics during the 2009 Cape Land and Sea Harvest local food festival on Cape Cod, MA. In celebration of all things local and delicious, the weekend includes tours of farms, and I was intrigued to see the unique description of an aquaponic farm in the event listings. Their description of the closed-loop growing system sounded astoundingly logical, and it immediately appealed to my interest in sustainability and food production.
As a recent college grad, I hadn’t yet decided in which part of the broad field of environmentalism I would like to specialize. After a tour of E&T Farms, however, I was inspired and I came away with a desire to pursue aquaponics as a career. Now, I never envisioned myself a traditional farmer - the economics are brutal - but many aspects of it did appeal to me, like working with plants, being outside, and managing a small business. Aquaponics suddenly offered a more attractive, viable method for me to farm, and its environmental benefits sweetened the deal.
When I think about a commercial aquaponics operation, I see it as an opportunity for me to produce enough food to have a measurable positive impact on my local environment and food system; to do challenging, hands-on work that utilizes my creativity; and to farm close to markets without a need for expensive tracts of land and food transport.
Of course, to make any of this a reality, I need capital and experience. So that’s what I’ve set out to do, with a solid job in the energy efficiency industry and a hobby level aquaponics setup. As I gain experience and learn more about the opportunities and challenges of commercial operations, Im mindful to re-evaluate whether it is still right for me.
So I invite you to join me on my journey and to share your thoughts and ideas. By documenting my work, I hope to provide valuable insights to readers and to learn from you as well.
Toady I had a chance to check out the new website of Aquaculture Conservation and Management Service (FIMA)FAO. Here is part of their new release
"""Wednesday, 23 May 2007 GISFish is a brand new Web site of the Aquaculture Conservation and Management Service (FIMA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and a number of collaborating institutions.
It is evident there are many opportunities to use GIS, remote sensing and mapping to improve the sustainability of aquaculture and inland fisheries, but the more widespread use of these tools is impeded by a limited of awareness of their benefits and a lack of access to experience on how they can be deployed. GISFish was created to overcome these impediments. It is aimed at GIS practitioners and fisheries and aquaculture professionals in developing countries."""
Read Full Story
The new website can be accessed From This Link
The mission for this site, as well as its overriding goal, is "Solving problems in inland fisheries and aquaculture using GIS, remote sensing and mapping". Specifically, the objectives of GISFish are to:
* Improve the sustainability of aquaculture and inland fisheries by promoting the use of GIS, remote sensing and mapping * Facilitate the use of GIS, remote sensing, and mapping through easy access to comprehensive information on applications and training opportunities.
Sounds like a worthwhile mission. I am going to test run it. Ill post with more thoughts later.
