Apropos in the Instant Pot age, I think...

[chromedome]

Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It

[suzilightning]

going in my notebook.....thanks for the heads up on this.

[chromedome]

I've only seen the review, and haven't read the book, but it seemed worth seeking out. God knows how I'd have managed to feed my tribe during some of those lean spells if I didn't have decent cooking chops...at one point I fed us for a week on a cabbage, a couple pounds of onions, a friend's Halloween-decoration pumpkin, and the contents of my cupboards.

 

I've had a few of those conversations with my GF's daughters (one blood, one foster, one "proxy") and they've all picked my brain to varying degrees about how to cook basic things, or what to do with unfamiliar ingredients. I've been thinking that this spring, as/when time permits, I should talk to a few of the agencies around town and see who might be interested in hosting a "basic skills" class for young moms, at-risk teens or whoever. It seems like the sort of thing that could really make a difference in someone's life.

[BeeZee]

There is a program in the Philadelphia School District (My Daughter’s Kitchen) where a couple of volunteers go in to an elementary school and teach a group of kids how to prepare a simple and nutricious meal, then they eat it together. Many of these inner city kids haven’t had a lot of fresh vegetables, I always enjoyed hearing how they reacted to new things. For a while they had an article each week in the Inquirer food section featuring a specific school and the kids’ experience. It lasts for a semester, and the concept is to teach them basic food prep skills and nutrition awareness. If you have the ability to give some building blocks of healthy yet thrifty food prep, I would think it would be beneficial.

[kayb]

6 hours ago, chromedome said:

Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It

 

Interesting, and there's a lot of truth to it. I'm fortunate, because I work at home, so I have the luxury of stopping for 15 minutes and putting something in the oven or on the stove. I also bridge the gap between the big, midday meals and the both-parents-working, hurry-up-and-feed-the-kids-so-we-can-get-to-the-ballpark. I learned to cook a lot of things I could get ready in a hurry that would still be somewhat nutritious and not too processed. We ate a lot of BLTs, and chicken pot pies, and quiches (which I'd make the night  before). I made great use of my crock pot and oven timer.

 

I have taught several times a "Cooking Matters" class that is designed to teach folks how to cook a nutritious meal on a SNAP budget. The teachers' material warns us to be aware our students may not have access to a wide variety of kitchen equipment, nor may they know how to do basic prep -- i.e., soak and cook dried beans. 

 

As far as preparing meals-to-go that can easily be reheated -- the soup kitchen where I volunteer offers carryouts, and most of our guests leave with one. A good many of our guests are homeless, so they're not even reheating, but at least they're not hungry.

 

[heidih]

Yes "Cooking Matters" is a great program. I had a Mexican housecleaner once. American born. Her jaw would drop when I used the oven. In her culture it was all  stove top cooking. She had an oven in her apartment but had no idea how to use it. 

[suzilightning]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Yes "Cooking Matters" is a great program. I had a Mexican housecleaner once. American born. Her jaw would drop when I used the oven. In her culture it was all  stove top cooking. She had an oven in her apartment but had no idea how to use it. 

Interesting.  I was watching a Food Network show the other day and Aarti Sequeria mentioned that growing up in India gas was a valuable resource so pressure cooers were widely used.  I hadn't connected that until then.    always  been afraid of them and gas ovens.

[MelissaH]

This article came up in a FB thread from a friend. And mentioned in that, a couple of times, was another book I think is worth bringing up again here: Good & Cheap by Leanne Brown. The book was basically her master's thesis.

 

It's probably pretty well agreed-on that one of the big problems with the USDA's food plan is that you need to have significant inclination, knowledge, and energy, along with appropriate tools, to feed yourself and your family on the budget allotted by the agency. And that's just considering nutrition, not even getting into the issues of monotony and boredom from eating the same things again and again. Those of you who are teaching classes may be able to use the book in designing your curriculum—and best of all, the author has made the text freely available as a PDF: https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf

[pastrygirl]

23 hours ago, chromedome said:

 

I've had a few of those conversations with my GF's daughters (one blood, one foster, one "proxy") and they've all picked my brain to varying degrees about how to cook basic things, or what to do with unfamiliar ingredients. I've been thinking that this spring, as/when time permits, I should talk to a few of the agencies around town and see who might be interested in hosting a "basic skills" class for young moms, at-risk teens or whoever. It seems like the sort of thing that could really make a difference in someone's life.

 

 

I'm sure there are a lot of people who could benefit from picking up a few basic skills with you, I think it would be great of you to share your knowledge. 

 

But will that help people who don't have access to fresh veg?  Before you can cook the fresh cabbage, you have to be able to get the cabbage!   The neighborhood I work in is semi-industrial but gentrifying, with a large pocket of residential and no grocery store within walking distance.  (Well, there used to be  a little neighborhood grocery but it went out of business and now it's a cake shop.  Let them eat cake!)  If I run out of eggs mid-day I have to go about 4 miles to cash & carry.

 

Also, consider culture.  In the US, there's the example of poor Black people in the South who want to eat their traditional foods, not quiche and baby kale salad.  In Canada, maybe you have more Asian immigrants or First Peoples with different culinary traditions.  So for some it's not only a question of getting any fresh food and cooking it, its getting fresh food that they want to eat then figuring out how to make it easier or healthier but still recognizable and comforting.  If I went to the grocery store and all they had was okra and chitterlings or durian and Japanese mountain yam I'd get junk food instead!  More food for thought:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-people-food_n_5b75c270e4b0df9b093dadbb?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003

[chromedome]

27 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

But will that help people who don't have access to fresh veg?  Before you can cook the fresh cabbage, you have to be able to get the cabbage!   The neighborhood I work in is semi-industrial but gentrifying, with a large pocket of residential and no grocery store within walking distance.  (Well, there used to be  a little neighborhood grocery but it went out of business and now it's a cake shop.  Let them eat cake!)  If I run out of eggs mid-day I have to go about 4 miles to cash & carry.

 

Also, consider culture.  In the US, there's the example of poor Black people in the South who want to eat their traditional foods, not quiche and baby kale salad.  In Canada, maybe you have more Asian immigrants or First Peoples with different culinary traditions.  So for some it's not only a question of getting any fresh food and cooking it, its getting fresh food that they want to eat then figuring out how to make it easier or healthier but still recognizable and comforting.  If I went to the grocery store and all they had was okra and chitterlings or durian and Japanese mountain yam I'd get junk food instead!  More food for thought:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-people-food_n_5b75c270e4b0df9b093dadbb?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003

 

We don't really have "food deserts" here where I live, at least not as you see them in American cities. Saint John is a small city and there's always a grocery store within easy walking/bus distance. It's harder in rural areas, of course, but then you have gardens and farmstands and such. Pretty much anyone here has access to the fresh stuff, as long as budget permits. Cabbages and carrots and potatoes and apples and onions are all grown locally, and are cheap year-round, the rest is basically whatever's on sale or marked down at the grocery store.

As far as other cultures, we have a modest number of Asian newcomers and a larger number of recent Syrian arrivals. There are plenty of appropriate food options for them in the local supermarkets, and there are smaller independent markets specializing in those ingredients, snack foods, etc. Halifax has had a sizeable Lebanese population since the 1970s diaspora, and is the regional hub for a lot of things. so stores catering to the Syrian immigrants could build on that base. Even Costco here carries whole halal lambs in their freezer section.

 

Bear in mind, food prices in general are higher across the board in Canada than in the US, so some of the math is different. Chicken is dirt cheap Stateside, but relatively pricey here. The same goes for fast food. You know those endless memes showing how little fruit and veg you can put in your cart, relative to the amount of McDonald's? Here, most fast food places will run you $8-15/head for a combo meal. That's $30-$60 for a family of four (though in practice, of course, if you're on a "world of pain" budget you're going to dial it down more than a little).

 

You can eat larger, better meals on a given budget if you know how to cook from basic ingredients as opposed to canned and processed stuff (and realistically, people get plenty of that from the food banks anyway).

 

Unfortunately, here in NB, there's a real cultural thing in some circles where vegetables are concerned...you'll run into a surprising number of people who just plain don't/won't eat them, full stop, and are proudly outspoken about it. That's the challenge, as much as anything.

[heidih]

Not totally on point but reflecting on what a grocery store stocks - I spoke with stepmother yesterday and she wanted to make Sultz and getting pig's feet in Rancho Mirage was an issue. She was overjoyed when she found a Food 4 Less store that stocked them. It may be because a primary employer there  is the Indian casino that attracts a vast Asian population. As an Austrian she was more than excited.

[kayb]

I've never thought of the Kroger I frequent as an upscale supermarket (I go there because (a) it's the closest to me, (b) it has a great deli and cheese section, and (c) the fuel reward points for gas), but there are some things I know I'm less likely to find there. F'rinstance, Wright's bacon packages ends and pieces in a three-pound bag that's only slightly higher than a 24-oz package of sliced bacon, and that's what I always buy when I'm going to make a batch of bacon jam. Same great taste, lots less expensive. I can ALWAYS find it in the smaller grocery, a local chain, in a part of town that's much more blue-collar and mixed ethnically. Ditto salt pork, when I've been looking for that. And when I took a craving for neckbones and dressing recently, the guy in the Kroger meat market sent me to that same store. "We don't sell 'em because nobody buys 'em." "My" Kroger is in one of the main business districts, within striking distance of several high-income neighborhoods, and also on the path from employment centers to the "burbs. 

 

All that said, surprisingly for a heavily agricultural in a heavily agricultural state,  there is a REAL problem with food deserts in the Delta. The big reason, I think, is that the cropland is all given over to commodity row crops (cotton, wheat, soybeans, rice) and there's little vegetable growing going on. Likewise, there are long distances between towns, many of which are so small there is no grocery. I used to live in a town just 45 minutes from Memphis where now there is NO grocery store but for a small neighborhood market that ; the closest one is 25 minutes away in one direction or the other.  There are lots of towns in worse shape than that, in the more remote stretches of the Delta. In some, there's not even a Dollar General or a convenience store, and any given house may be 35 miles from the nearest commercial establishment of any kind.