FOOD Inc.


So I watched Food Inc last night.

I'm about a year late to the party on this one,
but SERIOUSLY.

It's something you need to watch
to help you seriously evaluate what you are eating.

Now, now...
don't roll your eyes at me
because I'm that girl
who is constantly filling up your newsfeed with food porn.

I'm not someone who lives by rigid diets
or can promise that I am intentional about everything I eat.

BUT, I make sure that whenever I eat something-
it's not overly processed.

I pay a little more to get a little less food
because I want to consume for food that is a higher standard.

And after watching FOOD Inc, I'm even more committed to this idea.

It's so important to support food industries that produce pure food.

I used to think we did it to help them, 
you know- support the poor little farmer & his farm.
But I've come to realize that we need to support local farmers
for the very selfish reason that our bodies need "real" food.

The US doesn't make it easy for the average family to make this choice, I know...
I noticed this when I offered to replicate the same meal I make here almost every week 
while home in the States over Christmas.

Here in England, I can roast a free-range chicken, make a salad, 
roast various organic vegetables, get a baguette & butter all for £10.

It cost me $50 to buy the same things at Whole Foods in the States.

But the standard is just so different in the UK
because the people don't put up with lower quality food.


And they might gag if the stumbled upon 
a 10 foot space section of a grocery store devoted entirely to Pop Tarts.



Anyway, it's a lot to think about...
but it's worth your time to consider.

In the meantime, here is something that you can make that is simple & delicious.

I adapted it from the amazing risotto Helena made me recently for dinner.


I know risotto can be daunting if you've never made it,
but, please, don't fear the risotto... embrace it. 






Ingredients, serves 4:

four or five cups of chicken broth/stock
butter
an onion, finely chopped
a clove or two of minced garlic
2 cups of arborio rice
1.5 cups (or a small bottle) of Champagne... or any sparkling white wine you can find afford
a bit of kosher salt
pinch of black pepper
a cup of fresh parmesan (no, not the kind from the can. the real kind.)
a handful of mushrooms, sliced (optional)
a bunch of asparagus, cut in segments & washed really well to get all crunchy dirt bits off (a tragic mistake I made the first time I made this)
lemon (but only if you have one lying around)


Method:

Get a pot of warm chicken stock simmering on your stove.
Melt a small chunk of butter in a separate stockpot over medium-high heat.
Add in a chopped onion & your garlic. Cook until the onion is transparent.
Now add in the rice and stir until the rice starts to look transparent- about 5 minutes.

Add your champagne. Stir & allow the rice to absorb the liquid.
Now ladle in a cup of warm chicken stock.
Stir in the stock. Continuously stir until the stock is absorbed.
Continue this step several times until the rice is softened upon taste... you may think it will never happen, but it will! It just takes some love & about twenty minutes. Just keep stirring & loving on it.

Meanwhile in a skillet, toss in the lardons (pancetta/bacon/whatever). Let it brown.
Remove the bacon- add the asparagus & mushrooms. Let them cook in the leftover bacon goodness
& a splash of the chicken stock. It will help soften them up as they cook. 
Squeeze a lemon wedge over them for a bit of extra flavor.

When the rice is cooked, but is still slightly firm, take it off the heat. 
Grate in your parmesan. Toss in salt to taste. Throw in pepper.
Now, add in the bacon, mushrooms & asparagus. Stir to combine. 

Serve yourself a manly portion. Feel like a lady. 






*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy
**no, i'm not a dietician or politician. please don't hold me accountable to have the knowledge of one.

25 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh Food Inc has been on my Netflix for at least 6 months! I'm going to stop procrastinating watching it now hahaha thanks for the virtual push ;)

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  2. I completely agree with your post, the mr and I would rather pay more for fresh food and products than less for lower quality! London was amazing, everything we ate was sooo delicious! Ever heard of cork and bottle, that was our favorite place... Risotto looks delish, will hav to try it! Cat

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  3. That movie in conjunction with the book 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' revolutionized the way I look at food. It did great things for me, though the movie was entirely disgusting. 'King Corn' is another good one to watch. It relies less heavily on shock value and more on facts.

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  4. I haven't watched this movie, mostly because I'm totally scared of what it may do to my outlook. Which is good- but I am one of those people who has to take in change, really really slowly.
    Eat Cake

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  5. Amen! That documentary changed my life last year :) but next time you're in the states - Trader Joes and Costco are much cheaper for organic options! Whole Foods definitely likes to keep the prices as high as they can get away with.
    I'm so jealous of your cheaper options over there though! Wow! I mean - the same meal would probably cost me about $25-30 from Trader Joes/Costco. Not sure with the exchange rate and everything - but you are probably getting it cheaper :)

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  6. That is SUCH a great documentary! We try to eat as clean as we can but with a budget it's hard to really stay 100% committed to it. PLUS, I can't lie...I have some pretty bad cravings every once in a while...
    But all in all I'm happy with the way Russ and I have adapted our eating style. Although it's a little more expensive, I think it's completely worth it.

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  7. i love champagne and i love risotto so this sounds absolutely fantastic, and i am definitely going to have to try this one out. this is genius! and i kind of can't get over the combination. it must taste so light and goood.

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  8. I love Food Inc. My husband and I try to get all our meat from a local butcher with grass fed beef. I love how they talk about voting three times a day with what you eat. That message totally resonated with me.

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  9. Keep the food talk coming! You might help make a housewife out of me! I'll definitely be making this and drinking the rest of the prosecco ;)

    Xo,
    Amy

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  10. I'm lucky, I've always bought locally reared poultry , meat, eggs and vegetables, made my own bread and I almost never buy any processed food.

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    Replies
    1. Oh and Whole Foods in Scotland costs and utter fortune to buy from, it's only for small treats for us.

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  11. I have really been wanting to see this movie. We have great resources for local meats and lots of produce, so we need to just watch it. The risotto recipe sounds delicious!

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  12. I totally agree! One thing I love about living in Italy is that you can still go to little family run fruit shops, bakeries, etc where everything is locally produced. Its just much more normal to expect freshness here - even at the big supermarkets the fruit is labelled with where it came from so that you can buy more locally if you want.
    Looks like a great risotto recipe! My husband makes asparagus risotto all the time but we've never added prosecco to it, now I'll have to try it & see if I can impress even an Italian ;)

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  13. I watched Food Inc a few months ago and it completely rearranged the way I think about the food industry. You're right though - it's much harder to shop organic and keep costs down in the US. Jealous of all your healthy options over there!

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  14. I almost watched that last night! It's definitely on my to do list! My husband and I are trying to better our diets for health reasons and animal ethics reasons. As we move to Germany next week from the US, I'm hoping we'll have good options to make this happen as you say you have in the UK. It's a shame it's so expensive to be healthy in the US!

    xx
    Kecia

    http://www.couturezooblog.com/

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  15. Yes, that is a great video. It's definitely expensive to eat organic. We just try to eat a "clean" diet...very little processed foods. It's not all organic, but it's the best we can do for now.

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  16. I'm big on local, sustainable, ethical, and chemical/hormone/antibiotic-free food. All that together is one of the top reasons I love living in England- I have to read fewer labels (no hormones or antibiotics allowed in EU dairy), I can easily see where my blueberries are from on the label, and our organic farm delivery barely costs more than the supermarket, and arrives every Friday. Honestly, food is the #1 thing I am DREADING about moving back to the States! My husband says I'll be the first overseas American to lose weight going back. We're going to get our own egg chickens, and Paul's been obsessed with "Allotment by the Month", a book from National Trust. I've found a few farm delivery/co-op services in NC (where we're moving), but still. It's going to be so much harder, and SO much more expensive- as you've shown with your roast dinner!

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    Replies
    1. Oh- not to further rain on the food parade, but here's an article on why you can't even really trust the "organic" guys in the States: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/business/organic-food-purists-worry-about-big-companies-influence.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp
      *sigh* Almost makes being Amish seem worth the lack of internet... ;)

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  17. I haven't seen food, inc yet. Sad I know. It's such a hard battle because it seems like everyone wants to see the changes in their foods yet not much is happening and the cost of food just keeps going up. :/

    I looooove risotto. Have you guys ever eaten at Signature Grill in Edmond? BEST risotto. Well, maybe not better than homemade. But next time you're here I highly recommend it.

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  18. I saw Food, Inc. when it first came out, and it completely changed my view of food and the ideas of "healthy" food. Nate and I started eating a more Paleo-based diet in March focusing on buying as much meat, fruits and vegetables from local farms as possible - nothing from a box. It's not easy, but I think it's important that we at least make an effort not just to support the community (which is very important), but to realize what we put into our bodies has a huge affect on us whether we see it immediately or in 30 years. You cannot expect to live a strong, healthy life with "fake foods." Thanks for bringing this up on your blog!

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  19. Oh my gosh we are the same exact way! As soon as we saw Food, Inc. we were totally grossed out by the crap that goes into the food we eat. We always try to eat organic or locally grown food (especially meat) but it is SO expensive here! I like how over there people don't "put up with" the junk over processed food so stores don't offer as much, whereas here there are WAY to many people who could care less about what they eat, so everyone else is forced to pay more. But don't worry. A big mac is still $1.. So backwards. :) I'm envious!

    xo Catharine @ Your Modern Couple

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  20. That's definitely something I noticed when I moved back from France. The baguettes I bought for 95 centimes in Paris were $3.50+ in the US. Just one of the many things I miss about Europe...

    The risotto looks delicious! I've always been afraid to make risotto - all that stirring! Might have to try this. Pinned! :)

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  21. I watched all of those documentaries (Food, Inc.; Forks over Knives; Fat, Sick & Nearly Dying) a few months back and it really changed my dietary habits. Luckily in NYC it is easy to grocery shop organic, but it's the eating out that always got me, especially lunch. Since watching, I severely cut back on meat and bought a blender. I still love meat, but during the week, especially a Midtown lunch, there is just no way I can avoid cheap ammonia bleached tortured animal crap. I've noticed that taking meat out of the equation also eliminates a bunch of cheap processed carbs (e.g. Sandwich) automatically. Add in the extra nutrients from blending raw foods and it has become so much easier to maintain my weight and I feel so much better.

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  22. the US is so bad bad bad evillll about putting crap in our food and shoving pre-packaged junk into everyone's pantries! so frustrating. but! at least there's stuff out there to make us all aware these days! still, it's just so much harder than the US than it is in europe. boooo lame.

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  23. ooh I like the champagne idea, I shall try it! (canned parmesan? I didnt know of that!)

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