Grounded Grub Weeklies! 05.05.2020
Hello Grounded Grub Community!
Every week we’re sent amazing articles, books, podcasts and other content from our community. We love hearing from everyone and having these resources, so we decided to start pooling together these recommendations, as well as some of our favorites, and sharing them once a week on Tuesdays. We hope you enjoy and feel inspired to share with us if you see/hear/try something that inspires you in the future!
Today: May 5, 2020
What happened on Grounded Grub last week:
We started off our week by reintroducing ourselves on social media to some of our new followers. We’ve had a blast growing our following and using social media to reach new audiences. Have you found us on Facebook and Instagram yet? Head on over the hit that “follow” button!
On Friday we posted an interview with one of our favorite food-system’s change makers, Manju Kumar (@zerowastefarmer). Manju is the founder of the first ever bamboo toothbrush company, Brush with Bamboo, and is the farm manager at the Sarvodaya Institute, an urban farming non-profit in the LA area. Interviewing Manju was such a pleasure and a privilege and we’re so thrilled to be able to share her wisdom with the Grounded Grub community as the next installment in our Faces of Food Series. Read her interview here.
Over the weekend Ben hit us with a fresh and bright Herby Israeli Salad with Goats-Milk Feta recipe—perfect as the weather starts to get a bit warmer! Having some recipes on hand as produce starts to come in season is essential for making the most of it, and we think this is a great one to have in your go-to recipes! Check it out here and let us know what you think if you make it!
Coming up on Grounded Grub…
It has been a flurry of activity in the Grounded Grub email inbox, and we are thrilled about all the different things we have in the works...but we’ll just stick to what we have going on this week:
Later this week, contributing writer Emma Volk takes us through a guide of how to bust support local food systems during COVID-19. Emma has a wide breadth of experience working on farms, running Farmers’ Markets and has made a deep commitment to supporting local food, even when it’s not the most convenient option. We really love this thoughtful and thorough take on supporting local food producers during this time and we can’t wait to share with you.
Just in time for the weekend is the next installment in our Drinking Responsibly series! Back at the end of March (was it really that long ago?!), we started off this series with a feature on Tequila + Mezcal production. This week we’re diving into Gin—gin recipes, how it’s made, all of it! Including a special DIY section—we can’t wait.
One of the easiest ways to reduce some plastic waste in your fridge is to stop buying prepackaged salad dressing—especially because making your own is so easy! We’ve got lots of fun recipes for you that use lots of pantry staples and things you already have to make delicious dressings so you don’t have to buy more. This can help save money and reduce your waste—a double win!
Have any other ideas for things we should cover? Reach out on Instagram, Facebook or email. We love hearing from you and some of our best articles have been from community suggestions.
Media articles of the week:
How COVID-19 will affect food trends, Monica Watrus, Food Business News. “Prior to the pandemic, experts predicted momentum for meat alternatives, low- or no-alcohol beverages and sustainability-driven purchasing behaviors. The trajectory of these trends has been altered by the political and economic uncertainty created by COVID-19...Consumers may behave more conservatively and cautiously in the months to come, relying on food and beverages that provide comfort and familiarity.” Read more about predicted market shifts here.
‘I Just Need the Comfort’: Processed Foods Make a Pandemic Comeback, Julie Creswell, The New York Times. “Shoppers, moved by nostalgia and hunting for longer shelf lives, are returning to old standbys like Chef Boyardee and Campbell’s soup.” This article takes a similar angle as the one above to describe shoppers choices, but takes on a more personal angle and covers fresh and health trends more generally. Check it out here.
Should You Disinfect Your Groceries? - Best Way to Wash Produce, Sarah Coughlin, Food52. Hint: No, don’t use soap! Read this thorough and researched article here.
The Food Chain’s Weakest Link: Slaughterhouses, Michael Corkery and David Yaffe-Bellany, The New York Times. “A relatively small number of plants process much of the beef and pork in the United States, and some of them have closed because workers are getting sick.” The reports of the loss of human life out of slaughterhouses around the country are devastating. This article covers the latest developments in slaughterhouses around the country and blames consolidation of big agriculture companies. What do you think? Read more here.
These next three are from Bon Appetit (Ben and my favorite foodie magazine), and really span a whole range of food during quarantine emotions!
The Coronavirus Challenges Facing U.S. Farms: Get Workers, Keep Them Healthy, Jesse Newman, The Wall Street Journal. Our current domestic food production relies heavily on an international labor force that enters the country. How can farmers make sure that they are keeping their farmer workers safe and healthy? Especially when so many of them live in tight quarters in shared spaces on farms. Read more from The Wall Street Journal here.
Book of the week:
Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism by Julie Guthman
“Julie Guthman examines fatness and its relationship to health outcomes to ask if our efforts to prevent “obesity” are sensible, efficacious, or ethical. Guthman takes issue with the currently touted remedy to obesity―promoting food that is local, organic, and farm fresh. While such fare may be tastier and grown in more ecologically sustainable ways, this approach can also reinforce class and race inequalities and neglect other possible explanations for the rise in obesity, including environmental toxins. Arguing that ours is a political economy of bulimia―one that promotes consumption while also insisting upon thinness―Guthman offers a complex analysis of our entire economic system.”
We love this critical piece and how it disrupts the current narrative that can connect sustainability and diet culture. Find it at your local bookstore or online here. Thank you for the recommendation Maya Chang Matunis!
Freakonomics Radio: How to be Happy
“The U.N.’s World Happiness Report — created to curtail our unhealthy obsession with G.D.P. — is dominated every year by the Nordic countries. We head to Denmark to learn the secrets of this happiness epidemic (and to see if we should steal them).”
Most of my friends know I am obsessed with Freakonomics and this weekly is just a new way to spread that obsession… That being said, I think this is a great podcast as we all are hyper focused on happiness and mental health and unfortunately GDP as well. Listen here, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
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