Sustainable, Local Food goes mainsteam (and primetime)

So sustainable, local food (SOLE) has hit the mainstream. One of the top food trends for the past year, 2010 ushered in a true acceptance of local food - primetime TV! Popular show Iron Chef America has given us the "Super Chef Battle" and was billed to include a secret ingredient- the show's highlight- that would be of "national importance." The episode featured First Lady Michelle Obama who introduced the ingredient du jour for the chef's battle- food fresh from the White House garden.
I was planning on a post on local food for some time, getting more involved is in my resolutions this year, so expect a lot more from me on this topic to come. Today I want to talk a bit about this show, I think it might really advance the cause of eating real food.
Through the two hours of the double length show, Alton Brown as the host and the four "superchefs" Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse and White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford all spoke on the importance of locally produced food. The secret ingredient was followed by an abundance of proteins- all from within 100 miles of the show's studio location. Sustainable meats, including heritage turkey, and local seafood such as the bluepoint oysters, sat side by side with fresh goat cheeses and eggs. Yum!
The show highlighted, as Brown stated, a determination to inspire Americans to "eat local, eat fresh, in short: eat well."
I loved seeing the different vegetables, including romenesco, one of the few foods I've never had, and so on my must-try list, really come alive and be featured as the star of the dishes.
But who could ignore the delicious meats- pork shoulder, bay scallops- or the direct from the White House hive honey? I also drooled while watching the pasta genius of Batali's sous chef in her sweet potato and fresh ricotta "raviolo" filled with a fresh egg yolk. The yolk does not set upon cooking, so it breaks open creating a sauce for the dish. Simple, and yet so decadent.
Team Flay/ Comerford might have gotten the title, but I think we are the real winners. As the chefs said throughout the show, this is the way we should all cook, all the time. Nothing is better than vegetables straight from the farm (or meat from the pasture).
I hope for the statement to come true that this is the way we will eat soon. That one day, my children will sit around, and look back, with humor, on this time as when people still saw locally produced food as something innovative and strange. I can't believe how they used to get meat from factory farms, and produce from conglomerates growing it thousands of miles away. That upcoming generations will be closer to their food, and maybe even take it for granted.
America, take note: the farm-fresh food is coming. Yes, we are winners indeed.

I am happy to share this at Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays.

In the New Year

Happy New Year! Here's what you can look foward to in 2010 at MAHM:

1. Not actually here, but there are two great new things happening in bloggy world I wanted to share: one is a new blog (already started by 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven): 365 Days of TV-free Toddler Time. You have to check this out, such a great idea and motivation for me, and I bet you too! The next is a challenge of sorts, which starts officially with the new year: 90 Days to Reading the Bible. Now, I don't know about this, but I'm darn well going to give it my best shot. I am sure I waste at least an hour every day doing silly things, and I can surely eliminate these things to make time for this (at least I hope so!)
2. I will be starting a new challenge myself here at MAHM, decluttering (almost) daily. I plan to start with the new year. I will be posting on my daily (or almost daily, hence the name!) attempts at decluttering our house. There are always those spots that get t you in certain seasons of your life. After the new baby came, just like the first time, the presents and accumulated stuff somehow never unaccumulated itself. (Don't you just hate it when your junk doesn't organize itself!) But really, with everything I have going on this year, I need more space and breathing room. So, I will be sharing my tackles of the trouble spots in our house, and invite you to do the same. Share your comments, or links to your posts, on the decluttering going on at your place. Let's declutter together!
3. My main plan is to start a new blog for my food/cooking posts. I hope to have this up by march or April, depending on how soon I can scrape together enough to start it on a new hosting site. I am also planning on updating this site to self hosted, again, when it works financially. (Shameless attempt coming) If you would like to support these sites and my blogging, please see my sidebar.

I hope all is well with you and yours this season, and have a wonderful start to the new year!