Cooking Up A Story

Have you ever thought about raising chickens? Have you given much thought to the difference between a freshly gathered egg and one from the store? You may want to after meeting Patrick and Holly, and watching this story. They had raised chickens themselves in the past and wanted to again, but this time they wanted to raise more of them for themselves and through their local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to provide directly to others. Through serendipity and the community coming together, they were able to pull together a team of 14 people to take care of 30 chickens to form Eastside Egg Co-op.

Related: Show, season 3 |7 Comments »

Recipes from this Story:  Garden Greens Quiche; Barley Eggs

There are so many benefits to raising chickens. They are a great addition to any garden, they clear out whatever area of land defines their boundary, and they also leave their nitrogen rich manure for the next round of plantings. The eggs from these naturally raised chickens are higher in the good omega-3 fatty acids than eggs produced from factory farms, not to mention being fresher. Typically, eggs from the supermarket are at least 2 weeks old before they even reach the shelf.

If this is something you think you’d like to try, find out first if chickens are allowed where you live. If yes, like Patrick says, make it happen!

If you have some tips to share, I’m all ears! This is something I’m considering doing myself.

—Rebecca

Related: Henwaller (Patrick and Holly’s Blog); Eastside Egg Co-op

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Preview: The winter months may be cold, wet, and sometimes lined with layers of snow, but not all farms lie dormant in the Pacific Northwest region. Anthony Boutard grows food year-round on his 142 acre farm, Ayers Creek Farm near Portland, Oregon. As a diversified farmer, Boutard grows a wide variety of food crops: fruits, nuts, greens, grains, and vegetables—all foods that he himself enjoys eating. Please subscribe to our RSS to be notified when this story posts.

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When it comes to understanding the nature of how much food gets wasted in the US, and other industrialized nations, journalist Jonathan Bloom has made it almost his singular mission in life to do something about it.

Check out part 2 of this Food News interview: Waste: Why Is So Much Food Wasted-2

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Photo: courtesy of Lynn Redlin

Sometimes the tables get turned. Cooking Up a Story has been telling stories for almost three years; now it (happily) finds itself the subject of an upcoming story on NPR's All Things Considered show. In the picture above, Rebecca Gerendasy puts an audio microphone on farmer Anthony Boutard of Ayers Creek Farm, as she works on a new story. April Baer of OPB is capturing audio b-roll for the piece she is producing for All Things Considered that will air Monday, January 5, 2009.

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Related: Show, season 1 |No Comments »

Recipes from this Story:  The Best Mushroom Soup

Director’s Journal

What goes on at a small winery during the winter months?

I wanted to do something on wine. But here it was, January. I missed those plump juicy grapes by months. But hold on, isn’t that what I usually see when it comes to wineries: the harvest and the crush? Then wonder set in. What exactly does a winery do in the winter months? I had images of roaring fires, cold toes getting warmed, and mugs of hot cocoa being passed around. Sounded cozy to me.

Lynn Penner-Ash was game for me to make a visit to their Penner-Ash Winery and document what actually did transpire during a ‘typical’ winter day.

It turned out the biggest challenge for the shoot was to accept the fact that the sun was not going to burn off the dense fog. As luck would have it, the day before was partly sunny, with a nice view of the snowy mountains. As I drove down into the valley that January morning, I entered near zero visibility. But, I was hopeful that in a few hours the fog would lift, and the crisp blue skies would appear, like magic. But, alas, it was winter, and the valley was socked in for the duration of the day. As Lynn led us into the vineyard, calling du jac, I began seeing the vines winter beauty in a new way.

Have you had a winter experience at a winery? What was it like?

—Rebecca

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Yesterday evening on NPR's ALL Things Considered, I listened to a report summarizing a recent series of scientific studies that concluded High Fructose Corn Syrup, and table sugar are indistinguishable in effect when it comes to their association with the development of obesity: "...earlier this month, several scientific papers concluded that high-fructose corn syrup isn't any worse than table sugar when it comes to gaining weight. So our love affair with either kind of sugar is problematic."

Having been following this story for about a year, I was surprised at the new information that seemed to vindicate this ingredient from being the "smoking gun" link to obesity. It was clear that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), even if these recent studies remain valid over time, is still a refined sugar, and like all refined sugars, better to be consumed in lower amounts. Does that make HFCS innocent of all charges? I don't think we know enough to say one way or the other. Also, these studies raises another question, since HFCS is absorbed differently in the body than other refined sugars, does it warrant further study for other possible health implications? To that, I believe the answer is decidedly yes.

Since HFCS is not a naturally occurring product found in nature, and is made through an industrial process, I thought this trailer from King Corn would be an interesting treat to watch. Despite the obvious humor, it leads to a sobering question: do we wish to be bombarded with this particular ingredient in so many of the foods we eat?

Click On Image To Play Video

Finally, here's an article about an interesting study ( Fructose Sets Table For Weight Gain Without Warning ) that came out earlier this year about the possible role of the hormone leptin with weight gain and obesity. The gist of the study (I did not read the actual report) hypothesizes that regular consumption of high levels of fructose sugars can lead to a silent (otherwise unnoticed) development of leptin resistance. Leptin resistance has been associated with obesity in the past, but it has been thought to usually occur in response to obesity, not preceding it. In this study, the rats that developed leptin resistance from their fructose diet, became obese (gained weight quickly) after being switched to a high-fat diet. Their brains did not receive the (leptin) chemical signal to eat less. The non-fructose group did not become leptin resistant, and their switch to a high-fat diet triggered the normal response to eat less food, presumably giving their bodies a better chance to burn off (metabolize) the high caloric foods.

Clearly, from a scientific perspective, there is still much to learn about the role of diet-related chronic diseases, including obesity.

What do you think about the role of HFCS and obesity? Do you think that all table sugars should be equally reduced in food products? What about honey?

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The kids are home for the holidays, and boredom (for them) sets in. What do you do? Of course, you bake holiday cookies. Check out this video, and the recipes that go along with them, and enjoy: Cashew Shortbread Cut-out Cookies

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