SoulVeggie

Re-Post: "Sojourn to Burger King"

Was thinking about upcoming planting & memories of this earlier post came to mind. Posted in 2005, most people following this blog probably haven't read it. One of my favorites, as well as truly intense.  Enjoy!  Mark (Been busy dealing w/ tragedy & work. Hope to announce cookbook's title later this month).

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[I wrote this back in May 2002.  The veg'n community was "a buzz" with the arrival of the BK Veggie Burger.  The burger made quite a stir, and invited many debates (among them, is buying one supporting BK's negative impact on society's health and our environment? Eric Marcus of the great "vegan.com" stunned many with his thoughts on the matter).  I hadn't been to a fast food restaurant in years and documented what transpired.]

Oh, gawd... I feel so unclean......

I had to run some errands in Burtonsville, MD, late this morning, and there was this Burger King in the parking lot of the strip mall.  Girding my loins, adjusting my shades, pulling up my pants, I went in.  I tried to swagger a bit, like some of the workmen I saw going in... look tough... you're walking into a store painted in primary colors... could be worse... could be McSlaughter's....

Felt like I was a Dallas fan in a Redskins bar, only I had sunglasses on and no one knew any better.  What do I do? A long line.  Quite the mixture of ethic backgrounds, generally lower middle income.  What sort of demented artist designed this place?  They are so happy selling dead animal products.  Better get in line.

The people behind the counter wear uniforms... are they a para military force of some kind?  The assault on my sense was almost too much.  They spoke some numerical code... "I'll take a Number 4, she wants a Number 5 without onions, I want a super-this and a mega-that"..... very confusing...

I checked out the menu overhead... gaudy and bright.. Yup, the "BK Veggie"  $2.29...  Lord... look at the other products on the menu... my internal calorie counter was going off the scale.  Unbelievable fat-laden and salty food... look at all the dead meat.   I hear Schossler chuckling with a little Twilight Zone music in my head.... look at all the crap they are selling, and buried in that visual abuse is the "BK Veggie" (next month the big promo for all BK's will be Chicken Whoppers, btw).

The lady and kid in front of me were fascinating.  She was clearly his grandmother, and thin as a rail.  The kid must've been around 8 or 9 years old, and rarely have I see any child so obese... he had, literally, three chins.. his ear lobes were the size of my thumbs... it was awful to see what happened next.  She order fried chicken fingers, large order of fries, and a Diet Coke or Pepsi for the boy.  Absolutely amazing.

I placed my order.  "BK Veggie Burger, microwaved."

"Microwaved?" the guy behind the register said, slightly above the yelling of people in the kitchen making and delivering orders (they were very busy.... french fries literally flying around).

"Yup... I'd like it microwaved. You can do that... I checked.  I don't want it cooked on a meat greasy grill."  Was that a mummered rustling from people behind me I heard, or thought I saw peripherally?

He went over to the manager, who was barking orders at the adolescents in the back.  He nodded after a pause, looking at me like I'm an alien.. Hmm, one of "them."  "Okay" was the final pronouncement.

"Here or to go?" the kid asked me.  Hell, I don't know, I thought.... how is this done?

"Ahh... h-here.." I stammered (did the people behind me think I was from a foreign country? I thought to myself).  I paid the blood money.

"Number 61"... guess that's me.  I raised my hand... "You got the veggie burger?" "Yup." "Here!" he dashed to bark out more orders.

The burger was wrapped in Burger King paper and on a plastic brown tray.  Now what?  Are people watching me?  Get a seat, yeah....

Ketchup... sure... grab some packages... napkins... dodge the crowd at the soda fountain.... get seat for good recon (near the kid and his granny).  Try to look nonchalant... cool... with it.... Master of the BK Domain....

Okay.... let's take a bite.... not bad... OUCH! (I don't own a microwave and forgot about the heat...).  It was small, edible, relatively tasteless.... the bun was like eating styrofoam with a slight crust...

"Eat all your chicken fingers before they get cold" the wise Grandma was advising her grandson, as he was shoveling french fries into his gaping maw while grooving on his plastic toy that came with the meal.

I forced more of the burger down.... looking at people around me.... amazed at what they were eating, as though this is civilized and we are the greatest nation in the world.

I'm done... now what?  Jeez... look at the people in the line... at least two-thirds of them are very overweight.  Wonder if there's a connection?

Now what?  Okay... save napkins and ketchup not used.... throw away stuff, advertisement paper place mat trashed, put tray on trashcan.  Unclean... unclean....

I sneaked out the back door.... Ah.... fresh air... sunshine.... it's over.  The cognitive assault had abated.  I was free again... felt like gargling with carrot juice.

Okay, Eric... I bought one outta support for the movement.  Would I do it again?

Only under extraordinary circumstances.  Yes, it's encouraging to some, especially if they promoted it better (at this store it was almost invisible), and Mr. Marcus made good points.  Yes, I would urge every veg'n to buy at least one BK Veggie Burger, even if you throw it away.  I think he's right that it must succeed, or rather, it would be sad if it did not.  Presumably, the other Fat, er, Fast Food chains are watching.

But then, as comparison, at the Giant across the parking lot from the BK, bagels are fifty cents, boca burgers are about a buck apiece when buying a pack of four, tomatoes (or what pass for them), run around 99 cents a pound.  The salad bar is around $2.50 to $3 a pound. Across the street at the incredible Amish market, potato wedges (huge potato) are a buck, handmade burger rolls, six to a pack, about $2.20. Tons of fresh produce, grains, legumes (beans usually $1/lb., millet somewhat less).  The local farmer's markets will open in a few months... fresh local produce.

Limp lettuce, translucent tomato slice, pale mayonnaise, and some carrot flecks in the veg patty.  $2.29 plus tax, lotta paper wasted. Flourescent light and red/yellow color overdose.

Progress?

As luck would have it, packages of vegetable and greens seeds were on sale for 10 cents apiece at the Dollar Store near the BK.  Bought twenty packages (brocolli, mustard greens, lettuce, basil, dill, parsley, etc... most will be micro-greens for me... 30 to 40 gourmet salads for about 5 cents apiece (many many more if I grow them past adolescence), some soil, water, and sunshine).

That's my idea of progress.  This brand of seed is usually six to ten times more in cost.  You can buy organic seeds cheaper in bulk, elsewhere.

The kid was in the Dollar Store, too, his Grandmother buying him candy, among other things.  She was trying so hard to please him and he had her by the pocketbook via her heart.  And in her love for him, his heart was going to have a rough time from the lifestyle being encouraged by her emotions.  How sad!

I shoulda slipped him some seeds..... told him they were magic, and that with love and attention, they would make him strong and healthy, extending his life and enjoyment of same.  He would be able to run faster, jump higher, laugh louder, love longer, and think better.

Of course, that's a fairy tale... and no plastic toys accompanied the seed packets.

 

[Twitter @solveggie]

Video: Bill Maher & Alice Waters ("Slow Food")

Very enjoyable interview between Maher and Waters regarding diet, food, and related issues.  Although she's not a veg, she's done much to advance a better understanding of real food and the negative impact of fast food.  Her program for teaching kids about growing their own food, "Edible Schoolyard," imho, is a tremendous concept and has much more long-lasting implications than most "healthy school meal programs" I've seen.  It has inspired many similar efforts across the country (and world).

Additional links of note:

Alice Waters on "60 minutes" (transcript)
Alice Waters on "The Morality of Food" (ironic, though, that she eats meat)
Alice Waters with Charlie Rose (interview)
The Edible Schoolyard website

"Planting Faith" (a re-post)

From 04/28/09:  "Planting Faith"

My earliest memory of encountering the mysterious way life originates from apparently lifeless seed was when I was 4 years old.  Having since worked on an Organic Farm after working for NASA on two satellite missions, I still find myself amazed at nature and the process of growing plants.  At that Farm we specialized in "micro-greens," sprouted greens and vegetables for the high-end chefs in the Washintgon DC/VA/MD area.  It was an incredible experience to watch them arise in the greenhouse.

But, even now, I can clearly remember the youthful fascination that gawking at four carrot seeds in a corked small vial of water sprouting long white tails spawned within me.  Years later, as an adult,with immense glee I once turned a wet bar into a "sprouting bar," taking great delight in sprouting beans, grains, vegetables, and grasses.  I was continually amazed at the sudden burst of life and micro-nutrient density that seeming spontaneously occur.  Also noted, with irony, was that there is NO scientific test that would enable one to determine in advance, which seed, which bean, which dry object would manifest life.  I just LOVE pointing that out to scientists.  Reduces the general hubris they tend to accumulate over time.

See, you just don't know.  You can't know.  You have no choice but to believe that given the right conditions, your efforts will facilitate the coaxing of life from the seemingly dead.  Life arises from the soil via the seeds, strives towards the sun (phototaxis), and with faith and care, will grow strong, nutritious, and be viable to then contribute to our own lives and physical enrichment/survival.  What a noble sacrifice!

In managing an extensive vegetable (and to lesser degree of management, flower) garden, I often find  reminders of these same philosophical concepts.  We can do it correctly and proper "by the book:"  the soil, the water, the species, the weeding.... and still, life may or may not emerge, and may or may not continue to "fruition."  The weather may not accommodate, invasive weeds prove their superiority, insects may decide to take their turn, and small mammals may think it's a buffet table set out for their enjoyment and feast.  I don't know how farmers stay sane with the inexactitude of what they do season after season after season.

Anyway, today, after carefully sprouting parsnip seeds between two paper towels for weeks (see photo above, click on to see larger version in another window), and they finally sprouted a few days ago (had read that germination was iffy with this vegetable), I spent hours preparing a bed for them to rest in and grow.  Will take over a 120+ days before they can be harvested.   I also put three types of carrot seed in a 75 foot plot (having done the digging yesterday, adding mushroom compost today).   The carrot seeds were not sprouted in advance, so there's no way to predict whether all that physical effort and time will produce a bounty of carrots to enjoy in a few months.  A roll of the dice.  A "crap shoot" of sorts.

Did I spend the afternoon planting seeds?  Well, maybe... from one level of awareness... but perhaps, in a more descriptive, all-inclusive and metaphysical way, what we really do when we choose to work with the plant kingdom is better described as engaging in and "planting faith."  "Faith" that the plants will come to life, and that perhaps we are putting a little hope energy into the ground at the same time.  Way cool."

SOME OF THE RESULTS OF THE ABOVE PARNSIP PLANTING (01/10) (click on each for larger image):

 

(All images ©2010 by Mark Sutton)

Video: Colbert on "Crisis Seeds" for Growing Your Own

Outrageous Colbert bit about a "Crisis Seeds" advertiser on Glen Beck's show:  "When you're tilling the earth with a human femur while the sky is raining fire, you'll want a reliable supply of radicchio and mini squash..."  and "...I refuse to live in a world where I can't garnish..."  Truly wonderful satire and great sport.  Enjoy (gawd, don't want to turn this into a "Colbert only" blog)... but as those of us North of the Mason-Dixon line are starting plants this week for later transplanting (brassicas, mainly), it's all too apt.

New Film Trailer: "What's "Organic" About Organic?"

"[This film]... rings the alarm for the need to develop an ecological consciousness.  The film illustrates that the organic food debate extends well beyond personal choice and into the realm of social responsibility.

Each of the film’s characters is intimately connected to the organic world; they’re farmers, activists, and scientists.  While many folks can easily endorse “organic,” the characters in the film take the discussion beyond just shopping for another eco-label. As we glimpse into each of their lives, we see how organic agriculture has the potential to solve many of our environmental and health problems.  The film will explore how organic farming can be used as a soil and air protection system, a healthy solution to toxic pollution, and an innovative means to combat global warming.

WHAT’S ORGANIC ABOUT “ORGANIC?” delves into the debates that arise when a grassroots agricultural movement evolves into a booming international market.  As the film moves from farm fields to government meetings to industry trade shows, we see the hidden costs of conventional agriculture.  We also see how our health, the health of our planet, and the agricultural needs of our society are all intimately connected.  The film compels us to look forward, towards a new vision for our culture and encourages us to ask, “What should our future food system look like?”

[Love the phrase: "conscientious consumption" from the trailer.  The "about" excerpt above is from the really kewl and resource-full website here.  Check it out and pass the URL around. Oh, and go low-fat vegan... been too busy harvesting, preserving, planting, watering to do much else than this quickie post... still slow in typing with finger recovering...]

Independence from the US Food Supply

 

(All images ©2009 by Mark Sutton - Respectively:  currants, gooseberries, raspberries, lettuces from the garden - Click on image to get larger version in new window)

"True freedom requires food independence... I am now celebrating my food independence from the greedy, poisonous food corporations of North America. No more Dean Foods [Silk Products] or PepsiCo in my life. No more being enslaved by Monsanto or ADM. No genetically-modified foods, pesticides, herbicides or terminator seeds are found around here. No long-distance food imports, no waiting in line at the grocery store with a stupid discount card and no more packing my groceries home in toxic plastic bags made from petrochemicals.

My food acquisition process has become ridiculously simple:

Step 1: Walk to the garden (60 seconds).
Step 2: Pick what I want to eat (5-10 enjoyable minutes).
Step 3: Prepare it (juice it, boil it or whatever).
Step 4: Eat it.

This process requires no financial transactions, no taxes, no transportation, no plastic wrappers and no coupons. It does not involve finding a parking spot, going into a building, carrying cash or inhaling the toxic vapors of detergent products that permeate all the aisles of modern grocery stores. There is no need to check a price, enter a UPC bar code or banter with grocery store clerks. Instead, I simply walk to the garden, harvest the food and eat it.

That this simple act is so astonishingly rare is, all by itself, a disturbing commentary about the state of the food supply in America today."

[Full article here and below.  I could not identify with it more... this morning's breakfast was a big handful (each) of homegrown raspberries (black and red), currants, and gooseberries.  Lunch was mixed salad greens salad (from the garden, 'natch).  Dinner will be roasted mixed vegetables from the garden, sauteed garlic with mixed chard (all homegrown), balsamic vinegar, minced dried hot peppers (from last year), some cheap white wine (for cooking), and local steamed corn (local is from the farm a mile up the road).  Well worth all the effort... (better daily workout than in a gym), but... I still haven't sourced an olive oil plant yet... maybe it's not real whole food?]

Latest Issue of Mad Cowboy Newsletter Now Available

Title:  06_23_09:  Rip's Recipes, Ask a Vegan, & Largest Red Meat Study.

Direct link to online issue.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/87

Howdy!  Welcome to the 66th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this issue we're delighted to provide a preview of our upcoming interview with the amazing vegan firefighter/author, Rip Esselstyn, in the form of two of his favorite recipes.  Rip's the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and has built upon his father's remarkable research via some very practical and easy-to-do ways in his diet/exercise/lifestyle book, "The Engine 2 Diet."

Moving on further, we'll note a study indicating that fish oil doesn't help your heart via Omega-3, some new finds about the benefits of broccoli, results of the largest study of red meat eaters in history, and more indications that high-fat food inflames your circulatory system.  You'll learn about the "Ask a Vegan" booth in New York, some vegan survival tips, resources for learning about animal rights/issues, and the consequences off going veg for just one day.

Continuing in this edition, we've got some gourmet viewing experiences in our Vegan Digital Theater, some details stats and studies showing that our industry-produced produce is definitely less nutritious than it used to be, some great links about the White House Garden (including remarks by Michelle last week during the first major harvest), and a list of 8 ways to eat locally...  some new resource links have been added to "Quick Bytes" and don't miss some of the articles during the "Mad Cow Info Round-Up."

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers:  y'all can browse past issues at the Mad Cowboy Newsletter Archives.

Best wishes for this start of a new summer and may your gardens be bountiful, healthy, and inspiring!

Mark, MC editor/webmaster

***********************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: A Mad Cowboy Invite to AR2009
02: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
03: Recipes from "The Engine 2 Diet" by Rip Esselstyn
04: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
05: Fish Oil No Help, Brocc Talk, Largest Meat Study, Fat Inflames
06: Ask a Vegan, Vegan Survival Tips, Learning AR, 1 Day Veg
07: Vegan Digital Theater
08: Food Less Healthy, White House Veggies,  8 Ways to go Local
09: Quick Bytes
10: Closing Thoughts

Awww... they're so damn cute...

Yours truly has been out-of-pocket for several days critter-sitting for close friends.  What's dat mean?  Well, making sure that 10 little runner ducks, 3 bantam chicks, 5 huge roosters, 7 hens, 4 cats, Momma Chickie and little chickie, and an amazing Collie (Kara) are well-tended too while the human parents/kids are off to college graduation ceremonies.  Oh, and there's the 4 HUGE geese eggs that needed periodic turning in the incubator (kind of a very very very slow crockpot)...  delightful chaos!

But, mid-May is "action time" around here... new plots to be dug, plots to be re-vitalized, and tons of plants that have been started under lights and now hardened outside are begging to be put into the ground.  May/June is a serious period for the hard-core gardener in this zone.  So, back home, still decompressing and dealing with said plant kingdom activities, I decided to dispense with the recently usual fat/salt/sugar screeds/rants/wails (don't think I missed the 1/2 cup of tamari in a 4 serving vegan soup recipe... arrggghhhh... sodium saturation), and post 4 of the over 300 pix/videos of the baby runner ducks ("peepers") and other life forms I shot and have yet to process/post.

Looking at these critters warms even my sardonic heart these days.  May they invite a smile to yours, too! 

(Click on each to get a large full-sized version in a pop-up window.  You may need to re-enable "pop-ups" on some browsers.  Here's a video I posted on YouTube of 30-day old Runner Ducks a few years ago... some of the comments are quite funny)

  All 4 pictures (small and large) ©2009 by SoulVeggie  Please do NOT use or pass around (especially that first photo(!) without appropriate attribution, i.e., this webpage.

"Planting Faith"

My earliest memory of encountering the mysterious way life originates from apparently lifeless seed was when I was 4 years old.  Having since worked on an Organic Farm after working for NASA on two satellite missions, I still find myself amazed at nature and the process of growing plants.  At that Farm we specialized in "micro-greens," sprouted greens and vegetables for the high-end chefs in the Washintgon DC/VA/MD area.  It was an incredible experience to watch them arise in the greenhouse.

But, even now, I can clearly remember the youthful fascination that gawking at four carrot seeds in a corked small vial of water sprouting long white tails spawned within me.  Years later, as an adult,with immense glee I once turned a wet bar into a "sprouting bar," taking great delight in sprouting beans, grains, vegetables, and grasses.  I was continually amazed at the sudden burst of life and micro-nutrient density that seeming spontaneously occur.  Also noted, with irony, was that there is NO scientific test that would enable one to determine in advance, which seed, which bean, which dry object would manifest life.  I just LOVE pointing that out to scientists.  Reduces the general hubris they tend to accumulate over time.

See, you just don't know.  You can't know.  You have no choice but to believe that given the right conditions, your efforts will facilitate the coaxing of life from the seemingly dead.  Life arises from the soil via the seeds, strives towards the sun (phototaxis), and with faith and care, will grow strong, nutritious, and be viable to then contribute to our own lives and physical enrichment/survival.  What a noble sacrifice!

In managing an extensive vegetable (and to lesser degree of management, flower) garden, I often find  reminders of these same philosophical concepts.  We can do it correctly and proper "by the book:"  the soil, the water, the species, the weeding.... and still, life may or may not emerge, and may or may not continue to "fruition."  The weather may not accommodate, invasive weeds prove their superiority, insects may decide to take their turn, and small mammals may think it's a buffet table set out for their enjoyment and feast.  I don't know how farmers stay sane with the inexactitude of what they do season after season after season.

Anyway, today, after carefully sprouting parsnip seeds between two paper towels for weeks (see photo above, click on to see larger version in another window), and they finally sprouted a few days ago (had read that germination was iffy with this vegetable), I spent hours preparing a bed for them to rest in and grow.  Will take over a 120+ days before they can be harvested.   I also put three types of carrot seed in a 75 foot plot (having done the digging yesterday, adding mushroom compost today).   The carrot seeds were not sprouted in advance, so there's no way to predict whether all that physical effort and time will produce a bounty of carrots to enjoy in a few months.  A roll of the dice.  A "crap shoot" of sorts.

Did I spend the afternoon planting seeds?  Well, maybe... from one level of awareness... but perhaps, in a more descriptive, all-inclusive and metaphysical way, what we really do when we choose to work with the plant kingdom is better described as engaging in and "planting faith."  "Faith" that the plants will come to life, and that perhaps we are putting a little hope energy into the ground at the same time.

Way cool.

"Best of July 2008" Gardens Pix

Thanks to all who sent e-mails wondering if I'm alive.  Rumor has it, I am.  Here's a 15 page collection of "best of" photos (with links to larger images) of the organic gardens I'm managing while doing my multimedia contract work.  Been a helluva period, with lack of rain, mice, hardware/software issues, and yadda.... anyway, here's my favorite shot from the sequence:  cucumber plant greeting the morning sun.  Enjoy!  Go low-fat vegan and grow some food...  I'll be posting more often soon...