So before I get into my nutty, hippy rantings on food I’d like to tell you about a little interaction I had recently with Darian Worden.  We were talking about anarchists and he mentioned how they tend to get characterized as nuts who are into all sorts of crazy things.  He told me about a zine he read written by a guy who ate only organic food he grew himself, slept twelve hours a day, exercised through a vigorous regiment of “trampoline exercises” and only earned money through working as a nude model.  I thought to myself, “Wow, that sounds like my kind weirdo.”

The subject of food also came up when invisipunk shared an article called Delicious Food.  Basically the author was moving to a locally grown, organic diet where he makes an effort to cook all his own meals and only purchases things that “have one ingredient in the ingredients list.”  There is a lot to be said for cooking things yourself.  You can monitor exactly what you’re eating.  Also, it’s the type of skill that can save you a decent amount of money.  Buying locally has its advantages too.  Granted you have to shop more often, because the food doesn’t keep as well, but it tastes significantly better.  Also in many cases you get to talk to the people who grew it.

Personally my views on food are even wackier.  I’m trying to cook for myself and consume things that can be preserved without the benefit of refrigeration.  That basically rules out meat, which doesn’t preserve very well (jerky and canned goods being the exception).  You end up with a lot of beans, lentils, rice and grains.  For vegetables and mushrooms I tend to hit up the farmers market.  I’m also not a huge fan of the label “organic”, which can mean all sorts of things depending on who gave the food that label.  I’d much rather talk to the farmer if at all possible.  I’m working on doing more things by hand as well.  So I’m baking my own bread, cooking rice on the stove (I’d agree with the previous articles author that it’s really freaking hard) and trying to work with a limited amount of basic ingredients.

So, what have I learned from all this?  Well a lot of people complain that making things from scratch takes a lot of time.  This isn’t entirely true.  Bread takes a lot of time to rise, but it doesn’t take a lot of time to mix or knead.  In fact there are ways of making bread where you don’t have to knead it at all.  This means you can start making bread in the morning.  Go about the business of your day and finish at night.  I’ve also learned that if you want to use the fridge less, you have to work hard to make sure you don’t cook more than you can eat.  Lastly I’ve learned that spices are incredibly important.  Different spices can make the same stuff (ie. beans) taste very different.  I now understand why wars have been fought and trading routes established for these stupid, little brightly colored powders.

So there you have it, the incoherent rantings of a backwoods wannabe.  Advice, recipes and insults are all welcomed in the comments.

I’ve got breaking news for you. Homemade food tastes better. I know this may come as a shock, but any foodie recognizes this fact. Now the question turns to why does it taste better? It’s probably because it’s made by people who actually care. When you cook for your family or when you cook for friends you work hard to ensure that they receive the best food possible. When you work in a large scale commercial kitchen you spend your time making sure the food just passes the minimum standards. So where is this rant going? Well apparently people who care about food have been using social networking tools to meet up at locations in San Francisco and sometimes exchange money for food (God forbid!). The health department has been working with the police to shut down these meet ups because the food vendors don’t have magic pieces of paper (government licenses). Obtaining the aforementioned magic paper is pretty darn expensive:

Getting the proper permits for pushcart food sales can be prohibitively pricey for street vendors. The Department of Public Health requires applicants to submit for a permit to operate, a sanitation certificate, and a fire marshall application. The fee for a pushcart on private property costs $737, on top of an environmental health application fee of $298. That’s easily beyond the reach of both the latest wave of sellers and of those with a history of selling tamales and other snacks to the day laborers who cluster on César Chavez and nearby streets.

So who suffers? We do. We don’t get any tasty tamales, sexy soup, or gourmand goulash. We’re relegated to the bland industrialized offerings that the government deems “healthy”. I think I speak for all of us when I say that sucks.

http://freekeene.com/…

I’m writing in response to Keene Sentinel columnist Michael Schuman’s story titled “Will the Free Staters Please Sit Down?” I must admit, a couple of years ago, before coming to understand the message of liberty, I would have agreed with Schuman’s opinions.

Schuman’s views are consistent with what many would describe as main stream America. Unfortunately many of his ideas are based in ignorance and misunderstanding that stems from a lack of critical thinking. Like most of us, Schuman probably attended government indoctrination centers where school children are taught to stand on their X, respect authority, and do as you’re told without question.

Take a look at the pledge of allegiance. How many other countries have one? How many of you know it was written by Fancis Bellamy, a National Socialist (Nazi) flag salesman, to “instill a strong belief in the state.” Dont believe me? Look it up on the internet. You’re likely to find the same picture I did of school children doing a Roman salute – the same one Hitler’s army used – before that was changed after WWII.

Schuman’s description of a classical libertarian is severely flawed and his examples display an ignorance of private property vs. individual rights.
Read More…

http://www.wmtw.com/…

BUXTON, Maine — Buxton police raided a building where people were trying to raise money to give free food to the needy.

It happened at the Narragansett Pythian Sisters Temple on Route 22 where people were playing the card game Texas Hold’em to benefit the Buxton Community Food Co-op.

But state police said the game was illegal.

That’s because whenever a gambling tournament is held to raise money for a group and takes place at its headquarters, a permit is needed and the co-op didn’t have one.

So, state police seized cards, poker chips and $500 in cash — money the food co-op desperately needed.

A member of the co-op, Joann Groder, said she is very, very sad about what happened.

“We’ve had a lot of people who come here — people who are out of work, people who have cancer. We have a lot of people,” said Groder.

But state police are standing by what was done.

“In this particular case they weren’t licensed, and they knew they weren’t and they knew they needed one,” said Lt. David Bowler of the Maine State Police.

The money from the co-op’s card game is currently being held as evidence while the investigation continues.

Groder now plans to hold a pot roast dinner to raise money for the co-op.

Dale Everett, Richard Onley, Ian Freeman, Keith Carlsen, and Patrick Shields (from left) discussed efforts yesterday to obtain the release of fellow Free Stater Sam A. Miller from jail. They were not successful. (Cheryl Senter for The Boston Globe)

By Sarah Schweitzer
Globe Staff / May 29, 2009

KEENE, N.H. – From a jail cell in this rural corner of New Hampshire, Sam A. Miller waged a philosophical battle, one milk carton at a time.

The soft-spoken electrical engineer declined food for nearly a month, save for swigs of milk. To eat, he said, would be caving to the tyrannical government powers that placed him here for illegally filming in a courthouse and refusing to reveal his legal name to jail officials. (He says it’s private; jail officials obtained it from a fingerprint trace.)

His resistance has made him a folk hero among antigovernment types who have been making their way to New Hampshire from points across the country since their leaders put out a clarion call six years ago.

The Free Staters, as they are known, hope to lure thousands of like-minded souls to the state, with the goal of paring government to a bare minimum by eliminating things like taxes, speed limits, and zoning laws.

Thus far, just 427 Free Staters have relocated. Yet, here in Keene and in pockets across New Hampshire, Free Staters are making their case in increasingly provocative ways.

“Like Ghandi, like Martin Luther King, we need to educate and enlighten the public,” said Miller, who joined the Free State movement after breaking up with his fiancée.

The actions have ranged from the odd, such as when Free Staters filed another person’s fingernails without a manicurist’s license on a public sidewalk or held an unlicensed puppet show, to the irksome, as when they tried to dig a garden in a downtown Keene park, to the instigative, such as the day they stood on a street corner with a marijuana bud held aloft. Sometimes, they simply veer toward obstinate, wearing hats in a courtroom after being asked to take them off or refusing to remove a couch from a lawn.

When arrests have followed, Free Staters have sought to film the criminal proceedings from beginning to end, including scenes from courthouse lobbies, where filming is not allowed in some cases, such as in Keene District Court. The lobby filming has yielded more arrests (often, with Free Staters going limp as officers approach) and more footage that Free Staters post on websites such as FreeKeene.com, which has proved an effective recruiting tool.

The so-called liberty actions have been met with some bemusement by residents of this gently tolerant city, population 22,800, home to Keene State College, near the border of Vermont. But some say the tactics have taken on a menacing hue, such as when Free Staters have gathered on the streets of downtown Keene with holstered guns on their waists, visible on their waists.

“When they first came to town, there was a welcoming spirit. A lot of people were like, ‘OK,’ ” said Richard Van Wickler, a Keene resident and superintendent of the Cheshire County Department of Corrections. “But unfortunately what happens is that when [Free Staters] take the radical approach, that invites people to get angry.”
Read More…