Celebrating Sustainability: Boston Local Food Festival
by Lucia Austria
Brisk winds and sporadic showers were no match for the glowing enthusiasm and high-energy of the participants of the annual Boston Local Food Festival that took place October 7th on the Rose Kennedy Greenway near Boston’s waterfront district. Hosted by Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, the festival brought together vendors and exhibitors eager to show off their products to passerby. Farm stands, food trucks, and booths featuring local restaurants, food manufacturers, and exhibitions filled four large parcels of the greenway forming a large market of organizations focused on creating sustainable foodways for the greater Boston area.
For six hours, crowds filled the greenway, taking time at each booth to taste free samples, purchase local products, and learn about each organization’s mission. The proximity of the festival to the popular Boston tourist point, Quincy Market, brought in not only the locals but also out-of-state and international tourists, curious to investigate the lively commotion happening off the cobblestone sidewalks. One could only imagine how similar the spirit of the event was to the Quincy Market of the past, a brick edifice once filled with farmers and grocers hawking their wares and building relationships with the local community.
Organizations like Cape Cod Fish Share and John Crow Farm engaged passerby with details of their meat and fish shares, presenting opportunities for local citizens to be a part of their sustainable missions. Enterprise Farm, from South Deerfield, Massachusetts, caught crowd attention by inviting you to board their Mobile Market, a farm stand on wheels that resembles a school bus more than a farm stand. Its interior is lined with a few rows of boxes filled with fresh and affordable produce and decorated with photos of community members the Mobile Market services. Enterprise Farm’s Mobile Market aims to bring farm-fresh produce to underserved neighborhoods in Somerville and Springfield. Participation in Enterprise Farm’s year-round CSA contributes to this project, adding yet another factor in the dynamic of a sustainable and accessible food system.
Of course, you can’t think about sustainable food without considering waste. Restaurant booths and food trucks provided patrons with compostable utensils. Composting and recycling receptacles dotted the festival grounds. One notable festival exhibitor, Bootstrap Compost based in Jamaica Plain, enlightened festivalgoers with the how-to’s and benefits of composting. Bootstrap’s pick-up service collects kitchen scraps from residences, dormitories, and food establishments from all over the Boston area. A portion of the compost is then delivered to participants, local gardens, and area farms. Bootstrap Compost shared their booth with a recipient of their compost, The Buckle Farm from Dighton, Massachusetts, who sold beautiful produce grown from the kitchen scraps of Boston locals.
The only downside of the Boston Local Food Festival is that it happens but once a year. However, this annual event hopes to create awareness among Bostonians of the variety of ways they can become connected to their food. Patronizing local farmers markets and socially conscious businesses is an opportunity for all to become an active member in a sustainable foodway.
Lucia is a current BU Gastronomy student. She works for Taza Chocolate based in Somerville as the Senior Shift Leader and Purchasing for the production team.
The Fight for Fair Food: Taranta’s Collaboration with CIW
by Alex Galimberti
For over a year Taranta dedicated itself to learning and supporting what can be considered the most important element to creating a sustainable food system: ensuring good work conditions for our nation’s farmworkers. It all started during the Chef’s Collaborative Annual Summit that took place last September in New Orleans. There, the Taranta crew met Gerardo Reyes from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Through the connection established with the CIW, Chef Jose Duarte, general manager Chris Titus, and I took a trip to Immokalee where we became aware of exploitative conditions and cases of modern day slavery in the tomato fields of Florida. By understanding the scale of the issues addressed by CIW’s Fair Food campaign, we realized that chefs and restaurant workers represent the final link connecting the food system from farmworker to consumer. Our position as restaurant professionals enables us to raise awareness to our consumers and also question the practices of large food producers.
Through the support of Star Chefs, Chef Duarte assembled a panel entitled “The Human Cost of Food.” Panelists included Gerardo Reyes, author of Tomatoland Barry Estabrook, and Chef Duarte. Together, they presented at the Starchefs International Chefs Congress in New York City. Discussed was CIW’s key strategy--requesting the largest tomato buyers in the country to sign into the Fair Food Agreement. Some of these buyers include Whole Foods Market, Trader Joes, Aramark, and Sodexo. These buyers promise exclusive purchasing from producers who are inspected and verified by an independent auditor. Approved producers comply with a basic set of standards, such as zero tolerance for physical abuse and sexual harassment of farmworkers, just to name a few.
One of the main points of contention during the three-day congress was Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s stance on the Fair Food Agreement. When the congress was held, Chipotle had not signed the agreement. The company’s research and development chefs Nate Appleman and Joel Holland debated with Reyes over the level of involvement of chefs with labor and human rights issues. Both sides left the congress with a wider scope of awareness of the variable viewpoints of industry chefs. This debate struck a chord with the Taranta crew, for sustainable food cannot exist without the fair treatment of farmworkers. On October 4th, Chipotle chairman Steve Ellis signed the Fair Food Agreement with representatives from the CIW. The Taranta crew and I are happy that such an important company in our industry is now an ally in this cause. The battle is far from over, but we believe our efforts sharing this story with the chef community have paid off.
Alex is a Gastronomy graduate student. He is currently the Beverage Director and Chef Instructor at Taranta Restaurant, Boston. Read Alex's complete post and learn more about Taranta's visit to Imokalee here.
Longhouse Food Writer’s Revival
by Katherine Hysmith
Food writing organization Cook n’ Scribble, host of the Longhouse Food Writer’s Revival, posted a tweet a few days before the event proudly boasting that the upcoming weekend would be like "’Burning Man meets Oxford Symposium’: food, photography, writing, blogging, video, spoken word, painting. #foodrevival.” After learning about food freaks and the communal food revivals in Warren Belasco’s books and classes, this conference seemed less scholarly by the tweet. With the promise of a “pop-up” magazine and a network of eager food writers, the conference seemed worth it.
A few hours away in the sleepy little hamlet of Rensselaerville, a hundred or so people gathered in a renovated red barn, complete with an improvised kitchen, to talk about food. Among them were famous writers like Molly O’Neill, world-traveled photographers like Penny de los Santos, Edible Magazines publisher Brain Halweil, NPR host Kathy Gunst, representatives from various food companies such as local Taza Chocolate and ConAgra Mills flour, food bloggers, culinary scholars, and a handful of eager young students from food programs across the nation.
Huddled in the drafty old barn away from the windy fall weather, we watched a screen 
made from a swath of burlap tacked up to one wall with a projector set up in the hay loft above. The theme of the conference was “Mexican Diaspora in the Hudson Valley” which was highlighted by sentimental oral history interviews, a guacamole presentation, a poem read dramatically from iPhone screens, and finally a traditional Oaxacan pig roast prepared by Mexican Chef Neftali Duran.
The morning schedule flew through presentations about multimedia, photographic storytelling, the edible soundscape (the sizzle of sliced nopales or prickly pear hitting a hot frying pan), and the challenges of the printed word in today’s online media. The heart of the conference was a round table discussion themed, “The Revival.” Sitting in a large circle, we embarked on a multi-hour discussion of the merits of media and the false divide between the older generations and the new. Perhaps it was inexperience with the “third screen” (aka the smartphone), or maybe the smoke that now filled the barn to the rafters, but the round table discussion quickly became a blame game with ample finger pointing. Finding, and keeping, a job was the theme of the afternoon, dotted here and there with useful tips on blog marketing and self-branding from a few attendees eager to reroute the conversation. In the end, we found common ground in collaboration and using each other’s strengths to build a reliable and well-written medium.
We learned that the collective model is like making a meal together; we each make a dish, prep ingredients, set the table, clean the dishes or even compliment the food profusely after all is said and done. Ultimately, future successes in food writing will be a combination of the gumption founded in old media mingled with the savvy sleekness of new media. Despite our differences in the barn, once the doors opened we found camaraderie in pulled pork, smoky starlight, and food stories from around the table.
Katherine Hysmith is a second year Gastronomy graduate student and a food blogger at www.youngaustinian.com. She also writes and does freelance photography for the Boston Globe.
Gastronomy Students Association: Festivals, Food, & Fun
On September 28, BU Gastronomy student Natalie Shmulik lead the first Gastronomy Students Association meeting of the semester. Together, the students tossed around ideas and have scheduled a list of upcoming outings of exciting Boston culinary lectures and events. Currently, the association has a group of 12 dedicated members and welcome more to the community.
The BU Gastronomy Students Association is a group of graduate students who are passionate about learning valuable and current culinary trends and techniques, while also promoting awareness of food issues within the local community. The association dedicates its time to combining academic works with real-world tastings. Through the association, the students come together to share unique experiences in Boston and surrounding food scenes. These events expose students to the local cuisine and culture while providing the opportunities to network and build on their knowledge of local fare.
Meet Natalie and other Gastronomy students through these fun events!
OCTOBER EVENTS:
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 11am-6pm
Sustainable Seafood Festival
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 11am-5pm
Boston Local Food Festival
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 11am-6pm
Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
October Events
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7
Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts presents the 3rd Annual Boston Local Food Festival. The free festival is Boston's premier food festival promoting the joys of eating local food and includes local farmers, some of the best restaurants in New England, specialty foods, Fishstock and a “Seafood Throwdown”, Meat Cutting Demos and Chef Demos.
11 am - 5 pm, The Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13
Support local business at the Food Truck Throwdown. Food trucks from Boston and New York City will compete against each other in various contests all day long for a chance to win “Best Food Truck.” Admission is free.
11am-9pm, Dewey Square on the Greenway, Boston
MONDAY, OCTOBER 15
Culinary Historians of Boston present Andrew F. Smith, author of American Tuna: The Rise and Fall of an Improbable Food will provide a lively account of the American tuna industry over the past century.
Smith relates how tuna went from being sold primarily as a fertilizer to becoming the most commonly consumed fish in the country. In his book, American Tuna, the so-called "chicken of the sea" is both the subject and the backdrop for other facets of American history: U.S. foreign policy, immigration and environmental politics, and dietary trends.
6 pm, Schlesinger Library, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22
As part of the Pèpin Lecture Series in Food Studies and Gastronomy, Darra Goldstein, Francis Christopher Oakley Third-Century Professor of Russian at Williams College and founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture will present The Progress of the Fork: From Diabolical to Divine.
She traces the evolution of forks over the centuries and shows how developments in fork design reflect changing ideas about food fashions, hygiene, table manners, and table service in Europe and the United States.
Please register here.
6 pm, 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 117, Boston
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24
Gordon Shepherd, author of Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why it Matters will present a special lecture, titled, “Neurogastronomy: What is it, and why does it matter?”
6 pm, SHA Auditorium, 928 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
--AND--
Learn about the Food Day celebration, a nationwide movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. Food Day is powered by a diverse coalition of food movement leaders, organizations, and people from all walks of life. The ultimate goal of Food Day is to strengthen and unify the food movement in order to improve our nation’s food policies.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27-28
Join the Boston Vegetarian Society for the 17th annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. Meet with chefs, network with food producers, and sample vegetarian dishes and products current on the market.
10/27: 11am-6pm, 10/28: 10am-4pm
Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont St, Boston
Dr. Warren Belasco Asks, “Can Food Save Washington?”
by Miki Kawasaki
On September 17th, members of the BU Gastronomy community had the pleasure of attending a lecture by visiting professor Warren Belasco entitled Can Food Save Washington? Inventing Terroir for the Nation’s Capital. Dr. Belasco spoke from the perspective of an “angry Washingtonian” who has lived in the city for four decades. In his research, Dr. Belasco ponders why Washington lacks its own distinct food identity in comparison to other gastronomic hubs such as New York City or New Orleans. He asks what can be done to establish terroir in the city. As the nation’s capital, Washington has the potential to set a standard and influence local food trends in the rest of the country. If terroir can be created there, it can happen anywhere.
In considering why Washington does not have a stronger food identity, Dr. Belasco pointed to the lack of a grounded population as well as the aspects of city planning that inhibited the growth of a more visible local culture. The development of present-day Washington involved the transformation of a landscape that divested it of its natural food-rich ecosystems. Pierre L’Enfant’s designs to fashion Washington as “the Paris of the new world” ultimately turned its grassy, wet land into a grid of monumental architecture. In the
National Museum of American History, Transportation Collections
1930s, centers of culture and commerce were quashed to make way for governmental buildings, including Center Market, which at the time was one of the largest public markets in the world. Washington has long played host to a sojourner population, coming in and out with the political tides and rarely establishing roots. Lacking a native landscape and population, the growth of a distinct regional identity was ultimately stunted.
Despite the historic ambivalence of Washingtonians toward their own city, Dr. Belasco does have hopes for elevating an indigenous food culture there. He pointed to recent attempts to reclaim the commensal landscape, the prominence of local entrepreneurs, and the possibility of constructing a foundational mythology based on historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson, who was deeply involved in the maintenance of a vegetable garden during his residency at the White House. It is also necessary to consider Washington’s significant black population, as well as the more recent arrival of immigrants from El Salvador, Ethiopia, and other countries in contributing to the social and cultural makeup of the city.
When visiting the city today, there are signs that Washington’s food culture is overcoming its faceless past and possibly even flourishing. There is a thriving network of farmer’s markets and community gardens, widespread embrace of hometown brands such as DC Brau and Five Guys Burgers, and even local culinary celebrities like Jose Andres and Derek Brown. If one is able to look “beyond the marble” of the Mall, they might discover that Washington has a vibrant food scene which cannot be observed from the seat of a tour bus. There is no shortage of inspirational movers and shakers within the food industry who are committed to making changes in Washington today. It is possible that through their efforts and the embrace of Washington’s forgotten resources, a food identity can be created in our nation’s capital and maybe one day recognized throughout the world.
Miki Kawasaki is a native New Yorker who arrived in Boston this September by way of Washington, DC. Prior to entering the Gastronomy program, she obtained her BA in Art History and East Asian Studies and spent several years working in DC’s restaurant industry.
All About Julia
Drawing record crowds, Siting Julia, a day-long symposium hosted by the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard explored three sites of Julia’s life: Post–World War II Paris; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and national television. From the symposium, I’ve put together four key attributes that speakers felt contributed to Julia’s legacy:
Her Personality
Keynote speaker Laura Shapiro (author of Perfection Salad, Something from the Oven, and Julia Child) recounted what Paul Child called “Juliafication” — the phenomenon by which Julia’s warmth and attention lit up those around her. While many speakers discussed Julia’s caring, generosity, and sense of humor, Dana Polan (professor of Cinema Studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and author of Julia Child’s “The French Chef”) credits Julia’s personality for her success on television. And Lisa Abend, TIME correspondent in Spain, argues that we have Julia to thank for transforming food into entertainment.
Her Love of Learning
Julia was the eternal student. Alex Prud’homme (Julia’s grandnephew and coauthor with her of My Life in France) spoke of how even at the age of 91, Julia was planning her next project — from learning to butcher in Chicago to teaching children to cook.
Michela Larson, a longtime restaurateur in Cambridge and Boston, told of Julia counseling one of her cooks, saying one does not have to go to culinary school to learn about food. The experience of cooking, working with food and under noted chefs, carried just as much weight with her. Julia’s own commitment to learning influenced her belief that cooking can be taught, a tenet central to her books and television shows.
Her Moderate Approach to Food
While Julia is often heralded for her focus on fresh ingredients, her ideas on food were far ranging, often diverging from those currently endorsed by foodies and alternative food movement advocates. For example, she found organic food elitist, thought McDonald’s French fries and Burger King hamburgers were the best, argued we ought not to worry about GMOs, and supported MSG. Julia did not see the point in vegetarianism, and according to Jane Thompson, who equipped Julia Child’s television kitchen and came to know her well, Julia once told her hair dresser, “I’m a card carrying carnivore. I eat anything and everything in moderation.”
Her Contributions to Women’s Issues
Keynote speaker Laura Shapiro, argued that Julia Child taught Americans to not belittle women in their domestic roles, and that her legacy is how she created a new way to be a woman that included a kitchen. Dorothy Shore Zinberg, an astoundingly well-rounded academic who was one of Julia’s Cambridge friends and neighbors, contended that Cambridge was a ripe environment for Julia because Cambridge was a town full of unemployed and underemployed women with PhDs who cooked and loved food as an intellectual outlet.
Julia Child began cooking on television the same year that Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique. Both women stand as key figures engaging in women’s issues, albeit in different ways. As artifacts of an amazing woman, Julia Child’s books, papers, and television shows now tell us the story of a woman who found her destiny and chose to fulfill it in the kitchen. So often credited with elevating food in America, Julia also elevated cooking and the women who do it.
Emily is a current gastronomy student and graduate assistant. Check out her research in food studies, nutrition, and public health on her blog, emilycontois.com.
Perspectives on Sustainable Agriculture
by Noel Bielaczyc
On Tuesday, September 11, as part of the university’s ongoing efforts to promote sustainable practices and foster thoughtful dialogue, BU hosted a Sustainable Agriculture Panel at Sargent College. This was the first in a series of lectures & events this fall that highlight the interdisciplinary nature of Gastronomy. The specific aim of this symposium was to discuss the burgeoning topic of sustainable agriculture and to explore current news and future directions, from farmers markets to family meals.
The panel comprised a range of food experts: Rachel Black, BU Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Gastronomy, Kate Stillman, Farmer and Proprietor at Stillman’s at the Turkey Farm in Hardwick, MA and Britt Lundgren, Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture for Stonyfield Farms. Nathan Phillips, BU Associate Professor of Earth & Environment, provided moderation for the discussion and a viewpoint external to the food world. This variety of perspectives created an interesting dynamic and energetic discourse on what we eat and why.
Questions from the audience helped steer the conversation from the controversy of GMO’s to the US Farm Bill and the carbon footprint of eating local. The panel's responses to these topics were generally balanced and constructive with each panelist giving a unique response. Lundgren’s comments on politics, policy and economics reflected her experience working within the “big organic” industry, while Stillman contributed a down-to-earth voice from the local food movement. Black represented an independent middle ground in the discussion, bringing up critical questions related to media, culture and concept of taste.
One interesting discussion revolved around a recent Stanford University study that questions the health benefits of eating organic foods compared to conventional foods. There was agreement amongst all panelists on various weaknesses in the research methods used, but Rachel Black made the important point that the study fails to account for both the health of agricultural workers and the environmental impact of commercial farming. While many individuals do eat organic foods purely for personal health reasons, the narrow scope of the Stanford study seems to ignore the broader importance of sustainable agriculture to issues of human rights and ecology.
Following this Kate Stillman presented a spirited argument that simple labeling systems do not necessarily guarantee quality or safety. Since organic fruits and vegetables can be imported from across the globe she believes eating locally grown food is always the freshest, healthiest and most responsible choice. Her first hand experiences as a farmer and market vendor in the Northeast added substance to this point and illustrated the challenge of overcoming consumer’s (sometimes misinformed) perceptions. The complexity of our food system, from issues of production to accessibility, requires critical thinking and flexibility not passivity on the part of eaters.
Overall, the event was excellent food for thought. Refreshments were also served: The organic Greek yogurt was courtesy of Stonyfield and the apples were definitely not from New Zealand. Special thanks to sustainability@BU!
Noel Bielaczyc is an illustrator, fishmonger and cook. It is his first year studying Gastronomy at BU
Katie Dolph Defends Thesis on Sustainability in the Willamette Valley Wine Industry
Post and photos by Emily Contois
While many students have completed a thesis as part of their studies in the Boston University Gastronomy Program, Katie Dolph is the first to complete the new eight credit thesis, a challenging endeavor that includes a year's worth of research and a formal defense process.
Katie's research employs an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the role of sustainability, which integrates reverence for nature with cultural and economic factors, in the development of a unique set of winemaking practices that distinguish the Willamette Valley Wine industry.
Last week, Gastronomy students and faculty gathered for Katie's thesis defense.
Congratulations, Katie!
Summer Course in Review: Ethnic Foodways in the U.S.
by Lisa Philpotts
I did not come to BU for the gastronomy program. In fact, I didn’t even know that it existed! Instead, I had relocated from North Carolina to accept a job as a librarian at Mugar. It was only after I had started working here that I learned about the program, and it was one of those "OMG-this-is-amazing-how-did-I -not-know-about-this-before?!" moments.
I have a passion for food and a background in health, and if I were to get a second masters it would be in nutrition. As I browsed the gastronomy course offerings, I was excited to find that I could study why food is so important to individuals, but from a different perspective than the one I would get in a nutrition course. I decided to take the plunge and sign up for Amanda Mayo’s ML631 "Ethnic Foodways in the United States” class to explore the relationship between food and culture.
So how did it go?
Well, my friends were somewhat surprised to find out that I was burning the midnight oil. Perhaps for them, the phrase “gastronomy class” conjured up the image of relaxing, eating, and drinking. And yes, there were the mid-class snack breaks and the outings to area ethnic restaurants, because after all, what are food studies without food? But make no mistake: this was a graduate level summer class, with a graduate level workload.
Fortunately, the readings and class discussions were fascinating. I particularly enjoyed comparing the experiences of different ethnic groups that have immigrated to the US and how those experiences have shaped their foodways. I was amazed to discover how interdisciplinary the field is. We reviewed research on food and ethnicity by scholars from a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology to marketing. Amanda facilitated hands on practice with some research methods she personally employs as a food historian, taking oral histories and interpreting primary sources, the latter of which came in handy when I wrote my final paper.
My paper was about the food voice (a concept explored by past researchers including Annie Hauck-Lawson and Carole Counihan) of Malaysians in the US. I coded for themes in cookbooks and memoirs written by Malaysians, but what I found most interesting was the use of online social media to communicate about food. Malaysians living abroad have created a particularly vibrant virtual food space, using blogs, Facebook, and Twitter to share recipes and reminisce about food from their home country. The course wrapped up with final presentations, and I brought in kuih to stick with my Malaysian theme. My classmates brought papusas, palitaw, fruit pies, and buffalo chicken dip- I’ll let you wonder what their research papers were about!
I’d encourage any BU students or staff considering a gastronomy class to give it a shot. The class I took was rigorous and rewarding, and the icing on the cake was getting to know the other people taking it: intelligent, articulate, and above all, passionate about food! Cheers to that!
Lisa earned her Masters of Science in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently the Health Sciences Librarian at Mugar Memorial Library. Lisa tweets about academia, health, and food at @LisaPhilpotts.