By Elizabeth Szlek
If you were watching the Foodshed Buying Club website in the past few weeks, you would have noticed an invitation to join others in watching a TEDx event at the Cornell Co-operative Extension, on February 12 of this year. Now, you might ask, what is TEDx? I admit, this was my first TED conference, but the founder of the Foodshed Buying Club, Shulamis Giordani, has been participating in TED events for some time. She just managed to bring it all to us in the Oneida County for a full day – for free!
TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a non-profit group devoted to ideas worth spreading. They have been at it since 1984, but I must admit, it didn’t make it onto my radar since this event about food. TEDx events are a more recent development, and they are always locally sponsored. The originating group for this event was TEDxManhattan, but the beauty of this kind of production is that it is broadcast in real time all over the world, so everyone present is seeing and experiencing the same event, all at once. The program lasted a full day, from 10:30 AM to around 6:30PM, but not to worry, the organizers had lined up several noteworthy businesses to provide free breakfast, lunch and a snack. The Rosemont Inn, Nail Creek Pub, the Bagel Grove, Slow Food Mohawk Valley and Jennifer Nutt came up with some wonderful eats for the large crowd who assembled for the event.
So, as we all watched the big screen in front of us, the day began with the host, environmental activist Laurie David, welcoming all of us around the world. From then on, there were a series of short talks, usually lasting about ten minutes, punctuated by Ethel ( the too-cool-for-school string quartet), and food!
The first session of TEDx consisted of views on “What happened?” to our way of eating. Talks ranged from a British professor, Carolyn Steel, showing how food shaped the cities we live in, to a report from MacArthur genius Cheryl Rogowski declaiming about the need to “respect the soil”, and eat seasonally. A woman from west central Illinois demonstrated the horrors of the factory hog farms which moved into her neighborhood (a NIMBY issue if I ever heard one!), and there was an enlightening talk on the American Farm Bill, and how little goes to the small farmers, versus Big Ag. The final speaker for the morning session spoke about the federal school lunch program, and the fact that one third of American kids are obese, and pointing out that some kids eat most of their meals at school, so it is really time to take a look at the nutrition kids receive in these all important meals.
The 1:30 Post-lunch session began with a revelatory speech by Dan Barber, a restaurant owner who traveled to Spain and found a wonderful fish on his plate from a sustainable fish farm at the end of the Guadalquivir River, where it runs into the sea.
The beauty of this fish farm is that it has developed into a complete self-sustaining loop, with the birds feeding on the fish, dropping their waste into the water, where it feeds the algae, which are eaten by small fish and other sea life, which is then eaten by the fish. No feeding of farm fish, as in America or other venues, is needed. This fish farm, unlike those which actually feed chicken-based feed to the captive fish, does not need to feed the fish at all, and therefore, no antibiotics or other nasty additives are found in the fish so farmed. This represented, for me, the most wonderful segment of the entire day, and one which lead to speculation as to why we cannot duplicate this system somewhere in America.
Local food advocates also presented their views on how Americans need to use all available land to “grow their own”, especially organically. We have seen the rise of community gardens in Utica, and it seems we are on the cutting edge of food thinking with such wonderful programs. Urban farming, edible schoolyards, mobile greengrocers and the CSA gardens must be the wave of the future! It was reported that in 1986 there were exactly two community gardens in America – but today, there are over 4800! This movement is especially important, but the organic farming movement still only represents 1% of all food produced in America. We should all prevail upon our elected officials at both state and federal levels to encourage the development of more sustainable and organic farming.
The final segment of the second section was by Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food, USA. He called slow food, or anything that is the opposite of “fast food” a “gateway drug” to activism and involvement in helping to preserve and protect real foods grown on smaller farms, free from pesticides and toxins. As encouragement to those fighting for preservation of healthy food choices, his take was this: “First they ignore you, then they fight you, then you win!” Let’s hope the food activists, and all of us, take his advice to heart, and begin talking, writing and working to keep real food in our stores and in our homes.
Fortified by bacon chocolate chip cookies made by Jennifer Nutt, the assembled group advanced to the final afternoon session. Dr. William Li gave a short talk entitled, “Can We Eat To Starve Cancer?”, which was fairly removed from the general trend of the rest of the segments, focusing on the discovery of anti-angiogenesis foods. For me, this was the most intriguing idea of the day.
Dr. Li’s research has shown that the development of cell groups into life-threatening cancer tumors depends upon the tumor’s ability to grow new blood vessels, called angiogenesis. He has discovered that a host of “regular” foods, such as blueberries, kale, grapes, shrimp, cheese and many others, actually contain substances called anti-angiogenesis agents, which actually prohibit the development of these tumor blood vessels. Therefore, while the threat of cancer may be present, it never materializes, and the person goes on with life unaffected. This is truly a revolutionary view of disease, by a typical allopathic doctor, but is seems to provide wonderful new ways for people to both protect themselves, and deal with early stage detected cancers. You can find his speech on the internet by Googling Dr. William Li and cancer. No doubt Dr. Li will be making the rounds of all the talk shows soon.
The day ended with more talks concerning finding funding for food-based businesses, growing foods in hanging gardens in urban windows, and other imaginative segments, including a man who grew a truck garden – in the bed of his truck!
TEDx in Oneida County was a triumph of organization, by Shulamis Giordani, owner and founder of the Foodshed Buying Club. She did a marvelous job of bringing the world to the cozy room at Cornell Co-operative Extension, and in doing so, it is hoped she helped all present change the way they eat!
Elizabeth Szlek is the Director of The Door Counseling Center of Yorkville, NY. Questions and comments can be directed to her at (315) 768-8900 or at info@thedoorcounseling.com
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