Food Politics

Opening the Cages: The Humane Movement to Liberate Poultry

7 April 2010 by Jean Johnson
While I'm on a roll with the food politics articles I've written, here's one on hens published in E/The Environmental Magazine, January 2007. Also, tak to C. Bundy who took two of the photos used here. Over easy and whisked into omelets, eggs delight many. But the hens that laid ...

Strawberries Fields Forever?

3 April 2010 by Jean Johnson
Some things just don't change.  I wrote an article in 2005 on the nasties surrounding conventional strawberry production. Here are two excerpts. The papery star of leaves capping the red fruit might be green, but the California strawberry industry has a way to go. At issue is the ozone-depleting ...

Belly and Soul–Eating Locally and In Season

2 April 2010 by Jean Johnson
Here's a freelance piece I published in E Magazine back in 2006. Worth the read if you've time... Belly and Soul—Eating Locally and In Season Like someone scouting for a spouse in a bar, there was good reason I spent much of my life under the fluorescents trolling inner aisles of ...

Blue Corn Waffles

15 March 2010 by Jean Johnson
After the Sixties in Flagstaff where better to go and chill out than Indian County. Call me lucky. I managed to cobble together an education degree and spent the next decade out on Navajo and Hopi posing as a school teacher. It's true, I arrived looking for smoke and feathers--the ...

Corn Cakes with Pepper Jack

14 March 2010 by Jean Johnson
These puppies get more than passing notice. They go with spicy breakfasts and function as fresh bread come lunch or dinner time. They also work baked up as small fry for starters. Like neighbor, Patrick Earnest, said, “We really enjoyed the other night with everyone. The little pancakes had to ...

Geography, Culture, and Class Influence Our Food Choices

4 March 2010 by Jean Johnson
As Bart Simpson would say on the idea that geography, culture, and class influences our food choices, "Du-uh!" Still, this edible geography site's maps are worth the trip.

Thoughts on the Ladies: Mama Pigs, Mama Cows, & Mama Hens

19 July 2009 by Jean Johnson
Food, of course, is not just about consumption. Its story also encompasses production, a subject I've been investigating this summer with students at Washington State University enrolled in my US Food History course. So, how sunny are those eggs on the breakfast table? Or in the really cheap breakfast you found ...

Serendipitous Starters from a Hippie Garden & Hippie Kitchen

11 July 2008 by Jean Johnson
Cooking Beyond Measure is poised for its debut, so I've done the sensible thing and started the next cookbook: Hippie Kitchen. That's why it was so perfect when I met Rosanna at a writer's confab. Long hair properly grayed for her age and era, tied back stylishly. Birkenstocks. A simple white ...

Stand By Your Hen

24 October 2007 by Jean Johnson
Here's help for those wanting to make sense of the egg scene. The store bought scene boils down to 3 divisions, along with the caveat that if you really want to ensure your hens are well cared for, buy local from small growers. 1. Cheap Eggs=Hens who live out stark lives ...

Cheesey Corn Bake with Roasted Chiles

15 October 2007 by Jean Johnson
On the wok post I talked about ways to use late season zucchinis, tomatoes, chiles, and corn. Here's another from Cooking Beyond Measure, p53. Just grate and chop the veggies and stir them into an eggy batter with some corn masa added for heft. Grease your pan and bake in ...