Andrew Mark Veety

St. Louis Food Bloggers Baking for Share Our Strength

In January, I was honored to help spread the word and fund raise for the St. Louis chapter of Feeding America's Pound for Pound Challenge, in support of our local food bank. It was a great event that helped a lot of people right here in St. Louis.

Building on that success, I'm really excited to team up with local food bloggers, Stefani Pollack (Cupcake Project) and Kimberly Henricks, (Rhubarb and Honey) to Missouri’s host the Share Our Strength’s National Food Blogger Bake Sale for Missouri.

The event will be held on Saturday, May 4th, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, at Sappington Farmers Market (8400 Watson Road, 63119). 100% of the proceeds from the event will support Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger in America by helping fund after-school and summer feeding programs.

St. Louisans and food lovers across the St. Louis region are invited to attend the St. Louis National Food Blogger Bake Sale at Sappington Farmers Market on Saturday, May 14th, where a variety of delicious baked treats (baked by our local food blogging community) will be available for purchase. In addition to the funds raised through the bake sale itself, Sappington Farmers Market will be donating a portion of their days proceed to Share Our Strength as well.

Please think about getting involved in this great event by visiting our booth at Sappington Farmers Market and picking up some baked goods or donating baked goods for sale. Better yet, bake something and buy something to support this great cause. Hope to see many of you there.

Let us know if you are planning on attending, RSVP now.

Local Media Coverage

• Local food bloggers are baking for charity – and you’re invited - Sauce Magazine
• Food-blogger bake sale benefits Share Our Strength - St. Louis Post Dispatch

About Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength is the leading national organization working to make sure no child in America grows up hungry. They weave together a net of community groups, activists, and food programs to catch children at risk of hunger and ensure they have nutritious food where they live, learn, and play.

Organized by Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking, The National Food Blogger Bake Sale features food bloggers from across the country uniting to support the cause by holding bake sales in their states on the same day. Food blog readers will have the opportunity to taste the baked goods from their favorite food blogs at each state’s bake sale location.

Please Support Your Local Food Bank

By reading though the pages of this site anyone can see that I am well fed -- we are not lacking for calories in the Veety household. 

We are lucky to have great food to eat that is organic and many times locally grown - however I am acutely aware how fortunate we are to be able to afford such choices. In good times and bad, I've never really known what its like to not have food. I don't know what it's like to go to sleep hungry. Becoming a father has only reinforced this awareness for me. I never want my son to feel hunger either.

For others things are not as easy; the calories that we take for granted are hard to come by. That is why I've included a link to Feeding America on this site for almost three years -- to raise awareness and maybe get some of you to not only click on their link -- but make a donation to this organization that has never been more important for our country.

Feeding America and the Pound For Pound Challenge

With its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America is the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity. Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, Feeding America provides food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors.

Feeding America has teamed up with the Biggest Loser for this years Pound for Pound Challenge - an honor based pledge to eat a little better this coming year that not only does good for you, but others who are in need now. In fact, for every pound pledged through May 31, 2011, the Pound For Pound Challenge will donate 11¢ to Feeding America, enough to secure one pound of groceries on behalf of local foodbanks.

 
My family has taken the pledge in support of the St. Louis Foodbank and I'm changing my Facebook status and Tweeting today to help get my friends and family involved as well.

I hope you will think about making a pledge or making a donation to your local foodbank today.

About my local organization - The St. Louis Food Bank

• 1 in 8 people in the bi-state region are in need of food assistance. 
• Each week, an estimated 57,100 people rely upon the St. Louis Area Foodbank for food assistance.
• The St. Louis Area Foodbank distributed over 22 million pounds of food in 2009, up from 14 million pounds distributed in 2008.
• With each dollar donated to the Foodbank, we can provide 4 meals to hungry people in the bi-state region.
• 97 cents of every dollar donated to the Foodbank goes to food distribution programs.

Penguin Drive-In - Say It Ain't So - Part II

It’s clear that events surrounding the Penguin Drive-In in Charlotte, North Carolina are creating quite a stir locally. I’ve been watching the comments on this site, in my twitter feed and on the Birds Facebook page with great interest from my vantage point here in St. Louis. I’m touched that so many people have taken the time to read my initial thoughts on the topic, and for that I thank you.

I’m especially interested in the thoughts around this boycott and how it will impact the neighborhood the Penguin calls home - - a neighborhood that by all accounts was rejuvenated in part by the rehabilitation of a classic American restaurant.

It’s a real concern  -- but I’m not sure its really the point -- at least for me.

You see, missing from this argument - - that a boycott will adversely effect its surrounding environment -- is an acknowledgement of just what the Penguin is.

Never mind that the Penguin was a failing business for many years, that its best days were far behind it before its business was rebuilt. Never mind that Jimmy King and Brian Rowe opened themselves to a questionable level of risk by allowing the Ballentine family to maintain the business's name and hold the lease on its home. Never mind that long time chef Greg Auten has been retained for when management changes hands in October. These things are the drama, the raw emotions, the things that will eventually fade for most people with time.

What matters is the uniqueness of this American landmark. What matters is what will be lost as the Bird’s menu is commoditized, its decor standardized and its vibe packaged up for deployment to cities far and wide. Make no mistake, that is the plan. That is why a franchise specialist has been added to the management team.

Without a doubt it appears that King and Rowe are getting the shaft and the community is rightfully standing up for them. Again, this anger, this defense of the recent management will eventually pass. The bigger issue is with the Ballentine family’s plans to franchise the Penguin. Franchising the Penguin is where the long term damage will be done – both to the brand and the neighborhood that opponents of the boycott are so worried about.

As the “how” of the Penguin is written up in business, marketing and operating plans – I wonder how the Ballentine family will capture the “what” and “who”? It is here that most franchise concepts fail, because it is incredibly hard to capture the soul of a place like the Bird and transplant it.

How will the Ballentine family institutionalize the people who rebuilt the Penguin? How about the work ethic and the feeling of ownership by the staff?

How will they transplant that ethos to its second location? How about its tenth?

As an example; if a Penguin Drive-In lands in Cleveland, Ohio, why will the employees there care about the restaurant? Why will working at the Bird be more than a job?

The simple answer is that it won’t matter anymore, the magic will be long gone. In an effort to bottle up and ship the Penguin to places other, the very things that make it special will be lost, even as the original location lives on -- even if it has more in common with a Monkey Joe's than a classic American burger joint.

Some Thoughts On "The Locavore's Dilemma"

Earlier this week St. Louis Magazine food critic Dave Lowry posted an essay entitled The Locavore's Dilemma: One Critic's Take. 

I encourage you to take the time to read Dave's piece and give it some thought. I know I did. What follows is a copy of the comment I left for the author. As always I would be interested to know what the readers of this blog think about this subject. I hope to read your thoughts -- either here or on the Relish section of St. Louis Magazine.

I commented:

The type of eater that Dave describes accounts for 1 or 2 of every 100 people who take an active role in the relationship between themselves and the food they eat. It's not clear if Dave intended to use his well crafted prose to spray entrails over a larger segment of the dining population with his essay -- but to this reader that is exactly what has happened.

While I am not a locavore, I feel the need to point out that Dave has targeted the low hanging -- and I assume local -- fruit to base his attack on. I will grant to the author that the locavore is an easy target. Indeed most ideas can be dismantled when they are pushed to their extremes, especially if you can paint the individuals who adhere to that idea as disingenuous, woefully bored and haplessly middle class. The locavore becomes a buffoonish cartoon under Dave's withering attack -- the author skillfully uses dripping sarcasm and absurdity to make his prey look absurd.

Missing from Dave's argument are harder targets -- namely the real social and political concerns associated with the local food movement. The issues of national farm, energy and health polices are real -- conceding these issues and arguments even in part to the locavore makes it harder to diminish them as a group.

Sadly Dave's argument is additionally weakened by a secondary theme that appears throughout his essay -- namely a sense of entitlement and arrogance associated with being an accomplished eater. Without specifically saying it, the locavore is regulated to the same group as the often maligned foodie. To many, the term foodie is an affectionate term, used to describe the fraternity of eaters. The darker side of the term foodie is an insult - a method for the experienced to point out the amateur status of another. If one can stratify eaters, one can maintain one's position at the top of the dining heap.

It would appear that there is not a single idea or lesson that can be learned from the locavore. The bounty of edible treats available to the culinary adventurous is here for our enjoyment, we need not worry ourselves with issues like our relationship to the food on our plate. To listen to the incessant ranting of the locavore is to harsh the eaters proverbial buzz. Please do not trouble me with your thoughts, be quiet and pass me the duck liver.

In the end, Dave comes off as angry and aggravated that an unwashed plebeian questioned the choices of the patrician. Personally I find it entertaining that the author appears so threatened by the opinions and ideas of such a small population of eaters that he is willing to use a literary daisy cutter to decimate them.

Amuse Bouche For September 11th, 2009

Another day, another group of disjointed things I've been reading and doing....

• Excited that I'm developing a new concept around work day lunch time eats, angered that I forgot my camera when I left for work, again.
• Lamenting that it looks like I will miss American IPA night at The Good Pie as well as Hop In The City this year.
• S. 1650: A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the purchase and processing of healthful commodities for use in school meal programs has entered the Senate. More at Slow Food USA
• Really enjoying the September 21st edition of "The Nation" which is dedicated to essays on Food Democracy, with essays by Alice Waters and Michael Pollan among others. Complementary to a recent article in Time on the real cost of cheap food.
• Sauce Magazine takes a tour of some of the best fries in St. Louis, manages to forget the amazing fries at The Dubliner. They make up for it with the recipe for the Subcontinental at The Royale on page 30 of the Wine, Beer & Spirits supplemental to the September print copy. While I almost always avoid cheese sandwiches, I'm oddly intrigued by the photo of the meatloaf melt at Jennifer’s Pharmacy. I blame Jonathan Pollack's tasty photo for my change in attitude.
• A year ago today I juxtaposed George Washington, Geroge W Bush and Sarah Palin. 8 years ago I walked out of my office to grab some coffee, looked up Broadway and saw the WTC on fire. I'm also still unsure if I should develop the roll of film I took that morning as I walked out of the city to Queens.
• Sure it works on the coasts, but will my Son get beat up when I pack him his first Bento Box for a school lunch?

Amuse Bouche For September 10th, 2009

A collection of items that peeked my interest and raised my dander on this Thursday afternoon.

• Wishing MJB the best of luck as he leaves for TechCrunch50. Very cool stuff, if only I had an iPhone.
• Looking forward to putting up and taking down some O’Fallon Chocolate by the Barrel Cream Stout, which after a long wait has finally arrived. STL Hops via Twitter
• St. Louis' own Dave Nelson provided the bubbly to an overview of sulfates and headaches for The Noble Writ.
• Mark Graban continues the series of posts on Slice that feed my desire to design and build a back yard pizza oven. Permission from the wife, check. Backyard to build one. Nope. Perhaps its time to move.

I'm also preoccupied with being worried about my good friend Dave, formally the sous chef at Morimoto NYC and currently of Marea, who experienced a stroke yesterday morning. I have known Dave, in his early thirties, since college. Dave got me through several hard years when I lived in Queens, stood next to me in my wedding and helped me work out the logistics of my greatest culinary adventure, last years Fakesgiving Tristket, a turkey stuffed inside of a brisket.

The last time I saw Dave was this past spring when we had dinner at Rod's Steakhouse in Morristown, New Jersey. Dave was just back from a 6 month trip around Asia to research street food and ramen shops before attempting to open his own place in New York City. At the time he was not feeling well and did not have health insurance, which worried me greatly.

While his new position in the kitchen at Marea surely will cover his health care needs, (I hope) it highlights the need to provide a safety net for everyone in the United States. This was only highlighted when I heard about Dave a few hours after President Obama's address to congress last night.

"Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes." - Buck Murdock

I'm worried about my friend as he lays in a hospital bed in Brooklyn, and I'm angered that after 40 years, we don't have a public option for health care in this country. I'm distressed that Mr. Obama has to go before both houses of congress and state the following like it's news to the masses:

"Here's what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. Period. And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize. Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for – from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy. I will not make that same mistake with health care."

Seriously. This is an idea that totally escapes a segment of our population. They complain about the cost of providing for the worst off in our society, yet they allowed the Bush Administration to take a budget surplus and make it deficit. They said nothing as the cost of the war in Iraq, which has already cost over 10 times the anticipated amount, was accounted for via special requests to congress and supplementals to the overall budget process.

As Mr. Obama wrapped up his speech, I took to Facebook and posted a note with the quote above. Then I added my own post script:

"To my Republican friends - that means you lose.

You got your war and your 8 years of lower taxes, now its everyone else's turn. Additionally, in the spirit of fair game, the health care that we want to give to everyone can be enjoyed by you as well."

For more reading, the Citizens for Tax Justice argue that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010).

And while Maureen Dowd encourages President Obama to be "Less Spocky, More Rocky", I'm inclined to borrow a quote from Mr. Spock that fits my mood perfectly:

"Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Get better soon Dave. Wake up America.

Alice Waters Get's Her Wish

60 Minutes did a piece on famous chef, restaurant owner and Slow Food advocate Alice Waters recently, discussing the relationship between food, the Earth and our lives. 

Among the highlights of her interview were the ideas that healthy food is not a luxury, but a right of all people and her desire to have a vegetable garden planted at the White House.

Well Alice, congratulations, via the New York Times, "Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of the South Lawn on Friday to plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II."  

The Times continues, "While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern." 

I am so happy that awareness continues to grow on this issue and I am looking forward to shopping the great farmers markets we have here in St. Louis. I hope this interview and associated article inspires you to shop and eat locally this season as well.

Some more information

• Slow Food USA
• Slow Food St. Louis 
• Missouri Farmers Market Directory  
• Tower Grove Farmers Market
• Local Harvest Grocery 

Hunger In The New Year

A lot of people are thinking about plans for the upcoming year this weekend. Ann Shotwell knows a lot about planning, though for her, it's more week-to-week. She runs a hot meal program three Wednesday nights a month out of Morningstar Baptist Church on Cleveland's east side. It's a low income neighborhood hit hard by foreclosures. One-hundred and fifty people or more show up for the meal, and Mrs. Shotwell gets most of the food for it by shopping at Cleveland's food bank.

From Weekend America (01.03.09) - Audio Begins at 2:46 and runs to 7:29 (of 53:00)