How to make sustainable food shopping easy, fun and thrifty

People often ask me how I manage to have a comfortable lifestyle and feed my family sustainably without breaking the bank or making a fulltime job out of it. Most people are so busy that they barely have time to make it to the supermarket, let alone make sustainable and healthy choices when it comes to buying food. Organic and quality food is often more expensive than the 'normal' product and there are rarely any real discounts on offer.


When you are standing there in that glaringly lit supermarket aisle, the reasons and motivation for choosing organic seem far, far away. The images on packaging give you the illusion that all products come from paddocks filled with wild flowers and happy cows and farmers. The real picture of our food industry and the impact on your health is carefully hidden. However, there are tips and tricks to make your life and food shopping a whole lot easier and take away that nagging feeling that the choices we make in our food shopping are having adverse effects on the environment, (fair) trade and our communal health.


Let me take you on a shopping trip and show you how you can make a positive difference yourself through some simple changes. I have studied and worked in the food industry for years and have done most of the homework for you, so this is going to be fun and easy! Today we will start with 5 basic points to give you food for thought. After that I will take you on a shopping spree!


1. Organic is not the holy grail: this may sound odd coming from OrganicSassy, but there is method to my madness. For instance, I currently live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and there is simply no way that I can justify buying organic produce that has been transported across the globe. Firstly, the carbon footprint of shipping defeats the purpose of buying sustainable food. Secondly, the produce may have been picked unripe or it's not very fresh, which goes against my philosophy of feeding my family with the best quality fresh produce I can get. Thirdly, a farmer across the world may benefit from your business, but ask yourself why that same produce is grown locally and somehow has to be undercut in price with cheap produce from third world countries. Your local farming community suffers and chances are that the third world farmer who produced the goods is getting only a fraction of the profits. Don't get me wrong, I love organic food, but only if it is grown in my own region. Which brings us to my next point...


2. Go local and seasonal: people often think that local and seasonal food can only be purchased at farmers markets. I'm not an expert on supermarkets in the US, but in Europe, the UK and Australia (places where I have lived) the produce section often has the place of origin on the price boards and you often do have a choice. Sometimes you have to look on the box to see who the producer is and where the product is from. If I can't find it, I either ask the supermarket staff or I just don't buy it. Why you should go local and seasonal? Because Mother Nature is a smart lady and patented her brilliant inventions. Food grown locally and in its proper season tastes better, is more nutritious and has a far smaller carbon footprint than imported food. There is of course also food that is grown locally, but out of season. Holland is a wonderful example. We have huge areas of glass houses where produce is grown on glass wool, lit with special lamps resembling sunshine and fed with chemical plant nutrients. Anyone who has ever tasted a fresh tomato grown in proper soil and with real sunlight knows the difference between the glass house flavourless 'water bombs' and the real deal. Tomatoes grow in summer, they don't 'do' winter. The famous Italian tomato sauce is eaten all year around by preserving the huge harvests of this bumper crop in jars and bottles in summer. In the old days there simply wasn't any fresh tomato out of season. The same principle applies for fresh strawberries and jam. Due to technological developments the food industry and our 'need' for convenience most people don't know in which season crops grow. I could give you a list, but this would apply to the Netherlands and chances are your region has a different climate and therefore different local crops. An easy way to find out is to contact your local Slow Food office and ask for a list, or look it up online or ask and look around at a local farmers market. This will enable you to make informed choices next time when you go to the supermarket again.


3. If it doesn't grow locally: some things may not grow in your region. Here in Holland we would have a hard time growing citrus fruits, for instance. So two of the closest places where it is grown suitably and successfully are Spain and Italy. However, at my local supermarkets I can currently only buy lemons from South Africa. As far as I know the harvests in Southern Europe have not failed, so the only reason I can think of to ship lemons across the globe is money. This is bizarre if you consider that Italy and Spain are one of the worst suffering countries of the EU monetary and trade community. My solution? I don't buy lemons for a while unless I can buy them from a European producer and I make sure that I tell my family while we are in the supermarket so that other shoppers may decide to follow our lead. Another example are apples, a fruit that is grown easily in Holland, but they are mostly imported from New Zealand and Italy. Where do our apples go? To Italy and Germany! The logic behind this is lost on me... One of the best things about eating locally and seasonally? The abundance, variety and unique flavours that every season have to offer. You may not find this abundance in every supermarket, so treat yourself every now and then to a visit to a local farmers market. Get to know the land you live on and the local specialities. People are often proud because their city is famous for manufacturing a well known brand of car for instance, but they rarely know what local treats their ancestors would yearn for when travelling.


4. Substitute: there are many products that can be substituted by a local product. Let's look at Parmesan cheese, one of Italy's most prized regional delicacies. Its flavour is unique and sought after. I personally adore Parmesan cheese! Do I buy it in Holland though? Rarely. Why? Because we have so many excellent cheeses here, of which there are some fine aged cheeses that compliment my pasta or salad perfectly. I also prefer eating certain regional products on their home turf, because the experience is different. Parmesan cheese just doesn't taste the same in rainy, grey Holland as it does in sunny, warm Italy. When I visited New York City I was so lucky to sample local cheeses at Murray's Cheese Deli. The cheeses I bought were my most prized souvenirs to take back home, knowing I would probably never be able to buy them here. Some of these cheeses made by small local producers in upstate New York could compete with some of the finest European cheese. Yet, customers in Murray's deli mostly seemed to think that European cheese making was the unsurmountable summit of dairy heaven. That's a pity, because sometimes treasures can be found right on your doorstep...


5. Be critical: don't believe everything you see and are told. Look at packaging and ingredients lists and decide for yourself if you are happy to feed yourself and your family with it. As a rule of thumb, the shorter the ingredient list and the more names you can recognise and pronounce, the cleaner and more natural is the end product. This is more obvious for some than others. I have a life long allergy to artificial food additives, so I have to be careful about what I eat. But it also serves to be critical so as to not be conned. I have visited farmers markets where produce was on offer that was neither local, nor seasonal. Use your own common sense and don't be afraid to ask questions. One of the most used excuses throughout the food industry is "it is what the consumer wants". You are the consumer, so let your voice be heard. Your local supermarket will only stock alternative products if you ask for them. Consider this “If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.” ― Anita Roddick


That's all for now folks! See you tomorrow!

The UN breakfast - new and improved!

Whilst travelling on buses, trains, and planes on my way to Amsterdam today I had several pleasant encounters with fellow foodies from around the world. Somehow we instantly recognised each other which made it very easy to strike up a conversation and get straight to the topic we love: food, glorious food! None of these people work in the food industry, food is just their lifetime passion and hobby. It made me realise once again how fortunate I am to be able to live in Italy and to spend my days learning about food in an in depth way that I could never have achieved if it were to be a mere past-time. 


I also met a very interesting lady from Eastern Europe who works for one of the security agencies of the UN (I can't tell you which one, it's top secret, hehehe!) This woman works so hard that she even has to cut her vacations short to speed off to some distant destination to dutifully fulfill her job requirements. Inevitably the subject got to food and she told me that she has no time to eat. She has no time to shop for food, no time to prepare it and no time to think about it. Even though she likes to eat well, food is fuel to her at this point in life. Nevertheless, she's not happy with the way she eats and she would like to make some changes. 


Today I will devote my blog to this lady as I have promised to help her with some easy ways of eating well and nutritiously. You see, she is not the only one out there who tries to balance a busy job with a happy and healthy life style. So, while she and so many others are out there devoting their lives towards doing incredibly important work, it is time for this Slow Student to give back a little and share a secret or two about food.


We decided that the first thing she could improve on was breakfast. She used to eat a wholesome savoury breakfast in her home country, but in her new Southern European place of residence she has to contend with capuccino and a brioche. Not bad, you may think, until you have to have it every day. Lunch is usually something quick on the go, often of the unhealthy sort. By the time she finally finishes work she's too exhausted to cook. It would be unrealistic to expect of people like her to change their entire diet, but much progress can be made by doing it one step at a time.


Before we begin, I should mention a few things. I am neither a nutritionist nor a dietitian and this is not a diet or regime. I have merely spent considerable time studying food and I use my own common sense to determine what works best for me and my body. Everyone is different and your age, gender, genetic predisposition and habits will determine how your body behaves and what it needs in terms of diet. This is not a menu aimed at weight loss. The goal is to eat well and feel well. All I can do is give you a few pointers and help you find ways to figure out the best eating pattern for yourself.

So here goes! OrganicSassy hereby officially launches the UN breakfast! The letters U and N standing for Unadulterated Naturalness. I will publish a breakfast menu on this blog, which can be prepared either in advance, for instance on Sunday or on a weekday morning on the spot in less than five minutes! I will take you on a trip to the (super)market to help you buy the things you need, show you how to prepare it and how to enable you to have a sit down breakfast every morning! 

See you soon! Maybe I'll wake you up with breakfast in bed! ;-)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: between the evils of raw milk and the goodness of chemical additives

Raw milk is dangerous! It has to go through a heating process called pasteurisation in order to be safe for human consumption. At least that's what most policy makers in Westernised countries say. Raw milk also isn't what the consumer wants. Consumers want model products; pretty and predictable. It has to loose weight to become skinny and it always has to have the same consistency and nutritional values all year around. That's what the dairy industry says.


What do consumers say? Huh?! Who? Yeah, you! The one who's reading this either for fun or professionally, but who will quite likely at some stage this week be in front of the dairy section of a supermarket making consumer choices. Unless you are lactose intolerant of course. I mean, have you ever been asked by a diary producer what your preferences and opinions are? In fact, have you ever tasted raw milk? Have you ever been to an old fashioned dairy farm where you were given fresh milk straight after the milking of the cows? Have you ever had to shake a bottle of milk because the fat had separated from the watery part? Did you know that milk tastes differently all year around, depending on the season, the type of food the cow eats and the health of the animal?


You wouldn't be the only one having difficulty to answer yes to at least two of these questions. Most people in westernised countries aged under fifty can't. We are too far removed from food production to occupy our minds with such questions. We trust the food industry and policy makers to take care of our food safety and supply. If they say raw milk and raw cheese should be banned, then so be it. Despite the fact that half the world has been consuming raw milk products for centuries without entire populations being wiped out. So how did they get to that decision? Who are these people anyway?


What's concerning is that these same people, the policy makers, allow the food industry to put a myriad of chemical additives in our food. And this is where it gets tricky. As the world chemical already implies, this is not a natural part of food and therefore not part of our natural eating pattern. What's interesting is that many of these additives have not been sufficiently tested in order to guarantee that long term and cumulative consumption is not harmful to our health.


Let's have a brief look at food history. Since about the fifties of the last century the food industry has increasingly stripped raw ingredients of its natural goodness, substituted natural ingredients by adding cheap chemical components and to add value they fortify foods with the exact vitamins and minerals that are now lacking in many processed foods. If the food industry was anything like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory we may not have much reason to worry. However, since the bottom line is that of making ever growing profits and pleasing the share holders I'm afraid that Charlie has little to do with it.


At the same time, there has been an impressive increase in diet related diseases. These may not have as much to do with chemical additives as they do with sugar and fat intake, but the occurrence of many types of cancer, depression, allergies and behavioural disorders is also rising. Now, I'm not a scientist and even if I was, there is no data at this point in time which can help me substantiate my premise, but my common sense tells me that in two or three generations we will find out what the actual effects of continuous, accumulative consumption of artificial food additives will be on human health. 


So I'm not a professor, but I did study commerce and I learned that there's a golden rule that one can apply to various areas of life: everything has its price tag. Cutting costs by the food industry leads to several hidden costs we prefer not to think about. But as long as we keep buying what the government and the food industry tell us to and stay the hell away from the evils of raw milk we can keep on living in our happy world of make believe. Now where's that damned Charlie? I want my daily fix of magic and a fortified chocolate bar!

To be cool or not to be cool, that is the question... Or the chicken and the egg?

Once in a while you have a day that is unlike any other. It's the kind of day when you realise just how fortunate you are. Today was such a day. We had a class about food technology, which was mostly about food preservation methods and extending shelf life. Not exactly the most exciting subject, but it is like building a house. You may put up a wall and be quite contented about your day's work, however, without a proper foundation the house may not be built to last. In other words; it's basic knowledge we need to have in order form an informed opinion about the food industry.

If it wasn't for my dear and respected colleagues this may have turned out to be a rather dull kind of day. Nevertheless, the University of Gastronomic Sciences brings together people from all sorts of backgrounds and professions, which is truly amazing when it comes to cross pollination of knowledge and view points! Putting these kinds of people together means that the sometimes dry material we are learning is turned into exciting real life situations through all sorts of discussions!

Example? To refrigerate eggs or not. Ok, so maybe you never thought about it, but apparently this is different the world over! Our class is made up of various nationalities, enabling us to do an in class survey immediately. In American supermarkets eggs are in the chilled section and American consumers usually keep their eggs in the fridge. Here in Europe few people put eggs in the fridge. Even in tropical Latin American countries not everyone refrigerates eggs. But what is the reasoning behind all this? Is it purely a cultural issue or is there a scientific explanation? I mean, seriously, I won't be able to sleep tonight without figuring out this dilemma! Luckily our professor is able to provide us with some essential information.

Aha! So you want to know the answer now too, do you? I told you this is intriguing stuff! Ok then, here goes! Eggs do not need to be refrigerated and there is no health risk to storing them outside of the fridge (sorry FDA!). However, it does make them last longer if they are refrigerated. On the other hand, as I'm convinced that science can only overruled by one woman, let's see what my grandmother's opinion is on the matter. She always use to say that only the freshest eggs would do for her cooking. Anything else ran the risk of ruining the result and with the number of hours she would spend in the kitchen, that simply wasn't worth the try. It's not just about how much love you put in a dish, it's also about how much love you put in your grocery shopping.

So, thanks to my class mates and my old grannie, I am able to sleep tonight. I'm already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. Unrefrigerated, poached eggs on toast! With an espresso of course!

To eat not too much, not too little, but just enough

I'm in Italy: the land of the good, the tasty and the plenty. If I was an actress who had to put on a lot of weight within a very short period of time I would definitely come here. There's not one moment in the day that one cannot eat in this country. Where ever you go, whatever you do, there is always food involved. And you know what? I love it! I've been here for just one month and my obsession with food has increased to the point that there are few moments in the day that I don't think about food. It's like a mad, all consuming love affair. 


But like passionate love, there comes a moment when you snap out of the warm, fuzzy day dream that has been dominating your life lately. I mean, you love being around the object of your affection, but really, you need a moment for yourself. Call it a breather. Before you overdose, you must lay off the excess and administer the right medicine in the appropriate dosage. But how do you go about it? Do you do it the tough way and go cold turkey? Or do you try to manage the situation by tempering your obsession?

I have to say it is kind of a luxury problem. Never in history did we have so much food so readily available as we do now. And what do we really need to do for it? It's not exactly like we are ploughing the land for twelve hours to then go home and take care of our six children. When my grandparents were young they had meat once a week and they would go out of their minds when it was someone's birthday and they could have cake. Only my great grand father was allowed to have a breakfast of several eggs, strong coffee and a shot of eau de vie. But this man was built like a giant with hands the size of shovels. It kinda makes sense when you think about it. 

I don't eat meat every day either. However, the reason for that is not that I can't afford it. In between such luxuries as holidays, seasonal clothes shopping and expensive tuition fees I am still able to find sufficient financial resources to eat well. I choose to eat animal protein in limited quantities because I believe it's healthier for a human being like myself to eat mostly vegetables, legumes and fruit. In Italy I'm in the right place as there is loads of fresh produce and the peasant kitchen is all about making do with what you have and that definitely isn't steak every night! 

So what is a girl to do when she's invited to a dinner with almost exclusively Italians? It's nothing special really, just four courses with the very best ingredients and lots of love added to it. The only thing is that the second course is served twice, for who's interested, which means everybody. Don't get me wrong, I love a good pasta, but after one plate I've had more than enough and I'm already struggling with the main (which is also a considerably large portion). And here you can't cheat with salad either, as it is served as a separate course. Even gelato doesn't come in size small, so I generally eat half and hope that my grandmother will forgive me for throwing away food. What would my grandmother do in my place? A trip down memory lane teaches me that she was one of the worst perpetrators of force feeding in my childhood. Food is a gift and must be cherished!!! 

Right... I wish she was here so I could show her the excess of food that's available these days. It wouldn't matter anyway. She lived through the war, she knew what it's like to go hungry and she was a trooper. You can't explain gluttony to a veteran like her. Just to get things straight, I'm not into diets or weight loss. A real woman eats and has curves. Full stop. What I'm philosophising about is whether we actually NEED to EAT so much. Which leaves me with one option really. Defend myself at the table for the remainder of my stay in Italy. Because I'm just going to do it my way. I will eat, oh yes Siree!!! Just not too much, not too little, but enough.

How OrganicSassy fell in love with food

My passion is Food. Real Food. Honest Food. Food is what defines us as human beings, as cultures, as identities. I believe quality Food is not only a primary life need; it is our birth right. Food is about flavour, best enjoyed in its unadulterated form. An Italian saying I whole heartedly agree with is: “Good food brings you a little bit closer to God”. Who that god might be can be left entirely to personal interpretation, but the point is that Food adds an extra dimension to life which I would not want to forgo in any case. I have been in love with Food all my life, even though Food and I got off to a rough start.

Food and I met on a cold winters day in 1980 in the picturesque city of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I was born with an allergy to artificial food additives causing a nasty skin rash (eczema). Not exactly a great way to fall in love with Food, but my Hungarian mother, who is from the countryside, always cooked everything fresh and from scratch. However, when I would eat elsewhere (processed foods are extremely popular in the Netherlands) I would have a terrible outbreak of eczema within hours. Several visits to the hospital taught us what we already suspected; Food was playing a dirty trick on me!

During the holidays we usually went to my grandparents in Hungary, where all summer I took great joy and pride in harvesting fresh fruit and vegetables for the lunch and dinner table. My grandmother cooked on an old fashioned stove for which we had to chop wood. She would trade her fresh produce for a live chicken from the neighbour and dissect it in front of my eyes. Nothing in her kitchen went to waste and everything she made was delicious. Including offal that is. This wasn't just a big adventure for me, it also taught me the true flavour and true value of Food.

Back in the Netherlands I would ask my mother why Food there tasted so differently compared to the Food in Hungary. Chicken was tasteless, tomatoes were watery and sour, milk wasn't creamy. I missed the fresh produce, so I started my own little vegetable patch, every week digging out the carrots to see how much they had grown and carefully putting them back in the soil afterwards. Eventually I started questioning why and how the food industry could be allowed to sell products that were harmful to our health and wellbeing. No one could answer my questions. 

When I was eleven years old I read Anita Roddick's book about The Body Shop and I decided that I wanted to do work through which I could give back to the earth, animals and the community. Not much later, during my adolescence, I read about philosophy, history and politics. I never joined or supported any particular political movement, but I strongly believe that altruism and a strong social safety net should be the cornerstones of a civilised society. I convinced my family and friends to choose fair trade and organic products wherever possible. They did back then and still do now.

Not surprisingly, I got into the kitchen at a very young age and never really got out. I love growing Food, shopping for Food and the process of preparing Food to share with others. However, I didn’t become a chef as life had a different scenario in store for me. It all started with Slow Food and reading Michael Pollan's books. They gave me answers but also created more questions. I had to DO SOMETHING! Two years ago I started my own business in food marketing focusing on the niche market of local organic and artisanal Food. Today I am in Italy where I study at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. My love affair with Food was built to last...