[Sca-cooks] GMO's- Appropritate Food Discussions - long

[Christine Seelye-King]

Gentle Cooks,
      After sending the partial list of GMO foods, I got some feedback about
how it was not in the realm of SCA cooking, and other questions about why it
was an issue.  For those that are on the SCA Foods and Feasts list, I
apologize for the duplicate message.  However, before I let this one go, I
felt the need to write a bit of an explaination.
      I do not get political about many things.  I have limited energy and
time
to devote to such topics, and frankly bad news depresses me and I prefer not
to listen to politician's drivel.  However, food is one area that I care
very deeply about.  Food can get very political.  Especially when the
production and distribution can be controlled by one of very few companies
that consolidate and globalize to take over the food supply of the world.
I am very concerned about food labeling, and I teach nutrition classes, food
label understanding classes, go to schools to do outreach education, am
studying for a degree in Holistic Nutrition, and serve as the President of
the Board of Directors of one of the largest natural food cooperatives in
the South East.  Indeed, the list that I forwarded was sent to me by one of
my fellow board members.  If you are aware of such things at all, you will
know that the most recent move by the FDA was to get all labeling of GMO
foods banned, because the companies that produce them don't want them to be
seen as undesirable.  Such legislation has been passed in Canada, forcing
A&P to remove all of the labels they had just created.  I don't care what it
is, I should have it on the food label so that I can make my own decision.
If it has more sodium, fat, red dye, or whatever, the label should list it
so that I can buy the things I feel are appropriate for me.  I feel this is
especially true of GMO's, which have not been around long enough for
long-term effects to be scientifically documented, except in 'indicator
species' such as monarch butterflies, ladybugs, mutant frogs and the like.
Perhaps it is a knee-jerk reaction, but anything the big chemical companies
are so desperate to push on us leads me to very serious concerns about their
general goodness and safety.
      So, when I sent along the list of foods to the SCA Food and Feasts
list,
(along with the SCA Cooks list and many of my friends and family), I did so
because I wanted to get the information out to as many people that deal with
food as possible.  I was not thinking about the period-appropriate nature of
the list.  However, in thinking about it since I got the public and private
messages about it, I did want to bring up a few points as to how this does
affect the food that is served at events.
      More and more, I try to clean out my diet to improve my health and
avoid
further health problems.  I pay more for organic foods because it is still
cheaper than spending money on medications or medical treatment to deal with
problems that occur down the line from eating crap.  It has gotten to the
point that I do not go to an event without taking a cooler full of food for
myself and my lord to eat from.  I still pay for the entire event fee,
including feast/food costs.  I still sit down to feasts.  I occasionally go
to breakfast to see what's there, but very often I leave with no more than a
glass of juice, if that much.  The problem is, most of the time the cooks
for events are buying the cheapest products they can get, because they want
to stay under budget.  I won't get into the fact that I think we are way
undercharging for food at events and how it is the cheapest meal you can
get.  But, because we have this impression that we can't make our event
attendees pay more than 7 bucks for 4 meals over the course of a weekend,
cooks are forced to spend many hours scouring the area for the best deals
possible.  I don't have a problem with that.  What I do have a problem with
is being served cheap foods that have questionable nutritional value.  I
don't expect organic foods at events (although I probably won't eat any more
scrambled eggs at events, eggs are one of those foods I eat almost
exclusively organic or free-range), but I'd like orange juice/iced
tea/lemonade that is pure/real and not a mix, meats that are hormone and
pesticide/herbicide free, and other foods that are better quality than the
'best bargain I could find'.  I'm not pointing any fingers, I'm just making
a point.
     One of the foods on the list is Morningstar Farms breakfast
sausages.  If a breakfast cook figures they want to do something nice and
have a vegetarian offering, that's wonderful, but I'd like them to consider
the source of that veg offering before they shell out extra money for that
product.   It is one thing to go 'off the wagon' at events for foods you
generally want to avoid like high cholesterol, alcohol, desserts, etc., and
another to be presented with foods with questionable nutrition from
less-than-reputable sources.  I can make a choice to eat or not to eat a
high-fat-sugar dessert, but I probably won't be able to tell if the eggs in
that
Tarte for Ember Day have come from a filthy chicken production plant.
      I will post alerts for foods that are more in keeping with period
cooking, if and when they become available.  I will continue to bring food
issues to the attention of groups of cooks when I feel they are important,
period or not, with no appologies.  And when I cook for groups of
people, I will try to make the best choices I can for the budget I have to
work with.
That's all I ask, a little awareness, and the consideration from the folks
doing the purchasing that goes along with it.
      Thank you for reading this whole rant,
      I now return you to your regularly scheduled chat.
      Sincerely,
      Mistress Christianna MacGrain
      mka Christine Seelye-King