Save and Grow, and a Wonderful Weekend in Washington DC

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Agriculture and Food

The weekend is here and I am enjoying it in full! For once, I don’t have any work hanging over me and the weather is wonderful. Today has been slow, with brunch at Trio and reading in combination with chatting over Skype with Mia-Lotta at Dupont Circle, and then ice coffee and more reading at a café. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be singing with the Swedish Song Group in the Swedish church, and then there is ballet class. I have to add that the odd thing about the Swedish Song Group performance is that we will sing a drinking song. The song is by our national poet and composer, 18^th century Carl Michael Bellman, but still… (För er svenska läsare är det Bort allt vad oro gör.)

My main remaining deliverable at work before the end of June is a set of notes on nutrition-sensitive agriculture, which is a topic that I read about in my spare time anyway. So even though I don’t have to work, I have read up on things to for work also in the weekend just because it is so interesting. While browsing around for research and reports on biodiversity and nutrition content in food crops yesterday, I came across this FAO produced movie for the report Save and Grow. It’s only a few minutes long but it captures well how global food yields were revolutionized in the middle of the 20^th century and some of the challenges that we’re facing over the next decades. How do we solve it? Well, we don’t have a very good answer yet, but I am trying to do my part in figuring it out.

When Kids Don’t Know What Ketchup Is Made Of

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under On Agriculture and Food

I saw this on one of the bus stops in my block. One of many small steps to increase the general knowledge about food. There is certainly a need for it here, since school children can’t even name vegetables. Do you know which fruit has the seeds on the outside? What really is needed, though, is cooking skills. But one step at the time, I guess…

Eggs in a New Package

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under On Agriculture and Food

I saw this in the egg section at Whole Foods the other day. Since there, for biological reasons, is a limited market for food, the way for the industry to earn money is to add value to products. This involves anything from washing, sorting, and packaging fruits and vegetables, to freeze drying mashed potato or putting together highly processed energy bars. So the concept isn’t new, but I was still a bit surprised to see this product on the shelf. I have to admit that it’s quite creative in all its absurdity, though not exactly tempting to me personally. I’m wondering who the market is for hardboiled, peeled eggs in a vacuum sealed bag? Especially since they obviously target those that look for eggs from cage-free hens? It remains to see if this will become a standard feature in our supermarkets or if we consumers will still see the value in doing some of our own cooking.

In Cap and Gown

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Agriculture and Food, On Books, Movies, Education, and Conferences

Except for L’s baptism, I also went to Europe for my graduation at City University in London. Graduating from university in Sweden isn’t what it is in for example the U.S. and a highly informal survey among my friends showed that only one of my friends in Sweden actually attended the graduation ceremony at the end of her studies. But with E and J in London, I had a good reason to go there and I thought it could be a fun to have worn the cap and gown now that I had the chance. And in the end, it was a really nice experience, also to see what a diverse school City University is and how it attracts students from all over the world. As I attended the ceremony, I realized that City University’s motto is To Serve Mankind, and I don’t think there is any school with a more perfect motto for me!

My degree was an MSc in Food and Nutrition Policy. I can highly recommend the program, which is led by truly inspiring Professor Tim Lang at City University’s Centre for Food Policy!

Getting Ready for Sightseeing

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels, On Agriculture and Food

I’m at a cafe on Walnut Street waiting for my breakfast. Like I wrote in my last post, I picked up a guidebook yesterday and now I’ve circled everything that I want to see over the next five hours. I guess one good thing with traveling as much for work as I do is that you get good at getting an impression of a place and taking in the atmosphere in a very short amount of time. It obveously doesn’t mean that you get to know a place, but you become pretty good at efficient tourism.

What I didn’t have time o do was to look for a good local cafe. The furst places that I passed by reaked of high-processed sugar intense food, so i ended up at Le Pain Q. A little borning but I’ll see Philly soon enough.

In Philadelphia

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels, On Agriculture and Food

I’m in Philadelphia since yesterday morning, attending the conference Feeding Cities: Food Security in a Rapidly Urbanizing World at the University of Pennsylvania. The conference just ended but it’s been two amazingly interesting days and my head is filled with impressions from the over 50 speakers that I’ve listened to. I have also met incredibly interesting people from academia, international organizations, and the local farming community. The focus has been glocal. Or not expressively so, but while most of the initiatives and thinking around urban food systems have been locally driven, the global food markets have been part of the discussion. And the examples have come from all over the world, with everyone learning from each other. It has been truly inspiring and as always after attending these kinds of events, I’m full if energy and ideas.

Since this is my first visit to Philadelphia, I’m staying an extra night and am dedicating tomorrow to sightseeing.

Does Anyone Really Think This Is Possible?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under On Agriculture and Food

Dollar menus are both common and popular here in the U.S. I guess they’re promoted mainly to get people into the restaurant or fast food place. The hope is probably that once inside the place, people will spend money on other items on the menu, especially sodas, which have high profit margins. But even if the cheap items promoted are not expected to make a profit, the nutritional value is of course minimum. And the bad ingredients, such as salt and fat, are overused because they make otherwise quite disgusting ingredients taste OK. Also, these ingredients stimulate the reward center in the brain, making us content despite zero nutrients. I haven’t even gotten to the part of externalities yet, and how these low prices can’t take into account effects on the environment from production and logistics, or on human health, and yet few here seem to really question these offers. People are admittedly quite health conscious here in Washington DC, but someone must buy these foods. And no one seems to question the existence of these offers from a structural point of view. I passed this sign today and my first thought was: How is this even possible? I guess the simple answer is: It isn’t!

When Niche Becomes Mainstream

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under On Agriculture and Food

It seems like most niche products eventually become mainstream. Well, perhaps not most, but many. Everything from technology, designer clothes, and jewelry to travel destinations and exotic dishes tend to eventually become accessible to most as income levels grow. And with a critical mass of consumers, prices go down. For good and bad. More consumption means more jobs along the supply chains and lower prices means higher relative incomes and general wealth. For the consumers, it can mean new experiences or tools to make our lives more efficient, or it can become must-have obsessions of completely unnecessary things that do not in any way add to our happiness. And moving from niche to mass markets often means more pressure on the environment and use of scares resources. However, this transfer from niche to mainstream that I saw in my neighborhood cafe today must be a good thing. Fair trade products still constitute a very small market globally, but in my neighborhood fair trade coffee seem to have become the regular coffee!

Great Presentation on Food Advertising

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under On Agriculture and Food

Here is a great presentation on the marketing of food by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff at the University of Ottawa. It is true that the nutritional claims made in food advertisements with a little effort can be proven; however, stretching the truth in this way is still morally highly questionable and terribly misleading for consumers. Since I have written a paper on the topic, I also know that especially children are highly receptive to food advertising and bring early food habits into adulthood. Yet, a lot of food advertising is targeting children and parents. It’s only 13 minutes long, so have a look and see what you think!

He also writes the blog Weighty Matters

A Nice Surprise and the President’s Favorite Burgers

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Agriculture and Food, Posts From Washington DC

I had a nice surprise the other day at work when I realized that my colleague had in fact not yet moved to Romania, but is around for another couple of weeks. Great for me, especially since my friend has his mind set on going through DC’s best burger places before moving away from the U.S. Last week, we went to the Daily Grill, which is one of my favorite place this time of the year, and tonight we went to Good Stuff Eatery in Capitol Hill. The latter probably makes some of the best burgers in DC and is President Obama’s favorite hamburger place. It was my first time I was there and I can definitely recommend it (although a plus would have been proper plates and cups instead of the disposable stuff). Plus I had a very nice evening!

Food and the World

by Åsa Giertz

Category Archives: On Agriculture and Food