Why Chik-fil-a is worse for America than gay marriage

“It is possible, I think, to say that... a Christian agriculture [is] formed upon the understanding that it is sinful for people to misuse or destroy what they did not make. The Creation is a unique, irreplaceable gift, therefore to be used with humility, respect, and skill.”
― Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture

“Eating at fast food outlets and other restaurants is simply a manifestation of the commodification of time coupled with the relatively low value many Americans have placed on the food they eat.”  - Andrew F. Smith

I've just returned from a blissful week in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where newspapers were scarce and the Internet even scarcer, so I'm just now learning that today is the day when Chick-fil-a supporters are supposed to flock to their local outlets and spend money, while opponents of the owner's views on "traditiona;l" marriage have apparently planned to picket and engage in what's euphemistically known as same-sex "public displays of affection." One of the many things I appreciate about living in America is that everyone has the right to express their opinion no matter how foolish or bigoted it might be, and I have the right to publicly disagree with those statements. The owner of Chick-fil-a has the right to open as many locations as he can responsibly afford, and I have the right not to give him even further opportunity to give money to groups that work against my self-interest by refusing to patronize his restaurants. Democracy and free speech: it's a good thing.

However, today's post is not about the current hullabaloo over gay marriage. As much as I think the "one man + one woman = biblical marriage" argument is a bit thin, I think the true danger of Chick-fil-a has not been addressed: Chick-fil-a is bad for America because it serves up heapin' helpins' of food that contributes. to the serious health problems that plague many Americans. I know, I know: Mickey D's and Burger King have a much wider reach, but Chick-fil-a is having it's day in the press, so I'm writing about them.

Consider this: a classic chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a has 440 calories, 16 grams of fat (of which 4 gr. is saturated),  60 mgs. of cholesterol, and 1400 grams of sodium. Since a fast food sandwich is lonely by itself, let's throw in a small side of waffle fries and a small sweet tea. Here's the total nutritional damage from this nice little lunch:

830 calories

32 gr. fat

60 mg. cholesterol

1525 mg. sodium

 30 gr. sugar

An average adult woman consuming 1800-2000 calories per day will have used 50-75% of the recommended fat intake for an entire day while consuming nearly half the recommended calories needed to maintain healthy body weight. She has also consumed most of her recommended sodium intake (2300 mgs.) and 90% of the recommended amount of sugar. That's one meal, and the sugar and carb crash is going to be huge, leading to fatigue and loss of productivity. If the typical female consumer of fast food eats a meal at a Chick-fil-a restaurant only occasionally the damage is fairly insubstantial, but since 25% percent of Americans eat some type of fast food every day while 68% eat it once a week, chances are a meal like this is more than an occasional splurge. Obesity, along with its typical co-morbidities (Type II diabetes, hypertension, increased risk of stroke and heart disease) is running rampant through American society, so I raise the question: why do Christians who knowingly peddle food that shortens the lives of millions of people get a free pass while a couple of guys who've fallen in love and want to spend their lives together constitute such a freaking danger to American society? 

Now let's move away from the danger fast food poses to the individual and take a look at its effect on our land. Scripture commands us to be stewards of the good earth that God has given us, yet our dependence on fast food is creating havoc on our ecosystem because the requirements of industrial livestock production are simply unsustainable. This situation is dangerous for American society because the requirements of the fast food industry has meant that, as Michael Pollan describes it, the logic of nature has been overcome by the logic of human industry, and this imbalance is causing disruption up and down the food chain. If we look beyond the American landscape we find that in our never-ending quest for new fast-food sensations we have created ecological imbalances that will prove catastrophic for developing nations in the short term.  I don't know about anyone else, but I find this disregard for the planet and for humanity to be a lot more biblically problematic than same-sex marriage, but when I listen for a Christian critique of Chick-fil-a's complicity in harming the health of Americans and participation in an industry which undermines the ecosystem of a planet God created... hello? Bueller? Bueller?

So, all you Chick-fil-a defenders, please feel free to head on over to your local outlet and order up a Spicy Chicken Deluxe and enjoy! while doing your part to defend traditional marriage. It's a free country - God bless America! But don't kid yourself, because the meal you're eating is a lot more of a threat to you and your family than my girl-girl marriage to Miss Claire.

More firsts

The season's first tomato posed alluringly against the season's first spaghetti squash

It's small, but it's ripe! The first tomato of the season is finally ready to be eaten, so it will be carefully washed and added to tonight's salad. A spaghetti squash is also ripe and ready, and since we're leaving for vacation tomorrow morning we're going to cook and eat it for dinner. 

I'm kind of surprised that we've got late-season veggies already, but it's been a very hot summer so far and everything is growing and ripening fast. By the time we get back next week I expect that at least some of the corn will be ready and there'll be another big load of zucchini and green beans, too. I don't want to think about how much these vegetables actually cost, but I guess a new garden is expensive to put in. Although I have plans for expanding the planting beds for next year I think it'll be less costly in terms of purchasing tools and compost and in making mistakes that require do-overs. I'm pretty determined to take growing food beyond the realm of expensive hobby and into a life-sustaining, soul-nourishing spiritual practice that connects me more firmly to creation.

In the meantime, Miss Claire and I are heading off for a week in one of the most beautiful places in America, a place of big waters and small Internet, so no blogging until I get back.

When tomatoes attack

Today my car spent the day getting serviced, and the lack of wheels plus the cooler temperatures meant that today was an ideal day for doing some housekeeping in the planting beds. One zucchini plant was discarded, weeds were pulled, bugs were picked off, and dead leaves were stripped off vines. By far, though, the most time-consuming and difficult task was re-staking and pruning the tomato vines, which had gotten quite out of control. Vines heavy with fruit were sagging towards the ground and getting tangled with the other plants, and sucker branches were so dense that air couldn't circulate properly. At one point I lifted up a branch that had obscured one of the cucumber vines and found a ready-to-pick cucumber that I had never noticed before. The very hot weather that lingered for over two weeks has  kept me pretty much out of the garden, but now the plants are thinned, staked, and tidy.

In the meantime, Miss Claire has a new homesteading project: yogurt! She's come into a yogurt maker and at this moment there's a quart of the stuff cooking. We've got some raspberry and peach jam leftover from last summer's canning experiment, and I bet it will be fabulous mixed in!

What I picked today: a few green beans, one zucchini, and a cucumber.
Ready soon: corn, tomatoes, spaghetti squash

Theme of the day:

Say cheese

Several years ago, when we were living in northern Nevada, Miss Claire took up cheesemaking and began working with raw goat milk. We made the acquaintance of a woman who kept a small herd on the outskirts of town, and the abundance of milk that we were able to obtain meant that through Miss Claire's efforts we were always well-stocked with delicious homemade chevre, fresh mozzarella, and an occasional wheel of aged cheddar. When we moved to Michigan we lost our goat milk source, and I clearly remember feeling downright grief-stricken the first time I had to actually buy chevre at Trader Joe's. It's illegal to sell raw milk in Michigan, so finding a source is probably similar to setting up a drug deal. We had to find a farm that offers goatshares which entitle the owners to a portion of the milk produced, and it wasn't easy. Small farms with dairy goats were a pretty far drive from where we live, so we've continued to exist in a cheese-deprived state for several years now.

Fortunately, a renewed interest in producing homemade food propelled us to do a new search through the interwebs, and we discovered a small family homestead called Sunshine Meadows Farm. It's about 20 miles away, offers a CSA plan for organic produce and eggs, and keeps a herd of dairy goats. Miss Claire has already made several trips there, and yesterday I was finally able to go with her. I wanted to meet the source of the cheese I love so much and thank them for their efforts.

When we arrived at the farm we made our way carefully down the driveway, avoiding chickens, bicycles, and children. As soon as I got out of the car the bleating began - a score of baby goats were running up to the fence and demanding that I come closer. While Miss Claire wandered off in search of her milk I patted little goat heads and watched in amusement as they proceeded to untie my shoes and stick their noses in the pockets of my shorts. One little fellow attempted to pull down my zipper, while another got up on her back legs and gave me a hot-breathed goaty kiss on the nose. I immediately fell in love, and if it weren't for fear of being branded a goat thief I would have put one of the babies in the back seat of my car and taken her home. Finally, I tore myself away so that I could see more of the farm and walked away from the pen to the indignant cries of the doelings.

I enjoyed my quick tour of the farm with it's spacious planting beds, chicken runs, and flowers. I got some ideas of what I'd like to accomplish in my own garden next year, and as we drove away with a cooler full of raw milk and a bag full of goat manure for composting, I was grateful to have glimpsed what is possible with hard work and an appreciation for the land.

Dinner, or, how to reduce the odds of a zucchini outbreak

How can you tell if a Midwesterner has no friends? They're buying zucchini in the market during the middle of the summer.

This morning the zucchini vines were thick with blossoms, which potentially means more zucchini than we can possibly eat. We also don't want friends and acquaintances to avoid us for fear of being laden with unwanted squash, so Miss Claire decided to pick a bunch of blossoms and make a meal out of them.

It was quite simple, really: wash the blossoms and evict any ants who had taken up residence. Chop up some garlic, onions, and fresh basil and get them sautéing in a bit of olive oil. Add some salt and pepper for flavor.

In the meantime, boil some water and cook some whole wheat spaghetti. When the onions turns soft and translucent, add some sliced zucchini and continue cooking on medium heat.

Drain the spaghetti, return to the pot, and stir in some pasta sauce. While the sauce and spaghetti is heating up, toss in the blossoms for a quick saute. Be careful not to overcook them. Serve the veggie mixture on top of the spaghetti and sauce. A little grated parmesan and cracked black pepper for added flavor.

Low fat and vegetarian. Vegan if the cheese is omitted.

Growing Hope

It's been much too long since I last posted, which is never a good idea for a blog just getting off the ground. I've actually been away at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, and although I had a great time and learned a tremendous amount about how my church governs itself and makes decisions, I also spent 10 days in a hermetically sealed, over-air conditioned environment that not only cut me off from being outdoors but helped bring on a nasty summer cold.

Despite the sniffles and sneezes, I spent yesterday afternoon with Bill and Billie Hickey of the Detroit Bioneers. The Hickeys are champions of the urban sustainability movement, having moved to the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit about two years ago with the intention of taking part in community  building and food justice through urban farming. Brightmoor is a blight-ridden neighborhood with high unemployment and many abandoned buildings, but there is also a spirit of hope here through the urban gardening initiatives that have taken hold. After a delightful lunch, much of which came from the community garden that the Hickey's have planted, we toured the neighborhood and had a good look at the backyard gardens, community plots, and pocket parks that now dot the area.  Despite my raging cold I was thrilled to see all that's been accomplished here and how growing food and tending animals have given this community not only a sense of pride, but access to healthy food and some economic independence as well. To read more about the Brightmoor urban farming project, clicky here.

In the meantime, my own garden is really pushing out the green beans and zucchini. The tomato vines are heavy with green fruit, the spaghetti squash are coming along nicely, and the first stalks of corn are starting to appear. Unfortunately, the resident groundhog has been enjoying the watermelon and cucumber vines and I'm not sure how well the plants will recover. I'm trying not to get too worked up about it because animals will do what they do, but it is a bit frustrating to see all my hard work get eaten up by critters.

Friday dinner

I don't eat meat on Fridays and I'm still on a pretty strict weight loss plan, so I wanted to make something that was healthy, lowfat, and vegetarian, so dinner was a warm lentil salad:

I cooked a half cup of lentils with a little salt and a bay leaf, and then mixed it with some leftover brown rice. I sliced up some red bell pepper and zucchini* and tossed them with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. I roasted the veggies in the toaster oven, and when they were soft and just beginning to blacken I added them to the rice and lentils. I chopped up some scallions, cherry tomatoes, basil,* and parsley,* and mixed those in as well. Finally, I made a dressing of red wine vinegar, a little Dijon mustard, and some good olive oil and stirred it into the salad. Feta cheese for protein. Vegetarian, vegan with the cheese omitted.

 * indicates ingredients from my garden