Robyn O'Brien GMO TED Talk

A great methodical TED talk by Robyn O'Brien about why you should learn more about the world of GMOs and demand that we label our foods.

Robyn O'Brien is a former Wall Street food industry analyst, Robyn brings insight, compassion and detailed analysis to her research into the impact that the global food system is having on the health of our children. She founded [www.allergykids.com|http://www.allergykids.com/] and was named by Forbes as one of "20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter." The New York Times has passionately described her as "Food's Erin Brockovich."

The Ration @ the Viceroy

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Thomas Rekasis (the blurry guy in the background) the Food & Beverage Manager/Spirits Buyer for Viceroy Santa Monica Hotel. Thomas merrily told me how the Viceroy’s Cameo Bar now offers barrel aged cocktails featuring spirits produced strictly in California and aged on the premise in oak barrels.

Utilizing spirits from California distilleries such as Sonoma County’s 1512 Spirits run by a Bay Area Barber (the distillery is named after his day job the 1512 Barber Shop. (And yes you read that right, Nob Hill Barber by day, artisanal distiller by night!)) As part of its We’ve Got Spirit program, the Viceroy is now offers 2 cocktails aged for a minimum of 2 weeks in oak barrels. Each barrel produces no more than 3 liters of the cocktail it holds. When it’s ready, they pour. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
The most tantalizing is the Ration, a drink that was first concocted by Thomas’ grandfather. The Ration is a combination of rum, bourbon, brandy, and orange liqueur that is then stored in a mini whiskey barrel (which I didn't even know come that small) for 3 weeks. After such time it is removed from the barrel and distributed to bottles. Each bottle then has ½ cup apple-wood chips added to it before it is sealed tight.

After being aged 1 week the cocktail is then muddled with lemons, oranges, and a pinch of loose mint. It's shaken, strained over ice, and served in an old-fashioned glass with an orange and lemon peel for the perfect sunset drink.

So get it while it’s good because when it’s gone, it’s gone.

My Dad and the Art of Rainwater Collection

To say that my dad, Tony Thomas, is handy is as much an understatement as saying that food is a complicated and fascinate subject. So when he decided to devise a rainwater collection contraption to self water his tomato plants when he’s away (and save money on an expensive water bill) he became a man on a mission.

Since the entire point of this endeavor was to recycle the natural abundance of Southern Florida (where rain is ubiquitous) he made to sure to use recycled materials whenever possible for the project. His first step was collecting gutters, which were being discarded from a new roofing job. On the logistics sides he had to add down spouts and end caps, cover the top of the gutters so leaves and debris does not enter the system, and paint all the items for esthetic values.

Before setting the rainwater barrels, he had to build a stand to elevate them so he could obtain the pressure to push the water to the plants. This material was also recycled as it was discarded fencing material intended for a landfill.

Once the base was built he could start with the barrels. First he gave them a good washing. Even though they were food grade (some had contained vegetable oil) and he wanted them as clean as possible (very important even for just watering plants). The barrels, which are inverted so that they will self-drain and do not need a pump to dispense (only gravity), were placed on the stand and connected in a series with a manifold arrangement.

Similar to punching a vent in a can, none of the barrels would drain if they were not all vented. The arranged PVC venting/overflow system at the top was devised to vent all of the individual barrels and should they all fill up to overflow out to they bottom of the vent stack. The vent stack was screened at the top so no insects could lay their eggs in the water and the bottom of the overflow has a pantyhose rubber banded over the end (Green yet again) so insects couldn’t invade that way either.

Tony (aka Dad) then added the facets at the end so that he can place both a timer (attached to the drip hose which will run throughout the beds when he’s away) and a regular hose to water individual plants. When I talked to him about this adventure he said it was raining hard that night and that he should have 220 gallons before the night was through.

Super handy and super Green (both environmentally and fiscally)!

Flowering Artis

Flowering Artichokes today at the SM FM. Considering I had never even seen Artis on a stalk until I moved to Cali, chances are most of us have never encountered one. Totally gorgeous!!!
(Just please don't eat them (they're decorative only)!)

As Bohemian As They Come: Tuesday Dinners at Hm157

This week I attended my first Tuesday Dinner at Hm157 in Lincoln Heights. Hm157 (which stands for Historical Monument # 157 on the California Historical landmark list) is described by LA Weekly as a "mildly rundown old Victorian in East L.A.... a hub for hipsters, artists and people of all ages... the bottom floor into a revolving art space, part-time gallery, music venue, backdrop for book readings, discussions and political powwows. For a very modest donation at the door, guests enter through the Storyville-esque front porch and either meet in the multicolored salons, or out back, where there’s a stage, fire pit and sound system."



And for the last 3 years on Tuesdays, Hm157 has been offering an organic Vegan communal dinner that invites you to “sit down with a stranger and get up with a friend." Captained by Chef Dave, these dinners are adventurous ranging from Louisiana Crab Remoulade (made with cashews) with Roasted Beet Tartare to a Vegan version of the quintessential Japanese hotpot Sukiyaki.

The clientele as bohemian as they come so you'll never know who's going to attend, what thing of importance you'll be discussing, how underground the musical performance will be. It's no wonder Hm157 was also voted LA Weekly as the “Best Underground Date Night 2009″ and “Best Escape From Corporate Entertainment 2010.″

And for those who are fiscally challenged Tuesday Dinners offers a discounted or free meal based on how much you volunteer for the event.

Every Tuesday at 7:30PM
$15 with RSVP ($5 for a one shift volunteer, $0 for a two shift volunteer. Each shift runs 3 hours long)
B.Y.O.B.
RSVP by Monday night
Hm157
3110 N. Broadway Avenue
Lincoln Heights, CA 90031
To find out menus and get more info check out their Facebook page.

Kogi Chef Roy Choi is going Vegetarian

Kogi Celebrity Chef Roy Choi is going Vegetarian

Choi, who exploded the Los Angeles street food scene in 2008 with his Korean barbecue tacos Kogi trucks, also pioneered the twitter food truck revolution. Four years later Choi is running an empire of restaurants including the Kogi taco trucks, A-Frame, Chego, Sunny Spot and the Alibi Room.
But all that might be changing as he noted on his blog that cooking no longer held any meaning for him. Choi went on to write that he's recently started eating a vegetable based diet. As he notes:

I stopped eating meat this week. That’s why I’m thinking about leaving cooking. How can I cook with out using meat? I will taste, for now as that is my profession. But I will no longer eat meat for my own consumption.
Animals be talking to me. They told me..stop. Stop, Roy. Please.
I talk to animals and kids. I feed adults. Time to switch. Talk to adults. Feed animals and kids. What are we gonna do about our streets now that you adults have accepted street food?
Are we supposed to put our faith in this man Jamie Oliver? A Brit? If so, then if anyone who reads this tell him to holla at me. Really. I can’t get to him. Tell him come see me, no PR, no publicist, no barriers. We can sit on the curb and join forces.

Choi also expressed disappointment at business partners' emphasis on profits, asking, "Profitability when our whole existence is at stake? Fuck you." Choi is set to publish his first book, a memoir, called Spaghetti Junction: Riding Shotgun With an L.A. Chef, through Anthony Bourdain's book line.
Personally I'd love to see Choi channel all this frustration into a kickass vegetarian/vegan restaurant.
Click here to read his full blog entry

It's Official: GMOs on California's Ballot!

It's Official: GMOs will be on California's Ballot.

Yesterday 971,126 signatures were dropped off at locations throughout California, the culmination of a ballot initiative to label GMOs in the Golden State. The almost a million signatures, gathered in a 10-week period by volunteers of the California Right to Know campaign, is nearly double the 555,236 signatures the campaign needs to qualify for the ballot. California officials will take at least several weeks to certify the initiative, but people on both sides of the issue expect it to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are experimental plants and animals that have been genetically engineered in a laboratory with DNA from other plants, animals, bacteria, and viruses. Although GMO ingredients are found in 80% of packaged foods in the U.S., they have not been proven safe as the long term consequences of GMOs on our health and environment have not been adequately investigated. If passed this November, Californians will join citizens of almost 50 countries including all of Europe, Japan and even China who have the right to know whether they are eating GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) food.



At yesterday's Los Angeles County rally mothers, grandmothers, organic farmers, and students came together to celebrate their collective work. Their county's portion of the drop off contained 232,409 signatures. Each box weighted 37 pounds, with the entire payload coming in at 188 pounds of signatures.

The want to label GMO foods has the uncanny ability collect unanimous support across the political spectrum. A March 2012 Mellman Group poll found that 9 out of 10 American voters favor labeling for genetically engineered food.

"In a country seemingly dominated by partisan polarization on everything from the cause of hurricanes to the state of the economy, it’s hard to find issues, outside of motherhood and apple pie, that can muster over 90 percent support. In a recent survey for Just Label It, we found one...," pollster Mark Mellman wrote in a recent article in the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill.

"Voters express almost unanimous support for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. An arresting 91 percent of voters favor an FDA requirement that “foods which have been genetically engineered or containing genetically engineered ingredients be labeled to indicate that.”