FIRST ANNUAL SUMMER FILM SERIES BEGINS
The Baltimore Food and Faith Project’s 2008 Summer Film Series kicked off on
June 16th with a screening of the delightful film, Babette’s Feast. About 20 people
gathered together on a rainy Monday night to watch the movie and enjoy some locally-grown, chemical-free popcorn from Glenville Hollow Farms in Glen Rock, PA
(popped fresh that night).
One of the main lessons of the film is that a meal can be healing—by bringing
people with differences together around a common table. After the movie, we had a
thoughtful discussion about this, and about how sharing food can foster cooperation,
build relationships, and encourage us to find common ground with each other. In
addition, we talked about how eating together might help us identify ways that we
can work with each other to make positive changes in our own communities.
For those who weren’t able to make it out that evening, no worries! You can still
rent the film at most video stores and via the on-line rental stores, like Netflix and
Blockbuster. We highly recommend it.
A special thank you goes out to St. Matthew Catholic Church on Loch Raven Boulevard for graciously hosting the event. We all had a very good time!
Please join us for the second film in the series, King Corn, showing Tuesday,
July 22nd at 6:30 PM at the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies (ICJS),
956 Dulaney Valley Road, Baltimore, MD 21204. Park in the ICJS lot or
across the street at Goucher College as there is no street parking available.
FOOD OF THE SEASON
SUMMER 2008
Volume 1, Issue 3
BFFP’s mission:
To partner with Baltimore area
faith communities and religious
organizations of all faith traditions to promote a just, safe,
and trustworthy food system
that allows us to produce what
is needed now and for future
generations in a way that protects people, animals, air, land,
and water.
SAVE THE DATE!
The third and final film in our
2008 Summer Film Series—To
Be Determined Soon—is scheduled for:
Monday, August 18, 2008
at 6:30 PM
at Congregation Kol HaLev
(see Member Profile on pg. 2).
We’ll send a flyer announcing
the title in a few weeks, so be
on the lookout for that!
What is this odd-looking root vegetable that grows above ground and is called kohlrabi? We
had never heard of kohlrabi until last year when Angela happened across it at the 32nd Street
Farmers’ Market in Waverly. Intrigued, she took some home, found a recipe (see page
2), and was pleasantly surprised to have discovered a new, healthy root vegetable growing in the middle of summer.
A member of the cabbage family, kohlrabi can be green or purple and is one of those great
vegetables where nearly all parts of the plant can be eaten. It’s necessary to peel the bulb, but
the leaves are cabbage-like and can be cooked like any tough green (kale, collards, chard). True
kohlrabi aficionados prefer it raw as it has a very crisp texture and a flavor some say is like a “radish-scented turnip.” In
fact, in German “kohl” means cabbage and “rabi” means turnip. Raw slices of kohlrabi make excellent snacks, can be
added to salads, steamed, or sautéed.
No matter how you cook them, kohlrabi bulbs are rich in Vitamins B6 and C, potassium, and fiber.
Variety is the spice of life, you know, so go ahead… be brave... and try something new! We promise you won’t regret it!
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-vegetables/ingredient-spotlight-kohlrabi-045055
http://www.restaurantwidow.com/2006/07/kohlrabi_and_wh.html
Kohlrabi with Peas and Potatoes
from Simply in Season
This is a mild yet flavorful dish, and it cooks up quickly. We’ve made it a couple of times—some of us
like it made as is according to the recipe; others think it needs a little more seasoning, but you can add salt
to taste after you finish cooking it. (Just be careful those of you with high blood pressure!)
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1/2 cup onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (Regular mustard is okay.)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup kohlrabi bulbs (peeled and chopped)
1 cup potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 cup tomatoes (chopped)
1/2 cup water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
kohlrabi leaves (finely chopped)
1/2 cup peas
In a large soup pot, sauté in the onion and garlic in the olive or vegetable oil for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mustard,
cumin, turmeric, and coriander and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Next, add the kohlrabi and potatoes and stir briefly. Stir in
the tomatoes, water, salt, and sugar; bring to a boil, then simmer until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. Add the
kohlrabi leaves and simmer another 8 to 10 minutes. Finally, stir in the peas and cook until they are done. Serve over rice.
BFFP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Congregation Kol HaLev
P.O. Box 16399, Baltimore, MD 21210
(meets at St. John’s Episcopal, Mt. Washington)
(443) 956-9462
Rabbi Geoffrey Baski
Kol HaLev (“Voice of the Heart”) is a new synagogue community
on the Baltimore scene. In this edition’s Member Spotlight, Kol
HaLev’s Rabbi Basik talks about how his congregation has been learning about our food system
and exploring ways in which they can translate their new knowledge into action.
“Rather than satisfying ourselves with the faithful maintenance of tradition, we are seeking to
bridge the gap between our inherited organized religion and the spirituality we all experience. The
bridge between the two can be summed up in a word: relevance. We believe that contemporary Judaism must speak to current
concerns and the real experiences of our daily lives. (Fortunately, this is nothing especially new for an evolving civilization.)
We want to explore what insights might be gleaned from our heritage that apply to our lives today. With those insights, and
knowledge from other sources, our goal is to fashion lives of meaning and relationship.
What could be more integral to our lives than food? Food is the most fundamental way we all interact with our local and
global environment. The ways we engage with food, and all that lies behind it, is a daily practice of values-in-action. Personal
and environmental health is a “religious” issue!
In the year just ended, Kol HaLev embarked on an exploration of food and the food system as the essence of “lived religion.”
To educate ourselves about it, we took three approaches: we invited guests for presentation and discussion; we conducted
adult education sessions regarding Judaism and the values behind its dietary considerations; and we gathered and shared information about local options and choices.
In our adult education sessions, we explored the notion of conscious, values-based decision making when it comes to our
food purchasing, preparation and consumption. Beyond individual health, we learned about public health concerns, equity
and justice concerns, environmental impact…and what all this has to do with “holiness” (and “wholeness”).
We are in the process of putting together a resource packet for our members and friends, a sharing of local options and opportunities (CSAs, farmers’ markets, fair trade and sustainable products, etc.) to engage in “conscious eating” and sustainable
living that is an expression of – and in the service of – our chosen values. The next step, in year two, involves building consensus around one or two community projects and commitments. Stay tuned!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
This issue’s Food for Thought section is about healing. The passage comes from the Simply in Season (page 116) cookbook
(yes—it is our favorite resource right now!), but talks about our very own Baltimore:
The Wealthiest Man in Inner-City Baltimore
As Gloria Luster worked in the neighborhood garden, Gardens of Hope, in a low-income area of Baltimore, MD, she was
frequently visited by an alcoholic man known as Mr. Robert.
“Miss Gloria, I want a little piece of land. I know how to grow things,” he’d pester her. Finally she gave in. “I’m going to get
you that land,” she told him. “But if you let it grow up to weeds, you’ll never come back.”
That was over three years ago, and Mr. Robert has become one of the neighborhood’s best gardeners. “He’s taught others how
to grow things,” Luster days, “and he’s almost stopped drinking. He takes a chair into that garden and just sits a lot of the time.
This is the therapeutic portion of gardening. I have to explain to people, gardening is a very spiritual enterprise.”
Mr. Robert now gardens two plots side by side, producing much more food that he could ever eat himself. “He grew such
beautiful okra, and since many of the people in that area have southern roots, he was giving it away as fast as he could cut it,”
Luster says. “He doesn’t have any money but what he has, he’s been giving. It’s what I tell people: it doesn’t always take
money. Give of yourself, give of your time, your knowledge, and then your life becomes richer.”
Do you think that growing food can be healing? If so, in what ways? Gardening together can help us to be more in
relationship with our neighbors and the earth. It also enables us to participate in the creation and nurturing of life,
life that we can then share with others. Can this be empowering? Awe-inspiring? Spiritually important? Think of a
time when you may have planted a flower, herb, or vegetable, and how watching it grow made you feel.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Saturday, 8/23/08 OR
Saturday, 9/6/08
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
St. Matthew Catholic Church
5401 Loch Raven Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21239
To RSVP, please e-mail Bonnie North
at [email protected]
$10 Slow Food members/
$12 non-members
Sunday, 9/28/08 to Wednesday, 10/1/08
The Cathedral of the Incarnation
4 East University Parkway
Baltimore, MD 21218
For more information and to register,
visit http://www.ang-md.org/
gardensandgrace/
Registration Fees: Early bird (prior to
7/31/08) $295. Discounts available for
teams of 2 or more. Fee assistance
available.
Canning Classes! Imagine canning ripe Maryland tomatoes in August and being
able to open the jar in January to enjoy that taste again, in the middle of winter!
Please join Slow Food Baltimore Convivium Leader, Bonnie North, and Master
Gardener, Larry Kloze, as they teach small groups how to preserve fresh fruits and
vegetables through canning.
There is only space for 12 people at each session, so make sure to reserve your
space ASAP. Handouts will be provided, but please bring paper and a pen for note
taking.
Check out http://www.slowfoodbaltimore.com/?page_id=30 for more information
about this and other Slow Food events (like the Eat in Season challenge).
Gardens & Grace Conference: Caring for the Earth, the City and the Soul will educate, inspire and motivate participants to embrace environmental stewardship, social justice, and a creative, centered spirituality, and to take action to make a positive change in
their lives and communities.
Who Should Attend: People who care about the environment, social justice, and
spirituality; clergy and laypeople, particularly those engaged in “creation care” programs; students and parents seeking to engage with nature; and gardeners.
Featured speakers include: The Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, Episcopal Bishop of
Maryland; Brian D. McLaren, internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and pastor; The
Rev. Philip Roderick, Anglican priest, author, and Director/Founder of the Quiet Garden
Movement and Contemplative Fire Ministries; and Terry Hershey, author, spiritual
retreat and conference leader, and avid gardener.
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Questions or comments, please e-mail us at [email protected], or call 410-502-5069.