Urbanite #58 April 09

By: Tracey Middlekauff

Serious about eating local? Better learn to love kale.

photo by La Kaye Mbah

It’s early July, and we can’t take it anymore. We’ve tried our best, but it’s just not working out. We must never, ever see anything green again.

My husband and I signed up for a summer’s worth of produce from One Straw Farm, an organic grower in White Hall. For more than a month our fridge had been stocked with weekly installments of fresh Swiss chard, dinosaur kale, curly kale, romaine, cabbage, green leaf lettuce, and red leaf lettuce, punctuated with an occasional bunch of beets (yum), strawberries (wow!), or radishes (yuck).

And we ate every bit of it. We put it in soups, casseroles, and salads. We ate it sautéed, smothered, simmered, stuffed, baked, and broiled. But we longed for variety. For novelty. “Enough!” we said. No more greens.

So we did what any childish adults would do. We rebelled. We went to the grocery store and piled our cart with every disgusting thing that came in a box or a bag: egg rolls, jalapeño poppers, cheese enchiladas, stuffed shells, bean burritos. Nothing green—everything was a glorious shade of beige. And thus began a doomed orgy of microwave dinners.

Our foray into the world of community-supported agriculture (CSA) had started with the most earnest of intentions. While working on writing an (ill-fated) eco-guidebook, I had caught the green fever. We replaced all our light bulbs, bought shade-grown coffee, timed our showers so as not to waste water. I fretted over my carbon footprint.

Next step was to join a CSA. The concept is simple: Before the growing season (sometimes during, for a reduced rate), you buy a share of the expected harvest from a local farmer. In 1990, there were just fifty CSAs in the United States; today, there are more than 2,000. We chose One Straw Farm, Maryland’s largest and oldest organic farm, run by Joan and Drew Norman. For $485, we’d receive eight items a week, June through November. We were so proud of ourselves. We’d be supporting local farmers! Saving the world! We could actually walk to our weekly pick-up site and carry our produce home in bags made from recycled plastic bottles—the very picture of eco-virtue. Eat it, Ed Begley Jr.!

That first week, we weren’t daunted by all those greens. But then came week two … and three … and four. You know the rest. What was going on? I checked the harvest chart on the farm’s website. Where were our zucchini? Our cucumbers? I wanted my snap peas. According to Joan’s farm diary, the profusion of greens had something to do with rain, or cold, or groundhogs. Also, it turns out that One Straw Farm is in the Hereford Zone, which can get colder than York, Pennsylvania. Whatever! I’m not the farmer, I figured—can’t you just grow what I want?

Flash forward to our mushy microwave feasts. Given all our grousing, you’d think we would have enjoyed this junk-food detour, but instead we just felt sick, bloated, and cranky. We realized that even though we had gotten bored with the same vegetables week after week, all those green-tastic meals were healthy, nutritious, and pretty darn yummy.What was wrong with us? Couldn’t we be satisfied with anything? We were acting greedy, spoiled, selfish, and convenience-crazed. In other words, we were being typical American consumers.

After all, we Americans are used to getting what we want whenever we want it. Strawberries in December? Corn on the cob in February? No problem—just fly it in from Argentina. I want a blueberry, and I want it now. And if we don’t like it, we toss it away. One federal study claims that each American throws out a pound of edible food each day.

The reality is, if you really want to do something good for yourself and the Earth by eating locally and seasonally—and joining a CSA is the perfect place to start—you have to take the good with the bad. That means if a late-spring downpour crusts over the soil and the arugula can’t break through … well, no arugula for you. You won’t get to eat heirloom tomato sandwiches in June, but boy, will you eat some beauties in August. Exorcising the spoiled consumer within also means being creative when faced with heaps of kohlrabi or fennel. But keep an open mind, and you may be surprised at how rewarding it can be.

After our aborted attempt at eating crap, we attacked our ration of greens with an improved attitude. As the weeks went by and yellow squash, basil, and zucchini gave way to broccoli, cauliflower, and hard squashes, we realized how connected to the seasons we felt. We took pride in concocting what we called “CSA-heavy” meals, using as many ingredients from the farm as possible. This led to some successes (African mixed greens stew, spaghetti squash gratin) and a few misses (the abominable black radish chips).

In late October, I journeyed up to One Straw Farm to get a closer look at farm life. When I arrived at the white farmhouse, Joan Norman was on hand to show me around. I tasted fresh peppers—the juiciest I’ve ever had—and picked berries off the vine from the greenhouse. I was put to work picking and bundling mustard greens in the field. As I looked around at the acres of greens, it suddenly hit home that this, right here, was where my food had been coming from for the last five months. Before joining the CSA, I, like most people, didn’t really think about how food got into the grocery store and onto my plate. It just kind of magically showed up.

Now my food had personality, a backstory. It got to my plate thanks to a lot of hard work, and, as corny as it sounds, love. And I couldn’t imagine disrespecting the food—much less the people who grew, picked, packed, and delivered it—by wasting it or throwing it in the garbage.

The season ended in November, and over the winter we continued to buy locally whenever possible. But it’s just not the same. We miss our weekly allotment of vegetables from the farm. I know that this spring I’ll get sick of kale again and whine when things don’t go my way—it’s just my nature. Nonetheless, I can’t wait for June to roll around: Bring on the greens.

—Tracey Middlekauff wrote about sampling a variety of group exercise classes in the October 2008 issue.

RECIPE
Swiss Chard Frittata

photo by La Kaye Mbah

Each Sunday, we used all our leftover vegetables from the week in a frittata. This easy Swiss chard one turned out to be our hands-down favorite, and it goes wonderfully with whole grain toast, (vegetarian) bacon, and a mimosa. And the leftovers make a great lunch the next day.

1 bunch Swiss chard (about 10 leaves, stalks discarded) cleaned, dried, and roughly chopped
½ medium or 1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 –4 cloves garlic (or to taste), minced
8–10 oz. cubed pepperjack cheese
6–8 eggs (cage free, of course) whipped with 1 tbs milk or half-and-half
2–3 glugs of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a 12-inch ovenproof skillet, slightly brown the onions in olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 or 2 minutes. Add the chard and sauté until wilted, about 5 minutes.

Distribute the ingredients evenly over the pan and then pour the eggs over top. Gently lift chard with a spatula to allow some of the egg to flow evenly underneath; after this, DO NOT TOUCH. You don’t want scrambled eggs.

When the edges of the frittata begin to cook—after about 2 minutes—gently add half of the cheese, distributing it evenly. In about a minute, place the pan in the oven. After about 5 minutes the eggs will begin to set; add the rest of the cheese. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the eggs reach desired firmness. Let rest for a few minutes before serving.

—T.M.

Issue 448: April 29–May 6, 2004

BITTERSWEET

Overindulging in sugar can give you more than bad teeth and a big belly

By Tracey Middlekauff

Photographs by Astrid Stawiarz

For years, 44-year-old TV exec Claire Scott suffered from severe mood swings and frequent bouts of depression. She was overweight, had little energy and felt desperate most of the time. When Scott finally sought help, she learned her symptoms were directly related to her addiction to the white stuff. But it wasn’t what you think: The monkey on her back was cheap, legal and, most of all, sweet. Scott had become dependent on refined sugar.

Your mom may have warned you that too many sweets would give you cavities and pack on the pounds, but recent studies from the Harvard Medical School and the Baylor College of Medicine reveal something more alarming: They’ve linked sugar—directly or indirectly—to all manner of health problems, including heart disease, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, cancer, PMS and depression. Recently, the World Health Organization recommended that refined-sugar foods (including high-fructose corn syrup, which is found in most sodas and cereals) make up no more than 10 percent of daily caloric intake, an announcement that has been heavily contested by the sugar industry. While the medical community debates the specific dangers of relying too heavily on sugary foods, no one is claiming that the stuff is actually good for you; and, in the last months, sugar-denouncing workshops have been popping up all over the city.

Regardless of the perceived risks, for many people sugar is simply too seductive to avoid. And according to a growing number of nutritional experts, a weak will might not be the culprit. Sugar, these health professionals contend, affects the system much like a drug, and over time, it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid. Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., author of Potatoes Not Prozac and The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program, pinpoints something she calls “sugar sensitivity” as the underlying cause of the compulsive habit. “[Sugar] has a drug effect in everyone’s brain,” she says. “But if you’re sugar sensitive, you get a bigger reaction and it’s easier to become addicted.” In other words, if you can’t stop at just one cookie, it’s not because you’re a glutton, it’s because you’re an addict.

At first, DesMaisons says, people thought her ideas were “nuts.” But a 2002 Princeton study may offer scientific vindication. In the study, rats compelled to binge on sugar displayed withdrawal symptoms when the substance was taken away. The symptoms—such as anxiety, teeth chattering and the shakes—were consistent with those experienced in nicotine or morphine withdrawal.

“I think we are a nation of sugar addicts,” says Rachel Kieffer, a holistic-nutrition counselor who advises the sugar-addled in public workshops and individual treatment programs. “Even if you don’t eat high quantities of sweets, there’s sugar in everything: packaged food, restaurant food, take-out food.” Kieffer believes people turn to the sweet stuff for many reasons, perhaps, most significantly, for the physical high you get after eating supersweet food such as candy. Like other substance-abuse patterns, that euphoric feeling is usually followed by a low, which can lead to a desire for more. Additionally, Kieffer thinks sugar is connected to poor emotional health. “A lot of times, people who turn to sugar are prone to depression or have light depression,” she says. “But sugar makes it worse. It numbs the pain or boredom. When you numb yourself, you can’t deal with your issues.”

But DesMaisons maintains that true sugar dependency is all about brain chemistry. “It’s always physiological,” she says. DesMaisons developed her theories while working as an addiction counselor, where she successfully implemented dietary change as an intervention tool for alcoholics and junkies. Her idea of sugar sensitivity boils down to three main components: carbohydrate sensitivity, low serotonin and low levels of beta-endorphin. Someone who is sensitive to sugar experiences a more extreme rise in blood sugar from carbohydrates than the non-addict, as well as a more intense kick from the release of beta-endorphins—and a person’s lack of serotonin can affect impulse control. After feeding his or her sweet tooth, a sugar addict will feel the same kind of rush an alcoholic or drug user will get from satisfying a craving. And when they don’t get it, they withdraw. Painfully.

DesMaisons’s diet doesn’t take an addict off sugar cold turkey. She’s developed instead a series of withdrawal stages designed to stabilize brain chemistry before removing sugar. The first stage is switching from a sweet, carb-laden morning meal, such as a bagel or cereal, to eating a protein-fueled breakfast, like an egg-white omelette. Next, DesMaisons recommends keeping a food journal so you can recognize the connection between food and mood. Eventually, addicts will eat three meals with consistent amounts of protein a day and transition from “white” foods (white bread, pasta, etc.) to “brown” foods (fare like brown rice, sweet potatoes and soy beans). By the time they get to step six—removing sugar altogether—brain chemistry will be stable and the diet won’t be sabotaged by cravings.

It was DesMaisons’s book that led Scott to realize sugar was the cause of many of her physical problems. “[Kathleen] was describing my life in a way that was quite remarkable,” she says. Scott kept a food journal and indeed noticed a correlation between what she ate and how she felt. After embarking on the program (”You don’t ever go through a withdrawal period,” she confirms. “By the time you get to removing sugar, it’s a nonevent.”) and sticking with it, she lost weight—and has kept it off. But more important, Scott says, she has her life back and has regained “energy, enthusiasm and a sense of humor.”

Kieffer agrees that slow weaning is the best way to kick the sweet stuff. Not only are accelerated withdrawal symptoms messy—some people throw up or get ill—but a clean break can also increase the chances of binging. Additionally, because sugar is present in many processed foods, Kieffer cautions her clients to read labels. Even better, they should learn to prepare their own food. In her Brooklyn office, Kieffer offers cooking lessons to those who don’t know the difference between barley and Swiss chard. “It’s not such a big deal,” she says. “[Cooking] isn’t so time consuming if you have some easy tips. When you know what you put in your food, that’s one of the best ways [to stay off of sugar].”

Although most holistically minded nutritionists agree, not everyone in the health profession buys the idea that sugar is addictive. Rachel Brandeis, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, says, “We’re all born with an innate likeness for sweets; it’s built in. But I don’t agree that it’s a true addiction.” Brandeis claims cravings and compulsive eating aren’t the same as addiction. As for the Princeton study, she adds, “I wouldn’t make the jump from rats to humans.” And Dr. Robert Yanagisawa, an endocrinologist and director of the weight-management program at Mount Sinai, New York, believes that sugar addiction is hard to prove. “It’s definitely true that when you come down from a sugar high, you go low,” he says. “I can see people trying to avoid feeling low.” But, he offers, he’s not sure he’d equate this with something like cocaine dependence.

Because of these conflicting theories, I wanted to see for myself what impact (if any) my sugar intake has on my life. For seven days, I kept a journal of everything I ate, and I noticed a pattern almost immediately: My bad moods came at the same time every day (and night) and I got sleepy every afternoon at 3:00. After documenting my usage for a week, I cut myself off. The first day without sugar was ugly. While Kieffer and DesMaisons provided me with nutritional tools for coping, I initially wanted to feel the pain. I got a headache, I couldn’t stay awake, and I was very, very cranky. I tried to compensate with coffee, but it didn’t help. The second day, I decided to take the professionals’ advice: I included protein with breakfast and lunch and consumed a healthy portion of whole grains with dinner. I started to feel a little better. A few days into my sugar-free life, I realized I hadn’t taken a single nap. I wasn’t being mean to my boyfriend, and I seemed to have a decent supply of energy. Then came the biggest stunner of all: I didn’t experience any PMS symptoms (I didn’t even cry once).

Science isn’t conclusive regarding sugar’s addictive properties or detrimental health effects, but one thing seems certain: Cutting down isn’t a bad idea. If you think you might have a real problem with sweets and you’re not sure which expert to believe, DesMaisons has some simple advice: “Ask your body. Your body will tell you.”