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Our Climate Curriculum Disruption series will highlight projects completed by New School students during our week-long, university-wide curriculum disruption, interrupting “business as usual” and turning our attention to climate change and its implications, particularly the unequal and devastating impacts on the most vulnerable and least responsible communities around the globe.

Deforestation and Palm Oil 

By Roberta Saban 

“Forests are the world’s air-conditioning system-the lungs of the planet. –and we are on the verge of switching it off” (Prince Charles). Forest’s are an essential part to the earth. They are a natural being of the earth, and man kind are simply destroying them through deforestation. Deforestation occurs for a handful of reasons, but majority of those reasons lead back to clearing the land for agricultural and farming purposes. Oil palm plantations are one of the main reasons deforestation occurs in Southeast Asia. Between disrupting earths natural being, causing climate changes, endangering species and affecting communities and workers, deforestation for oil palm plantations causes many serious issues regarding sustainability.

“Deforestation is defined as the conversion of forested areas to other purposes such as agricultural, logging, urbanization, etc (Tan 422)”.  Palm Oil is produced in Southeast Asia, mainly in Indonesia and Malaysia. Together Indonesia and Malaysia obtain more than 80% of Southeast Asia’s rainforests but they also produce more than 80% of the world’s palm oil on land that was once these rainforests (Fitzherbert 538). “Between 1990 and 2005 the area of oil palm in Malaysia increased by 1.8 million ha to 4.2 million ha, while 1.1 million ha of forest were lost” (Fitzherbert 539). In Indonesia, between 1990 and 2005, palm oil plantations increased by 4.4 million ha to 6.1 million ha and 28.1 million ha of forests were lost, concluding that palm oil could be accountable for 16% of rainforest deforestation (Fitzherbert 539). “The world is losing 12-15 million hectares of forest each year, and this in turn is causing at least 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions” (Editorial Board).  Aside from this, most of deforestation in Southeast Asia occurs through land burning which in turn causes large and continuous fires (Tan 422). According to the Worldwide Fund of Nature, three hundred football fields worth of land is destroyed every hour for oil palm plantations. Hourly, land that was once rainforests are being burnt to the core for the purpose of oil palm plantations. Overall, forests in Southeast Asia are diminishing little by little mainly due to palm oil.

“An extremely versatile commodity that’s cheaper and more efficient to produce than other vegetable oils, palm oil is currently used in half of all consumer goods” (Mosbergen). Due to its cheapness, the demand for palm oil is extremely high especially in the west and the demand will only become greater as the years go on. “Global palm oil production is increasing by 9% every year, prompted largely by expanding biofuel markets in the European Union and by food demand in Indonesia, India and China” (Fitzherbert 538). Palm oil is used in food products such as ice cream and chocolate; “In fact, 50 percent of packaged food items in American supermarkets contain it” (Gonchar 1). It is even the main vegetable oil that is used. “Palm oil is not exempted and it is claimed that virgin tropical forests are cleared to make way for oil palm plantations and causes a great effect to the ecology stability” (Tan 422). Instead of producing palm oil on farmland that already exists, farmers cut down forests in order to create their own oil palm plantations. It was even reported that producers like to cut down forests rather than using land that’s already cleared because the timber from the trees can be sold and therefore they make more money. Due to it being more profitable this way, palm oil producers are more likely to use deforestation as a way to create land for oil palm plantations. This as well as its cheapness is what makes it so popular, and it will likely only become more popular which is why sustainability is extremely important.

Oil Palm plantations are also contributing to climate change through deforestation. “Land use change from forest to cash crops such as oil palm and rubber plantations does not only impact biodiversity and stored carbon, but also has a surface warming effect, adding to climate change,” says Knohl, a professor in bioclimatology” (Energy Weekly News).  A study by Knohl and his team was done in order to test their theories of oil palm plantations contributing to warmer climates in Indonesia. They studied forests, clear-cut land and cash crops in Jambi province of Sumatra. Results found that clear-cut land was 10 °C warmer than forests (Energy Weekly News 183). “Mature palm oil plantations were about 0.8 °C warmer than forests, while young palm oil plantations were 6 °C warmer” (Energy Weekly News 183). “Sabajo says surface temperatures in forests are lower than in palm oil plantations and clear-cut land mainly because of “evaporative cooling”, which is similar to the process that cools us down when we sweat. There’s more evaporation and transpiration of water from plants and the soil into the atmosphere in a forest than in clear-cut land or a young oil-palm plantation, meaning the ground is cooler for that type of land cover” (Energy Weekly New 184). In total it was found that the temperature in the Jambi province increases by 1.05°C between 2000 and 2015. “The strong warming effect we show for the Jambi province may serve as an indication of future changes in land-surface temperature for other regions of Indonesia that will undergo land transformations towards oil palm plantations,” the scientists write in the study” (Energy Weekly News 184). Oil palm plantations have a direct influence on climate through deforestation. By destroying forests to make oil palm plantations, the climate is being heavily affected.

“The removal or destruction of significant areas of forest has resulted in ecology instability to the natural habitat of the forests (Tan 422).” Aside from disrupting earths natural being, deforestation for oil palm plantations disrupt the natural habitats of animals.  “But palm oil has a huge environmental downside, mainly involving deforestation. The clearing of millions of hectares of previously untouched rain forest to make way for palm oil plantations destroys biological diversity and deprives endangered species” (Editorial Board). Asian elephants, Sumatran rhinos and Sumatran tigers are becoming extinct due to tropical forests, their natural habitats, being destroyed for the purpose of oil palm plantations. A main species that is endangered and that is becoming extinct is the Orangutan. “A hundred years ago, an estimated 230,000 orangutans roamed the earth. Today, fewer than 50,000 are left in the wild, living exclusively on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra — islands that happen to be ground zero of one of the world’s most controversial and rapidly growing industries: palm oil” (Mosbergen). Orangutan’s rely on tropical rainforests as a source for shelter and food, when these rainforests are destroyed it forces them to seek shelter and food in less ideal habitats, hence the increase in death rates and decrease in birth rates. They have declined rapidly in the last seventy five years as a result of this. Aside from them having to migrate to less ideal habitats, reports have shown that bewildered orangutans wandering these palm oil plantations that was once their former habitat, are often killed and used as a source of meat. If something isn’t done in the near future, producing palm oil will lead to the extinction of Orangutans among other exotic species of Southeast Asia.

Last but not least, deforestation for oil palm plantations heavily affect local communities. “The Indonesian government has been handing over swathes of indigenous lands to private companies for palm oil cultivation since the 1960s, according to Tomasz Johnson, forest campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency” (Mosbergen). Basically individuals that once owned land and were self-sufficient not only loose that land to private companies but now also become laborers. It can have a damaging and distressing impact for these self-sufficient communities who were heavily reliant on the forest for survival. A community elder of the Dayaq Benuaq tribe said, “this is the last remaining forests that we have and the only land we have to survive. If my forests are gone, our lives are gone” (Mosbergen). This only further proves how much deforestation heavily affects local communities. Aside for affecting their environment, they also get affected labor wise, and their working conditions are extremely dangerous. “The palm oil industry has also been associated with widespread human rights abuse, including forced and child labor, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. “[A]mong the estimated 3.7 million workers in the industry, are thousands of child laborers and workers who face dangerous and abusive conditions,” Bloomberg News found in 2013”(Mosebergen). Not only are these plantations causing distress to animals but to our own kind as well.

“Sustainability of palm oil is crucial if this versatile crop is to become the leading vegetable oil in this world” (Tan 424). Sustainability for palm oil is extremely crucial in the environmental aspect. Previously stated, palm oil’s demand will only increase in the coming years and therefore sustainability needs to be reached to ensure a safe environment for the future. “All parties involved with palm oil like plantation owners, financial institutions and banks, manufacturers of palm oil products and governments should play an active role to realize this win-win situation for all” (Tan 425). In order for sustainability to be reached, everyone has to take action including consumers. Whether it be through governmental regulation on land and deforestation or consumers being aware of how the palm oil they buy was produced everyone has to be aware and involved to reach sustainability. Its crucial for the future of the environment since palm oil will only be getting more popular as the years go on.

“For biodiversity, oil palm plantations are a poor substitute for native tropical forests. They support few species of conservation importance, and affect biodiversity in adjacent habitats through fragmentation, edge effects and pollution” (Fitzherbert 544). Deforestation brings distress upon many aspects of life. Whether it be causing climate changes, endangering species or even hurting local communities the way oil palm plantations are produced need to be addressed. In order for palm oil to remain sustainable, different methods need to be sought out in order to keep the earth in its natural happy being and stop disrupting species of all kind.

Works Cited

“Deforestation; Deforestation linked to palm oil production is making Indonesia warmer”. Energy News Weekly, University of Gottingen, 10 Nov. 2017.

Fitzherbert, Emily B., et al. “How Will Oil Palm Expansion Affect Biodiversity?” Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Elsevier Current Trends, 3 Sept. 2008.

Gonchar, Michael. “Endangered Orangutans and the Palm Oil Industry: An Environmental Science Case Study.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Nov. 2017.

Mosbergen, Dominique. “Palm Oil Is In Everything—And It’s Destroying Southeast Asia’s Forests”. The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 9 Sept. 2015.

Tan, K.T., et al. “Palm oil: Addressing issues and towards Sustainable Development.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Pergamon, 29 Nov. 2007.

The Editorial Board. “Palm Oil’s Deceptive Lure”. The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 May 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Climate Curriculum Disruption series will highlight projects completed by New School students during our week-long, university-wide curriculum disruption, interrupting “business as usual” and turning our attention to climate change and its implications, particularly the unequal and devastating impacts on the most vulnerable and least responsible communities around the globe.

Our Climate Curriculum Disruption series will highlight projects completed by New School students during our week-long, university-wide curriculum disruption, interrupting “business as usual” and turning our attention to climate change and its implications, particularly the unequal and devastating impacts on the most vulnerable and least responsible communities around the globe.

Sustainable Agriculture: The Slow Food Movement

By Nicole Busch

Today Americans spend less than 10% of their income on food, and an even smaller amount of time to prepare it. Industrialization is still very prominent in the United States. When this era came about, with it came chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. As industrial farms grew, smaller farms were put out of business. Each year more and more chemicals have to be used because the crops become resistant. Though this produce can be purchased for a very low cost, what is the cost that our bodies pay when we eat it? Sustainable agriculture is a topic that is becoming more and more popular. With more awareness around climate change and the environment, people are also starting to watch what food they put into their bodies, and where it was sourced. Along with pro-environment movement, consumers want those practices to grow their food meet environment friendly standards, and now farmers are beginning to change the way they grow their foods. The consumers are showing that they care about where their food comes from, and want to make healthy changes for themselves and future generations. We have seen not only what industrialization has done to our bodies, though what it is also doing to our environment. We use an extraordinary amount of fossil fuels to keep the machinery running, among other things. I will examine sustainable agriculture and the slow food movement, which is becoming increasingly more popular.

Over the years there have been many ramifications we have seen from cheap and quick food. Author, Michael Pollan has introduced us to the idea that our “new” way of eating has a higher chance of threatening our food safety: “Although cheap food is good politics, it turns out there are significant costs—to the environment, to public health, to the public purse, even to the culture—and as these became impossible to ignore in recent years, food has come back into view.” (Pollan) There seems to be a very significant and high cost to the practices we have established. The philosophy around slow food is three fold: “Good, clean, and fair. Good: quality, flavorsome and healthy food. Clean: production that does not harm the environment. Fair: accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for producers.” (Slow Food USA) This movement does a great job of connecting the farmers to the consumer. Chemicals have also altered our food so the flavors may be different as well. This brings us back to a more native eating style. The movement also establishes the thought that everything we grow and eat should not harm the environment. There are some consumers that do not realize how much the processed food and unethical farming practices can harm our environment. Slow food will guarantee a better future for us and our children.

When the founder of slow food, Carlo Petrini was “Walking in Rome one day, he found himself gazing at the splendid Spanish steps when the overwhelming odor of French fries disturbed his reverie. To his horror he discovered that not twenty meters along the piazza loomed the famous golden arches of a well-known food chain.” (Leitch, 410) That was the moment the Slow Food Movement was born! He realized there needed to be more protection around cultural traditions, and more light needed to be shed on a healthier and more sustainable way of eating. He wanted people to visit Italy to try the food, and not to have some franchise fast food place. After all, people do plan vacations around eating. He chose the snail icon because it was a slow moving food!

Slow Food eventually took on a more political agenda. He created an “endangered foods” campaign, which was designed to help protect certain products in need of protection. Petrini also did an excellent job of doing what he could to bring awareness to foods of other cultures. He helped to make a lot of places tourist destinations by showcasing their unique and exotic food. In 1996, the movement declared that Italy’s lardo di Colonnata (a cured pork fat) was one of the top ten endangered foods, and it thrust that town into the spotlight and created a new found tourism for that area. People are now able to make a living from lardo production. Since the slow food movement came onto the scene in the early 90’s there are several restaurants and food stores that have come on board to support the sustainable systems. When consumers walk into a store that supports the movement, they feel better about their purchase, and may even spend a higher price for the peace of mind knowing that their food was created in a sustainable environment. It is two-fold in that it shows that the companies care about the consumers, and also care about helping to create sustainable practices that are good for the environment. Downtown in NYC an establishment called Eataly, are big supporters and will also share the story of your food with you. It is the extra special touch that is making this movement all the more personal to its consumers. As this movement goes forward there are more restaurants willing to participate in sustainable practices.

Dan Barber is the author of the book “The Third Plate”, and operates and owns an organic farm in upstate New York, with a farm-to-table restaurant both upstate and in New York City. He encourages people to start “looking at the great food cultures of the world. The traditional cuisines of Asia and North Africa, not to mention France and Italy, are based on rice, wheat, legumes, vegetables, spices and smatterings of all cuts of meat.” (Slow Food USA) That is exactly what the slow food movement is doing. It is doing a great job of helping us to become aware of the whole world of options we have. We are a very heavy meat culture in America, and Barber thinks that in our future we will steer away from the heavy meat dishes and really embrace the vegetables. A lot of the action starts with the consumer, and the power they have to make changes and decisions. Dan also encourages that we should be looking at where all of our food comes from, and asking deeper questions as to if chemicals were used, and what kinds of animals are being used, and how the animals are being treated? Baber also feels that farmers can take an initiative to make better choices and pay more attention to how our ancestors used to farm. Barber’s book also supports the Slow Food Movement and sustainable agriculture in highlighting some very elite and high-end food and farms around the world. In one chapter visiting Veta La Palma, which is a fish farm in Spanish, amazes him. “A place like Veta La Palma broadens the definition of ‘environmentalist’ (and ‘chef’) even further. It makes you realize that healthful ecologies are determined in large part by ecologies that surround them. How is your land healthy if the water feeding it is not clean? Every farm is intimately linked to the larger ecosystem”. (Barber, 247) The word fish farm in American is rarely associated with something sustainable. Unlike the image they portray in America, this one is completely sustainable on its own. It would benefit farmers to take note of how this system works together to create a sustainable environment all on its own.

Slow Food has been taking small but mighty strides to make a bigger impact in our culture. Over the years Slow Food has branched out into different areas to create awareness. They have begun to successfully educate children on healthy eating practices, which is key to help establish healthier eating practices for our adults of the future. They have a variety of workshops and curriculums schools can use to show kids about healthy eating, how to cook, and growing their own food. As we bring these programs and ways of eating into our communities, it is shown that a whole community who is growing healthy foods, and making better choices collectively will be more likely to be successful. They have each other as a motivator. As we look into the future of slow food. Carlo Petrini recently made a statement of his beliefs of the future of this movement. “It is imperative that we be open and inclusive. We must ensure that our movement’s ideas can walk on the legs of others, because they are right and because the war is still far from being won. This is why the organizational challenge will be to encourage local action, to give everyone the strength and the cultural and coordination tools to become active subjects and actors of change. Only in this way we can truly shape the future of food.” (Slow Food USA) The practice of slow food is something we must practice everyday. Collectively as consumers we are able to make this change a reality. Slow food is much more than a movement; it is a lifestyle that is able to create global sustainability. We first have to make the changes to the way we grow and eat food. With that in mind the rest of the puzzle will come together.

Works Cited

  1. Leitch, Alison “Slow Food and the Politic of ‘Virtuous Globalization’”. Food and Culture: A Reader. Taylor and Francis, 2012. (pg 410)
  2. Pollan, Michael “The Food Movement, Rising” The New York Review of Books 10 June. 2010. Web. 21 February 2018. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2010/06/10/food-movement-rising/(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
  3. Slow Food USA“An Interview With Dan Barber” 21 September. 2015. Web. 20 February. 2018. https://www.slowfoodusa.org/blog-post/an-interview-with-dan-barber(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
  4. Slow Food USA. “Carlo Petrini on the Future of the Slow Food Movement” 13 February 2018. 21 February 2018. https://www.slowfood.com/carlo-petrini-future-slow-food-movement/(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
  5. Barber, Dan. The Third Plate. New York: Penguin Books. 2014. (247)

Our Climate Curriculum Disruption series will highlight projects completed by New School students during our week-long, university-wide curriculum disruption, interrupting “business as usual” and turning our attention to climate change and its implications, particularly the unequal and devastating impacts on the most vulnerable and least responsible communities around the globe.

Puerto Rican Culinary Culture & Climate Change

By Phoebe Tran

Food is inextricably tied to climate change. Erratic temperatures, unpredictable rainfall patters, shorter growing seasons and increased frequency of extreme weather will not only affect its production, but also its diversity, accessibility, nutritional value and place-based culinary cultures that it represents. The following case study looks to Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States that is in the midst of developing a plan for resiliency in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and impending climate change risks. I provide a brief overview of the culinary history of Puerto Rico, which reveals a modern day food system rooted in colonial trade.

The island’s culinary culture is now at risk of economic and environmental constraints. Further groundwork needs to be done in order to better understand how vulnerable communities are responding and adapting. Efforts must be made to learn from their strategies to serve as a model for other areas also on the frontlines of climate change.

Puerto Rico

The archipelago of Puerto Rico contains its main islands and a number of smaller ones, two of which are inhabited year-round (Wikipedia). It is situated in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, 1,000 miles southeast of the US state of Florida. The island is largely composed of mountainous and hilly terrain, coastal areas, lakes and rivers. A fourth of the island is covered in steep slopes formed by powerful tectonic forces that occurred over millions of years, occasionally causing earthquakes. Northward-flowing rivers are used for the supply of municipal water, hydroelectricity and irrigation for agriculture (Matthews, Wagenheim & Wagenheim, 2018). The island’s tropical climate and surrounding bodies of water allows it to inhabit biodiverse plant and animal life.

Despite allowing farmers to grow food year-round, Puerto Rico imports 80% of its food supply (Charles, 2017). The formation of its culinary culture can be best understood through the lens of Cruz Migel Ortíz Cuadra, author of Eating Puerto Rico: A History of Food, Culture and Identity. In his book, he investigates the formation foods that have come to represent Puerto Rican food. Specifically, rice, beans, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, plantains and bananas, salted codfish, pork and beef have a place in familiar dishes and marketplaces, evoking nostalgia for home cooking in Puerto Ricans born before and during the 1950s. Despite Puerto Ricans’ identification with these foods, Cuadra raises a series of questions that further confound the reader: Why is rice grown and eaten if it is not native to the agricultural region? Under what circumstances was codfish introduced if it is not fished in warm waters like the Caribbean, where several other fish species are found in abundance? Why is it that Puerto Ricans now eat so much meat? Why were kidney beans recognized as being superior to other beans when they yielded the smallest crop, were the most costly and had the least amount of nutritional value?

Cuadra explains, “[these ingredients] achieved their status in a preindustrial food-consuming context dominated by farming, hunting, gathering and domestic animal raising, on the one hand, and the dietary limitations imposed by rigid exportation and importation markets, on the other. The exportation of food products obeyed a monoculture and their importation followed a very restricted, colonial model” (5) wherein changes in the basic diet occurred slowly because of the appearance of a new food or a structural transformation. The decades from the 1960s to the new millennium saw a much more transformative shift in Puerto Rican’s culinary landscape—higher income levels and increased availability of food commodities increased rates of obesity, the homogenization of mass food production and cross-cultural exchanges created a distinctly urban food culture; and the emergence of an unchecked fast food restaurant culture all took place against the backdrop of plateauing agricultural productivity and a disproportionate dependence on food imports. While Puerto Rican cuisine is rooted in the cooking traditions of Europe, Africa and the native peoples of the Caribbean known as Taínos, its food culture transcends the boundaries of the island to incorporate a diverse range of other cuisines. In the late 19th century, Puerto Rican cuisine began to heavily incorporate ingredients imported from the United states.

Some trace the dependence back to the island’s history as a Spanish colony, when native farms gave way to sugar and coffee plantations. While cash crops were exported back to Europe, food was imported to supply and sustain its people. As Javier Rivera Aquino, Puerto Rico’s former secretary of agriculture, would state, “They were taught to produce what they don’t consume, and they were taught to produce what they consume” (Charles, 2017). Puerto Rico’s urban food culture today does not land far from its colonial past. The size of its land and number of farmers cannot outcompete large-scale food producers in the United States (Charles, 2017), and its reliance on the shipping industry to bring in food to the island makes it especially vulnerable when cut off due to extreme changes in the climate.

While a new wave of chefs and farmers interested in re-localizing sources of food has been taking shape in Puerto Rico, the grassroots movement to build a local supply chain is an undeniable challenge when unpredictability is the new normal in a place so vulnerable to climate change. More recently, the ongoing struggles of Puerto Ricans after being hit by Hurricane Maria on September 20th, 2017 became a call to action for local communities as well as those living abroad. The Category 4 storm wiped out 80% of the island’s crop value in a matter of hours. Farmers expected the recovery period to take 10 months to a year to recover. Some were forced to import goods in order to keep their businesses running until the next harvest (Moreno, 2017). Despite being wiped out by the hurricane, local food activists have spearheaded the revitalization of Puerto Rico’s food movement that was gaining traction before the storm hit. Efforts are being made to create a national sustainable farming proposal plan for Puerto Rico (Yoder, 2017). Though positive forces like these are guiding Puerto Rico to recover and grow stronger, the environmental conditions that the island will continue to face are a cause of apprehension to anyone who understands the severity of climate change effects.

The US Environmental Protection Agency anticipates sea levels around Puerto Rico to rise one to three feet in the next century. There will be an increase in heavy rainfall and hurricane wind speeds, putting both coastal and inland areas at risk of flooding. Warmer temperatures also put the island at risk of drought, putting both agricultural productivity and human health at risk. Furthermore, acidification of the ocean is severely harming Puerto Rico’s marine ecosystems and fisheries (EPA 2017). Many of the core foods that make up Puerto Rican’s food culture—rice, beans, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, plantains and bananas, salted codfish, pork and beef—are at risk of being lost as farms and plantations are razed and flooded by storms and animals put under extreme environmental stress. What will happen to Puerto Rico’s culinary culture in the face of climate change? While Cuadra references the various socioeconomic shifts that occurred in Puerto Rico’s historical culinary narrative, his closing sentences draw parallel ruminations to the resilience and evolutionary nature of gastronomic traditions in the face of climate change as well: “…to invent and celebrate culinary traditions…is not to nod stubbornly toward the past but to honor a more complex reality, the reality that…repertoires of food and diet travel a considerable distance and get defined, shaped, and remade by a host of influences and factors imposed from both within and without. They come to be what they are not in some static, frozen way but because they are exposed and receptive to constant change” (260).

The following recipes below are chosen for being a mainstay in Puerto Rican cuisine. They are presented with visual and audial reflections of how climate change may alter its future.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aItXJGWy7QM&t=13s

Top: Workers sort the live chickens from the dead ones at the Corporacion Avicola Morovis, Inc. Flores Ortega says the lessons learned from Hurricane Maria will help the industry build with more resiliency in the future.

Photograph by Joe Raedle, Getty (National Geographic, 2017)

Bottom: Asopao de pollo con tostones.

Photo by Tara Laska (Flickr, 2007)

Video: Puerto Rican Asopao (Youtube, 2012)

Asopao de Pollo

Adapted from El Boricua: A Monthly Bilingual, Cultural Publication for Puerto Ricans

Serves 6

The name is given to various soupy preparations of rice, which have been a mainstay in Puerto Rican rice cuisine…At one time, asopa’o played a key role in social and community life as a dish that was served at receptions, farewells, and family celebrations, or to mark rites of passage. It may have originated in poverty and necessity—people with little food at hand could bring a relatively substantial dish to the table” (Cuadra, p.265).

Chicken Marinade

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

½ tsp oregano

salt & black pepper

olive oil

Sofrito

3 garlic cloves, pressed

2 peppercorns

2 medium onions, peeled

2 sweet chili or banana peppers

5 cilantro leaves or 7 sprigs of cilantro

3 T olive oil

Asopao

1 ½ cups short-grain rice

½ cup tomato sauce

8 cups water or chicken stock

1 cup sweet peas

Garnish

½ cup roasted pimento peppers

1 cup asparagus tips

  1. Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper, oregano and olive oil and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
  2. In the blender, purée the garlic, onions, peppercorns, chili peppers, culantro and sweet peppers and olive oil.
  3. In a large caldero, sauté the sofrito for 5 minutes over medium-low heat then set aside.
  4. Brown the chicken pieces to seal in their flavor, then add the sofrito, tomato sauce and chicken stock or water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  5. Rinse the rice under cool running water until it runs clear. Drain the rice and stir into the soup pot. Raise the heat and bring to a boil once more. Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Add the peas and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the asopao reaches the consistency you prefer.
  7. Heat the sliced pimentos and the asparagus in their juices. Drain and use to garnish each plate of asopao.
  8. Serve alongside tostones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IZtZfz9DI8

Top: While some crops, such as root vegetables, were able to withstand the harsh winds of Hurricane Maria, larger plants like papaya and coffee were devastated. Carlos Flores Ortega, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture for Puerto Rico, says banana trees, like those seen here, were completely lost to the hurricane that rattled the archipelago on September 20.

Photo by Joe Raedle, Getty (National Geographic, 2017)

Bottom: Traditional Puerto Rican Pasteles

Photo by Juan Silva, Getty (The Spruce)

Video: Pasteles (Youtube, 2014)

Pasteles

Makes 18 servings

Masa (Dough)  *Best to do the day before for easier handling.

1 1/3 lbs yautía

3 lbs guineos verdes (savory unripe bananas)

1 lb potatoes

1 green plantain

2 T milk

¼ cup achiote oil

salt

  1. Boil the guineos verdes for a few minutes. When the peel begins to turn black, pull it off and grate it in the food processor.
  2. Peel the rest of the vegetables, rinse them and grate in the food processor.
  3. Add milk, oil and salt.
  4. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Relleno (Filling)

¾ lb pork, coursley ground

2 T achiote oil

3 oz chopped ham

½ cup onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 ajíes dulces, chopped

3 recao leaves or cilantro sprigs, chopped

1 cup tomato sauce

½ cup garbanzo beans

½ cup olives, chopped

1 cup roasted pimento peppers, chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 T oregano

  1. Heat the oil in the caldero and cook the meat and ham for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients.
  3. Cook on low for approximately 25 minutes until the pork is completely cooked, then cool down.

Wrap

10 banana leaves, cut into 10” squares (can substitute with foil & butcher paper)

plantain leaves (optional)

½ cup achiote oil to grease plantain leaves or paper

string

large pot of boiling salt water

  1. If using banana leaves, wash and clean with a damp cloth then toast them slightly over fire.
  2. Grease center of the wrapper with achiote oil.
  3. Place ½ cup of dough and thinly spread it no more than 5” long and 4” wide.
  4. Place 2 ½ T of meat filling on the masa.
  5. Fold the wrapper in half to close the pastel. If using foil, fold the edges over until tightly sealed.
  6. If using leaves just fold one over the other until completely sealed, then tie with string to hold it together on each end.
  7. Cook the pasteles for 1 hour in the boiling water, turning them once halfway through cooking.

References

“Asopao De Pollo.” El Boricua: A Bilingual, Cultural Publication for Puerto Ricans, www.elboricua.com/asopao_de_pollo.html.

Charles, Dan. “How Puerto Rico Lost Its Home-Grown Food, But Might Find It Again.” NPR, NPR, 13 May 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/13/527934047/how-puerto-rico-lost-its-home-grown-food-but-might-find-it-again.

Cuadra, Cruz. Eating Puerto Rico: a History of Food, Culture, and Identity. Translated by Russ Davidson, University of North Carolina Press, 2013.

Laska, Tara. “Asopao De Pollo Con Tostones.” Flickr, 24 Apr. 2007, www.flickr.com/photos/wheatland/487956183/.

Moreno, Carolina. “Puerto Rico’s Farmers Face A Long Road To Recovery Post-Hurricane Maria.” Huffington Post, 26 Nov. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/puerto-rico-farmers-road-to-recovery-post-hurricane-maria_us_5a0f4bd9e4b0e97dffed381d.

“Puerto Rico.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico#Geography.

“Puerto Rico’s Farms Were Wiped Out. Here’s How They’re Bouncing Back.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 7 Nov. 2017, news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/puerto-rico-agriculture-destruction-resilience-hurricane-maria/.

United States, Congress, “What Climate Change Means for Puerto Rico.” What Climate Change Means for Puerto Rico, Aug. 2016.

Wagenheim, Olja J, et al. “Puerto Rico.” 17 Feb. 2018, www.britannica.com/place/Puerto-Rico.

Yoder, Kate. “Hurricane Maria Crushed Puerto Rico Farms. This Activist Wants to Grow Resilience through Food.” Grist, 24 Oct. 2017, grist.org/article/hurricane-maria-crushed-puerto-rico-farms-this-activist-wants-to-grow-resilience-through-food/.

Special thanks to Professor Andrew F. Smith, his students, and The New School Food Studies Program.

 

Presented by The New School’s Food Studies Program, this panel discussion is an invitation to get acquainted with Polish cuisine through the prism of history and society. It will take you on a journey across the centuries and flavors that have shaped the exceptional cuisine of a country co-created by many cultures. Polish cuisine is flourishing: chefs, producers, media specialists, and consumers are rediscovering traditional products and dishes, while often interpreting them through the prism of contemporary food trends. The result is an exciting and vibrant food scene which, however, is not well know outside of the borders of Poland. The event will feature traditional Polish bites. Four presenters will be moderated by New School Food Studies professor Fabio Parasecoli, who teaches food history, culture and the arts.

Professor Jarosław Dumanowski, the head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and a member of the research council of the European Institute of the History and Culture of Food (IEHCA) in Tours – is a specialist in early modern history and antique culinary texts who often collaborates with local producers, chefs, marketing specialists, and others. His presentation: A TASTE OF THE PAST. THE USE OF CULINARY HISTORY IN POLAND will focus on the historical roots of modern Polish cuisine and how it uses history as inspiration, documentation, and promotion. Prof. Dumanowski will also discuss the notion of “terroir” and “nature” as representing Mediterranean and Nordic approaches to cuisine, and the use of history for formal registration of traditional foods in the European Union. Monika Kucia, Curator, Food Writer & Designer based in Warsaw. Her presentation CULINARY PERFORMANCES AROUND THE TABLE will describe a variety of culinary events she’s been organizing. These events are labyrinths of tastes, smells and sensations. She invites people to go through an experience that involves eating, singing, smelling and touching. They bring people together in good spirit, hope and peace.

Dr. Annie Hauck, co-editor of Gastropolis: Food and New York City (Columbia University Press) and the author of My Little Town: A Brooklyn Girl’s Food Voice. Her doctoral dissertation emerged from an ethnographic study on the roles and meanings of food among members of Polish-American families in New York City. She educates on everyday urban green living with Brooklyn Mompost (www.brooklynmompost.com) and at Poly Prep Country Day School.’Transplanted; Still Firmly Rooted: 20th Century Polish Food Voices and Ways in Brooklyn, N.Y.’ Her presentation, TRANSPLANTED; STILL FIRMLY ROOTED: 20TH CENTURY POLISH FOOD VOICES AND WAYS IN BROOKLYN, N.Y explores foodways that Polish immigrants brought, adapted and practiced in urban Brooklyn in the 20th century.

Elizabeth Koszarski-Skrabonja is an artist, curator and art historian. Her connection to Polish spirits reaches back to her late father, Casimir J. Koszarski. As the first Manager of the Polish Liquor Department in 1936 for the International distributor, Austin Nichols, (located on Kent Street in Brooklyn), it was his responsibility and challenge to introduce an American public emerging from the constraints of prohibition to Polish vodkas. Her presentation THE VODKA CONTRACT discovers the hidden history of Williamsburg’s waterfront through a tale of entrepreneurship, romance, and war. Ms. Koszarski-Skrabonja shares the dramatic story of how her father’s passion for vodka changed his life—and how he brought a taste of home to New York’s Polish community in the form of three remarkable spirits:Zubrówka (bison grass vodka), Wisniówka (cherry vodka), and Wyborowa (pure rye vodka).

What is Polish cuisine? One year ago I traveled to Poland for my first exploration of its food and culinary traditions. I was both surprised and intrigued by the vitality of the whole sector, the quality of ingredients, the works of producers, and the creativity of chefs. I was so captivated by what I saw that I kept going back, most recently in a culinary trip to Warsaw and the Western cities of Poznań and Wrocław organized by the Polish Cultural Institute in NYC and Polish Plate.

A few visits later, and with a better (although not extensive enough) knowledge of the culinary scene in the country, I realized how unusually urgent the question about what is Polish cuisine seems to have become. I have had the opportunity to sit on panels, participate in public and private debates, and serve as a judge in competitions focusing on specialties ranging from nalewki (the local spirits made by steeping fruits, wild berries, and other ingredients in alcohol) to czernina (a soup that features duck blood) and stuffed goose. The conversations often veered towards the very nature Polish cuisine and what makes it unique and distinctive.

It is ingredients? Dishes? Specific habits and traditions? Or it is rather a question of who produces and prepares what is eaten? Is it necessary to dig back into the near and remote past to identify specific customs and flavors profiles, or should one stick to contemporary practices? The answers to these questions run the gamut from the desire to find essential (and unchanging) characteristics to a more nuanced appreciation for the recent resurgence of food in Poland in terms of quality, visibility, and relevance in public discourse.

As a scholar in food studies, participating in these conversations has prompted other, maybe more reflexive (more “meta,” as we like to say when we use jargon), questions: why are all sorts of stakeholders in the food system discussing what is Polish food? Why now? What are the motivations and the goals of such discussions? Are these topics of interest to large segments of Poles, or are they rather the exclusive domain of producers and other actors on the culinary scene, from chefs to media and tourist operators?

There is definitely a widespread interest about reconnecting (“rediscovering” is often the preferred expression) with local and traditional ingredients and dishes that are at times perceived as threatened by globalization and the growing popularity of foreign foods, at times experienced as unfortunately left aside because considered too rustic, or backward, or plain. Sitting in fine-dining restaurants such as Dom Wódki Elixir in Warsaw, Toga and A Nóż Widelec in Poznań, or Jadka in Wrocław you have the impression that traditional elements are already successfully integrated in modern, current culinary styles that can definitely hold their own on the international stage. Enterprises such as Pszczelarium and Nalewki Staropolskie (arguably the most recognizable nalewka production in Poland) in Warsaw, or Folwark Wąsowo and the carp ponds of Stawy Milickie in Lower Silesia, all appear to seamlessly connect past and present, merging old techniques and know-how with modern distribution and marketing savvy.

It is not easy to pinpoint the origins of this renewed interest in defining Polish food and in appreciating local and traditional ingredients and dishes. In part, Poland is reflecting a global trend among the rising middle-classes in post-industrial societies, for whom food has emerged as an important area in the formation, negotiation, and performance of individual and collective identities. As Poland transitions out of its post-communist phase and into a more mature – although not less troubled – political landscape, and consumerism in embraced as the standard lifestyle, food plays an increasingly relevant role in defining the cultural outlook, social status, and political worldviews of citizens from all walks of life.

This growing importance and visibility of food manifests itself in the success of culinary shows and media, also among the large majority of Poles that otherwise may go to restaurants only rarely and think twice before purchasing an expensive product. Among the middle-class, especially in urban environments and the younger generations, such relevance reveals the characteristics of what we could call “global foodie cosmopolitanism,” which expresses itself – in Warsaw as in Brooklyn, Rio de Janeiro or Bangalore – through specific sensory aesthetics in terms of flavors, dish presentation, environments (bar, restaurants, cafes), packaging, performance of preparation, service, and consumption. Heavily tinged in hipster undertones, this cosmopolitanism also supports the appreciation for local and traditional culinary elements that are globally hailed as a form of resistance to globalization, transnational corporations, and environmental disaster.

At the same time, Poland is inevitably dealing with the complexities deriving the presence along its history of various communities in the territory that now falls under Poland: Germans, Ukrainians, and Lithuanians just to mention a few. Such intricate past – which will come to the forefront in 2018 on the occasion of the 100-year anniversary of the formation of contemporary Poland as an independent nation-state – is also heightened by the presence of different religions (Catholic, Protestants, Jews) at different points in time. Moreover, some culinary traditions, while felt as quintessentially Polish, are similar to those in neighboring countries. As a consequence of all this, should we speak of Polish cuisine, or rather of the cuisines (in the plural) in Poland? And how would these two different approaches to thinking about Polish food fly in the present cultural and political climate?

 

Honey at the Gruczno Festival

 

It is extraordinary how foraging plays a central role in Polish cuisine. Mushrooms, berries, and wild plants are featured in everyday recipes and practices. Many of the people I have been meeting in my trips to Poland – and not all of them are operating in the field of food – have stories about gathering mushrooms with an uncle, picking berries with a grandmother for desserts and savory dishes, making preserves that sit in a cellar for years, saving flavors together with memories. Even people living in cities, although they may not practice foraging themselves, are familiar with it, and may receive food from friends and relatives in the countryside. Moreover, the market for wild mushrooms is quite active, especially in season.

Foraging is the expression of knowledge, skills, and cultural perspectives that are not transferred through formal education but rather through human interaction and shared experiences. Herbs and wild fruits – nettle, rowan, buckthorn and many others – find their way into soups and all kinds of preparations, from pierogis and sausages to pies. I was invited to the Festival of Taste, which took place on August 19th and 20th in Gruczno, in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province, to be part of a jury for a nalewki contest. Nalewki(plural of nalewka) are infusions of various ingredients in alcohol, among which a great number of wild berries and fruits. I was amazed by the variety and the unexpected flavors of those spirits, and impressed by the expertise and the passion displayed by the judges in evaluating them. Closely connected to the foraging of products of forests and plains, the manufacture of nalewki is an artisanal activity that operates in the grey area between legality and bootlegging, yet is widely appreciated all over the country.

We cannot forget the enormous production of high quality honey in Poland. Although expert beekeepers and artisans harvest and sell most of it, honey maintains a close connection with the natural environment and the dazzling array of types and aromas derives precisely from wild plants. Furthermore, some wild honey is also gathered, of course available at quite higher prices. Honey is regularly featured in recipes and often constitutes its own category in festivals and culinary contests, as it was the case in Gruczno.

Such attachment to foraged products is visible not only in family traditions and domestic customs, but also in restaurants. The chefs that are exploring the Polish culinary heritage in new and creative ways often include herbs and plants from the forest and other ecosystems in their dishes. While such familiarity is solidly rooted in Polish culture, I suspect that the attention that the New Nordic Cuisine has been paying to foraging may have played a role in making old-school practices hot and current among Polish chefs, who inevitably look at the trends outside of their country.

Last but not least, hunting is widely practiced in Poland. The activity is not without its critics. The protests of environmentalists and animalists, as well as the sense that hunting is an activity for people of means, highlight tensions around hunting. Such frictions have recently increased due to the decision of the Polish government to continue logging in the Białowieża forest, a remnant of the European primeval woods, despite protests and an order to stop from the EU court of justice. Nevertheless, venison and other game are not a rarity on Polish tables. In Gruczno, I had the opportunity to speak with Piotr Beszterda, a specialist for game and hunting in the local division of the National Forests, a government organization. He was at the festival to present products such as smoked wild boar cure fat (a slice of heaven!) and deer ham, which are being sold to raise funds for the activities of the National Forests. Mr. Beszterda explained that hunter clubs pay his organization for the hunting rights in a certain area for a given length of time, with permission for a specific number of animals as a form of fauna control. In that case, what they hunt belongs to them and it is often distributed as gifts to family and friends, more rarely sold.

Foraging, hunting and, of course, fishing, are so ingrained in Polish habits that they are taken for granted not only in rural but also in urban contexts, where the products are widely enjoyed but personal connections with them are less direct. Precisely for their perception as ordinary and informal – at times even as backwards, the cultural value of these activities may not be fully appreciated. A pity, as they contribute enormously to the uniqueness of Polish cuisine and may help us rethink our relations with food production and the environment.