There’s an argument raging across the country.  OK, so food laws, food guidelines and government’s involvement with food generally can be about the health of the people, sure, but the health of the planet? 

Things came to a head with the Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (or DGAC).  The DGAC is the powerhouse of physicians and food academics tasked with writing up current science so the Federal government can develop an informed national nutrition policy.  In turn, the government can then prepare its Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which it does every 5 years.

So what’s the beef?  DGAC’s interest in Americans eating more fish?  It’s more basic than that:

The U.S. population [should] move toward dietary patterns that generally increase consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, while decreasing total calories and some animal-based foods.  Promoting healthy diets that also are more environmentally sustainable now will conserve resources for present and future generations.

Scientific Report of the DGAC 2015

Doesn’t sound too controversial.  But the report goes on to quote a series of scientific reports from around the world that link healthy diets to environment footprints, so eating in a healthier way seems actually also to promote sustainability of resources like fuel and water. The DGAC concludes about these reports:  “higher consumption of animal-based foods was associated with higher estimated environmental impact”.    

The North American Meat Institute’s President Barry Carpenter immediately snapped:

 If our government believes Americans should factor sustainability into their choices, guidance should come from a panel of sustainability experts that understands the complexity of the issue.

Oh my.  And here’s Howard Hill, President of the National Pork Producers Council:

It appears the advisory committee was more interested in addressing what’s trendy among foodies than providing science-based advice for the average American’s diet.

Here in Los Angeles we are ahead of the curve, perhaps, lucky enough to have food policy shaped by innovators.  The LA Food Policy Council, created in 2012, is an independent multi-stakeholder initiative located within the Mayor’s Office to advance innovative food policies. And it has bite.

We spoke to Clare Fox, Director of Policy and Innovation at the LA Food Policy Council about its environmental mission:

If we’re serious about health and healthy eating then we need to also be serious about a healthy food system, in which food that is good for you is available to us in the future.   Growing practices, labor practices in the food system feed into what makes our food system truly sustainable. That’s our source of nourishment for the future.  It’s appropriate that we think about the interrelationsip between human health and environmental health; there’s really no separation.

The super effective tool the Council has created to implement its mission  to encourage a just and sustainable food system is called the Good Food Purchasing Program.  

This program harnesses the  purchasing power of major institutions – including the City of LA and the massive Los Angeles Unified School District – to encourage greater production of sustainably produced food.  Clare Fox explained:

To fulfill the dream this policy represents you need major institutional purchasers with serious food budgets to send market signals to growers of local, sustainable, humane food that they have business; and they also send signals to actors not on board with those values that they need to start moving in that direction and change if they want to continue with contracts.

If a company wants to win a contract to supply food to these institutions it has to score high in five crucial categories: (1) local economies, (2) environmental sustainability, (3) valued workforce, (4) animal welfare, and (5) nutrition.  In the coming year, the LAUSD for example, has most of its food contracts up for renewal – that’s a billion dollar food budget! – and Clare explained that the five value categories have been written into the very proposal requests the LAUSD is issuing to all vendors:

Effectively they’re saying to vendors: “tell us how you are going to be a 5 star good food provider”. 

The first two of the Good Food Purchasing Program value categories – about local food and the environment – are all about the environment, showing how central the marriage of health and sustainability is to this city’s emerging good food policy:

The Good Food Purchasing Program sends out market signals on a local level but it also sends out policy priority and value priority signals to the Federal government on the shift we need to see…

Clare Fox, LA Food Policy Council

Sounds good to us.  Let’s applaud and support Los Angeles taking the lead in this.  

There is no conversation to be had about health and nutrition for people if it does not consider its impact on the planet and the health of its soil.  Compare the work of Bill McKibben’s 350.org:  it has identified the folly of colleges investing in fossil fuels that will destroy the very planet its students are being educated to live on.  So must we see the holistic connection between our health and the planet’s health.  

US soil microbiologist Elaine Ingham, of Soil Foodweb Inc. fame, has shown that the quality of our soil affects the quality of our food and its fundamental ability to nourish us – and every time the soil is disturbed, or artificial fertilizers and pesticides are applied, soil life is killed and soil structure compromised.

Research such as the China Study  and the myriad reports referenced by DGAC indicate that lowering our consumption of red meat, processed meat and sugared drinks whilst upping the amount of vegetables, whole grains and fruits we eat is healthier for us – and may even promote longevity too.  The fact that growing produce and grains (when it’s done responsibly) can also be more sustainable means we can marry a positive change in our diet with a positive change for our world.

But changing practices is a long struggle and fundamental change needs the Federal government push and weight behind it.  As Clare Fox put it:

As successful as we may be on local levels, without some fundamental change in federal policy we are always going to be trying to tweak things at the margins.  We’re going to hit the limit of what we can accomplish on the local level and we’re going to have to see change on a federal level.

Clare Fox, LA Food Policy Council

So if the USDA takes the DGAC advice, all to the good.  But what we’re seeing is a little dizzying:  one side of the USDA spending billions supporting GMO corn for the massive beef and pork feedlots, the other about to advise us that this practice cannot go on, as sustainability has to be part of our vision of nutrition and health.  

“It speaks to some of the structural tensions that the USDA represents, internal tensions  around both being the department that promotes agriculture and also sets determinations around dietary guidelines.  In a sense they’re setting themselves up for a dynamic tension of interest.  It blows up that contradiction and opens up a conversation about whether or not USDA is able to promote those interests simultaneously in the best possible way.”

Clare Fox, LA Food Policy Council

Buckle your seatbelts, because this debate will be furious.  The government, with these guidelines, by joining the conversation about the connection between nutrition and sustainability, has opened up a can of organic worms from Big Ag’s perspective.

But the reality is what the organic and sustainable food movement has been pressing for, for years:  we need a public policy that supports sustainable farming, otherwise change will not come fast enough.   

Sophie and Elliot

By Sophie Haber and Elliot Hodges

As two creative travelers, we had a vision in our heads and a camera in our hands. We both grew up traveling the world and discovered our love for photography at a young age. When you are able to co-create with someone and collaborate on a vision you manifest in your mind it is the best kind of feeling! That being said, the two of us set out to our local farmers market hoping to document the natural beauty of the faces at the Farmers Market. Both with a camera at our hip and an inviting smile we created this community within our photographs of the faces of the farmers market. From close up detail shots of shoes and veggies in the mulch at their feet to full length portraits of what a day in the life farmers market goer looks like we are threading an organic looking story together. We are setting out on our road trip up the northern coast from Santa Barbara to Canada and are hoping to continue this story onto other farmers markets and farms. Its a journey with no set destination and no time limit, just the way we love! As artists we hope to collaborate with many more faces and beautiful souls to make this story rich in love!  

A listing of food events that celebrate the Southern California foodscape and local farmers: 

Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19: Cal Poly Pomona holds its 22nd Annual Pumpkin Festival at Kellogg Ranch. Guests are allowed to choose their own pumpkins from the thousands of choices right on the patch they were grown in. Don’t like pumpkins? No worries. With a corn maze, Insect Fair, and petting zoo, there are many things to do at this event. Saturday morning will have a pancake breakfast while Sunday will feature an earthquake simulator and a memorial of the victims of 9/11. All proceeds from this event go to support farm operations and the College of Agriculture student clubs and activities.

Sunday, October 19th: Hosted by Kings Road Apothecary. Elderberries, the immune system, flu season and fire cider. This beginner-level class will be about flu season, the immune system, and herbs and therapeutics for both avoiding getting sick and what to do for colds and flus. Read more.

Saturday, November 1st: Hosted by Kings Road Apothecary. Roots. This intermediate-level class will be an exploration of roots, ancestry and the thinning of the veils, and stress and finding who we are in a noisy world. Read more.

Apple butter is like apple sauce — just highly concentrated and much sweeter. It has a caramelized texture and goes great over toast or even in a cocktail. Or, bake with it! You can substitute it for oil and butter. Here are just few of the ways to use this underrated condiment: 

• Add it to your morning oatmeal.
• Slather it on biscuits or muffins. 
• Cook it with chicken. (A Southern Fairy Tale) 
• In a cocktail: mix it with bourbon, lemon juice, apple juice. (Sweet Lady Cook) 
• In ice cream: fold it into vanilla ice cream and top it off with a ginger-chocolate ganache. (Food & Wine) 
• Make them into snickerdoodles. (Crazy for Crust) 

By Leandra Ramlo

Cooking is a valuable life skill for kids of all ages, boys and girls alike. igniting the spark inside them with how to make a simple pasta dish can easily evolve into getting baking accessories now at Ann Clark Cookie Cutters. It could even transform into becoming a professional career for your child.

Whether it becomes their aspiration or not, the kids will be thanking you once they’re out of the nest and aren’t forced to resort to instant noodles.
While takeout may always be an option, that should be for a treat.

The best way to teach your kids to cook is to do it with them, and there are plenty of sites out there, like Compt-Aam, that have some great tips on how to successfully cook with kids. It’s never too early to start. But we understand: in this day and age, time is limited. Regardless, if time is a factor then you could enroll them in a cooking class, be it one from CocuSocial or anywhere else. Go ahead, dig in, have them give some of these classes a try. You may find that their inner chef is burning to come out. Of course, before they attend one of these classes, it might be worth going through some of the basics with them. This will allow them to have a head start and it will increase their safety in the kitchen. You could even read some of the posts on https://www.preparedcooks.com to start teaching them some of the basics.

HipCooks
HipCooks has two locations in Los Angeles and there’s an entire class called “HipKids” dedicated to teaching the little ones how to use all of their senses. It’s $35 and ideal for kids ages 8-12. Classes include kid-friendly knife skills, a chef’s hat, and a take-home recipe booklet. Private classes are also available.

Cook LA
Cook L.A. has after-school classes designed especially for kids ages 8-15. It’s completely hands-on and menu items include caesar salad with croutons, homemade baked lasagna, shepherd’s pie, hand pies, and soft pretzels with dipping sauces. Classes typically start at 4:30 p.m. and end at 8:30 p.m. Pricing is around $50 and all skill levels are welcomed.

South Bay School of Cooking
Structured for kids the ages 8-14, South Bay School of Cooking’s kids classes focuses on different themes. They have an entire summer program in July through August from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The cost is $350 and includes recipes, handouts, ingredients, lunch, and an apron to take home. A straightforward calendar is located on their site, which lists a variety of either single or packaged classes to easily sign up for.

Radical Cooks
With an emphasis on well-being through the cooking of local, sustainable ingredients, Radical Cooks goes above and beyond to teach you how to make healthy creations using all kinds of meats, vegetables, and fruits. The founder, Nina Zippay, teaches many of the classes herself and welcomes cooks of all skill levels. The kids classes are aimed at the younger ones and they are limited to only six cooks in the kitchen. There are summer camps available and birthday cooking parties.

Sur La Table
You may only know Sur La Table as a kitchenware store, but they also have popular cooking classes. Many classes are for people ages 18 and older, but there are a fair amount of classes just for young ones beginning at age 7. They have a summer cooking classes with a focus on food science or baking. Classes start at around $69.

Or, teach them at home! Out of the Box Collective offers Real Food Boxes, complete with simple recipes and ingredients from local farms that you can cook with your kids at home.

Juice cleanses have been all the rage in LA even if there is no real reason to be doing them. Juice tastes delicious and we like it! We decided to roundup recipes for refreshing fruit and produce blended juices for everyday enjoyment, not just to rid your body of toxins. Click the photos for each recipe.

Beetroot, Carrot, & Apple

Recipe and photo by Thandi Eats Vegan. This homemade juice gives you a healthy morning buzz and is great for your skin.

Peach Pie Juice

Recipe and photo by Kelly for Nosh and Nourish. This is a sweet potato based, peach pie tasting, vitamin rich juice.

Tropical Groove Smoothies

Photo and recipe by Sarah Britton for My New Roots. The juices are inspired by the relaxing seaside environment and local ingredients of Indonesia.

Green Smoothie

Recipe and photo by Morgan for the Improv Kitchen. This green juice is a natural boost of energy filled with apple, ginger, greens, tea, and mint.

Cantaloupe, Lime, Mint, & Ginger and Pink Grapefruit, Mint, & Spinach

Recipes and photos by Lily Diamond for Kale & Caramel. K&C has two mouthwatering juices each easy to make and satisfying.

Get your locally sourced farm fresh ingredients for juicing from Out of the Box Collective

By Clarissa Wei

Switch up your getaway plans and instead of booking a hotel, try staying on a farm for a couple of days. Farm stays are wonderful ways to reconnect with the land and it’s a good way to keep the kids busy; they can feed the chickens, milk the goats, or help weed the garden. Think of it as a learning experience.

Rinconada Dairy
Rinconada Dairy is a raw sheep milk producer and starting at $175 a night, you can stay at their rustic hacienda-style ranch house, complete with a sprawling view of the coastal hills of San Luis Obispo County. There are two options: the colorful Fiesta Room ($175 a night) or the apartment ($225 a night). Wireless internet access is available, but might we suggest putting aside your gadgets for the getaway to fully take in the richness of their gardens and the spectacular 92-acre property. The kitchen is stocked with eggs from their chickens, bacon from their pigs, cheese and other baked goods. You’re also invited to join hosts Christine and Jim Maguire in the cheese-making process or help them feed the sheep and goats by scattering food in their animal feeding trough. Two night minimum stay is required. 4680 W. Pozo Road, Santa Margarita, CA 93453; (805) 438-5667.

Credit: Flip Flop Ranch

Flip Flop Ranch
Flip Flop Ranch is nestled in Lucerne Valley. Dedicated to preserving heritage breeds, they raise varieties like Dorkings, Cotton Patch geese, Nigerian Dwarf goats, Guinea hogs, Australorps, Ancona ducks, and Bourbon Red Turkeys. They have quite the property; the farm house is a 3000 square foot five bedroom home. It can accommodate 15 visitors and comes with a fully equipped kitchen. Guests are welcome to feed the chickens and milk the goats. Other activities include soap-making, canning, horseback riding, and egg gathering. 9522 Donaldson Rd, Lucerne Valley, CA 92356; 760-680-6146.

Little Creek Acres Farm
Just north of San Diego, The Center For Living In Harmony is a nonprofit organization with an extensive program dedicated to farm stays. They offer anything from casual weekend stays to more structured farm programs. There’s even an apprenticeship program — if you’re up for the manual labor. The property is small compared to most farms: it spans 10-acres but they have animals, a garden, an orchard, and a farmstand. Youth programs are readily available and itineraries can include ping-pong, hiking, or goat-walking. 13802 Little Creek Lane, Valley Center, CA 92082; 760-749-9634.

Credit: Fat Uncle Farms

Fat Uncle Farms
Nate Siemens of Fat Uncle Farms has a ranch in Lompoc that has been around since 1920 and spans 100 acres, with plenty of livestock and farming projects. Their guesthouse is bookable via AirBnB and starts at $809 a week. Company is welcomed as the family milks goats, feeds the animals, collects eggs, and waters the garden. And when a breather is needed from the sweet farm life, take a hike around the property or head to one of the neighboring farms or vineyards. According to the owners, ice cream making sessions and campfires are common and might we add — awesome — occurrences. Campbell Rd, Lompoc; 661-599-2103.

Notable mentions: Mariposa Creamery in Altadena.  Farm stays are currently sold out for this season. though. Windrose Farms offers seasonal camping in the orchards for $20/night. And if you’re in Washington, Quillisascut Farm is a haven. See our feature on Quillisascut here.

Clarissa Wei is head of marketing for Out of the Box Collective and a local food writer.

Guys, I think we’re approaching food completely wrong. So many people use crash dieting as a way to make themselves those few pounds slimmer, which ultimately gives them a bad relationship with food. This is a shame, as those who keep a balanced diet and use supplements from companies like nucific to keep their cravings down, are more likely to lose weight in a successful way.

I’m in the millennial generation. It’s a generation of juice cleanses, paleo if you’re in that community, gluten-free, and an endless feed of photos of my generational counterparts hitting the gym hard and supplementing with murky green shakes. For those who aren’t into that sort of thing, or “bird food,” as some of my friends like to call it, they’re hawking over bowls of glorious artisanal ramen and seasonal shared small plates in airy restaurants with chalkboard walls and local beer.

It’s exhausting.

People spend more money on gym memberships than on quality groceries. People know more about the pedigree of local chefs than their local farmers.

To be able to cook well at my age is a rare skill. Those who are adept at it are like unicorns. People actually brag about not being able to cook.

And it’s no wonder why. We were taught to prioritize academia. I grew up in a traditional Taiwanese family with immigrant parents who forced me out of the kitchen despite my protests. I was instructed to focus on math, piano, Chinese, science. When I would try to cook, I would be met with condescending eye rolls and scoffs. And so, illiterate in the art of cooking, I ate out all the time in college. I gained weight and felt depressed, constantly hungry, and obsessed with what I was eating. I started really getting into food and fell straight into writing about the restaurant world in New York City. People love food. Post an article on bacon-laced sweets or a doughnut/croissant mutt and lines will form. People will camp out. People will go out of their way. To consume, consume, and consume. It can get so bad that people fall into this hole and don’t know how to get out of it. My friend had some luck with using a Hypnotherapy Melbourne treatment plan, but I didn’t have access to that at the time and was stuck with what to do next.

There was a brief phase where I started to really obsess over my body. Bombarded with images of fit, beautiful women both online and in real life, all while dating a gym aficionado – I guilted myself into not working out.

I started counting calories, running miles, eliminating wheat, eating smaller portions, and I’d order mostly salads whenever I went out. I became stressed out and obsessive. Who wouldn’t? In addition of normal day-to-day tasks, I was micromanaging my body. Now when I look back, I realize the things I was so conscious of are things that happen to most people, and that there are ways to improve them. Bloating, for example, used to be an element of my weight that would mentally affect me, but now I’m aware that many supplement companies, such as gundry md, sell supplements that include ingredients that help with bloating. They can even help with weight loss in general, too. So I used to get so worked up about food for no reason at all.

I’ve abandoned all of the above: The daily gym routine. The counting calories. The fad diets. The heavy juicing. The obsession with restaurants. I will not wait in your lines.

And I’ve never felt better in my life. I don’t have to think about what I’m eating, how much I’m eating, when I should eat, if I should be eating. I don’t feel behind if I haven’t checked out the latest, hottest restaurant. The only thing I feel like I will keep on top of is my vitamin intake, because that does actually help my body. Diets and gym obsessions do nothing for my body other than over work it and make me feel bad about myself. By eating a balanced diet, that is unrestrictive, and taking my daily vitamins such as Vitamin C (click here to see one of the best liposomal vitamin c), I am happier and definitely healthier.

It’s simple really.

Eat. Real. Food.

You see, the gym fad and the diet fad requires you to consciously think about what you’re doing with your body. It requires you to pay for that membership, to abide by strict dieting rules to accomplish a certain goal. On the other end, in the restaurant space, it’s easy to overeat because you’re determined to try the darlings of the menu that you’ve heard so much about. Eating has become some sort of statement. Checking in at a particular restaurant gives you a weird type of street cred.

It’s so unnecessary. (Which I why I gravitate toward mom-and-pop restaurants in my writing. I adore them not so much for the food, but for the culture and stories they’re bringing.)

I get a box of recently harvested, locally-sourced, organic, pesticide-free groceries every week. It’s not just fruits and veggies. There are meats, cheese, grains, and occasionally, a bar of fair trade chocolate. I’m forced to cook, to feed myself, and for the first time, begin a real love affair with my food. I’m eating rich, buttery pork chops, freshly-made pasta, hand-harvested rainbow carrots. The tomatoes are potent – they’re dry-farmed.

I’m learning that dinner can be utterly simple. I’ll slice my cheese of the week and eat it with the grapes. Or, I’ll saute my sunburst squash with onions, season it with salt and pepper and serve it over pasta. Not every meal needs to be a epic feat.

When you eat fresh, amazing things happen. You don’t need the sauces, the complicated dressings, the elaborate prep work. Fruits and vegetables have an entirely different texture and taste. My onions are consistently sweeter than run-of-the-mill supermarket varieties. I can eat an entire tomato by itself. I’m hooked on the subtle sweetness of yellow corn. Quick blanched vegetables with a simple aioli – that’s my go-to snack. Trust me, recently-harvested carrots taste a hell of a lot better than baby carrots from the supermarket. I don’t have to worry about brining my chicken; it’s naturally juicy. Grass-fed butter over a fresh loaf of bread that was baked that morning? It’s heavenly.

As for my body. I don’t even think about it anymore. I don’t have to. I eat to eat. I don’t eat to make a statement. I’m eating whole foods and simple dishes that aren’t laced with additives. And if at all, I face any troubles like digestive issues, low immunity, bloating, or anything for that matter, I might rely on natural therapies or supplements like Bio Complete 3, which might provide me relief. Consider checking out the Bio Complete 3 reviews before deciding if such healthy options are right for you!

That said, here’s why I will never diet again: Because I’ve fallen in love with real, wholesome food.

And so, I say, away with the crazy fads, the weeks of hard-core juicing, the obsessive workouts. Kale chips are delicious, but they shouldn’t be the only thing you eat.

I challenge you: try a week of eating real food. Try food that has been harvested recently minus the pesticides, minus the hormones. Go to your local farmers’ market. Re-learn, from the ingredients up, what you’re putting in your body.

Have a love affair with your food. Touch the produce. Cut it. Cook it. Because as with all relationships, if you’re in a healthy, loving bond – you won’t sweat the little things.

Noah Donnell-Kilmer is a FoodCorps service member working with the Garden School Foundation. He is the only FoodCorps member in Los Angeles and works in two school gardens teaching cooking and gardening to students in pre K-6th grade. In his spare time, Noah enjoys cooking with friends, playing unhealthy amounts of Ultimate Frisbee, camping, and making occasional Santa Barbara Farmers Market trips with Out of the Box Collective.

It is a daunting task to sum up a full year of work with FoodCorps, especially a year as rich as the soil I work with.

FoodCorps is a national non-profit where community leaders band together to educate youth in healthy food practices. While this service takes many different forms around the country, mine was as a part of the Garden School Foundation, where I taught within the Pasadena and Los Angeles Unified School Districts.

The Garden School Foundation has developed a comprehensive garden curriculum over the last seven years at our flagship 24th Street Elementary garden site. Our garden curriculum uses the gardens to teach grade appropriate science standards in a hands-on manner. Cooking lessons focus on four themes: eating in season, eating foods that make us grow up not out, eating the rainbow, and turning regular foods into super foods.

While my schedule was very predictable (gardening classes for two weeks, cooking classes for two weeks), my day-to-day was anything but. Recipes and garden lessons changed as the seasons changed. In September we made heirloom tomato salads and watermelon agaua fresca. In January we made a kale waldorf salad and bibimbap with garden grown carrots, cabbage, and radishes. It wasn’t just the change of seasons in that gardens or the recipes that made this “work” varied and ever-changing. Rather, the growth, curiosity, and excitement of the children made everyday a different adventure in the local food world.

I will be honest, this was definitely a year of growth and learning for me as well. It was my first year out of college, so just waking up before 10 a.m. was a feat in and of itself. But now there were bills I had never heard of, living with four other people in the same boat, and this new full time job where I was calling many of the shots. At times, there were a few missteps along the way. Like a watermelon gazpacho recipe, where the ingredients just didn’t combine well and I had to put my best “yummy!” face on while trying to convince the class that it was tasty. Or the many times I added too much cumin, jalapenos, chili flakes, bleu cheese, onion, or other harsh flavor to a particular dish. Finally, there were times when I felt overmatch by classes trying to wrangle unruly students around the garden. I think anyone will tell you that outdoor classroom management is much different from indoor classroom management. This may seem like the year was a confused, crazy, experiment, but I consider it amazingly successful.

I measured my success not by how popular the classes were, but by their lasting impact. I could see this by the changes students made in their opinions and understanding over the course of the year. There were small symbols of this in quotes like, “We don’t have steak in garden class, because steak doesn’t grow on trees, duhh.” Yet, where the real changes can occur are in the homes of students, where they can have some control over what they eat. A student once came to me and said, “I loved the raw corn and radish salad so much I had my grandma make it for Thanksgiving and my whole family loved it.”

Students are always telling me about the gardens and fruit trees they are growing at home and asking me how they can improve them. These are the moments that keep me motivated and tell me that I’m not just washing hundreds of little bowls and forks at the end of the day for nothing.

At times I felt like a magician, convincing students to try new fruits and vegetables in foreign combinations. Most of the time they have loved the new food, so they know now to trust Mr. Noah’s food. Many of the students just weren’t exposed to the possibilities of healthy, local food, but once they began to think about what they could do at home and at school, it is amazing to see what was conjured up. I’ve had the privilege of being a part of the growth of our next generation of foodies, chefs, farmers, gardeners, policy makers, food service directors, and business people. The possibility that just one of them might remember something from one of my lessons is what drives this work.

That, and the big smile and two thumbs up that come from a student’s first taste of a persimmon.

Melissa Cortina is a Los Angeles butcher based in Los Angeles and has been behind the chopping board at Lindy & Grundy and the Cook Family Butcher Shop. Check out her other stories on her column, The Butcher’s Table. 

When I was asked as a child what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never once said I wanted to be a butcher. I believe I wanted to be an artist, a teacher, a writer and, for a short period in my teens, a Disney Imagineer (true child of Southern California). These days, when I am asked how I got into my current occupation, I struggle to come up with an adequate response. The thing is, it’s kind of a long story and, while I’m proud of my accomplishments, I wonder sometimes if people understand the value of my work, as I see it. I’m always afraid that when I say I’m a butcher, they’re thinking, “You’re just a butcher.”

And then there’s the whole gender issue. A female butcher? Whaaat? There are no words for me to describe how surprised some people are when I tell them what I do; it’s unnerving. Very often, the gender thing becomes the focus of the conversation before I ever have a chance to say anything else.

The National Women’s Law Center estimates that in 2010, only 24.6% of those individuals working full-time as butchers or meat-cutters were women. The category “butchers and meat-cutters” is one of eleven jobs the NWLC calls Nontraditional Occupations for women. Only the percentages of women who were firefighters, construction workers, engineers, law enforcement, and heavy equipment mechanics were smaller. The prime reason the gender issue takes precedence when I talk about my career isn’t because most people think a woman can’t be a butcher; it’s because most butchers aren’t women and so it’s surprising to see one. Your career is what you make it and so many people do not go for something they want to do because they feel like they won’t fit in or will be ridiculed for it, but gaining experience along the way can show everybody that you are breaking down these barriers. Using resources like ARC Resumes Texas services can help compile everything together and appeal to prospective businesses, there is so much we can do to support ourselves, and yet, people still get surprised.

Why?

For a long time, the meat industry assumed that women would not want to do or were not capable of doing the heavy work associated with meat cutting. Butchering can indeed be a physical and difficult job. However, the assumption that women aren’t capable of becoming butchers is, of course, baseless.

Meat cutting is an art built on a skill set. The repetitive motions of butchery build muscle memory, agility, and precision. Anyone can do it if they really want to, though some will naturally do it better than others. Technique is the key, and many master butchers have told me that brawn is often the enemy. In this sense, because they are often not as forceful as men, women make excellent butchers.

 I’ve encountered my fair share of resistance from men who were sure that I “didn’t know what it meant to be a butcher,” that I “thought butchery was glamorous,” and finally that I “wouldn’t like it once I found out how it really was.”

At Whole Foods, where I begged to be transferred to the butcher department so that I could learn basic cuts, I was told more than once that I “wouldn’t like that kind of work.” Once, when I asked the man behind the Huntington Meats counter if he would let me come and work for free, he finally relented, adding, “but you know that if you mess something up, I’m going to yell at you, right? Will you be okay with that?”

Note: these are all real things men said to me. 

But the face of the meat industry is changing; the old boys club is dissolving as more and more women find careers as ranchers and processors. In my experience, the great majority of male butchers welcome their female counterparts to the industry, so long as women show a true desire to do the work. The greatest obstacle was really my own self-consciousness about frequently being the only woman in the room. I had to be completely sure that I wanted to follow this path because everyone else seemed to question my motives for doing so.

This issue of motivation is the real explanation for the lack of female butchers and it’s what I think most people mean to ask when they say, “How did you become a butcher?” It’s not really a how question at all; it’s why. “Why would you, with your graduate degrees, and being a woman, and all your advantages in life, why would you choose to be a butcher?”

When I was 23 years old, I left graduate school to become a line cook because I hated how privileged and detached academia made me feel. On the line, I found an entirely different life; every task had immediate visible and tactile rewards. Even better, the food we made delighted and satisfied other people. I was fortunate enough to work in a farm-to-table kitchen, where a great deal of butchery was done in-house. This piqued my curiosity about meat cutting, but more importantly it started me on a path of inquiry about how food is grown and processed in the United States.

In pursuit of more knowledge about the food system, I went to live and work on a farm under the tutelage of Bob Cannard — sustainability expert, farmer, mad genius, and philosopher. Long mornings spent working on the farm were followed by sleepy afternoons on the patio of the farm house, where Bob gave lectures on any and all topics related to food and farming, ranging from the microbiology of soil to the meaninglessness of the organic label in the present day. Because of Bob, I began to look more holistically at the way we produce and consume food in this country. These were not things I contemplated as a graduate student, or even as a line cook.

For the first time, I began to understand the scope of the damage caused by our patterns of consumption and I was horrified. At the same time, I found continued joy in working with my hands and providing food for the community. So I set out to be a butcher, not because it was becoming cool and not because I wanted to break down gender barriers. Articles gave the impression that meat cutting is a glamorous occupation in which young butchers have the opportunity to become celebrities, the next Emeril or Mario Batali. For me, it wasn’t about that at all. I simply realized, after my time on the farm, that the meat industry was the area in which drastic change could have the greatest impact on the health of the planet, on our health as a nation, and on animal welfare. In 2006, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization claimed that the industrialized meat complex contributed to the production of more greenhouse gases than either transportation or industry. In 2009, World Watch writers Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang estimated that domesticated animals raised for food could account for at least half of all human-caused greenhouse gases. Do I need to repeat those statistics?

That’s the answer to the questions: How did you become a butcher? Why did you become a butcher? If you asked a lawyer, a law enforcement officer, or a teacher why they chose their vocation, no one would be surprised to hear that they wanted to help people, to have a positive impact on their community, or to change the world. So why do I have the feeling that I wouldn’t get the same understanding if I told someone that those are the very reasons that I became a butcher? In this respect, it shouldn’t be surprising that a woman sought a career in the meat industry; women have been working to change the world for a long time now.

Editor’s note: Melissa Cortina is a butcher based in Los Angeles. She lived and worked on a sustainable farm in Sonoma, attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and learned butchery at the hands of master Italian butchers before settling once again in Los Angeles, her home. Melissa managed Lindy & Grundy’s Local, Pastured, and Organic Meats for two years. Currently, she works as the HACCP Coordinator for Cook Family Butcher Shop in San Diego.

Hello, and welcome to The Butcher’s Table! Here you will find recipes and videos designed to demystify meat, stories from my life as a butcher, and conversations with small-scale California ranchers. The Butcher’s Table will give you the knowledge to select high quality meat and the confidence to make classic meat dishes at home.

The journey from working the line to the working the butcher counter has shown me that the chef’s table is entirely different from the butcher’s table. I first experienced this disparity while working for famed master butcher, Dario Cecchini. At his popular steak restaurant in the heart of Tuscany, simplicity reigns supreme: Dario serves nothing more than beef tartare, steak cooked rare, and simple vegetables. There are no ten course tasting menus, no dishes containing more than five or six ingredients. Still, crowds of people travel from around the world just to take their place at his table. While the utmost care is paid to preparing this simple food, Dario pays equal attention to the atmosphere of the dinner itself. Every night at his crowded, boisterous restaurant, total strangers sit elbow to elbow at long tables, eating and talking like the best of friends. Witnessing those dinners night after night, I began to understand that the spirit of The Butcher’s Table is about more than using the whole animal. It’s about celebrating the abundance the animal provides us, and sharing that abundance with the community.

In recent years, the small-scale American meat market has experienced tremendous growth. Books like The Omnivore’s Dilemma and films like Food Inc. opened a Pandora’s box of information about the way food arrives at our tables, and how it affects our lives. More and more people understand that the industrial meat complex delivers cheap, accessible meat at a tremendous cost to animal welfare, public health, and the environment. As consumers, we want to understand the best way to respect the animal, the environment, and our budgets, but we are increasingly distanced from the knowledge our ancestors had about how meat is best raised, harvested, and cooked. Here, I’ll attempt to remedy that generational gap and empower you to enjoy the abundance of The Butcher’s Table at home.

I’m fortunate enough to have a bunch of nerds as friends, whose idea of a good time is coming over to my apartment and cooking with whatever ingredients I have available. 

“Do you have hoisin sauce?” one guy asked, the first time we did this.

“Uh, no…I can run to the market and pick it up though,” I said.

“No, no, let’s just use what you have.”

And just like that, a tradition began. 

The dinner sessions start with an assessment: I’ll grab everything from my fridge and pantry and lay it out on the table. (Full disclosure: I work for Out of the Box Collective and get all of my groceries delivered from them. A large box of fruits, veggies, meats, cheese, grain, nuts and other goodies is delivered to my doorstep every Monday.) The boys will scan the items and pluck out what they want. We make it up as we go, cooking one course at a time. Once that dish is done, it’s plated, photographed, and then enjoyed, family-style among the group. And then we all get up and start the second course, repeating the process until everything is used up.

It becomes a three to four hour soiree and by the end of it, my fridge a lot emptier, we’re stuffed, and have a handful of photos to show for the experience. 

Here’s a play-by-play: 

8:42 PM

My friends are on their way. They’ve brought their own knives. 

9:00 PM

The assessment process. Everything is piled onto my kitchen counter and we begin picking out what we want.

9:15 PM

The cooking process begins.  

10:00 PM

The guys are just as into plating as they are cooking. 

Plating is taken very seriously.

10:15 PM

The first course is ready. We’ve used up chicken breasts, green beans, bacon, and potatoes. 

Pan-seared chicken breast with crispy skin & a balsamic reduction. It’s served with pan roasted fingerling potatoes with bacon chunks, garlic, and scallions. Finished off with sautéed purple/green/yellow string beans. Everything was basically cooked in Black Pig Bacon fat and/or McClelland butter.

10:30 PM

I’m snacking on popcorn while they take care of the meats.

At this point, we’re not too sure about what to do for the second course.

“Let’s use up the ground beef!” I say. “We can make meatballs.”

“What do we pair it with?”

“I don’t know.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

11:15 PM

This was an odd combination, but it worked well.

Meatballs made from grassfed beef served with a tomato sauce made from a variety of heirloom tomatoes. Paired with sweet corn quickly sauteed with bacon and finished with cayenne pepper/scallion/cilantro. Garnished with a variety of herbs: sage/rosemary/mint.

12:00 AM

Nuggets of lamb generously seasoned with cumin and grapefruit zest. Paired with a spring mix salad tossed in a freshly made grapefruit vinaigrette with fresh grapefruit segments, grapes, and crumbled goat cheese.

1:00 AM

It’s 1:00 AM in the morning and we’re exhausted but thoroughly stuffed. We’ve made three courses with three different cuts of meat. There are no leftovers — everything is wiped clean.

Farm-to-table isn’t just a pretty trend. There are many benefits to eating local: you’re supporting the local economy, you’re reducing the carbon footprint of the food by not letting it travel 3000+ miles, and of course, you’re getting all the healthy perks of eating organic. Plus, everything is intensely fresh; the produce is harvested ripe and is much more nutrient dense. There are lots of local restaurants focusing on bringing you the freshest, most vibrant and delicious food that has been locally sourced. We scoured through Los Angeles and have compiled our favorite sustainable eateries.

Photo: Akasha

Akasha Restuarant, Bar and Bakery
From the food down to their uniforms, Akasha is dedicated to eco-friendly methods of production. Chef Akasha Richmond centers her menu based on what’s available at the farmers’ market and you can bet that all the ingredients are locally sourced and organic. Even the booze at Akasha is mindful; the bar serves organically produced spirits, beer, and wine. Don’t leave without trying their salty chocolate peanut bar. 9543 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

Photo: AOC

AOC
Suzanne Goin’s AOC is Beverly Hills’ farm-to-table sweetheart. The award-winning Goin has long been a champion for hyperlocal food sourcing. The wine bar has an eclectic selection of organic, biodynamic, and sustainable spirits. The restaurant focuses on small plates and family-style shared platters, so be sure to bring a couple of friends. We recommend the arroz negro, a rice dish with meaty squid and saffron aioli. It’s one of AOC’s signature dish and while it’s messy, we assure you the texture and flavor is well worth it. 8700 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Photo: Forage LA

Forage
The Forage family has a passion for living and eating well. The restaurant is family-owned and an idyllic lunch destination if you can snag a seat. The coolest part: they source from urban growers. The restaurant collaborates with home growers and guides them through the process of certification with county food regulators. Despite its popularity, Forage has a relatively modest operation. It’s cafeteria style and you order off their hot counter, which features a rotating selection of protein bowls, diverse sides, and elevated vegetables. Regulars love the pork belly sandwich, mac n cheese (this is an evening specialty), and the kale salad. 3823 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Photo: Girasol

Girasol
Chef CJ Jacobson of Top Chef takes local eating to whole other level. In addition to sourcing from regional farms, the restaurant actually forages from the Angeles National Forest. The tender octopus salad with fresh greens is a must. We’re also a huge fan of the beets and berries salad, sprinkled with a creamy and substantial goat cheese. 11334 Moorpark St, Los Angeles, CA 91604

Photo: Gjelina

Gjelina
One word: pizza. Gjelina makes simple everyday food with quality conscientiously sourced ingredients. About 90% of their produce comes from the farmers’ market, which is conveniently located right up the street. This place is perfect for brunch but their flavor packed freshly baked pizza is their main attraction. 1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291

Photo: Clarissa Wei

Malibu Farm
Malibu Farm first began as a pop-up but the venture soon opened a brick and mortar after soaring in popularity. The owner, Helene Henderson, uses ingredients from three local farms including her own. Henderson doesn’t use excessive sauces to alter their flavor. Instead she prefers to showcase the true flavor of the produce. They have a great location on the pier and it’s perfect for brunch. The fried egg sandwich and grilled chocolate cake that’s not too sweet are more than enough reason to keep going back. 23000 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265

Photo from Pedalers Fork

Pedalers Fork
Pedalers Fork is an adorable two-story Calabasas restaurant with vintage bikes lined up on the walls (some of them date from back in the 1800s). They source from more than a dozen producers and have crafted an extensive menu that covers both land and sea. We really dig the fava bean hummus with organic vegetables and warm pita bread. 23504 Calabasas Rd, Calabasas, CA 91302

Photo from Clarissa Wei

Sqirl
Jessica Koslow’s Sqirl has become an integral part of L.A.’s growing food culture. It started out as an artisan toast and jam café and has now become one of the hippest restaurants in Los Angeles. There can be quite a wait on weekend afternoons. The restaurant’s produce comes from local farmers within a 350 mile radius as well as from their own garden. Our favorites: a fluffy brioche toast topped with fresh ricotta. Oh, and of course, the jam. 720 N Virgil Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029