Will The World Eat Less Water?
CRAFTSMANSHIP magazine reports on drought-friendly cuisine that may soon seem as familiar and fashionable as kale and heirloom tomatoes
SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Climate change in the American West is beginning to drive significant changes in agriculture and cuisine, CRAFTSMANSHIP, the online magazine, reports.
"We're going to have to change what's for dinner," Craig McNamara, a farmer who heads California's state agriculture board, tells the magazine. "Mother Nature is going to change our eating habits much faster than man."
The magazine's just-published second issue (available for no charge at http//craftsmanship.net) casts its distinctive lens on those changes. "We've all heard a lot about almonds," the water-guzzling nut that is California's most valuable agricultural export, said Todd Oppenheimer, the magazine's editor and publisher. "But, at least for adventurous cooks and eaters, the news isn't all terrible."
An overview of "the water we eat" prefaces the magazine's discussion. While almonds are known to have a "water footprint" of one gallon per nut, many culinary staples guzzle far more. Rice, for instance, requires nearly six times as much water per ounce served on the dinner plate as potatoes. Beef is much "thirstier" than eggs.
While there's no clear policy impetus at a national or state level, the magazine reports on efforts by individual farmers learning from centuries of practice in North Africa and other dry regions. Farms in arid regions of Arizona already cultivate a range of flavorful, nutritious crops such as Sonoran pomegranates, Baja California Mission guavas, Winter Banana apples, and even an arid-friendly Texas Mission variety of the almond. A drought-friendly dinner "isn't going to be any less delicious," Gary Nabhan, the Macarthur Foundation Fellow, agricultural ecologist and writer, tells the magazine.
More small farmers are learning how to make a living on dry-farm produce and heirloom varieties that were barely known 25 years ago. Now University of California researcher Thomas Nelson sees growing interest among chefs and farmers in harvesting drought-tolerant wild greens such as miner's lettuce, wild mustard, bristly ox tongue and black locust flowers. "They may sound obscure," CRAFTSMANSHIP reports, "but these foods are increasingly popular among professional foragers and chefs at up-market restaurants."
The focus on dry-climate cuisine continues with a look at clay-pot cooking, which is common in native American cultures in the Southwest as well as North Africa. Noted chef Paula Wolfert guides the magazine's "gastro-scientific" investigation of the technique. The magazine profiles Felipe Ortega, a New Mexico potter whose products are valued for their balance of design, weight and heat properties.
Other crafts covered in CRAFTSMANSHIP's latest issue include metalwork, with a paean to the perfect spoon created by Italy's late Massimo Vignelli, and amateur model-making through a profile of Revell, the manufacturer of classic model kits. A photo essay and related article celebrates the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris, a "chapel" of legendary inventions.
CRAFTSMANSHIP's first issue, launched online in mid-January, has reached more than 80,000 readers (according to Google Analytics), largely through social media distribution of its coverage of sustainable agriculture. "We've been amazed by the response, and hope our audience enjoys the new twists in our second issue," Oppenheimer said. A past National Magazine Award winner, Oppenheimer is the author of The Flickering Mind: Saving Education from The False Promise of Technology, a landmark examination of the impact of the computer era on our schools.
SOURCE CRAFTSMANSHIP
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