My budding food activism

As a student, my time is partitioned out in multiple directions,

sometimes simultaneously. Getting a job means even less free time.

 Despite not having enough hours in the day, I want to connect with the food scene here in Madison in some meaningful way. I see it as a part of my continuing education in all things food. Starting a food-oriented Facebook group was just the start. I'm looking at two other groups to get involved with this year: Slow Food UW and F.H. King Student Farm.

Both of these groups are student organizations within the UW. Slow Food UW is a student run extension of the Slow Food movement with an emphasis on educating fellow students, creating a relationship between local farms and the university, and redirecting university food service resources towards more local and sustainable food purchasing practices. F.H.King Student Farm is pretty self-explanatory: they have a two acre plot on campus and a greenhouse they use to grow crops.

Both organizations have internships that I could apply for. F.H. King would be during the growing season only. Slow Food UW is year around and has several different internships to choose from. I'm not sure what direction I want to take just yet, but I do have a rather grandiose idea for the Slow Food folks...they should open up a food cart!

Tomorrow's post will explain why this idea came to me, after reading about someone's Master's thesis. Stay tuned!

I got a J-O-B!!!!!!

Is it food related?

Of course it's food related! Keep reading!

I like to pretend that I have this massive audience that isn't a majority of my Facebook friends and doesn't know too many of the particulars about me and my daily life. But, perhaps someday I will have a legitimate "readership" who requires some of the more mundane details for contextual purposes.

I can dream, can't I?

For those few of you that don't know, I'm an adult student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying anthropology. My main area of focus is food, it's social and cultural relevance, and the like. I needed a part time job and I found one this week. I'll be working in the production area at the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant, which is part of the Food Science Department here at the UW. Now, I'm not a Food or Agricultural Science major, I'm less interested in the biology of food than I am the cultural aspects of it, but I am interested in how food is produced. As a student employee, I could be helping in several areas: milk bottling, ice cream making, cheese making, and delivery of said products. I am most interested in making cheese. I've always wanted to learn how. I'd be working with a guy by the name of Gary Grossen. He's the UW's master cheesemaker, 20+ years of experience, and he wins awards for his Gouda cheeses, including the Cheese and Butter Grand Champion at the World Dairy Expo in 2011.

All in all, I'm pretty excited. Tomorrow, I'll talk about something else I'm considering getting involved with that is food related...and another idea that borders the line between workable idea and delusion of grandeur!

Cafe Mob-Madison:putting our money where our mouths are.

I started a Facebook group.

I've started one or two of them before, but they were always meant to be ironic and/or funny. I am one of those people that can come up with lots of ideas, from the most mundane to absolute delusions of grandeur, but what I rarely do is follow up on any of my ideas. If I think an idea has enough potential to become something great, I'll pass it off to someone with the energy and single-minded determination I don't have to get it done. I'm often not motivated by anything more than just wanting something get done that has utility to it, or I just think the idea is neat, but I lack the attention span to see it through.

That changed this past weekend when I started Cafe Mob-Madison. Most people know what a flash mob is, (and if you don't, Google it!) and some people have even heard of a cash mob; where a group of people get together, set a minimum amount of money to spend per person, and then collectively go into a struggling, locally-owned business at the same time and buy stuff. It has an immediate economic impact on said business, but the event can also provide free advertising as well, either by exposing group members to a business they may have never been to before, and/or the event can receive local press, exposing even more people to a place they may not be aware of.

The idea behind Cafe Mob is to organize a cash mob that is specific to restaurants here in Madison. I'm a food guy. For fucks'sake, I blog about it! The least I can do as a food guy who gives a shit about the local dining scene is support it any way I can. I'm a college student, so my food dollars are stretched pretty thin already. But, I know plenty of people who aren't in a position of having to know every conceivable way of making ramen into a complete meal and are willing to spend some of their hard-earned food dollars on good locally owned restaurants that may be struggling a bit. The group is open to anybody. There's 35 members so far, several of whom I've never even met. I'm excited to see where this goes.

That's all for now. In the future, my posts are going to become shorter. I think I could write almost every day if I stick to just one central idea per post. I tend to wander a bit at times, but we'll see how it goes.

Your intestines and you: a quick owners guide.

I've been away for awhile and I'm not as sorry about it as I should be.
There are some people who actually read this stuff and it ceases to amaze me that this is so. Alas, I am a busy boy these days with school and other less noble pursuits. Compounding any disappointment you may have for my recent lack of material is the fact that I will not be talking about food today. Instead, let's talk about you.

But first, let's talk about me.

In 2006, at the tender age of 33, I was diagnosed with a condition called Diverticulosis. It is a weakening of the colon wall that forms a small pouch. Occasionally, tiny bits of mostly digested matter will get stuck in that pouch and will become infected, causing the intestines to become inflamed and causes a great deal of abdominal pain. My doctor back then wouldn't initially diagnose me with the condition, saying that I was too young to have it. He had never seen a case of diverticulosis in anyone under the age of 55. If the affected part of the intestine becomes too much of a problem, doctors can simply remove that part of the intestine. (you have a lot of intestines to work with) My condition is not that severe. However, it has nearly put me in the hospital twice. The latest bout with it was in early January and I had never told a doctor that my pain level was a "9" before that day. I didn't eat solid food for 4 days afterward and ate nothing but food that had the consistency of baby food for several days more. In a word: it sucked.

Now, how can you, humble reader, be lucky enough to experience this horrendous affliction? For starters, you can do what I did leading up to my diagnosis and eat less than a quarter of the daily recommended amount of fiber for a healthy 33 year old male. Eating nothing but processed foods will help you along with that. Add a tremendous amount of stomach-gurgling stress and you will be well on your way to diverticulosis hell! Also, to relive those wondrous moments of pain, continue to eat a low fiber diet and/or be stressed out as much as possible. Your colon won't thank you for it!

That's all for now. Next time, we'll talk about the other food relating excitement I'm dealing with these days. Until then, happy eating! (or something)

Happy New Year!!!!!

A happiest of new years' to all of you! I hope all of you are feeling better after a long night of over-consumption of, well, everything! You had a day of recovery. Today is a new day. There is football to be watched, (Go Badgers!) tasty bar food to be eaten, drinks to be drunk, toasts to be proposed, and a good time to be had by all, yet again.




To update all of you as to the recent goings on of this gourmet, gourmand, and glutton, I haven't written in awhile. Sorry about that. Finals at school and then the holidays got in the way of anything even remotely linked to passion within me and writing about anything other than neoliberalism and the current state of capitalism around the world was impossible. I am back, however, and things are going well. I was recently mentioned in an article on Eating Madison A to Z, having tried a new restaurant, Limon, with JM and Nichole. The food was pretty tasty and the conversation we were having about several of the restaurants in town was lively and a whole lot of fun. If you're interested on an honest opinion about just about every freakin' restaurant in Madison, (Limon is restaurant #758 for them) give Eating Madison A to Z a try.

The last time I posted here, I started on about my Great Madison Burger Challenge. I will compose a list of places I'm going to try later this week or next week. I have already been to two bars on my list, (Paradise Lounge and  Dexter's Pub) and I will write about those soon. Again, if you have any suggestions of a good burger within the city limits of Madison, feel free to comment here and I will add it to the list.

Until next time, cheers!

The Great Madison Burger Challenge: brought to you by...me.

I've posted about hamburgers once before, but it's a topic I will happily rehash time and time again. I am an unrepentant carnivore. I can appreciate vegetarianism from an intellectual point of view. I understand some of the health benefits of a veggie diet. I can also appreciate vegetarian cuisine when it's done right. Indians and Greeks have had thousands of years to perfect their all vegetable dishes and they do them well. Vegans, on the other hand...

...that's for another post.

Let's get back to burgers, shall we? Madison has surprised me in that I am not lacking for choices in the tasty burger department. We have chains here, same as anywhere else, (Culver's Butterburgers started not too far from here in Sauk City, WI) but Madison has a fair number of local places, restaurants and bars, that serve a good to great burger. I've tried most of them. Now, I'm going to try them all.

This coming week, I will start my Great Madison Burger Challenge. I am going to make up a list of restaurants and bars to find the best burger in town and report my findings here. If it is a place I haven't been to before, I will go more than once before writing about it. I have a list in my head that I'll write down here. If I am missing anyone's favorite burger joint, feel free to offer your suggestions to me. I do have two caveats: no fast food burgers. This includes Culver's. There will be a few chains on my list, but fast food burgers, after all is said and done, simply don't measure up to the standards I have for a truly great burger, so they will be avoided. And, all bars and restaurants must be within Madison city limits. No suburbs.

Here's my current off-the-top-of-my-head list:

Dotty Dumplings Dowry
AJ Bombers
Weary Traveler
Plaza Tavern and Grill
Five Guys Burgers
Harmony Bar and Grill
Blue Moon Bar and Grill
Old Fashioned
Cooper's Tavern
The Great Dane
Graze

Again, if I'm missing anywhere you find to have an awesome burger, please let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!!!

I won't be posting this week. I have stuff with the family to do, pumpkin pies to bake, lots of food to eat way too much of, and school work to knock out with three and a half weeks left in the semester. It's crunch time in more ways than one. Until next time, have a great holiday!