GMO's and the UN.

A post title of acronyms. Ahhh, fond memories of my banking days....

(I love the colour of a yolk from a  free range organic egg. Benjamin Moore or OPI should snatch that shade up something quick. I would wear Yolk from a Happy Chicken on my toes.)  These two stories were both covered today on the news and I found it somewhat ironic. Ironic may not be the right word (Alanis Morissette may disagree) moreso interesting? peculiar? In my mind, anyways, it was troublesome.

(for a type A, colour within the lines kinda girl...these squares aren't looking so symmetrical) So the six o 'clock news ran two stories today. First, this one. Then this one.

The former is a story about UN special rapporteur for food Olivier De Schutter's recent investigation into food security in Canada. He stated that Canada has a large number of households (est. 800,000) who are food insecure - basically too poor to feed themselves decently.

The latter story covered an Okanagan orchardist who has created a genetically modified apple that won't turn brown and is waiting for approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

So basically we have way too many people going hungry and we have too many people too full to eat an apple and they don't want to eat a brown one later. Seriously? No... seriously? Yes. Seriously.

(These were some of the best looking scallions (green onions in my house but scallions is fancy talk) I had seen in a while. Organic? check. Local? Hmmm...not so much amigo. Buying green onion seeds for my garden tomorrow to earn back some food miles)  On one side, 800,000 households. Hungry.  On the other, an undisclosed market size, too full to finish their apple?  An apple? I certainly don't have the best eating habits and have been known to polish off more than my fair share of just about anything...but I challenge you to even find a skinny, oh-just-one-french-fry-for-me, kind of person who takes a bite of an apple and says...ahh, perfect. Now I'm satisfied. (It's like the Tic Tac people.   Since 1980, the Tic Tac line has been "The 1½ Calorie Breath Mint." Who is counting half calories??? Did anyone gain weight due to their Tic Tac intake?? Who is eating one and then woried about the caloric valuation?? but I digress.)

(mmmm, yummy. smushed up raw egg and raw prawns. no line up to lick the batters this time)  An apple (or anything perishable) to a mother that needs to use the food bank to feed her children would be a luxury. It saddens me. I feel like there is a serious disconnect here on so many levels. I have so many questions.

Why?

Why are we devoting energy and resources to this conversation when there are people that would love to give your brown unfinished apple to their son because its the only fresh produce he would get today?

Why is the Food Inspection Agency taking the time to review GMO apples when we have had over fifty recalls and warnings for improper food preparation?

Why would  Mother Nature not get a veto based on the fact cross pollination from the bees would destroy any organic farming within a neighbouring pasture?

(the bottom right was my attempt to make them pretty and round...it was neither pretty, nor round.) So I guess the question is what does any of this have to do with my quest to explore creative outlets. Well, I made wontons. And every day I confirm my desire to get more involved with the local food movement.  And if I am going to write a letter to the FIS urging them not to allow GMO apples in our interior farms, I'm gonna have to get creative with English language skills.  And where I think I really want to hone in my creative skills is in helping bridge the unnecessary gap between hungry kids...

and the full ones.

Homemade Wonton Soup

(imagine, if you will, the noodles in a nice deep dark brown soup bowl, with the fresh wontons, homemade broth and veggies ladled nicely over top...may a set of chopsticks over the bowl, and one of those chinese ladle spoons...a pretty napkin. Because that is the only finished product photo you will get...rookie mistake. Mr. sixtyone45 and myself were famished and just dove right in....and no one wants a picture of a have eaten bowl of soup.)

Wonton Wrappers

(not) adapted (at all) from Kitchen Simplicity

• 2 cups flour
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 -1/2 cup water

1. Sift flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Whisk together egg, salt and 1/4 cup water. Pour into flour well. Mix together, adding additional water until the mixture will stay together in a ball. (You may need more or less then 1/2 cup, use your discretion. Keep in mind that you do not want it to be sticky.)
2. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and pliable.
3. Let rest for 30-60 min. (This is so the gluten can relax. The longer it sits the easier it will be to roll out)
4. Divide dough in half. Keep one half covered while you roll out the other one on a surface lightly coated with cornstarch (if you use flour it may toughen it up). Roll out as thin as you possibly can.
5. Cut into 3.5 inch squares (You should be able to get approx. 12 wonton wrappers out of each half).

For the filling, I just threw (literally) thawed shrimp, an egg, scallions, garlic and ginger into the food processor. Hit the go button and voila, pastey, sticky filling. They freeze great too!.