Tag Archives: food

Oh give me a home, where the Banker horses roam

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After traveling more than 1,540 miles over the course of three days, my folks and I were thrilled to be settling in for four nights at a motel right on the beach in Kill Devil Hills, N.C.

Since we arrived late Monday afternoon, the first goal was to get the car unloaded at our motel and then look for something other than ham and cheese sandwiches for supper.
I paged through the guide in our motel room and found what I thought sounded like a good place – it had seafood on the menu. It turned out to be the most expensive meal of the entire trip, unfortunately.

Strapped in and enjoying our safari-style ride on the beaches north of Corolla in search of the Banker horses.

Deciding I’d splurge just this one time, I ordered the seafood platter. It arrived on our table in a neat little dish and featured shrimp, scallops and flaked fresh crab meat. It was delicious. Dining on fresh seafood is perhaps one of the greatest things about traveling to coastal communities – that, and of course, seeing the lighthouses and relaxing on the sandy beaches.

Those who know me well – or have been reading my blog for several years – know that I have a fondness for lighthouses. While that sparked my desire to travel to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it certainly wasn’t the only thing we visited on our travels. In fact, several of the other activities we discovered ranked higher on our “most fun” list than any of the four lighthouse stops.

It’s a Banker horse, of course!

While I will dedicate a later blog to the lighthouses, I will tell you that our “hands-down, all-time favorite” thing to do on the Outer Banks was to climb aboard a sight-seeing safari truck up at Corolla and hit the sandy beaches in search of the Banker horses.

These feral horses are descendants of those brought by Spaniards in the 1500s. While the herd has dwindled to about 140 horses today, they remain in the wild, free to roam thousands of acres in a national preserve and throughout the secluded community of Carova on the far northern reach of the Outer Banks.

Another Banker horse feeding.

The entire experience is one we never would have been able to do on our own. For starters, beach driving requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle, and our family sedan wouldn’t have made it more than a car’s length off Highway 12 at Corolla before getting stuck.

Strapped onto bench seats behind the cab of the truck, we could see in all directions – from the sandy beaches and dunes to the Atlantic ocean and the extravagant homes and rental houses. This was a place that, if I really wanted to get away from it all, could be considered a little slice of Heaven on Earth.

These Bankers were in the back yard of someone’s home, joined by a strange looking bird that we were told likes to hang around with the Bankers.

Our tour guide told us the history of the Banker horses, how fundraising groups have become established and laws written to protect these animals from overpopulation, inbreeding and disease. We learned how these horses differ from domesticated horses, and why they are not to be fed – their digestive system cannot tolerate horse treats like carrots and apples. In fact, our guide said a tourist last year tossed an apple to one of the horses, and the animal became extremely sick and died.

Seeing the horses in their natural habitat was pretty cool, but what was even better was having a two-hour-long escorted ride on the beach, breathing in the salt air, hearing the waves crash toward shore and taking in the beauty of the sand dunes.

One of the larger beach homes we saw on our adventure in search of the Banker horses. Just imagine the views the renters or homeowners get to wake up to each morning!

Thankful for farmers

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For the residents of southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa who are familiar with local celebrations, Turkey Day has completely different connotations.

There’s the Turkey Day in September, when Worthington’s wildly popular bird, Paycheck, races against Ruby Begonia of Cuero, Texas, down a two-block stretch of 10th Street; and then there’s the Turkey Day feast of Thanksgiving, which is just a couple of days away.

On one day we celebrate the fastest dumbest bird and, on the other, we celebrate all that we can be thankful for (like Paycheck’s wins in both Worthington and Cuero this year!)

All kidding aside, at the Buntjer family gathering this year, we can be thankful that we have a turkey on the table, and a farmer somewhere in this country (perhaps from Minnesota) who raised it.

The turkey was secured on Sunday after church. (This after Mom had a nightmare that it was noon on Thanksgiving Day and the bird was still frozen!)

While I’m thankful for having a turkey, and the farmer who raised it, I’m also thankful for a mom who can cook it. I’ve never attempted to cook the big bird — I’m more comfortable focusing on a side dish, like the green bean casserole. Actually, I think this year I’m also going to attempt to make the sweet potatoes in a crock pot. I can be thankful for the farmers that grew the sweet potatoes too!

All of this talk about being thankful for farmers was just one of the discussions generated during the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting last week in the Twin Cities. On Friday, rather than working behind my desk at the office, I was in the classroom, learning how to teach people about agriculture.

As a farm girl — and a farm reporter — I tend to take for granted how little people really know about agriculture. Even with my own disconnect to the farm, there are things I don’t know. I’ve never milked a cow using a milking machine; I don’t know what a yield monitor looks like in a combine; and I wouldn’t have any idea how to operate an auto-steer tractor.

Still, I know the difference between corn, soybeans, alfalfa and sugarbeets. Many of you farmers may laugh at the obvious differences in those crops, but it’s apparent more and more people in our society don’t know one crop from the other. With each generation, people have fewer and fewer connections to farmers.

Their connection to agriculture, however, is as close as their Thanksgiving dinner.

Agriculture is all around us, from the food on our table to the clothes on our back and the shoes on our feet. It’s the American farmer who raised that turkey, grew those potatoes, harvested the corn and the wheat that were processed into flours that went into the bread for your stuffing, and milked the cows so you could enjoy a glass of milk.

I’m sure we all have plenty we can find to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day, but I don’t know of anything or anyone more important to our Thanksgiving feast than the American farmer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Making a list, checking it twice

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With my work done early, I skipped out of the office by mid-afternoon today to get my car washed, buy some groceries and get everything in the house before the freezing rain hit.

As I went up and down the grocery aisles, trying to figure out what I needed to get through the weekend blizzard, I noticed lots of other people were doing the same.

Of course, I imagine many of them had a grocery list.

Rarely do I write one up. I don’t bake (my excuse is my kitchen is too small), and I don’t cook big meals too often because I get tired of all of the leftovers.

Every one of my little Rubbermaid containers is filled and in the freezer. If I thawed out all of the taco soup, squash and hamburger and baked bean casserole, I’d be set to get through what are sure to be two long days inside the house, listening to Lifetime and Hallmark movie marathons as I get ever-so-close to finishing a cross-stitch project for my nephew Matt.

Anyway, after wandering through the grocery store and picking up the basic essentials, then getting them unpacked in the house, I realized I should have put more thought into the shopping excursion.

Beef stew would be great to have cooking in the crock-pot all day on Saturday, except I’m missing the celery. Everything else is either in the cupboard, the freezer or the fridge, but celery has a short lifespan and I usually end up throwing half a bunch away.

Excluding one little vegetable can’t destroy the dish, can it?

What I really wanted to make this weekend was bread pudding with rum sauce. I’ve been craving it for the past couple of months – the kind I sampled last January while touring New Orleans with a soybean growers group.

Thanks to some connections, co-worker Beth received and forwarded me a recipe for authentic New Orleans bread pudding with rum sauce. The problem – I didn’t have the recipe with me when I went shopping. I ended up getting just a few of the items on the ingredient list – bread, milk and eggs (the basic kitchen goods for any Minnesota blizzard!) Oh, and I remembered to buy real butter.

Aside from the powdered sugar, almond extract, chopped pecans and a few other necessities for the dish, I forgot to buy the rum. I’d intended to drive across town to the liquor store, but when I stepped out of the grocery store to find it already raining, my mind told my hands to steer the car homeward. Oops!

So, here I sit in my cozy little house (I’m about to dig out my pug slippers) with bread, milk and eggs. I’m thinking cinnamon-sprinkled French toast for breakfast. It won’t be as good as bread pudding with rum sauce, but it will at least use up a few eggs, a couple slices of bread and a dab of milk.

I really do need to work at writing out grocery lists.

Q&A on the Food Safety Bill

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Sen. Al Franken’s office has released a Q&A regarding some of the specifics in the Senate’s version of the Food Safety Act, which was approved on Tuesday. The information follows:

S. 510: Frequently Asked Questions/Myths

Would S. 510 outlaw home gardens and family farms? NO.
S. 510 does not outlaw home gardens or family farms. In fact, the bill explicitly states that the produce standards “shall not apply to produce that is produced by an individual for personal consumption.” In addition, the bill also contains an exemption from regulations for small facilities and small farms, which was purposefully included to protect America‟s family farms. This includes food sold through farmers‟ markets, bake sales, road side stands, public events, community supported agriculture, and organizational fundraisers.

Would S. 510 criminalize seed savings? NO.
S. 510 does not create any new rules in regard to the practice of saving seeds for use from year to year, and does not outlaw, criminalize, or require any specific agricultural or growing practice.

Would S. 510 outlaw traditional organic growing methods? NO.
Section 105 of S.510 explicitly states that new produce safety standards cannot “include any requirements that conflict with or duplicate the requirements of the national organic program.”

Would S. 510 bring everyone who grows any food under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security? NO.
S. 510 maintains the same food safety jurisdiction that exists under current law.

Would S. 510 include new recordkeeping requirements for farms? NO.
S. 510 does not require that farms keep any new food safety-related records.

Would S. 510 charge farms and small businesses new registration fees? NO.
S. 510 does not charge registration fees of any kind.

Would S. 510 imprison people who sell raw milk? NO.
S. 510 does not establish any restrictions on the sale of raw milk. The bill merely directs the FDA to review existing regulatory hazard analysis and preventive control programs in existence, such as the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, before creating any new hazard analysis and preventive control rules.

Would S. 510 require American food producers or farmers to be subject to WHO rules, UN food safety standards, or Codex Alimentarius? NO.
S. 510 requires the FDA to come up with a plan to work with foreign countries that import food into the United States to ensure that Americans who purchase imported products can be assured of their safety, but does not require the adoption of any international standards. The bill also explicitly clarifies that dietary supplements remain subject to U.S. jurisdiction, not the Codex Alimenatrius.

Would S. 510 require farms and more facilities to register with the FDA? NO.
Under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, certain food businesses were considered “facilities” and had to register with FDA. Farms and restaurants were exempted. This definition is not changed in S. 510. If an entity does not need to register now, it will not need to register under S. 510.

Would S. 510 give the FDA new authority to inspect farms? NO.
S. 510 increases inspections for registered food facilities but does not change FDA’s jurisdiction over farms.

Senate passes Food Safety Bill

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I’ve received several e-mails today regarding the Senate’s passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Printed below is Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s press release on the matter.

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, cosponsor and one of the leading voices in support of the Food Safety Modernization Act, announced the passage of this bipartisan legislation in the Senate.  The bill will strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority to ensure a safer food supply and help prevent any contaminated food from reaching consumers. 

The legislation includes a provision authored by Klobuchar that will improve food safety surveillance and is modeled after the success of the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and the University of Minnesota.  The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 73 to 25, and it will now be sent to the House of Representatives for final passage. 

“The first responsibility of government is to protect its citizens,” Klobuchar said. “Ensuring a rapid response to outbreaks of contaminated food is critical to maintaining public trust in our food supply.  This bill will make necessary changes to help keep consumers safe, and I look forward to passage in the House and the bill being signed into law.”

The Food Safety Modernization Act will overhaul our food safety system and strengthen our capacity to detect and respond to foodborne illness outbreaks.  The bill will increase FDA inspections at all food facilities and will give the FDA the authority to order a mandatory recall of contaminated food products.

Klobuchar has led the effort to reform the nation’s food safety system, and this bill includes a bipartisan provision, introduced by Klobuchar and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), which will improve federal, state, and local officials’ ability to investigate outbreaks.  The provision will promote a more rapid and effective national response to outbreaks of foodborne sickness.

The legislation has received support from numerous food industries in Minnesota as well as the Consumer Federation of America, the American Feed Industry Association, the American Spice Trade Association, the American Frozen Food Institute, the Food Marketing Institute, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.