TIME TRAVEL IN MY OWN BACKYARD

The Amish Acres brochure was so enticing. “Escape to Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana and share the heritage of these intriguing people in quiet celebration. Time stopped over a century ago and preserves in the Amish a way of life nearly forgotten in today’s fast paced world…”  

I was intrigued. How do people survive in 2013 without electricity, cars, a high school education? No television, smart phones, or internet (except at the inn built expressly for English [nonAmish] visitors). No Twitter or texting.

Our interest piqued, we made the trip to Nappanee. Upon arrival, we were somewhat disappointed to learn that Amish Acres is more of a history museum than a place where Amish people actually live. The 80 acre farm had been owned and inhabited by Amish families but was sold several years ago to a company that left most of the buildings intact. Since we had already arrived, I revisited happy childhood memories of visits to Sturbridge Village (a Massachusetts model of a Colonial Village) and Mystic Seaport (a Connecticut replica of an old whaling village) determined to enjoy it. We learned much from their video about the Amish culture and history and from two horse and buggy tours around Amish Acres. The Threshers’ Dinner included in the visitors’ package was even tastier and more filling than advertised.

We were given a map of the general area and followed it to the Rentown General Store where our eyes feasted on all sorts of delicious baked goods, cheeses, preserves, and other country food. (Since we’ve come back, we’ve also been feasting on some great preserves, cheese, and pumpkin butter.) Several brochures advertised the Fifth Annual Rentown Garden Walk and Bake Sale which fortunately for us, was that very day. This annual fund raiser for their small community’s school was where we actually met with people in the Amish community. Besides the Store, the school and eight people's gardens were open for people to visit. As we went to the school and each house, people were very open in talking about their lives and welcomed us. As a result, we had some good conversations with them.

In the beautiful countryside, with families close knit and communicating, it seemed so idyllic that I was almost tempted to stay awhile. Even as I watched people unplugged seeming (they speak to each other in a Pennsylvania Deutsch dialect so I can’t say for sure) more attentive to one another, I knew I couldn’t last there without connection for more than a few days.

Even the Amish have not successfully separated themselves from the rest of the world entirely. While they fear their children will grow up and leave their community if exposed to the “English” world, some of the adults work in jobs nearby. Several of the men with whom we spoke work at RV factories. As charming as these people were, I wondered how their children will manage with eighth grade educations as all the unskilled jobs in our country disappear. Will they adapt and allow their children to finish high school? That’s a question they must be asking each other because the world is too interconnected for any group to be able to totally shut it out.

We were greeted at one of the gardens by a woman who invited us to try her pesto sauce on crackers. “What kind of things do you like to cook?” I asked her.

“Oh, everything. My kids really like pizza.”

So yes, even in Amish country, the world intrudes. I don’t think she’ll mind if I share her pesto sauce recipe. It was really great. She was very open in sharing it with me. As the world intrudes on the Amish, I hope that we can all get to know them.

                                                          Amish Pesto Sauce

2 cups fresh basil leaves chopped
1 cup raw cashews crushed
11/2 cups olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 cups grated Swiss cheese

Mix the ingredients together and chill.   

 

   

 

 

Don't Throw the Eggplant Out With the Bath Water

In Skokie right near the sculpture park is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Around the base are several of his quotes including “Poverty is the worst form of violence.”

I pondered that quote yesterday as I volunteered at the monthly produce truck in Evanston. This project, which is trying to alleviate some of poverty’s affects in the Evanston area, is a joint effort of the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) and Interfaith Action of Evanston (IAE). While the GCFD has had monthly produce trucks going to over 30 neighborhoods in the Chicago area for quite a while, the produce truck is relatively new to Evanston having begun on December 11^th . Although in the popular perception Evanston is an affluent area, it was identified as having a population that is 14% food insecure (don’t know if they’ll have access to their next meal).

On December 11, the first day of their food produce distribution, organizers for Interfaith Action of Evanston hoped that word had gotten out to at least 100 people. Despite the fact that it was the coldest day of the winter thus far, people lined up bright and early.  In all, 335 people came to get free vegetables and fruit for their families. Since then, the produce truck has run monthly addressing a growing need. This need will grow even faster if the agricultural bill passed by the Senate Agricultural Committee becomes law. This bill was much kinder than any that are being discussed in the House. It would cut $4.1 billion from the SNAP (Food Stamp) program. As it is, most Food Stamp recipients can only stretch their monthly food stamp allotment for two weeks. If someone has medical issues such as diabetes, this allotment may last for one week. That is why Matilde (not her real name) came to wait for the food truck at 7:00AM and stayed around for hours for the free produce. “I have diabetes,” she said. “I’m learning to eat healthy and I need these vegetables.” The produce trucks address a need, but why is private charity increasingly being called upon to address it? 

The vegetables that the Food Trucks bring are of high quality. Last time I volunteered, they brought eggplants. I was surprised that about 10% of the people didn’t take them because they didn’t know how to cook them. In hopes that won’t happen again, here are two easy eggplant recipes. Eggplant is a very versatile vegetable high in fiber, with some protein, and some vitamin A, B complex, and C.

Frequently asked question: Should I peel it? If you want to. If you don’t, cut it in slices or chunks and put salt on it.  Leave it in a colander for 20 minutes and then rinse. Or slice it and then steam it for 10 to 15 minutes first. Either way, it takes out the bitter taste of the skin.

Sauteed eggplant slices

1 eggplant sliced
1 egg
breadcrumbs
garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano to taste
olive oil
Mix the seasoning with the breadcrumbs. Heat some olive oil in a skillet. Dip the eggplant in the egg and then the breadcrumb mixture. Saute in the olive oil.

Eggplant Sauteed with tomato sauce and other vegetables
1 eggplant peeled and cut into chunks
1 chopped onion
1 clove of garlic minced
1 green pepper diced
a few Tbsp tomato sauce
oregano to taste
olive oil
Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic and let cook five minutes. Add the eggplant and other vegetables. Add the tomato sauce. Put heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

 

   

HOW TO END POVERTY IN 90 MINUTES

[With 199 People You May or May Not Know] was the title of a performance staged by the theatre department at Northwestern University. We saw it Saturday on its last weekend. Although the performance didn’t produce a panacea for ending poverty, it provided much to ponder.

It is a misnomer to call “How to End Poverty…” a play. Rather, it was a series of skits, dance performances, monologs, power points, audience participation, and facilitated discussions. The theatrical merit of it can be debated. Personally, I found it too chaotic to be very effective, but be that as it may, we had plenty to debate when we got home. If other people went home and debated the issues, I guess it achieved its purpose.

Can poverty ever be ended? I highly doubt it. Although it should be possible, our country lacks the spirit of cooperation and compromise necessary to achieve it. The play posed the question how do we most effectively end poverty? Is it by addressing daily needs, changing the system, helping one individual rise out of poverty, improving our education system, or creating opportunities through micro-loans and other such efforts? In my opinion, the myriad causes of poverty are complex  and need to be addressed by an all- of- the- above approach. That wasn’t one of the choices, however. That’s one reason that I never liked multiple choice tests which often beg simplistic answers.

At the end of the performance, the audience was divided into groups and instructed to choose one of the above methods to end poverty. The winning vote would decide which organization would receive a $1000 donation, partial proceeds from that night’s ticket sales. Whoever won would be a worthy cash-strapped organization. The method I chose lost. Since I am often in the vast minority, this wasn’t a shock to me. On our night, The Ark, which does much to address the needs of the Jewish poor in the Chicago area, received the $1000.

I hope that people who saw “How to End Poverty…” were energized to do their part to end poverty or at least alleviate its worst effects. As we speak, billionaires receiving farm subsidies are lobbying to cut appropriations for the Food Stamp (now called SNAP) Program. Republicans in Congress are bent and determined to repeal Obamacare which will provide healthcare to many who have been uninsured many of them poor. Closer to home, in Chicago there’s an appalling lack of low cost housing. Even so, there’s a movement in the City Council to close one of the last SRO’s on the North Side. Those are places to go for a systems approach. I’m sure that we can all think of several more. If you prefer the daily needs approach, there’s also plenty to do. Contact your nearest soup kitchen or food pantry and volunteer to give a few hours per month. Since poverty most likely won’t end in the next 90 minutes, you are in luck. You still have plenty of time.

A Favorite Yearly Respite from Bad News

The Greeks participated in a band with the Turks and Armenians. The Pakistanis, Indians, and Bangladeshis helped each other out. The Czechs and Slovaks could be seen cooperating…You probably want whatever I was on while seeing all that, but honestly, I was cold sober. All that and more could be seen at the 23^rd annual Skokie Festival of Cultures.

The Village of Skokie, Skokie Public Library, and Skokie Park District initiated the Skokie Festival of Cultures in 1991 to celebrate the village’s ethnic and cultural diversity. Situated just outside Chicago and accessible by public transportation, it has become home to many immigrant groups over the last 30 years. In the first Festival of Cultures, nine nationality groups participated. That has increased steadily. This year 36 nationality groups participated. Since over 70 languages are spoken in Skokie, there’s room for people from many more countries.

Flags of the participating countries 

 

In opening ceremonies, participants from all 36 groups walk across the main stage wearing their national costumes. They each said “hello” and then thanked the first responders in both English and their native languages while the soundtrack of “Imagine” by John Lennon played in the background. For a ‘60’s activist like myself, it doesn’t get better than that. Although we have light years to go before we truly overcome all the intra-ethnic hatred that rages throughout our own country and the world, the Festival of Cultures transmits the hope, even if only momentarily, that it may be possible.

After we saw people introduce themselves from everywhere from Armenia to the United States, we visited the national booths talking to people, viewing their handicrafts, and sampling some cuisines. Some people encouraged us to visit their countries of origin or at least see their museums in Chicago. Where else can one meet people from Armenia, Bangladesh, Croatia, Germany, Greece, South America, Sweden, Thailand, and Turkey within an hour?

Tibetan dancers

We heard music and saw dance performed by a group from Tibet and then went inside to see yes, a combined Greek-Turkish-Egyptian-Armenian band. It was beautiful. After a few hours, there were still more songs and dances to hear and see and more people to meet at the booths, but alas, it was time to go home. Next year     we’ll do it again.

Such an international event calls for an international recipe. One year, at the Filipino booth, they gave out this recipe for Chicken Adobo. It sounds easy and delicious.                                       

Chicken Adobo

1 pound of chicken cut in pieces

1 clove minced garlic
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
2 cups of water
5 bay leaves
4 Tablespoons of cooking oil
whole peppercorns
Ginger

Combine all ingredients in a pot. Let it simmer and boil until almost all the water is gone. Let the meat fry in its own fat or added oil. Good served with rice and fresh tomatoes.   

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Stalled On the Information Superhighway - Again

Five adults sit down on a bench at the bus stop. I bet you’re waiting for the punch line. The punch line is that there isn’t any. Why? Because no one spoke. Each person was too focused on his own Smart phone or I-phone or other device to pay attention to anyone else. Even two people who were together holding hands didn’t say a word to one another so intent were they on answering their text messages.

I have seen occurrences like the one described above with such increasing frequency that it makes me feel like what Temple Grandin calls “an anthropologist on Mars.” She, as you know, is the famous animal husbandry expert who is also autistic. She has written numerous books on autism that have successfully translated the autistic experience to those of us who aren’t autistic. She says that she feels like “an anthropologist on Mars” in the worlds of emotion and human relationships. As time goes on, however, she may come to feel more at ease in our ever increasing technological world than I am.

For this reason, I was really pleased to see the sketch comedy “Reality Check” that is being performed by the MPAACT Theatre Company at the Greenhouse Theatre in Chicago from April 19^th to June 2^nd. It is written by Kevin Douglas and performed to a turn by MPAACT’s ensemble. This sketch comedy revue provides a look into the world of I-phones, Facebook, and all the other social networking sites that people feel bereft without access. In my opinion, MPAACT’s view of the situation was spot on. I recommend that you see this show and enjoy it for yourselves. It certainly has a lot to say about communications in current times.

 

 

Greetings from the Land of Greed - Or The Rich Get Richer

We haven’t heard from the 99% in a while Occupying Wall Street, LaSalle Street, or any other street and I’m wondering why. On Tuesday, May 7th, the Chicago Tribune reported that the average multiple of CEOs’ salaries at the top 100 U.S.A. firms is 204 times their average worker’s combined salary and benefit package. Even though this sounds outrageous, it may not even be accurate. For example, at JC Penney’s, the CEO Ronald Johnson is listed as making 1,795 X his average worker who makes $29,688 combined wages and benefits. Nevertheless, there are so many people working in retail part-time who don’t receive any benefits. Maybe the Tribune was just taking their full-time employees into account. (In case you’re curious, Ronald Johnson makes $53.5 million in one year.)

You may be thinking that this is the way it has always been. We can’t fight City Hall. Nevertheless, this isn’t the way it always was. As recently as four years ago in 2009, the average top companies’ CEOs had a multiple that was 20% less than it is now. In other words, they made a paltry 160X times their average worker’s combined salary and benefits. In 1980, when a study was done, it showed a ratio of top CEOs making an average of 40X their average worker.

According to numerous articles I read, this trend is occurring in England, Western Europe, and Canada although to a lesser extent. I don’t know what the answer is to stop this trend from continuing, but I hope that someone out there has a suggestion. I’d love to hear it.

In the meantime, many people struggle to maintain a basic standard of living. We still have homeless and people who are food and/or housing insecure. So per usual, I am sharing a low cost, healthy recipe. I made it last night and it was delicious. It serves two and preparation time is about 20 minutes. If you use it as a side dish, it can serve four.

 

                                                Baked Stuffed Eggplant

1 eggplant

½ green pepper diced
½ onion diced
1 Tsp minced garlic
3 Tsp olive oil
¼ cup uncooked white rice
¼ cup quinoa
1 cup water
4 Tsp tomato sauce
allspice, cumin, cinnamon, and parsley to taste

Combine the rice and quinoa in a pot with the water and cook.
Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit (200° Centigrade).
Cut the eggplant in half. Then scoop out the meat from it. Put in a pot and steam to get soft for about 10 minutes.
In a small skillet, sauté the green pepper, onion, and garlic in the olive oil.
When the eggplant is soft, drain the pot. Add the vegetables, tomato sauce, and seasoning.
Put the rice/quinoa mixture in the eggplant shell. Put the eggplant mixture on top of that. Bake for about 30 minutes.
It’s good with Greek salad.

Uh-Oh! The Full Impact of Obamacare Is Just Around the Corner

My friend Sally just got back from Walgreen’s. She has no insurance so she had to pay $120 dollars out of pocket for her prescription. I can get that medication with my insurance coverage for less than a third of that, but she has no choice. Since she isn’t poor enough to qualify for most pharmaceutical companies' patient assistance programs, she falls between the cracks. Since she has a pre-existing condition, she is unable to purchase insurance as an individual and she does not have insurance through her employer. The medication is a necessity for her continued stable health. She’s counting the days until she can get insurance in 2014 under Obamacare i.e.The Affordable Health Care Act.     

Probably because so many are looking forward to Obamacare, the same parties who tried to scare the public before its passage are at it again dangling the specter of lost freedom before our eyes. That’s right. In January 2014, the main clauses of the Affordable Health Care Act will go into effect. Insurance Companies will not be allowed to deny people healthcare coverage because they have pre-existing conditions and thus need medical care. State exchanges will be available for people who don’t have coverage through their work to choose insurance. In those states allowing it, Medicaid will be extended to single adults whose income is less than 133% of the poverty rate. Everyone will be required to either have health insurance or pay a fine, but subsidies to pay for it will be available to those who can’t afford the insurance premiums.

They're trying to scare us with the vision of a sea of paperwork. Yes, there will be paperwork and while it's not the most fun thing to do, is it that threatening? This is what's happening:Those who want the subsidies can start applying on October 1^st, 2013. Because the subsidies are only given to those with low incomes, people who want them will have to complete applications. The applications are five pages long and ask for financial information. If they qualify, they will have to complete another form about their health and choose a provider. Those who believe that health care should remain a privilege of those lucky enough to either have insurance through work or be able to afford it on their own are touting this development as an attack on our freedom. They tell us it’s another layer of bureaucracy lurking that will strangle our freedom loving souls.

Let’s get real. Who ever applied for a means-tested benefit without completing forms and providing financial information? For someone who may not have had access to health care for years filling out a form to finally receive it seems like a small price to pay. I doubt if those benefiting are really going to be upset by it. All the alarming stories being disseminated seem like yet another attempt by those opposed to the Affordable Health Care Act to discredit it. To those who are waiting impatiently for these clauses to take effect, here’s to your continued good health. I hope you stay healthy until at least 2014. At long last, it is just around the corner.