Finding Freedom in Food Choices

By Bailee WoolstenHUlMe, coMMUnications sPecialist, UtaH FarM BUreaU Federation

As you walk down the grocery aisles, you will find a wide variety of brands, variations, and flavors of all the food products in the store. Whether you want organic produce, frozen fruits and veggies, cow’s milk or almond milk, gluten-free bread or whole wheat, you can choose whatever food product you prefer. This is possibly one of the greatest freedoms provided to us by American agriculture and one that is often taken for granted.

Freedom is defined as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint”. When it comes to food choices, we have the power to act as we choose without fear of rebuke. That is freedom in food choices. Often, freedoms that are provided to us as United States citizens become so commonplace that we stop recognizing them as blessings in our lives. Our safe and abundant food supply is one of those freedoms that many others in less fortunate countries do not have the privilege of enjoying. For us, it is everyday life. Think back to March and April of 2020. Food and supplies were flying off grocery store shelves. There was limited selection available and many items were gone completely. Purchasing limits were set on certain products to allow enough for everyone. The closing of restaurants and foodservice industries led to a shock of the food supply system. While this circumstance was due to a sudden overwhelming of our system, farmers, ranchers, and processors quickly adjusted to keep up with the demand that was now placed on grocery stores. We saw the effects this had on our communities, though it was only for a short time. This scenario is everyday life for some areas of the world.

We are privileged.

With food privilege comes the want and the ability for societal progression. We have seen this happening for many years in the United States, and it ultimately has led to better lives for all. Along with this privilege, we also tend to forget the simple freedoms that bless our lives every single day. This has been a common theme when it comes to the agriculture and food industry. Because food is so readily available, many Americans have little understanding of where their food comes from or how it is produced. There is also very little thought that goes into the people who grow that food for us every day – this is a direct result of our societal progression. Fewer people having to grow their own food equals fewer people understanding where their food comes from.

This luxury of having food at our fingertips without having to grow it ourselves has allowed for the advancement in many other areas of life; science and technology, arts and culture, civil and human rights, and much more have been advanced thanks so our secure food system. This has also led to an advancement in farming technology to help feed a larger population and provide large varieties of food. Advancements in agriculture are what provides us with the abundant choices of food that we have. For example, we now can more efficiently grow organic crops and conventional crops, making them easily accessible to the everyday shopper. Each crop provides

different benefits depending on the wants and needs of the buyer.

So while many arguments occur around food choices, including what is healthier, what tastes better, what is better for our environment, and even surrounding the location or store the food is purchased at, we must not forget the bigger picture – we get to choose to eat however we feel is best.

Whether you feel eating organic is better, or if you prefer to purchase food by what is most cost-effective, you get to choose. Whether you like to include meat into your diet, or you prefer to have a vegan or vegetarian diet, you get to choose. Whatever diet choices you make, you have the food availability to make that choice. That is freedom.

Let us keep this freedom in mind as we navigate through the often-confusing world of food and nutrition. It can help keep us grounded. Always remember the opportunities afforded to us by modern agriculture and that we have the power to choose.

For information to guide food choices, visit https://www.bestfoodfacts.org.

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THE SWEET & SOUR OF MY FAMILY’S PLUM JAM

By hannah haslam, Food WRiteR, Utah FaRm BUReaU FedeRation

Igrew up in southern California, and while we lived in a suburb, my mother used every spare space of our back yard to grow food. We have avocados, pomegranate, berries, papaya, oranges, lemons, limes, persimmons, and Santa Rosa plums. Santa Rosa plums have a sweet red flesh and a dark, sour skin- and they happen to produce the best jam I have ever had. Every late summer of my youth, my mother would bottle up jars and jars of the stuff, leaving the skins in the final product to add that pleasant tart pucker in your mouth along with the sweet chunky jam.

“The sweet is never as sweet without the sour,” she’d say- which as I’ve grown older, I realized applied to more than just jam. Sadly, about 15 years ago the plum tree died, and with it went those glorious jars of jam. I moved to Utah and despite all my searching, I have never come across a plum jam that tasted quite like my mothers. I was once even sent a jar of Santa Rosa plum jam, only to find all the skins had been removed – just the sweet remained.

A few weeks ago, my coworkers and I decided to visit the Murray farmers market on our lunch break. As I walked among the stalls, I came across a vendor who had some beautiful plums. I picked one up, and she mentioned that they were Santa Rosa plums. My heart leapt at the familiar name – I didn’t even know that Santa Rosa’s grew in Utah! It was a small miracle and I knew that at last I would get to taste that sweet/tart jam of my childhood.

My mom confirmed that she didn’t use any special jam recipe for the jam, she just reminded me to leave the skins on, so I chose J. Kenji López-Alt’s recipe, because he cooks the jam for a minimal amount of time to let the fresh plum flavor stay intact, and uses a lesser amount of sugar than most jams include. Below you will find his recipe from the website seriouseats.com.

Plum Jam Recipe

Ingredients • 4 pounds (1.8kg) pitted black or elephant heart plums, unpeeled, cut into quarters (I used my Santa Rosa’s instead) • 1 1/2 pounds (675g) granulated sugar • 1 tablespoon Pomona's Universal Pectin • 4 teaspoons (20ml) calcium water (see Pomona's pectin package for instructions) • 1 teaspoon (5g) unsalted butter • 1 ½ oz. lemon juice (optional, see note)

Instructions

Combine plums, sugar, and pectin in a large bowl and toss. Cover and refrigerate for at least eight and up to 24 hours. Place a few metal spoons in the freezer.

Transfer plum mixture to a large, wide pot and stir in calcium water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Simmer until plums are mostly softened, about 15 minutes.

For a smoother jam, place a food mill over a bowl and ladle a few cups of the mixture into it. Mill the mixture into the bowl. Repeat until roughly half the plums have been milled, then stir the milled plums back into the pot. *I used an immersion blender here* Continue to cook until mixture starts to foam. Scrape off and discard foam using a metal spoon.

Stir in butter. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until foaming has subsided, about 15 minutes longer. Continue to cook, stirring more frequently, until jam is glossy, about 10 minutes longer. To test for doneness, spoon a small amount of jam onto one of the frozen spoons and return to freezer for 5 minutes. Remove from freezer and check consistency. The jam is ready when it's spreadable, but not runny. Cook until this texture has been reached.

Transfer jam into washed and rinsed Mason jars. Seal jars and process according to manufacturer instructions. Store or serve.

*Note* López-Alt does not use any lemon juice in his recipe, which makes is less shelf stable. If you will use up all the jam in a couple months, and don’t mind storing it in the fridge, omit the lemon juice. If you would like it to be shelf stable, add the lemon juice while the jam cooks.

What are you leaving behind?

Photo by Shelby Chesnut

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