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NOVEMBER 2017 | THE FOOD ISSUE
EDITOR’S LETTER F
ood is integral to life. Not just in the sense of sustenance, but food acts as the glue of many cultures across the globe. Food brings us together around dinner tables, conference rooms and bars alike. Cooking and eating with people enlivens a sense of community and opens our hearts to sharing. As we dive into this month’s Food Issue we explore not only the interaction of cannabis and food but with the interactions between food, our bodies and lives as a whole! In this issue, DOPE Magazine flies to New York to spend time in the kitchen with Miguel Trinidad, our cover chef and owner of New York restaurants Jeepney and Maharlika. Born in Queens and raised in a traditional Dominican family, Trinidad reminds us of the importance of family, perseverance and finger lickin’ good god-damn food. 99th floor, chef Miguel’s flagship cannabis project, brings us the finest in infused dining with everything from sous-vide fried chicken to infused bone marrow. Their tagline couldn’t be more accurate: Curated Cannabis Cuisine. Leaving the fine dining table and entering the lab, we strap on our white coats for some labgrown meat as we explore options in sustainable dining. Can you imagine chomping down on some petri-beef? DABSTARS Jonah Tacoma brings us on the road with him, this time exploring the Boston Freedom Rally and the long American tradition of fighting for our rights. Come explore the menu at the edge of survival, diving into what it takes to survive the most extreme situations and landscapes including space, 1920s Arctic terrain, the Bolivian Amazon, Australian Outback, Western Pacific Ocean and the world’s third largest desert—the Sahara. Some of the items on the menu? Bat blood, raw turtles and leeches, monkey and dehydrated peanut cubes. Delizioso! While it’s easy to assume you’re picking up this magazine because you love weed, we know for a fact you love food! So dive into this month’s Food Issue faster than your favorite fudge cookie from Nana, we promise not to disappoint. Stay DOPE! The DOPE Editorial Team
RECENTLY CORRECTED ARTICLES We would like to note two errors in our October issue: In the Colorado issue concentrate review of Platinum Huckleberry Cookies the product was incorrectly referred to as a live resin when indeed it is a rosin. We would also like to note a mistake in our national #scoutedbydope review of Colorado Hemp Honey. The description incorrectly stated they use Oregon-grown hemp when they use locally grown Colorado hemp. We regret the errors.
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EDITORIAL
THE FOOD ISSUE
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DOPE MAGAZINE is a free monthly publication dedicated to providing an informative and wellness-minded voice to the cannabis movement. While our foundation is the medical cannabis industry, it is our intent to provide ethical and research-based articles that address the many facets of the war on drugs, from politics to lifestyle and beyond. We believe that through education and honest discourse, accurate policy and understanding can emerge. DOPE MAGAZINE is focused on defending both our patients and our plant, and to being an unceasing force for revolutionary change.
THE FOOD ISSUE
TABLE OF CONTENTS NOVEMBER 2017
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SCIENCE EAT, DRINK, SURVIVE: THE MENU AT THE EDGE OF SURVIVAL
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ADVENTURE TOKYO’S SECRET CAFÉ EXPERIENCES: FLOATING THROUGH COFFEE, PINAPPLES AND REALITY
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CULTURE AN IMPERFECT WASTE: WHY DOES AMERICA LEAD THE WORLD IN FOOD WASTE?
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LIFESTYLE DOPE ON THE ROAD WITH JONAH TACOMA: EAST TO BOSTON TOWN
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#SCOUTEDBYDOPE
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FEATURE THE 99TH FLOOR: CURATED CANNABIS CUISINE
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EDITOR’S CHOICE ALL-ONE OR NONE: EXPERIENCE DR. BRONNER’S ECO-FRIENDLY SOAPS, EARTHLING!
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SOCIAL MEDIA TAG @DOPEMAGAZINE
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GROW FOOD FOR THOUGHT: THE NOT SO-BASIC BASICS
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COVER FEATURE MIGUEL TRINIDAD: FOOD AS A LIVING ART
TECHNOLOGY AIN’T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING: CAN LAB-GROWN MEAT GO MAINSTREAM?
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here is no season quite like fall in NYC. DOPE Magazine hopped on a plane, traveled 2,418 miles and landed in the kitchen of Chef Miguel Trinidad. We talk about cannabis, Trinidad’s passion for Filipino cuisine and why it’s never too late to follow your dreams or check your ego at the door.
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DAY THREE :: 1PM THE PORK CHOP WAGER
It’s a Saturday in early September. We sit on the back patio of Jeepney, a Filipino restaurant that sits on E 12th Street and 1st Avenue in the East Village of Manhattan. Chef Miguel Trinidad plucks the petals from a white gerber daisy, chuckling: “DOPE Magazine, no DOPE Magazine, DOPE Magazine,” as each petal falls. Bamboo sprouts along the edges of the patio’s perimeter and fresh flowers in small vases sit sprinkled atop picnic tables. We’ve spent the majority of the last three days with Trinidad, who is referred to simply as “Chef” by his staff. It doesn’t take long for this nickname to catch on; before the end of our New York tenure with Trinidad, the video crew and myself find ourselves chirping “Chef this” and “Chef that.” Trinidad is a bit of a prankster, having come from a large family with a gaggle of nieces and nephews, so it’s no surprise that he uses sarcasm and comedy to make those around him feel comfortable. And it works. We’re about to begin our interview when Miguel starts sniffing the air. The restaurant next door is beginning to prep for an evening of entertainment. “Ah, it smells good,” Miguel whispers, his nose investigating the delectable scent. “Smell it? It’s the Thai Restaurant next door. They’re charring something over there. That’s the grilled pork chop,” Miguel declares with certainty. “Ohhhhhhhkayyyyyyy,” I retort in a smart-alecky fashion. In my head, I’m thinking it’s ridiculous he can call out the type and cut of meat wafting on the breeze with a quick whiff. “I’ll bet any amount of money on it that it’s a grilled pork chop,” he says, smirking. I didn’t take him up on his wager. I don’t dare to go nostril-to-nostril with Chef.
DAY ONE :: 9PM UTENSILS NEED NOT APPLY
It’s Thursday in New York, and we are preparing to enjoy a traditional Kamayan feast at Jeepney. Banana leaves sit in lieu of a table cloth, and rice snakes its way down the length of the table in a two-inch by two-inch path. Atop the rice rest sausages, crawdads, head-on prawns and Filipino-style cornbread. Alongside the rice sits a refreshing cucumber and tomato salad, short ribs and a Filipino mole. This meal will be eaten without utensils of any kind, and we are given a brief yet all-encompassing lesson on how to refrain from looking like heathens while dining. You eat with your hands—this is the traditional Filipino way, creating little rice “gloves” between your index, middle finger and thumb. The newbies at the table, including myself, make a mess. Trinidad completes the feast like a pro and only tarnishes one small, paper-thin napkin along the way. I pulverize a whole stack, and hide them quickly when no one is looking. I am a clever diner with years of practice, having hidden unwanted vegetables in imaginative places as a child. We chat about family, restaurant culture, Jewish-fusion food, must-eat NY diners and Miguel’s relationship with cannabis as an ingredient in cuisine.
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Miguel and his business partner, Doug Cohen, star ted 99th Floor in 2015. 99th Floor puts on invite-only dinners in states where cannabis is legal. You can’t make a reservation, you won’t find a list of upcoming dinners on their website and you certainly can’t buy your seat at a 99th Floor dining table. I ask Miguel what has changed in the culinary cannabis scene since our interview from last year. Miguel shares that new technology has allowed him to dose cannabis dishes with more accuracy—an essential component of ensuring that your guests enjoy themselves. “We have better control over how much medicine we are giving people—which takes the guessing game out. It’s a lot of fun because now I can play around with other components of the meal while ensuring the dishes aren’t too strong,” Miguel shares excitedly. At home, Miguel’s kitchen walls are covered in chalk. He often wakes up in the middle of the night, jotting his ideas down in rapid-fire scribbles before his head hits the pillow again. “It’s a constant evolution. You’re finding more out about cannabis every day, a different cannabinoid, terpene, flavor profile, texture or strain. We’re figuring out how to work with all of this new information. It’s an exciting time!”
DESSERT Rounds of shots are set before us and taken just as expeditiously as they arrive. As the dessert is dropped off at the table, the young man who brings it is clearly earning his “sea legs.” In an attempt to drop off dessert, a playful take on traditional halo-halo, a stout parfait glass slides from one end of the oval tray to the other. It is rescued by the quick grasp of the young man just as another parfait glass heeds to gravity and leaps from the tray to the ground below. Coconut shavings and color ful gummy bears lay sprinkled on the floor. His nervousness is palpable, and I’m brought back to when I worked my first restaurant job. I feel for him, yet nonetheless he is still brought aside by Trinidad for a chat. When I peek around the corner I see Miguel holding a tray, giving the new Jeepney employee a lesson on balance and expo execution. He didn’t receive the scolding I expected to bear witness to. Later on, I ask Miguel how he balances having to be a hard-ass in the restaurant industry and being the jokey, nerdy, sweet and courteous chef that he is:
“Being a hard-ass in this industry is also necessary, but deep down inside I am a delicate flower, so you have to find a balance. I mean, there is a lot of pressure being a chef in any kitchen, no matter where you are. You’re multitasking, you wear many hats, but as hard as you work, you have to find time to play and balance and say thank you and appreciate the people around you. You can’t do it on your own.”
CULINARY SCHOOL AND ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS Miguel didn’t opt to go to culinary school until he was in his thirties. Since discovering this information, I keep coming back to the idea that education is often wasted on the youth. Miguel propelled his way to success on a trajectory much more direct and expeditious than many renowned chefs before him. I wanted to know if having waited until he was in his thirties to attend school had given him an edge. Was he wiser? Had he reigned in the fast-paced lifestyle that often comes with living in NYC? Was he more appreciative? “You know, going to culinary school in my thir ties gave me a different perspective. It gave me a different way of looking at things, ‘cause if I was in my twenties I probably wouldn’t have taken it as seriously. When you’re still in your twenties, you’re still fucking around, you’re in NYC, you have all of this freedom and liberty—there is so much to explore.” Miguel went on to share that he traded work for tuition via a work study program at The Institute of Culinary Education in NYC. He didn’t have time to mess around, or it would’ve cost him his enrollment. The work study program allowed him to work alongside international chefs and with rare ingredients. “The first time I saw sumac or mace, I was like, ‘What the hell is this?’” Miguel laughs. “There was so much knowledge at my fingertips . . . everything happens for a reason, and I went into culinary school at the right time in my life. It’s never too late.”
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“WE HAVE BETTER CONTROL OVER HOW MUCH MEDICINE WE ARE GIVING PEOPLE—WHICH TAKES THE GUESSING GAME OUT.”
All in a New York Minute As our time in New York comes to a close, I find myself thinking about New York as a cultural beacon—fashion, food, art, theatre—it’s all happening on a level unrivaled by most places on Earth. Miguel grew up in Queens. New York is such an electric and rapidly evolving city. Does the evolution and beauty of a place as eclectic and fast-paced as NYC reinvigorate creative types, or can it be an unwanted distraction? How has the city shaped and molded the trajectory of Miguel’s career as a chef? “Well, I grew up in NYC and it is ever-evolving; it’s electrifying, it’s constantly different. Just like me. So you take that energy from the city, and it shapes you into the person you are today. There was a time in NYC when it was all fine dining. And now you have fine dining chefs who are moving into fine casual, or what we do at Jeepney, which is slow casual. Food, man—the best quote I ever heard about food was on my first day in culinary school. I was with Chef Richard Reuben and he said, ‘Food is a living art, it’s constantly evolving and changing.’ You can make the best dish in the world today and I can come and add one ingredient that will just take it over the edge. So take your ego and throw it out the door. ‘Cause if you aren’t learning, then it’s not worth it.” TO READ AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH CHEF MIGUEL, VISIT DOPEMAGAZINE.COM/CHEFMIGUELTRINIDAD
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SCIENCE
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hen a plane crashed in a remote part of the Andes Mountains carrying an Argentine rugby team, the snow-packed environment certainly kept their food source in edible condition—the survivors were forced to eat the dead. And while it’s easy to be a picky eater surrounded by an abundance of food, in a survival situation, your choice is clear: eat and survive, or starve. While the beginning pangs of hunger are usually felt three times a day, it’s possible for the human body to survive many days without eating, or to survive for extended periods of time with only small amounts of food. Mahatma Gandhi survived 21 days of complete starvation, taking only sips of water throughout. Examples of such deprivation are rarely cheery tales, but the resilience of the human body is remarkable. And while starvation is an obvious threat to life, dehydration is far more likely to kill you in a survival situation.
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What do we need to survive? Each person is different, but generally, if a woman consumes only 1200 calories a day, and a man 1500 per day, they will begin to lose weight. The body will enter starvation mode soon after, breaking down stored muscle fat and eventually other body tissues to burn for energy. To survive for longer periods and maintain current body weight, women require 1600 to 2400 calories daily, while adult men need 2000 to 3000 calories. To put that into context, a McDonald’s Big Mac contains 563 calories, and the average avocado is 234 calories. A 3oz oyster is only 50 calories. What follows are six tales of humans pushed to extraordinary limits.
HOUSTON, I THINK WE HAVE A PROBLEM. THE CAPTAIN WON'T SHARE HIS MEALS: When the Apollo 13 mission of 1970 failed to make a landing on the moon—their oxygen tanks had exploded in space—a little hunger was probably the least of the three astronauts’ worries. The escape plan was to orbit the moon, using its gravitational pull to slingshot them back to Earth; this would cause them to be in space for days longer than anticipated, requiring a day and a half worth of food for two people to last for four days among three people. Each astronaut had the following as a basic ration: peanut cubes, ham and potatoes, beef stew and banana pudding. Their rations needed water to be rehydrated, which was also in short supply. The more pertinent concern than having to split a serving of potatoes au gratin? Oxygen. The true key to survival in space is breathable air, and NASA scientists quickly did the arithmetic to ensure the astronauts would have enough air to breathe as they made their extended journey. The completed mission returned them safely to Earth and was deemed a “successful failure.”
TWO YEARS IN THE ARCTIC: A native Iñupiat of Nome, Alaska, Ada Blackjack served as seamstress and cook on an expedition to Wrangel Island in the Arctic in an attempt to claim the island for Canada. When the party’s rations ran out, an expedition set out to find help, leaving behind Blackjack and one other member who would soon die of scurvy. Blackjack survived alone. She eventually taught herself to hunt seals with a rifle while awaiting rescue. Blackjack spent two years on the island, pursued by polar bears much of the time, before being rescued in 1923.
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MISADVENTURE IN THE AMAZON: In 1981, Yossi Ghinsberg and three companions set off into the depths of the Bolivian Amazon. Their intention was to have an adventure in an uncharted region of the Amazon, and they certainly got one. The group separated after becoming distrustful of one another. Ghinsberg floated on a raft with one member of the group, but they lost control of the raft as it neared a waterfall and Ghinsberg was sent over the edge—alone. He survived the next three weeks lost in the jungle on foraged berries, fruits, eggs from bird nests and monkey. When he heard the distant noise of an engine, he raced to meet it. He found a search party motoring along a river, led by the same member of his group who had watched him go over the waterfall.
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AN AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK HELL: In 2006, Ricky Megee survived for 70 days in a remote part of the Australian Outback. After being abandoned in the middle of the desert, he wandered for 10 days before finding a water dam on a remote cattle station. Beside this small pool of water was a shelter of earth walls and a tin roof. There, he survived by eating raw leeches and cooking frogs until they were a little “crunchy,� heated on the tin roof by the blazing sun. When he was finally found, Megee emerged from the desert looking like a walking skeleton, having lost an estimated 140 pounds.
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THE DESERT RUNNER: Italian policeman Mauro Prosperi got lost during a six-day ultra-marathon through the Moroccan Sahara, Marathon des Sables, in 1994. After telling his wife not to worry about him entering the race—“The worst that can happen is that I get a bit sunburned”—a sandstorm spun him off track. He ended up 186 miles off route in Algeria, where he found an abandoned mosque. With a pack full of dehydrated food, his issue was finding liquids. He spent nine days subsisting on bat blood and his own urine before being rescued by a nomadic family. He entered the race again in 1998.
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THIRTEEN MONTHS AT SEA: José Salvador Alvarenga washed ashore on a remote atoll near the Marshall Islands in the Western Pacific in January of 2014. He’d been lost at sea for 13 months in a 23-foot fiberglass boat. Having set out on a shark fishing trip from coastal Mexico, he and one crew member were lost in a storm when the engine on their boat failed. Once clear of the storm and aware that help was not coming, their battle to survive began. Nearly dying in the first few days from dehydration, a rain storm gave them a blessed reprieve. When the days turned to months, Alvarenga’s crewmate began to experience severe depression; a loss of hope is said to have contributed to his death. Once in medical care, Alvarenga was diagnosed with anemia. Doctors suspected his diet of raw turtles and birds had infected his liver with parasites. The key to these stories of survival? With a bit of luck and ingenuity, as well as properly utilizing your surrounding environment, you can survive. Just don’t expect Big Mac’s on the menu.
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ADVENTURE
TOKYO’S SECRET CAFÉ EXPERIENCES FLOATING THROUGH COFFEE, PINEAPPLES AND REALITY WRITER / P. GOTTI
W
elcome to Tokyo, where you can find magic almost anywhere—if you know what to look for. There’s the notorious, eccentric café in Ginza, famous for its pancakes. Rokujigen has excellent coffee, but I can’t promise that it will exist when you visit. The Sunny Hill café’s pineapple juice will quench just about any thirst, and the shop is even shaped like a pineapple! If you’re feeling down and need some inspiration, the old chef at Kikuya Ramen can tell you a story of triumph from the early ‘80s which you might never believe. There’s nowhere with more fantastic and mysterious café experiences than the land of the rising sun.
KIKUYA RAMEN KITA-SENJU, TOKYO
GATEWAYS
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The best histories are steeped in legend. Long ago, a gang of children wandered into a newly-opened neighborhood ramen noodle shop and began ordering the entire young chef’s menu. He frantically cooked to keep up with their appetite, but the children would not become full. They vowed to return and eat all up of his food until the chef could make a meal that satisfied them. The young chef went home and created dishes to satisfy the children’s creative minds, as their bellies seemed bottomless. When
the gang of children returned, the chef had all-new and imaginative dishes and the children were finally satisfied. Forty years have passed and the now not-so-young chef still cooks his famous ramen dishes and tells the story of the local children. Kikuya’s most famous dishes are Battery Ramen (a health-code approved D battery dropped in noodle broth), Ice-Cream Ramen (soft-serve in a cone, thawing in soup) and a colorful selection of Blue, Green or Purple Ramen Noodles.
ROKUJIGEN SUGINAMI, TOKYO
CAFÉ BY THE SHRINE Translated as “the sixth dimension,” Rokujigen café is a dreamy ode to jazz, coffee and literature. The books of the world-famous author, Haruki Murakami, are piled on the tables and line the café walls. The owner is an avid Murakami enthusiast and has crafted an artful atmosphere to more deeply connect with his works. Classic jazz fills the old wooded café, and it’s known as a destination for reflection, reading and discussion.
When you visit, the café may or may not be there for you. I visited three times before the entrance was open to me and I excitedly burst through at a full sprint, much to the annoyance of the few patrons reading silently. The café is rarely open and there is minimal signage. The entrance appears on the second floor of a residential building when a small metal number “6” hangs street side along the winding path to Ogikubo Shirayama shrine.
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BRIDGE COFFEE GINZA, TOKYO
AN ABUNDANCE OF CHARACTER
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Bridge Coffee is a grumpy, old-world diner that is Internet famous in modern Japan. The youngest generation comes to taste and Snapchat their cakes, parfaits, jellies and ice creams. The establishment’s exquisite masterpiece is their Mint Melon Pancake Stack. The chefs drizzle frosting and syrup over a green confectionery shell filled with melty pancakes, jelly and warm melon slices. These pancakes are delectable, indeed, but despite the Instagramability and deliciousness of their food, Bridge Coffee earns infamously negative feedback.
The reviews hint at a complex story. You see, Bridge Coffee has a troll problem: “One Star! An old man greeted us rudely and then threw our food on the table. The pancakes toppled off of the plate, and he grunted and walked off,” says one patron. Other customers report dealing with a hostess who creeps around the shop, slowly peeking over tables and around walls to watch you eat. The café’s eccentricity outshines its creativity, like so many failed geniuses. Their outstanding pancakes and the many faces who guard them tell the mysterious tale of a café filled with characters.
SUNNY HILLS MINAMI AOYAMA OMOTESANDO, TOKYO
THE CASTLE THAT SERVED PINEAPPLE You might mistake Sunny Hills for some big architectural firm’s headquarters. The building sits high like a castle at the base of a residential development, complete with a bridge and high walls. Its unique architecture (latticed wooden beams from top to bottom) resembles an abstract representation of a pineapple. Inside this sprawling, ultramodern café with canopies of bamboo, they serve just one thing: pineapple juice. As the staff notes, “Yes, we only sell pineapple juice. Just pineapple.”
The line for this precious juice ($9.00 for a 12oz bottle) regularly wraps around the block. Happy people shuffle into the pineapple emporium like the steam bathhouse guests from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. They sit down to enjoy complimentary tea and free pineapple bread, which they wash down with the expensive pineapple elixir. When it comes to whimsical business models, Sunny Hills Pineapple Café takes the cake.
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NEWS
WHY DOES AMERICA LEAD THE WORLD IN FOOD WASTE? WRITER / SCOTT PEARSE
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anana too bent? Tomato with not quite rosy skin? Sweet corn that’s not a desirable yellow hue? We simply throw them away. “The United States enjoys the most productive and abundant food supply on Earth, but too much of this food goes to waste,” stated then-Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in 2015. “An average family of four leaves more than two million calories, worth nearly $1500, uneaten each year.” Though there are a many dynamics at play, one major contributor to America leading the world in food waste is a national obsession with the appearance of our produce.
Before we point the finger at ourselves, it’s important to realize that this is a problem in all food production systems. In fact, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that one third of all food grown is lost or wasted, an amount valued at nearly three trillion dollars. That’s a lot of dodgy carrots. But where do we begin to find a solution? We derive much of our food culture from food professionals, and when we watch shows on channels such as the Food Network, it would be rare to find a chef waxing poetic about the freshness of his produce, only
to display something less than per fect. Restaurant customers similarly expect perfection; while bok choy that has suffered a flea beetle attack might taste delicious, its appearance leaves diners wondering why they’ve paid for something diseased-looking. But fruits and vegetables have a tendency to bruise, brown, wilt, ding and discolor—it’s only natural. Chef Dan Barber, one of the more visible imperfect food evangelists, reinvented his Manhattan restaurant for a three-week period as wastED (The ED stands for “education”), where he served “pock-marked potatoes,”
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“carrot top marmalade,” burgers made from beetroot pulp and fries repurposed from corn for cattle. To create 10,000 wastED dishes, he used 600 pounds of ugly vegetables, 150 pounds of kale ribs, 30 gallons of beef tallow, 475 pounds of skate fish cartilage, 350 pounds of vegetable pulp and 900 pounds of waste-fed pigs. As Barber explained to The Guardian, “A project like the one I am trying to do at wastED couldn’t have existed 100 years ago. . . Because there was no waste from agriculture, everything was utilized.” But not everyone has the ability to tap into food systems the same way chefs who visit their farmers do, and a San Francisco
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company has stepped in to fill the gap. Imperfect Produce will home deliver a box of “ugly” produce at 30-50 percent less than market price. This system not only gives consumers environmentally responsible options for purchase, it also creates new revenue streams for farmers who would otherwise simply dispose of non-conforming fruits and vegetables. Imperfect Produce currently operates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland. While our food systems deliver a diversity and abundance rarely seen elsewhere in the world, they also deliver inevitable waste through mistakes, disease, poor
management of harvesting or incorrect storage. As anyone who’s tried to grow backyard fruits and veggies knows, or for those of us who harvest our own medicine, there are a number of variables that must align in order to produce an outstanding crop. But farmers are incentivized to only bring their most perfect bounty to consumer markets, and for that our spending habits are to blame. The next time you’re buying produce, don’t hesitate to pick up a bruised apple or less-than-rosy tomato—it won’t kill you to embrace life’s imperfections.
T HE A L L N EW
NOW AVA I L A B L E W W W.WE WAN T DO P E .CO M
DOPE ON THE ROAD LIFESTYLE
EAST TO BOSTON TOWN WRITER / JONAH TACOMA PHOTO / COURTESY OF JESSICA LARUE AND MATTHEW J MEDIA
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I
t was just past midnight, and the oversized Boeing 737 was packed nearly to capacity as we shuffled on board, bound for Boston and the 28th annual Freedom Rally, a procannabis festival only second in size to Seattle’s Hempfest. It was my first trip to Boston, and my nerves kicked in as we took our seats. I was scheduled to speak on the main stage later that day and still had no clue what I wanted to say. The historical significance of Boston isn’t lost on me. Birthplace to Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and many more, the men and women that walked these streets helped to forge a nation; these were people of purpose and integrity who fought for what they believed in—and won. The plane was on the runway now, picking up speed. Sleep seemed like a dim prospect. My thoughts returned to Boston’s bloodied history as the overloaded jetliner struggled
into flight. It was here, in Boston, where the American people found their voice. While every school-aged kid knows the story of the Boston Tea Party, it was a tiny stamp that sparked the American Revolution. The Stamp Act of 1765, enacted by the parliament of Great Britain, was the first attempt at taxing the newly-developed 13 colonies, requiring sold goods to carry a royal tax stamp. T h e s e t a c t i c s wo u l d a p p e a r a g a i n 172 years later. In 1937, Harry J. Anslinger enacted the Marijuana Tax Act, requiring all cannabis to carry a government-issued stamp. The stamps, however, were never issued, effectively marking the beginning of marijuana prohibition in the U.S. Rewind to Boston, 1765. Some 3,000 people took the streets in protest of the new Stamp Act, looting the home of a prominent British emissary and hanging his effigy in the
branches of the now-infamous Liberty Tree. Britain eventually backed down, repealing the tax and giving the people their first in a series of wins, ultimately culminating in one of the bloodiest battles for secession ever waged, the American Revolution. A stewardess tapped me on my shoulder as we began our descent into Logan International Airport. I leaned over Jessica, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Boston Common. Built in 1634, it’s the oldest park in the country and home to the Boston Freedom Rally. I tipped the Uber driver a pre-roll as we arrived at the Club Quarters Hotel, located only a few blocks from the Common. Dropping off our bags, we stepped into the busy streets and began the short walk through the financial district to the park. The Common has long been a hub for social activism, hosting speakers from Martin Luther King Jr. to the Pope.
“MASSACHUSETTS IS A BATTLEGROUND STATE, AND WE WERE STANDING ON THE FRONT LINES.”
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The Common was filling up as we arrived. The large oak trees dotting the landscape, used for public hangings until 1817, loomed eerily overhead. My nerves returned as we headed deeper into the 383-year-old park. I checked in with Massachusetts native and Freedom Rally organizer Philip Hardy, who was set up near the main stage. “I think [legal cannabis] will bring healthier and safer access to patients,” he told me. “The revenue will help the state, but it’s still a black market—there are only 11 dispensaries in the whole state, and they are dragging it out even more for recreational.” As a cannabis business owner himself, the uncertainty was clear in his voice. Massachusetts is a battleground state, and we were standing
FOR MORE OF JONAH TACOMA, VISIT: DABSTARS.COM INSTAGRAM: @JONAH_TACOMA
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on the front lines. Pressing on, we ran into Cannabis Cup regulars Paul Wall and Baby Bash backstage. “We’re gonna get all these people off heroin and pills and fentanyl, man, and get them on the real organic green,” exclaimed Bash. “It’s time the states start realizing we need to help our people!” I asked Bash and Wall— both Texas natives—what it was like to see legal weed come to the East Coast. “It’s great, man,” responded Wall. “It’s great to see this. You know, as a kid—and even back in Texas right now—the way cannabis is looked at is like heroin or meth. They are just now starting to decriminalize it, little by little. They just gave out their first license for medical marijuana, but just for CBD. Baby
steps, but it’s like…we’re looking into the future here [in Boston].” Even for two Texas boys, it was easy to see that after 80 years of Reefer Madness in the U.S., we’re finally starting to win. Cannabis users are no longer in the minority, and are beginning to comprise the vocal majority. Like the people of Boston, we rose up and made ourselves heard. The city is about to have its first victory in a long time, and I have to wonder, which city will be next? As my name was called to the stage, my nerves were suddenly gone. Taking the microphone, I knew just what I had come to Boston to say...
WORLD LEADER IN CANNABIS REFINEMENT EQUIPMENT UP TO 99.85% TOTAL CANNABINOIDS
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GROW
THE NOT-SO-BASIC BASICS WRITER / DAVID BAILEY
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H
ow we feed our plants, much like how we feed our bodies, has a direct correlation to the health and vigor of our lovely ladies. Surprisingly, despite new advancements when it comes to plant care and how we feed our plants, most of us don’t really understand nutrients. Beyond knowing what brand you like to run or your favored N-P-K bloom booster, information regarding soil water tension and ideal EC for nutrient uptake is typically glossed over. This lack of knowledge has kept many growers from ascending to the professional level. Let’s talk about why. T h o u g h ‘c o n v e n t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r e’ references agrochemical fertilization and production, this science has really only developed over the past 60 to 70 years, and marketing and branding has developed alongside these scientific advancements. Most growers go straight to General Hydroponics, Canna or Advanced Nutrients, as they’re the household brand names. Not knowing how these products differ from one another isn’t necessarily your fault; manufacturers don’t want you to recognize the simplicity of these products, because you could probably easily make them yourself. Before you can start blending your own nutes, however, you need to make the most of the ones you have. Let’s revisit the chapter of the grow book we all skimmed over—soil tension and EC. While these measurements may not be necessary when running a small home garden, they can still be the difference between 1.5lbs per harvest and 2.25lbs. The reason? Consistency. By maintaining an even soil tension and EC, the plants are able to grow at their maximum rate non-stop—the entire rationale behind hydroponics. Let’s look at why this is:
EC An EC reading is a measurement of electrical conductivity present in your nutrient mixture. Basically, how dense your nutrient to water ratio is, based on the conductivity of the fertilizer salts you’ve added. You have likely seen EC and ppm used interchangeably. This is because ppm (parts per million) is a conversion of EC to an estimated ppm. EC is better used as your primary measurement, as different meters utilize different scales to estimate ppm’s, thereby making it difficult to regulate consistency over time, locations or devices. EC measurements will help keep your nutrient availability within the optimum range. Ideally, you will stay within a window: never too low, never too high. For instance, if you want to deliver a full-strength nutrient solution with an EC of 2.0 – 3.0, typical directions are to feed plants all at once and water the rest of the week. Nutrient uptake in the beginning of the week will be low and slowly increase as the EC lowers day after day, and with the addition of water. By the end of the week, the EC and nutrient uptake are both very low, but water absorption is high. An alternative to this method is to feed a lower EC nutrient blend daily, maintaining uptake in the ideal range. Many growers have found they are able to ultimately feed heavier this way, though attention to the run-off EC is paramount. A medium EC will increase the uptake of nutrients, but an EC that is too high leads to excessive uptake that plants respond to with lower yields and dry weights— not to mention retaining excessive amounts of Nitrogen.
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SOIL WATER TENSION If you feed plants, they’ll take the nutrients they’re given…right? Wrong! Cannabis plants feed hard, but every plant operates in certain ideal conditions. Beyond EC, the amount of water available for the plant to uptake is key. Overwatering can be just as damaging as underwatering, and that’s because of an occurrence known as soil water tension, or SWT. Soil water tension is a measurement of the force necessary for plant roots to extract water from the soil. It’s not as simple as moisture content, however. The soil tension will vary based on your medium. For example, 20 percent water content in a sandy soil gives you a tension of roughly five cbar, excellent for water and nutrient uptake, whereas 20 percent water content in a clay soil could result in a tension as much as 12 times greater. At 50-60 cbar, you’ve severely limited the growth of your plants and likely killed some of them, depending on the type of plant. By monitoring your EC and SWT in unison you can maximize feeding times and strengths, ultimately maximizing yields. Regardless of how long you’ve been growing, it’s never time to stop learning. The industrial agricultural industry has had a recent and intensive push for organics and sustainability, propelling the industry forward. Looking at the multi-billion-dollar agriculture industry and its business decisions, both right and wrong, can help us continue to steer the direction of cannabis. From small home gardens to large operations, we have a responsibility to monitor how we grow our favorite plant, and irresponsible nutrient use is a core cause of environmental distress. So hey, why not grow more weed for less and help the environment while you’re at it? A little extra nutrient measuring can make both a reality!
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SCIENCE
CAN LAB-GROWN MEAT GO MAINSTREAM? WRITER / JEFFREY RINDSKOPF
PHOTO / JORDAN SWENSON
T
he world’s first lab-grown burger was consumed at a London news conference in 2013. Described by one taste-tester as “close to meat, but not that juicy,” the cultured meat patty cost $330,000 to produce and wasn’t even vegetarian. Like all other cultured meats produced to date, it was made using something called fetal bovine serum (FBS)—a byproduct of stem cells from cow fetuses usually extracted during the slaughter of pregnant cows. That may sound grisly to even the proudest of carnivores, but in reality, many of us are already benefitting from the scientific applications of FBS. Thanks to an uncanny ability to prevent cell death, it’s become the standard ingredient in cellular agriculture—the same process used to develop vaccines, create safe insulin and, most recently, to grow new organs for transplants. “Stem cells are everywhere,” said Peter Verstrate, a food technician who worked on the development of cultured beef. “The only thing we do is take them out and tell them to multiply and to become muscle tissue.” But it’s one thing to accept FBS-based cellular agriculture in its other forms, and quite another to accept it into our diets. Lab-grown meats may come with their own peculiar set of psychological stumbling blocks, but they may also be essential to preserving our health—and our planet.
“LAB-GROWN MEATS MAY COME WITH THEIR OWN PECULIAR SET OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUMBLING BLOCKS, BUT THEY MAY ALSO BE ESSENTIAL TO PRESERVING OUR HEALTH—AND OUR PLANET.” 54
THE MEAT OF THE PROBLEM Meat probably causes cancer. Processed meat definitely does, at least according to the World Health Organization. But so what, many will retort. Doesn’t everything? While it’s true every food comes with its own drawbacks, humanity’s ever-expanding meat consumption poses a few uniquely-pressing problems for the immediate future. Reducing our intake now may be crucial to combatting the most common environmental issues—the ones no one wants to confront. Today, most animals raised for meat consumption are brought up in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), crowded farms in which animals live in confinement and their waste is often discharged into nearby waterways. In surrounding communities, the poor conditions associated with CAFOs have been found to worsen pollution and increase incidences of ever ything from diarrhea and burning eyes to miscarriage and congenital malformations. Such intensive farming practices may also worsen the spread of food-borne illnesses like E. coli and swine flu. Most farms extensively employ antibiotics
to prevent disease in food-producing animals, but this practice has actually given rise to new forms of dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Meat and poultry are also the most common food sources of fatal infection, accounting for 29 percent of national food-poisoning deaths, most of them caused by salmonella and listeria. Cultured meat isn’t guaranteed to be disease-free, but bacterial infection would certainly be far less likely to occur in a sterile lab than a feces-strewn factory farm. Despite the customary overcrowding at CAFOs, raising animals for consumption requires a lot of land to sustain itself. Livestock feed production takes up more than a quarter of all ice-free land on Earth, while 32.1 billion acres are lost annually in the conversion to cropland and pastures. Unfortunately, this continual deforestation only adds to animal agriculture’s already-sizable impact on our planet’s climate. Recent analysis found that livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year, or a whopping 51 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
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A GROWING ALTERNATIVE Cultured meat doesn’t come from CAFOs, nor does it feel pain the way cattle and chickens do. Instead, it comes from cells—ideally taken via biopsy from a limited herd of donor animals—enabled by FBS to survive and grow in the absence of a larger organism or nervous system that would require far more space and energy to raise. Though environmental effects are notoriously hard to predict, one study by researchers at Oxford and the University of Amsterdam found that switching to cultured meat production could reduce energy needs by 45 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 96 percent compared to traditional livestock production, while requiring only two percent of the area. The impacts of such a transition would be felt not just on land, but undersea as well. With more than half the planet’s fish stocks already depleted and seafood consumption continuing to increase, cultured fish meat—like the kind currently being developed by biotech company Finless Foods—could prevent further overfishing and the destruction of marine environments.
Cellular agriculture also affords us the chance to fine-tune the nutritional characteristics of meat, so researchers could design cuts of lab-grown beef free from potential carcinogens like heme iron, or replace saturated fats with healthier Omega-3 fats. Designing cultured meats that retain the specific characteristics of texture, taste and appearance we expect from the real thing will prove more difficult. With more and more companies inching closer to releasing their own commercially-viable forms of lab-grown meat within the next few years, the price of a lab-grown burger has already plummeted down to eleven dollars per pound since that momentous 2013 taste test and is expected to become cost-competitive with standard beef within the next decade. When that happens, the biggest hurdle left for this emerging industry to clear will be that of public perception. No matter how much it may look and taste like meat, the very nature of lab-grown meat may be enough to scare away committed meat-eaters as well as vegans, disturbed by the use of animal byproducts in culturing. That’s understandable, as cultured meat isn’t a perfect solution to the problems posed by meat consumption. A perfect solution would be if everyone on Earth converted to veganism overnight. But we live an imperfect world, in which meat is delicious and damn near irresistible, so growing it in a lab may yet be humanity’s best—and only—way forward.
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“CULTURED MEAT DOESN’T COME FROM [CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS]. NOR DOES IT FEEL PAIN THE WAY CATTLE AND CHICKENS DO.”
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ALL THE FINEST DOPE ROLLED-UP INTO ONE
LIFESTYLE REVIEWS VIDEO SOCIAL NEWS DOPEMAGAZINE.COM
T R AV E L
AUSTRIA’S AUSTRIA’S CLONE CLONE KINGS KINGS LEGAL TO CLONE ; ILLEGAL TO FLOWER WRITER / SESHATA
I
recently took a quick trip to Vienna, the stunningly beautiful capital city of the central European nation of Austria. During my time there, I had the privilege of hanging out with the team from Hemp Embassy Vienna. The Embassy is an intriguing and original idea, albeit clearly influenced by existing concepts such as the Cannabis College and the Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum in Amsterdam. The Embassy has a wonderful showroom, beautifully kitted out with hexagonal display cases, each with an individual cannabis plant thriving inside. Information screens attached to the cases provide detail about the featured strain, its growth characteristics, and the breeder that created it. In addition to the showroom, the Embassy has a neat little shop selling high-quality hemp products, staffed by a friendly, enthusiastic team who will happily guide you around the plants and explain anything you’d like to know. Head honcho (or should that be Chief Diplomat?) at the Hemp Embassy is Gregor Fritz, a warm and affable man who clearly maintains great relationships with his staff. On first impression, the Embassy is wonderful, but so far, not massively different from many other hemp shops and museums in Europe. But
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it soon becomes apparent that there’s another service provided via the Embassy—one which certainly isn’t available in Amsterdam, or in most other European countries for that matter. In a handful of outlets in Vienna and elsewhere in Austria, it’s actually possible to purchase live, growing cannabis seedlings and clones. Here at the Embassy, a menu discreetly laid out on the counter lists the varieties available in seedling and clone form. You can’t actually buy them at this location, but you don’t have to go far—a short drive or bus ride will get you to the Embassy’s sister company, Plant City, where you can fulfill your order whether it be small or industrial-sized. The Hemp Embassy and Plant City are both offshoots from parent company Bushplanet, which has been in the game since the mid-1990s. In fact, Bushplanet was the first Austrian company to begin producing cannabis clones back in 1998. Austrian law does not explicitly prohibit the sale of cannabis seedlings or clones, while many other European countries impose restrictions on possession or cultivation of any living cannabis plant. Of course, all EU member states allow cultivation of industrial hemp, but that usually requires a license—and licensed hemp growers must stick to growing any of the 64
EU-registered varieties offered, none of which will yield high-potency cannabis. In many European countries, national drug laws explicitly prohibit cultivation of cannabis plants. For example, Dutch law allows for the cultivation of up to five cannabis plants per household. But if you are found to possess more than five plants, you will likely be prosecuted and charged a fine based on plant count, even if your plants are tiny seedlings or clones. Some clone operations have ended up with fines in the hundreds of millions—certainly a disincentive to doing business. Austria is no longer the only European country with active cannabis clone shops. Earlier this summer, we reported that Hemp Embassy Milan (which has zero affiliation to its apparent namesake in Vienna) had opened its doors to the Italian public. Thus far, it seems that they have been allowed to operate unhindered. Italy is beginning to loosen cannabis and hemp laws, although progress has been patchy to date. We’ll be watching events in Italy very closely as they unfold! Yet here in Austria, the authorities have apparently decided to live and let live, allowing clone shops to continue doing business mostly unhindered. This hasn’t always been the case—
“JUST ONE MISTAKE COULD BRING THE HEMP EMBASSY VIENNA TO AN END. WE CAN’T AFFORD TO LET THAT HAPPEN.” – GREGOR FRITZ OF THE HEMP EMBASSY VIENNA
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ARTICLE TITLE back in 1998, when Bushplanet first discovered the loophole and began to sell clones, they sparked a decade of legal conflict as multiple shops opened, then were subsequently raided and closed down. The shop owners began to appeal on the basis of the Narcotic Drugs Act, and in 2006, after a series of wins for the shops, the province of Vienna opted to leave them alone. While liberal Vienna and its surroundings may have capitulated early on, many other regions of Austria remain hostile to cannabis clone shops. A recent landmark legal ruling, however, has changed the game entirely, and the Supreme Court ruled that one of the country’s largest clone producers could continue business as usual. Now, as long as plants are not processed into high-THC
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cannabis, they are effectively legal throughout the country. Clone shops often issue a warning to customers, noting that if growers give their plants less than 18 hours of light per day they risk development of THC-rich flowers. I’m curious as to how the Hemp Embassy Vienna flowers their plants, given that the flowers clearly contain substantial amounts of cannabinoids! Amsterdam’s Cannabis College is allowed to flower their plants just as any other household in the Netherlands, hence their five-plants-only rule. But how does the Embassy get around these restrictions? The answer is simple, although somewhat painful. At the end of the flower cycle, the team at Hemp Embassy is obligated to remove plants from the soil, roots and all. It’s vitally important that they remain as intact as possible, as cutting
stems or removing buds could be considered an attempt to process drugs. Next, the plants are carefully dried, and then the beautiful, 100% organic plants are packed and sealed into containers before being transported straight to the incinerator to be burnt. This process has always been supervised by an attesting notary, and as long as all steps are followed to the letter, no laws are technically broken. As Gregor says, “Just one mistake could bring the Hemp Embassy Vienna to an end. We can’t afford to let that happen.” Austrians certainly enjoy a situation that is quite unique in Europe, and perhaps the world. But it’s clearly a delicate and precarious situation, one not without inherent risks. WEBSITE: HEMPEMBASSY.ORG
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HYPERFLYLABS’® 324® CBD ROLL-ON After HyperflyLabs’® co-founder had surgery on his C5, C6 and C7 vertebrae, he was prescribed opioids for the unbearable pain and experienced first-hand the dangerous side effects pharmaceuticals can pose. He started CBD therapy and found freedom from pain. HyperflyLabs® launched 324® with Dr. Stuart Titus, a world-renowned expert in the field of cannabinoid research. 324® has only two active ingredients, CBD and menthol, the same soothing additive found in products like vapor rub. The roll-on applicator makes for easy distribution, and although it’s specifically engineered for fighters and athletes, 324® is perfect for everything from a kink in your neck to post-workout muscle aches. PRICE: PRICES VARY WEBSITE: HYPERFLYBRAND.COM INSTAGRAM: @DOORDIE FACEBOOK: @DOORDIE
GERM SLEEVE Germaphobes unite! We’ve all been there: You go to a party or concert and someone passes around a pipe, which is all good and well—until you see the fellow across from you with what could be an epic cold sore on his lip; not exactly something you want rubbing off on you, so you have to pass on a solid smoke sesh. Well, Germ Sleeve has got you covered! They created an ingenious little rubber sleeve that fits over the mouthpiece of any pipe, joint or vape for an airtight seal—without the germs! PRICE: $0.99 WEBSITE: GERMSLEEVES.COM FACEBOOK: @GERM-SLEEVE
WYOWHY ‘POT’-HOLDERS Finding profitable work after years of staying home can prove difficult for mothers eager to return to the workplace. “I decided if I was having this much trouble finding meaningful work, other women were likely in the same position, and I wanted to help,” explains Kathleen Neiley of WyoWhy. “At a time when many of my college friends were retiring, I used my life savings to invest in myself and others and start a new company that could provide jobs to women.” WyoWhy cleverly advocates for cannabis with their quirky, exper tlycrafted products via their HQ in Wyoming, a state that has yet to legalize medical or recreational marijuana. #LIFEISWHATYOUBAKEOFIT PRICE: $15.00 PER ‘POT’-HOLDER WEBSITE: WYOWHY.COM INSTAGRAM: @WYOWHY FACEBOOK: @WYOWHYLLC
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F E AT U R E
DESTIGMATIZING CANNABIS THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF FOOD WRITER / ANDREA LARSON
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PHOTO / JORDAN SWENSON
F
ounded by two New Yorkers, Miguel Trinidad and Doug Cohen, 99th Floor planted its roots in 2015, dedicated to celebrating fine cannabis cuisine in an unsolicited fashion. Their motto? “Destigmatizing cannabis through the universal language of food.” And they do just that. Gaining entry to one of 99th Floor’s high-end dining experiences is something of a mystery, and access to a seat at one of its coveted tables can be next to impossible—and for good reason. Doug and Miguel both work full-time jobs and use 99th Floor as a venue for bringing both newbies and OGs in the cannabis scene together under one roof. 99th Floor exemplifies what the cannabis culture and community are all about: Normalizing the plant.
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You won’t find their dining locations online, because each dinner is located at a venue often determined only days before the event commences. You won’t find a menu online, either. Menus are kept on the down-low in an effort to keep attendees in a state of anticipation until they sit down at the table. Cohen, who acts as the event planner and cannabis culture guru, curates seating arrangements in great detail. At a single table, you will witness a plethora of guests from all different walks of life. Doctors sitting next to media moguls; magazine editors dining alongside fashion photographers; crane operators clinking glasses with UX designers. The experience forces diners to break down the barriers that often keep us separated in social situations. It is a social experiment of sorts, and a fascinating event to watch as a fly on the wall.
WHO ARE DOUG AND MIGUEL? Doug Cohen is a jack-of-all-trades. When he isn’t selecting flower arrangements or scouring the country for the next 99th Floor venue, you can often find him making his rounds in NYC and Seattle. He spent some time in the music industry, works as a consultant for high-end businesses across the United States and is raising twins with his lovely wife, Beth—who is as delightful as they come. If you’re interested in diving into the man behind the meals, Chef Miguel Trinidad, turn to page twenty in this month’s magazine. We couldn’t be more excited to share Trinidad’s rise to chef stardom with all of you.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL FIVE COURSE MEAL LOOK LIKE? You’ll most likely be greeted with a terpene-infused cocktail. A bourbon ginger beer concoction made by a fine mixologist may be awaiting diners—nothing like a cocktail to break the ice, right? On the evening of DOPE Magazine’s journey into the often-unseen world of 99th Floor, we were first served the most delectable beef bone marrow with accompanying crostini and onion jam. The vegetarian next to me even dabbled in the savory marrow without blinking an eye. Our first
course was followed by a duck confit dish paired with a deliciously infused market-fresh pea puree. If we could’ve asked for seconds, we would have. Then came the tomato bisque, followed by the catch of the day, seared silk snapper. The snapper shared the plate with chorizo, duck fat fingerling potatoes and the freshest charred corn that ever existed. And dessert? A chocolate sable with lemon ganache, cherry compote, olive snow and a passion fruit whip. The cherry compote was incredible, and I delighted seeing fellow guests’ eyes grow wide as their plates were set before them. All in all, it was a dinner experience I’ll not soon forget.
HOW MUCH CANNABIS WILL BE CONSUMED? Chef Trinidad believes that flavor profiles should be enhanced by cannabis, not overpowered. This means you’ll consume enough cannabis at a 99th Floor experience to feel relaxed and comfortable, without fear of impending bouts of paranoia, the spins or nausea. Let’s face it, we’ve all been there, and over-consuming in social atmospheres isn’t how most of us want to spend our Saturday evening. You’ll also have the pleasure of consuming an assortment of cannabis extracted by differing methods, including rosin, wax, cannabis butter or oil, kief—the list goes on and on. One of the most enterprising components of consumption at a 99th Floor dinner is that Chef Trinidad offers his guests the opportunity to individualize their dining experience based on their desired outcome. Infused sauce or whipped cream can be added to a dish for those feeling they haven’t quite reached their optimal level of high—a great way to provide non-, light- and heavy-consumers with options to customize their personal dining experience. While 99th Floor isn’t the first—and surely not the last—group to provide curated cannabis meals for experimental diners, they execute the experience in an awe-inspiring and educational manner, keeping you wanting more. Luckily for us, 99th Floor only continues to rise, meaning we may all get the chance to partake in the fun!
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