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GM Food: Our Right to Know

“People have a right to know what they are eating.” Margeret Fulton
“I want my grandchildren to taste real, natural and healthy food.” Stefano de Pieri
“If we are to get GM canola, it should be labelled, and if it is not labelled, we should all ask why.” Dr Rosemary Stanton, nutritionist

The introduction of genetically modified food in to the food chain is removing a choice that we Australians take for granted – that of choosing what we do and don’t want to eat.  Many people hold real concerns about the safety of GM foods and therefore consumers should have the right to know if either an ingredient in the food they are buying is GM or if the food is a product of an animal which has been fed on a GM food. 

You can sign a petition to the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, the Honourable Nicola Roxon, calling on the Federal Government to keep its promises and to protect public health and consumer choice by introducing, and strictly enforcing, legislation to ensure that:

• GM crops are only approved if they are proven to be safe ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ using evidence from independent, long-term, published studies – measuring indicators relevant to human health.
• All GM foods are clearly labelled, including highly processed products such as oils, starches and sugars from GM crops; and meat, milk, cheese and eggs from animals fed GM feed.

Find the petition at http://www.truefood.org.au/OurRightToKnow/

Shop 3A 341 Mains Road, Market Square, Sunnybank

Market Square in Sunnybank is the undisputed “China Town” of the southside, although it sports restaurants from a variety of Asian backgrounds.  Little Singapore is one we have been wanting to try since it opened in the not too distant past but were often put off by it’s busy and full appearance, delaying a vist there until we could afford to be…well… delayed.  Recently we gave it a go and were very pleasantly surprised.   The service was friendly and speedy (despite it being as busy as ever), the food  freshly made and delicious, and when asked for a Vegetarian recommendation, were assured that anything on the menu could be made vegetarian.   We enjoyed our meal very much and will most definitely return…

58 Marchmont St, London WC1, UK

The annual Marchmont Street Party took place on a fine day, and the little thoroughfare in central London was full of Caucasian, Indian and Muslim families, the faces of their youngest members stretched with concentration as they clutched their balloons. Among those feeding the happy throng was Alara, a health food store where the staff seem to be southern European, that offers self-service takeaway vegetarian meals.  It’s hard to choose from so many tasty looking foods, but I ended up with a plate of a lentil dish with potatoes and pumpkin known as dhansak, vegan shepherd’s pie, wonderful sprouting beans with ginger dressing to which crushed almonds gave extra crunchiness, some amazingly colorful beetroot hummus, a vegan potato salad with corn and peas, and a tomato and cucumber salad. Doubtless eating outdoors surrounded by people who are enjoying themselves adds piquancy to one’s lunch, but it occurred to me that the kinds of food on my plate, wonderfully reflecting so many cuisines, mirrored the varied human population on the street. The happy way in which peoples and cuisines can happily rub along together is surely something to be thankful for.

Shop 21-23, Arcade basement level,197-201 Beaudesert Rd, Morooka Qld

What a delight to encounter Eritrean cuisine! At its centre stands enjera, a flat, soft bread made from a mixture of grains to which sour dough gives a distinctive taste. It comes to the table with the main dishes sitting upon it. We ordered the five  vegetarian ones on the menu, these being tsebhi kantisha (mushroom stew), tsebi dubo (a pumpkin dish), tsebhi brusn (a beautifully colored red lentil stew with spices), the very pleasing alicha (vegetable stew) and shiro, a chickpea dish with stuffed green chillies (the chickpeas are ground so finely that they are not identifiable as such). As time passes the stews and moist curries are absorbed by the bread, and diners seem inevitably to move towards using the dampened enjera to scoop up the food. It’s a fun way of eating a hearty cuisine of robust rather than delicate flavours. The dark coffee, strong yet mild, comes in a smart black pot and is drunk out of small cups without handles. This restaurant is operated by the Eritrean Australian Women and Family Support Network, and has Coptic Orthodox connections. It is strongly recommended!

As an update to last month’s highlighted campaign, it is exciting to report that the campaign to ban bullfighting in the Spanish region of Catalonia was successful.  See more at the following website:  http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/success-bullfighting-banned-in-catalonia-spain/

It is encouraging and hopefully just the beginning of a major change in Spain with regards to the barbaric bullfight which many people are disgusted by, both Spaniards and the international community alike.

Congratulations to everyone who raised their voice in support of the ban!

Adelaide St, Brisbane (next to Escape Travel)

It was the queue in the street outside this hole-in-the-wall take away joint, so obscurely located that it doesn’t seem to have a street number, that alerted a friend to its existence. How true is the judgment of the people! The vegetarian sushi is a delight, the strips of avocado, carrot, cucumber, daikon and lettuce bright and colorful to the eye and extraordinarily fresh, their crunchiness beautifully complementing the rice. Addition of the wasabi and soy sauce you pick up on the way out would simply get in the way of the purity of their fresh taste. But the condiments work well with dishes where ingredients have been cooked, such as the sushi in which very tasty seaweed, beautifully dark and green, comes wrapped in tofu, and that made of mushrooms in tofu. The food here is simply fantastic, and you’ll forget all about your short wait in a queue.

I saw this recipe on Taste.com.au for vegan strawberry cupcakes. http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/17461/dairy+free+strawberry+and+vanilla+cupcakes

I don’t like to use artificial colours, so when I want pink icing, I cook a beetroot in water for about 20 minutes. Then I use the pink coloured water to colour my pink icing.

Quinoa Cous Cous

This recipe is like Cous Cous, but much more nutritious.

1/2 cup of quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1 stock cube
250g mushrooms
olive oil
150g green beans
2 boiled eggs or 200g cooked chickpeas

Rinse quinoa a couple of times and let sit in water while getting the other ingredients together.  Slice mushrooms and fry in oil. Slice green beans and steam. Rinse quinoa again in fresh water. Place quinoa in pot with water and stock cube. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until water is absorbed and quinoa is soft and separated looking. Mix mushrooms, green beans and egg or chickpeas in.

5/5 Nash St, Rosalie Village, Paddington Qld

At the recommendation of an old friend two of us sat down at this suburban restaurant for a quiet lunch. There’s no shortage of interesting things to choose from, as the menu lists nine veggie main dishes. We chose the chilli lemongrass tofu, a colorful mixture of tofu, cashews, carrot, capsicum, broccoli, green beans, baby corn, celery and fresh basil, and the vegetarian pad thai, in which the noodles come with vegetables and crumbled nuts (cashews and peanuts);  the egg is said to be very complementary in taste and texture. Again, the dish is accompanied by basil, which gives it a freshness not always found in east Asian cooking. We also sampled the vegetarian tofu soup, which was better that it often is, although I always have to remind myself that this is a kind of fusion dish that does not reflect the authentic traditions of the cuisine in which it is now placed. But why be a purist? There’s no reason why styles of cooking can’t develop, and the possibilities of veggie and vegan cuisine are truly endless.

Members Present: Jacki, Melissa, John, Vasilios and Helen

Today, we met up at Gopal’s Pure Vegeatarian Restaurant, Sherwood.  Whilst surveying the large array of meals on offer we met up with two fellow Orthodox Christians, subsequently discovering they were also vegetarian!  We were very happy to have Emmanuel and Tamara join us for our take-away picnic at Sherwood Arboretum.

1. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the arboretum.  It was a beautiful Brisbane winter’s day.

2. Helen brought along some ‘not too tricky’ famous vegetarian trivia questions, which, of course the group blitzed. We also enjoyed a game of Bocce, despite some questionable tactics by some group members!

3. We discussed the possibility of looking into the logistics of travelling to Melbourne to participate in an all EnglishHoly Week and Pascha. (Possibly in two years time)

4. We also discussed the possibility of attending Pascha at the Antiochian parish in Caboolture.

5. A reminder for Helen to post the photos of our t-shirt and bag.  John received a compliment  today for our ‘Want To Save The Planet’ t-shirt.

6. Vasilios is to send a reminder to Melissa about her logon details.

7.  Melissa and Jacki have been using Quinoa in place of cous cous with success.  Melissa is going to post their recipe for Quinoa.

8. Vasilios is going to source copies of ‘Food Inc’ and ‘The Corporation’.

9. Our next meeting will be held at Vasilios’ and Helen’s place with a pot luck lunch and a viewing of ‘Food Inc’.