This week we return to our look at the transformation of dining services at Indiana University. They're moving towards a goal of 25% real food, campus-wide by 2025. We'll talk about what counts as real food, and what it takes for a large institution to shift its food system. Oh, and there's cream puffs. Cream puffs are mentioned.
We also visit with an American professor living in Japan, who's developed a practice of cooking in his office.
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25% Real Food by 2025
In Part II of our story about the Real Food Challenge at Indiana University, we speak with the organizer of the Big Red Eats Green event last Fall, Addison Lively. The event was designed to showcase the vendors and chefs participating in the Real Food Challenge on campus. We talked with the manager of the IU Campus Farm, Erin Carman-Sweeney about the produce the farm has provided to IU Dining, even though 2018 was their first year in production.
Next we spoke with some of the people in charge of preparing the food on campus, including Ancil Drake, Executive Chef in charge of Residential Dining, Ashley Massie, Chef de Cuisine for Pastry, housed at the IMU's Sugar and Spice, and Anna Salzman, the Pastry Team Leader for the Eateries at Goodbody and the Bookmark[et].
We also spoke with Chef David Tallent, who ran the well known and beloved Restaurant Tallent in Bloomington for 12 years. Chef Tallent has been nominated for numerous James Beard awards and he is now the Executive Chef of the Indiana Memorial Union, and head of Catering on the IU campus. He has been one of the driving forces behind the move towards local and sustainable food on campus. We talk with him about wrangling the 'monster' that is the university food system and the influence he can have working at this scale.
Office Nabe
Our recipes this week come from David Gann, a full-time lecturer at a leading science university in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan. An American from the midwest, David has lived in Japan for over a decade. He has a long commute to his home in Saitama Prefecture so he spends a lot of time in his office.
After he grew tired of eating out all the time (usually processed foods, not the most nutritious) he started cooking meals in his office. His office is spacious and includes a sink. Over the years he's gathered equipment and utensils, and these days, he has a solid set up, and a number of dishes he can easily throw together for the week. He shares two of them with us, and you'll find the recipe pages below.
David Gann says he takes his inspiration from Chef Stephen Reed of WeberCooks. Earth Eats listeners will surely approve.
Music on This Episode
Poor Souls by Actual Figures
The Earth Eats' theme music is composed by Erin Tobey and performed by Erin and Matt Tobey.
Stories On This Episode
Beekeeping One Answer To West Virginia's High Unemployment Rates
The Appalachian Beekeeping Collective is battling unemployment in 15 West Virginia counties by training new beekeepers and providing free or low-cost equipment to get them started.
Arkansas Lawmakers Vote to Roll Back Restrictions On Volatile Herbicide
Regulators in Arkansas voted to allow some use of the herbicide dicamba that was previously banned after complaints that it causes damage to nearby crops.
David Gann's Office Nabe And Tofu Tortillas
All you need is a single burner and a microwave for these two dishes, and you can meal-prep for the rest of the week.
