What's Your Food Reality?

 

As I was reading McMillan's book she mentioned that she belongs to a food co-op, works from home and is able to spend leisurely days cooking if she so desires. She is single and can spend as much or as little on food as she wants; this is her food reality. She goes on to talk about how her food reality would be different if she had a family AND was in a different tax bracket.

This got me thinking about my current food reality; I previously shared my food reality growing up (read it here). Like McMillan, I'm single and although I work outside the house, I only work part time so most days I get home pretty early. What that means is that I can have 3-hour, 3-course meals on a weekday if I so desire. I don't have to worry about feeding a family (no picky or close-minded eaters) and I can experiment with different foods. I am a foodie who loves international cuisine and world flavors. 

Most of the time I will sacrifice convenience to save money and get the best bang for my buck. I go to several different stores all over the city and buy only what's on sale at each location. I might add that my graduate research assistant salary is rather limited, but because I live to eat as opposed to eat to live, so I allocate a healthy (pun intended) budget for food. I took a survey somewhere online a few months ago that asked, "Do you spend more money on clothing and shoes or food?" I thought long and hard about the question (I answered the question quickly, but thought about it for some time after). All of my friends, Instagram and Pinterest followers know that I'm a shopaholic that loves shoes more than anything, but even with my bursting closet I know that I spend more money on food. I can go months without buying an article of clothing, while I have to eat everyday!

For the last 8 months I have been dedicated to staying away from processed foods. Making everything from bread, muffins, and granola bars to salsa, sauces, marinades, and condiments. But as I continued to think on my food reality, I realized that it was different when I worked and went to school full time. I had a very strict schedule, working from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, then school from 6 to 9 Monday through Wednesday and then again Saturday morning. I tried to cook multiple meals on weekends for the following week, but that didn't always happen with other errands to run and other chores to do. Not to mention doing homework. I didn't have hours to do anything let alone cook. I ate what was available to me. 

The only grocery store near me at the time was Sav-A-Lot. The prices are are great but the fresh produce section is limited. I bought mostly fresh fruit when it was acceptable and romaine or iceberg lettuce. They also have a pretty good selection of meat; mostly low priced cuts like assorted pork chops, chicken leg quarters, and 73/27 ground beef. To their credit, they do carry boneless skinless chicken breast, pork loin, and ground turkey on special so I would stock up during those times. Without the luxury of time (mainly to get to the grocery stores, but also to cook), I settled for what was around and made special trips to a Walmart Supercenter in Baltimore County. I'd stock up on things that were quick and easy to prepare. I bought ramen noodles, frozen fries and frozen vegetables, banquet dinners, canned soups, snack crackers, applesauce and fruit cups; all processed, all fairly unhealthy. I knew that my choices weren't the healthiest, but I felt trapped by my time restraints. That was my food reality and I'm so glad it has changed. Whats yours?

The American Way of Eating

Tracie McMillan is an award winning journalist who decided to go undercover for a story on the American food system. The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee's, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table is her book detailing her experiences working in the fields of California, stocking produce in a Detroit Walmart, and running food in a New York Applebee's. McMillan challenged herself with living on just the wages she received from each job. She survived each experience through the kindness and generosity of  the people who hold those very jobs everyday. 

I'm only on chapter two but so far its an interesting and insightful read. She writes, "Seeing good food as luxury lifestyle product has been so deeply embedded in our thinking about our meals that barely notice it." I hadn't thought about it before but its so true. She goes on to talk about growing up in a house where apart from Sunday dinners, weekly meals were composed of processed foods like canned soups and hamburger helper. Similar to my upbringing with a single mom who worked long hours and still wanted her daughters to participate in extracurricular activities, when we weren't eating fast food, we were eating anything we could find in a package; Pop Tarts, frozen waffles, and Toaster Strudels for breakfast, Lunchables, canned tuna, and packaged meats for lunch, and Banquet meals for dinner when we got home too late for a cooked meal.

On weekends, we had big breakfasts with eggs, sausage, biscuits, Belgian waffles, grit, home fries or fruit and Sunday dinners were chuck roast with potatoes and carrots, roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, gumbo with rice, or hearty stew. With pizza, spaghetti, and casseroles we'd eat salads made of iceberg lettuce. We had vegetables with every meal but they were frozen or from a can; we ate fruit cups with heavy syrup and thought nothing of it. It was a special treat to go to the farmers' market for fresh fruits, vegetables, and handmade snacks. We didn't eat this way because we didn't know any better, we ate this way because it was readily available to us. In our minds the freshest produce was for people of leisure; people who had time to browse the grocery store three or four times a week. People with that kind of time were usually well off. Even now when I make non-processed meals and post pictures of them on Facebook or Instagram, I still get a few "that's fancy" comments. I guess in order to change our diets, we have to first change our minds.

GreenRoad

Browsing Food Logistics today I came across an article about GreenRoad and had to look up what it is.  "GreenRoad is the leader in driver performance and safety management for fleets and other organizations." The Green Road Improvement Loop is a proven system to keep drivers efficient,  informed, and safe. The system provides the drivers with in-vehicle feedback on high risk or inefficient maneuvers, blocks phone calls and texts while motion, idling management tools, individual driver profiles, and reports for drivers and managers. They now have an Android smartphone version making the system more affordable. The smartphone edition driver performance management service includes:

• Real-time, in-vehicle driver feedback delivered via Android smartphone app
• Distracted driving prevention – disables physical use of smartphone while vehicle is moving
• GreenRoad Central mobile and online accounts for managers with fleet summary dashboards and driver-specific drill down detail
• GreenRoad Central mobile app for drivers showing historic trips, safety score and team rank
• Fleet Locator showing managers where drivers are located while a trip is in progress
• Email and on-demand management reports
• Driver online self-training materials
• Driver motivation and incentive programs

Food Logistics

Just Google searching food and transportation, I found and joined FoodLogistics.com last week. Food Logistics is the only publication dedicated to warehousing and transportation solutions for the food and beverage supply chain. The website and magazine offers, not only news and current events in the technology, transportation, warehousing, safety, and sustainability of food logistics, but also best practices. It is a helpful resource for food service manufacturers, suppliers and distributors. I receive = email updates with the latest in food supply chain news. So far I've come across some really interesting stuff. I'll share the best topics I find with you all!

Two Billion Cars

The book, Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability, written by transportation experts Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon, is a professional look at the past, present and future of vehicles in America and worldwide. The book illuminates environmental issues surrounding, not only America's dependence, but also India and China's rapidly growing desire for personal vehicles. It then gives progressive, sustainable solutions to these transportation problems including searching for fuel alternatives and reforming government policies. On the first page of the first chapter the authors share the following thought:

"Cars are arguably one of the greatest man-made threats to human society . . . The desire for personal vehicles is powerful and pervasive."

Having never owned a car I do not completely identify with the dependence, but I do identify with the desire. I get around pretty well. I can get to work, school, grocery stores, malls, and the airport without a car or even a ride for that matter. I've never had to go without because I don't own a vehicle; I just find other ways to get all the things I need and most of the things I want. I think my desire to have a car stems from two things: others aspiration for cars (basically peer pressure and status quo) and convenience. 

Even before I had a gainful employment and my own apartment, friends and family wondered if and when I would be getting a car. That seemed a little backwards to me; I mean if I can't feed myself I probably shouldn't own a car. When I did find an acceptable job with steady income and my own place, I was content, but the questions about getting a car came up all over again. Unless you live in New York, Chicago, DC, or San Francisco, you're expected to have a car; its the "American" way. According to Sperling and Gordon, this is part of the "unsustainable transportation path" from which we should be moving away.

Most days I have no problem hopping the bus or train to my favorite restaurant for lunch or dinner, to linger in stores at the mall, or to spend hours browsing books at the library or book store; actually I prefer it. However, when it raining, sleeting or snowing, or when I'm just exhausted from the week and need some groceries, the last thing I want to do is ride public transportation. Just last week I posted on Facebook, "It would be nice to walk out the door and get into a car." On cold days like today, when the temperature hovers around freezing and snow flurries around my head, it would be nice to be able to have a car available. Then I think about how much lower my carbon footprint is and how much money I save by not having to maintain a car, so I bundle up and stride on.

Definitely looking forward to this read!

Intrigue

Woodward Ave

National Bank of Detroit

I started reading two books today. One on the future of transportation, Two Billion Cars, and one on the American food system, The American Way of Eating. Both related to planning, but neither written by or specifically for planners. An interesting topic arose in each books' first chapters: Detroit. Tracie McMillan, the author of The American Way of Eating and an investigative journalist states, "Detroit has as many lessons to teach us as problems to solve." I found this incredibly intriguing, but to be honest I don't know a thing about Detroit, so being the motivated self learner I am, I decided to further my research. More to come on planning problems and more importantly solutions from Detroit.

St Christopher House, Detroit

American Hotel, Detroit

 Photo source: Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre

The Transportation Planning Process and Metropolitan Planning Organization

An overview of transportation planning and the role of the Metropolitan Planning Organization

"Transportation planning is a cooperative process designed to foster involvement by all users of the system, such as the business community, community groups, environmental organizations, the traveling public, freight operators, and the general public, through a proactive public participation process conducted by the MPO, state DOT, and transit operators." -- Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transportation Administration

It is important to identify and incorporate stakeholders during the early and middle stages during the planning process. The FHWA and FTA stress the fact that during the planning process those that have historically been underrepresented and underserved should be taken into special consideration. 

The MPO was created through Federal legislation in the early 1970s to make sure that existing and future transportation programs and projects follow an all encompassing and efficient process. While there are no explicit requirements for the structure of MPOs, they can be comprised of a director, an executive board, and both technical and citizen advisory committees. The 5 functions of the MPO are:

• Establish and manage fair and impartial setting for effective regional decision making in the metro area.
• Identify and evaluate alternative transportation improvement options.
• Prepare a long-range transportation plan (MTP) that covers at least 20 years and update it periodically. The plan should foster (1) mobility and access for people and good, (2) efficient system performance and preservation, and (3) quality of life.
• Develop a short-term transportation improvement program (TIP).
• Involve the public.

In addition to these tasks the MPO must also conform and comply with the state's air quality plan or the State Implementation Plan (SIP). Moreover, MPOs also have responsibilities under state law.

Maryland has 6 MPOs. The one for the Baltimore area is the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB). The MPOs of Maryland are responsible for organizing the Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP), which is a detailed listing of the capital projects proposed for the next six-year period.

The Transportation Planning Process Illustrated

Definition

Before I delve into other concentrations I'd like to start with a basic definition of what a planner is and what we do.

Random House defines city planning as:

"The activity or profession of determining the future physical arrangement and condition of a community, involving an appraisal of the present condition, a forecast of future requirements, a plan for the fulfillment of these requirements, and proposals for constructional, legal, and financial programs to implement the plan."

That is great definition. Planners are to take into consideration, not just of the physical environment, but also of the social, political and economic problems of the communities in which they work. Planners main goal is to bring together community residents, community leaders, political leaders, and other stakeholders, and get them talking. Planners should be concerned with assisting this group of people with bringing their issues to the surface and then finding solutions with them not for them. This would include values and interests that differ among not only the community members themselves, but the planner as well. Planning is a collaborative effort! 

For more information chose a link below:

What is Planning and What Do Planners Do?

Become a Planner

Planning in Your Community

No History for Black History Month

While I believe Black history is synonymous with American history and should be taught and celebrated year round, it is Black history month so I wanted to participate in educating, appreciation, and remembrance. A friend of mine, who is a grad student in journalism at NYU, posted on Instrgram that she would share a picture of an influential Black person in journalism each day for the month. In the same fashion I wanted to find influential Black planners in history to share on the blog and other social networking platforms. I scoured the internet for days trying to find just one Black planner; nothing. I was disappointed, but not defeated. I'm determined to be a person, 75 years from now when a student searches for Black planners in history, whose face will come up. A great American planner who was creative and imaginative, fearless and persistent, and always fought for the rights and interests of the people for whom she planned. This will be my legacy.