A Song for Our Time (Again?)

Pie in the Sky

Song by Joe Hill, 1911, Industrial Workers of the World

Long-haired preachers come out every night

To tell you what’s wrong and what’s right

They will answer in voices so sweet

But when asked about something to eat

"You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die"

And the starvation army they play
They sing and they clap and they pray
'Til they get all your coin on the drum
Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum

"You're gonna eat, bye and bye, poor boy
In that glorious land up in the sky, way up high
Work and pray, and live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die", dirty lie

Holy rollers and jumpers come out
And they holler, they jump, Lord, they shout
"Give your money to Jesus", they say
"He will cure all your troubles today"

"And you will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky, way up high
Work and pray, boy, live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die"

If you fight hard for children and wife
Try to get something good from this life
"You're a sinner and bad man", they tell
"When you die, you will sure go to Hell"

"You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die"

Working men of all countries unite
Side by side for freedom we will fight
When this world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters, we'll sing this refrain

"Well, you will eat, bye and bye
When you've learned how to cook and to fry
Chop some wood, it'll do you good
You will eat in that sweet bye and bye"

"Yes, you'll eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky, way up high
Work and pray, and live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die", that's a lie.

What is Pumpkin?

An edible pumpkin about to be cooked in my kitchen a few years ago.

Thanksgiving is coming, and thus pumpkins have turned from a decorative/scary item into a food. Pumpkins that are grown for jack-o-lanterns generally have flesh that is stringy and watery — including, both big and small decorative pumpkins.  Small edible pumpkins are the ones you buy if you want to cook them — the stores label them as “pie pumpkins.” They would also make good pumpkin soup, roast pumpkin, or pumpkin stew. I assume that canned pumpkin also comes from this cultivar, though certain other types of squash are also used (legally) in canned pumpkin.

Decorative pumpkins wouldn’t poison you, but just wouldn’t make good food. After the holiday, the giant pumpkins in our neighborhood (as far as I know) are picked up by the same truck that brought them. I have no idea how the disposal is done, but I assume they go to some composting center.

Canned pumpkin or pie filling can legally be either
actual pumpkin or one of a few kinds of orange squash.
Details here: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/whats-in-canned-pumpkin/

Pumpkin Decorations

The pumpkin wall on Halloween night. It goes on much longer than this. (Alice’s photo)

The pumpkin wall on Sunday. Some pumpkins remain, others are gone.

Cooking pumpkin and squash

A pumpkin pie web image search.

An old spice container with pumpkin pie spice that my mother always used.

Some people confuse the “pumpkin spice” blend (allspice, ginger, nutmeg, cloves. and cinnamon) with actual pumpkin. The spice is used in many beverages and dishes at this time of year, sometimes with actual pumpkin, sometimes not.

Making soup in my kitchen this week: a squash that’s equivalent to pumpkin.

 

Stereotyped Thanksgiving image with pumpkins.

Our Leaders Enjoy A Meal?

Presidential banquet, starving masses. (Image from the Guardian)
Thinking about Thanksgiving forces me to consider how some Americans are being abused,
deprived of ways to buy food, and kicked around by our leaders.

Blog post © 2025 mae sander

Starving his Enemies

 

Virtue

The Virtues of the Table: How to Eat and Think is a book about ethics by a very opinionated journalist, Julian Baggini. He’s really quite preachy. But I still enjoyed reading the first half of it, because I like his way of challenging commonly-held ideas. The second half was a bit tedious, rehashing a lot of concepts that are often mentioned about food and cuisine, and I kind of speed-read it.

Here are some quotes that appealed to me. (Note, the Kindle edition doesn’t have page numbers).

“The idea that novelty is a cardinal virtue in food can only emerge in a culture where the food tradition is weak and the daily menus not packed with favourites passed down the generations. Routine need not lead to boredom, but ironically, the constant pursuit of novelty can. There is nothing more tedious than culinary innovation for the sake of it.”

 

“In the 1950s and 1960s the Spanish costas were ruined by tasteless developments built to attract mainly British holiday-makers in search of a cheap break. Now, behind the beaches, the foothills are being ruined to provide tasteless food to, often British, consumers in search of cheap meals. The Spanish have blown their inheritance in search of quick rewards.”

“Excessive rigidity about the desire to cook everything from scratch is not a character trait I wanted to reinforce. It would be wrong to become moralistic about what is in essence a luxury. Before the widespread use of domestic ovens, the poor did little home cooking as we would now recognise it. In the slums of the developing world, takeaways and simple restaurants are the cheap option, not an indulgence, since it is more expensive to buy the fuel to cook at home for a single family than it is for one person to cook for many. In the modern West, doing a lot of home cooking is the privilege of the time-rich, or at least time-flexible.”

Time Marches On

The essays in this book were collected for publication in 2014, meaning they were written and in some cases published elsewhere earlier than that. I’m surprised at how many of the ideas were being explored in detail back then (as I recall) but have gone dormant now, though they would be just as relevant. I think the whole question of ethical eating was discussed much more a while ago than it is now. When was the last time I saw the term "food miles" and heard all the fuss about eating local? No longer an obsession, I guess.

I’m also surprised at how several of the “facts” known a decade ago are now very much in question, especially those theories of weight control and hunger that have been demolished by the widespread use of GLP drugs like Wegovy. 

“Why do people seem to think that people ought to lose weight by willpower alone?” asks the author when discussing weight-loss surgery. He argues that such surgery should be a perfectly respectable and unquestioned procedure, but he didn't think it was accepted. 

The same judgy question comes up for people on weight loss drugs now, but the whole issue has shifted as it’s become apparent that the control of food thoughts and hunger is simply much more difficult — or not possible — for many people, whose problem can now be solved by drugs, not surgery with all its risks. Reading the viewpoint from a decade ago sheds light on how much things have changed because of effective weight-loss drugs.

I wish I knew what inspired me to get this book! The author is still producing many articles, so maybe he mentioned it himself? I can’t really recommend it, though it has some good chapters.

Julian Baggini (Wikipedia)

Review © 2025 mae sander

My Ann Arbor Kitchen in May

May, 2025: Food in Ann Arbor

May has been a very busy month. We traveled to Virginia for Alice's graduation, and we began our back-yard cooking season in Michigan. For Sherry's In My Kitchen this month, I've divided my post into two parts: Virginia and Michigan; yesterday’s post was about Virginia. Before and after our Virginia trip, we cooked a variety of foods in our kitchen, and after a lot of rain, were able to cook on the grill in our back yard.

Finally: Outdoor Cooking and Eating

In my kitchen and dining room…

I love this new dragon cup made by Evelyn. The dragon wraps around the cup, so I showed two sides of it.

Salmon and coleslaw

At the Neighbors’ House

Sushi Lunch

Beyond My Kitchen: Government Interference in Science and Government Dishonesty Emerges

First, a cartoon suggesting who will eat when we achieve our new social order. (source)

Here’s one clear and believable summary of the current childhood nutrition situation, as expert food scientist Marion Nestle explained it:

“Most American children’s diets are dominated by ultra–processed foods (UPFs) high in added sugars, chemical additives, and saturated fats, while lacking sufficient intakes of fruits and vegetables.”

The “Make America Healthy” report on childhood nutrition was released this month. While the problems in our society with feeding children a healthy diet seem to be pretty well formulated, the solutions seem questionable and more details of the dishonesty of the study have been revealed each day.  

Current budget legislation substantially cuts benefits for families who need them, and reduces benefits to farmers who have supplied food to food banks and other charities. This makes the report seem a bit hypocritical. Note: for info about more government interference in science and health, see “Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it.”

 

Here’s a quote from the press release about this new publication:

“We will end the childhood chronic disease crisis by attacking its root causes head-on—not just managing its symptoms,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We will follow the truth wherever it leads, uphold rigorous science, and drive bold policies that put the health, development, and future of every child first. I’m grateful to President Trump for his leadership—and for trusting me to lead this fight to root out corruption, restore scientific integrity, and reclaim the health of our children.” (source)

New details keep emerging about this report. In particular, a news story on Thursday revealed that the report “contains citations to studies that do not exist.” (source) Several of the authors whose works were “cited” stated that the supposed articles and fictitious coauthors. Further reports on Friday revealed that the study is based on unreliable AI generation. Bottom line from an expert:

“This is not an evidence-based report, and for all practical purposes, it should be junked at this point….It cannot be used for any policymaking. It cannot even be used for any serious discussion, because you can’t believe what’s in it.” (quote from Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association)

I’m not just skeptical about this bogus study, which the Trump administration is nevertheless supporting. I’m terrified by the meaning and implications, in the first quote, of  “truth,” “corruption,” and “scientific integrity.” The administration has undermined existing programs and sabotaged public trust in the food supply. Kennedy's crackpot science ideas are already doing quite a lot of harm in agriculture, medicine, and climate science. Layoffs of food regulators, perversion of regulations, and defunding of agriculture and welfare programs (details here) undermine the well-being and health of all citizens. 

I started writing this on Tuesday, and new revelations each day have caused me to revise what I’ve said. You really can’t trust this government!

Blog post and photos © 2025 mae sander

Shared with Sherry and with Deb.

Kitchens, March 2025

New in My Kitchen in March

New spoon rest or teabag holder that Evelyn made me.

What’s new on the refrigerator this month? Just one new and timely magnet.
For a thought-provoking essay on Orwell see: “We are all living in George Orwell’s World Now”
in the New York Times Magazine.

Things We Ate in March

Vietnamese shrimp and snap peas. Recipes from Andrea Nguyen.

Favorite dish: au gratin potato casserole prepared in my French baking dish that I’ve had for many years.

Roast lamb, roast potatoes, broccoli, and a glass of red wine.

An omelet and a pita bread.

In our kitchen one morning. Toast, jam, butter, orange juice, coffee. Other mornings, other selections.

Alice at our favorite bakery, Tous Les Jours — lunch. Yes, we three ate all these pastries!

A visual recipe from the website Recipe Tin Eats. It was very good!

A great meal from Carol’s kitchen.

Recently opened in Ann Arbor: one of a small chain of Vietnamese/French coffee shops. 

Beyond my own Kitchen: US Food Aid Disrupted

Destructive actions by our government have been constantly increasing. 

“Last week, the USDA cut an initiative called the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, which helped schools receive fresh ingredients from small farms.” (source)

Food-insecurity is a major concern that has been addressed by some very effective programs during the past five years, but those programs are being abruptly discontinued. Farmers have suddenly been abandoned by government programs that purchased their goods on behalf of food banks. Agencies like Feeding America are struggling to cope with these losses. 

“USDA had previously allocated $500 million in deliveries to food banks for fiscal year 2025 through The Emergency Food Assistance Program. Now, the food bank leaders say many of those orders have been canceled.” (source)

Food banks throughout the country, which have struggled to help those in need as their numbers increased, are now profoundly challenged as many millions of dollars in food aid has been cut off: 

“USDA’s cancellation of the Local Food for Schools and Local Food Purchase Assistance programs has garnered headlines, but they are just two of more than a dozen programs supporting small farms and regional food infrastructure that have been impacted. (source)

Source: “Feds cancel #4.3M worth of poultry, cheese, eggs to Michigan Food Banks” (March 29, 2025)

Here in Ann Arbor, throughout our state of Michigan, and in most other states, needy families that relied on USDA food supplies for nutritional help are facing a grim future. 

“Nearly $5 million worth of food for Michigan food banks has been cut by the Trump Administration, according to the CEO of one of Battle Creek's food banks. Although that number accounts for about 4% of food distributed to Michiganders across eight counties, South Michigan Food Bank CEO Peter Vogel is hopeful the cuts won't cause southwest Michiganders to go hungry. Canceled meals, including products such as chicken, eggs, pork, turkey and cheese, were expected to be delivered this spring and summer.” (source)

Farmers, already jeopardized by international trade cancellations in the tariff wars, are additionally faced with these newly cancelled orders. (The impact on farmers of new tariffs scheduled to begin this week is a major issue, separate from the various program cancellations.)

“Funding pauses at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are affecting sustainable agricultural programs in Michigan. The program Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funds 41 projects, including 28 in Michigan. Grants support programs that increase economic opportunities for farmers who use sustainable practices. The disbursement of those funds has been stopped, according to two of those projects in Michigan.” (source)

Thinking of my own kitchen, where I am so extremely fortunate, makes me also think of the less fortunate people in my community, my state, and my country — one of the tragedies that is unfolding in the tsunami of federal injustice.

Blog post and original photos © 2025 mae sander.

Other photos as credited.

Shared with In My Kitchen at Sherry’s blog.