Excerpted from Cold Cereal & Toast
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A bundle of basil showed up in my CSA share this week.  I shuddered a bit thinking about that same herb growing somewhat recklessly in our backyard, used sparingly for sandwiches and seasonings.  But with an additional bundle wrapped and ready for use, I needed a recipe to quell the basil surplus.

Food surplus remains a focal point for the debate over the health of our country and our food supply.  Many experts argue that U.S. agriculture policy has promoted the overproduction of certain farm commodities, like corn and soybeans. As with most items in excess, you look for new and novel ways to use it.  For the food industry, this meant converting commodity items into ingredients for calorie-laden, nutritionally-void processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages that have infiltrated television advertisements, supermarket and convenience store shelves.  Quite simply, this overproduction has led to excess consumption accelerating the obesity dilemma we face today.

If you have time, check out the recent report funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that attests to the struggle fruit and vegetable growers confront under current federal agriculture policies.  The report examines the current Farm Bill and includes recommendations for policy change in many different areas to help ensure a plentiful supply of healthy foods well into the future.  I found this statement in a research article published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition particularly powerful:

“If tomorrow every American woke up and refused to consume anything but the foods recommended by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, there would be a catastrophic food shortage.  Although the USDA guidelines recommend the consumption of fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet, the food system falls drastically short of providing enough fresh fruits and vegetables to meet their recommendations.”

In digesting all of this information, I can’t help but feel spoiled and very fortunate.  While processed foods and tempting treats indeed crowd the supermarket aisles where I live, healthy, fresh options also abound – nary a sign of a suffering fruit and vegetable industry.  With a weekly CSA share, numerous farmers’ market options, and a nice amount of basil and tomatoes growing in my backyard, it seems I’m never at a loss for nutritious food.  There’s even a surplus at times; and that’s when I’m in the kitchen the most — because, like modern agriculture, I need to find a new and novel way to use the excess food.

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