Food Insecurity a Series: Blueberry Simple Syrup and a Cocktail
... I think you all know I am trying to make a living one day at this so if you click a link on this blog there is always a chance I will make a little cash. All opinions are mine and mine alone. now that business is done on to You Can Be Food Insecure: And Enjoy A Cocktail... Tripping Vittles
Try to think of a positive character in film or television that is not a muppet who is food insecure. From the cartoons we saw as kids — “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a burger today” — to the subtle images of Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games getting a loaf of bread from Peta. Somehow at the root of food insecurity is the idea that you must be a con artist like Wimpy, or have mental illness and not care for your kids properly like Katniss’ mother. How many other images have we been bombarded with that tell us there is some defect at the heart of why someone is food insecure?
How do we see food insecurity
I am just talking entertainment images, not even taking into account what the politicians have bombarded us with about those that are hungry and need food. For so many, they lost their job, don’t get paid enough for their work, hours have been cut. This last year it has become glaringly obvious that we do not value the most essential workers in this society enough to pay them a living wage.
And yet we still want to make the hungry in this country have something else wrong with them: drug addicts, prostitutes, gang members, “welfare queens” scamming the system. We tell ourselves that food insecurity comes from a lack of financial planning, scamming the system, wasting their money on cars and phones and sneakers, so they do not have the money for food. Not ever acknowledging that you need all those things just to survive in society today. Could you do your job without a car? Phone? Shoes? If your job did not pay a living wage, what would you cut to keep your car payment or the roof over your head?
It’s Not Us Against Them Its A We Issue
The biggest issue with what I just wrote is that I used the word “they” a lot. Well, it’s me, it’s you, and it’s us. It’s our neighbors and our relatives. There are nearly 60 million people in this country who are food insecure. Nearly 12 million of them are kids. Almost 40% of us in this country are one paycheck away from poverty.
We do not think people on “welfare,” “assistance,” or the government dime should have the same things we have. We limit the foods and drinks they can buy—no boozy cocktails for you. You are poor!
We have a society based on Loverboy, “Working for the Weekend,” Jimmy Buffet and Alan Jackson telling us, “It’s 5o’clock somewhere”. Advertisers tell us that after a hard day’s work, it’s “Miller Time.”
But if you need help getting food or rent assistance, you are not supposed to use the food you get to make fancy cocktails or mixers for those cocktails. We have this idea you should toil away in your jobs and go home like you are in punishment. Or If you are not employed, you have no right to any fun like those of us that do work can have.
Bullshit…You can be food insecure and enjoy a cocktail
Well, I say BULLSHIT to that!! We will make cocktail mixers, and from those, we will make cocktails, and we will toast each other.
Let’s start with the blueberries I got at Mid-Ohio Food Bank. They gave me a whole flat! It was over 15 pounds of berries. I ate them raw and prepared a few other items that you will see in recipes. In this blog post, the idea I wanted to share is that everyone deserves to “Pour a Little Cherry Wine.” and relax as Nas sings.
Two Recipes One for the Syrup One for the Cocktail
One of my favorite things about making simple syrups is: first, it is simple! Second, it is sweet! (Yep, I like a sugary cocktail.) And third, they are versatile. This one added to lemonade is amazing! But the following is a cocktail made entirely from ingredients that came from the food pantry. (With the exception of the tequila: that came from George Clooney.) As I stated above you can be food insecure and still enjoy a fancy cocktail.