Food Diplomacy articles reposted by Ruth Paget

This Food Diplomacy article in The Parliament online magazine is interesting.  There are many online entries devoted to food diplomacy:

https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/food-diplomacy-gastrodiplomacy-europe

Some more information on culinary diplomacy in diplo online educational site:

https://www.diplomacy.edu/topics/culinary-diplomacy/

Saveurcmagazine still does the best food diplomacy.  It is the fashion industry applied to food for me like Gourmet magazine as well:

https://www.saveur.com/

https://gourmetmagazine.net/

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Hydrangeas' Economic and Ecological Value by Ruth Paget

Hydrangeas’ Economic and Ecological Value by Ruth Paget 

On our weekend marketing day where my family usually goes to Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Nob Hill for American and French food items, I saw huge pom-pom flowers for sale at Costco. 

I used Google lens to identify the blue and pink pom-pom plants and saw that these were hydrangeas. I have given these plants to people as gifts, but forgot the name of the plants. 

Now that I had the plant name, I looked up the plant characteristics on several sites and read that hydrangea flowers turn blue in acidic soil and pink in alkaline soil.  

Hydrangeas came become very tall (up 8 feet) and grow in moist, well-drained soil and partial shade according to Google AI and Master Gardener Catherine Boeckmann at Almanac.com, who has written extensively on their care and topics like coloring flowers and growing them from cuttings. Her excellent article follows: 

https://www.almanac.com/plant/hydrangeas#:~:text=Panicle%20hydrangeas%20(Hydrangea%20paniculata),Lacecap%20hydrangea

Knowing how to grow hydrangeas from cuttings can be a part-time or gig business, if you have a space to grow the flowers and a customer base. Nurseries like Grigg’s, Bokay, or Earthbound, hardware stores like Lowe’s, Costco, CVS, or other places where you see flowers sold could probably tell you how to grow sellable plants and where to get them distributed. 

Hydrangeas have an economic value beyond plant sales. The three varieties described in hydrangea.com below attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, which are important for honey production and agricultural plant fertilization for crops, orchards, and vineyards: 

https://hydrangea.com/blogs/growing-tips/3-hydrangeas-for-pollinators#:~:text=Oakleaf%20hydrangea%20(Hydrangea%20quercifolia)%20is%20a%20shrub,exposing%20seeds%20for%20songbirds%2C%20cardinals%2C%20and%20sparrows.

Hydrangeas provide food for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, which are all present in Monterey County California where I saw these beautiful pom-pom hydrangea plants. Hydrangeas help keep places like the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, California thriving (open October to March during butterfly  migration to Latin America.) 

Raising flowers like hydrangeas helps create a gardening community that supports nursery sales like potting soil, fertilizer, containers, and tools as well which is good for the economy, especially in California where we have year-round sunshine making it easy to grow plants.  These items might be suitable for delivery work as well.

For young couples or young families, taking care of a beautiful hydrangea can be part of a daily connection to nature that supports bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and the local economy through eco-tourism, agriculture, and vineyards.  

Hydrangeas have a tangible health benefit in proving antioxidants which remove free radicals from the body that may cause cancer.  Honey is sweet, so you do have to limit intake to not gain weight.

The photo below from Getty Images shows  a hydrangea in all its pom-pom glory: 

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/hydrangea

Happy Gardening! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Health Checkpoints in Grocery Stores and Pharmacies Article reposted by Ruth Paget

The following article by McKinsey about placing health checkpoints with nurses in grocery stores and pharmacies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an interesting public health initiative that helps everyone get their blood pressure and blood sugar checked as part of preventative health where and when it is convenient:

https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/health-in-cities/when-a-grocery-run-becomes-a-lifeline-how-public-private-collaboration-is-reshaping-health-in-philadelphia

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Gam s

Porchetta in the Park: A Florentine Food Truck Memory by Ruth Paget

Porchetta in the Park: A Florentine Food Truck Memory by Ruth Paget 

After eating a memorable meal at the Fattoria di Maiano up in the hills around Florence (Italy) in Fiesole, my husband Laurent and I spent the next part of our vacation in touristy Florence looking for authentic food in a speedy not slow food location. 

What is truly wonderful about Italy, especially Florence, is that we found the authentic people’s food of Tuscany at the Mercato di Cascine (Cascine Market) on Tuesday morning. 

This market that stretches a mile along the Arno River has hundreds of food trucks selling cuts of spit-roasted pork and porchetta (pronounced por-ketta) sandwiches among other food items, clothes, shoes, and household items. 

Several trucks specialized in just porchetta sandwiches, which I later found out was roasted, rolled pork belly seasoned with herbs like rosemary and fennel. Porchetta is basted every ½ hour with its fatty cooking juices, which makes it taste especially good. 

Laurent and I bought porchetta sandwiches, because they were easy to order for tourists with limited Italian skills. 

The street vendor we purchased our porchetta sandwiches from grilled two ciabatta bread halves and placed them two medium slices of warm porchetta on the bottom bun. Next, the vendor placed a mound of peppery arugula on top of the porchetta with a splash of red wine vinegar. 

The warm top bun went on top of the arugula. The skin on the porchetta was crisp along with the ciabatta bun for good texture to this calorie drenched sandwiched. I liked the punchy vinegar on the arugula too. 

We bought San Pellegrino Limonata, lemon sodas, to go with our delectable sandwiches. 

We strolled up and down the market for exercise and being part of the local culture and economy I was so happy to have found an authentic agritourism spot in Italy that also supported what was to become the globally respected Slow Food Movement. 

The recipe below from Serious Eats calls for 4-hour roast on its belly roll porchetta that can be used in sandwiches. 

https://www.seriouseats.com/all-belly-porchetta-recipe-italian-roast-pork

A food truck specializing in porchetta sandwiches might be able to turn a profit quickly by setting up reservation orders at a Farmers’ Market or by setting up neighborhood delivery runs like ice cream trucks or Omaha Steaks. 

Having a porchetta truck run on a non-market day like Monday in Salinas, California could bring food into local neighborhoods and distribute it quickly. 

Also, Salinas has easy access to all the Porchetta sandwich ingredients - organic pork from San Benito county, organic arugula from Monterey County, and lots of homemade wine vinegar options in California.  The ciabatta bread can easily be made locally too, if we have a constant supply of sugar.

Food thoughts for the day! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Classic Greek Salad Uses No Lettuce reposted by Ruth Paget

Classic Greek salad, what we called Village Greek Salad in Detroit’s (Michigan) Greek Town, uses no lettuce, but is loaded with chopped vegetables and feta cheese with lemon juice and oil dressing with oregano.

The vegetables used in this salad include:

-cucumbers

-red onions

-cherry tomatoes

-Black Kalamata olives

Delish provides a great spring and summer recipe below:

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a54226/best-greek-salad-recipe/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_del_m_bm_prog_org_us_a54226&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23058838039&gbraid=0AAAAACq-IPzwtIh_L4TFH7eHmDLkyl34c

Nob Hill Supermarket in Salinas, California sells feta cheeee in several sizes and formats.

Bon Appetit!

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Big Sur Marathon April 26, 2026 reposted by Ruth Paget

The Big Sur Marathon will take place on April 26, 2026 from Big Sur to Monterey, California.

The Marathon’s route is certainly one of the most cliff-hanging events in the world.

Details about the Big Sur Marathon follow:

https://www.bigsurmarathon.org/

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Asian Cultural Fair - April 25, 2026 reposted by Ruth Paget

The 2026 Asian Cultural Fair will be held on April 25, 2026 from 11 am to 4 pm in Salinas, California’s Chinatown Neighborhood.

Good food community event to be sure!

Details about the event follow:

https://www.salinasace.org/acf

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games