Tag Archives: food

7 edible flowers and how to use them

July 20, 2021 admin

Whether you’re hoping to decorate a cake, jazz up a salad, adorn a cocktail, or simply enjoy a snack from nature, edible flowers can add a touch of whimsy and natural beauty to your diet.

It’s important to remember that not every flower is edible—some are poisonous, and even the ones that aren’t may be growing in suboptimal conditions. Avoid plucking edible blooms directly from nature unless you can be sure they aren’t tainted with germs from wildlife, pathogens from the water supply, or harmful chemicals like pesticides. When in doubt, source your culinary flowers from a trusted gardener or edible flower farm to ensure quality and cleanliness.

Marigolds

Many edible flowers can be eaten whole, but some are best disassembled to avoid the inedible sepal, pistil, and stamens—basically the base of the flower and all those funky bits in the center. Marigolds are one of these: simply separate the head from the stem and pluck off the bright petals. All varieties of marigold have edible petals, but they don’t all taste the same. Some varieties are lightly citrusy, while others have a mildly spicy kick. Still others don’t taste like much of anything and are best for aesthetic purposes rather than culinary ones. If you have access to multiple marigold varieties, consider trying them all to discover your favorites.

Use marigold petals to add color and subtle flavor to any sauce or savory pie, such as a quiche or vegetable tart. You can also roll a ball of goat cheese in these bright petals and place it atop a salad. Marigolds’ fluffy, tightly-packed petals set them apart from other garden favorites, but you can be even more certain you’ve found the right plant by looking for its distinctive fern-like leaves.

Borage

While a bit obscure, this hardy herbal plant lends itself well to a variety of culinary pursuits. It produces quarter-sized blue flowers that connoisseurs say taste a bit like cucumber. These flowers commonly end up in jellies and jams, but are a lovely addition to all sorts of dishes, from a fresh green soup to a light chimichurri for fish and poultry entrees. If you’re considering growing some yourself, don’t hesitate: this flowering herb requires almost no maintenance, will return to the garden every spring, and is a favorite of pollinating bees.

Identify borage by its star-shaped flowers and the prickly white fuzz coating its stems and buds. Look for flowers grouped in downward-facing clusters and wide green leaves with gently ruffled edges. Green alkanet can look similar to the untrained eye, but its flowers are purple with rounded petals and have thicker stems than borage. Forget-me-nots may also be mistaken for borage, but they lack its signature fuzz. Both these other flowers are technically also edible, but they don’t taste like much of anything.

Pansies

A favorite of edible flower enthusiasts, pansies come in a huge array of colors, from soft pastels to vibrant jewel tones. Stick them on a cake, garnish a salad, or pop them in your favorite cocktail—they’ll add an enticing hue wherever they end up. On their own, they have a mild “green” flavor a bit like lettuce, but they’re also a favorite of dessert lovers for their wide variety of colors and flat, round shape. You can easily preserve the fresh blooms by brushing them with an egg wash and sprinkling them with superfine granulated sugar (or regular granulated sugar if that’s all you have), then leaving them to dry completely for four to 24 hours. These candied pansies can make a stunning dessert garnish or a unique homemade gift.

Pansies have iconic flat faces in watercolor hues that make them hard to miss. The flowers bloom in the spring and early summer months on short, compact plants with dark green leaves. They’re a favorite of cool-weather gardeners, and you’ll often find them in public parks, window boxes, and decorative planters—although those aren’t the best places to browse for a snack.

Roses

Roses have been lauded throughout history for their aesthetic beauty, but they have a unique floral flavor in addition to show-stopping colors. This is another flower where you’ll want to stick to the petals, and be sure to rip off the white portion at the base of each petal to avoid its bitter taste. Rose petals can be chopped and blended with softened butter for a fancy teatime spread, dried and sprinkled on a latte for a cute treat, or infused into honeys, jams, jellies, and baked goods.

You probably know what a rose looks like, but it’s worthwhile to make sure you’ve correctly spotted one before chowing down. Look for a bell-shaped bloom with tightly rolled central petals and a stem covered in signature thorns to make sure you’ve found a rose. One of the most similar plants is the thorn-free ranunculus, which is poisonous when eaten fresh.

Tuberous begonias

A group of pink flowers. — Are these tuberous begonias? If you’re not sure, you shouldn’t eat them. *Marjon Besteman / Unsplash*

If you can get your hands on some of these big, bright blooms, take advantage of their natural citrusy flavor. Pair the softball-sized flowers with sliced strawberries in a summery salad or perch one on top of a fruit smoothie for an edible decoration. You can also substitute the stems of tuberous begonias for rhubarb in pies and other baked goods due to their similar sour flavor.

Be sure to get your tuberous begonias from a reputable source—not all begonias are edible, and you don’t want to end up with the wrong variety on your plate by mistake. Tuberous begonias are large and fleshy, unlike some of their smaller cousins, but this is a flower you really shouldn’t try to identify by yourself: check the label or ask their grower directly. People with gout, kidney stones, or rheumatism should avoid even the edible ones: the flowers’ oxalic acid may interfere with the body’s ability to properly absorb nutrients.

Nasturtium

The flowers, buds, and leaves of nasturtium plants are all safe to eat, and they have a peppery bite that sets them apart from other edible blooms. Try adding the flowers to a salad or using them to decorate an appetizer. This plant is an annual, meaning it won’t grow back year after year—just another reason to take advantage of the flowers while they’re in bloom.

If the bright orange flowers with darker orange and red streaks in the centers don’t tip you off, nasturtium also has distinctive leaves. Round and delicate, these bright green saucers have veins that fan out from a small white center. You can often find these flowers and their leaves growing in clusters on thin, roaming stems.

Squash blossoms

An edible squash blossom. — Squash blossoms: stuff ’em, fry ’em, stick ’em in a soup. *Monika Baechler / Unsplash*

A favorite of chefs and home cooks alike, you may not have to look far to find edible squash blossoms. Some high-end grocery stores carry these crinkly treats, as do many farmers markets that sell squash in the fall. Because these flowers grow on the roaming stems of squash plants, you’re unlikely to find them out in the wild.

These trumpet-like orange blooms can grow up to 7 inches long and are delicious stuffed with ricotta cheese, coated in breadcrumbs or pretzel dust, and fried in a pan. You can also cook them into a creamy soup, or even use them as the filling for a quesadilla. The size of these fluted flowers make them much more than a garnish—they’re an ingredient in their own right.

Why millions of students are missing out on food-assistance benefits

April 5, 2021 admin

Anastasia Snelling is the department chair of Health Studies at American University. Rebecca Hagedorn is an assistant professor in Food and Nutrition at Meredith College. This story originally featured in The Conversation.

It’s harder to learn when you are suffering from hunger or searching for your next meal.

But while around 30 million K-12 students in public schools are eligible for free or reduced lunch, it is a different matter when they leave. Many of those who graduate from high school and enroll in higher education institutions find they no longer have access to federal food programs.

The nation’s leading anti-hunger program for adults, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, provides food assistance to almost 44 million Americans. Only an estimated 18 percent of college students have been eligible for the program in recent years, with a low 3 percent actually receiving food assistance.

This may be changing. Congress recently passed legislation that included relief for the estimated one in three students who struggle with food insecurity. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, college students who are enrolled at least half-time, many of whom were previously ineligible due to historical guidelines, may now be able to access SNAP.

To us as scholars who study food insecurity on campus, this is welcome news—our research suggests opening up SNAP would help students. But there are concerns that the current expansion may last only a few months and that any lasting change may suffer from a lack of awareness among students over their eligibility.

Temporary relief

One look at the Food and Nutrition Service web page on student SNAP enrollment suggests the change to allow students to receive benefits may be short-lived. The word “temporary” is printed in bold over the updated guidelines for student eligibility. It is also noted that student exemptions may be in effect only until 30 days after the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended.

So while the measure will give immediate relief to an estimated 3 million college students newly eligible for SNAP benefits, there is no guarantee that this will be permanent. Other proposed legislation to address college food insecurity on a more lasting basis, including 12 bills introduced in the last legislative session alone, include a more permanent expansion of SNAP eligibility. But to date, none has been enacted.

If the temporary expansion of SNAP is allowed to drop with no legislation in place to replace it, then the more than 30 percent of college students who struggle with food insecurity will continue to face the challenge of balancing academic life with providing basic needs. Research shows food-insecure students struggle to maintain their mental and physical well-being and ultimately pay the price with lower academic success.

While progress has been slow on a federal level, individual states have had more success. To date, 13 states have introduced college food insecurity-related bills, with seven of those states enacting policies.

California’s hunger-free campuses bill, enacted in 2017, awards funding to campuses that meet the “hunger-free” designation, which requires colleges to employ an individual to help students apply for SNAP and other food resources; have a food pantry or food distribution on campus; and implement a meal-share program that allows students to donate unused meal plan swipes to other students in need.

Both Minnesota and New Jersey have passed similar legislation.

And in 2019, both Hawaii and Illinois amended SNAP eligibility to include students in career and technical programs.

These programs could, we believe, serve as models for states that have yet to move forward with college food insecurity policies.

Raising awareness

But even with the—at least temporary—federal expansion of the SNAP program to campuses, there is a second problem: Among students, there appears to be low awareness of the program.

A 2018 report by the Government Accountability Office estimated that of the 3 million college students who were eligible for SNAP benefits under the old rules, only 43 percent were enrolled in the program.

As such, any permanent expansion of SNAP benefits to students would benefit from a campus outreach program to better inform students of what they are entitled to.

Interviews we conducted with 23 college students in North Carolina and West Virginia for a yet to be published paper indicate that understanding of federal nutrition assistance programs may be limited. Most students interviewed said they “don’t know much” about SNAP, while others stated they haven’t heard of it at all.

For students who were familiar with SNAP, responses on the benefits of the program and eligibility for the program varied widely, indicating a need for campus-based education.

Some campuses have sought to hold SNAP awareness events to engage the campus community in understanding SNAP and help eligible students enroll for benefits. Events like these may prove increasingly vital during this period of expanded eligibility to ensure students in need of food assistance can navigate the often complicated enrollment process.

Overcoming stigma

Even when support is available, there is a stigma around receiving benefits. There is a perception held by some that those who enroll in federally assisted programs are lazy.

Some of the college students we spoke to were conscious of the prejudices against people on federal assistance programs. “TV shows make these [federal] programs seem like a bad thing,” one student told us. Another spoke of “feeling self-conscious if I had to use [SNAP benefits] because of what other people’s reactions would be.”

It has led to hesitancy among some to come forward for federal benefits. As one student shared, “I would rather use community-based resources [such as food pantries, soup kitchens] because there is a more positive connotation.”

Institutions of higher education have an important role to play in addressing food insecurity for students. And nonprofits have partnered with institutions to tackle the problem. The College and University Food Bank Alliance, for example, has a network of over 700 campus food pantries.

But permanently expanding a federal SNAP program to students and making them aware of their eligibility has the potential to be transformative for those struggling to learn while not knowing where their next meal is coming from.

In 1946, the National School Lunch Program was launched recognizing that children must be nourished to learn. Seventy-five years later, we believe the U.S. must address food insecurity among college students to ensure educational achievement for all.