Taking A Fresh Look At GMOs

This post was originally published on Forbes on October 25, 2016.

Post written by Jonathan Bardzik. Jonathan Bardzik is a cook, author and storyteller based in Washington, D.C.

GMO Answers launched its third annual ‘Get to Know GMOs’ month this October to answer consumers’ most pressing questions about GMOs. Throughout the month, GMO Answers is posting a series of five articles for ‘Get to Know GMOs’ month. This post is our fourth installment.
 

This picture? It’s a giant stack of pumpkin pancakes. Light, fluffy pumpkin pancakes dripping with bacon-infused, real maple syrup and topped with a dollop of cardamom whipped cream. They are made with locally-produced, farm market-fresh, roasted pumpkin, eggs, whole milk and butter. These pancakes – enjoyed while still in your pajamas on a Saturday morning – is why you choked down dry oatmeal every morning this week, and represents everything I love about the fall.

My name is Jonathan Bardzik. Washington, D.C.-based storyteller, cook and author. For five years now I have given weekly, live cooking demonstrations at farm-markets here in D.C. and around the country, using seasonal, fresh ingredients. And fall? Fall is for pumpkin.

With new recipes appearing each week at my demos, I’ve created dozens of recipes for pumpkin from savory dishes like Japanese-inspired dumplings to sweet dishes like pumpkin spice oatmeal – with lots of real pumpkin – and these decadent pancakes. In savory dishes, pumpkin tastes very vegetal, like butternut or acorn squash. To bring out the sweet flavors we all love in pumpkin pie requires sugar.

Now, since I do most of my cooking fresh from the farm market, you might guess that I’m pretty passionate about the source of my food. The fresh ingredients that come into my kitchen come from local farmers who I speak with each week. I know their names and the names of their spouses and children. I talk with them about how they grow their food. I also try and find out as much as I can about the ingredients in my pantry.

When I started researching the sugar I use to make those pancakes sweet, I learned that about half the sugar produced in the U.S. comes from sugar beets. More than 95% of those sugar beets are genetically modified. Since I’m so concerned about the source of my food, you might assume that this is a big problem for me. It’s not.

One of the benefits of living in D.C., surrounded by friends who are policy wonks and experts on one subject or another, is that you quickly learn that most issues are better understood in three paragraphs than in three sentences. A quick thumbs up for locally-grown, organic or GMO-free does a poor job of capturing the true complexity of the issues in food production. So, before you write me off, give me a couple more paragraphs.

First, I buy as much locally-produced produce as possible. I prefer organic, but recognize that those farmers I look in the eye each week are the real experts on growing food. If they think that using a few chemicals is safe for the food they serve to their families than I’m comfortable having it in my kitchen. Besides, those chemicals are expensive. They’re not using any more than they have to.

As for GMOs, there have been lots of studies and there is simply no science that has yet identified a problem with this 20-year-old technology. Besides, I avoid most processed, packaged and prepared foods in favor of farm-fresh, whole ingredients. There are no GMO pumpkins, lettuce, tomatoes or wheat. In those delicious pancakes the only possible GMO ingredient is three tablespoons of GMO beet sugar.

As for taking care of our environment and our planet, the answer is a little more complicated here too. A farmer interviewed for a story on National Public Radio (NPR) earlier this year stated that the reduced need for chemical controls has reduced his spraying to only a few times a season down from every 10 days. That’s far fewer chemicals, less soil erosion, fewer runs of fuel guzzling, exhaust emitting tractors and less chemical exposure for the people who work on the farm. Plus, sugar beets are biennials – flowering only in their second year of growth. Commercially, they are harvested at the end of one season which means there’s no risk of cross pollinating with non-GMO plant relatives on the farm or in the local environment.

So, I’m going to get back to the kitchen to this giant Hubbard squash I’ve got sitting on the counter. I need to get it in the oven and roast it to serve up a big batch of pumpkin pancakes on Friday morning (I’ll be spending my weekend cooking out at local farm markets). I’ll enjoy them - farm-fresh, seasonal, local, rich and sweet – with just a little bit of GMO sugar.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Bacon Maple Syrup 

Serves 6

Whisking egg whites separately and folding them in prevents the pumpkin from weighing down these airy pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 3 thick slices bacon, diced
• 2 cups real Maple syrup
• 1.5 cups all-purpose white flour
• 3 tbs sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp gingerbread spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon with a pinch each of nutmeg and clove) 
• 1.5 cups of whole milk
• 1 cup cooked & mashed pumpkin (I like Kabocha or Hubbard)
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup farm fresh butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Directions:

• Fry bacon in a skillet, when cooked through, reserve fat and chop bacon.
• Place bacon and syrup in a small saucepan and simmer.
• Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and gingerbread spice and whisk lightly to combine.
• In a separate bowl mix milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, butter and vanilla and whisk gently to combine.
• Whisk egg whites to stiff, but not dry, peaks.
• Gently whisk dry and wet ingredients together. It will be thick.
• Stir 1/4 egg whites into batter.
• Fold in remaining egg whites.
• Let batter rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine cream and cardamom and whisk to soft peaks.
• Warm 1 tbs bacon fat in a 12” skillet set over just-below-medium heat. Cook batter in 1/4 cup for each pancake. Flip once after 3-4 minutes and cook for 1 minute longer. Keep warm in oven while you finish cooking remaining pancakes, adding additional bacon fat for each batch.
• Serve pancakes topped with bacon infused syrup and whipped cream.