Joey Tuminello on Food, Drugs, and Field Philosophy

Thought About Food Podcast

This episode we’re talking to a friend of mine, Joey Tuminello. Joey, like me, works on a number of quite different questions in philosophy, so our conversation covers a lot of ground. We talk about the difference between food and drugs; eating invasive species; animal ethics and food ethics in the Jain religious and philosophical tradition; and we finish up by talking about his work for the activist group Farm Forward, and how that work connects back to his philosophical commitments.

Show Notes:

• UPDATE: Joey Tuminello, our guest on this episode, teaches at McNeese State University. Louisiana has been hit hard by Hurricane Laura, including Lake Charles where the school is located (you can read about it here: https://on.natgeo.com/3mGHufL and here: https://nyti.ms/2RQbc3J). Please consider donating to https://www.the15whitecoats.org/. Their usual work is providing resources for students of color in medical school (which is a great cause on its own!), but Joey tells me one of their founders is actually from Lake Charles and donors can now earmark donations for Hurricane Laura relief.
• Follow us on Twitter at @FoodThoughtPod, and you can drop us a line at ThoughtAboutFood on Gmail. Consider leaving us a review wherever you found us!
• Joey Tuminello was our guest today. Check out his writing on Academia.edu and he said you can email him if you have questions about this episode at JosephT at farmforward.com.
• We spent a lot of time talking about Farm Forward, where Joey is a program coordinator. Check out their work!
• We talked about a lot of books! Probably the main one though was Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.
• Food Philosophy: an Introduction by David Kaplan (I'd love to have him on the show some time) is a great book we also discussed.
• Joey also mentioned the book Cooking Eating Thinking edited by Deane Curtin and former guest on this podcast Lisa Heldke.
• Here are some other books we talked about
  • I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine
  • Nutritionism: The Science and Politics of Dietary Advice
  • The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature's Salvation
  • Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience
  • The Ethics and Rhetoric of Invasion Ecology
  • On Animals
• The "invasivore" movement's website we discussed was eattheinvaders.org
• The intro and outro music is "Whiskey Before Breakfast" which is both a great traditional song and the title of an autobiography I would definitely read. It was performed and shared by The Dan River Ramblers under a Creative Commons license.
• Here's Joey's recipe (which by the way I made in a regular pressure cooker and can attest it was delicious!):

  "Instant Pot Vegan Louisiana-Style Red Beans & Rice (adapted and veganized from Camellia Brand Beans' recipe)

  I chose to share this recipe because it represents my own trajectory towards veganism after growing up in south Louisiana. We have some of the best-tasting food in the world, but much of it is steeped in meat and animal products. This also comes along with a lot of assumptions about authenticity and the perceived need to include meat, animal fat, etc. in our traditional dishes. Part of my interest in food ontology stems from my continual reflection on the concept of authenticity in Louisiana cuisine, as well as my view that we can retain and even enhance and develop our cultural identities without the need for animal products. Plus, I cook this all the time and it's delicious, easy, and perfect for leftovers.

  Ingredients:

  · 1 tablespoon oil

  · 1 pack of Beyond Sausage Original Bratwurst (14 oz.), or other vegan sausage

  · 1/4 stick (or 1/8 cup) vegan butter or margarine

  · 2 cups chopped seasoning blend (onions, celery, green bell peppers, parsley flakes)

  · 1 tablespoon minced garlic

  · 1 lb. dried red kidney beans

  · 6 cups water

  · 4 bay leaves

  · 6 tsp. Better Than Bouillon vegetable base (or other stock/bouillon cubes)

  · Salt to taste

  · Creole/Cajun seasoning to taste (e.g. Tony Chachere's)

  · 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (to taste)

  · 1/4 tsp. liquid smoke

  · 1.5 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce

  · Start with 1 tsp. of each of the following (add more to taste):

  · garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika

  · Green onions (for garnish)

  · Hot cooked rice

  Directions:

  1. Rinse and sort beans (no need to soak overnight).

  2. Press the Sauté button on the Instant Pot, add oil to pot. Add sliced sausage, and sauté for about 5 minutes or until browned. Remove sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve.

  3. Add 1/4 stick vegan butter to Instant Pot, along with chopped seasoning blend and garlic, and cook until onions turn soft and clear.

  4. Add cooked sausage back to pot, along with the beans, water, bay leaves, and Better Than Bouillon vegetable base. Stir.

  5. Turn Sauté mode off. Cover, twist to lock the lid, and turn the valve to sealing. Press the Manual button and set to 100 minutes at high pressure.

  6. When the timer beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for 30 minutes. Then, turn the valve to venting.

  7. Remove lid, and use a spoon or potato masher to mash beans to desired creamy consistency. Add salt, cayenne pepper, liquid smoke, vegan Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, Creole/Cajun seasoning based on above amounts.

  8. Serve over hot cooked rice.

  9. Garnish with green onions."