To all the coffees I loved before
+ vertical farming, a vegan Michelin star, and more on free school meals
Nice Pear: a weekly(ish) feminist foodletter | Issue #020 | 24 January 2021
Hello!
We’ve just finished week 3 of lockdown 3 here in the UK and quite honestly, I just feel drained, so here is a short list of the mundane, inconsequential things that I find myself missing so much it aches:
I miss getting up early to catch a train and eating a lukewarm, overpriced cup of porridge on my way to a conference.
I miss realising I’m running 5 minutes late on my way to the bar to meet friends and hurrying up so I get there a little out of breath.
I miss turning up at my parents’ house on Sunday morning for absolutely no reason other than that their coffee machine is better than mine.
I miss glimpsing the inside of other people’s fridges when I put my drinks in there to stay cool at a house party.
I miss talking to acquaintances about all the things they’re going to do on the holiday they have booked for next month.
I miss sleeping anywhere other than my own bed and watching TV anywhere other than my own couch, and even peeing anywhere other than my own bathroom.
I miss browsing in a secondhand bookshop and falling in love with the blurb of something I wouldn’t normally read and buying it, even though I said I didn’t need any more books.
I miss meeting for brunch, for an early dinner, for a sandwich at lunchtime, for a pint after work, and I could write an entire list of all the different coffees that I miss:
Getting a takeaway coffee on my own in a warm coffee shop, just because I’m in town and I have some time to kill
Office breakroom coffee kindly made by one of the colleagues whose terrible dad-jokes I now desperately miss
The coffee that comes with a greasy breakfast and a side of last-nights’ party gossip
Disappointing motorway services coffee in the middle of a long drive home
Coffee from the aforementioned fancier-than-mine machine, specifically in the chunky blue and white mugs my Ma’s friend brought her back from a trip to Poland
The surprisingly good coffee in a museum or gallery cafe, even though it’s probably too late in the afternoon for caffeine
Saying ‘yes please’ to a coffee before I realise it’s going to be terrible instant coffee (because at least I would be drinking that coffee with somebody else).
Please do add your own in the comments or by email. The big, obvious things I miss are so huge, it’s hard to think about them, but there is something comforting about listing off the smaller (but just as important) things we dream of doing when All This is over.
👇 Scroll on down for Things to Read & Things to Eat 👇
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Photo by Lina Kivaka from Pexels
Things to read this week
Delish, on what its like to grow up on free school meals, why they are so important to so many, and the other ways in which FSM pupils are supported:
“any student that has received free school meals in the last six years is eligible for additional funding… The additional care and attention taken to support children from less-affluent households goes beyond the basic premise of a hot meal each day”
This long read on how the modern wellness industry erases the history of veganism in the Black diaspora:
“Food is political, and that is especially true for Black Americans”
As though you didn’t already know: we still need to do everything we can to slow the spread of Coronavirus, including limiting trips to the supermarket:
“We don’t have to wait for the vaccines to slow the spread of the virus. We simply need to do what we’ve been doing all along to prevent infections, just much, much better. At an individual level, that means avoiding optional gatherings with other people — even grocery trips — whenever possible or cutting them very short.”
We’ve heard how vertical farming might be the future of vegetable production (particularly leafy greens) - but can it work in practice?
And finally, the first vegan restaurant in France to be awarded a Michelin star. More of this, please!
Things to eat this week
This week saw banana bread day, green smoothie day and pie day (I’m still perfecting my free-from pie crust recipe).
I also ate this vegan carbonara sauce, gluten-free pasta with this pink pesto & peas, and a vat of vegan chilli (which is about to get it’s third outing as soon as I sign off this letter)
Where to find me this week
Nothing published this week, and:
This week I sent 1 pitch, got no rejections, and no commissions - yet!
As always, you can find me @ZoePickburn on Twiter, Insta, and other social media.
Thanks!
Zoe
Freelance writer & journo | Food blogger & newsletterer (she/her)
Say hello@zoepickburn.com with stories, commissions & foodie chit chat
If you enjoy Nice Pear & want to support it (or any of the other content I create online) you can always become a paying subscriber, buy me a virtual cuppa, or throw some change in the tip jar.