Last Week In Food
By MARK BITTMANhttp://bittman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/last-week-in-food/?scp=3&sq=food&st=cse
From the “With friends like these, who needs…etc.” department: Here’s a look insidethe American Dietetic Association’s nutrition conference/expo, where you’ll hear all about how processed foods are an important source of nutrients. Argh. And: In an attempt to undermine the FDA’s current efforts to rationalize front-of-package labeling, industry groups have devised a new campaign: change “Nutrition Keys” to “Facts Up Front.” And: Julia Moskin on the newly-formed U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, a well-funded Big-Ag group that is – incredibly – trying to position itself as an underdog in the current food climate. (Apparently they don’t like the term “Big-Ag,” but when you have $11 million to spend on public relations, and your members include the American Egg Board, the National Milk Producers Federation, and the National Pork Board, that’s what you are.)
A 30-year side-by-side study of conventional and organic agricultureconcludes that organic is better by every measure. Granted, the study is from the Rodale Institute, which has a vested interest in organic coming out on top, but the numbers are believable.
Here’s a strong Atlantic piece by Michel Nischan about how Let’s Move! can refocus its efforts to better support small-scale, local food economies.
Here’s everything you need to know about listeria and cantaloupes, which has caused what is now the deadliest food poisoning outbreak in 12 years. Also,Tyson recently recalled more than 130,000 pounds of ground beef throughout the central and eastern U.S. after possible E. coli contamination. Had enough of the Republican line “99 percent of food is safe” yet?
A version of Slow Food’s $5 Challenge (which I wrote about here) is making its way to the White House. On November 29, White House chef Sam Kass will host two cooking events: the first is to cook a family meal for $10 (the typicalSNAP budget for family dinner), and the second is to cook “gourmet” meals for $4.50 per person (the typical American dinner budget).
Evidence is growing that financial speculators are responsible for the rising price of food. So the Commodity Futures Trading Commission just released new rules to curb excessive speculation, and the result is — you guessed it — a giveaway to speculators.
Climate change is threatening our food supply. And speaking of a threat to our food supply, two upstate New York farmers share their Hurricane Irene horror story.
Food pantries can’t handle the volume they face, amid a 1-in-6 hunger rate.
The U.S.D.A. gives AquaBounty Technologies – a maker of genetically modified salmon – $494,000 to figure out how to make their fish sterile so they won’t reproduce with wild salmon. (Can you think of a better way for the U.S.D.A. to spend 500 grand? How about 100 better ways?) Other fun fish facts: Faux shark fin soup.
Reason #12,253 why it would be scary if Michele Bachmann became president: she might deregulate the food industry.
Women who drink coffee are 20 percent less prone to depression, according to a new Harvard study.
Bad Luck vs. Bad Practice: Radiation has been detected in rice crops near the crippled Fukushima power plant in Japan. Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania firm has recalled approximately 5,550 pounds of pureed pork products after reports that small metal fragments were found in boxes of Imperial Sysco’s Country Style Pork.
The environmental community sent Congress a memo stating their belief that industrial farming has no place in this country without parallel measures aimed at stopping soil erosion, lessening pesticide use, and cleaning up the air and soil on and around farms.
As part of his quest to eat healthier and more sustainably by only eating meat he kills himself, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appears to have killed a bison. Wow. What a Man.
Finally, pasta like you’ve never seen it before. And vegetables like you’ve never heard them before.
1. The article has focused on promoting the fact that you do not need to spend a lot of money to eat healthy with programs like Slow Food’s $5 Challenge and the White House Chef demonstrating a family meal for just $10. Do you think that price is the main reason everyone does not eat organic produce or unprocessed foods? Why or why not? and what other factors contribute to people not eating a healthy diet?
2. As climate change and many other factors affect our food supply and leave more suffering from hunger everyday, what are some ways you see fit for curing the problem of hunger? Do you believe that industrial farming and genetically modified organisms are helping or hurting the problem?
1. I think that the price is definitely a big factor that keeps people from eating organic food or unprocessed foods because let's face it, organic food is expensive and a lot of the American population simply cannot afford to use that much of their income on food (especially when they can feed themselves for a lot less money). I think that another reason that people lean towards buying processed food is that it is a lot easier and quicker. Processed foods are basically ready to eat immediately or with only minimal effort. For organic foods, it would normally have to be prepared from scratch and I think a lot of people do not have the time or the desire to do this.
ReplyDelete2. I think this is really the big question that no one has the answer to. In theory, it does seem like monocultures and GMOs would help to quell the global demand for food, but I'm not sure that they actually help. From what we've talked about in class, these monocultures are actually hurting us because they require a lot more resources than they yield. They also destroy the soil's nutrients and therefore require a lot of unnatural fertilizers and chemicals. There are definitely disadvantages to monocultures and GMOs (like those I've already mentioned), but I'm not sure if there is any other viable option right now that would have a large enough yield to feed everyone that it needs to.
1. I think that even more than price, the main factor in people not purchasing healthy and or organic foods is because of convenience. People want a quicker and easier meal so they will choose prepackaged processed frozen dinners over whole all natural ingredients either because they don't have time to cook or don't feel like it. However, maybe if they were to consider the ramifications that this has upon their health they would think twice, since they are basically trading time to be in a hospital versus taking the time to cook a healthy meal.
ReplyDelete2. Industrial farming and GMOs contribute to the issue of hunger. I do not know of a current solution, since many people are making a lot of money with the way in which things currently work and it doesn't seem feasible for the government or anyone else to tell them to alter their practices.