Old Beef-Wars Die Hard

Copyright Disclaimer: photo not my own

The US has recently decided to punish french producers of Roquefort cheese in retaliation for the EU´s continuing (13 year old) objection to importing American beef treated with certain “unsafe hormones.” As a US citizen I am OUTRAGED by my government’s  attempts to force-feed hormone-jacked-up-beef to consumers who don´t want it. Sure the EU’s objection to certain hormones used in the US might not be driven by entirely benevolent health-related concerns (protectionism?!), but if farms in Europe can meet higher standards, why can’t farms in the US?

Edwardian Supersize Me

As well fed as he is well dressed

Once a long while ago an American made a documentary about the effects of only eating fast food, this ended somewhat predictably with a high speed fattening and some near organ collapse. Sometime later, presumably,  an Englishman saw it, and then informed the  fine people at the BBC.  The civilizing effect of the British Broadcasting Corporation is evident in their new one off show, a year old now but new to me, Edwardian Supersize Me.  In the words of one of the participants….

“There can have been no better time for a chap like me to be alive. So what an enormous stroke of luck that the BBC were looking for someone to send back to that very era — to live, dress, exercise, eat and drink like an Edwardian man of means — to find out what it did to his girth, his arteries, his inner organs, his digestion, his mood, his very soul. Some guinea pigs might have been daunted by the prospect of four whopping meals a day, rivers of grog and hardly any fruit, vegetables or water for an entire week. But not I. “

(Tip of the Hat: Serious Eats)

More Bacon Madness

A few days ago I wrote about the growing chatter regarding bacon flavored spirits. For some reason I thought that the bacon oddities would cease, but no, everywhere I turn I find examples of people’s preternatural love for that pork product. Am I going mad? Is the coming of Bacon shaped Bandages and Bacon flavored Floss  a sign of the apocalypse,  or  are they harbingers of new Golden Age?

Update: There is also such a thing as a Bacon Wallet, we are clearly in strange times.

Getting Cosy with Pesticides for Christmas?

I simply couldn’t let this one go: “Can you decorate your [Christmas tree] without getting pesticide residue in your lungs and on your skin?” (NYTimes, Dec. 3, 2008)

Calling all Food Patriots!

Walk through a supermarket in Podgorica, Montenegro and you will be overwhelmed by the number of labels that include “Montenegro” in their name. Olive oil is prominently named by the region in Montenegro from which it is produced, brand names are often hard to find. In outdoor markets this tendency is amplified by the calls of vendors hawking their goods. In the same way that ‘Florida oranges’ are a class of their own in the U.S., mandarins from certain regions of Montenegro are alleged to be sweeter than others and are advertised accordingly. As I previously wrote, even Nikšićko Pivo, the one beer produced in Montenegro, is considered to be the “national beer of Montenegro” and is held in high esteem by nearly every Montenegrin I’ve met.

 

More organic follies…

Along with the footprint of large-scale organic farms lies yet another organic food dilemma. I purchase almost exclusively organic foods and have found when inspecting the bags, containers, cartons, etc., that these items come in that only a very small percentage are packaged in recyclable materials. How is that so? These farms and food producers are spending the time and money to be certified organic, but clearly the desire to improve global health is not what inspires said funding and labor. The desire is to tap into an ever expanding market with high margins. I cannot disagree with the desire to make money and lots of it, but I do have a problem with producers that throw labels all over their products promoting the health benefits of the contents of the harmful packages that they graffiti. When these packages further impregnate the shrinking land fills around the globe and cause irreversable harm to our air and drinking water, it won’t matter that you opted for organic yogurt over its conventional kin.

“What good is an organic carrot with a giant carbon footprint?”

Take a seat Whole Foods and “organic” superstores of your ilk. You are NOT the silver bullet to our 21st century food complex. As Michael Pollan warned in his June 2006 letter to John Mackey, the C.E.O. of Whole Foods Market, local production is a vital component to the food consciousness movement.

A Spirited use of Breakfast Meats?

Something strange and unnatural has been happening in gastronomic realms, something that hopes to unite the fine flavors of bacon with the potency of alcohol. Thats right, Bacon infused liquor. Bacon bourbon is said to go nicely in an Old Fashioned, and bacon vodka appears easy enough to make.  That said, the results don’t sound too promising. ”It tastes like I’m having a stroke.”

Will Delicious Attack soon investigate this odd phenomenon, I’m not sure, the cost of failure, ruined booze and rancid bacon, seems high.

Go Dark and Unfiltered for your HEALTH

Yes! Wine is not the only alcoholic beverage that offers some health benefits. In addition to reducing the risk of cardio-vascular disease (a quality of all alcoholic beverages, in moderation), BEER contains vitamins, flavonoids, and antioxidants.

Here’s the catch: you must pour out that mass market “Big Beer” (i.e. Coors, Miller, Budwiser, etc) and pick up a craft brew! While I will spare you my full rant on the superiority of craft beer, know this: craft beers have far greater health benefits. Moreover, craft beers that are darker, unpasteurized, and unfiltered, are better yet.

Its NOT About the Nutrients

I think that you’ve hit on something here. People are completely crazed about antioxidants these days. In Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, he talks about how the diets of Americans have changed dramatically due to a shift in consumables from food to nutrients. What he means by this is that Americans and American markets have put a major emphasis on particular nutrients rather than the foods that contain said nutrients.

The reason I bring up this topic is that by emphasizing the loss of nutrients that would be caused by the extinction of the honey bee, maybe more Americans will become aware of the issue and actually play a role in combating it. “[M]ost of the stuff that adds color to our plates and vitamins and antioxidants to our diets…would disappear.” You hit the nail on the head with this excerpt.

I’ve seen people on TV with “beards” of bees. Let’s go to Asia and come back with “beards.”

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