Food Commercials

I’ve always known advertising is a huge way to elicit consumer consumption. Marketing companies identify a market and capitalize on promoting their product as access to their desires. For example, car commercials seem to have a standardized formula. Silver = expensive. Red = fast. A yellow SUV speeding through muddy terrain? That’s just plain cool.
The real problem, however, is the food industry’s use of advertising to influence our consumption patterns. This is an issue because of the frequency of advertisements and media in our daily lives. With these messages constantly surrounding us, it’s difficult to untangle the promoted message from reality.

We’re talking about a real “all about the benjamins” prescription. Companies often invest millions in researching their market base. If the campaign is successful, however, profits increase tenfold. Examining the wonder bread commercials in class highlighted the way food commercials evolve to meet consumer culture. Michael Pollan corroborated this point by exemplifying the weird claims packaged foods EXCLAIM! And I mean “EXCLAIM!” Because look around the grocery store- do you have to actually pick up the box of cheerios and read the fine print to see that “cheerios lower cholesterol”? Or is this broadcasted in bold print (encased in a red cartoon bubble) the top, right corner ?? “Lowers cholesterol,” “low-fat,” “rich in antioxidants,” “organic;” these claims all cater the current consumer desire to eat healthy and be thin.
So, I have started exploring some food commercials on YouTube to look at the messages presented and (attempt) to ascertain the reasoning behind them. Hey- I’m not procrastinating! I’m adding to my knowledge base.

RedBull clearly exemplifies the ability of food to bring about desired traits.
RedBull

This was an interesting find- Shaq in fast food commercials. Shaq appeared in both Burger King and Taco Bell commercials. First, this points to the idea that simply pairing an A-list celebrity with a food item can increase sales. Second, this series of commercials implies the food item really does not matter. I assume both BK and TB saw an increase in sales and I assume consumers did not mind or even notice the parallel commercial. If it works, it works!
Shaq: Burger King
Shaq: Taco Bell

Pairing Shaq with fast food likely equates Shaq’s athletic ability with fast food. Similarly, pairing a thin, A-list female celebrity can equate her physical appeal to the product. Check out Kelly Clarkson in the Vitamin Water commercial. There is common trend to pair women with more “diet” oriented products. The one that immediately comes to mind is Kristie Alley and Jenny Craig.
Vitamin Water

Ta-Da! Proof! Heidi Klum, the supermodel, featured in a diet coke commercial. Conversely, the advertisements for (regular) coke featured on YouTube are predominated by males.
Diet Coke

In the first-ever diet coke commercial, both men and women are featured, but there is an emphasis on the “Rockette” dancers and glamorous women (and men).
First Diet Coke Commercial

Another:
Coke Light

The hunky male is carrying diet coke, to the pleasure of every female in the office, but he’s also consuming….. Is the commercial focusing on the male drinking diet coke or the females in the office who now equate diet coke with this hunky male?
Diet Coke: Hunky male

So here’s the shift. Sure, Courtney is “in the kitchen” and providing for her husband, but she can drink coke too!
Arquettes Coke

And finally! Perhaps Diet Coke was attempting to expand their consumer market. This “LOL” commercial is titled “Be a Man.”
Diet Coke: Be a Man

This 2006 Nutrigrain commercial markets Nutrigrain bars as a way to “feel great.” However, this commercial is so bizarre and seemingly so unrelated to the point that I nearly forget what is being advertised. So what’s more important? The advertisement or the product?
Nutrigrain 2006

If it’s possible, let’s try to imagine an advertisement-free world. Imagine that technological advancement and the availability of processed food remains the same. Now, as Pollan put it, all foods are “silent.” So who wins???

Thanksgiving

I come from a family that not only loves to eat but also loves to cook. So, you can imagine how we use every single holiday during the year to come up with an enormous feast. Thanksgiving is no exception.

This year Thanksgiving was at my aunt’s house. My family arrived around four in the evening. As soon as I entered the house, the tremendous aroma of all the foods filled the air and my taste buds began salivating in anticipation for the meal. My great uncle was busy in the kitchen carving the turkey that just emerged from the oven. It was a HUGE one- at least 20 pounds. The adults were helping prepare the last minute courses.

There were hor-d’oeuvres all around- everything from shrimp cocktail to cheese and crackers. I always know I’m in for some great cheese that my great aunt and uncle purchase from a specialty store in Scarsdale - a special cranberry variety, a sweet honey/walnut one, and a mixed herb one.

Once the turkey was carved, we were ready to eat. Normally at family meals the food came out in courses, appetizers followed by the entrée. However, this time, all the food came out at once. We all grasped our plates and stood in line in anticipation of a delicious meal. I immediately reached for the turkey and proceeded to take a huge slab of meat for my plate. Back when I was young, I used to hate white meat- I always went for the big leg. Now, I enjoy white meat a lot, especially when it is roasted to perfection. I went on to fill my plate until it was overflowing array of food (and quite colorful too!). Coupled with gravy, the turkey seemed irresistible. I took a few pieces of the white and dark meat. In less than five minutes, I proceeded to wolf down this massive chunk of turkey.

Stuffing soon followed, as it is always a must on Thanksgiving. My grandma’s recipe never seems to disappoint me. I then moved on to the sweet potato dish with brown sugar and roasted pecans-I could have eaten it all! I next tried the Cranberry sauce, made by my aunt who lives in Vermont and always use the freshest of ingredients. I had tasted Cranberry sauce many times before, but I never tasted it with fresh homegrown berries. The taste was absolutely exquisite. It was full of flavor and quite sharp. After consuming several spoonfuls of cranberry sauce my stomach began to feel very full. However, this was Thanksgiving so I could not settle just yet. I next moved onto the green beans, sautéed in a light sauce, with roasted almonds, and onions. All these different flavors and textures combined created such a delicious meal.

After the main course, we took a little break from all the food and just hung out and caught up. Seeing my younger cousins always brought out the kid in me as they begged me to play ping pong and video games downstairs (Of course I did!)

As soon as the pumpkin pie was removed from the oven, the air was filled with an aroma that can only be described as sensational. I took a slice of the delicious homemade pie and I could tell easily that it was made from only the ripest pumpkins, and that many hours had been spent making it. After working at the farm this semester, I have realized the difference in eating locally grown products and how the taste varies significantly from store bought, pre-packaged items. I definitely feel more connected to the food.

I’m already looking forward to Thanksgiving next year and I bet you guys are all as well.

A Quick Trip Down Nausea Lane

One quick thing I just had to share.

So during a long, winding bout of Googling (mostly for my paper, I swear), I stumbled upon this: canned whole chicken.
If you have accidentally just ingested arsenic or perhaps cyanide and you desperately need to empty your stomach in a hurry, take a gander at this.

Otherwise, don't. Really, you might not eat for days.

Proceed at your own risk.

Different Consumer Roles in Processed Food Intake

The prevalence of toxins in processed food manifests itself differently among wealthier and marginalized citizens, calling into question informed choices and the limitations of choice. The unchecked spread of toxic pollutions is a product of larger social structures and institutions, mainly a consumerist and free-market mentality.

In pursuit of higher crop yields and increased industrial profits, one billion pounds of pesticides are used each year despite known increases in asthma and cancer rates since the onset of pesticide use following World War II. The profit driven industry sits comfortably by delegating public health concerns to the government, evidenced by Monsanto’s director of corporate communications Phil Angell. "Our interest is in selling as much of it [biotech food] as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job"

Through marketing techniques, industry is able to create a demand in order to facilitate the sale of toxins manifested in the form of processed and convenience foods. Convenience foods, or commercially prepared foods, come in many forms such as hot, ready-to-eat dishes; shelf-stable products; frozen products, or dry mixes that require minimal preparation. More than 10,000 chemical solvents, emulsifiers and preservatives are used in processed and convenience foods, and over 3,000 chemicals are added directly to the food supply. Complex chemicals known as “natural” and “artificial” flavor are responsible for the tastes associated with processed food, but have created vast amounts of toxic pollution and health complications. Despite this, industries have the recourses to engage in aggressive and capital-intensive market campaigns, using careful representation to achieve increased sales at an increased rate.

Growing distrust does not necessarily translate into action because values come into play, and risks are weighed against development and the convenience toxins have provided. Food industries capitalize on society’s sentiments associated with the family dinner by creating advertisement that depicts processed food as a way to participate in and strengthen the traditional nuclear family, as well as create a means to achieve the craft and “timeless human activity” despite emerging time constraints. American families are willing to invest in convenience foods as the only means to achieve this the benefits associated with the family dinner ideal, which outweighs the risks associated with processed food. The irony, however, is that processed foods that are potentially harmful to children are considered a necessary means for achieving the family dinner which is viewed as important for the family. The consumers, educated Americans with disposable incomes and reported concern for the environment, acknowledge the risks associated with processed food but do not change their behavior because of the values that come into play when evaluating risk.

The sustained use of processed food in the low-income population of American society is a result of different factors, calling into question aspects of environmental justice. Among low-income American families, mobilizing resources and educating individuals on the dangers presented by toxic processed foods does not translate into behavior changes because this population is acting within the “parameters of choice” set by larger social, larger social, political and ecological actors. Processed food serves as the cheapest source of calories and therefore the continued consumption provides some necessary benefits despite known costs. For this reason, low-income reliance on processed foods is intertwined with aspects of environmental justice including exclusionary decision-making and biased processes of risk assessment. 


The risk of processed foods is also attenuated because of the belief that the consumption of processed foods is voluntary and controllable. Among low-income families dependent on cheap calories, this is not the case. An accurate assessment of risk, identifying and rectifying attenuation in the instance of toxins in processed foods, will facilitate a more a more effective response, promote lasting resiliency, and ensure outcome equity.

My Lifesaving Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I must apologize for my posting negligence; it has been one of those weeks.

But my week ended on a fun note as I got the opportunity to visit my best friend down in NYC. I could post about the heaven-on-earth New England clam chowder I got for lunch at the Chelsea Market today, but instead I want to talk about my bus snacks. Last time I took the bus down, I was in a mad rush to make it to the bus on time and neglected to pack travel snacks. This was, of course, a terrible mistake, so this time I made it a point to stop at the C-store on Friday before I left.

I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what traits a travel snack should possess: non-perishable, not messy, easy to eat with your hands, and not likely to induce car sickness in myself or those around me. With all these characteristics in mind, I settled on dark chocolate covered pretzels. The name not withstanding (Flipz! I love it when the name on my food is intentionally misspelled...) chocolate covered pretzels met all the requirements for suitable road food. But little did I know, not only would these pretzels stave off the four o clock tummy rumblies, but they also FIGHT CANCER.

That's right, in addition to sugar, salt and fat (the trifecta of deliciousness) Flipz proudly claims to contain antioxidants; there is a special little label on the front, complete with a comforting picture of cacao beans nestled on a green leaf that seems to imply "I'm not junk food, I'm tasty health food!"

Well beyond the obvious observation of how this is an example of companies trying to capitalize on the increasing "health awareness" of the average consumer, I got to thinking about antioxidants: what they are, what they do, why they should matter at all to my chocolate covered pretzels.

An antioxidant is, bear with me, a molecule that prevents other molecules from being oxidized. Without going into the nitty gritty details of oxidation, suffice it to say that oxidation reactions can lead to molecules (you've probably heard of free radicals) whose chemistry is ultimately damaging to cells. And of course cell damage leads to cancer, and nobody likes cancer. So the idea is that by consuming antioxidants, you can prevent the chain of chemical events that leads to cancer. So where do chocolate covered pretzels come into play?

It all hinges on my preference for dark chocolate. Cacao beans typically contain polyphenols, specifically flavanoids, a variety of free radicals found in many kinds of plants. However, here is the interesting part. Flavanoids are bitter-tasting, so even in dark chocolate, they may be removed and the chocolate may be darkened artificially so the manufacturers don't have to deal with the bitterness of the flavanols. Obviously DeMet's Candy Company, the proud makers of Flipz, did not remove the flavnoids, but there it is hard to tell who has and who hasn't. There is a potential economic benefit to keeping the flavanoids in if you get to label your chocolate as containing antioxidants and advertise it as a health food, but candy makers are under no obligation to indicate the flavanol content of their chocolate.

This is according to The Devil in the Dark Chocolate, an article published in The Lancet in 2007. This article makes another pretty excellent point about all the health claims surrounding dark chocolate; if you're going to rely on dark chocolate to avoid health problems like cancer or atherosclerosis, you're going to be dealing with some other pretty serious health problems pretty quickly anyway.

So if I were feeling concerned about the presence of free radicals in my cells, I probably wouldn't be turning to Flipz for the cure. However, if I were look for a delightful combination of salty and sweet, chocolate-covered pretzels would be 100% the correct answer.

Reflections on Common Thread

Sadly, our time working at Common Thread has come to an end. And for me, it really is sad! I learned so much about agriculture from hands on experience, thoroughly enjoyed the time away from traditional campus, and worked hard to see a real product from my labor! Additionally, the Wednesday group (sorry, Thursday) was never plagued by inclement weather.

I’ll relay some of the tasks I found MOST enjoyable-

Leeks. Cutting the leeks from the shoots made me feel like a samurai. I loved it when I successfully shed the excess with just two swift swoops of the small knife.

Cabbage. For similar reasons, using the knife to free the cabbage from the ground was so satisfying.

Washing Carrots. Holly and I got to clean the carrots using the large washer contraption in the barn. We had heard that Ryan was a master at the machine, and worked hard to prove ourselves just as able. The tasks were threefold- dumping the carrots on one end, spraying with the hose from the opposite end, and periodically taking the broom to unclog the drain directly below the contraption. Holly and I added in pushing the carrots with the broom (opposite end than we used to clean the drain..) and additional spraying at the start point to improve our efficiency.

Separating garlic cloves. This is strictly because it facilitated great conversation as we all sat in a circle, mindless snapping garlic and separating into the six buds.

You may be tired from hearing this from so many others, but another aspect of the farm I loved was the respite from campus living. I honestly loved getting off the hill, engaging in physical labor, and letting my mind wander from the usual stresses of work and extracurricular commitments. Speaking with Amy and Chris, who have so many interesting and diverse insights, added to my enjoyment. Their openness to informal questions and knowledge in an array of fields- both in terms of the farm (pun definitely intended) and social structures- was extremely eye opening.

Sonya spoke earlier about the state she returns home after a morning on the farm. One of my favorite post-farm moments happened this past Friday, after a morning laying hay over the recently planted garlic. In an impromptu moment, I decided to get my haircut and walked in to JJ’s salon after only changing out of my farm clothes. As the stylist readied herself to begin the cut, she asked me if I had been to a wild party the night before.

“What, haha no?” I responded.

She then pulled a piece of hay from my hair and gave me an inquisitive look.

“Oh! Believe it or not, I was working on Common Thread farm this morning.”

She told me she’s seen it before…

I don’t know if she believed my excuse. But it forced me to pause and realize how lucky we are, to have this experience at Common Thread that so many at Colgate do not. We have crazy stories and hands on experience that will stay with us for a long time coming!

Saying bye to "Happy Meal" toys

Who can recall their favorite “Happy Meal” toy from McDonalds?
I admit I had a whole collection when I was young. I still remember some of my favorites- Simba (in plush) and the Tarzan wind-up toy.

I loved going to McDonald’s. What kid wouldn’t? There’s all the delicious food, a play gym with all those bouncy balls, and to top it off, cool happy meal toys! There is something special about getting something that was just for kids. These toys were almost as exciting as my ketchup smothered French fries.

Did you know the first McDonalds “Happy Meals” was sold in 1979 in Kansas City, and it came with a set of toys: a puzzle book, ID bracelet, McDoodleer stencil, McDonaldland eraser or a McWrist wallet? I wish I got those. Since then, McDonald’s has released hundreds of Happy Meal toys, everything from Disney movie figurines to animals from the Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Well, sadly, we may have to say so long to the coveted toys in “Happy Meal.” In a recent government call to action as Grace sent us in an email, toys included in McDonald's “Happy Meals” have been banned in the San Francisco Bay area. The underlying reasons for this ban include the hope to lure kids away from eating unhealthy food. Could this ban catch on to other cities across the nation?
On one side of the debate you have proponents arguing that the big food corporations are the ones to blame for the childhood obesity epidemic. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), who is threatening the suit writes, “This advertising is unfair to kids and to parents who are put in the position of constantly telling their kids no.” In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the occasional “Happy Meal” and we have to give them credit for giving kids a better variety like apple slices and milk, right?

Childhood obesity and proper nutrition are certainly important issues and fast food and sugary beverage consumption certainly contribute to the rise of the childhood obesity epidemic, but are these big corporations the only people we should blame?

There are people who argue that it’s all the parents’ fault. As one angry commenter on the article wrote, “Why are we blaming McDonald's for parents lack of common sense…Don't blame fast food chains because of a lack of parenting skills.” A major part of the issue that we cannot overlook stems from the home, indicating how important it is for parents to be a model for healthy eating and living. Young children learn from and imitate what their parents do so if the parents aren't eating fries, Big Macs, and a Coke from McDonald's several times a week, then the child won't either.

While this ban might only affect the food choices of a small percentage of the population, doing something is always better than nothing, right? Giving parents another incentive to feed their children wisely might make us that much closer to giving up our spot as one of the world’s unhealthiest nation; a title that I would be more than happy to say goodbye to. But do you think removing toys from higher calorie kids meals actually influence what they choose to eat?

My passion to cook (or at least attempt to...)

Cooking is a passion of mine and gives me time to step out of my daily routine. It allows me to experiment, to learn, to please, and equally as often, mess up. Cooking means more than putting a pre-packaged meal into the microwave or throwing a frozen pizza in the oven; it actually means following or making a recipe(s) and preparing a meal.

I haven’t always cooked but granted, growing up, I’d give my parents a helping hand with dinner once in a while. Family meals were always important and we always made time to eat dinner together. There were times when that meant eating dinner late because my sister and I had sports practices or one of my parents was working late.

I think back to my friends and I who even just a few years ago did not have sufficient cooking skills. Yet at some point (not sure of the exact moment) I developed a genuine interest not just in eating good food, but in cooking it too and that was when my cooking skills began to evolve. Perhaps this new culinary vision happened during experience in Barcelona, where by living in an apartment and not wanted to spend all my money eating out (considering 1 euro=$1.5), I had to put my cooking skills to the test.

In Barcelona, I loved the challenge of sourcing unusual ingredients in a country where supermarkets are small, cater for regional tastes, and focus on seasonal food. I was shocked to see a whole octopus, a pig’s head, rabbit feet, and even a brain of an undistinguishable animal right in front of the market for everyone to see. I liked the idea of strolling through La Boqueria, buying fresh ingredients, taking them home, and seeing what I could come up with each night. I quickly realized that with a handful of essential ingredients: olive oil, garlic and tomato, you can make a lot of tapas and meals. The Catalan staple and breakfast favorite, Pa amb tomàquet, involves a thick slice of toasted bread, rubbing some garlic and fresh tomato on top, drizzling a generous amount of olive oil and adding a pinch of salt. So simple and satisfying.

Eating out was a great experience as well—seeing the culture surrounding the food made me appreciate it much more. The long siestas in the afternoon were mainly spent eating lunch outside with family and friends, where there seemed to not be a stress in the world. You would never find anyone walking and eating on the go, or even drinking a large Venti Starbucks cup, which has become the norm in most part of the US.

For me, food encompasses a whole range of things that are important to me. Food brings together families and friends through warmth, smells, taste, and satisfaction.

At Colgate, between balancing school work, a job, involvement in students groups, and a social life, preparing meals certainly takes up a lot of time and we don’t always find the time to do it. Yet, I think food is such a part of who we are and therefore we should all take a break from our busy work days and cook together with friends.

Supermarket Craftiness

Nudging Grocery Shoppers Toward Healthy Food

Just as I was contemplating the topic of my next blog post, this article was posted to my facebook wall by one of my NPR-loving friends who shares my deep and abiding hometown love of Wegmans. It is perfectly pertinent to our discussion last week and reaffirms my affection for the big W.

For those who don't have time to read, allow me to summarize. This article talks about taking some of the same techniques used to market unhealthy food and applying them to healthy food, like produce. Wegmans is used as an example because of the way their produce department is the focal point of the store when you walk in the door. At least in my Wegmans in Canandaigua, you don't even really have to "veer right"; the first thing you see when you walk in the door is a big old produce display. This past summer, Wegmans set up a "farmer's market" booth in the produce department, complete with bushels of local summer squash and tomatoes. It was a pretty clear marketing strategy, and it made it very difficult to ignore the fresh produce.

Also, sample day at Wegmans (always a joyous occasion) is especially fun in the produce department. They have apples with cheese, smoothies and other fresh fruits and veggies for tasting. As much as I would like to believe sample day exists for my pleasure alone, it is a great marketing technique to get people in the produce frame of mind (or mouth).

The article also talks about the way Wegmans is using lighting in their newer stores to literally highlight fruits and vegetables, especially with natural light from high windows. Although I haven't been in any of the newer stores to experience this myself, it seems like it would be a good subtle technique. And, as the article points out, subtlety is the key. If people feel like they are being seriously pressured into buying produce, they will probably buy less of it; consumers don't like to feel like they're being "taken" even if it is in kind of a good way.

Obviously the motives of supermarkets like Wegmans are not entirely aimed at healthying up the consumer. It makes good business sense to sell as much produce as possible and reduce waste. Because produce is so perishable, it needs to sell as quickly as possible. My darling boyfriend worked the produce department at Wegmans for the past few years. He recently swithced over to grocery (pretty much the rest of the edible goods in the store) and he tells me that the turn over for grocery is much, much slower than it was for produce. This makes perfect sense; cans of soup are infinitely more shelf stable than bananas. I asked him what they do with the produce that has gone bad and all I could ever get out of him was that it gets "shrunk". I have no idea what this means. I'm pretty sure it is not a literal shrinking process a la "Honey I Shrunk the Kids", but he didn't seem to know where it ended up after he tossed it in the pile for shrinking. What's the point of having a man on the inside if you can't get any information out of him? My hope is that it is composted. This seems likely to me, simply because Wegmans Organic Test Farm is located in Canandaigua, on a lovely sloping hill on the west side of Canandaigua Lake. However, I would be interested to know what happens in supermarkets in general when the food goes bad. I've seen "expired" bread that is still perfectly good get donated to community kitchens, but what about fruit that is actually bad? Does it get composted or simply tossed?

Overall, I think the idea of marketing fruits and vegetables in the same way highly processed foods are marketed is a great idea. However, if the consumer wants chips, she is certainly not going to head for the carrots instead just because they are cleverly marketed. The problem of the American diet is not a problem of marketing or supermarket design alone. But all together, this is a step in the right direction.


Finally, on a separate, only mildly related note, Wegmans is being sued! Walgreens is suing Wegmans because their most recent logo change contains a W that is apparently too close for comfort to the Walgreens W. They are suing for all the profits Wegmans has made since changing their logo. Which I think is pretty funny, since I have never wandered into a Wegmans thinking it was an enormous Walgreens.

Locally Grown Bananas?

I've always been aware that a lot of the produce sold at our local farmer's market may not actually be locally grown. I'm okay with this because usually it still has some semblance of being in season, and I'd like to imagine even if products are being resold, they are still somewhat local in origin, perhaps grown in a greenhouse. I had to stop and think the other weekend however, when one stand was offering bananas.

First of all, where could these bananas have come from? I don't believe that the operations at the local farmer's market operate on a large enough scale that they are buying bananas from a distributor. It seems more likely that they purchased the bananas at a grocery store and sell them with a mark up at the farmers market.

I suppose this system could be convenient for some. Maybe it makes it easier to buy all your groceries in one place. Perhaps it provides a little bit of variety for those who aren't as willing to try experimenting with whatever root vegetables are currently in season; a comfort food for those who were dragged along by an overzealous locavore. There are many roles a banana could play in a farmer's market, but for me it was only unsettling.

I started to doubt the origin of every product around. Is this maple syrup really local? How do I know that these carrots were grown in the area and not just picked up at a grocery store. While I realize that the bananas may have only been there as a way to make a few extra dollars, it seems like such an in your face contradiction to some of the values that are supposed to define the farmers market that it changed my whole perception. Was I really at a farmer's market, or was this just a communal area for local citizens to try to make a few dollars pedaling the tropical fruits of Price Chopper to unwitting Colgate parents?

When one shops at a farmer's market you are not only purchasing food, but you are consuming a certain ideal about the food you eat. Having the person who grew your potato hand it to you, is about as close to food production as its reasonable for many to get. Asking the farmers for cooking tips and making small talk about the weather this year are as much a part of the experience as the food that comes with it. When Farmer Brown brings bananas to the farmer's market, it lifts this veil. Suddenly all of the other appeals of shopping at a farmer's market are gone and its just an outdoor version of Price Chopper. Part of the appeal of buying local is the transparency of the entire process. While some operations still manage to maintain this, several do not. All I can do is wonder who is buying these bananas.

"Is Candy Evil or Just Misunderstood?"

I came across an interesting article in the Dining section of the New York Times recently, titled “Is Candy Evil or Just Misunderstood?” I thought the topic of candy was quite fitting for Halloween. The author discusses the history of sweets in America and why it has such a bad reputation.

In the article, Samira Kawash, the blogger behind Candy Professor, defines candy as “a processed food, eaten for pleasure, with no particular nutritional benefit.” And yet, she and others in the article point out that we eat all sorts of other, sugar-packed foods — like granola bars, certain cereals and yogurt, and fruit juice under the belief that they are much more nutritious: As the article states, “Nutritionally there is little difference between a gummy bear and a bite of fruit leather.” And yet, “candy carries so much moral and ethical baggage that people view it as fundamentally different — in a bad way — from other kinds of food.” I think this view stems from the health claims and marketing attached to many of these food products.

Many of today’s popular health claims including low fat, no high fructose corn syrup, trans fat free, organic and all natural can lead people to select foods, especially snack items, without paying much attention to whether these foods are truly nutritious choices. This gives certain foods a “health halo” attached to them, making them appear much healthier than they truly are. I am certainly subject to buying some food according to this notion.

At a recent visit to the supermarket, I came across dozens of outrageous nutrition/health claims of various food products ranging from ground beef to soda to crackers. I found a bag of chips which were described on the label in huge letters as “vegetable chips.” A quick look at the ingredients indicated that they are actually made from a variety of potatoes cooked in oil…I saw another claim of pretzels marketed as “Cholesterol Free!” Well, obviously they are…What other outlandish nutrition claims can you think of? Have these claims impacted your purchasing behavior?

What I’ve learned is that we can’t let these “health halos” dominate our decisions about food products. Going back to the candy debate, I think the issue centers on the idea that as our culture becomes more and more health conscious, people have been quick to give candy the evil glare. But maybe instead of arguing that candy is an evil invention, we need to look at our society at large, particularly America’s fixation with sugar and how it was evolved over time.

What is the Caganer??

We spend so much time devoted to talking food. But what happens to food after it enters our bodies?! We have failed to look at the full course of the food lifetime (apart from, of course, the show many of us reveled in at the dairy farm --was it just me or did every cow choose to have a bowel movement at the exact moment our attention was directed towards them!?).

I hope this post is not TMI for any readers. It’ll be tame, but I understand it’s a topic that often elicits embarrassment. That was not ever the case in my house. As unconventional as it may seem, its been a dinner conversation on more than one occasion- checking in with everyone making sure “all systems were go” and regular. It’s a private affair, so I suppose my parents wanted to check in with that aspect of our health somehow!

Different cultures have different attitudes towards poop. Americans and the British have forged a sentiment of amusement, creating jokes commonly incorporated in pop culture, while the French and particularly the Germans find it distasteful. After studying abroad, the difference in bathroom structure is very apparent. All Spanish homes are equipped with bidets, but this is not the case in the US. European bathrooms are far more private, with full length doors and more commonly private stalls, in stark contrast to the communal bathroom. In developing countries, feces-contaminated water is the leading cause of infant death, hardly a comedic matter (The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and why it Matters; George).

My real interest stems from an aspect of Catalonian culture that I found so interesting and unique- the caganer. The caganer is a small statue, most commonly a peasant man in a red cap, who is squatting and pooping and placed in the Nativity scene. Yes, the Nativity scene alongside the baby Jesus and the three wise men. The caganer represents the equality of all people: as everyone defecates regardless of status, race, or gender. Additionally, the caganer reinforces that the infant Jesus is God in human form, with all that being human implies. Most relevant, the caganer represents the importance in Catalan culture of eating well, and all that goes along with eating well. Their ''fertilizer'' enriches the earth around them, thus promising a buena cosecha (a good harvest) during the forthcoming year. This translates into a general good omen for the future.

The caganer is a lasting and important part of the culture, made evident by the 2005 government decision to remove the caganer from the public nativity in Barcelona. The local government countered many critics, who claimed an attack on Catalan culture, stating that the Caganer was not included because public defecation and urination had recently been made illegal. The Salvem el caganer campaign (Save the caganer) and media criticism led to the reinstatement of the caganer in the 2006 nativity.

5 Things

Hi all,
I was just browsing around cnn.com and found this posted on their eatocracy blog. It is a list of five things chefs don't want you to know according to chef Josh Grinker. I got a kick out of it so I thought I'd repost it here for you all to see! And the first item is very relevant to my most recent post.


1. There’s butter in everything
"No, that’s not true - there’s also cream and oil.

In every culinary school in America, they hammer home the same three-word mantra to students day after day, year after year, until it’s like a little voice in your brain that guides virtually every culinary decision you will make for the rest of your career: 'Fat is Flavor.' And you know what? It’s true.

You know how you cook a great steak? You slather it in butter, throw it on the grill, paint it with more butter just about constantly, take it off the grill to let it rest - and paint it again. Then you slice it, put a nice big dollop of butter on it and let it gently melt under the broiler. Voila."

2. They aren’t in the kitchen
"The mark these days of a successful chef is that they don’t spend much time in the kitchen. In fact, it’s almost an inverse principle that the better the restaurant, the less chance there is that the chef is back there cooking away. And, it’s almost certainly true that the chef hasn’t picked up a knife since his last appearance on 'Iron Chef America.'

People don’t really seem to understand this. I have a friend who is a waiter at Po in Brooklyn, a small Italian restaurant that opened about four years ago. The original Po, in Manhattan, was once upon a time co-owned by Mario Batali before he sold it and went on to found a restaurant empire.

My waiter friend has people ask all the time if Mario is in the kitchen tonight. Actually, he’s just off the red-eye from Vegas, in a cab this very minute, racing back here to make sure your eggplant Parmesan is up to his specifications."

3. There’s salt in everything
"This simple fact is what separates good cooks from bad ones, or at least flavorful food from bland food. Good restaurant cooks know how to season food and that’s why their food tastes good.

It’s not some genius alchemy of exotic ingredients, or zig zag farm-to-table freshness that makes you coming back wanting more - it’s salt.

I don’t know why lay cooks are so resistant to this ideal, but they are. I taught a class on grilling a steak once and when I showered the beef with a crust of salt there were gasps from the audience as if I had just stabbed a small child. The result was a perfect steak.

When I give people a recipe that invariably ends with ‘salt to taste’ and they tell me it wasn’t as good as mine, I know the reason: not enough salt."

4. Your food was cooked by minions
"Well, not quite - but migrant workers, would-be criminals and mindless idiots? Yes, most definitely. The restaurant business, despite its celebrity pretensions, is a tough business. Profit margins are razor-thin and competition is brutal. Restaurants, to be successful, must get the most skilled laborers possible and pay them as little as possible. That means lots of immigrants. And if you think they’re all legal and paid handsomely for their six-day weeks, well, just enjoy your soup.

The other major demographic working the skilled restaurant job are dumb blue-collar kids who have been lured by the chance of stardom, sort of like playing the lottery.

Oh yeah, there’s one group I forgot: alcoholics."

5. Chefs are jerks
"This is a fact that is nearly universal and one that chefs most certainly want to conceal. The culture of the kitchen is one where abuse is assumed and condoned. Combine that with the pressure of feeding hundreds of diners, lots of details and a militaristic hierarchy and you get some out of control egos.

Many, although not all, chefs are savvy enough to realize that their baby tantrums would be laughed at in the real world, so they step into the dining room in full regalia, all smiles and charm. Rest assured, the more gregarious and charming they are to you, dear diner, the more draconian and out of control they are to that poor fry cook."

Getting Dirty

I live in a house with roughly 35 other girls, so there is always somebody in our dining room. On Thursday afternoons when I get back from the farm, my housemates have taken to their favorite game to play over their grilled cheese lunches: "what was Sonya doing today?" They can usually make these judgements based on a number of indicators. Red hands? She must've been picking beets. Smell like garlic? Getting garlic ready for seed. Soaking wet? Hosing down buckets and baskets for produce... the list goes on.

This Thursday when I got back from the farm, the only guess my housemates could muster was: rolling around in the mud? It's true- I had been digging potatoes and I was downright dirty. There was mud caked onto my jeans, dirt underneath all my fingernails, and even some mud streaks on my face. I might've been wrestling with the pigs.

All of this dirt got me thinking about one of my favorite aspects about working on the farm--the physical labor itself. In a regular semester on campus I am always in and out of the gym, trying to stay active, but the activity on the farm is something different. There is something deeply satisfying about spending a few hours working with your hands and allowing your brain to take a little bit of a rest (or, depending on the day, giving it a little bit of time to think on its own). This is one of the things I love most about the farm, and one of the things I will miss the most as the snow creeps in. The simple satisfaction of digging hard, letting my brain relax, and finding buried treasure in the form of a potato.

Low-Fat

I really like cottage cheese. I like it with a little spot of raspberry jam. And I eat enough of it that I decided maybe 4% milk-fat, the equivalent of whole milk, was not the way to go for my health. So I decided to give low-fat cottage cheese a try. I like 1% milk well enough, why not try 1% milk fat cottage cheese. I figured it would be more or less like my regular cottage cheese, just missing a little of its fat-soul.
This was the biggest mistake I have made in at least 6 weeks.
I tried it and it was the worst taste experience ever. It was chunky (obviously), but sour and bland at the same time. Luckily was standing alone in my kitchen because I made that surprised, horrified face a baby makes the first time he is forced to eat strained peas.

But this got me thinking about the role of fat in our food. Beyond the role of fats in our health and what they do to our bodies, what does fat mean for taste? As we have discussed in class, there is a biological imperative that drives our preference for high-fat foods. At 9 calories/gram (compared to 4 calories/gram for both protein and carbohydrates) fat is the most energy dense nutrient we can consume. This was important back when we were spending massive amounts of energy hunting wildebeasts, but maybe less so nowadays. Anyhow, we want fat, try as we might to deny it. When food manufacturers design low-fat foods, they try their hardest to mimic the mouth sensation of creaminess, using thickeners and the like because that is what people respond positively to.

But what about a grease-drenched burger? Few people look at that burger and say "mmmm grease". Think of the last Burger King ad you saw. Fast food advertisements go to great lengths to show their food in its most pristine form, and that does not include pools of grease on a crinkled up wrapper. It is as though we like fat, but we don't like the fat we're consuming to be shoved right in our face. I'm reminded of David's comment in class a few weeks ago when he talked about working in a restaurant. The restaurants food was sooo good and everyone wanted to know what the secret was, and it was quite simple. Fats were used in almost every stage of cooking.

The rise of obesity and changes in lifestyle that have occurred in the last century have made our relationship with fat much more complex than ever before. Fats certainly have been villainized, and not without some cause, but it is hard to deny that the human animal craves fat. For better or worse, fat tastes good. So if you are a big fan of low-fat cottage cheese, there is an almost-full container in my fridge that you are welcome to. I'm sticking to full-fat.

King of Chicken Nuggets

Since Rachel has already re-directed us to YouTube, I cannot help but share with you a video Holly introduced me to featuring King Curtis- who’s definitely sending a different message to the younger generation than the milk rappers promoting organic and craft farming. King Curtis indulges himself witch chicken nuggets several times daily and serves to promote the industrialized and processed food market. It’s a little lengthy, but I think you will be very amused by King Curtis and his fight against balanced meals and physical fitness.

The emergence of the chicken nugget plays well into several trends we’ve discussed in class. Invented in the 1950’s by a food scientist at Cornell, the chicken nugget is a prime example of post World War II industrialization and production. McDonalds mainstreamed the chicken nugget in the 1980’s, turning “McNugget” into a word recognized in every American home. Prior to 2003, McDonald’s McNuggets were made of half white meat and half dark meat. Similar to Wonderbread, the McNugget became an all white meat product in response to public scrutiny. Chicken is not the sole ingredient, however. MSN profiled and cites seven primary ingredients: chicken, water, dextrose, sodium phosphates, wheat starch, safflower oil and autolyzed yeast extract. Twenty more ingredients are found in the breading that coats each McNugget.

Transnationality has made the McNugget global, and many marketing campaigns have attempted to connect the McNugget to diverse cultures and essentially “localize” the global commodity. Launched in 1986, Shanghai McNuggets came with a pair of chopsticks, a fortune cookie, and Asian-influenced dipping sauce. The Fiesta McNuggets launched in 1988 were packaged in an exotic box and came with a collectible fiesta coin.

Fueled by the counterculture, McDonald’s has worked to promote a healthy image of the fried chicken product. McDonald’s hoped to capitalize on the growing vegetarian sector and created the short lived Garden McNugget, made of beans instead of chicken. In a similar vein, McDonalds attempted to link the McNugget to athletic success by claiming it to be one of the most popular foods among athletes at the Olympics and developed an ad campaign highlighting this fact for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

With 4.8 billion McNuggets sold annually at 48 calories a pop, McNuggets are here to stay. Check out this woman in Toledo, Ohio, literally willing to fight for her McNuggets, giving King Curtis a run for his money (or thrown) as King of Chicken Nuggets.

Yeo Valley Music Video

A new ad for a British dairy farm, Yeo Valley Organic uses rap music, cows grazing in sync, a hopping tractor, and a group of young hip adults to convey its message. The Yeo Valley way of life is about “living in harmony” according to their website. The hope is to bring attention to organic farming, particularly to a new subset: the younger generation.

Filmed on location in Somerset, England, the artists are not rapping about their bling, girlfriends, money, and cars, but rather their cows, tractors, and delicious fresh dairy projects. The fresh milk being slowly poured into a tall glass while lyrics like “This isn’t fictional farming…It’s realer than real” are sung, make me want to grab a glass instantly. The rap comes off catchy and smooth and I think it does a great job bridging organic farms to youth in a funny, humorous way. As a writer in USA Today (2010) writes, “Who says organic farming can't be hip?”

I think this marketing campaign is really interesting because it is one of the first times I’ve seen advertising for organic farming on a TV ad aimed directly at 20-40 year olds. It’s important to inform people of all ages of the benefits of sustainability and whole foods. Lyrics like “The air is clean,” “We just enjoy the results of what we do on the land,” and “We treat [the animals] good” help support this idea. Also, I think it will definitely help put not just Yeo Valley Organic on the map, but other organic farms with the same purpose. However, I do have to admit, it was a little weird watching shots of the cows grazing in unison and the tractor bouncing to the beat.

Ben Cull, Head of Brand Marketing at Yeo Valley said: “The campaign is a new direction for Yeo Valley, not only being on TV for the first time, but really shouting about our sustainably produced, quality organic food…the ad creative supports our belief that organic produce should be accessible and affordable to all. It uses humor to show we don’t take ourselves too seriously, but that we’re an authentic, family run business that believes in making dairy products in harmony with nature.” Depending on the scope of the marketing campaign, I think it has the potential to imply that farming is progressive, contemporary and pertinent to all individuals.

I wonder how others will perceive the video and its effectiveness. With already close to 800,00 views of the music video on YouTube, time will tell soon enough.

Candy Corn

I've been a little behind on my blogs lately, so I'm using the short break in work this week to catch up. However, 15 minutes in the Geography study lounge has yielded no ideas and my unconscious consumption of an entire bag of candy corn. So, in the spirit of Halloween, I thought I'd share a few wikipedia facts about food consumption on Halloween.

Trick or treating was not a popular activity in the United States until the 1930s, when children began the tradition as we see it today- dressing up in costumes and going door to door asking for candy. The tradition vaguely resembles the medieval tradition of peasants going door to door on Hallow's Eve asking for food in exchange for prayers to souls passing from this world to the next. The tradition has been modified since then and combined with the tradition of dressing up on Hallow's Eve to scare away dangerous spirits. Though the practice is not so common today, the tradition of saying "trick or treat," stems from the days when failure to deliver a treat would really incite some kind of trick.

Candy corn, the processed-food wonder of Halloween, also has a surprisingly old history. It was first introduced by the Wunderlee candy company in the 1880s, when it was made by hand. Workers combined sugar, corn syrup, and water to create a slurry, and thickened the concoction by adding fondant and marshmallows for textures. The pasty substance was then molded into corn-kernel shapes and dipped three times to ensure the classic color. While machines have been invented to carry out these processes now, the process is essentially the same.

So, enjoy the week of tricks and treats, and I'll do my best to save some candy corn for the rest of the world.

Food Blogs

I know that it is ironic to title my post today "Food Blog," considering that that's what this is, but what I want to talk about today is the world of food blogging. This summer my brother introduced me to the fabulous website www.tastespotting.com. It is now my homepage, and I have spent more time procrastinating on it than I ever have been able to waste on facebook.

Tastespotting is a wonderful website that brings together all of the best recipes from the best food blogs across the internet. The world of food blogging is a rising one, and for good reason. What better way to celebrate food, share recipes, showcase pictures, and just plain talk about eating than on the internet? I have read food blogs about cakes, vegetables, cooking with kids, cooking for athletes, cupcakes, pastries, vegan cooking, vegetarian cooking, gluten-free cooking... the list goes on and on.

Perhaps my overall point is that the day of the church cook book is slowly dying. Today, if I want a recipe for a great chocolate cake, I just head over to my favorite cake blog and see what it's got to offer. I have threatened my computer with death by butter and flour several times over from using it as a vehicle to see my recipes, and this trend is not going away. New blogs pop every day, and different people with entirely different reasons for blogging are posting away. Our class has certainly take a liking to Jim's pancake blog, and I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the next creative thing.

In the meantime, I plan to continue my search for the best food blogs out there, and appreciate the wealth of recipes available to me online for free. I hope to enjoy many more popcorn balls in the future of my food blog hunting.

Reese's Dark

I love reading the ingredients list on packaged food. The more heavily processed the better. Ever since I was young I had this morbid curiosity about the components that make up my favorite shelf-stable snack items. So for today's post, I'm going to be running down the ingredients list of my friendly bag of dark chocolate Reese's cups and trying to shed a little bit of light on someone of the more mysterious ingredients.
Here's the full list:

Semi-sweet chocolate (sugar; chocolate; cocoa butter; milk fat; soy lecithin; vanillin; artificial flavor; PGPR; milk); peanuts; sugar; dextrose; salt; TBHQ.

I'm going to pick out a few of these to highlight since there is not a whole lot of intriguing mystery around ingredients like 'milk' or 'sugar'.

soy lecithin: This is lecithin from soy. Mystery solved. Okay, fine. Lecithin is actually a broad term that applies to "any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in plant or animal tissues" (thanks, Wikipedia). So for our purposes, it is a fat, insoluble in water. I'd be willing to bet that in my Reese's it is acting as an emulsifier. The job of an emulsifier is to stabilize an emulsion, a mixture where two "unblendable" substances are blended together, typically a fat with a nonfat. In order to keep the fats from congregating together (fats love hanging out with other fats), they are coated with an emulsifier that essentially lessens their attraction for eachother. So the soy lecithin in my Reese's cup is keeping it from becoming a greasy mess.

PGPR: This stands for polyglycerol polyricinoleate, another emulsifier! It is derived from castor beans and it is primarily used in chocolate, usually in conjunction with a lecithin (like soy lecithin!). It can also be used to replace cocoa butter in chocolate, which is a significant cost saver since cocoa butter is a more expensive raw material.

artificial flavor: Could this be any less descriptive? What flavor are they trying to convey with this artificial flavor? Why is it "artificial" while some flavors are "natural"? It seems to be that our artificial flavor here is probably mimicking chocolate, since it is listed as one of the ingredients of chocolate. And as far as artificial vs. natural, the difference is one of origin. A natural flavor is derived from an actual plant, like a mint leave or a vanilla bean. The amount of processing it undergoes before it reaches your "all-natural" ice cream isn't accounted for. An artificial flavor, on the other hand, is a chemical mimic of the dominant molecule that makes up a certain flavor. Natural flavors are incredibly complex combinations of different flavor molecules. Artificial flavors approximate the general idea of these flavors, which is why fake strawberry tastes fake.

TBHQ: This is the merciful abbreviation of tertiary butylhydroquinone. This is a preservative, particularly for fats, to prevent them from oxidizing and becoming rancid. This makes perfect sense in the context of our Reese's since they are largely fat. High levels of TBHQ fed to lab animals seemed to result in malignant stomach tumors, so if your pet rat has a weakness for Reese's maybe you should tell him to lay off the TBHQ.

Well I've found this very interesting, but somewhat tame. I now feel compelled to seek out the strangest, most out there food additives I can find. I'll get back to you after my next trip to Price Chopper.

Back to the Baby Carrot Campaign

As we mentioned in class a few weeks ago, companies are now branding baby carrots as junk food in an effort to get children to eat more vegetables. Carrots have entered school cafeterias across the nation, taking the place of junk food vending machines. Most are sold in small-sized bags, labeled with the catchy phrase “Eat ‘em like junk food.” The introduction of these vending machines in schools has been met with some success, but there are some things to consider about marketing them in this way. Are kids eating them because it’s the only snack option and they look like Cheetos, or is it because they realize that carrots are nutritional powerhouses and tasty, too?

I found the following quote by advertising psychologist Carol Moog interesting. She writes, “they need to make carrots more fun — like, perhaps, putting an orange (but natural) dusting on carrots that mimics Cheetos.” This suggestion sounds a bit backward thinking to me, but if it’s getting our youth to eat them, then I suppose it’s a good idea, right?

I think this campaign it is a good starting point for getting children healthy. However, it represents just one step up a long ladder towards bigger, more meaningful change. The issue boils down to the following questions: Why don’t most kids like to eat vegetables? Is it because their parents and other adults do not eat them? Is it the feel, the flavor, or how they are prepared and presented to them? We must find the source and then create change from within rather than adopting the junk food marketing techniques. Valuing healthy, sustainable food will take longer and will require educational efforts for both children and parents, but it will definitely be worth it in the long run.

We must also acknowledge that not all eating habits are set in the school—we need to look at the home environment. They way we eat, our habits, behavior, social skills and values all start there. Familiar phrases I’ve certainly heard growing up like “Eat your broccoli and you can have ice cream for dessert” as a tactic teaches our kids that broccoli and other vegetables are less appealing (since eating them requires a reward) and that dessert is the highly valued prize. Therefore, education, on all levels, will hopefully encourage kids to develop a lifelong taste and liking for vegetables.

Joys of Satiation

When I could not finish my dinner but still wanted dessert, I told my mother I had a separate dessert stomach. She thought it was cute. Turns out, my clever ploy to appease my sweet tooth is rooted in science!

In “High Satiety,” Steingarten points to an experiment in which animals fed bland “laboratory chow” did not gain weight although permitted to eat as much as they wished. These same animals, when offered a range of snacks, ate a higher number of meals and more food at these meals. This phenomena is sensory-specific satiety, which Steingarten describes as “When a human or a rat has filled up on one type of food, and you present him, her or it with another food that differs in taste, aroma, texture, or even temperature, eating begins all over again” (151).

I am immediately reminded of Frank. I remember a campaign at Frank to change the language from “all-you-can-eat” to “all-you-care-to-eat.” Frank has a wide array of selection. The Vegetarian/Vegan station, Pizza/sautee station, Grill station, Entrée station, Deli bar, Salad bar, and soup station….with all these choices and stimulations, I care to eat a lot!

The campaign, however, was an attempt to promote sustainable practices by decreasing waste. Groups like “scrape the plate” have come to meals and used the visual stimulation of piles and piles of wasted food to drive home their message…. But they’re working against the science that fuels cafeteria eating! Other groups have tried to eliminate the use of the trays, which allows our hands to carry as much as our eyes want but stomachs cannot eat.

Even without the trays, however, I can remember countless times burning hours in Frank among friends, asking each other, “What should I get next?” We were willing to stand up from the table and take a walk around the stations, evaluating each food item and making a new choice. The trays may facilitate our need for satiation, but the removal will not stop it.

Frank could alter the menu in order to decrease waste. The guiding mantra could be “the tendency to feel full and stop eating stems from limited flavors.” I wonder the student outcry when the only option for dinner is boiled potatoes…. Turning to bland food in order to restrict overeating and waste undermines the very joy of eating!

Sensory-specific satiety is likely contributing to obesity. (Freshman 15?) Apart from cafeteria style eating, is this due to the unlimited (and growing) number of “edible food like substances?” Though the packaging may vastly differ, the root of our overstocked grocery aisles is all corn and soy… so what’s stimulating us to overeat?!

Apple Picking

Since I saw the first apples at the Hamilton Farmer's Market, I've been begging my boyfriend to go apple picking with me, and this weekend he finally caved in and accompanied me on a trip to O'Neill's apple orchard, about 45 minutes east of Colgate on Route 20.

The trip began beautifully, because the drive along Route 20 is gorgeous this time of year. Hillside after hillside was covered in bright reds and oranges, and we tried to soak in as much of the fall colors as we could (the morning frosts that have been covering the lawns have been an ominous warning that these colors will not last much longer).

I had not picked out O'Neill's as our apple picking destination from the beginning; I only knew that East of Lafayette was Orchard Valley, home to many beautiful upstate New York orchards and the famous Lafayette Apple Festival. See http://www.lafayetteapplefest.org/ for a better idea of this miraculous annual event. O'Neill's stood out to us because you could smell the apple fritters from the road-- we got right in line.

Our apple picking venture started out rocky-- the orchard's owners explained to us that a snow in May had wiped out much of their harvest, and that the trees were pretty picked out at this point. However, we weren't discouraged. We found a whole bag full of apples, and relished in the challenge of getting the only ones that were left, which hung at the very tops of the trees. Once we had exhausted ourselves climbing and picking raspberries in the raspberry bushes that line the trees, we sat down at a picnic table to a delicious dinner of hot dogs, apple cider, apple fritters, and cider doughnuts. So satisfying.

At the end of the day, I walked away from O'Neill's U-PICK apple orchard with a bag full of huge, delicious apples and the satisfaction that I really knew where they had come from. I had shaken the hand of the man that grew them, I had seen them on the trees, and I had picked out the most beautiful and the best for my apple bounty that day. Sodexo, it'll be a long time before I need to eat any more of your shiny California apples.

My sister got some vinegar in her ear; now she has picked hearing.

Ha ha ha. That's a nice little food joke for you. But today I want to write a little bit about food humor. I've had a lot of fun clicking through the following two sites that document foods that has gone horribly, horribly wrong, accompanied by the requisite snarky comments. Food and eating are such important components of our life that is is especially funny to see it go awry. Its kind of like watching wedding videos where the groom passes out or the bride sets her hair on fire with the unity candle.
But sites like this also seem to be a way of poking fun at the ridiculous things people are willing to eat. For every picture of a terrible fast food meal, there are a hundred people who ate that meal without complaint. And for every American who is repulsed by Tropicana Orange Juice with Rare Cheese Flavor there is a Japanese teenager who drinks a bottle of it a day.

So just for fun, check out these sites:
The Worst Thing I Ever Ate: A gallery devoted to images submitted by people who have just eaten the worst thing ever. My stomach turned at the image of mechanically separate chicken parts.

Cake Wrecks: This site is filled with pictures of "professionally" decorated cakes that have been massacred by inept and apparently illiterate bakers. It is very hilarious, but also a little sad that one might grow to employable age without being able to spell "birthday" correctly. Scroll past the pretty featured at the top of the page to see the unfortunate ones.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

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I recently watched Jamie Oliver’s television show, Food Revolution. The premise of the show revolves around Jamie Oliver attempting to change the eating habits of residents in various communities through education and work with the schools. I’ve seen a few episodes so far and definitely think it is worth checking out.

The show combines two genres (reality television with cooking) in a way that transcends them both. The reality aspects of Food Revolution are not about influencing others out of self-interest and the cooking aspects of this show are not simply about spicing up a dish. Rather, Oliver finds an innovative way to blend them together to reflect the broader social importance of food in our society.

The show reveals that the role of education is need on all levels to change the U.S. dietary habits. Once the public is educated they will demand change and the food industry will start to take notice, providing healthier offerings. In the show, we see the scale of the problem when we look at children at an elementary school who cannot properly identify a tomato. We see the scale of the problem when Oliver met an obese family to teach them how to cook quick, healthy meals—only to discover that the family went back to eating fast food and unhealthy pre-packaged meals the moment he left. And we see the see the scale of the problem when he tried to initiate a change in school lunches, which were quickly rebuked. This food revolution is not just a TV show; it represents a movement to change people’s eating habits for the better and raise awareness of the issue.

A quote from Marion Nestle discusses the importance of the show. She states, “I like the way he’s just in there getting his hands dirty up to his elbows, dealing with people on things that nobody wants to talk about and telling the truth as he sees it, no matter how uncomfortable it is. And, yes, it’s exploitive; but…people are talking about it” (Organic Connect Magazine, 2010). I definitely agree with her and believe the show serves as a catalyst for change. Between Michelle Obama's “Let’s Move” campaign and the recent legislature of a new school-lunch program, the timing is now to tackle childhood obesity.

The show is definitely worth watching so far, even just one episode. While targeting childhood obesity will involve a massive undertaking, I hope that the issues he brought out in his show can translate into action.

http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/2010/07/marion-nestle-how-the-food-industry-hijacked-nutrition/

JG Domestic

My sister works as a hostess at Iron Chef Jose Garces’s flagship restaurant, Amada. This Friday, Garces is opening JG Domestic, his seventh restaurant in Philadelphia. In order to train his staff and test the menu, Chef Garces opened the restaurant this week for staff-on-staff meals. Meaning, this afternoon I was able to have a delicious lunch with my sister (for free!!) in what is slated to be a Philadelphia “hotpot” seated only 20 feet from the iconic Jose Garces.

JG Domestic focuses on US domestic ingredients. According to our server, Chef Garces scoured the country for the best ingredients, which changes with the season. Some of these ingredients come from his very own farm in Pennsylvania, but some are flown from all the way from California. This restaurant highlights the best of American growers in the peak of their season.

According to NBC Philadelphia, Jose Garces describes “all domestic” as the following: "I don't want to say farm-to-table, because people get this idea about local farms growing and raising all of the ingredients. This is really about sourcing the absolute best ingredients wherever possible. If that means it's coming from the producers around here, all the better. I am getting my lamb from Elysian Fields right here in Pennsylvania. It's about the best ingredients coming from where they show the best. Wherever that may be.”

The restaurant is located in the lobby of the large Cira Center, a 29 story high rise. Within the restaurant, however, the atmosphere is far from sterile. Tables are long and wooden with cutouts for live trees. The periphery of the space was outlined with trellis, further promoting the earthy feel. There was even a “live wall,” which lined one side of the restaurant and housed hundreds of herbs. I asked if these were used in the cooking, and though the specific herbs were the ones found in the food, it was not from the plants on display due to health code regulations. That would have been local food!

We had access to the full menu, and though I was tempted to go with the Wagyu after reading of Steingarten’s experience with the Japanese meat, I could not resist the classic burger. The menu includes a second page listing where each ingredient is found. My menu for the lunch was the following:

Heirloom California popcorn with Vermont cheddar and homemade horseradish
Wolfe Neck’s Farm (Maine) Beef burger with New Jersey Tomatoes and California Point Reyes Blue Cheese
Duck Fat Fries
Our desserts included pumpkin and cream from a Pennsylvania farm

I found the concept behind JG domestic interesting because Garces focuses on quality ingredients, and thus went searching small farms, but chose not to limit himself to local. For him the benefits of small farms is in the quality of product, whereas others may be looking to support local businesses and reducing their carbon footprint, supporting the larger social, economic and environmental benefits of local eating.

Nutrition

Last week when our class went to Syracuse to hear Michael Pollan speak, we heard loud and clear his emphasis on our somewhat false faith in nutritional science. He spoke about nutrition as a relatively new science that we have not yet mastered, and especially spoke about the increasing view Americans have that we eat only to supply our body with scientifically determined elements that create the perfect diet.

I come from a family of athletes- my three brothers spend most of their time playing soccer and baseball, my mom has now run 2 marathons, my stepdad (perhaps the craziest of all) has run several IronMan races, and we all love to ski. Needless to say, in a house with so many active people, we go through a lot of food each week (the poor milkman nearly breaks his back getting all 7 gallons of milk to our front stoop). Our cabinets are also filled with many "exercise" foods-- granola bars, protein drinks, "goo," energy gummies--you name it, we've tried it.

Hearing Michael Pollan speak about nutrition got me thinking about the conjunction of these two things--exercise and nutrition, and where Pollan's message fits in. Pollan argued that healthy people exist on all parts of the planet eating an unbelievable variety of different foods. If this is true, can athletes succeed to their maximum capacity eating by Pollan's mantra? Do some sports require different diets than others?

I recently heard that Lance Armstrong (one of my family's all time heroes) eats by the "6 ingredient diet." With this diet, Armstrong eats only foods with less than 6 ingredients, excluding a wide variety of the sports foods I mentioned in my description of my family's cabinets. This emphasizes a clear decision on the part of one of the world's most successful athletes to return to less processed foods, and perhaps to eat a little more at home (where he has control over the things he puts in his food). Armstrong's performance in this year's Tour de France is no indication that this diet has created maximum physical performance (he crashed in a very important stage, for those of you who watch Wimbledon instead of the Tour on summer mornings), but his decision to switch to this diet could be a sign that Pollan's message is infiltrating a genre of eating that has long been ruled by nutritional information, however accurate.