Top of the Food Chain (of Fools)
I happened to watch in the seatback in front of me at 34,000 feet two smarmy (ok, obnoxious) money men dangling carrots in front of contestants in a reality TV show about food. They weren't actual carrots but the hopeful competitors stood the chance to get some advice and financing, which could help launch their restaurant/food businesses and make them flourish.One team had a tasty-looking vegan hot dog, with homemade pickles and toppings, which one moneyman seemed to like. The ...
Wake Up: What is Citrus Greening and What to Do?
In case you didn't hear, virtually all of Florida’s citrus trees are suffering from “greening,” a bacterial tree disease that is threatening the $9+ billion Florida citrus biz (think oranges, grapefruits, tangerines…) and has attacked Brazil as well, covering 90% of the world's orange juice. Imagine the shortages. Also called Huanglongbing (HLB) or Yellow Dragon Disease, greening first surfaced in 2005 in Florida (yes, it's from Asia). Infected trees produce green, ...
US & EU Agree: No Time for Public Health, We’ve Got Corporate Interests at Stake Here!
A just leaked draft food trade agreement leaves no question that, as between both the US and Europe, “public health is losing out to corporate interests in a big way.” According to the experts at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), the documents show that public health and food safety are at risk while the public remains clueless.The obscure Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement (see it in the news any time lately?) addresses important ...
Bad Eggs: Even Cynics Find Meat Tactic a New Low
The Washington Post's The Influence Industry column writes about a new lobbying group charged with stopping provisions in the 2012 farm bill to make the egg biz a teeny bit more tolerable (for the birds not the eggs companies).This follows last year's agreement between the the Humane Society and the United Egg Producers, reached after years of enmity, on measures that would (in our humble opinion) only incrementally (at best) improve the lives of the poor hens. [Apparently, they'll ...
Should the Government Limit Soda Size?
Just a day has passed and the critics have descended on NYC Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to limit giant-sized sugary drinks. Some have even noted the harm to the poor beverage companies, who are already suffering because people are waking up and drinking less of the stuff.Ironically, the diet stuff -- poison so harmful that even small quantities have been reported to cause "vascular incidents" in the vast majority of people -- would remain ok.We're not sure this will work let ...
Life Goes Better With Coke… More Quickly Anyway
Nice to see Michelle Obama taking up the good fight against fat (unhealthy) kids. Sadly, the same day the media carried this story, we also see that Coca-cola posted strong profits on emerging market sales, including a 29% increase in China and significant increases in India and Latin America. Despite new evidence that shows just how dangerous these products are (pancreatic cancer anyone?), not just because they are sugary and can make us fat, soft drink and junk food companies ...
Change We Can Eat: Will Politi-locos Act to Stop the Drugging of our Food Supply?
It remains to be seen how the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Actwill fare. This legislation could help stem the insane approach to drugs that our food industry has convinced itself is normal and necessary. In a nutshell, the bill would help prevent the routine use of antibiotics in farm animals, which, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, accounts for an incredible 70+% of the antibiotic use in the United States. Most of the animals are not (yet) sick. ...
Keeping Safe By Keeping Track: Animal ID and Food Security
So now that many of us are completely freaked out about eating (if you're not, you must be forgetting your recommended daily dose of media) , let's talk about what is touted as the promise of "hope" on the horizon, keeping us safe by instituting an animal spy system, for our own heath and welfare, of course. It's the National Animal Identification System (NAIS for short). Um... Seems a bit creepy if you ask us.This U.S. "government animal health surveillance" system, which requires regist...
Food Bashing is Bogus
Apparently, the tough economy is leading food companies to take off the gloves (were they ever really on?) and go on the attack against their fellow food competitors, so says the Wall Street Journal. Since the "Eat More" strategy can only go just so far when consumers' wallets are empty, the companies have gone on the attack.Burger King tastes better than McDonalds. Campbell's soup has more MSG than Progresso's. Domino's subs kick the pants off of Subway's. You know, that kind of thing. At ...
Who’s Your Daddy? Kellogg’s and Kids
Amidst the uproar regarding Michael Phelps alleged pot-smoking, let's not miss a larger point. See, since Kellogg's claims it is really looking out for kids, you know, that "role model" stuff, isn't it fair game to look at how Kellogg's itself looks after kids (and us adults for that matter)?This is the very company that pushed the FDA in the mid-80s into changing the way it regulates food, essentially allowing the company to manipulate its cereal health claims to imply that its products ...
