sword-billed hummingbird » Foodstuffs

The narratives of refrigerator innards

Ben — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:11:25 +0000

This falls into the category of things that are uninteresting in real life, but which become interesting through the act of photography. Or something. (It may simply be that the photographs aren’t accompanied by the rank refrigerator smell that’s always lurking, waiting for the right moment to assault your nostrils.)

The photos are accompanied by brief descriptions of the households they represent.

(in GOOD Magazine, via The Morning News)

Ridiculous Cow Syndrome

Ben — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:01 +0000

This is one of those ridiculous things that is, well, ridiculous. The power of the market — or stupidity, which may be the same thing — trumping common sense:

The Bush administration can prohibit meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease, a federal appeals court said Friday. (emphasis added)

A premium meat producer, Creekstone Farms, would like to test 100% of their beef for mad cow disease. But the US Dept. of Ag. only tests 1%. Regardless of whether 1% is a sane #, Creekstone Farms is now being prohibited from using their own money to test all of their cows because Larger Companies worry that consumer demand (or some such) will then force them to test 100% of their cows. (And that would be expensive.)

If the link between infected beef and infection in humans were more direct, more observable, more documented, would the situation be any different?

You’d tend to hope so, though given the way “science” is sometimes wielded in the marketplace (and courtroom), there’s certainly room for debate.

(via BoingBoing)

Why isn’t there more bacon in my bacon?

Ben — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:53:37 +0000

Naturally you’ve got your bacon candy bars, but did you also know: bacon cookies?

I mean, you’d assumed they were out there, naturally. But had you actually seen them?

(via MeFi and BoingBoing)

Please pass the Hamburger Augmentation Product

Ben — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:40:25 +0000

A study of UCLA’s Center on Everyday Lives of Families finds that convenience foods aren’t. Which is to say, families relying on so-called “convenience” foods spent as much time preparing dinner as those families who leaned on, e.g., hot dogs and frozen peas.

(EurekAlert: “Convenience foods save little time for working families at dinner.” [Aug 7, 2007])

Edible Indeed

Ben — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:55:40 +0000

I’m hoping that the “practically” in this food encyclopedia’s title refers to the encyclopedia itself and not to the food, but
in any case, it’s a potentially useful resource.

Honestly, where else can you find out about the Nottingham Goose Fair, lingonberries, and spiny lobster–all in one place?

Nowhere, that’s where! (And Wikipedia, perhaps, but then you have all that non-food information to wade through as well. Who wants to do that?)