Consumer news and notes

While I've said many times that more than consumer choices are involved in changing the food system, we are, of course, still consumers of food in one way or another.

This week I ran across an article from the Chicago Tribune about food and nutrition which contains some helpful and some amusing information.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-0703060268mar07,1,6213107.story

(You may have to register to get to this, but I recommend doing so if you like food news and recipes. You can sign up for a weekly e-mail compilation of the best food stories from the Tribune, the L.A. Times and some other papers. I have done this and not gotten unwanted mail because of it.)

My favorite line from this article is in the review of diets at the end. The Sonoma Diet is basically the South Beach Diet with lots of wine.

While I always learn from articles like this, it bothers me that we seem to have three strands of food concerns that rarely work together.

Articles like the one above on nutrition myths approach food from a nutrients only perspective, without much regard to either the pleasure of eating or the justice dimensions of the food supply.

OR, you can read articles about which ingredients are trendy this year, or features on international reviews of cheese, wine, etc., with no regard to the environmental cost or the contribution (or not) to a healthy diet.

Read the beginning of this article on leeks from the L.A. Times - it's so over-written that it could qualify as vegiporn. Still - it does celebrate a vegetable that's in season.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-leeks7mar07,1,2196125.story?coll=la-headlines-food

OR you can read articles about environmental impact, or injustices in food production and distribution, that give only a nod to nutrition and celebration.

Few articles get down and get honest about the intersection of nourishment, celebration, and eco-justice.

Here's an article that tells some truth: Comparing eggs, those from your local farmer's market are probably the best, and $5 a half dozen for free range eggs flown in from New Zealand is ridiculous.

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-eggbox14mar14,1,263409.story?coll=la-headlines-food

We really need more food writing that covers the subject from many angles.