Good morning! (well, almost afternoon here -- and good evening if you're in Europe!)
I'm still knee-deep in catching up with friends and family, trying to get work done, and all-in-all enjoying a wonderful thanksgiving trip. But I had to stop by today to say this:
Did you all watch 60 minutes last night? It was a treat to see it (gosh, I never thought I would miss something like 60 minutes). Well, they had this fascinating segment on food flavoring. Take a look! (if you're outside of the US I'm not sure the video will work. You can listen to the 60 minutes podcast on iTunes though! This story is at minute 26:40. Or read the article here.)
Watch the video. Seriously. It is fascinating. Even if you aren't really interested in this topic. If you've ever bought food in a package, and who hasn't, you've probably eaten one of the flavors this company creates.
This was like discovering a gold mine (well, my kind of gold mine). A company that is employed by the food industry goes on national tv and says they purposefully create flavors that are addictive? As my Dad said when we were watching it, I can't believe they agreed to do this interview.
Fascinating.
I'll be back to regular blogging later in the week. Its time to get work done so I can enjoy dinner with a friend tonight :)
November 28, 2011
November 17, 2011
Where in the world is Courtney? {and that pizza nonsense}
After a very long travel day (I left home at 8:30am, arrived at my desitnation at the equivalent of 3 am...), I feel like I'm a character in "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" (Remember that game? I loved it!) A 12 hour flight, currency change, language switches. The joys of travel. I'm just glad I don't have to look up the capital. (you'll follow that reference if you played Carmen San Diego...)
I woke up after a much needed very long sleep to these sights. Should give you a clue to where I am.
November 14, 2011
Gastric Pacemaker
Is this the obesity solution?
This DailyMail article really got my internal debate going, and I thought I'd open the debate up to you.
The technology is capitalizing on what is naturally there, a pathway that passes satiety signals between the stomach and the brain. Only in this case they implant a small 'pacemaker' device and an electrode to stimulate the nerve that releases the hormones which signal to the brain "I'm full."
In trials done here in Europe people with the device ate 45% less at meals. 45% less is definitely significant in terms of weight loss.
The article points out that it could be used for obesity prevention to save money in the long term. The device does cost £10,000, but that's nothing compared to the lifelong costs of treating obesity and its sequela (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease).
So, is this the solution? I don't think so. Sure it might work in the few people who can afford
the technology, but there are more than a few people who are overweight
or obese.
The scary fact is that we've gotten to this point. We've gotten to the point that people can no longer self-regulate food intake and we are exploring such options as a gastric pacemaker. This should spark a deeper converstaion. This is a band-aid not a solution. The real question should be: what is causing us to overeat and be unable to regulate our food intake in the first place?
I have a few theories, as does recent science.
For one, social norms do not support a healthy lifestyle. Its perfectly acceptable to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. While I support healthy, purposeful snacking, I do not support mindless munching on potato chips. Making matters worse, physical activity is pathetic for most of us. Many people have long commutes in the car, and TV, video games and computers keep us glued to chairs and couches.
But I think another big player could be food addiction.
Human beings evolved in an environment where food scarcity was the biggest nutritional threat; where an innate drive to eat energy-dense, fatty, salty and sweet foods increased chances of survival. These highly palatable foods activate the hedonic pathway, the part of the brain that responds to pleasurable stimuli.The same part of the brain is activated in the drive for sex and recreational drugs.
And a growing body of evidence shows that in much the same way that drugs are addictive, salty, sugary, fatty foods may also be addictive. Granted, most of this research has been done in lab animals, but some of it is very compelling. Rats, for instance, were recently shown to prefer sugary drinks to cocaine. Perhaps this is why people have such a hard time kicking their soda habit (or french fries, or milkshakes, or whatever food it may be).
V and I had a quick debate the other night about how the morbidly obese can lose weight. I was arguing that once morbidly obese (with limited mobility and whacked out insulin/other hormones) it is very hard for that person to lose weight without some kind of help or intervention. He argued that they should just eat less.
A lot of the commenters on this gastric pacemaker article seem to side with V's argument: obesity is your fault and you alone can fix it. While I do not take personal responsibility out of play -- what you eat is ultimately your decision and you can change it -- I know that obesity is far more complex than this simple explanation.
That being said, however, when I first read the article I had the same knee jerk reaction as most of the commenters. One woman wrote in saying "Come on!!! Why not eat your 5 a day do a bit of exercise, do it the old fashioned way....Its willpower you need not a pacemaker."
My first thoughts exactly. And its the same line of argument I use against diet pills. But willpower is such an intangible thing for many of us. We know what we should eat and what we shouldn't, and yet we don't do it.
We've gotten to the point in this obesity epidemic where we can't sit back and let willpower take its natural course. Our food and lifestyle environments (junk food on every corner, cities that are built for cars, 60 minute commutes, etc) are working against our 'willpower' and sense. Yes, it can still be done -- I am not by any means saying that it can't be done -- but it is in many ways swimming upstream.
It will take many many changes, both in personal actions and in social/environmental realms to turn around the tide of the obesity epidemic. Could a gastric pacemaker help? For the morbidly obese, I can see it having a place. It is not the solution, but it could potentially help to reduce the extraordinary costs of treating morbid obesity.
What do you think? Would you like a little help in the eating department with a gastric pacemaker? Weigh in! (pun intended)
I'll leave you with this quote that I love from the US Institute of Medicine:
This DailyMail article really got my internal debate going, and I thought I'd open the debate up to you.
The technology is capitalizing on what is naturally there, a pathway that passes satiety signals between the stomach and the brain. Only in this case they implant a small 'pacemaker' device and an electrode to stimulate the nerve that releases the hormones which signal to the brain "I'm full."
In trials done here in Europe people with the device ate 45% less at meals. 45% less is definitely significant in terms of weight loss.
The article points out that it could be used for obesity prevention to save money in the long term. The device does cost £10,000, but that's nothing compared to the lifelong costs of treating obesity and its sequela (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease).
 |
| Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2058208/Obesity-Could-gastric-pacemaker-retrain-overweight-eat-healthily.html?ito=feeds-newsxml |
The scary fact is that we've gotten to this point. We've gotten to the point that people can no longer self-regulate food intake and we are exploring such options as a gastric pacemaker. This should spark a deeper converstaion. This is a band-aid not a solution. The real question should be: what is causing us to overeat and be unable to regulate our food intake in the first place?
I have a few theories, as does recent science.
For one, social norms do not support a healthy lifestyle. Its perfectly acceptable to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. While I support healthy, purposeful snacking, I do not support mindless munching on potato chips. Making matters worse, physical activity is pathetic for most of us. Many people have long commutes in the car, and TV, video games and computers keep us glued to chairs and couches.
But I think another big player could be food addiction.
Human beings evolved in an environment where food scarcity was the biggest nutritional threat; where an innate drive to eat energy-dense, fatty, salty and sweet foods increased chances of survival. These highly palatable foods activate the hedonic pathway, the part of the brain that responds to pleasurable stimuli.The same part of the brain is activated in the drive for sex and recreational drugs.
And a growing body of evidence shows that in much the same way that drugs are addictive, salty, sugary, fatty foods may also be addictive. Granted, most of this research has been done in lab animals, but some of it is very compelling. Rats, for instance, were recently shown to prefer sugary drinks to cocaine. Perhaps this is why people have such a hard time kicking their soda habit (or french fries, or milkshakes, or whatever food it may be).
V and I had a quick debate the other night about how the morbidly obese can lose weight. I was arguing that once morbidly obese (with limited mobility and whacked out insulin/other hormones) it is very hard for that person to lose weight without some kind of help or intervention. He argued that they should just eat less.
A lot of the commenters on this gastric pacemaker article seem to side with V's argument: obesity is your fault and you alone can fix it. While I do not take personal responsibility out of play -- what you eat is ultimately your decision and you can change it -- I know that obesity is far more complex than this simple explanation.
That being said, however, when I first read the article I had the same knee jerk reaction as most of the commenters. One woman wrote in saying "Come on!!! Why not eat your 5 a day do a bit of exercise, do it the old fashioned way....Its willpower you need not a pacemaker."
My first thoughts exactly. And its the same line of argument I use against diet pills. But willpower is such an intangible thing for many of us. We know what we should eat and what we shouldn't, and yet we don't do it.
We've gotten to the point in this obesity epidemic where we can't sit back and let willpower take its natural course. Our food and lifestyle environments (junk food on every corner, cities that are built for cars, 60 minute commutes, etc) are working against our 'willpower' and sense. Yes, it can still be done -- I am not by any means saying that it can't be done -- but it is in many ways swimming upstream.
 | |
| Percent of Adults who are Obese by year. By CDC. Animation: Nevit Dilmen (http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
It will take many many changes, both in personal actions and in social/environmental realms to turn around the tide of the obesity epidemic. Could a gastric pacemaker help? For the morbidly obese, I can see it having a place. It is not the solution, but it could potentially help to reduce the extraordinary costs of treating morbid obesity.
What do you think? Would you like a little help in the eating department with a gastric pacemaker? Weigh in! (pun intended)
I'll leave you with this quote that I love from the US Institute of Medicine:
"It is unreasonable to expect that people will change their behavior easily
when so many forces in the social, cultural, and physical environment conspire
against such change."
"The Milk of America"
Something funny to perk up your Monday:
Great quote:
Uniformly dissing on science is not correct, but he does have a point that as a nation we are misled by some nutritional research.
For many years fat was deemed the bad guy because of research into heart disease, but now we know that some fats, like those found in salmon, are actually heart healthy. We also are subject to the latest 'fad ingredient.' Continuing with the fat theme, we've learned that olive oil is one of those healthy fats. So now people are freely and liberally using olive oil. What we forget is that too much of any one food is not good, and the high amount of calories in olive oil (or any fat for that matter) do not warrant liberal use. Yes, olive oil is heart healthy, but that does not mean it can be used without thought.
These are just a few examples of the many. So, yes, we have 'taken the science and run with it' on more than one occasion. Which is why I say Mr. Pollan's quote about science is true but disappointing.
Nonetheless, its an entertaining clip and I'm glad to see sane health messages widely promoted.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Michael Pollan | ||||
| ||||
Great quote:
"You would tax soda? That is the milk of America!"True but disappointing quote:
"We've been listening to scientists for too long and they've really misled us. As have the health claims on the products."The part about health claims on products is universally true (I've spoken about this before here).
Uniformly dissing on science is not correct, but he does have a point that as a nation we are misled by some nutritional research.
For many years fat was deemed the bad guy because of research into heart disease, but now we know that some fats, like those found in salmon, are actually heart healthy. We also are subject to the latest 'fad ingredient.' Continuing with the fat theme, we've learned that olive oil is one of those healthy fats. So now people are freely and liberally using olive oil. What we forget is that too much of any one food is not good, and the high amount of calories in olive oil (or any fat for that matter) do not warrant liberal use. Yes, olive oil is heart healthy, but that does not mean it can be used without thought.
These are just a few examples of the many. So, yes, we have 'taken the science and run with it' on more than one occasion. Which is why I say Mr. Pollan's quote about science is true but disappointing.
Nonetheless, its an entertaining clip and I'm glad to see sane health messages widely promoted.
November 13, 2011
Franken-Fish
Happy Sunday morning one and all!
I have a funny story to tell you.
I was looking for a quick dinner item on Friday night, and so when rushing through the store I thought: fish! But I'm wary of the fresh fish from the little market on the corner (I'm not sure there is enough turn-over? And I'm paranoid). Frozen fish seemed like a better option.
I picked up this box of delicious-looking cod, but should have been wary from the perfect looking rectangles of fish on the cover, and the oddly suspicious description that the box contained four 100g portions. I wondered at the time: how do they get 4 portions in this tiny box, and how on earth are the 4 portions exactly 100 grams? But I was in a rush and into the basket it went.
Well, they achieve these feats by engineering. The fish came out of the package looking like this:
It was basically fish that had been molded into 100g rectangles and then frozen. Is it not the weirdest looking fish you've seen? Its like super-sized fish sticks without the coating.
Let me tell you, they tasted as good as they looked...
Lesson learned. Just another surprise of living in a foreign country.
I'm spending my Sunday in the kitchen, enjoying some cooking therapy. There is a roast chicken in the oven, and a walnut cake in the works. I'm making up for serving that 'franken-fish.'
I have a funny story to tell you.
I was looking for a quick dinner item on Friday night, and so when rushing through the store I thought: fish! But I'm wary of the fresh fish from the little market on the corner (I'm not sure there is enough turn-over? And I'm paranoid). Frozen fish seemed like a better option.
I picked up this box of delicious-looking cod, but should have been wary from the perfect looking rectangles of fish on the cover, and the oddly suspicious description that the box contained four 100g portions. I wondered at the time: how do they get 4 portions in this tiny box, and how on earth are the 4 portions exactly 100 grams? But I was in a rush and into the basket it went.
Well, they achieve these feats by engineering. The fish came out of the package looking like this:
It was basically fish that had been molded into 100g rectangles and then frozen. Is it not the weirdest looking fish you've seen? Its like super-sized fish sticks without the coating.
Lesson learned. Just another surprise of living in a foreign country.
I'm spending my Sunday in the kitchen, enjoying some cooking therapy. There is a roast chicken in the oven, and a walnut cake in the works. I'm making up for serving that 'franken-fish.'
November 10, 2011
Headline News: A New Drug that Kills Fat Cells?
I woke up this morning to glorious blue and sunny skies. After days of grey gloom, it was so energizing to see the sun. Seriously, my whole mood has lifted because of the sun. You can take the girl out of California, but not California out of the girl :)
I started my morning as I usually do with breakfast, coffee and the internet (It struck me as I typed 'internet' that it would probably have been 'a newspaper' not long ago. How things have changed). I use my time in the morning to stay up-to-date with whats happening back at home and around the world, and to see what new nutrition related topics are in the news.
This morning I got a twofer. I sometimes watch the NBC nightly news podcast to keep current in the US, and this morning (or last night, I guess) they ran a story on a potential new weight loss drug in the works. Of course my ears perked up. Not because I'm a fan of weight loss drugs, just the opposite in fact.
The drug is designed to kill fat cells by cutting off their blood supply, which is a novel approach for a weight loss drugs. Previous drugs were designed to limit digestion of food or to speed up metabolism. This new drug showed results in mice and then monkeys, and now the researchers are applying to the FDA for permission to start a human trial.
The monkey trials showed that the drug can work, as overweight monkeys lost weight by losing body fat and body fat alone (an interesting development as even if you lose weight "the old fashioned way" you will lose some muscle mass). Lean monkeys did not lose weight, suggesting that the drug really is selective for fat cells.
Sounds great right? Well, as they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. For one thing, safety and effectiveness in humans has not been tested yet. And one has to wonder what the side-effects might be from a drug that kills fat cells. (FYI- in traditional weight loss fat cells don't die. They shrink. And are ready and waiting to fill back up with fat- which is why its so hard to not gain the weight back). Everything in the body is interconnected; what happens if we start selectively killing off one component? They don't know yet. I'm not sure I would want to test that theory on myself.
Also, when the monkeys stopped taking the drug they gained the weight back. In the NBC story they correctly pointed out that the drug could help kick start weight loss, but that for true and lasting weight loss we would still need to stick to the tried and true methods of healthy eating and exercise.
Drug companies are searching for the holy grail of weight loss drugs, and according to the NBC story, people are lining up in anticipation of this drug. A quick fix. Quick fixes don't work for weight loss. And as we keep searching for the easy way out tried and true methods that require hard work and dedication are getting pushed aside.
If you can't tell already, I'm not a fan of weight loss drugs. I believe they present an easy solution that makes it possible to forget about health as a whole. Weight loss is great, but if you're not eating properly and exercising you will forgo many other health benefits.
What struck me the most is that this weight loss drug is still in animal trials, and yet its making headline prime time news. ABC also ran a story about it (from what I can tell online). As a nation with nearly two-thirds of the population overweight or obese this is not surprising.
But I hope we don't get too focused on developing new drugs and forget that there are already methods out there to lose weight that work. Sure they're not easy -- you have to completely change your lifestyle to really lose weight -- but they are safe and effective. So far weight loss drugs haven't fared as well.
 |
| Afternoon sun peaking through the fall leaves in our backyard |
This morning I got a twofer. I sometimes watch the NBC nightly news podcast to keep current in the US, and this morning (or last night, I guess) they ran a story on a potential new weight loss drug in the works. Of course my ears perked up. Not because I'm a fan of weight loss drugs, just the opposite in fact.
The monkey trials showed that the drug can work, as overweight monkeys lost weight by losing body fat and body fat alone (an interesting development as even if you lose weight "the old fashioned way" you will lose some muscle mass). Lean monkeys did not lose weight, suggesting that the drug really is selective for fat cells.
Sounds great right? Well, as they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. For one thing, safety and effectiveness in humans has not been tested yet. And one has to wonder what the side-effects might be from a drug that kills fat cells. (FYI- in traditional weight loss fat cells don't die. They shrink. And are ready and waiting to fill back up with fat- which is why its so hard to not gain the weight back). Everything in the body is interconnected; what happens if we start selectively killing off one component? They don't know yet. I'm not sure I would want to test that theory on myself.
Also, when the monkeys stopped taking the drug they gained the weight back. In the NBC story they correctly pointed out that the drug could help kick start weight loss, but that for true and lasting weight loss we would still need to stick to the tried and true methods of healthy eating and exercise.
Drug companies are searching for the holy grail of weight loss drugs, and according to the NBC story, people are lining up in anticipation of this drug. A quick fix. Quick fixes don't work for weight loss. And as we keep searching for the easy way out tried and true methods that require hard work and dedication are getting pushed aside.
If you can't tell already, I'm not a fan of weight loss drugs. I believe they present an easy solution that makes it possible to forget about health as a whole. Weight loss is great, but if you're not eating properly and exercising you will forgo many other health benefits.
What struck me the most is that this weight loss drug is still in animal trials, and yet its making headline prime time news. ABC also ran a story about it (from what I can tell online). As a nation with nearly two-thirds of the population overweight or obese this is not surprising.
But I hope we don't get too focused on developing new drugs and forget that there are already methods out there to lose weight that work. Sure they're not easy -- you have to completely change your lifestyle to really lose weight -- but they are safe and effective. So far weight loss drugs haven't fared as well.
November 9, 2011
Wonderful and Difficult {the reality of being a new expat}
Approaching the 4 month mark of my European adventure, I feel like I should take a moment to reflect on my time so far. Allow me, if you will, to use this space to share some of the ups and downs of this journey.
Living in a foreign country has been wonderful and difficult in surprising ways.
I'll start with the wonderful.
My French has slightly improved since I've gotten here, even without taking any formal classes (although I'm counting down the days until I can join a French class in January).
The 5 words I know in Dutch is considerably more knowledge than I started with. Dank u wel.
I cannot get enough of this delicious french goat cheese made with gasp unpasteurized cheese.
Life is slower here, in a good way. People don't spend their weekend running from one event to the next. They relax. And relaxing has been good for me, the "plan-and-then-worry-about-the-plan" person that I am.
I have the feeling that I can handle just about anything now that I've survived living half-way across the world from all that is familiar and comfortable. Living here is so much harder than traveling. Dealing with health insurance, trying to understand product descriptions and asking myself questions like "is this laundry detergent is going to bleach all my clothes?" and all the other daily hurdles ranging from big to tiny. But as they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Real fall weather. And winter quickly approaching. I'm sure I'll be complaining about this in no time, but for now its a nice change from (beautiful sunny) CA. And yes, that is a hint of sarcasm you picked up on.
Paris is only 1 hour and 20 minutes away by train.
Living each and every day with V. Its pretty wonderful after so many years of doing "the long distance thing." This, really, is the highlight.
But as this is real life, and not some Hollywood movie with Julia Roberts (ahem, eat pray love), these wonderful things have been accompanied by some not so wonderful things.
I have never felt more isolated. Sometimes I really feel like a sheep who has been separated from the herd. Sometimes vulnerable, alone, lonely.
Very little feels completely comfortable. Just when I get thinking "ok, this is going well," reality sneaks back in and I'm lost yet again. I'm waiting for the day when I'll be comfortable feeling uncomfortable. Or better yet, when I'll feel comfortable.
About 50 percent of the time I have no clue whats going on.
I'm terrified that something is going to happen and I'm not going to be able to explain what I need or what's wrong.
I constantly feel like the ethnocentric American: "do you speak English?" is my new favorite question. (watch this clip, its funny...)
Co-dependence is not a familiar state for me. I'm the independent one. Now I'm too crippled by my fear of not understanding that I can't even call up the insurance company on my own. (long story...lets just leave it at that). Where has my confidence gone? I think it fell out of the plane somewhere over the Atlantic.
Working from home with a 9-hour time difference: great to be able to work form home and not-so-great to be working from home. I sometimes feel like a bird trapped in my cage. All day and night at home can really make me feel 'blah.'
Thankfully with time the 'not-so-wonderful' parts of living here are getting better, and will only continue to get better. With some language classes and time passing, my 'wonderful' list is bound to grow.
Now, in all seriousness, I want to say thank you to V. For being my gateway to the world of french cheese, and for sticking by me when my confidence is deflated and I need him to make phone calls for me. You're the best!
Oh and I forgot to mention the chocolate. The chocolate is wonderful!
Living in a foreign country has been wonderful and difficult in surprising ways.
I'll start with the wonderful.
My French has slightly improved since I've gotten here, even without taking any formal classes (although I'm counting down the days until I can join a French class in January).
The 5 words I know in Dutch is considerably more knowledge than I started with. Dank u wel.
I cannot get enough of this delicious french goat cheese made with gasp unpasteurized cheese.
 |
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crottin_de_Chavignol |
Life is slower here, in a good way. People don't spend their weekend running from one event to the next. They relax. And relaxing has been good for me, the "plan-and-then-worry-about-the-plan" person that I am.
I have the feeling that I can handle just about anything now that I've survived living half-way across the world from all that is familiar and comfortable. Living here is so much harder than traveling. Dealing with health insurance, trying to understand product descriptions and asking myself questions like "is this laundry detergent is going to bleach all my clothes?" and all the other daily hurdles ranging from big to tiny. But as they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Real fall weather. And winter quickly approaching. I'm sure I'll be complaining about this in no time, but for now its a nice change from (beautiful sunny) CA. And yes, that is a hint of sarcasm you picked up on.
Paris is only 1 hour and 20 minutes away by train.
Living each and every day with V. Its pretty wonderful after so many years of doing "the long distance thing." This, really, is the highlight.
But as this is real life, and not some Hollywood movie with Julia Roberts (ahem, eat pray love), these wonderful things have been accompanied by some not so wonderful things.
I have never felt more isolated. Sometimes I really feel like a sheep who has been separated from the herd. Sometimes vulnerable, alone, lonely.
 |
| Photo: http://www.photographyblogger.net/26-magnificent-sheep-pictures |
About 50 percent of the time I have no clue whats going on.
I'm terrified that something is going to happen and I'm not going to be able to explain what I need or what's wrong.
I constantly feel like the ethnocentric American: "do you speak English?" is my new favorite question. (watch this clip, its funny...)
Co-dependence is not a familiar state for me. I'm the independent one. Now I'm too crippled by my fear of not understanding that I can't even call up the insurance company on my own. (long story...lets just leave it at that). Where has my confidence gone? I think it fell out of the plane somewhere over the Atlantic.
Working from home with a 9-hour time difference: great to be able to work form home and not-so-great to be working from home. I sometimes feel like a bird trapped in my cage. All day and night at home can really make me feel 'blah.'
Thankfully with time the 'not-so-wonderful' parts of living here are getting better, and will only continue to get better. With some language classes and time passing, my 'wonderful' list is bound to grow.
Now, in all seriousness, I want to say thank you to V. For being my gateway to the world of french cheese, and for sticking by me when my confidence is deflated and I need him to make phone calls for me. You're the best!
Oh and I forgot to mention the chocolate. The chocolate is wonderful!
November 8, 2011
Great British Food Revival
I have been watching a great series on the BBC 2 that I just have to tell you about: The Great British Food Revival.
It embodies a lot of the food philosophies I believe in, and the fact that its on prime time tv on the BBC is incredible to me. And its on it's second series. Which means it was popular enough the first time around to do another series.
The basic premise of the show is that a British chef chooses a traditional/heritage British food product to highlight, explains why its important to choose that local product over others, and then demonstrates a few ways to cook the product. Its half local food program, half cooking show, and I love it!
The BBC describes it as:
I would love to see a show like this done in the US. Promoting local delicious foods and showing people how to cook with them? It goes right along with my philosophy about teaching healthy eating. Its not enough to tell people what to eat if they don't know how to cook it.We have so many local and regional foods in the US that a show like this could be fascinating -- well to me at least -- and would hopefully help the farmers and producers of our heritage products.
(Apologies to those in the US...the show is not on BBC America, and you can't watch it online outside of the UK :(
The basic premise of the show is that a British chef chooses a traditional/heritage British food product to highlight, explains why its important to choose that local product over others, and then demonstrates a few ways to cook the product. Its half local food program, half cooking show, and I love it!
The BBC describes it as:
"The UK has a fantastically diverse range of produce, yet it seems to be widely ignored in favour of cheaper or more exotic foreign imports. Some of our heritage varieties are genuinely in danger of being lost forever unless they are used once more for cooking and eating. Each episode of the Great British Food Revival sees chefs and foodies champion a different piece of British produce and demonstrate how it can be used in the kitchen."The episode last week highlighted British shellfish and duck eggs. The week before I saw an episode on where Michel Roux showed delicious British pears and a beautiful poached pear recipe.
 |
| Photo: http://www.lovefood.com/journal/opinions/13169/tv-the-great-british-food-revival |
I would love to see a show like this done in the US. Promoting local delicious foods and showing people how to cook with them? It goes right along with my philosophy about teaching healthy eating. Its not enough to tell people what to eat if they don't know how to cook it.We have so many local and regional foods in the US that a show like this could be fascinating -- well to me at least -- and would hopefully help the farmers and producers of our heritage products.
(Apologies to those in the US...the show is not on BBC America, and you can't watch it online outside of the UK :(
November 6, 2011
Brussels by Chocolate
If you're going to visit Brussels there are 4 things you must do: visit the manneken pis, drink beer, eat chocolate, and eat a waffle or frites (or both...).
A few weeks ago, my lovely cousin K came to visit me and V in Brussels. We did the requisite events:
Posed with the Manneken Pis:
...drank a Belgian beer
...and K ate a waffle, though there are no pictures to document that joyous occasion. (She said she would make a trip back to Brussels just for the waffles. Yes, they are that good).
But we took the chocolate requirement of the itinerary the most seriously. K arranged for us to go on a chocolate tasting and making tour!
And chocolate we ate! Too much of it in fact. We stopped by many chocolate shops and got a tour of the city along the way. And we had a chocolate making course. All in a tough Saturday morning's adventures :)
Here was our chocolate master-instructor for the morning. Lets just say his chocolates were leaps and bounds better than the rest of the class :)
Here is K expertly piping the filling into her pralines:
And a few action shots of me:
The tour was a great way to see the city and taste some of the finest chocolates in the world.
(Thanks to K for arranging the tour and for the photos!)
Of course we did other things than eat and drink, and the weekend K was here was gloriously sunny, but mighty chilly. A stern reminder of the winter weather knocking at our door. Here are some pics of us enjoying Brussels in the beautiful sunshine:
Hope you all had a great weekend!
A few weeks ago, my lovely cousin K came to visit me and V in Brussels. We did the requisite events:
Posed with the Manneken Pis:
...drank a Belgian beer
But we took the chocolate requirement of the itinerary the most seriously. K arranged for us to go on a chocolate tasting and making tour!
Here was our chocolate master-instructor for the morning. Lets just say his chocolates were leaps and bounds better than the rest of the class :)
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| Tempering the chocolate |
The tour was a great way to see the city and taste some of the finest chocolates in the world.
(Thanks to K for arranging the tour and for the photos!)
Of course we did other things than eat and drink, and the weekend K was here was gloriously sunny, but mighty chilly. A stern reminder of the winter weather knocking at our door. Here are some pics of us enjoying Brussels in the beautiful sunshine:
Hope you all had a great weekend!
November 2, 2011
Beef, its whats for dinner?
After watching the great documentary "Home" last weekend (watch it, seriously! Its fantastic, beautiful to watch, and eye-opening and you can watch it for free on YouTube!), I got thinking about the beef industry.
There is a scene in the movie of a massive cattle feedlot, somewhere in the US presumably. They are described in the move as cattle concentration camps. Seems about right.
Thousands of cattle cramed into small pens, standing inches deep in their own manure, being fed corn to fatten up. Corn is not a natural food for cattle, and it causes them to get infections in their rumen, meaning that antibiotics are a necessary addition to their food. Is it any wonder I don't like eating commercial US beef? (And the beef industry will likely want to sue me for saying that, a la oprah winfrey).
Its not a pretty picture for the cows, or for us. The cows are sick, and the massive use of antibotics in food-destined livestock is contributing to antibiotic resistance in humans (see here, and here.)
The article went on to quote the same French farmer saying:
There is a scene in the movie of a massive cattle feedlot, somewhere in the US presumably. They are described in the move as cattle concentration camps. Seems about right.
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| Still shot from "Home" |
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| Still shot from "Home" |
Its not a pretty picture for the cows, or for us. The cows are sick, and the massive use of antibotics in food-destined livestock is contributing to antibiotic resistance in humans (see here, and here.)
How do we solve this problem? First, Americans need to eat less meat. Our high demand for meat is what created these conditions in the first place (farmers need to grow more cows, faster, so they feed them corn instead of grass.) Secondly, if our
consumer demand shifts, and we start demanding healthy, sustainably raised meat
(organic and grass-fed or pasture-raised) through our purchasing habits, the
industry will match that demand.
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| Grass-fed beef from http://www.alderspring.com/ |
But what about the meat industry in Europe. V said while watching the documentary that he had never seen a feedlot before, and that the cows here are raised 'out.' I decided I need to look further into this if I'm going to feel comfortable buying beef in the supermarket here.
What did I find?
The EU banned the use of antibiotics and all related drugs for growth promotion in cattle in 2006, which is great.
Beyond that, at first I couldn't find all that much describing the cattle industry in the EU.
I found an article from the European Association for Animal Production, (disclosure: from an unknown year...and I don't know the credibility of this organization) saying:
Among the variety of beef production systems in Europe, two main types stand out: pasture based systems in the west and cereal-based systems in the central-eastern parts of Europe and the Mediterranean. Combinations of these systems are also commonly found. A wide range of different farm sizes and final products is found in the different parts of Europe.
Which leads me to believe that there are some feedlot type operations happening in Europe, but to what extent they are actually feedlots in the US sense (beyond the grain-based feed) is not explained. I am relieved to know that there are still some pasture raised cattle in Europe. Is there any way to tell which beef I'm buying when in the grocery store? I suppose it depends on the country of origin, but again this is not clear.
So I did some more digging. And I came across this story (from NPR) which was a wealth of information. It provides some clue for my grocery store dilemma by quoting a French cattle farmer saying the following:
The article goes on to say:"Each animal has a 'passport' where every aspect of his life is recorded: where he was born, who his parents were, what vaccines he's had," Baudot says. "And that passport follows him through his whole life."
"Baudot's beef can be found in the supermarket of a small town near his farm. The cow from which the beef came can be traced because every package of meat sold in the EU must list where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered. Every cow has a different ID number, butcher Stephane Dausin says.
"Every piece of meat can be traced from A to Z — from the raiser to the consumer," Dausin says. "We have to have complete transparency, or we'd never be able to sell it."Hmm, so maybe I haven't been reading the label on the package closely enough. Will take a look next time I'm in the store and let you know what I find.
The article went on to quote the same French farmer saying:
"In the U.S., producers look much more to profit than quality," he says. "It's the massive industrial production of meat. So there are economies of scale, and meat is obviously cheaper.
"Here, we have much smaller, more artisanal operations. And the cuts are traditional, so our costs are higher. We also have a lot of different breeds with different shapes and sizes that aren't always convenient at the slaughterhouse. In the U.S., they seem to have produced a standardized cow."A standardized cow in the US. He hit the nail on the head with that one. We have also standardized apples, and pears and many other products so they are easier to process and transport. Heirloom and artisinal varieties are hard to come by in general in the grocery store in the US.
I also found an article explaining that the US, Australia and Canada will now be able to sell their grain-fed beef in the EU, which wasn't previously allowed. A slip in the wrong direction, I think.
Does anyone know more resources about the European livestock industry? I'll keep searching...but based on today's search, I feel a little bit more comfortable buying regular supermarket beef here than I do in the US.
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