To the Best of Our Knowledge: Authenticity

Authenticity
To the Best of Our Knowledge

There's no question – we crave authenticity. You want "real" Chinese or Mexican food? Then make sure you find a restaurant that makes food the way it's made in the old country. Music lovers are also obsessed with authenticity - from folk and blues to rap...just consider the mantra of hip hop - "keeping it real." It's no different in politics. Think about our insatiable hunger for politicians who are genuine, not packaged. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll explore authenticity.

SEGMENT 1:



Cultural Critic Richard Todd looked at modern life and saw others telling what is and isn't real. He wrote a book called "The Thing Itself: On the Search for Authenticity." He tells Anne Strainchamps that authenticity is less a condition in itself than a desire. Sherman Alexie is a celebrated fiction writer who is also Spokane and strong opinions about what it means to be a real Indian. Steve Paulson asked him to read an excerpt from his story "The Search Engine." And, music critic Yuval Taylor tells Steve Paulson that authenticity in music is a complicated business. Taylor is the co-author (with Hugh Barker) of "Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music." And we hear examples, from Leadbelly to Punk.



SEGMENT 2:



Vikram Chandra touched off a bidding war among New York publishers for his new novel, "Sacred Games." But he writes in English, the language of the colonizer, and faces accusations that he's not really an Indian writer. Chandra talks with Jim Fleming about his personal history and sense of identity as a writer. And don't look for authenticity on your plate, either! That's the message of Barry Glassner's book, "The Gospel of Food." He talks with Steve Paulson about so-called "authentic" Chinese and Mexican food.



SEGMENT 3:



Alan Doyle, Bob Hallet and Sean McCann are the founding members of the band Great Big Sea. Their music has its roots in Newfoundland traditional folk music, but it rocks! They tells Jim Fleming why they combine folk and rock and how they approach their music. And we hear lots of it. The band's new album is called "The Hard and the Easy."

To Listen to the Episode

Mark Bittman: How to Make Oatmeal . . . Wrong

How to Make Oatmeal . . . Wrong
By MARK BITTMAN
The New York Times

There’s a feeling of inevitability in writing about McDonald’s latest offering, their “bowl full of wholesome” — also known as oatmeal. The leading fast-food multinational, with sales over $16.5 billion a year (just under the GDP of Afghanistan), represents a great deal of what is wrong with American food today. From a marketing perspective, they can do almost nothing wrong; from a nutritional perspective, they can do almost nothing right, as the oatmeal fiasco demonstrates.

One “positive” often raised about McDonald’s is that it sells calories cheap. But since many of these calories are in forms detrimental rather than beneficial to our health and to the environment, they’re actually quite expensive — the costs aren’t seen at the cash register but in the form of high health care bills and environmental degradation.

Oatmeal is on the other end of the food spectrum. Real oatmeal contains no ingredients; rather, it is an ingredient. As such, it’s a promising lifesaver: oats are easy to grow in almost any non-extreme climate and, minimally processed, they’re profoundly nourishing, inexpensive and ridiculously easy to cook. They can even be eaten raw, but more on that in a moment.

Like so many other venerable foods, oatmeal has been roundly abused by food marketers for more than 40 years. Take, for example, Quaker Strawberries and Cream Instant Oatmeal, which contains no strawberries, no cream, 12 times the sugars of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats and only half of the fiber. At least it’s inexpensive, less than 50 cents a packet on average. (A serving of cooked rolled oats will set you back half that at most, plus the cost of condiments; of course, it’ll be much better in every respect.)

The oatmeal and McDonald’s story broke late last year, when Mickey D’s, in its ongoing effort to tell us that it’s offering “a selection of balanced choices” (and to keep in step with arch-rival Starbucks) began to sell the cereal. Yet in typical McDonald’s fashion, the company is doing everything it can to turn oatmeal into yet another bad choice. (Not only that, they’ve made it more expensive than a double-cheeseburger: $2.38 per serving in New York.) “Cream” (which contains seven ingredients, two of them actual dairy) is automatically added; brown sugar is ostensibly optional, but it’s also added routinely unless a customer specifically requests otherwise. There are also diced apples, dried cranberries and raisins, the least processed of the ingredients (even the oatmeal contains seven ingredients, including “natural flavor”).

A more accurate description than “100% natural whole-grain oats,” “plump raisins,” “sweet cranberries” and “crisp fresh apples” would be “oats, sugar, sweetened dried fruit, cream and 11 weird ingredients you would never keep in your kitchen.”

Since we know there are barely any rules governing promotion of foods, one might wonder how this compares to real oatmeal, besides being 10 times as expensive. Some will say that it tastes better, but that’s because they’re addicted to sickly sweet foods, which is what this bowlful of wholesome is.

Others will argue that the McDonald’s version is more “convenient.” This is nonsense; in the time it takes to go into a McDonald’s, stand in line, order, wait, pay and leave, you could make oatmeal for four while taking your vitamins, brushing your teeth and half-unloading the dishwasher. (If you’re too busy to eat it before you leave the house, you could throw it in a container and microwave it at work.

To Read the Rest of the Commentary

Jess Zimmerman: Costco agrees to stop ravaging the oceans

Costco agrees to stop ravaging the oceans
by Jess Zimmerman
Grist

It only took eight months for pressure from Greenpeace to make food-hoard purveyor Costco stop selling threatened fish. Twelve species that appear on Greenpeace's "red list" were also appearing on Costco's shelves. Activists finally made the wholesale giant revise its seafood policies, but first they had to open up economy-sized whoop@ss:

Over 100,000 people took action online -- sending messages to Costco's CEO demanding real progress. Thousands of concerned citizens downloaded our activist toolkit and participated in surveying Costco stores across the country. And, that's not all -- hundreds of phone calls were placed to stores, the Greenpeace airship flew over their headquarters and shoppers handed out informational flyers in front of stores on busy days.

Here's what the future of Costco's seafood purchasing and sales looks like:

-- Eliminate 12 red list species, which will not return unless the company can find an MSC-certified option. This is certainly not perfect -- we'd like to see these unsustainable options off the shelves until the populations recover -- but it's a major step forward. The species are:

- Atlantic cod
- Atlantic halibut
- Chilean sea bass
- Greenland halibut
- Grouper
- Monkfish
- Orange roughy
- Redfish
- Shark
- Skates and rays
- Swordfish
- Bluefin tuna

-- Pledge to play more of a leadership role within aquaculture;

-- Partner with World Wildlife Fund to examine their remaining wild-caught species and determine how to best transition to the most sustainable alternative; and

-- Acknowledge the role that the canned tuna industry plays within the global sustainable seafood movement and is in the process of shifting to more sustainable tuna sources in all sectors (fresh, frozen, and canned).

Whether you shop at Costco or elsewhere, there are apps -- like one from the Monterey Bay Aquarium -- that will let you know whether the fish you're buying is sustainable, and what to choose instead if it isn't.

To Read the Rest of the Report and Access Resources Mentioned

Ronnie Cummins: The Organic Elite

(via PR Watch)

The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto
By RONNIE CUMMINS
Counterpunch

"The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must."

-- Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011

In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.

In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support for organics and "seed purity," gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats to approve the "conditional deregulation" of Monsanto's genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa. Beyond the regulatory euphemism of "conditional deregulation," this means that WFM and their colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa across the U.S.

In exchange for allowing Monsanto's premeditated pollution of the alfalfa gene pool, WFM wants "compensation." In exchange for a new assault on farmworkers and rural communities (a recent large-scale Swedish study found that spraying Roundup doubles farm workers' and rural residents' risk of getting cancer), WFM expects the pro-biotech USDA to begin to regulate rather than cheerlead for Monsanto. In payment for a new broad spectrum attack on the soil's crucial ability to provide nutrition for food crops and to sequester dangerous greenhouse gases (recent studies show that Roundup devastates essential soil microorganisms that provide plant nutrition and sequester climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases), WFM wants the Biotech Bully of St. Louis to agree to pay "compensation" (i.e. hush money) to farmers "for any losses related to the contamination of his crop."

In its email of Jan. 21, 2011 WFM calls for "public oversight by the USDA rather than reliance on the biotechnology industry," even though WFM knows full well that federal regulations on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) do not require pre-market safety testing, nor labeling; and that even federal judges have repeatedly ruled that so-called government "oversight" of Frankencrops such as Monsanto's sugar beets and alfalfa is basically a farce. At the end of its email, WFM admits that its surrender to Monsanto is permanent: "The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well True coexistence is a must."

Why is Organic Inc. Surrendering?

According to informed sources, the CEOs of WFM and Stonyfield are personal friends of former Iowa governor, now USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and in fact made financial contributions to Vilsack's previous electoral campaigns. Vilsack was hailed as "Governor of the Year" in 2001 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and traveled in a Monsanto corporate jet on the campaign trail. Perhaps even more fundamental to Organic Inc.'s abject surrender is the fact that the organic elite has become more and more isolated from the concerns and passions of organic consumers and locavores. The Organic Inc. CEOs are tired of activist pressure, boycotts, and petitions. Several of them have told me this to my face. They apparently believe that the battle against GMOs has been lost, and that it's time to reach for the consolation prize. The consolation prize they seek is a so-called "coexistence" between the biotech Behemoth and the organic community that will lull the public to sleep and greenwash the unpleasant fact that Monsanto's unlabeled and unregulated genetically engineered crops are now spreading their toxic genes on 1/3 of U.S. (and 1/10 of global) crop land.

WFM and most of the largest organic companies have deliberately separated themselves from anti-GMO efforts and cut off all funding to campaigns working to label or ban GMOs. The so-called Non-GMO Project, funded by Whole Foods and giant wholesaler United Natural Foods (UNFI) is basically a greenwashing effort (although the 100% organic companies involved in this project seem to be operating in good faith) to show that certified organic foods are basically free from GMOs (we already know this since GMOs are banned in organic production), while failing to focus on so-called "natural" foods, which constitute most of WFM and UNFI's sales and are routinely contaminated with GMOs.

To Read the Rest of the Essay

You Grow Girl: Keeping Tabs on Monsanto

(via Literaghost)

Keeping Tabs on Monsanto
You Grow Girl

Seed buying and seed starting season is upon us. It won’t be long now (let’s pretend, even though the snow outside says otherwise) before we’re happily knee-deep into the growing season.

Yesterday, I put out a call on Twitter for an online list or chart of garden companies (as well as makers of garden products) affiliated with Monsanto. Several people replied, hoping to find something similar that they can refer to when making seed and product purchases for their own gardens.

It’s time to have this talk, and even though I have brought it up here and there, I am remiss in having neglected to post about this until now. It seems like many of us are flailing around, trying to make heads or tails of who, what, and where is profiting on our excitement to grow our own food and flowers. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a more definitive list that covers affiliate companies in the garden product spectrum beyond seeds, but considering the way things are going, seeds are a great place to start and one in which our spending dollars can make an impact.

The following link goes to the Council for Responsible Genetics Safe Seed Resource List that includes all of the US and Canadian seed sellers that have signed the Safe Seed Pledge affirming their commitment to non-genetically modified seed. While you’re there, I would also urge you to read through the CRG’s FAQ that makes an argument for why we should care about genetically modified seed and buying GM-free in the first place.

I was also pointed to another page put together by a concerned gardener that includes a list of some known GM seed sellers to avoid, as well as links to additional articles around the issues with Monsanto.

To Read the Rest of the Post and to Access the Hyperlinked Resources

FORA TV: Michael Pollan on Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

Michael Pollan on Food Rules: An Eater's Manual
FORA TV

Michael Pollan, one of the best-known names in food-related issues, offers a guide about health and food. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual is a set of memorable ideas for eating wisely. Many of them are drawn from a variety of ethnic or cultural traditions. Whether at the supermarket or an all-you-can-eat buffet, this handy, pocket-size resource is for people who would like to become more mindful of what they are eating.

Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire.

To Watch the Presentation

Eric Holt-Gimenez: Food Rebellions -- 7 Steps to Solving the Food Crisis

Food Rebellions: 7 Steps to Solving the Food Crisis: Resistance to the trade and “aid” policies that displace farmers and increase hunger.
by Eric Holt-Gimenez
Yes!

The World Food Program describes the current global food crisis as a silent tsunami, with billions of people going hungry. Hunger is, indeed, coming in waves, but not everyone will drown in famine. The recurrent food crises are making a handful of corporations very rich—even as they put the rest of the planet at risk.

Built over half a century, largely with public grain subsidies and foreign aid, the global food-industrial complex is made up of large corporations that sell grain, seed, chemicals, and fertilizer, along with global supermarket chains and food processors.

When these players first came on the scene, world agriculture was different. Forty years ago, the global South had yearly agricultural trade surpluses of $1 billion. After three “Development Decades,” they were importing $11 billion a year in food. Immediately following de-colonization in the 1960s, Africa exported $1.3 billion in food a year. Today it imports 25 percent of its food.

International trade agreements and pressure from the global North opened up entire continents to cheap, subsidized grain from the North. This put local farmers out of business, devastated local crop diversity, and consolidated control of the world’s food system in the hands of multinational corporations. Today three companies, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill, and Bunge control 90 percent of the world’s grain trade.

The official prescriptions for solving the world food crisis call for more subsidies for industrialized nations, more food aid, and more so-called Green (or Gene) Revolutions. Expecting the institutions that built the current flawed food system to solve the food crisis is like asking an arsonist to put out a forest fire. When the world food crisis exploded in early 2008, ADM’s profits increased by 38 percent, Cargill’s by 128 percent, and Mosaic Fertilizer (a Cargill subsidiary) by a whopping 1,615 percent!

For decades, family farmers the world over have resisted this corporate control. They have worked to diversify crops, protect soil and native seeds, and conserve nature. They have established local gardens, businesses, and community-based food systems. These strategies are effective. They need to be given a chance to work.

To Read the Rest of the Report

Aunt Jemima Pancake & Waffle Mixs Recall

The Quaker Oats Co. has recalled three of its Aunt Jemima Pancake & Waffle Mix products because of potential salmonella contamination from raw or undercooked ingredients.

The recall includes Original, Original Complete and Buttermilk Complete products. The recalled products, packaged in 2-pound and 5-pound boxes with best before dates between Feb. 8, 2009 and Feb. 16, 2009, contain the following 10-digit UPCs: 30000 43272, 30000 05040, 30000 05070 and 30000 05300.

No other Aunt Jemima, frozen Aunt Jemima or Quaker products are affected. No illnesses have been linked to the recall so far.

Consumers who have purchased these recalled products are asked to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund or call 1-800-407-2247 to reach the consumer relations line. Click here for more information on the recall.   Link

Playboy Sugar Free Energy Drink

Playboy Magazine just launched this gulp energy drink days ago. The 8.4 ounce black can drink directly competes for Red Bull. According to Chicagotuibune.com's Leisureblogs, the Playboy Energy Drink  makes from “subtle notes of fruit and vanilla...low-fat chive cream cheese, braised radicchio, salmon roe, traces of medianoche, celery, butternut squash, winter squash, summer squash, pumpkin, lump crab, King crab, razor clam, duck clam, quahog, mussels, scallop, oyster... ginseng and guarana extract.” And it gives “customers a taste of the lifestyle that has always been associated with the Playboy brand.”

Beef Recall Records 143 Million Pounds In US

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled 143 million pounds (65 million kg) of beef produced by Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., California on Sunday (Feb 17), marking the nation's largest meat recall in history.

From Xinhua:

The recall was ordered because the plant violated (USDA) rules barring the slaughter of "downer" cattle in almost all cases as a precaution against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad-cow disease. Downer refers to cattle unable to walk.

The recall affects beef products dating back to Feb. 1, 2006 that came from the company, because the cattle didn't receive complete and proper inspection.

From ABC:

Westland/Hallmark provides meat to the National School Lunch Program and about 150 school districts have stopped using its products. Now officials are scrambling to prevent the questionable beef from reaching school lunch counters. They estimate about 37 million pounds of the beef has gone to schools.

Westland/Hallmark also provided products to two fast food companies. Both Jack-in-the-Box and In-N-Out said they would not use beef from Westland/Hallmark.

It was not sure how much of the recalled meat had been consumed. And so far, no illnesses have been linked to the recalled beef. But there was a very remote chance of anyone becoming ill from consuming these products.

Botulism Risk Canned Beans Recall

New Era Canning Co, a food company based on New Era of Michigan, is recalling its produced some canned beans. A press release (re-posted below) on the website of FDA said those beans might have been infested with Clostridium botulinum, which can produce botulin (one of the most powerful known toxins: about one microgram is lethal to humans) and cause botulism [wikipedia]. So if you are a lover or consumer of New Era's canned beans, you definitely should pay attention to this kind of matter!

New Era Canning Company Announces New Recall of Certain Lots of Mexican-style Chili Beans, Green Beans and Dark Red Kidney Beans Because of Possible Health Risk

Contact:
Linda Miller
1-800-282-9007 Ext 111

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- New Era, MI – January 8, 2008 --- New Era Canning Company of New Era, Michigan is announcing a new recall to include Mexican style chili beans, green beans, and dark red kidney beans that were shipped to food service and retail customers because a records review identified the possibility that a small number of cans from each lot may not have been adequately cooked.

New Era is recalling these products as a precautionary measure because cans of vegetables that have not been adequately cooked have the potential for the growth of Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium which can cause botulism, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning. Botulism can cause the following symptoms: general weakness, dizziness, double-vision and trouble speaking or swallowing. Difficulty in breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distension and constipation may also be common symptoms. People experiencing these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention. The incubation period can be 2 hours to 2 weeks; in most cases the symptoms appear after 12 to 24 hours.

This recall only affects a small number of cases from the products with the specific codes listed below:

GFS brand Fancy Mexican Style Chili Beans in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans, GFS Reorder #192015, UPC 9390119201. The recall is limited to 43 cases of product with 6 cans per case of lot number 00249 5AJ6LC with a 4 digit time stamp number ranging from 2113 through 2235 printed on the end of the can after the lot number (For example: 00249 5AJ6LC 2113). Only product bearing time stamps of 2113 through 2235 are included in the recall. The canned Mexican style chili beans were distributed to Gordon Food Service foodservice customers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin and sold through GFS Marketplace stores in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.

Kitchen brand Blue Lake Mixed Cuts Green Beans in 6 lb. 6 oz. cans. This recall is limited to 57 cases with 6 cans per case with lot number 00249 6FG5GA printed on the end of the can. (All cans of this lot are under recall). The canned green beans were not sold at retail, but were distributed to a Michigan restaurant by North Oakland Commodities.

Great Value brand Dark Red Kidney Beans in 15.5 oz. cans, UPC 7874237085. This recall is limited to 12 cases with 12 cans per case with lot number 00249 CKJ6LD printed on the end of the can. (All cans of this lot are under recall). This lot of canned dark red kidney beans was sold at Wal-Mart Stores in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

We have been alerted that some of our cans may be missing the can codes. Any cans of these products without a code should not be opened or used, and should be disposed of as outlined below.

Neither New Era or the Food and Drug Administration are aware of any illnesses related to these products.

New Era Canning in conjunction with the US Food and Drug Administration and the Michigan Department of Agriculture is thoroughly evaluating all processes and procedures to determine the cause of the problem.

Any food that may be contaminated should be disposed of carefully. Even tiny amounts of toxins ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the eye or a break in the skin can cause serious illness. Skin contact should be avoided as much as possible, and the hands should be washed immediately after handling the food. Customers who have the product or any foods made with these products should throw them away immediately. Double bag the cans in plastic bags that are tightly closed, then place in a trash receptacle for non-recyclable trash outside of the home. Restaurants and institutions are encouraged to assure that such products are only placed in locked receptacles which are not accessible to the public. Additional instructions for safe disposal can be found at www.cdc.gov/botulism/botulism_faq.htm. Anyone with questions can call FDA at 1-888-SAFEFOOD.

Customers with questions may contact New Era Canning at 1-800-282-9007 Ext. 111.