Balance of Food

Adding a sausage in Milwaukee

NOTE: The chorizo finished third, behind the winning bratwurst and the Italian sausage. The game drew 43,000, a sellout for Milwaukee, well above what the game normally would have drawn.

Even if you are a vegetarian who hates baseball, you still have to appreciate grown people dressing up as sausages at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

The classic 4 contenders — hot dog, Italian sausage, Polish sausage, and bratwurst — are about to get a new partner. Chorizo, a tasty Mexican sausage, will be the 5th contestant. The sausages race each other down the left field line behind home plate and up the right field line at the tope of the 7th inning during Brewers home games.

It's nice to see a nod to the Latino community. Milwaukee has the German-American image with its sausage and beer, but the city has a significant African-American and Latino population.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Latino community leaders lobbied for the change; the announcement was timed to coincide with Cerveceros Day, set for Saturday night at Miller Park.

Saturday will be the only day for the Chorizo this year. The sausage will get full-time status next year. Apparently, Major League Baseball requires a waiting period for new mascots, uniforms or logo changes, usually 12 to 18 months. Bernie the Brewer (not a hot dog) is the only mascot in my mind; the rest are just the condiments on the ... uh, never mind.

The sausages at Miller Park are quite good, and the condiments include sauerkraut, special sauce (a barbecue), and special mustard.

Photo credit: Morry Gash/AP Photo

Japan welcomes back U.S. beef

The Japanese media is reporting that Japan will resume imports of U.S. beef next week. Japan's Agriculture Ministry had announced that a U.S. decision to cut back its mad cow disease testing program will not impact Japan's resumption of beef imports from the United States.

It is "mad" that we are still fine-tuning this policy worldwide, and I'm not just picking on the U.S. for this. There is NO reason for anybody at anytime for any reason to feed cattle any part of cattle. Cattle are herbivores.

The U.S. Agriculture Department announced last week it will reduce its mad cow surveillance program by 90 percent. Yet that did not affect Tokyo's decision to resume beef imports. Wow!

I realize there may be some cattle still out there who were eating cattle parts. But I don't have the sense from reading the mainstream media reports that the world understands the significance of keeping cattle as herbivores.

I'm still not crazy about how much corn these cattle are eating in the U.S. because we are eating too much corn that's not directly corn. If I were the meat czar, all cattle would be hormone-free and grass-fed.

Food deserts

In poor neighborhoods in large cities, bright shining large grocery stores aren't always an option. A recent study covered by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times shows that for some people, access to fresh, good food at decent prices can lead to horrible consequences.

The report is called "Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in Chicago." It is supposed to be the first to examine the health implications of these "food deserts." But don't be fooled: other major cities have the same issues.

Given some of the health findings such as the doubling of diabetes-related deaths in food deserts, this is as important as it has ever been.

For those who don't know Chicago, the poorest areas on the West and South sides don't have a lot of regular grocery stores. The places they sell food are filled with less nutritious fare with not-so-great produce. There aren't a whole lot of cars in these areas.

The better anybody can eat, the better their health can be.

Yes, there are starving people

When we talk about the battle over portion control in the land of the plenty, sometimes we need to be reminded that plenty of countries don't have this issue.

A delegation from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) visited the Chicago Tribune editorial board and convinced it to look again at portion control.

A typical WFP food basket contains cereals and oil along with possibly meat or fish, vegetables and fruit, sugar, and condiments. While the goal is to provide 2,100 calories per person per day, unfortunately in Darfur for 6 months last year, the agency was able to provide only half that ration. The good news is that the ration is up to 1,770 calories a day.

When you are battling between 1,500-2,000 calories for your diet, it's much easier to have that debate when you get a regular amount of calories. Getting 1,770 calories when you aren't used to that much food is a much more difficult physical struggle.

The paper's editorial teases at the U.S. government reminders that a serving of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards, and a serving of rice or pasta about as big as a tennis ball. But it should be closer to that if for nothing else than to remind us that not everyone has it this good.

Kellogg's goes organic

Could not believe it when I saw Kellogg's Organic Rice Krispies and Raisin Bran. I suppose I should start believing it since "organic" is now the hot phrase.

I have read where sales of organic products have grown 15 percent to 21 percent each year, compared with 2 percent to 4 percent for total food sales.

I try to avoid cereals with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), so Kellogg's has been off my list. Their cereals are chronically known for having HFCS.

The new Rice Krispies and Raisin Bran don't have HFCS. I'm not so concerned about the organic part versus not having HFCS.

If the organic versions go on sale, I might buy one. (I doubt they will even in the beginning. Companies love charging more for organic products.)

I did eat Kellogg's Raisin Bran back in May when I was in Windsor. The hotel had a complimentary breakfast. I ate it without guilt since the Canadian version doesn't have HFCS. I like Raisin Bran, but won't eat it with HFCS. So the organic version is an option.

So congrats to Kellogg's for making the leap. Next time, take out the HFCS in the regular versions. You don't need the HFCS.

Is HFCS the 'devil's candy'?

Like a lot of MSM articles on the topic, this article hedges on what could be the problems with high-fructose corn syrup. I wish it was much stronger against it, but I'm glad it is out there.

Traditionally, the Chicago Tribune hasn't gone after companies such as Archer Daniels Midland, a huge profiteer from HFCS, due to its ties to Illinois. There is also the perception that going after HFCS somehow is like attacking corn farmers.

Let me be extremely clear: my attacks on HFCS have nothing to do with corn farmers. As residents of the United States, we (and our cows) eat way too much corn. I would like to see us feed more of the world with corn and have those in the U.S. get their corn from corn and, well, corn chips. It is bad to get corn from ketchup, soft drinks, pickles, and breads.

Two new records in Nathan's hot dog contest

I hate to spoil the results for those wanting to watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, but the public has to know. Takeru Kobayashi, 27, won his sixth straight title, eating a new-record 53 3/4 hot dogs in 12 minutes today.

Kobayashi did not have it as easy as in years past. Joey Chestnut, a 22-year-old civil engineering student from San Jose, set the American record with 50 hot dogs. Chestnut broke the previous mark at 42, set by Sonya Thomas last year on July 4.

Watching Kobayashi is always fun. He was ignoring Chestnut while Chestnut was watching Kobayashi. For about 9 minutes, Chestnut held his own. When Kobayashi needed to kick it into overdrive, he responded like a champion.

To give you a flavor about what these people consume, let's look like at nutritional info for 53 1/2 hot dogs, the previous record.

Category
Results
Calories
16,532
Calories from Fat
9,529
Total Fat
1,077 g
Saturated Fat
415 g
Cholesterol
1,605 mg
Sodium
36,596 mg
Total Carbs
1,213 g
Dietary Fiber
69 g
Sugars
268 g
Protein
568 g

Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN

For those who look forward to spending time with loved ones over the Independence Day weekend, set some time aside to watch grown men and women down more hot dogs than you will eat in a month.

ESPN will carry Nathan's infamous Hot Dog Eating Contest live from Coney Island in New York. Coverage begins on ESPN at Noon EDT/9 am PDT. A 1-hour time slot is being alloted for the contest.

Here are the airings for the contest. And for those who love watching people stuff their face in HD, all the ESPN showings will be in HD.

 
Day
Time
Channel
July 4
Noon
ESPN
July 4
5 pm
ESPN2
July 6
7 pm, Midnight
ESPN2
July 8
3 am
ESPN
July 8
Noon
ESPN2
July 9
1 am
ESPN2
July 9
1:30 pm
ESPN
July 13
1 pm
ESPN