Balance of Food

House of Representatives passes food safety bill

The House of Representatives passed HR 2749 by a 283-142 vote. The bill deals with food safety to try and handle the recalls of recent years, including beef, tomatoes, spinach, and peanut butter.

But not everyone is thrilled with the bill. Smaller farmers may have problems because tracers make free-range animals more difficult to maintain. And the bill contains a number of exemptions.

It's good that Congress is even considering a food safety bill. But a good food safety bill that goes after corporate farms and doesn't harm smaller farms would be a better bill.

In the political process, the Senate version would have to be rectified. But the Senate version may be worse for these same parties afflicted by the House version.

And it seems sad that we need a food safety bill to protect ourselves from corporate farms. Things that are happening to our food supply should be obviously illegal and immoral, but there isn't much common sense in our food policy.

A good surgeon general doesn't have to be 'in shape' to be effective

We like to think doctors and nurses should be in excellent shape. That our hair stylists have great hair themselves. And that marriage counselors aren't divorced.

But since we are human, sometimes we can help others in ways that we can't help ourselves. Though the buzz "says" we should be concerned that our new Surgeon General isn't a size 6.

Heck, we should be concerned that we don't have an official Surgeon General. We haven't had a non-acting SG in 36 months. And Regina Benjamin still hasn't been confirmed; she is, after all, the second nominee from President Barack Obama. CNN reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta was the first nominee before withdrawing his name from consideration.

Dr. Benjamin's track record is impressive, her personal story is incredible, and she has had (unfortunately for her) family members who have suffered from common diseases that are significant in our population: HIV, high blood pressure, diabetes, and lung cancer.

Having a permanent Surgeon General is a needed role model. And having one where people actually remember the name would be an improvement. If you said Steven K. Galson was the current acting Surgeon General, then you are probably related to him.

If you look at standard pictures of the last three people to hold the SG position, they are look like they are of normal weight. And 99.99993% of Americans couldn't identify them. C. Everett Koop, the best-known Surgeon General in the TV era, was not in great shape. Neither was Jocelyn Elders, the second best-known Surgeon General in the TV era.

"Do as I say, not as I do" is a sentiment that we struggle with. But the reality of a surgeon general is that they aren't that active in our lives. Their advice is broad, general, and meant to cross multiple paths and combinations.

And a good Surgeon General can give good advice, even if they are the "before" picture of a late-night exercise infomercial.

If anything, on those late-night infomercials, you see the presenter and wonder if they ever had to struggle with their weight. Having a doctor, even if it is a "national doctor," who can relate to the inner conflict can be an asset.

We shouldn't convey a huge amount of power to a doctor, even a surgeon general. They can be helpful people to help us do better, but they can't make us get on the treadmill or not eat that ice cream sandwich with chocolate chip cookies. They can give advice, and we really need someone to do just that.

Think of Dr. Benjamin as a contrast to the First Couple of being in shape, Barack and Michelle Obama. We don't need to have a Surgeon General in as good a shape.

"Do as I say, not as I do" may not always be the best scenario, but right now, no one is talking and we need all the help we can get. For now, "Do as I say" will do just fine.

Is the cost of fresh produce worth the price?

One disturbing image from "Food, Inc." was the Hispanic family shopping in the grocery store. They were in the produce department debating about buying produce and deciding whether they could afford it.

The hope is that their saga was an aberration, but likely some mull whether they can afford food that is good for them.

In hitting the farmers market, you see people who can afford to buy even nicer produce than you find in the grocery store, debating whether to buy heirloom tomatoes or lettuce with the roots still on them or cage-free eggs.

There is a gap in the process that doesn't get much attention. It feels like there are people in cars on the road who want the quickness of high-speed rail trains while others follow along on bicycles.

You can argue that eating well is its own reward. You feel healthier, less time spent in the bathroom, and higher quality of life. You spend a little more – certainly doesn't have to be heirloom tomatoes – but get more in return.

A certain percentage of the population doesn't see value in that equation, or they see value but can't justify it.

Like most cases, I fall in between. Good produce, even from the grocery store, makes a vital difference. But I don't always fall into the other extreme.

I am amused when I see items that cost more per pound than steak. Somehow, steak has always been the gold standard for expensive for me.

The epitome of this trend came at Fauchon – the famous fancy grocery store in Paris. I saw cheese there for 40-50 euros per pound. Then again, I occasionally buy Parmesano Reggiano for $17-$19/pound. But I'm usually buying 1/2 pound at a time, and most of the time, I buy Pecorino Romano for $10-$11/pound.

When I had lunch with the Italian family after we visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris, they fed me Parmesano Reggiano fresh from Italy. We ate it straight like regular cheese. I asked them how much Parmesano Reggiano cost back home. I recall the math added up to about $10/pound. Somehow eating Parmesano Reggiano literally from Italy with Italians in Paris was worth the money, if I was paying for it. They saw eating the cheese, even at that price point, as being worth it.

As part of my research this summer, I bought a couple of heirloom tomatoes at $5.50/lb. They were beautiful tomato explosions, fresh and amazing. But I felt a little strange eating tomatoes that cost more per pound than hamburger meat, even if I wasn't eating that much of them.

Can music help you eat better and lose weight?

Can music help you to lose weight?

Not quite like playing Judas Priest against your stomach to improve your digestion, but perhaps music can be a positive tool.

I recently invested in a MP3 player that is not an iPod. Okay, it's a Zune. While the player serves many useful purposes, I'm also hoping it will help me eat better and exercise more.

The exercise element seems easy. Bring your favorite tunes makes you want to walk more, hence get more exercise. Given the stress of my day job, this might work at some point. But when I do walk with the Zune, my pace is faster. And with the built-in FM tuner, I can listen to radio when I want to do so.

But where I am hoping to make some improvement is using music to help me eat better. I'm a stress eater, and after a stressful day at work, I sometimes make bad choices for dinner.

This used to be a real huge problem for me. In the healthier era, I do make better choices. But within that realm, I make poorer choices than I should.

The hope is that music will put me in the kind of mood to relax me so I don't make poor choices when it comes to dinner.

Since we are in the initial stage, I am experimenting with what kind of music helps make this work better. Should it be upbeat, such as Side 1 of Van Halen's first album? Or something a lot more mellow, such as Laura Palmer's Theme from the Twin Peaks soundtrack?

Interestingly, so far, louder upbeat music is working better for me. (Don't worry, I use headphones at a relatively low volume, no earbuds.) I can forget the kind of mood I was in as I left work. With that distraction, I feel a little better adding more vegetables and doing less worshipping of carbohydrates. But it's still a work in progress.

Do you use music or some other device to change your body's attitude toward food? Tell us your story in the comments section below.

Using hunger as a motivator to get our children better food

Hunger can be a positive motivator. — State Rep. Cynthia Davis (R-MO)

In covering this industry, focusing on too much bad food becomes the easy part, but we should remember that while many overeat, some don't get enough food. Fortunately, we have Rep. Davis to thank for giving us a not-so-gentle reminder.

Politicians say some boneheaded things, but this was amplified by the fact that Davis serves as the chairwoman of the Missouri House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families.

A number of media figures have had some fun mocking her statements. Davis won the World's Worst Person award given by Keith Olbermann. Stephen Colbert took time to mock her as well, asking his viewers to take food away from Davis.

When we say during the day that we are hungry, well, that may seem true. But in most cases, food is around the corner or down the hall at the snack machine or the refrigerator. And when it comes to lunch, there are usually several choices. But this isn't true for everyone.

Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break.

Davis wants the hungry children to get jobs at McDonald's. Not every kid can (or should) get a job at McDonald's, and even that food (such as it is) is only one meal for a day. And we don't even know if that is true about McDonald's. Based on anecdotal research, workers might get food at reduced costs during their shift.

When I saw "Super Size Me," the one detail that stunned me was the school lunchrooms. The junk food had such prominence in these cafeterias. Our children are supposed to be there to learn — an even more difficult task when they don't eat well.

Joey Chestnut sets new Nathan's hot dog record (again)

Despite the inanity of the July 4 tradition that is the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, I have been more reluctant to give it much press.

Unlike other foods in the competitive eating arena, hot dog eating doesn't match up even close to how normal people eat hot dogs. Dipping the contents in water so it goes down easier doesn't translate to eating outside the walls of the contest.

Eating chicken wings or oysters or twirling some spaghetti has much more appeal to the average normal eater.

But for those who care, and there are still some of you in my audience, Joey Chestnut keeps his crown. This year, Chestnut ate 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes, compared to Takeru Kobayashi's 64½ or 65 hot dogs, depending on which source you read. Last year, in the first year the time limit was reduced from 12 minutes to 10 minutes, Chestnut won a playoff against Kobayashi.

My analysis of the 2007 results, and more details of the impact of this contest on the competitive eating world.

Robert Kenner on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

As promised, the video of Robert Kenner on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, courtesy as always from Comedy Central and the corporate behemoth that is Viacom.

Kenner pointed out in the interview that our cheap food comes at a price. He notes that even though we used to spend 18% of our income on our food and now spend 9%, we used to spend 5% on health care and now we spend 18% on health care.

"We're not going to be able to fix the health care system until we fix the food system."

Kudos to Jon Stewart for bringing out this two favorite food props: Jimmy Dean's Pancake and Sausage on a Stick and Baconnaise.

As Kenner noted, "we vote three times a day." We do get to decide what goes on our plate, as difficult as that can be at times.