Balance of Food

Canada milk producers threatened with invasion of cheaper American milk

Being a classic regular milk drinker, if you suddenly had a milk option come into your local market that was significantly cheaper, would you automatically switch to the cheaper milk?

Milk is already pretty cheap in the United States. The cost level depends on your interest in organic, regular, UHT, shelf-stable milk.

Canadians have rather good milk. They pay a hefty price for milk, but they get quality milk.

The newest trade deal between the United States, Canada, and Mexico (CUSMA | USMCA) means Canadians will get access to cheap American milk. Depending on the import costs, the savings could be $1-$2 for 4 liters (slightly more than 1 gallon).

UHT milk provides longer shelf life but nutrition and taste are lost

Farmers benefit more than consumers with Canada supply management

There is one distinct difference between the standard milk in both countries: recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), the artificial growth hormone allowed in American milk but banned for Canadian milk.

Canadian milk is already very good milk. Unfortunately, as we've noted in other stories, food budgets in the two countries are tight thanks to wage shrinkage and job growth in certain industries.

If you live in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes, your milk could come in a bag. The individual liter-sized bags are placed in a pitcher; the user cuts a diagonal slice into the top corner closest to the spout in the pitcher. The process (pronounced PRO-cess in Canada) is easier than it sounds. You won't find American milk in a bag.

The American milk will need to be labeled in English and French, since Canada requires bilingual food labeling.

American dairy companies might try to get around this by shipping its products to be used in cheese, yogurt (yoghurt in Canada), and butter. The milk products should be identified as American; as we've seen from meat classification between United States and Canada, country of origin labeling has been a concern. Consumers should know where their food comes from, especially with rBST.

CUSMA passes through U.S. Congress

NAFTA 2.0, er, USMCA is a nightmarish trade deal for Canada

Canadian milk is more expensive because Canadian dairy farmers get better compensation. The U.S. government encourages overproduction of American milk so trade deals are engineered to dump cheap American milk onto other countries, such as Canada.

The supply management system in Canada is politically protected. Liberal, Conservative, NDP: all behind supply management.

Given the number of U.S. dairy farms that are going under, Americans should consider a smarter dairy management system with better compensation.

Consumer cost of milk, cheese, butter, and other dairy products needs to be weighed (whey-ed) against the quality of the product and the compensation for farmers.

Canada election 2019 is underway and food policy should be discussed

BalanceofFood.com Canada food policy coverage

The new trade deal is expected to go through on July 1.

photo credit: Dairy Farmers of Canada
video credit: YouTube/pincstuff

Film review: Meat the Future

One innovation that we would love to see is cloned meat. The goodness of meat without the animal sacrifice. The primary drawback has been availability and cost. Meat is expensive in most of the world with the United States as a grand exception.

Meat the Future takes us into the world of cloned meat, mostly by following Memphis Meats over the last few years. The film specifically follows Memphis Meats CEO Uma Valeti, a cardiologist turned entrepreneur. We even go back to India, where Dr. Valeti is from. He tells a story about chickens being slaughtered at a child's birthday party when he was young.

“If I practice cardiology for another 30 years, I would probably save two or three thousand lives. But there is very little, in the form of any idea, that even comes close to the level of impact of what this could impact on billions of humans lives and trillions of animal lives,” Valeti said.

We spend part of the film looking at the company expanding to larger spaces. Nice but not relevant to the subject.

The film also covers the agency alphabet soup battle between the FDA vs. the USDA. We see the nuance of what to call the end product: clean meat as opposed to cultured meat or lab-grown meat.

The film feels like a business case study in general instead of a conversation about cloned meat.

At one point, they talked about growing corn and soy to feed the cells. "Why wouldn't you use grass?" was my logical question. Cloned meat isn't going to work well if the cells are eating cheap filler. Cloned meat should be glyphosate-free.

They did talk a bit about how the meat is grown in a sterile environment with a reduced chance of pathogens to sneak in. Mainstream meat production is sadly full of antibiotics.

The cost of the meat starts out at $17,000/lb. at the beginning of the film and falls to under $50/lb. at the end of the film. That does sound great. The final drop in price may be the most difficult step.

There are a couple of tastings in the film. You can taste through a film. The Beyond and Impossible non-meat products supposed taste like meat. Does the cloned meat taste like good meat or just meat? Did the taste improve between the first and second testing? We don't know.

BalanceofFood.com film coverage

Meat the Future is a good introduction to clean meat / cloned meat but doesn't cover the topic all that well. The person behind the meat is important but the meat is the future.

Meat the Future was scheduled to be a part of the 2020 Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto. The film aired as part of Hot Docs at home on CBC television and the documentary Channel in Canada.

video and photos credit: Meat the Future film

Farmers markets in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Depending on where you are in North America, some areas have had farmers markets going all along in a limited form. For most of North America, May brings the farmers market season. Outdoor farmers markets will bloom though not in the same way or the same speed thanks to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Patience and patience will help the process along. Keeping distance and having to wait to get into the farmers market are some of the changes in 2020.

We've seen some markets go to a delivery option where you order online and pick up your food at a designated spot. That takes away the charm of a conversation with your farmer and choosing your own produce. Safety triumphs over the usual nuances of a farmers market.

Your local farmers market will have its own rules and guidelines. Be careful to follow them. The farmers and vendors are also trying to be careful.

Some DC markets ran into issues over social distancing. Seattle farmers markets were closed for a large chunk of time. The start of Chicago farmers markets has been delayed without a plan in place for opening the markets.

Farmers markets have been considered essential similar to grocery stores. Figuring out how to make that work has been a concern. Places that have year-round markets have been the canaries in the coal mine. Others can learn the good and bad from those markets.

Those places that are starting their farmers markets in May don't have much of an excuse for not starting. Hard to plan during a pandemic but you've had 7 weeks to come up with a plan. Limit people inside the market, letting people in as others are leaving.

We aren't asking for farmers markets to be what they were in 2019. Create a new normal for 2020. You will find in a Venn diagram that the people who go to farmers markets are those most likely to conform to protecting themselves with masks and face coverings.

The delay or uncertainty for the farmers markets produces one difficult problem for farmers. If the markets are uncertain, they might not show up in 2020.

Farmers have a certain rhythm to doing multiple markets during the week to justify making those trips. If they can only travel to half or a third of those markets, they may not make trips at all. The farmers and consumers both lose in that exchange.

Make the move to bring containers to farmers markets

We had a marvelous suggestion last summer to bring containers to collect fruits to save their containers in a pro-environment way. A lot of pro-environment moves have been put on hold during the pandemic.

If you still believe in this, let them pour the fruit into the container that you bring. They don't want to touch your container. You don't want to touch their container.

Sadly, you might have to give this up for awhile. Know your farmer is still crucial. Ask questions. Good communication is always important.

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

The sad reality is that liability is a factor. If you can set up delivery options that are practical for those with cars or higher incomes, you reduce your liability. We already know the social aspect of farmers markets will be minimized in 2020. No sampling. You can still ask your farmer if there is an actual market but those conversations will be with masks.

Farmers markets won't be casual outings for people who aren't familiar to learn more. Farmers markets in a pandemic means you have to know exactly what you want in advance of your shopping.

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

Grocery shopping has become more stressful but the basics of grocery shopping haven't changed, unless you count the one-way stickers in store aisles.

Farmers market shopping will look very different for those communities that have farmers markets. You may have to spend a lot more time online to try and get what you want.

Farmers markets are essential. We need structure in place to show that they are essential to nutrition for people at a most important time.

We found a local farmers market open tomorrow. We will have more on this encounter next week to get an inside perspective.

photos credit: EdiblePhoenix.com; me

How processing plants will affect meat in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

The number of the COVID-19 cases in meat processing plants in the United States is staggering. The Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota has had 783 workers testing positive and 2 fatalities.

The U.S. count is 2,200 confirmed cases among workers at 48 plants.

Even Canada has been hit with cases in the Cargill plant in High River, Alberta that closed. There has been a single death attributed to COVID-19 from that plant.

Instead of ramping up protection from workers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture relaxed safety and oversight, allowing 15 poultry plants to exceed federal limits on the number of birds processed per minute.

What's Eating America devotes cable news time to important food issues

Andrew Zimmern pointed out in his recent MSNBC series What's Eating America about the large presence of immigrants involved in meat processing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted in a 15-page memo that the workers at the Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls were getting information in English even though the workers speak about 40 languages.

There has also been tremendous pressure to keep the plants open. The workers felt pressure to show up, given how easily they could be fired from their low-paying jobs.

Food banks now more important than ever in COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Hitting a plateau in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Grocery store workers are the heroes during COVID-19 coronavirus

Consumers might experience a downturn in meat availability at some point, perhaps. The temptation to hoard meat like toilet paper should be resisted for a number of reasons.

Factor in that restaurants are using a lot less meat, even if they are open for to-go orders.

There may be a saving grace on the way, depending on which way the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic goes. May usually brings farmers markets to the United States and other Northern Hemisphere countries. Local farmers aren't dealing with those gigantic meat processing plants.

After all, the shortages might come from those plants. If you aren't buying your meat from those plants, the shortages won't be an issue. Buying local gives you a better product with little to no stress. Better raised meat has lots of advantages. In a pandemic, your friends might pay more than usual but you will have better meat.

If your community doesn't ease into farmers markets, you can likely deal with local farmers on meat CSAs (community supported agriculture) or sites where you can pick up meat from local farmers. Know your farmer! This is why we say that is so important.

We emphasize local but you could think about prosciutto from Italy or steaks from New Zealand.

You could switch to seafood for awhile. Seafood production may run into COVID-19 related issues but may not be as bad as the meat processing plants.

You can also eat less meat. This isn't what Americans want to hear. If you are making burgers, use mushrooms as 25% of your burger material. Figure instead of a pound of meat, use 3/4 pound of meat with 1/4 pound of sliced mushrooms. Similar meaty taste with more nutrition. Save that extra 1/4 pound of beef for Taco Tuesday night.

Cheaper cuts of beef that you might have ignored might become your friend. Cost is sadly important for a lot of people. You have less money but more time to figure out how to use those cuts to feed your family.

Embracing your stress eating during the COVID-19 coronavirus

Alternative foods if your grocery store has been raided due to COVID-19 coronavirus

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

Meat has been seen as a standard of success at the dinner table for hundreds of years. This pandemic won't change that dynamic.

Eating plant-based burgers falls well within the spirit of Lent

Bacon goes well on everything, even a veggie burger

Unlike pandemics of the past, we are more aware of meatless alternatives. Meat doesn't have to be the star of the table. Think of meat as a character actor that can do so many different things well. An Oscar for Best Supporting Actor is still an Oscar.

Having more time to cook allows you to be more creative with where meat stands in your food lineup. You might even learn some new tricks for when the pandemic subsides.

photos credit: The Rachel Maddow Show/MSNBC; me

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

In a new era of social distancing, farmers markets remain a personal way to get fresh produce and converse with the person who created the food.

New York is banning gatherings of more than 500 people. San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose all have bans of more than 1,000 people. Washington Governor Jay Inslee set the mark at 250 in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties (Seattle metro area). All the bans are tied to reducing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Most of the country does not have to worry about a local farmers market reaching those proportions, even in good weather. The bans could become more significant as the weather warms if COVID-19 doesn't ease in its growth projection.

The Pike Place Market in Seattle covers a lot of ground. You can certainly find more than 250 people in nice weather. Pike Place has a lot of buildings as well as the open market so that might not be an issue under the Washington state ban.

The Ferry Building Farmers Market in San Francisco likely doesn't hit 1,000 but there are usually several hundred people across the front and south side of the building on Saturday mornings.

The Green City Market in Chicago doesn't go outdoors until May. Chicago's brand new mark is 1,000. The market draws a few hundred people at a time, nowhere near 1,000.

As the weather improves, markets might become a concern. Other Chicago markets start in May, especially in downtown Chicago.

Even if crowds are a concern, there could be bouncers, limiting access until other people leave.

Crowd bans reduced in size even further could impact farmers markets.

The farmers coming to the markets also have to deal with the potential of a coronavirus. That might unnerve some farmers from coming to markets.

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

Here at BalanceofFood.com, we don't like scaring readers into something or away from something. That isn't our style. We worry about farmers and farmers markets. The hope is the conditions in North America will improve by May.

We also recognize that May is a long way away in terms of where the COVID-19 coronavirus will be in North America. We worry because farmers markets are a good habit that may be difficult to reclaim if lost due to a pandemic.

Short-term sacrifices are a concern. Long-term damage to farmers markets would be a greater concern.

photo credit: me

What's Eating America devotes cable news time to important food issues

What's Eating America with Andrew Zimmern is shining a light on food-related society issues. The 5-part series is running on MSNBC Sunday nights at 9 pm Eastern.

The opening episode devoted 2 hours to the ties between immigration and the food supply. Subsequent episodes covered climate change, addiction with voting rights and fresh food fail coming up.

The immigration and climate change episodes relate all too well to food supply concerns in the United States. Great to have a 5-part series, but wish all the episode were devoted to concerns in the food supply chain.

The addiction episode was more about Zimmern's addiction issues and the impact of alcohol and drugs in the bar and restaurant industry. The voting rights and voting suppression issue is crucial, but looks to be not really food-related.

The food system is also about who is involved in your food

In the immigration episode, you might have recognized Cristina Martinez, who runs a popular barbacoa restaurant in Philadelphia. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee profiled the impact of immigration on food in 2018.

Samantha Bee, a documented immigrant herself (she's from Canada), guided the audience through a path of undocumented immigrants in kitchens. Bee talked with Martinez at her popular barbacoa restaurant in Philadelphia as well as undocumented restaurant employees who didn't want their identity revealed.

Behind the jokes, Stephen Colbert shines light on plight of farm workers

'Colbert Report' to shine spotlight on farm workers and their sacrifices

Zimmern points out that these are skilled workers given the work that they are doing and that most Americans won't do. He notes that immigration reform would extend the use of food trucks to bring different cultures at lunchtime.

Watching Zimmern pick strawberries shows the need for immigrant workers. Watching that footage reminded us of Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report taking us through the arduous process of picking fruits and vegetables.

Zimmern's style is easygoing, curious, and relatable to people of all classes. The show bounces to all parts of the country whether that is the lack of perch in Lake Michigan to the dead oysters in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. Chef and humanitarian José Andrés helps out in the immigration episode.

168 hours in a week should be long enough for cable news to cover food-related topics. Sadly, that isn't true. Zimmern is a chef who does a lot of television and knows the impact of food in our society. 6 hours is not a long time to cover food issues. The show hopefully will inspire more food journalism on cable TV news.

What's Eating America with Andrew Zimmern runs Sunday nights at 9 pm Eastern on MSNBC. You can catch up (with authentication) on previous episodes.

photos credit: What's Eating America with Andrew Zimmern/MSNBC

Meat and dairy want authentic labeling but not across the board

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" — Juliet from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

In the world of fake news, we have fake cheese, fake burgers, fake milk. Several states has passed laws prohibiting the marketing of products as "milk," "rice," and "sausage" if they aren't actually milk, rice, and sausage. 

Veggie burgers and soy milk have piggybacked on the backs of burgers and milk to show what the product is supposed to represent. Manufacturers weren't concerned when they had a small percentage of food sales. The increased interest becomes the theoretical threat.

Consumers don't get home with groceries thinking that grabbed meat or milk when they haven't. They know what they are buying.

Soy beverage or veggie patties aren't that different from soy milk and veggie burgers.

Having empathy or sympathy for meat and dairy manufacturers would be easier if they were equally as concerned about the defense of meat and cheese across the board.

Stephen Colbert opens up can of sand as Taco Bell lawsuit gets more publicity

Kraft Singles nutrition 'endorsement' puts dietitians in bad light

The United States is the land of pasteurized process cheese food, made from not less than 51 percent by "optional cheese ingredients." The USDA says any "meat taco filling" should at least have 40% fresh meat.

The obvious argument is that these products do contain meat and cheese, not a lot of them.

They are upset over soy milk but think non-dairy creamer is okay. Canada has the sensibility to call that product coffee whitener.

Fight these battles and then we can talk about soy milk and veggie burgers.

What's Tempting: Eating real cheese

The argument is that soy milk and veggie burgers are deceptions. Consumers know they aren't the real thing. Using the words "cheese," "dairy," "meat," and "creamer" are far more deceptive.

photo credit: Sargento

Daily Show addresses increased junk food in school lunches

The news on American school lunches has not been good since January 20, 2017. Roy Wood Jr. and The Daily Show team along with Margo Wootan, vice president for nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, compare and contrast the school lunch approach under Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

"Flavored chocolate milk" returned to the menu.

The segment allows Wooten to paint a picture of what lunch was like not so long ago. Food "is supposed to help you learn, not make them fall asleep," Wootan explained. "We give kids choices but all of those choices need to be healthy."

CSPI’s @MargoWootan discusses school lunch with @roywoodjr on @TheDailyShow: Trump administration putting politics before kids’ health by rolling back school nutrition standards. https://t.co/p9v066dV7n

— CSPI (@CSPI) May 7, 2019

She notes that the previous lunch program would reduce childhood obesity numbers by 2 million kids and save $800 million in health care costs.

"Three-quarters of kids who get school lunches come from low-income families," Wootan noted.

Wood takes on a drill sergeant motif to convince the kids to not eat the junk food. Wood's mantra of "nutrition now, nutrition tomorrow, nutrition forever" is a homage to "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" from George Wallace's 1963 Inaugural Address in Wood's home state of Alabama.

This illustration gives a sharp contrast filled with subtlety. The color of the bun indicates more whole grains and leaner meats have less visible fat. Carrots vs. French fries is a bit more obvious, even if Wood points out the potatoes also grow in the ground. Carrots are high in natural sugar compared to most vegetables but checks off more nutrition boxes than French fries.

The pictured chocolate milk in the segment is skim milk, robbing kids of fat from milk that can make them feel more full.

Blanche Lincoln, who worked hard to cut school lunch increase, lost her Senate race

Chipping away at the few school lunch gains under Barack Obama

Donald Trump wants to gut food safety regulations

Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump on how they approach food

5 questions you should ask presidential candidates about U.S. food policy

BalanceofFood.com school lunch coverage

BalanceofFood.com Daily Show coverage

Just so this story isn't completely depressing, Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, is working on a half-hour series for Netflix called Listen to Your Vegetables & Eat Your Parents. The program will “take young children and their families around the globe on an adventure that tells us the story of our food.”

Since the show is aimed at kids, this might be an animated series though that is purely speculation.

We have said, even during the Obama Administration, that government can only do so much to instill better eating habits. A Netflix show can help more than the current regime.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah airs Monday-Thursday on Comedy Central.

video and photo credit: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Twitter capture: @CSPI

Backlash against fear-based food marketing is the real fear

Fear-based food marketing has taken over: gluten-free, non-GMO, antibiotic-free & more. Learn more about what to look for on food labels in @drsusanmitchell's 8-minute interview with me for her Breaking Down Nutrition for Medical Professional podcast. https://t.co/iqT7WB9U97

— Neva Cochran, MS, RD (@NevaRDLD) December 28, 2018

"let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933 Inaugural Address.

There is fear-based food marketing, such as calling something "natural" where there is no standard definition. As we see above, the movement by some dietitians isn't about that kind of confusion. Their fear is that consumers will avoid products with GMOs, antibiotics, and hormones.

The bigger question is why those dietitians spend so much time with their own level of fear.

An item identified as gluten-free is informational. There is not fear in something being without gluten. Those who are more sensitive have the fear of buying a product that can do them harm, especially over cross-contamination concerns. "Gluten-free" does not inspire fear.

A lot of people want to know if products contain GMOs, especially glyphosate from Monsanto. There is a concern of eating foods that contain glyphosate. If you don't care, you have no concern.

People concerned over the abundant use of antibiotics are fearful of antibiotics not working for them when they need them. People are concerned about eating animals and consuming their byproducts if the food they are eating contains antibiotics and hormones.

People who exhibit legitimate fear are underdogs in a situation. Those who support glyphosate, antibiotics, and hormones are in the vast majority of U.S. food policy. The easiest thing is to eat all of those things. When the most powerful exhibit fear and try to transfer their fear onto others, that is unsettling.

Have you noticed how the marketing of food has changed? Whoever thought fear mongering would be a part of it? I'm not talking about cibophobia or the fear of food that's a complicated phobia rather fear-based marketing and how it affects food choices. Choose food, not fear.

Let's say one of your patients or clients picks up a can of some vegetable at the store and sees words and symbols on the label that might include all-natural, no msg, gluten-free, antibiotic-free, made in the USA, non-bpa liner or non-GMO ingredients. Some of these terms are vague or have no legal meaning. What really bugs me is a label that states a product is non-GMO or gluten-free when it never would contain those things to begin with. So does a label like this suggest that the competitor next to it on the shelf may contain all those ingredients so you better not choose it? Is this fear-based marketing when the potential lack of consumer knowledge along with fear of certain ingredients and a label of symbols and words leads someone to grab one product over another?

This Dr. Susan Mitchell excerpt mentioned in the tweet at the top of this column furthers the paranoia. A product could put a label that says non-GMO as a benefit but there are few food products on the shelves that absolutely couldn't have GMOs. Anything that potentially has a sweetener could have GMO-filled high-fructose corn syrup, especially in a product category that shouldn't be sweet.

The dietitians on the podcast say consumers should ignore those concerns and worry about whether foods have fat or sodium or vitamins.

What's Tempting: GMO-free Cheerios

BalanceofFood.com U.S. food policy coverage

We should be thankful that consumers want to know what is in their food. There are a lot of ingredients hidden behind "natural flavor" (e.g., castoreum from the back side of the beaver is "natural flavor") and "artificial flavor." If a product doesn't lend itself to glyphosate, but you find out later that your Cheerios has been sprayed with glyphosate, you won't find out on the food label.

Information on the front of food labels can be sleight of hand, such as advertising "no trans fat" on milk containers. Most consumers know the back of the food label is most significant; when added sugars is finally on the label, consumers will be even wiser.

Dietitians go to school and gain significant knowledge. They should be pressing for fun and interesting ways to eat fruits and vegetables instead of wasting resources on sucking up to corporate food masters.

photo credit: Texas Farm Bureau

How to protect yourself since USDA declares 'pink slime' as 'ground beef'

The USDA, looking out for your corporations' best interest, has ruled that "pink slime" can now be considered ground beef.

Understand that "pink slime" has been in inferior beef for some time. Just because we knew about it didn't mean pink slime went away. The classification allows company to sell the pink slime by itself if necessary.

In case you didn't remember, according to yourdictionary.com:

Pink slime is defined as finely ground beef scraps, fat and tissue that have been made into a protein paste and treated to kill bacteria, to become a meat additive that is added into ground beef and processed meats as filler.

Ammonia is added to the process. Yum.

'Pink slime' conversions prove that food quality battle is all about PR

USDA needs better reasons to avoid telling us that we're eating pink slime

Cook to 160°F minimum a sign to look elsewhere for meat

You can avoid pink slime by buying beef from meat growers committed to a well-grown process from what they eat to how they are processed.

You can also get to a better temperature from well-grown meat because the meat will come from a single cow. Processing meat from multiple cows increases chances of e-coli.

The FDA and USDA is not here to protect you from pink slime or e-coli in romaine lettuce. You have to provide your own protection from those who want to sell you inferior meat.

Eat less meat but eat better beef.

photo credit: me