Balance of Food

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

Romaine lettuce can't be a liability in the food supply

The commercial would start out with a black-and-white version of the above photo with an announcer asking us, "Tired of throwing away romaine lettuce over possible e-coli."

Then the commercial would be in color with the solution to help you rid you of e-coli to protect your romaine lettuce.

There is no such product that can help with this sadly off-and-on food safety issue.

While the latest outbreak hit Canada in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, that lettuce and the lettuce in the United States came from the United States. We're #1??

We can't blame Yuma, AZ in the latest outbreak. We have a vague direction of the Central Coastal growing regions of northern and central California. You can track a purchase from Amazon but not the origin of your lettuce.

There is actual talk of labels with a harvest location by region for romaine lettuce products. Even then, the labels won't prevent the e-coli madness but can lead to fewer romaine lettuce heads being thrown out.

If you really are tired of throwing out perfectly good romaine lettuce, here are options for you.

• Stop buying bagged salad. Just stop. Mechanically chopped lettuce is becoming a problem for the potential spread of bad diseases. Tearing apart leaves of romaine lettuce can be done even if you are tired. You will be using fresher lettuce that tastes better.
• Look into hydroponic or greenhouse-grown romaine lettuce. Neither of these were linked to any outbreak. The lettuce will be local and available year-round. Or buy from a trusted local farmer. The lettuce may be more expensive but you'll know where it comes from and has no chance of e-coli runoff from factory farms.
• Don't replace romaine lettuce with iceberg lettuce in those moments. Unless you are eating a wedge salad ironically, you have no need for iceberg lettuce. Discover some really great lettuces. Turns out green leaf is the best friend to any sandwich.
• Badger your Congressperson and senator. Tell them you want to invest in food safety in the United States. Maybe your Congressperson will be someone new in January. Make sure you get that name correct.

"Ill people in this outbreak were infected with E. coli bacteria with the same DNA fingerprint as the E. coli strain isolated from ill people in a 2017 outbreak linked to leafy greens in the United States and to romaine lettuce in Canada. The current outbreak is not related to a spring 2018 multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to romaine lettuce."

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

This CDC directive refers to multiple recent outbreaks involving lettuce. Lettuce is supposed to be a safe vegetable as a welcome base to salads everywhere. We need to work harder to return to a world where lettuce is safe once again.

Editor's note: This was one of 2 heads of romaine lettuce that I threw away. Food waste is bad but not as bad as getting e.coli.

photo credit: me

How to take the shame out of needing food pantries

The disconnect between people who need food assistance and those who don't seek food assistance is often tied back to shame. They don't want to be seen as needing a food handout.

Given the millions of people who fall short of where they need to be from a food standpoint, shame should be the last consideration. The reality is that solutions need to factor in the shame quotient.

The little free pantry is based on the concept of the little free library. In the library, you can take a book, return a book, donate a book. No witnesses are needed; this works on the honor system.

The little free pantry in the photos is on the grounds of a neighborhood church. The pantry works similar to the library. If you need the food, you can take the food. If you want to donate food, you can donate food. Once again, no witnesses and we are on the honor system. Taking the food isn't a handout and no one has to know.

If you are unsure about using the free pantry, if you are there when someone you know approaches, you can always say you were dropping off food, even if you wanted to get the food for yourself.

Maybe you bought too much of something at the store or you bought the wrong item for your meal. Just donate the food to the free pantry.

You can donate food to regular food banks and food pantries, but perhaps you are too shy to do so in person. Free pantries allow people to donate food without drawing attention to themselves.

The one real drawback is that food has to be shelf-stable to survive any time in the pantry. That is a reasonable condition.

If you haven't been to a food pantry or food bank, you might have the impression of the clients. These days, clients come in every color of the rainbow, every gender, creed, origin, height, sexual orientation, and weight.

In fact, the more people who feel comfortable to come forward, the stronger we can be to reduce the stigma of food assistance and fight harder to improve conditions so fewer of us go hungry.

Until that happens, the little free pantry can be a tool to get help for those who feel shame to need food assistance.

photos credit: me

Ugly produce has beauty in the eye of the beholder

Thinking about the Island of Misfit Toys might seem a bit early but those misfit toys come to mind when thinking about ugly produce. The fruits and vegetables have been judged to less than ideal but they still deserve a home.

The wrong shape, a minor bruise, not red enough: produce that grocery stores won't carry, won't put out on shelves to be bought by consumers.

Companies such as Imperfect Produce are trying to play Santa to give these misfits a home.

If you do most of your produce shopping at grocery stores, you might think "ugly" produce is ugly on the inside. You would have to be convinced that ugly can mean beautiful and that ugly is worth buying.

Being trapped in the corporate world means you likely have seen a fruit tray with absolutely gorgeous strawberries completely out of season. They look so good but when you taste them, they have no taste.

Less than ideal produce has the opposite problem: Cinderella before the ball. Beautiful on the inside but no way to show her outer beauty.

Slider Bites: MSNBC focuses on food waste

What's Tempting: Ugly fruits and vegetables

There is a level of criticism that groups such as Imperfect Produce make a profit off of less than perfect produce leaving fewer items to be donated to food banks.

While some of the criticism has legs, ideally there would be plenty of options to give rid of this level of food waste. And more people hired to pick that produce that can be saved.

Second Harvest in Canada collects surplus foods and donates that food to social agencies. The organization's Web site — foodrescue.ca — helps join businesses with food with Second Harvest to find a better home for that produce.

Saving food is half the battle. The other half is changing the perception of less than ideal fruits and vegetables.

We have no issue eating applesauce, even if some of those apples are less than ideal. We have no issue for babies eating strained carrots, even if some of those carrots are less than ideal.

We have previously mentioned about asking (politely) farmers at farmers markets if they have any less than ideal produce. Your spaghetti sauce won't know the difference if you used less than ideal looking tomatoes.

Less than perfect produce can be donated to food banks and food pantries, though you should check their local rules to see if they were take produce. Their clients, well everybody, should get guidance on how to make the best of their newfound beauty.

In the world of supermodels and lists of the most handsome men, convincing ourselves to make good use of less than ideal produce is a significant challenge. Lower costs would be a primary reason to buy less than perfect produce.

The telenovela Betty La Fea, later adapted to the U.S. TV show Ugly Betty, showed us that ugly was often more beautiful than pretty was. We could have a TV show called Ugly Produce with braces on peaches. The Food Network and/or Cooking Channel could run promos in between shows on advantages to using ugly produce. Give ugly produce a PBS show. Have people brag about how their excellent dish was made with the ugliest produce in similar ways to people who brag about thrift purchases on a dress or coat. What if the Great British Bake Off adopted Great Ugly Produce Baking?

The idea of the Island of Misfit Toys was that yes, the toys were not ideal but a water pistol that shoots grape jelly, a cowboy riding an ostrich, a Charlie in the box, and a spotted elephant had some value. The less than ideal produce has some value. Maybe that produce, like the toys, are only misfits in perception, not reality.

photos credit: me; FoodRescue.ca

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

Do you love food and eating food but hate the idea of undocumented immigration? As Full Frontal with Samantha Bee points out, if you feel this way, you will starve pretty quickly.

Samantha Bee, a documented immigrant herself (she's from Canada) guides us through a path of undocumented immigrants in kitchens. We stop in Philadelphia where Cristina Martinez runs a popular barbacoa restaurant. Martinez is undocumented but was willing to go on camera. (Bee talked later to other undocumented restaurant employees who didn't want their identity revealed.)

Martinez explains in Spanish that she came to the United States to escape her abusive now ex-husband.

Bee also incorporates fellow immigrant Padma Lakshmi, host of Top Chef. Lakshmi talked about the importance of immigrants to restaurants and how they want the same things everyone else wants.

"I think the food landscape in this country would be completely different without immigrant labor," said Lakshmi. "We all have a responsibility to reach down and pull up the people who really break their back for you day in and day out."

The financial reality is that restaurants rely on undocumented immigrants for success. So do farmers to help pick the crops that you enjoy in the grocery store and the restaurant.

You can certainly choose to disagree on what to do with undocumented immigrants but you should acknowledge the realities of the current food system and the impact if these people weren't here.

At the end of the segment, Bee mentioned thegivingkitchen.org, the recipient of proceeds for a T-shirt filled with "thank you" in multiple languages. She noted that the organization provides financial assistance to restaurant workers in crisis.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee airs Wednesday nights at 10:30 pm Eastern on TBS.

video and photo credit: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee/TBS