Balance of Food

Slider Bites: MSNBC focuses on food waste

Food waste is as important as underreported. MSNBC took time this week to delve into this valuable topic on "Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story."

The news channel showed part of the documentary "Just Eat It." The documentary was introduced by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, who is now MSNBC's food correspondent.

The documentary follows Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin as they attempt to go 6 months eating only the bounty of wasted food, though they could eat other food at friends and family.

When we don't hear from the couple, we get a lot about how grocery stores and restaurants want beautiful looking produce and perfectly good food is thrown out over vanity.

• What's Tempting: Ugly fruits and vegetables

Grant and Jen were concerned that they might not have enough food. They discovered that food abundance, especially in certain categories, was the issue.

After the documentary aired, Colcchio hosted a panel discussion (see video above). In the discussion, author Jonathan Bloom pointed out that Americans spend less on food than any other nation. If food were more expensive, we'd be less likely to waste it.

You can find more information about the special, click here. For more on the film itself, click here.

Hopefully, we will get more enlightening specials on food stories. Colicchio is a chef, not a journalist. We hope that between food and journalism, we will have more conversations on vital but underreported issues.

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We love the Daily Show's take on food and were glad to see Aasif Mandvi back doing a story on Simplot and GMOs.

We were simply puzzled by what aired. Mandvi found a guy who had some offbeat theories about GMOs. Those who are concerned about GMOs know there are some unconventional takes on anti-GMO theories.

The new GMO potato from Simplot was praised in the story. While the GM potato is different than the other GMOs, the paintbrush felt like GMOs were okay. We expect that from CNN, not the Daily Show.

Mandvi had a bad time with Simplot in an earlier story. Simplot would love this story.

Cornell University's Dr. Walter De Jong in the story plays an economist, saying the anti-GMO people have pushed regulation so that only large companies (e.g., Monsanto) can afford to do GMOs. He should stick to science.

The story wasn't particularly informative or funny.

The GMO potato might be okay. The issues with GMOs stem (pun intended) from use of insecticides, companies such as Monsanto, and a lack of independent information.

The Daily Show normally celebrates the idea of the more information, the better, and with humor. This story had none of those traits. If you watch and disagree, let us know in the comments section or on Twitter @balanceoffood.

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videos credit: MSNBC; Daily Show

Slider Bites: Lime shortage calls for better food diversity

The lime loss is tragic in itself, but serves as a valuable lesson about why it's important where our food comes from.

Our limes come from Mexico, and the lime crop has run into bad weather, disease and even Mexican drug cartels. So we have a shortage of limes.

Florida used to grow a lot of limes, but the state doesn't anymore. The state destroyed the lime trees after a outbreak of citrus canker back in 2000.

Because even if Mexico had an issue with limes, we could still get limes from Florida. We could even export more limes to Mexico if we had them in Florida.

Putting all your, er, limes in one basket isn't a smart way to run a food supply. A diversity of locations and varieties ensures a more bountiful supply of treasures from nature. Citrus canker isn't even harmful to humans, but a loss of limes might be (from a scurvy standpoint).

Bottled lime juice can't stack up to freshly squeezed limes, but you might want to invest in a few bottles as a backup.

Limes are a wonderful source of Vitamin C without having to worry about excessive fruit sugar from traditional fruit. They need to be protected in the food supply better than what we are doing.

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Betty Draper, Don Draper's first wife and the mother of his children, did something on "Mad Men" last night that she couldn't do legally in a number of areas in North America.

Betty Draper drank raw milk. As raw as it gets.

In Sunday night's episode, Betty Draper chaperoned a field trip for one of her sons to a farm. The group got to see a cow being milked. The farmer asked if anyone wanted to drink the milk. Betty raised her hand. She drank the milk straight from the cow. And nothing happened to her.

Previous coverage:

What's Tempting: Raw milk from a vending machine

What's Tempting: Raw milk in 2014

Yes, Mad Men is a period piece from the late 1960s and January Jones, the actress who plays Betty Draper, probably wasn't drinking actual raw milk. But we did have a visual of someone drinking raw milk on a popular TV program and no one got sick.

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"Pom alleges the label on a 'Pomegranate Blueberry' beverage offered by Coke's Minute Maid unit is misleading because 99 percent of the drink consists of apple and grape juice. Coke claims the lawsuit should be thrown out because the label complies with Food and Drug Administration regulations."

The case before the Supreme Court is whether Pom Wonderful can file false advertising claims against Coca-Cola. Reading that paragraph makes us wonder whether FDA regulations can also get sued.

So less than 1% of the product addresses the potential of Pomegranate and Blueberry, but that should be allowed on the front of the label.

If 99% of a product has nothing to do with what is on the front of the label, then the front of the label is purely for marketing purposes only.

If we are going to continue with such a ridiculous approach, we should post a note on the front of such labels that reads: "Warning: For entertainment purposes only. Please disregard any "facts" that might appear on the front of the label.

We realize some in society view any regulations as "government overreach," but 1% is pretty low "government overreach."

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Vermont has passed a law requiring GMO labeling. So what you might ask? Connecticut and Maine have done so, too. The angel … and devil lie in the details.

The legislation from Connecticut and Maine require a certain total of neighboring states to enact similar legislation for their rules to kick in. Connecticut requires at least 4 neighboring states with a combined population of 20 million to pass similar laws. Maine require 5 neighboring states, including New Hampshire. Vermont's passage helps bring their legislation slightly closer to reality.

The Vermont rules don't kick in until July 2016. The phrase "partially produced with genetic engineering" is one of 3 possible phrases that would be required on GMO food sold in the state.

Let the lawsuits begin.

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Clearly the folks at General Mills did not articulate out loud the implications of such a horrible social media policy of voiding lawsuits for using a coupon or a Facebook "like."

The idea of social media is to improve communications with the customers. Shaking hands with one hand while holding a knife aimed at the back with the other hand does not improve communications.

Even if customers somehow understood the differences between arbitration and lawsuits, the impression is that arbitration is more biased toward larger companies with sharply reduced access to compensation. That may not be fair to the arbitration process, but there is a reason why so many large companies have flocked to arbitration as a solution.

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video credit: Colbert Report // photo credit: AMC/Mad Men

Slider Bites: Subway takes out yoga mat chemical from its bread

I haven't bought chicken in awhile, not consciously or unconsciously. I do buy better-grown chicken, but realize I've eaten other's chicken that is not grown as humanely.

This Food and Water Watch video strikes an ideal tone. You learn about how chickens are raised on factory farms, but in an entertaining fashion and, above all, not patronizing.

This also addresses the obsession (in mostly good ways) about asking our servers about what we're eating.

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The Farm Bill was signed by President Barack Obama at Michigan State University, known for its agricultural program. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the man Obama defeated for the presidency in 2008, spoke up about the legislation.

While we don't agree on most issues with the senator from Arizona, you have to appreciate his take on the Farm Bill.

"But, unfortunately, just about every subsidy eliminated under Farm Bill's is simply re-invented into a new, more expensive program. For example, we have a new 'Agriculture Risk Coverage' (ARC) program, which locks-in today's record-high crop prices and guarantees farmers up to an 86 percent return on their crop. Depending on market conditions, ARC could cost taxpayers between $3 billion to $14 billion each year — far more expensive than the $5 billion saved by the elimination of the Direct Payments Program. This bill also maintains the $95 billion federally-backed crop insurance program which subsidizes crop insurance premiums. We then pile on a new $20 billion program called Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) that subsidizes crop insurance deductibles.

"This Farm Bill also strips an amendment offered by my colleagues, Senator (Dick) Durbin and Senator (Tom) Coburn, which would have prevented crop insurance subsidies from going to individuals with a gross income greater than $750,000 a year. That amendment was adopted by 59 votes in the Senate's Farm Bill earlier last year — and now it's absent from the conference agreement. Millionaire farmers can rejoice that their crop insurance subsidies are safe.

"This is all part of Farm Bill politics. In order to pass a Farm Bill, Congress must find a way to appease every special interest of every commodity association from asparagus farmers to wheat growers. If you cut somebody's subsidy, you give them a grant. If you kill their grant, then you subsidize their crop insurance.

McCain goes on about waste in the bill. Some items don't seem so bad, but there are a few head-shakers.

"The bill reauthorizes USDA loan subsidies for peanut growers and allows them to use their peanuts as collateral. If a peanut grower forfeits on their USDA loan, the federal government takes ownership of the peanuts and taxpayers bear the costs of storing the nuts!

"The infamous sugar program is housed in this Farm Bill. Like the peanut program, USDA gives sugar growers primarily in Florida, Louisiana, and Michigan hundreds of millions of dollars in loans each year. If a sugar grower misses their profit margins, they get to keep the loan and transfer their excess sugar to the federal government as collateral. Over the past year, sugar subsides and forfeitures have cost taxpayers $258 million while over 640,000 tons of sugar was handed over to USDA. Combined with import tariffs and marketing controls, the USDA sugar program cost consumers over $3 billion each year. It is one of the most obscene federal farm subsidies ever conceived and this Farm Bill does nothing to reform it.

McCain also mentions a hidden "tax" on heating oil, which seemingly has nothing to do with farmers.

You really should read the entirety of the statement to truly appreciate the problems in the bill. And this doesn't even count what progressives and liberals are upset about (e.g., food stamps cuts).

Click here for the whole statement from Sen. McCain.

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I used to be a Subway fan, but over time I struggled with the quality of the bread and vegetables. The bread never fit the true sense of a sub(no way) sandwich and tasted too sweet for my tastes.

Subway says it will get rid of azodicarbonamide, a plastic-based additive chemical used in yoga mats.

The chemical helps add air into the bread. Azodicarbonamide is banned in Europe and Australia, while legal in the United States and Canada. The World Health Organization has linked azodicarbonamide to respiratory issues, allergies, and asthma. Yikes!

You can usually judge a food ingredient by whether there is a ban in Europe. If Europe says "non," you should too.

This still doesn't mean I'm going back, but it will help millions of those who do.

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Editor's note: 2014 will see more Slider Bites columns. We've fallen a bit behind for a few reasons. We appreciate your patience.

Slider Bites: Paula Deen's new finishing butter line

The idea of Paula Deen coming out with a line of specialty butters exclusively at Wal-Mart is a joke that writes itself. Except this isn't from The Onion.

The last thing Paula Deen was pushing was a diabetes medication. Or maybe now she lost a bit of weight, she's ready to put a few pounds back on.

Since these are finishing butters, the logic appears to be "less butter" but only putting it in a dish at the end. There are 5 varieties of the "finishing butter": Southern Grilling Butter, Lemon Dill Butter, European Style Butter, Sweet Citrus Zest Butter, and Garden Herb Butter.

Nothing wrong with adding herbs and spices to your butter. Chances are you could do a better and healthier job of adding ingredients than these products will have. And you don't even have to go to Wal-Mart.

Those who eat healthy wouldn't trust Deen even if she were hawking a healthy product. But you wonder if Deen's loyal fans would turn their back on her just because she got a little healthier. Oh well, nothing says "I'm sorry" more than a finishing butter.

Deen is also launching a line of tortilla chips and sugar free chocolates at Walmarts in the Southeast. Compared to Deen's vision of sugar-free chocolates, that butter is looking a little better.

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You had to figure that the first DIY high-fructose corn syrup was going to be made a Brooklyn hipster. You were hoping (and so were we) that even a Brooklyn hipster would see that as being too ironic.

For her master's thesis at Parsons The New School for Design, Maya Weinstein created a chemistry kit that allows people to make "small-batch, artisanal, high-fructose corn syrup."

DIY HFCS. WTF?

No one yearns for the taste of high-fructose corn syrup, homemade or otherwise. I'm sure Weinstein's version is probably better for you than what you would find in processed food, and you can control the fructose level in a homemade version of high-fructose corn syrup.

If you look at her Web site, she seems fairly earnest in her efforts to sell you the opportunity. But Weinstein is literally selling a product that no one would want to buy, except for irony, which is plentiful in Brooklyn.

Weinstein also wants to someday sell you a DIY version of monosodium glutamate. Now with extra irony.

DIY MSG. WTF?

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Whole Foods set up a store in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Good thing? Bad thing?

Detroit getting grocery stores is a good thing, even in a decent part of the city. Whole Foods is not a panacea for Detroit's ills, but a good sign is a good sign.

Honestly, Detroit needs a lot more Meijer's and Kroger stores — two regional chains that you can find plenty of outlets in the Detroit suburbs. The city also needs better transportation for those who can't afford the cars that made the city famous. And more jobs, manufacturing or otherwise.

Yes, Whole Foods has a reputation for high prices and that appears to clash with the perception of Detroit. But if a Whole Foods can convince other food outlets to set up shop in Michigan's largest city, then that is progress Detroit needs.

Slider Bites: China not the only problem with Smithfield Foods

You should be worried about the potential of a takeover of Smithfield Foods by a Chinese company. Then again, if that is your only worry, you should be paying more attention.

The primary worry last week was the impact that potentially lower standards would have on the U.S. food supply. But consumers should be even more concerned about how few U.S. companies control the vast majority of the meat supply.

Smithfield and the other companies that dominate the meat industry are, to coin a tired phrase, “too big to fail.” The cost of failure is even larger when our food supply is concerned.

The Chinese offer may be more about feeding those in China. Still, this offer gives us a chance to see if the United States “anything goes” policy includes a foreign takeover.

The United States food policy is no food policy. There is no long-term thinking or strategy for food production, health, and integrity. As much as some would like to bury their heads in the sand about how our food is grown, companies are in charge of growing most of our food. And those companies can be bought or sold with foreign or domestic buyers.

Even if the Chinese bid is not approved, we shouldn't breathe sighs of relief yet. But this should start the conversation about a national food policy.

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Internal pressure to come up with a sane food policy hasn't been terribly effective. However, outside pressure may be the answer to securing positive change. The U.S. may not care what its citizens eat, but the government cares about selling its food to other countries.

Japan halted a bid on 27,500 tons of Pacific Northwest wheat after a rogue genetically engineered strain was found on an Oregon farm. Other countries/organizations expressing concern include South Korea, the European Union, and Taiwan.

Other countries outside NAFTA want to make sure the food they are getting is GMO-free. Canada and Mexico would likely want their food to be GMO-free, but as we've seen with NAFTA, the dominant country sets the tone. And if those countries aren't sure about what they're getting, the U.S. can't ship as much food overseas as it wants.

Too bad California, Illinois, and Massachusetts can't set the same standards as Japan and South Korea.

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McDonald's came out and admitted what we suspected. No, not that. Not that. And definitely not that. No, the fast food chain admitted that their salads comprised a small percentage of sales.

We like to feel better about fast food places when they offer “healthier” choices. Then again, McD's tried really hard to cram unnecessary calories and fat (e.g., candied walnuts) into its salads, making them less desirable.

We don't ask Panera to make us a greasy burger and cold soggy fries. Sometimes, restaurants are just better off trying to be good (relatively speaking) at what they do, and not try at something where they are destined to fail.

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If I had a time machine and a functioning Flip camera, I would want to be Zachary Maxwell.

Maxwell made a film about how horrible his school lunches were. Maxwell also wanted to convince his parents that the school was not delivering on promised meals.

Maxwell almost lost a day's worth of footage after he got caught and was told he needed to delete the footage. Being a typical 4th grader, he convinced the teacher that he erased the footage, but he really didn't.

Maxwell is showing his film at the Manhattan Film Festival. I would have settled for a private screening for my parents to show them how horrible my school lunches really were. Bad school lunches that were reheated since the elementary school had no kitchen. At 10 years old, I would have loved the lunches Maxwell was rejecting. Sans proof, I couldn't convince my parents as to what I was getting. Maxwell doesn't have that problem.

Slider Bites: Bugging about eating more insects for protein

Grasshoppers and ants vs. cows and chickens. We know which group is more appetizing to eat, but the UN agency Food and Agriculture Organization is encouraging more of us to add the insects to our diets.

While the discussion is mostly about protein, eating insects is more about greenhouse gases and excessive feed caused by maintaining so many cows.

The organization notes that 2 billion people worldwide consume insects for protein and minerals.

Depending on your eating status, you may already be enjoying several levels of ways to get protein from beans and legumes to quinoa to Greek yogurt to whey powder. Beans, legumes, and nuts also have small footprints, though not as small as cicadas.

Let's be clear: if you put bugs in chocolate or garlic powder or the substance that goes on Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Americans will eat it. If you put bugs on a stick and deep-fry them, Americans will eat it, even if the bugs themselves are nutritious.

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Speaking of protein, Oscar Mayer's new Bacon Dogs offers bacon in the mix. And not just any bacon … Oscar Mayer Bacon. They mixed bacon in with the other meats in an otherwise typical Oscar Mayer hot dog. Now, once you heat/cook them, how much bacon are you really getting?

Again, if you really want the bacon experience, take some bacon (heck, even Oscar Mayer bacon) and cook it up. Put the bacon inside a hot dog bun, add your favorite condiments, and have a true bacon dog. You will get more taste and still get some nitrates in your system. Bacon with a bit of chili and a dash of mustard on a hot dog bun. Mmmmmmm.

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Growing organic foods fall perfectly under the definition of conservative with a small "c." Old-fashioned, tried and true, nothing fancy, what your grandparents literally did. Yet organic foods rile up conservatives against them because they're seen as "left-wing hippies food."

This exchange, courtesy of The Huffington Post, illustrates how backwards this discussion is in Washington.

When Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., a former organic farmer, offered an amendment to make it easier for organic companies to organize industry-wide promotional campaigns, there was swift backlash from some farm-state Republicans. One lawmaker said he didn't want to see the industry get a free ride and a second complained about organics' "continued assault on agriculture."

"That's one of the things that has caught me and raises my concerns, is that industry's lack of respect for traditional agriculture," said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. He was referring to some organic companies' efforts to reduce the number of genetically modified crops in the marketplace.

At the same time, Scott acknowledged that he and his wife buy organic foods.

GMOs are not about traditional agriculture … unless you're 20. Organic is traditional agriculture … literally. Sigh.

The good news for Scott and his wife is when they do buy organic foods, they are being conservative. Scott just needs to convince himself in the mirror that he is being conservative when it comes to organic foods. Trying to convince Scott that GMOs are radical? That will take a much longer time.

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With all the whining from fast food companies about Obamacare, which won't kick in for most Americans until 2014, turns out their fears won't be realized.

A recent Barclays analyst's note studied the issue and pointed out that a number of employees are young people can stay on their parents' insurance plans to 26, an element of Obamacare that is already into effect. So most of those employees won't have the issue. The exception would be those without parents or without access to their insurance plans.

As for older adults who are making their living working in fast food, we also know that they aren't getting paid enough, as we've seen in protests in several major cities, Detroit being the latest. Obamacare will give them the chance to buy their health insurance if their employers don't offer insurance. Then again, the wages of a fast food worker might not be enough to buy insurance, though the plans are adjusted based on income.

The idea of paying $3-$4 for a fast food meal into perpetuity is a ridiculous notion. Cheap can only go so far, and you pay your employees more money, they can afford to eat at your restaurants more often.

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If you don't eat well, especially as an American, you might be ashamed about being photographed with a week's worth of food. Now try representing your whole country.

Came across this story about a book where a typical week's worth of food in a country is photographed along with a family from that country.

The pictures illustrate the huge contrasts between countries over what constitutes typical meals. The U.S. and Canada don't hold up well. Some less-off countries actually look like they eat better.

Slider bites: Chris Christie's lap band surgery

Chris Christie announced that he did undergo lap-band surgery back in February to try and lose weight. This isn't news except that Christie is currently the governor of New Jersey and might be a presidential contender in 2016.

Now Christie might have been a presidential contender even without the surgery. After all, the country might have a backlash to a president who isn't as fit as Barack Obama.

The lap-band surgery isn't as extreme as other surgical options, so losing the weight slower, besides being healthier as a role, might look better in someone who could reasonably run for president in 2016.

Weight-loss surgeries aren't a guarantee. And Christie could lose some of his charm in being thinner. Or if he loses weight, but "not enough" for some, then the move could backfire politically.

Christie would be better off weighing less than he does now, and ideally, he can learn new ways to deal with food so the surgery will prove more effective.

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Ice cream is nice when you're hot and on vacation. Chances are ice cream isn't as nice when you pay 16 euros for the experience.

4 British tourists in Rome paid 64 euros for 4 ice creams at the Antica Roma bar and gelateria near the Spanish Steps.

The manager said the amount per person was more than 2 scoops. But even Italian ice cream isn't worth 16 euros.

There may have been some language issues, some places charge more if you stay and eat (they didn't), and they did leave with the cones and without their money.

I remember ordering 1 baguette in a bakery in Paris and the woman gave me two and charged me for two. That was a language issue. But if I really wanted one, I would have said so.

Yes, the gelateria overcharged. But you have to think a little even on vacation.

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The FDA is looking into possibly regulating caffeine. Yawn! Laudable that the FDA should look into this, but reality will prevent any difference making. One rule that would help is requiring any product that has caffeine to list how much caffeine is in that product.

The knowledge could backfire in that some people will find the most caffeine and consume those products. But knowledge is power and right now, most consumers are powerless.

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McDonald's decided to drop its Angus burger, and the implication was this was due to the "high" price of beef. When the vast majority of our cows is being fed GMO-corn subsidized by the government, one of the few problems with that beef is cost.

While Angus is more premium than regular beef, it doesn't stack up to grass-fed. With the unusual toppings on the Angus burger and McD's reluctant/refusal to market the burgers, no wonder that they will disappear from the menu almost as quietly as they appeared.

I mourned the loss of the McLean burger way back when. I never even thought to try the Angus burger.

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Alex Jamieson recently decided to stop being a vegan and once again eating meat. Jamieson is the long-time girlfriend of Morgan Spurlock that you might remember from "Super Size Me."

If life were a battle between eaters of animals and those who don't, this would be considered a victory for the animal eaters side.

In reality, she made a choice to go where her body said she wanted to go. In life, people will choose to be vegan or vegetarian, or go vegan before 6 (Mark Bittman), or only eat bacon for meat, or those who do weekend indulgences.

It's not like Jamieson turned into what Spurlock did in the film.

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Don't instantly trust studies, but liked this one that said teenagers were getting comparable calorie counts from ordering meals at McDonald's and Subway.

The average comparison was pretty close with 1,038 calories at McDonald's vs. 955 calories at Subway.

Subway notes that its meals have less fat, but people are getting plenty of calories and sodium from the "healthier" meals.

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With that spirit in mind, we will occasionally post notebooks, a non-fancy journalism term for thoughts about the beat in short, profound analysis between a tweet and an actual blog post. Fans of our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com, know all about notebook columns.

Food Bites seemed cornier than normal, so I went with Slider Bites, because sliders are mockingly too small. A bite from a slider is hardly a bite at all.