2018 was an interesting year for this blog. It has been accessed by 2,731 visitors for a total of 4,603 views. The top three posts viewed were Beware of bejeweled watches (and GMO labels) Food waste from two different perspectives, and My review of Canned: The Rise and Fall of Consumer Confidence in the American Food Industry At the end of the year there are … Continue reading Food bits and pieces as we move into 2019
Around 2017, Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency craze exploded across the internet and popular media. At its core, cryptocurrency promised a new and decentralized financial system that could exist without banks, governance, or other entities keeping track of transactions. While cryptocurrency in itself is rather interesting, what has really begun to tickle our fancy is the technology that actually enables cryptocurrency: blockchain. Block-whatnow? A blockchain is…just … Continue reading Bite coin? How blockchain can help us keep track of food from the farm to your plate by Lily Yang and Matt Teegarden
It has a been a long-standing understanding and belief by the consumer and public in general that laws and regulations are based on sound science. This has been especially true in safeguarding the safety of food. The public has generally been very positive that the work of the Federal Food and Drug Administration has ensured that food is not only safe and healthy but also … Continue reading What happened to public trust in science? Is this a crisis for the food system? by Daryl Lund
They have taken on mythic proportions in the American culture, but do we really understand the implications of expiration dates? Nicola Temple describes the contribution of expiration dates to increasing food waste in Best Before as has Tristram Stuart in Waste. Do these dates serve a useful purpose or do they do more harm than good? One perspective is offered by the comedian Jerry Seinfeld. … Continue reading Expiration dates and how they are misunderstood
After so many popular books that take the food industry and the processed food to task, it is nice to read one that approaches the topic from a rational viewpoint. In Best Before Nicola Temple presents a much more balanced view than most contemporary books on food. Many of her points are easy for defenders of processed food like me to embrace. As expected, there … Continue reading Best Before: The Evolution and Future of Processed Food
Who is to blame for America’s unsustainable, unhealthy food system? A. Big Ag, B. Big Food, C. Both of the above, D. None of the above. Robert Paarlberg had an answer to this question for the audience during the D.W. Brooks Lecture at the University of Georgia earlier this month. Read on to see that answer. Paarlberg is one of my favorite authors. I required … Continue reading Foodies vs. Aggies: Compromise for a New Food System?
What used to be called the middleman is now referred to as the supply chain. The middleman has long been viewed as the bogeyman who steals from both the farmer and the consumer with a mere 30% or so of what the consumer pays ending up back on the farm. It is now becoming clear that the supply chain performs critical functions in getting fresh … Continue reading How the middleman morphed into the supply chain
When groups in wealthier nations try to help out citizens in countries not as wealthy, there is always the danger of a helper’s arrogance by failing to take the time to understand the culture of the host country. Last week, I mentioned such a situation with respect to Nelson Rockefeller trying to bring the wonders of the modern American supermarket to Venezuela as described in Supermarket … Continue reading Impacts of US/African collaborative research
Was the modern American supermarket a pawn in the battle between capitalism and communism during the Cold War? Was the battle strictly between free enterprise and a controlled economy OR did the Americans tip the scales? Shane Hamilton poses these and other questions in what I consider to be a masterpiece in the history-of-food genre. Hamilton is particularly good at mixing historical scholarship with an … Continue reading Supermarket USA: Food Power in the Cold War Farms Race
From time-to-time, particularly on the fifth Tuesday of the month, I like to review some topics covered earlier in the year or introduce some new topics that have bubbled to the top of the news on processed food. This week I look at the change in how scientific groups are developing new perspectives on studying processed food and obesity. I also look at changes in … Continue reading Fifth Tuesday Smorgasbord
