This week's dose of organic headlines, updates, resources, goodies, and recipes courtesy of Doug Snodgrass...
Michael Pollan gets it. His article in the NY Times Magazine is disarmingly insightful and a genuine must-read. And take a moment to see his interactive piece, Dietary Dos and Don'ts.
Every trip to the supermarket these days requires us to navigate what has become a truly treacherous food landscape. I mean, what are we to make of a wonder of food science like the new Splenda with fiber? (“The great sweet taste you want and a little boost of fiber.”) Should we call this progress? Is it even food? And then, at the far other end of the nutritional spectrum, how are we to process (much less digest) the new, exuberantly caloric Double Down sandwich that KFC has introduced? This shameless exaltation of dietary fat actually redefines the very concept of a sandwich by replacing the obligatory bread with two slabs of fried chicken kept some distance apart by strips of bacon, two kinds of cheese and a dollop of sauce.
Deciding what to eat, indeed deciding what qualifies as food, is not easy in such an environment. When Froot Loops can earn a Smart Choices check mark, a new industrywide label that indicates a product’s supposed healthfulness, we know we can’t rely on the marketers, with their dubious health claims, or for that matter on the academic nutritionists who collaborate on such labeling schemes. (One of them defended the inclusion of Froot Loops on the grounds that they are better for you than doughnuts. So why doesn’t the label simply say that?) Making matters worse, official government pronouncements about eating aren’t necessarily much more reliable, not when the food industry influences federal nutrition guidelines. But even when the “best science” prevails, that science can turn out to be misguided — as when the official campaign against saturated fat got us to trade butter for stick margarine loaded with trans fats, a solution that turned out to be worse than the problem.
If we can’t rely on the marketers or the government or even the nutritionists to guide us through the supermarket woods, then who can we rely on? Well, ask yourself another question: How did humans manage to choose foods and stay healthy before there were nutrition experts and food pyramids or breakfast cereals promising to improve your child’s focus or restaurant portions bigger than your head? We relied on culture, which is another way of saying: on the accumulated wisdom of the tribe. (Which is itself another way of saying: on your mom and your friends.) All of us carry around rules of thumb about eating that have been passed down in our families or plucked from the cultural conversation. Think of this body of food knowledge as samizdat nutrition: an informal, unsanctioned way of negotiating our eating lives that becomes indispensable at a time when official modes of talking about food have suffered a serious loss of credibility.
Sam Fromartz:
When it comes to sustainable ag, here's where your tax dollars are going
Here's a few things Congress did in conference for the 2010 ag appropriations bill, which now goes to the full house and senate.
The Organic Transitions Research Program was increased from $1.8 million last year to $5 million. This is a competitive grant program, which will fund research on the way organic farming affects water quality.
- The Value Added Producer Grants program was increased from $18.9 million last year to $20.4 million. This money can be used by farmers, ranchers, fisherman or other producers who want to "add value" to their underlying product, either by making a new product (flour from wheat, for example) or going for a particular label (like organic) that enhances a commodity's value.
- The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program had $5 million added to its $4 million mandatory base, so that $9 million will be available to help support rural microbusiness development in this program's first year. Food and farming can be among the businesses funded, though the entrepreneurs must be in rural areas. The Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) program was increased from $2.6 last year to $2.8 million. This service helps farmers with advice on sustainable agriculture issues.
- The Organic Marketing and Data Collection Initiative was increased from $500,000 to $750,000. The money will be used to analyze the organic market.
- Finally, funding for the National Organic Program (which just got a new director) went to $7 million from $3.9 million.
Future shock?
China Organic Agriculture's Green Future
China Organic Agriculture, Inc. (CNOA) is growing like a weed after entering the lucrative Chinese agricultural trading industry in a big way. The stock has already rallied some 250% from its 52-week low, but many investors see the trend continuing amid accelerating earnings and positive signs of a global economic recovery.
Solid Industry Outlook
China Organic actively sells and distributes agricultural products in China’s burgeoning economy and expanding middle class. The company has developed an extensive distribution network throughout several major cities within the country, while focusing on premium foods and organic products that are growing in demand among increasingly-wealthy consumers.
With a quarter of the world’s population and the largest middle class on Earth, China remains one of the most promising markets in the world. Meanwhile, retail sales of organic foods within this segment now exceed $1 billion in Asia, and the trend is gaining traction in China, which has the largest area of organic certified land of any Asian country.
This week in the world of organic booze hounds:
I'm slightly annoyed at the following headline. The term 'Bada Bing' was not used in The Godfather triology, but it played a considerable role in the HBO mafia-based television series, The Sopranos. Prattle and bother...
Bada Bing! 'The Godfather' Vodka Debuts
Paramount Pictures and Iconic Brands this week announced their upcoming launch of The Godfather Italian Organic Vodka.
Branded after the classic film The Godfather, the imported Italian vodka will begin rolling out in April 2010. “The celebrity niche in the drink sector these days is somewhat in vogue and lots of people are trying to do it,” said Richard DeCicco, CEO of Iconic Brands. “I think Paramount is realizing what a powerful brand ‘The Godfather’ is. The fact that ‘The Godfather’ has been the No. 1 grossing movie of all time, there seemed to be a nice opportunity.”
Certified Organic Sparkling Wine for Vegan-Friendly Holiday Parties
We've reported on the organic bubbly from Domaine Carneros - the only certified organic sparkling wine in the United States - before. Now, they are happy to report that theirsparkling wine is also vegan-friendly, and apparently always has been. Champagne and sparkling wine have animal products in them? Who knew?
The entire estate at Domaine Carneros, including the grapes grown for their sparkling wine and their pinot noir, are all certified organic. While the grapes have been grown organically for the last twenty years, they didn't get official California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) label until 2008.
My long-standing rule; anytime there's news about 713 hardy French men and women, I'll report it.
Posing Naked to Save French Organic Wines
This past weekend 713 hardy French men and women stripped down to send a message about climate change. They posed nude in French vineyards to warn the world about the impact of global warming on the French wine industry.
In Burgundy, the heart of the French vineyards, on a sunny day (luckily), Spencer Tunick posed the happy participants in four different poses; one with women alone, one with men alone and two more in different vineyards. Organised with Greenpeace, it's all part of the campaign to urge political leaders to take action in the lead up to theU.N.'s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.
Related Reading:
Obama's Farm Team
Wicked Cool World of Organics -Is a PR War Brewing?
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