The new food morality

The Hoover Institution recently published this piece on the shifting morality of food and sex. Take it for what it's worth, but the increasing religious/mystical component of food and its followers is a subject deserving of more exposure. This serious essay provides a good deal of it.

Food mythology momentum

The tide is shifting, it seems.
While there are still outbreaks of breathless nonsense about food (acai, anyone?), the amount of writing I bump in to that tries to deflate all the puffery about cuisine and diet has increased. Take this piece that's right on the nose about food mythology.

More truth from The Onion

One of the unfortunate, and inexcusable, reasons that my motivation for food writing has waned is because the ether is so filled with "foodie" hot air. Sometimes it's best to let others make a very simple point, like this.

2009

A friend scolded me, correctly, for being away for so long. So I'm back.
Ruhlman posted this (profane) video on his blog. But I thought it was worthy of a rebroadcast, so to speak, and addresses more food nonsense that I love to poke at. More to come. Until then, enjoy.

Nutritionists

Just read the first part of this article by Michelle Slatalla of the New York Times and you'll see why nutritionists should reside below members of congress on popularity lists. To summarize, the article is really about the increasing popularity of community agriculture - monthly baskets of local fruits and vegetables - a swell idea. But the story features an episode in which the author and her husband, sipping beer on their stoop, cower from a nutritionist neighbor in order to avoid talking about their cholesterol-laden dinner choice. It's written cutely, maybe facetiously. But not completely. And that's enormously sad, silly, and even counterproductive for anyone who claims to be "health conscious." Why?
Well, there's the real oversight of Ms. Slatalla. She prominently features Michael Pollan's School of Sensible Eating in her piece. Yet Pollan himself is entirely dismissive of nutritionism, as he should be. Nutritionists have been wrong about food and its human effects for nearly a century. Few fields of study seem to be as filled with nonsense, poor science, unwarranted fear, and bad rules to live by. Yet Slatalla shares the sentiments of many when claiming to fear a confrontation with her nutritionist neighbor. And for what reason? Because she planned to "grill a big fat steak brushed with butter" for dinner. The horror! Not only that, but she then feels the need to make amends by sharing their desire to include more vegetables in their diet. Bully for them, but why in the world should that matter to anyone else, including their assumedly nosy nutritionist friend?
So this is where we are, apparently - conditioned to feel guilty, or worse, for eating a steak. I'll pass. Oh, and for dinner tonight, grilled vegetables with plenty of olive oil flavored with some local pork sausage. For god's sake, don't mention it to any of my neighbors.

Screw you, Powerbar

I suspect there will be plenty more evidence, like this, emerging that supports the idea that most athletic-related food is bogus. Good.
How can one be inherently pro-commerce yet anti food hucksterism you might ask? Simple. The market works most effectively with the widest possible access to information, including research that debunks all the food nonsense that is taken as fact. Powerbar, and all the athletic-focused dreck on the market, is a small, brief blip in American food history. The sooner they become history, because consumers choose real food over their stuff, the better.

A (glancing) blow to the food puritans

Chicago has lifted its 2-year-old ban on foie gras. Such news would typically merit open celebration as legislators are rightfully shamed in to removing themselves from your dinner choices. But, as the article makes clear, there is no moral victory in what seems to be another example of legislative spinelessness and railroading (no, not unique to Chicago, but it sure seems that way).
Moreover, I confess that...I don't love foie gras. That's right. And the practice of force feeding geese seems just odd. Nothing that keeps me awake at all at night. But, odd. None of which encourages the slightest desire to have our fearless legislators ban the practice. As always I appreciate the voice of the people - the dining public. If and when they decide not to buy the stuff any more, that'll be fine with me.