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How we're scammed into eating phony food

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Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#321

Post by justratsinacoat »

AJ007 wrote: post #312
pipio21 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact is that nobody knows if GMO are healthy or not. This is like saying that "machines are safe". It makes not sense, there all all kind of machines you can design. You should study a specific machine case by case. Gene modification is enormous, and open to all kinds of unintended consequences. Just because we don't understand it yet it does not mean it is safe(we modify genes without really understanding what t…

The GMO issue should really be broken apart in to different parts. -GMO because tons of Roundup® has been dumped on it ~Is Roundup® safe? -GMO for marketing or other purposes but which could have features harmful to humans. ~How much, if any, scientific & statistically valid tests have been done? -GMO for any reason but could have features which disrupt the current flora & fauna of their environment. ~Can a problem b…

Don't forget

-GMO which is almost certainly owned by Monsanto ~Are we prepared to cede most of the benefits (and control; cf terminator seeds) of GMOs to a ruthless, aloof megacorp?

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#322

Post by savanaly »

m_mueller wrote: post #196
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #130

This article is so over the top that it borders on parody. Start with the title: "Everything we love to eat is a scam". I can provide lots of counter examples to that statement. Other statements with my comments "After reading it you’ll want to be fed intravenously for the rest of your life." - Look up total intraparenteral nutrition and see if you would prefer that to eating. "Escolar is so toxic that it’s been bann…

> By toxic the author means causes diarrhea due to unabsorbed oils/waxes. Oh, I see. No problem then, move along. > Zero calorie seafood, I never knew? Reading favourably before going into a rant is an important skill to have. If you try it, you'll see that the article has a good point with fake seafood, past the somewhat ridiculous comparison. > In reality, we have never had such abundant, safe food in the history o…

>So is everything good enough now? Should we never innovate again, because "look how bad people had it in the past"?

I don't think the guy you're responding to said we should never innovate again, just that the level headed response to today's food situation in the United States is not to declare there is an apocalypse, which is what the article is doing.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#323

Post by elbrownos »

rukuu001 wrote: post #84
cyberferret wrote: post #7

I am surprised this isn't more commonly known. Locally (Australia), there has been recent furore over the 'blueberries' in most foods (including blueberry muffins etc.) not actually being blueberries, but a bluey chemical gel. Also, a local delicacy, the Barramundi fish is commonly replaced in restaurants with the cheaper, imported, less tasty, commercially raised Nile perch. Same with prawns, where beautiful sea fre…

Additionally, most Australians (don't know about the rest of the world) have never eaten an actual scallop. Mostly they're discs hole-punched from skate wings (a skate's a bit like a stingray)

In the UK, most scampi (a crustacean) is actually monkfish tail.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#324

Post by xorcist »

pipio21 wrote: post #186
jokoon wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unrelated, but I was just debating GMO labels on "change my view" on reddit. I admit I was trolling that if GMO are healthy, then ultimately there is no harm in a neutral label. My comments got downvoted very hard. It boiled down that those labels would essentially be a form of misinformation, or that the uneducated public would make uninformed decisions. I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but the post got 400 comme…

The fact is that nobody knows if GMO are healthy or not. This is like saying that "machines are safe". It makes not sense, there all all kind of machines you can design. You should study a specific machine case by case. Gene modification is enormous, and open to all kinds of unintended consequences. Just because we don't understand it yet it does not mean it is safe(we modify genes without really understanding what t…

Well put, but there is more to GMO than health issues. How does it affect workers? How does it affect agriculture? How does it affect biodiversity? All of it interesting and worth studying in detail.

It is also a way to enact intellectual property regimes over the world's biggest industrial sector. It is worth looking at how this has affected other parts of the economy.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#325

Post by AngrySkillzz »

derefr wrote: post #54
dagw wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Darjeeling is a region in India. So darjeeling tea is like champagne in that if it isn't from that region it isn't actually Darjeeling.

But is tea distinguished by its terroir (like wine), or is it just a matter of cultivars (like bananas)? I.e. is Sri Lankan "Darjeeling" blind-taste-test-equivalent to Darjeeling from Darjeeling? I can support a concept of "growing regions" for foods where the growing region matters ; but otherwise, it's just bald monopolism.

Yes, it is. Ignore these other people. Darjeeling in particular has a subtle sweet white grape flavor that you will taste if it is real. Not all teas have a distinct terroir but Darjeeling in particular definitely does.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#326

Post by stephenr »

leroy_masochist wrote: post #318
stephenr wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There has never been good enforcement of governmentally-sanctioned standards pertaining to high quality farm produce in the US. I'm not sure what your intended meaning was here, but don't make the common american mistake of assuming if ($americanThing === TERRIBLE) { $anywhereThing = TERRIBLE; }

Not sure if English is your first language, but the meaning of the sentence you quoted is straightforward, so I'm not sure why you're extrapolating American chauvinism from what I wrote. The scope of my comments is explicitly limited to the US. FWIW, European enforcement is supposed to be much better but that's outside of my firsthand domain knowledge.

English is indeed my first language, but I don't know where you're from, and many claims along the lines of "X doesn't work" from an American view point, are in my experience, intended as "X doesn't work anywhere" - the scope of the author's experience/knowledge is irrelevant (see: health care, gun control, government in general, banking/finance regulation, etc)

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#327

Post by savanaly »

avree wrote: post #214
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #130

This article is so over the top that it borders on parody. Start with the title: "Everything we love to eat is a scam". I can provide lots of counter examples to that statement. Other statements with my comments "After reading it you’ll want to be fed intravenously for the rest of your life." - Look up total intraparenteral nutrition and see if you would prefer that to eating. "Escolar is so toxic that it’s been bann…

Did you include Chipotle as a joke, or is it somehow more "hipster" to you than McDonald's...? I really don't understand this comment. I agreed with the first sentence and then proceeded to get more and more lost until I got to the bottom and found your 'relevant' xkcd that has nothing to do with the article at all.

The Chipotle thing is a joke at the expense of Chipotle. They had a reputation as being greener, having real food, and being healthy, and then it turned out that a lot of people got food poisoning from food in their supply chain.

As for the xkcd, here's a guide to how it's relevant, as I interpret it: cheap wine is to American food as good wine is to real food.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#328

Post by cylinder »

true_religion wrote: post #282
ricksplat wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a really good example of food differences between USA and Europe. Something as simple as eggs: http://www.thejournal.ie/refrigerate-eggs-usa-europe-1809120... TLDR: European regulations force more stringent regulations on producers of eggs; therefore eggs are cleaner and you can store them for weeks without refrigeration. IMHO they've also got a much nicer colour.

This is why eggs in Denmark (as of my last visit) cost approximately 1.5x to 2.0x as much as eggs in the USA. There is a cost to having free-range eggs. There's a cost to controlling egg-quality so they can remain unwashed, and unrefrigerated for days. Now in the US, you can choose if you want to pay that cost and thus shop at different supermarkets that cater to your tastes. In the EU countries, you must pay the cos…

I buy Pasture Raised eggs from Whole Foods, about $6-$8 per dozen. Expensive but the only eggs I've found in the US with actual orange yolks like I found overseas. Even the farmers markets here disappoint. Pale yellow yolks are a very bad sign.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#329

Post by stephencanon »

CalRobert wrote: post #140
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is a huge worry for me. The quality of food in the US is atrocious. When I was there, almost nothing tasted as it should, everything tasted bland and mildly sweet. The only way I found to get decent meat was to buy ultra-posh organic stuff at ridiculous prices, and then it would be no more than on par with the cheapest meat I could buy in Spain. Even chocolate is affected! TTIP is one of the worst things th…

For what it's worth, I live Ireland and moved here after 30 years in the US. I agree that the TTIP is a terrible idea (and feels a bit like imperialism chasing after me as I exit). Food on the continent is a sheer delight for the senses. However, if you visit this fine emerald isle, you will find the US has no monopoly on bland, mildly sweet food. (To be fair, we _do_ have some pretty great cheese)

Cheese and bread. I would take good soda bread over almost any other country's national starch.

*and oysters, but one can't really take credit for the ocean currents.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#330

Post by Yhippa »

orf wrote: post #273
coldtea wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala Sort of makes my point. None of these have anybody (of statistically significant percentage) outside the UK salivating, or have ever created something like a "British restaurant" to be found abroad (like there are French or Italian restaurants everywhere). And even the best of this list was invented by taking from…

> None of these have anybody (of statistically significant percentage) outside the UK salivating Have you ever tried a traditional English pie? I'm a bit biased obviously, but as an anecdote my Italian co-worker who moved here recently absolutely loves them (and I can't help but say 'who ate all the pies, guido?' to him). They don't have that kind of pastry in their cuisine at all and he can't get enough of them. It'…

What do you consider to be a traditional English pie? I need to make sure I have one of these.
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