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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

#351

Post by Symbiote »

collyw wrote: post #225
koliber wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tomatoes are something of a passion of mine. The problems are exactly what you describe, with ensuring that transport will not ruin the fruit. Another facet is not only that the tomatoes are picked unripe, but also that the varieties that are grown are ones which optimize for being able to withstand long transport times as well as for uniformity. Consumers as a group like uniform, smooth, red-colored tomatoes, and th…

I don't seem to remember having a great choice in the UK. Either tomatoes or beefsteak tomatoes. Here in Spain you usually have at least 4 varieties in the supermarkets, often many more.

Amber, rosso, beefsteak, plum, cherry, orange rapture, San Marzano, Cheribelle, piccolo, sugardrop, temptation.

Hopefully that's enough for anyone!

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/grocery-categories/Tomatoes_i...

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#352

Post by vilmosi »

tremon wrote: post #341
vilmosi wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everywhere. I haven't stayed in a single hotel anywhere that doesn't serve English Breakfast. And I'm sure a lot of people are enjoying a Sunday Roast or a Chicken Tikka Masala every now and again. But of course, I know there are a lot of ignorant people in the world, which is why I admit the myth persists.

Chicken Tikka Masala That's not British though, it's Indian.

It's a British national dish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tikka_masala

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#353

Post by cylinder »

pipio21 wrote: post #172

Food in the US is sh*t. There are great things in the US and UK( from where it comes from), but food is so wrong there. I lived some years in Japan, I enjoyed the food. China, not so much, but is is so big you can find anything, they have gastronomical culture that is different and you have to get used to new flavors. The US totally lacks gastronomical culture. Everything is about money, and quantity. As an Spanish t…

You are going to be countered by some Americans who will as usual point to some niche examples. But theres no denying that most of the market for food is terrible. Even many of those upmarket niche examples are terrible because Americans really have underdeveloped pallettes until recently.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#354

Post by coldtea »

wtbob wrote: post #290
coldtea wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, if you visit this fine emerald isle, you will find the US has no monopoly on bland, mildly sweet food. Well, apart from whisky, nobody ever considered Ireland a place for good food. For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. Only by people who've no idea what they're talking about. British food got a bad reputation due to, I think, three factors: first, it's the native cuisine of the English-speaking world (which means both that people don't notice it and that there are a lot of cheap, poorly-executed examples to hand); second, rationing during and…

>Native English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish cuisines are all delicious.

Anybody that cares for it the way people globally care about French, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Japanese, even German etc food?

One can find more Korean BBQ joints than British restaurants the world over...

Let's put it this way: some countries have more interesting (to the world) cuisines than others. Not every national cuisine is of the same caliber.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#355

Post by EliRivers »

wyager wrote: post #298
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.

You can store European eggs for longer because they're unwashed, precisely because they're dirtier . It's a value judgement, and I don't think it should be regulated either way.

Being dirty doesn't magically make eggs last longer; these eggs don't need to be washed because they're not very dirty.

While I can't speak for all European eggs, you can store UK eggs for longer, outside the fridge, because they are likely to be significantly less dirty at the point of collection, the chickens they came from are less likely to be infected with salmonella, and because they are not subjected to a damaging process (washing) that aids the transfer of harmful substances from the outside of the egg to the inside.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#356

Post by tremon »

wildmusings wrote: post #184
pizza234 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The public is not made only/mainly of science-challenged people as you're subtly implying. There are other reasonable motivations for labeling GMO, ie. political and environmental (not all environmental reasons are "GMO is frankenstein food"). Moreover, the GMO scaremongering will last, as any other fad, for a limited amount of time. The part of public who rejects GMO for shallow (no) reasons, will quickly forget and…

I'm not so sure. People are still sure that MSG will slowly kill them, when it's actually been proven to be 100% harmless as far as we know. You still see "No MSG" labels on tons of food. Mandatory labeling gives the impression that it's relevant information. Whether your food is GMO is totally without consequence. I don't see why the government should burden and mislead the rest of us so you can more easily wage you…

it's actually been proven to be 100% harmless as far as we know

As was smoking, and sugar, and thalidomide. What about what we don't know yet?

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#357

Post by throwaway7767 »

ptaipale wrote: post #250
CalRobert wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps I choose not to buy GMO's because I find the notion of patenting the mechanics of life philosophically troubling. We're not all a bunch of anti-science luddites, you know.

Patenting mechanics of life and GMO are two separate issues not really connected to each other. There's plenty of plant development, for instance, that is covered by patents or patent-like protections, even if it's not GMO in the sense you talk about. (It's often GMO in the sense "let's take a bunch of seeds, expose them to radiation and carcinogens, and experiment with whatever comes out.) In some countries (e.g. mi…

> Patenting mechanics of life and GMO are two separate issues not really connected to each other. There's plenty of plant development, for instance, that is covered by patents or patent-like protections, even if it's not GMO in the sense you talk about.

You can maybe get a patent for the process, but can you get a patent for the resulting lifeform or its individual genes? My understanding is that you can not, but if that's wrong I'd love to be corrected.

I agree that gene patents and whether to use GMO manufacturing are two different issues, but given that all of the GMO companies seem to be grabbing patents on their products, not buying GMO products seems like a good way to not support these practices. Especially since we already have GMO labeling in some places, whereas patent-information markings are very unlikely to ever be implemented.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#358

Post by soundwave106 »

coldtea wrote: post #261
orf wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. As someone from the UK I take offense at that, sure we might not be on the same level as Italy or France (but really, who is?) but we have some great traditional food. Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala and of course the healthiest breakfast in the world. Tasty s…

> 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…

Maybe not restaurants per se, but there's quite a few British pubs around here that do serve some variety of British cuisine (usually fish n chips / pot pies / etc.)

I will also add that traditional British ales played a pretty huge role in fueling the underpinnings of the American homebrewing / craft brewing movements. Of course, us Americans transformed it entirely in a different direction from the British CAMRA "real ale" world. :) But some of the most popular American craft brew style clearly have clear British lineage: IPAs / pale ales, porters, and stouts.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#359

Post by ricksplat »

DanBC wrote: post #339
ricksplat wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you got a source for that? First result on google indicates otherwise http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-color-chart-find-out-w...

Ah, those are for the shell. I'm talking about the yolk. http://blog.chickenwaterer.com/2013/03/influencing-egg-yolk-... The shell appears to be genetic: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/why_are_chicken_eggs_different_...

Yeah I wasn't talking about that. Was talking about those creepy paper-white eggs you get stateside.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#360

Post by Symbiote »

avree wrote: post #215
lorenzhs wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It occurs naturally in many foods (at varying concentrations), but that doesn't mean we have to smother everything else in it. It makes snacks harder to resist, which is why industry likes it. That doesn't mean I have to like it. Its current usage basically encourages unhealthy eating habits.

It doesn't make snacks any harder to resist than salt. From a food production standpoint, MSG is a popular additive because it offers an affordable way to enhance the flavor of a wide variety of savory foods. MSG can also be used to reduce the amount of sodium in foods - it contains 30 percent less sodium than table salt, but its flavor-boosting ability keeps low-sodium foods palatable. All MSG does is add umami flav…

> All MSG does is add … an indicator of nutrition

I think you've made the point: not-very-nutritious food can be dosed with MSG, and then it seems nutritious.

That's what people object to.

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