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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

#431

Post by bprieto »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #408
bprieto wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try spanish olive oil. I'm spanish, so I probably have a bias. You can have pretty decent olive oil for less than 4 euros / litre here so olive oil is the only oil I use. If you buy oil bottled in Spain look for the "extra virgin olive oil" label: Aceite de oliva virgen extra. We are pretty serious with labeling around here, so you won't be fooled. There are varieties like picual, hojiblanca, arbequina or cornicabra…

4 euros per liter is crazy. In the US, even the cheapest crappy olive oil is $20/liter

In Spain 20 euros buys you a liter of the best specialty extra virgin olive oil. This is why good olive oil poured over a toast covered with pureed tomatoes is such a popular breakfast.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#432

Post by casta »

orf wrote: post #428
casta wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't an English pie be similar to something like "torta pasqualina"? It's not usual to see a pie with meat in Italy, usually its filling it's all vegetables/eggs, seldom some ham. There are plenty though.

> Wouldn't an English pie be similar to something like "torta pasqualina"? Nope, nothing like that, I think. English pies use thicker pastry, are filled with gravy and never anything green. Something like this[1] gives you an idea. Perhaps it's the sort of equivalent, but the Italian I work with says there is nothing like them that he's ever had in Italy. 1. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3148692/dads-beef-mushro…

If I search "traditional English pie" I see images of something more similar to what I suggested than the image you linked.

I'm in the U.S., so the search results might be affected by my location.

edit: I tried on google.co.uk and I get more results similar to what you suggested.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#433

Post by ptaipale »

throwaway7767 wrote: post #357
ptaipale wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>...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.

Yes, you can get a patent. There are even organisations that aspire to patent organic plant variants that obviously aren't GMO. [0]

>given that all of the GMO companies seem to be grabbing patents on their products

No, not all are. First of all, not all developers of GMO technology are even companies - they may be universities or government agencies, for instance [1]. The widespread and misguided opposition to GMO technology works to the benefit for large companies (like Monsanto), though, because they have the resources to hire enough lawyers to manage the process where it matters.

Secondly, there's nothing "grabbing" about filing for patents or equivalent IPRs for plant variants; it's what you need to do to protect your variant even when you plan to release it into public domain (so that a malicious party would not claim them).

[0] https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/08/07/challengin...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rice

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#434

Post by orf »

casta wrote: post #432
orf wrote: post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wouldn't an English pie be similar to something like "torta pasqualina"? Nope, nothing like that, I think. English pies use thicker pastry, are filled with gravy and never anything green. Something like this[1] gives you an idea. Perhaps it's the sort of equivalent, but the Italian I work with says there is nothing like them that he's ever had in Italy. 1. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3148692/dads-beef-mushro…

If I search "traditional English pie" I see images of something more similar to what I suggested than the image you linked. I'm in the U.S., so the search results might be affected by my location. edit: I tried on google.co.uk and I get more results similar to what you suggested.

Yeah I think that's google trickery. How strange though, I would have thought the search "traditional English pie" shouldn't/wouldn't be affected by the location.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#435

Post by casta »

orf wrote: post #434
casta wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I search "traditional English pie" I see images of something more similar to what I suggested than the image you linked. I'm in the U.S., so the search results might be affected by my location. edit: I tried on google.co.uk and I get more results similar to what you suggested.

Yeah I think that's google trickery. How strange though, I would have thought the search "traditional English pie" shouldn't/wouldn't be affected by the location.

If you search "Carbonara" in the U.S. you get something with cream, peas and garlic.

So, it's definitely affected. :)

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#436

Post by sampo »

CalRobert wrote: post #249
sampo wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anything, GMO products should be be much safer than non-GMO, because they have gone through a much stricter approval process.

Surely the thousands of years of human civilizations consuming non-GMO products should count as a fairly strict approval process?

For example, the Honeycrisp apple was created in 1960, not thousands of years ago. Incidentally, it was also patented (in 1988, expired in 2008).

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

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#437

Post by mixmastamyk »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #408
bprieto wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try spanish olive oil. I'm spanish, so I probably have a bias. You can have pretty decent olive oil for less than 4 euros / litre here so olive oil is the only oil I use. If you buy oil bottled in Spain look for the "extra virgin olive oil" label: Aceite de oliva virgen extra. We are pretty serious with labeling around here, so you won't be fooled. There are varieties like picual, hojiblanca, arbequina or cornicabra…

4 euros per liter is crazy. In the US, even the cheapest crappy olive oil is $20/liter

Trader Joe's has it for $6.99-9.99, though after reading this article, I'd like to hear some confirmation on its quality.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#438

Post by sampo »

joshu wrote: post #347
sampo wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> would we need to do genetic testing or is there something cheaper? I would assume that DNA sequencing services are pretty cheap nowadays. You would need to understand basic genetics to be able to request them to sequence sites that suit your needs, and then you would need to interpret the results yourself when you get the data. 23andme does a pretty comprehensive profile for $199, and to figure out the species of a…

23andme does SNPs, not large scale sequencing. I don't think it knows what to do without a library. I have actually researched full genome sequencing. That is why I asked if there was a cheaper way to do it.

You need nothing like full genome sequencing to figure out the species of a sample. Just sequencing some mitochondrial D-loop and cytochrome regions will do. I am not sure exactly, but we're talking some hundreds or some thousands of base pairs only.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#439

Post by woobar »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #408
bprieto wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try spanish olive oil. I'm spanish, so I probably have a bias. You can have pretty decent olive oil for less than 4 euros / litre here so olive oil is the only oil I use. If you buy oil bottled in Spain look for the "extra virgin olive oil" label: Aceite de oliva virgen extra. We are pretty serious with labeling around here, so you won't be fooled. There are varieties like picual, hojiblanca, arbequina or cornicabra…

4 euros per liter is crazy. In the US, even the cheapest crappy olive oil is $20/liter

Check out Costco. Their brand is not only cheap, but one of the few that are real. The price went up since 2010, but it is still around $10/l.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/5-things-you-should-buy-at-costc...

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#440

Post by darkarmani »

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.

> but otherwise, it's just bald monopolism.

Since when does a "mark" create a monopoly? Who would stop Sri Lanka from selling the same species of tea?

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