How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food • Hacker News Board

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#131

Post by cortesoft » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 1:27 AM UTC

squish78 wrote: post #32

kevinmchugh wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I buy them from the butcher at the end of my block who make them in house, they're not real food? If the butcher makes them at the store and takes them home, they're not real food? What if I make them at my house and take them to someone else's home?

I wish HN had a dial to turn down the pedantry

It isn't pedantry, though. People talk about 'real' food, but they don't really have an idea of what that means except that it 'feels' real. I think this goes a long way to show that 'real' food is a meaningless statement, and we should stop using it... it doesn't mean we are pedantic.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#132

Post by undersuit » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 1:31 AM UTC

Pfhreak wrote: post #106

grecy wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even easier - only buy and cook/eat things from the supermarket that have one ingredient.

Really? It'd be hard to give up miso, or fish sauce, or chocolate. Or beer. Or gochujang. Cheese. Baking powder. Mustard... I could make some of these things myself, but that's a pretty tall order.

>I could make some of these things myself, but that's a pretty tall order.

Maybe that's the point. You mention chocolate, 100% chocolate exists but children aren't going to ever eat it when there's a Hershey bar available.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#133

Post by heavyset_go » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 1:31 AM UTC

somurzakov wrote: post #71

quick rule of thumb I developed - if product has long shelf life and does not require refrigeration - it is probably unhealthy. fruits and veggies get optimized for heavier weight per piece and longer shelf life, instead of taste. Same thing for every other grocery product.

You can jar fresh fruit and vegetables with a pressure cooker and they will have an incredibly long shelf life.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#134

Post by paulcole » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 1:37 AM UTC

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #94

namdnay wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ingredients for mozzarella are: buffalo milk, salt and rennet (and a bit of leftover whey for the bacteria). I’m sure there is far more in a packet of “cheese strings” than that

Lets test the claim out. https://www.frigocheeseheads.com/en/products/everyday-snacki... > INGREDIENTS: Low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese (pasteurized part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Mozzarella-String-Che... > Ingredients: Pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes https://www.sargento.com/our-cheese/string-stick/string-chee... > Pasteurized Reduced…

To be fair, they listed 3 ingredients and the ones you listed have 4-5. That’s an increase of 33-66%.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#135

Post by hansthehorse » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 1:42 AM UTC

nimbius wrote: post #109

somurzakov wrote: post #71

quick rule of thumb I developed - if product has long shelf life and does not require refrigeration - it is probably unhealthy. fruits and veggies get optimized for heavier weight per piece and longer shelf life, instead of taste. Same thing for every other grocery product.

>if product has long shelf life and does not require refrigeration - it is probably unhealthy. Beef Jerky, dried chiles beans and legumes, as well as canned vegetables would beg to differ. steel cut Oats, carefully stored, will easily survive close to a decade. naturally fermented pickles can last months on end as well. In the US, canned beans and frozen vegetables are among the most opulent excesses of the boomer er…

The trucking industry depends on comically low driver wages not low fuel prices, although fuel costs are a factor. An over the road trucker used to be able to support a family easily, making 80k in todays money in the 70s and 80s. Today they can expect to make an average of 40k working for a trucking company.

There is a severe shortage of over the road drivers and I believe this is the major reason. It's a tough and unhealthy life and the money incentive is gone.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#136

Post by elfexec » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 1:43 AM UTC

More like how marketing and PR in the 20th century made americans believers of the garbage we eat today.

The OJ industry funded PR tricked americans into thinking sugar laden orange juice was healthy and to be included in every breakfast. The same with cereal by Kellog. And PR somehow convinced us that the processed swill called microwavable dinners was actually food.

The rise of PR in the 1900s and its use by the food industry fundamentally altered americans' diet for the worse. Now the same PR machine is being slowly used by processed alt-meat/vegan industry. Profit rather than health is driving american's diet and it hasn't been good for the well being of the average american.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#137

Post by hansthehorse » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 1:49 AM UTC

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #124

dragontamer wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All fats can substitute for each other depending on recipe. It will taste different but it's really fun to replace fats with other fats. Ex, bacon grease works in more recipes than you'd expect. Just memorize their smoke points, the point where a fat begins to burn. Shortening has a very high smoke point, but that is only relevant if you expect the temperature to go above 400F, such as the mallard reaction (aka the t…

>> You'll learn pretty quick when a fat burns quickly. Olive oil and bacon grease burn at really low temperatures and will create a thick cloud of smoke as it burns. I was wondering about that because it's mentioned in the article also: I don't understand why people say that olive oil burns easily. Look at the table you posted: the smoking point of two qualities of olive oil ("virgin" and "extra virgin, low acidity,…

Avocado oil has a 520 degree smoke point and a neutral taste. I have completely switched to it (I buy it at Costco) and use olive oil only for salads or tomato/mozzarela combinations and things like that.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#138

Post by refurb » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 2:15 AM UTC

paulcole wrote: post #134

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets test the claim out. https://www.frigocheeseheads.com/en/products/everyday-snacki... > INGREDIENTS: Low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese (pasteurized part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Mozzarella-String-Che... > Ingredients: Pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes https://www.sargento.com/our-cheese/string-stick/string-chee... > Pasteurized Reduced…

To be fair, they listed 3 ingredients and the ones you listed have 4-5. That’s an increase of 33-66%.

That’s not a fair assessment at all. The grandparent made a claim and was proven to be clearly wrong.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#139

Post by Spooky23 » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 2:22 AM UTC

joecool1029 wrote: post #121

open-source-ux wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"if product has long shelf life and does not require refrigeration - it is probably unhealthy" There are a lot of exceptions though: dried lentils and pulses, pasta, ground spices (and to a less extent whole spices). Tinned fruit, vegetables, beans and pulses are often fine too. Some vegetables, like onions and potatoes, can be stored for many weeks in a cool environment (not in the refrigerator). Also, UHT milk has…

> Also, UHT milk has a long shelf life and is not unhealthy, although it tastes awful. Sure you're not getting it confused with evaporated milk? UHT milk doesn't taste much different at all, maybe the slightest caramel flavor. I swapped to it when I got tired of running out of milk at random, now I can just stock the pantry and always grab a spare when I kick the one in the fridge.

You’re probably in an area where the dairies have consolidated and milk tastes like crap.

UHT milk is not at all tasty compared to normal milk and has a different consistency. I like it as an alternative beverage or coffee creamer, especially for camping.

Re: How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

#140

Post by pkroll » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 2:24 AM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #19

serbrech wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why do you need such shortenings, can't you use the original version of all the shortening... butter? I have never seen "shortenings" in france. pastries is done with butter and that's all.

Depends on the recipe I want to use. Tortillas call for lard, and I don't think butter would be a good substitute on that. (Actually, I think the only reason I have lard/shortening is to make flour tortillas) But you are correct, I would prefer to use butter when I can! EDIT: My parents are also vegan, and I like to cook with them. So I also use it then.

Lard is also good for frying potatoes, though no where near the tastiest (beef fat used to be used for McD's fries, duck fat is amazing... probably goose fat though I've never actually had that one).