Many health problems, like diabetes and cancer, are linked to what you drink. Not surprisingly, water is best drink bet. But Americans have increased their consumption of sweetened drinks like soda and juices a lot in the past thirty years. "About 21 percent of calories consumed by Americans over the age of 2 come from beverages, predominantly soft drinks and fruit drinks with added sugars." And even diet sodas don't get you off the hook, because of the lack of long-term safety data for artificial sweeteners. Wine, coffee, and milk are all recommended over sweet drinks.

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Wolfgang Puck's humane decision

Americans consume vastly more chicken, turkey, pork and beef than foie gras and veal, and most of the creatures those meats come from are raised in ways that are ethically and environmentally unsound. And so the New York Times lauds chef Wolfgang Puck's decision to "use products only from animals raised under strict humane standards" in all his restaurants. This means no more battery chicken or beef, but also no more foie gras. As a reader of this site, you're probably aware of my support for ethical and humane animal husbandry but also my support for foie gras.

I've read a lot about foie gras production, articles in support of it and articles against it. The one I found most enlightening was Jeffrey Steingarten's article for Men's Vogue from the spring of 2006, Stuffed Animals: Is foie gras the height of gastronomic pleasure or murder most fowl? His reports of stress studies done on foie gras ducks and geese conclude the animals are not in pain during the feeding process. And so I've felt comfortable eating foie gras on occasion.

Which leaves me in a troubling spot with regards to this editorial and Puck's decision. I want to fully support it, yet including foie gras bothers me. You don't need to measure the levels of corticosterone (a hormone closely associated with stress, reports Steingarten) in crated pigs or chickens to know they're stressed out. You can tell that because they chew off each other's tails (pigs) and peck each other to death (chickens) when kept on factory farms. And anything that relieves these animals from such deplorable conditions absolutely gets my support. But there seems to be a growing consensus that foie gras production is inhumane, and so it's included in decisions like Puck's. But if it's not inhumane, is that really fair? Or does the fact that someone is finally taking on the truly inhumane factory farm industry outweigh the loss of some succulent fatty liver? Honestly, I don't know.

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Larger portions are a reliable way to bolster the average check at restaurants. "So while it may cost a restaurant a few pennies to offer 25 percent more French fries, it can raise its prices much more than a few cents." And the Super Size was born. Some restaurants are struggling to reign in portion size, but it cuts into their profit margin (causing big trouble for publicly-traded companies) and customers complain they're not getting value. If only Americans prized quality the way they do value. I guess then we'd be France or Switzerland or something.

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Not sure how I missed this profile of chef David Chang, of Momofuku Noodle Bar and Momfuku Ssäm Bar fame. I've been a Noodle Bar fan for a while now, but only recently visit Ssäm since they changed the menu. (I had the burritos a couple times last fall and enjoyed them.) And oh what an idiot I've been! Now I've been twice to Ssäm and can't wait to get back there again very soon, like tomorrow, even though I was there last night! It's far and away my favorite new place to eat: comfy and friendly, relaxed service, and phenomenal food. I had scallops with a lychee gelee that I'm still thinking about nearly a week later! Jason wrote up our first visit there. I'm ssoo crazy for Ssäm!

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Best chocolate chip cookie search

Recently I've been on a kind of chocolate chip cookie mission, trying to find and make the best chocolate chip cookies possible. After dismissing the recipe on the back of the chip package, I was looking forward to making Adam Roberts' The Best Cookies Of Your Life. Last night I did, and I'm sad to report that while good, the cookies where not The Best of My Life. A little too thin for my taste. Of course, the other recipe I rejected for being too cakey, so clearly I'm difficult to satisfy.

Do you have a good recipe? I'm determined to find one I really enjoy, so if you've got something you think worthy, post it (or a link to it) in the comments. I'll bake all the ones I receive, and pass judgment when I'm finished. Let the cookie games begin!

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Buzzfeed's got two new food trends today: Unfiltered Olive Oil and Eating in the Dark. I've heard of unfiltered olive oil, but eating in the dark? Restaurants in China are in on the trend that has diners eating in total darkness, unable to see their spoons or dinner companions, never mind what they're actaully ingesting. Uh, no thanks.

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Demand for raw milk seems to be rising faster than cream in an unhomogenized gallon jug. Time reports on the apparently increasing efforts to shut down raw milk sellers around the US.

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The world’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, intends to phase out gestation crates for female pigs. "Of the 60 million pigs in the United States, over 95 percent are continuously confined in metal buildings, including the almost five million sows in crates. In such setups, feed is automatically delivered to animals who are forced to urinate and defecate where they eat and sleep." Gestation crates nearly immobilize pregnant females, and keep them from even being able to turn around.

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Now is the time for Sweet Sweet Passover Coke. Unlike regular Coke, which is made with high fructose corn syrup, Passover Coke is made with real sugar. Get it while it lasts and enjoy the superior flavor.

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Coming soon to the big screen near you: Julia Roberts as Ruth Reichl? It looks like Reichl's third book, Garlic and Sapphires, about her adventures as the restaurant critic for the New York Times, will be made into a movie. Reichl is an executive producer on the project and is hoping Robert's will play her. That could totally work, especially if Robert's hair is dyed black. Both have those big curly manes and giant teeth-filled smiles.

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Ignorant food policy mandates will soon lead us to ban mother’s milk, writes one New York Times reader in a letter to the editor, "loaded as it is with 'bad' things: cholesterol, saturated fat, sugar and trans fat." It would be funny if it weren't almost possibly true.

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Reader Feedback

Yesterday's post about Starbucks inspired a bit of reader email, some of which I will answer publicly here for everyone's benefit:

1. Don't you think that a major market force like Starbucks can come up with a better excuse than "it will take a couple of years". How many people would accept WalMart saying "It'll take a couple of years to get all our employees up to 40 hours a week". Starbucks has the power to say "non-rBGH milk NOW" and make it happen. - Teena

Teena, good point. It does seems like something that could be done rather quickly in most metropolitan areas, certainly New York. Check out the next reader email. - Meg

2. Not sure if you know about the Starbucks "Hold the Hormones" campaign. You can check it out at: www.holdthehormones.org. We know that Starbucks' stores in Northern California, New England, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska are all rBGH-free. For NYC, you'd have to ask at the stores whether or not they're rBGH-free. - Audrey

Audrey, great news. Sounds like they're making a lot of progress. With continued pressure from consumers, hopefully the process will be completed in less than a couple years.

3. Parmalat...is a brand of milk (check the intrigues involved with that Italian company), not a variety like 2%. - Joe

Yes, it is. I'm not sure I said anywhere that it wasn't.- Meg

Thanks for your thoughts folks, and keep those emails coming.

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Food 1, Meg 0

So today may be the day when I throw my hands in the air in frustration and give up when it comes to food. Yesterday I confirmed that my attempts to drink the occasional "healthy" latte precluded rBGH from my diet but yielded no nutritional value. Today I spot, from the Serious Eats blog, a link to this item about the value of eating oily fish for its Omega-3s only to discover "tuna counts only if it's fresh, so no points for that tuna mayo sandwich." What?! I've been eating so much more tuna these days because of everything I've read about tuna and Omega-3s.

Following the current nutritional dictates is confusing and no guarantee of success, regardless of whether they seem silly ("no carbs") or reasonable ("Yay Omega-3s"). So that's it. I'm done. I'm tired of over-thinking everything I eat. It's exhausting and it doesn't seem to do much good. I'm going to follow Michael Pollan's Nine Key Points and "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

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The succulent taste of forced rhubarb is infinitely more delicate than the kind grown in ordinary gardens. "The roots, or crowns, of outdoor rhubarb are left in the fields for two to three years and are then lifted, by hand, from November through to Christmas and replanted into low, dark forcing sheds where they are kept warm and moist as the shoots form." I wonder if it's like white asparagus compared to green, which is also grown in the dark. It sounds yummy, and there are a bunch of recipes linked at the end of the article.

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A 14 minute chicken? 4 minute lamb chops? A new oven, the TurboChef, promises to cook your foods up to fifteen times faster than conventional cooking methods. Soufflés in two minutes? How's that possible? A combination of convection oven and bursts of microwaves, using some "patented Airspeed Technology," could be yours for ~$8,000. But don't let the cost bother you, you'll make it up in volume on quick cooked soufflés and chickens.

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I don't frequent Starbucks very often, but when I do I order a latte with organic milk. The last time I did so, I noticed the barista pouring milk from a small square container, like the kind soy milk comes in. So yesterday I ordered a latte and paid attention and noticed that yes, the barista was pouring milk from a Parmalat organic milk carton. Parmalat is what's known as "shelf-stable" milk, meaning it doesn't need to be refrigerated. That's because it's been ultra-pasteurized, or heated to a higher temperature higher than normal pasteurization (280°F vs. 145°F). There are many people that believe ultra-pasteurized milk not only has no nutritional value, but also may be harder to digest because of changes in the protein structures of the milk itself. Needless to say, I try not to drink ultra-pasteurized milk.

Stabucks recently announced they'd be moving to rBGH-free milk in all their US stores. I drink organic milk because I don't want rBGH milk. But in the order of rBGH vs. organic vs. ultra-pasteurized, I wasn't sure which way to go. No more lattes started to seem like the best bet. I called Starbucks to confirm their organic milk was ultra-pasteurized, and to find out the time frame for the rBGH-free milk roll-out.

37% of Starbucks now use rBGH-free milk. I was told the process could still take a few more years to complete, but you can always ask at your local Starbucks to see the milk label. So possibly I could drink rBGH-free milk, if my local Starbucks have made the change. But if the haven't switched to rBGH-free, then organic is my only alternative. But my call confirmed their organic milk is ultra-pasteurized. I suppose this is for ease of shipping and storage, since there's probably less demand for organic. Regardless, I'm bummed. For now, my plan is no more lattes.

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Everything he makes tastes as good as it sounds disgusting. An examination of the Au Pied de Cochon cookbook, from Montreal's renowned restaurant of the same name. I really want to go there next time I'm in Montreal, whenever that will be.

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Wine Spectator asks Thomas Keller, Is there a "dream wine" that you'd love to have for your restaurants or your personal collection? And his response: "That's like when people ask, 'What's your favorite food?' Why limit yourself to one?" Exactly! Keller goes on to talk about what he loves about wine, how he serves it, and his favorite varietal, Zinfandel.

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Is your apartment filled with diamonds and cash and other valuables? Do you constantly struggle with where to hide such items in case a thief breaks in? Fret no more, my ruby-wearing reader! This iceberg lettuce safe looks like an unassuming head of lettuce, but in reality is a cleverly disguised safe. No thief will think of looking in your produce bin for cold cash -- unless s/he reads this site, but let's not worry about that now. $49.00 and it's yours. And they also sell soda can safes, in case you have more loot than a head of lettuce will contain.

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Three parts of the sheep episode of Kill It, Cook It, Eat It are available on You Tube: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. Part One introduces you to the slaughter process, Part Two shows the stunning and bleeding of a sheep, and Part Three shows the butchering. Hopefully the full episodes, in better quality, will appear online soon.

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Business Week wonders do meat and dairy products from cloned animals mean better-quality food at lower costs to consumers? There's a pro and a con argument. The pro argument is hardly convincing, and the con is only so-so. The comments are where the good stuff is. My favorite to date:

David M

March 7, 2007 10:16 AM

My No. 1 concern is not even the health risks like smoking that could rear their heads later in life, but the safety of cloned foods from the standpoint of reducing genetic diversity, thus making animals subject to quicker spread of disease. If most of the cows are clones and a virus or bacteria develops that kills them, what happens to our food security? That is why nature allows for genetic diversity through sexual reproduction. Nature has rules for a reason.

A later commenter raises the lessons learned (or not) from the Irish potato famine. But these days, science tends to get the short shrift in favor of other concerns like corporate profit or phony marketing strategies like "best meat." Meat tastes plenty good when the cows roam around freely and eat grass, and it's disingenuous for argribusiness to blame the "27% drop in beef consumption over the last three decades" on anyone but themselves. Stuffing beef full of corn on feedlots creates sick cows. And the beef passed on to consumers can make us sick as well, between the increase in saturated fat, the decrease in "good" fats like omega-3s, and the antibiotic remnants in their systems. Cloning only complicates the unstable situation we've created for ourselves. [via Serious Eats]

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To the F.D.A., there is no difference between the trans fat that occurs in cows and the kind that is artificially created and favored in large-scale food manufacturing. And to Starbucks as well, who are now demanding all bakery products be "trans-fat free". So your Starbucks croissant? Made with palm oil, not butter. Butter, milk, and beef all have naturally occurring trans fats. Does this mean no more cheeseburgers in NYC because of our trans-fat ban?

Updated: In case you were worried about your NYC burger, the answer to that question is no. The NYC ruling would only ban artificial trans fats, not naturally occurring ones.

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Kill It, Cook It, Eat It is a program (or programme, if you prefer) on BBC Three "to bring together the two key moments that are usually separated in our lives and minds: the death of the animal and the eating of its meat." Each episode follows the life of an animal from farm to slaughter, and how see how the animal is butchered and prepared for consumption. I wish the show were on here in the States, but it doesn't look like it's on BBC America. Anyone seen it?

Update: reader Teena H. sends a link to Ready, Aim, Grill on the Outdoor Channel that follows hunters through cathing their prey to grilling it in camp. Similar idea, but not quite the same. I get the idea the BBC program is about understanding where food comes from. This seems to be about improving the quality of food you eat in your hunting camp.

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Consumers are eating cheese -- they're just not eating enough of our cheese. Kraft tries to improve its bottom line after flat sales last year and a decrease in processed cheese consumption as consumers move towards healthier products, but is facing lawsuits because of its labeling. "Calling processed-cheese ingredients real cheese is legal, because while the Food and Drug Administration regulates many food-related claims, defining terms like 'low-fat' and 'organic,' it doesn't define other terms, including 'natural' and 'real.'" But it seems consumers aren't falling for "Real Kraft Cheese" anymore.

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Any tips on how to make the perfect cup of French press coffee? Lots of good suggestions over at the Kitchen for this one. I used to make a lot of French press, but laziness got the best of me and I switched to a Senseo (which I'm ashamed to admit). My coffee intake has declined dramatically in the past six months though. I think I've gotten spoiled by drinking espresso, and now anything dripped or pressed just tastes terribly strong and bitter.

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Local vs Organic in Time Magazine

When I saw that Time had a cover story, Eating Better Than Organic, about local food, I couldn't wait to read it. But now that I have, I must report that I'm disappointed with it. In some ways, it read like a really long blog post by someone who'd just found out about local food. The author, John Cloud, admits to being a big organic food buyer and begins to wonder about the flavor of local foods.

"[I]t makes sense that a snow pea grown by a local farmer and never refrigerated will retain more of its delicate leguminous flavor than one shipped in a frigid plane from Guatemala."

He then tastes local foods, interviews the usual subjects, such as John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, and visits Google's HQ in California to check out their local-only cafeteria, Café 150. Of course, he also joins his local CSA. (CSAs have "some lefty aspects" he warns. He mentions "lefty" twice in reference to CSAs, I'm not sure what makes a CSA particularly lefty, or righty, for that matter.) After a visit to his CSA though, he's confused again, because while the local food tastes great, he's "deflated to hear that I had ingested chemicals with my fruit and eggs." The free-range chickens whose eggs he's been enjoying feed on some conventionally-grown grain in addition to grass. Ultimately, he decides "I prefer local to organic, even with the concessions local farmers must make."

I suppose the article is good as an introduction to the topic (and for such a general audience as Time's) but I wish there'd been a bit more depth in it. There was no mention of several studies that question the viability of local as more energy-efficient than organic from a distance. (The argument being a solo farmer driving his diesel truck 300 miles round-trip to the market isn't kind on the environment than a single container ship bringing millions of grapes from Chile. Economies of scale stuff, you know?) There was also no discussion of the degradation of the label "organic", or any real examination of "sustainable" in the context of either organic or local. I know, it's for Time. I should be happy the issue's getting attention at this level, but still, it's so important, and I'd like to see it done a bit more justice. Especially if the article's going to run five pages!

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The ability to drink [cows'] milk is the most advantageous trait that's evolved in Europeans in the recent past. From the BBC's article: "Although the benefits of milk tolerance are not fully understood, they probably include the advantage of a continuous supply compared with the 'boom and bust' of seasonal crops, its nourishing qualities, and the fact that, unlike stream water, it's uncontaminated with parasites, making it safer."

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As with wine grapes, the source of cacao beans is supposed to result in distinct flavors and aromas. And like that, terroir makes its way into the chocolate lovers' lexicon and the search is on for single-origin chocolates. Even Hershey's is now producing the higher-quality chocolate.

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Is there sexism in restaurant service? Tim Zagat says "Overwhelmingly, people say men are treated better than women" in responses for his guide. Sounds a bit chicken and egg, servers say women tip poorly so they don't get great service. But if you get a crappy table and poor service, would you leave a great tip?

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When people ask, “what is your goal with this?” I say, “I want people to feel.” Great interview with Grant Achatz of Alinea over at Chicagoist. Makes me realize it's been almost a year since my visit there. I've got to go back! [via Jason]

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Today is National Pig Day and that can only mean one thing folks: it's all pig, all day over at Serious Eats! That means there will be pig content on the blog, more pig video, and best of all, a feature by Ed listing some of the best places to get pig and pig products throughout the US. Oink-a-licious! National Pig Day may be my favorite holiday ever.

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