Food and Tell » Health

Breaking News: Judge Reserves Decision on Raw Milk

jonathan — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:26:04 +0000

Read about it and see photos here.

Battle Cheese

jonathan — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:49:42 +0000

The battle over pasteurized cheese has come to BC. Here’s the skinny: all milk and dairy sold in Canada has to be pasteurized, unlike in Europe, where you can get all kinds of Artisan cheeses worth weeping over.

In recent years, co-ops have sprung up in Canada that allow you to buy proportional ownership in a cow. Dividends come in the form of milk, that the co-ops make into Artisan cheeses and butter and other treats. These are small organizations that take good care of their livestock and produce some outrageously delicious dairy products. This has been getting around the pasteurization laws, because owning the cow means you own the milk, which takes the government controls out of the picture.

However, the government and the dairy board lobby groups have been taking this head-on, with a public fight in Ontario, which they just lost. The fight has now come to BC, and one of the local co-ops, www.homeontherangefarms.com, is organizing a rally on Monday Feb 1, 9am, in front of the New Westminster Supreme Court. If they can get enough people confirmed as attending, Michael Schmidt will attend too, the Dairy Farmer who just successfully defended his co-op in Ontario.

Certainly this issue is a contentious one, with the associated health issues and the issues of scale and precedent. But if you have ever had a proper farmhouse cheese from France or Britain, chances are you have little patience for the uptight position of the Canadian government.

update: Michael Schmidt will attend the rally, and homeontherangefarms.com is holding a meeting monday night with Michael (inlcuding a cheese tasting) – contact Jackie for information and to RSVP: Jacki from bcfoodies, 604 306 7720, jackie@bcfoodies.com

LINKS

www.homeontherangefarms.com

contact homeontherangefarms here

Articles:

CBC , More CBC

Medbroadcast

Great long article from 2008 in Harper’s Magazine (thanks karl!)

Photo credit: scpgt on Flickr CC NC ND

Slimming Chefs

jonathan — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:25:22 +0000

I have often thought about what it must be like for cullinary professionals to suddenly find themselves being viewed by millions on the food network. The kitchen is not a lifestyle that promotes a lean body, which is the only reason that Gordon Ramsay gets away with showing off his chest in every episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

Time magazine has a fluffy article about this topic and bunch of celebrities who have lately taken to losing weight, including the manic Alton Brown and even gourmand Mario Batali.

Photo Credit: clarita on Morguefile

Salted to Sell

jonathan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:12:31 +0000

A recent analysis on the sale content of 260 food products across the globe, undertaken by a British-based organization called World Action on Salt and Health, (or WASH – they sound like killjoys) has determined that Canada’s products were among the saltiest, often 200-300% saltier than the same products in the US or the UK. Salty dog! I don’t know what the average consumer can really do with this information other than reduce the amount of crap food you eat, and sprinkle Fleur de Sel on fresh food instead.

via CBCnews

Photo by PhyrePh0X on Flickr, CC-NC-SA