I've Been Thinking About This For Awhile

I sometimes dread going into the Netflix documentary listings because of the number of food documentaries that are there.  Not that I have anything against food documentaries in general, but it's just that it seems like the goal of a lot of these filmmakers is just simply to bash the big business of food.  Whether it's over genetically modified food or fast food or whatever grievance they have about the food industry, it basically almost always ends with the same message -- either it's to just simply bash the industry or to get people to eat organic.

So far, the only real documentary that I've seen on the subject that I've liked is "Fat Head" (which I reviewed in my last post).  I watched "Supersize Me" when it came out on video, and thought it was entertaining enough as a piece of fiction.. Most of these documentaries I looked at the description adn it turned me off.

Penn and Teller have had some decent shows on the topic of food. The "Eat This!" episode tackles not only diets but also GM food and food snobbery.  And the "Organic Food" episode tackles the idea that organic food is better for us.

But all this talk about food and the politics behind it just got me thinking about doing my own documentary on the subject.  As much as I liked "Fat Head," it's still advocating a particular diet (something close to Atkins, which I plan on starting soon).  What I would like to look at is the industry of food politics. You have so many documentaries and shows on the subject, what is the ultimate goal? And are they really changing minds?

I think I would have to figure out financing on a project and resources before starting.  But it would be interesting.

"Fat Head" -- You HAVE To Watch This!

Tom Naughton is a comedian and former nutrition writer who has created a documentary that is not only eye opening, but also very funny.

Going after Morgan Spurlock's documentary "Supersize Me," where Spurlock went after the fast food industry by living on fast food for 30 days to prove that the industry was purposely making people fat, Naughton sought out to prove that people could lose weight eating fast food for 28 days.  At the same time, Naughton also advocates for a high saturated fat, low carb diet citing numerous studies that show that saturated fats do not cause heart disease as we've been told, but that those things we were told that are supposed to be healthier, such as processed oils like corn and soybean, are worse.

Along with parodying certain aspects of Morgan Spurlock's documentary, Naughton also takes information that could possibly be very dry and makes it entertaining.  With a lot of research on his side, Naughton doesn't simply present the facts -- he presents them in a way that anyone can understand.

If you have a Netflix account, it is now available for streaming. Otherwise you can either watch the film on Hulu or get the DVD from fathead-movie.com. 

Newsweek Goes Beyond Food Snobbery

Okay, this article was making the rounds yesterday.  I first saw it linked from Fark, but have seen it in a few other places since.

The author, Lisa Miller, is trying to make a point on how food has become the new marker to social class.  But she kind of loses me when she starts the article out this way.

For breakfast, I usually have a cappuccino—espresso made in an Alessi pot and mixed with organic milk, which has been gently heated and hand-fluffed by my husband. I eat two slices of imported cheese—Dutch Parrano, the label says, “the hippest cheese in New York” (no joke)—on homemade bread with butter. I am what you might call a food snob. My nutritionist neighbor drinks a protein shake while her 5-year-old son eats quinoa porridge sweetened with applesauce and laced with kale flakes. She is what you might call a health nut. On a recent morning, my neighbor’s friend Alexandra Ferguson sipped politically correct Nicaraguan coffee in her comfy kitchen while her two young boys chose from among an assortment of organic cereals. As we sat, the six chickens Ferguson and her husband, Dave, keep for eggs in a backyard coop peered indoors from the stoop. The Fergusons are known as locavores.

Do I really care about what kind of pot you made your coffee in?  I don't even have a coffee pot in my house! (Not necessarily because we can't afford one, but because it would take up counter space and we tend to be tea drinkers, mostly) Telling me what kind of a pot you make your coffee in goes beyond food snobbery.  It's just plain snob.

From later in the article:

And so the conversation turns to the difficulty of sharing their interpretation of the Pollan doctrine (ed. note: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan) with the uninitiated. When they visit Dave’s family in Tennessee, tensions erupt over food choices. One time, Alexandra remembers, she irked her mother-in-law by purchasing a bag of organic apples, even though her mother-in-law had already bought the nonorganic kind at the grocery store. The old apples were perfectly good, her mother-in-law said. Why waste money—and apples?

The Fergusons recall Dave’s mother saying something along these lines: “When we come to your place, we don’t complain about your food. Why do you complain about ours? It’s not like our food is poison.”

This just strikes me as rude.  You're telling your host that what they cook isn't "good enough."  You don't make any converts to your cause this way.  We tolerate it because we are in your home.  If you want to be stupid enough to pay $5 for a carton of eggs just because they say "free range," be my guest.  But when you are facing an economy where people are trying to save money in any way possible, expensive apples don't come across as being "healthy" or "smart."

Miller tends to think this gulf between lower vs. upper class is now divided by food.  To me, the food issue is more of an issue of politics.  If I get anything that's labeled "organic," it's usually because by some miracle it might be cheaper than the regular stuff.  You won't see much "organic" or "free trade" items in my pantry for the simple fact that 1) it's more expensive on average, and 2) it's not necessarily healthier just because the word "organic" is on the label.  If you have an entire cupboard of organic food, I'm going to assume you're a lefty.

If Miller really wanted to make a difference in the chasm, she would donate some of that overpriced food to a food pantry.

Interesting...

Looks like Cap and Trade is off the table until at least next year because of Obamacare.

With the fight over health care reform absorbing all the bandwidth on Capitol Hill, Democrats fear a major climate change bill may be left on the cutting-room floor this year.

A handful of key senators on climate change are almost guaranteed to be tied up well into the fall on health care. Democrats from the Midwest and the South are resistant to a cap-and-trade proposal. And few if any Republicans are jumping in to help push a global warming and energy initiative.

As a result, many Democrats fear the lack of political will and the congressional calendar will conspire to punt climate change into next year.

“The reality is [the health reform bill] is going to happen before cap and trade,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Collin Peterson, who’s been working with farm-state senators on the climate legislation. “Who knows if it will ever come out of the Senate?”

Is it possible that we might get our elected officials to read the bills they write?

You're Going To Cry Over a Dead Tree?

Seriously???



Incidentally, Penn and Teller this week focused on the Organic Food movement. And blew a hole into all the arguments that people make about organic versus non-organic. I think it was a coincidence that they aired it the week that a new study came out that said there was no significant difference in nutrition between organic and non-organic. (warning: NSFW for language and nudity towards the end)

New Study: Organic Food Is Not Healthier

The study says that the difference between organic and non-organic food as far as benefits are negligible.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.

A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," said Alan Dangour, one of the report's authors.

"Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority."

So think about that the next time you're in the grocery store.

What We'd All Like To Do To Prius Owners

Disclaimer: No, I don't really advocate doing this to anyone who owns a Prius.

But the commercial's pretty funny.

80,000 Jobs in California Potentially Lost...

Because of a stupid fish.

Actor and comedian Paul Rodriguez, a Democrat, went on Hannity's show to talk about how, because of the Endangered Species act, farmers in Fresno, CA -- a place where the majority of our fresh food comes from -- can not get water for their crops because the Delta Smelt, which is on the list of Endangered Species, lives in the creek where these farmers were getting their water.



Usually the Endangered Species Act is used against private homeowners, so it didn't get as much play. But with the local government not wanting to compromise with the farmers, we are about to lose a whole industry. I hope that you like apples from Chile, because food prices are going to go up if we can't get local food.

I'm trying to find the episode of Penn and Teller: BS! that they did on Endangered Species Act. If anyone knows where I can find it, I'll embed it here or link to it.

A Reminder: "The Goode Family"

I wrote about this show briefly before, so consider this a reminder.

ABC will be airing a new show from Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butthead," "King of the Hill," "Office Space") called "The Goode Family" about a family of environmentalists starting tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

The father (voiced by creator Mike Judge) "comes from a long line of overeducated academic liberals," according to the show's information. The mother (Nancy Walls Carell, "The Daily Show") is a local activist who is looking to go on the "big stage" of activism. Their adopted son Ubuntu (David Herman, "MadTV") is from South Africa. Their daughter Bliss (Linda Cardellini, "Scooby-Doo," "Freaks and Geeks") often disagrees with her parents and pokes holes in their philosophies. And their dog Che is also made a vegan, but often tries to eat the neighborhood animals and pets because he's craving meat in his diet.

I will be most likely reporting on the pilot once I get a look at it and giving my own review. Usually Mike Judge is right on the money.

The Most Hated Man On The Internet

And he's a liberal! How appropriate!

"Wife Swap" had an interesting episode not too long ago. The Long family are a midwestern family from Missouri that enjoy their ATVs, paintball, and fast food. The Fowler-Stevens family enjoy their organic food, exercise, and education.

Like any episode of "Wife Swap," the two families had their disagreements. But when Gayla Long got together with Stephen Fowler, Fowler really showed how much of an intellectual snob he was, constantly berating the poor woman throughout the episode and showing himself to be a big, big bully.

Here's part one.



The rest of the episode can be found here.

You know, I kind of fall in-between worlds, myself. I'm from the East Coast, but I grew up in a more working class lifestyle. And although I have a bachelor's degree and am currently working on my Master's, I don't see myself as "superior" to anyone. This guy just proves that degrees don't prove your intellect.

Since the episode aired, Fowler and his wife (who came off a little bit better than he did, but not much) both apologized for his behavior towards Gayla, with his wife saying that he was going to go into therapy.

Made in the 1970s, Applies To Today...

I was watching "Kentucky Fried Movie" this morning, and since I hadn't seen it in awhile I had forgotten completely about this particular skit. Again, note that this was made in a less PC time. But it is pretty funny and sadly applies to today.

House Democrats on Vacation, House Republicans Staying Behind

Even speaking as a Republican, I realize the leadership in Washington from the right has been sorely lacking. But not today.

Several sites, including Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, and Politico (second part here) are reporting that the Democrats have gone on their five week break, but the Republicans are staying behind to debate the energy and oil crisis.

During the debate, however, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-ingbat) has ordered the house lights turned off, microphones shut off, and all cameras to go dark. But, it isn't stopping them. They are still out on the floor, debating. And demanding that an emergency session be called to discuss the issue and get something done finally.

Along with the blogging and news sources, Rep. John Culberson is Twittering and filming outside of the chamber doors the goings on of what is happening on the floor. Rep. Pete Hoekstra is also twittering from the floor. I will be adding RSS feeds from both senators on to this page so you can follow today's goings on.

Penn and Teller and "Being Green"

This week was the third episode that Penn and Teller did that revolved around environmentalism and the environmentalist movement. Their first one was on the hysteria around it (and was the episode that spawned the popular YouTube clip of the woman going around asking people to sign a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide, aka water). The second one was on recycling.

This week, it was on Being Green and what it means. When I get a chance to watch the episodes (when the kids are out of the house playing) I'll give my review of the episode.

Update: Does bring up some new points. Like how they hammered Al Gore for being a hypocrite while at the same time acknowledging that they aren't sure if global warming actually exists. Their issue is people making money off of "eco guilt" that's put on all of us by the media and environmentalists.

"The Day The Earth Stood Still"

The trailer for the remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" can be found here.

Ain't It Cool News had reported in the past that an early script review had revealed that the movie would not include the robot Gort, not feature the infamous line "Klaatu Barada Nikto," and that the plot had an environmental theme to it. Judging from the trailer, it looks like a few things might have been changed since then.

I really, really hope they got rid of the environmentalist theme. Judging from the returns on "The Happening," audiences are sick of getting global warming and environmental messages shoved down their throats.

Democrats Want To Control Everything!

I started a new eating plan today which was kind of forced on me after I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes yesterday. It's something that I should have been doing in the beginning, and unlike most when they hear they have diabetes during pregnancy, my reaction was more like, "Dang it!" because I was hoping I could avoid it (my mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a couple of years ago, so getting it is kind of in the genes). So, on doctor's orders, he wants me to control it through diet only for now and go from there.

But that doesn't mean that I'm going ot go around preaching that the diet that I am forced into is the best for anyone, or that the Democrats have the right to tell others how they should live their lives.

See-dubya at Michelle Malkin's blog talks about how the Democratic mayor of Denver is trying to make everything about the convention green.

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention wanted 15,000 fanny packs for volunteers. But they had to be made of organic cotton. By unionized labor. In the USA.

Official merchandiser Bob DeMasse scoured the country. His weary conclusion: “That just doesn’t exist.”

Ditto for the baseball caps. “We have a union cap or an organic cap,” Mr. DeMasse says. “But we don’t have a union-organic offering.”

Much of the hand-wringing can be blamed on Denver’s Democratic mayor, John Hickenlooper, who challenged his party and his city to “make this the greenest convention in the history of the planet.”

But even the eating habits of people at the convention are being affected, which is what really got my attention. For those who want french fries, onion rings or anything that tastes decent and good, guess what? It's not going to be offered.

As part of the effort to make the August 25-28 convention the greenest ever, the Democrats’ guidelines for food catering include one that strikes at the heart of Southern cuisine: no fried food.

No fried chicken. No fried catfish. No fried green tomatoes. No fried okra. No fried anything.

In promoting healthy eating habits, the Democratic guidelines say every meal should be nutritious and include “at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, purple/blue and white.”

“It’s the new patriotism,” says Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the driving force behind the greening of the Democratic convention.

"The new patriotism?" What was wrong with the old patriotism? Our eating habits have nothing to do with patriotism, just personal choice. It's just that liberals don't seem to understand the concept of personal choice, and think everyone should live up to their personal standards.

I've had experiences in college where people thought I should think like them. But guess what? It's not happening. I have my own mind, and my own standards. I'm not going to go along with something just because someone says it's "good for the Earth." As author and former Washington state governor Dixy Lee Ray once wrote, "The Earth is not fragile."

How To Improvise

(h/t doubleplusundead)

Completely juvenile. But I got a kick out of it.

Businessman wants to open an ATV shop. Planning commission turns down his business plan. So he decides to go for a completely different business.

The controversy began when Jeff Mead wanted to open an ATV rental store there.

But nearby neighbors complained about the noise and enviromental impact.

Margie Patterson says Mead's clients have damaged pristine private land, a claim Mead dismisses.

The Boulder County Planning Commission recently denied the businessman a special-use permit to open his business.

So Mead put out a banner on his building which reads,"Patterson's XXX Porn Gallery".

Mead said he's serious about opening the adult store to make money since he was denied a permit to open his rental shop.

Having covered planning boards in the past, sometimes these disputes get a little silly. I agree it's completely juvenile and stupid. But it doesn't make it any less funny.

Hippietown Finally Moving On Tree Sitters

University of California -- Hippietown (aka Berkeley) has finally decided to move on some tree sitters that had taken over an old oak tree 18 months ago that are sitting there illegally. Their issue was that they wanted to keep the grove the way it was. Never mind the fact that these trees were not old growth trees and that they would be replaced three to one -- the trees must be saved!

Michelle Malkin has details at her site. I feel sorry for the poor campus police that has to deal with these nutjobs.

Jonah Goldberg: We Must Save The Environment from Environmentalists

Jonah Goldberg had an interesting read today on how the environmentalists have turned their fanaticism into a religion. An excerpt:

At its core, environmentalism is a kind of nature worship. It's a holistic ideology, shot through with religious sentiment. "If you look carefully," author Michael Crichton observed, "you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths."

Environmentalism's most renewable resources are fear, guilt and moral bullying. Its worldview casts man as a sinful creature who, through the pursuit of forbidden knowledge, abandoned our Edenic past. John Muir, who laid the philosophical foundations of modern environmentalism, described humans as "selfish, conceited creatures." Salvation comes from shedding our sins, rejecting our addictions (to oil, consumerism, etc.) and demonstrating an all-encompassing love of Mother Earth. Quoth Al Gore: "The climate crisis is not a political issue; it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."

You can read the whole thing here.

Time Comparing Global Warming to World War II?

I first saw this at Newsbusters yesterday, and since then everyone else is catching on to the disrespect that Time magazine is showing our veterans.

A number of posters have pointed out that veterans are pissed that this image is being used in this way. I don't blame them. This image is an ultimate symbol of World War II. Using it to compare World War II (a real war) to the "war" on Global Warming (a fake war) is dishonest and self centered.

This quote, from editor Rick Stengal, pretty much says it all about the current state of the mainstream media and their arrogance.

STENGEL: I think since I've been back at the magazine, I have felt that one of the things that's needed in journalism, is that you have to have a point of view about things. You can't always just say "on the one hand, on the other" and you decide. People trust us to make decisions. We're experts in what we do. So I thought, you know what, if we really feel strongly about something let's just say so. And we've done that a number of times since I've been back. We did the case for national service, a cover story last summer. The end of cowboy diplomacy where we said that foreign policy had to change. I think readers expect that. I think, look. You guys are up there all the time. On cable television, people are giving you their point of view, giving their opinions on something and people want to know that.

Um...you're supposed to be a news magazine. Not an advocate for every crackpot theory that comes along. And doing it in a way that disrespects veterans doesn't win you brownie points.

Another Scare Story

This has been going around the past week or so. Now Foster's Daily Democrat has picked up on it.

DURHAM — A chemical commonly found in plastic infant bottles and products could cause developmental problems, a preliminary study has found.

Ties between the chemical — called bisphenol A (BPA) — and myriad potential health risks in humans is anything but concrete. Scientists say any safety decisions made by parents will be based on incomplete data.

This substance is typically found in nondisposable hard plastic containers, such as some Nalgene bottles and many nursing bottles. In general, if it's soft plastic, it does not contain the polymer base scientists are concerned about.

The federal National Toxicology Program said Tuesday experiments on rats found precancerous tumors, urinary tract problems and early puberty when the animals were fed or injected with low doses of BPA.

Many national scientists suspect that exposure early in life disrupts hormones and alters genes, programming a fetus or child for breast or prostate cancer, premature female puberty, attention deficit disorders and other reproductive or neurological disorders.

At least they acknowledge that the risks are relatively unknown at this point.

While such animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of bisphenol's developmental risks, a draft report by the group — made up of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration and the Institutes of Health — stresses the possible effects on humans "cannot be dismissed."

And therein lies the rub.

According to Bauer, there are thousands of similar chemicals that humans of all ages ingest during the course of their lives. In fact, there are too many to list.

"We're exposed to a lot of different substances at very small levels," Bauer said. "We can find most every chemical in every thing you can think of, but we can't do the health assessment in those amounts."