Raw milk debate heats up in the Dairy State

By Joe Orso
November 9, 2009
From: The La Crosse Tribune


Vince Hundt, local dairy farmer, spoke about the raw milk debate like this:

Right now, with approval from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, it is legal to buy vodka, cigarettes, drugs with warnings of side effects that include death, and a 12-gauge shotgun.

On the other hand, milk that comes straight from the teat of a cow (aka, unpasteurized milk) is not legal, or at least less legal, to sell.

"Right now, because DATCP says it is a threat to my health, I cannot drive out into the country and buy a gallon of milk from a farmer," said Hundt at a Friday afternoon meeting of about 60 raw milk supporters and state Sen. Dan Kapanke.

For those new to the issue, selling unpasteurized milk is illegal in Wisconsin. But for about a decade, with DATCP's blessing, some dairy farmers have sold their raw milk directly to people who have bought a share in the cow, and later in the farm, thus becoming part-owners.

The Localvore's Dilemma

Note: This is an old article, but the term that it describes is new to me, which is why it caught my interest.

By Drake Bennett
July 22, 2007
From: The Boston Globe

AT VARIOUS POINTS in the coming months, a few hundred of Vermont's most ethical eaters will take the "Localvore Challenge." The actual dates of the challenge vary from town to town, but the idea is that, for a single meal, or a day, or an entire week, participants will eat only food that was grown or raised within 100 miles of where they live.

Vermont's localvores (also known as "locavores" or "locatarians") and their counterparts around the country are part of a burgeoning movement. In recent years, as large companies with globe-straddling supply networks have come to dominate organic agriculture, "local" has emerged as the new watchword of conscientious consumption. Over the past year and a half, the interest in local food has been fueled by best-selling memoirs and manifestos about local eating and dietary self-sufficiency, such as Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," Bill McKibben's "Deep Economy," and Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

Baloney Science On The Perils Of Meat

By David Becker
From The Huffington Post

More bad news for red and processed meat. Linked to cancer again! Call in the Department of Homeland security and the nation’s top scientists.

Meat has a terrible reputation already, so why not pile on?

But the recent study in the American Journal of Epidemiology Nov 1, which found “associated risks” for prostate cancer with red and processed meat, is stretching for a headline rather than for some truth we can sink our teeth into.

This grinning gourd is a healthful food in disguise

By Ellen. S. Wilkowe
Fom The Daily Record

You've picked, carved, painted and perfected your pumpkin to your heart's content. Now, what about your stomach?

Before tossing out those seeds and flesh, consider packing pumpkin into your next snack, meal or dessert. With its sweet and starchy innards — think soups and breads — and toast-worthy seeds, pumpkins are as edible as they are carve-able.

Video: Deep Fried Butter? It’s Gaining Popularity!

NBC NewschannelPublished: October 15, 2009

Transcription:

When Abel Gonzalez’s fried butter won the Texas State Fair’s prize for most original fried food, it was funny - not appetizing.

But the cute, little balls of gluttony have turned into a huge hit and turned some big heads.
Deep fried butter.

The State Fair of Texas prides itself on deep frying everything.Oreos, peanut butter and jelly, snickers bars, dirty boots, peanut butter cups, macaroons, twinkies. But deep fried butter is opening a new realm.

“I never had a clue that people were going to have this kind of reaction to it,“ said Gonzalez, otherwise known as ‘The Fried Butter Man’. “I just thought hey, you know, fried butter why not…never had a clue.“

But Abel Gonzalez is the architect of the fried butter phenomenon.

What kind of process do you go through when deciding to purchase fried butter?

“I always get certain things when I come to the fair,“ said one unidentified fried butter customer,
“A Fletcher’s corn dog, funnel cake and a novelty item. So this is it."

But in a strictly unofficial survey of State Fair-goers who sampled fried butter, everyone approved.

“It’s good, it’s great,“ offered one customer.

“Was there a party in your mouth?““Yes.““And who was invited?““The grape jelly.“ “Everyone was invited."

And everyone’s invited to Abel’s carney version of Sodom and Gomorrah.

By the way. Fried butter? It tastes like toast.

And Abel says the taste of buttered toast was exactly what he was shooting for.

Seasonal Eating Help From the Vegetannual

Written by Kim Ukura
From Eat.Drink.Better.
Published on September 25th

I recently heard a claim that people of my generation (I’m 23-years-old) are so disconnected from the food system that we can’t identify the correct season for our fruits and vegetables. At first, I scoffed at this idea – of course I know when to eat plants, that’s easy!

Turns out, I have no idea. I looked at a list of vegetables and beyond pumpkins, which I know are fall plants because I carve a jack-o-lantern every October, I couldn’t place any of them. Strawberries… maybe early spring? Lettuce… I didn’t think lettuce had a season?

I’ll admit defeat – I’ve been spoiled by supermarkets that show me tomatoes and carrots and lettuce and spinach year round, and I probably can’t identify the season for any of them. During my dieting phase at the end of college, these vegetables were staples of my daily eating whether they were in season or not. I’m so used to seeing them all the time it never occurred to me there was a better or worse time to eat them until I started listening to Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on audio book.

Study Upends Comfort-Food Theory

Posted October 7, 2009
By Peter West
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- During times of stress, many people will reach for that favorite bag of chips, soft drink or snack cake for a dose of quick comfort -- or so conventional wisdom holds.

But, a new study from the University of South Carolina takes aim at that comfort-food theory and contends that people undergoing significant change in their lives often pick unfamiliar, even healthier foods and lifestyle options.

"I am personally a creature of habit. That's why I am so interested in how people adapt to change," said lead researcher Stacy Wood, Moore Research Fellow and associate professor of marketing at the University of South Carolina. "While comfort foods do have a soothing function and really do make us feel good, we don't turn to them as readily as we think we do."

Wood's research, titled "The Comfort Food Fallacy: Avoiding Old Favorites in Times of Change," was published in the Journal of Consumer Research.