Good News, Everyone!!

Over the years of serving up your Cup of Joe (fresh and hot), this semi-experimental online  original commentary on our collective Past, Present and Future, well, sure, there's been great focus on politics. But something happened.

Pretty much a year, two even, have been posts about the Con Man Who Swindled America.

Titanic effort has been applied all along by yours truly to resist attempting to endlessly post pithy captures our current Idiocracy. The effort has won the day, so, in the words of Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, "Good news, everyone!" More normal weird and wonderful items are making a welcome return here.

(No, I'm not turning blindly away. How could anyone? We all know what a horrible place we've become. America is now the place parents warn their children about. "And if they catch you, they'll lock you away forever.")

So.

First we heard about an Alabama man who allegedly had an Attack Squirrel, which he had been feeding meth in order to make it "aggressive", so the police better watch out! Then came The Chase after said owner of the perhaps meth-addicted Attack Squirrel.



Ok then.
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Movies have been on my mind too, as always. Especially regarding the process of making them. As a hardcore fan of the films of Stanley Kubrick, I I enjoyed this oral history about the making of the orgy scene in Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut.

"Peter Cavaciuti (Steadicam operator): Stanley’s precision was the thing I remember most. I had three lasers on the Steadicam, pointed to the ground, and when they all lined up, a grip would drop a plumb line from a string from the lens; then I’d line my lasers up, and then the grip would talk me into the mark, saying I was two inches, one inch on the mark. That level of precision was pretty exceptional. You’d very rarely do less than 20 takes. So physically and intellectually, it was demanding. Very often, Stanley would say to me that I wasn’t on my mark. I’d look down and I had my three lasers, so I’d say, “Well, I am on the mark, Stanley.” And one time Tom Cruise whispered to me, “Just move the camera, Pete.” [I realized] it was just code for saying that Stanley wanted to put the camera in a different place."

As much as he was known for being a control freak, it is much more a case of his being a collaborator - gathering very talented people, work with them for months to create the best way to tell a scene or a story, and still at the moment of shooting the scene being open to what else might be possible. 
I was also struck by descriptions of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as great to work with - helpful and contributing to the work. One doesn't spend years working on a difficult project unless their is great commitment and excitement.

--

How about pretty much every way you can cook a potato?

People Who Eat Food Are At Risk

In this week's New Yorker, a fascinating and slightly disgusting story of one man who encountered a nasty little thing called Salmonella Heidelberg - the writer also details the confusing and often self-defeating maze of food safety oversight ... some excerpts are below ...

"In September of 2013, Rick Schiller awoke in bed with his right leg throbbing. Schiller, who is in his fifties, lives in San Jose, California. He had been feeling ill all week, and, as he reached under the covers, he found his leg hot to the touch. He struggled to sit upright, then turned on a light and pulled back the sheet. “My leg was about twice the normal size, maybe even three times,” he told me. “And it was hard as a rock, and bright purple.”

"When a doctor examined his leg, she warned him that it was so swollen there was a chance it might burst. She tried to remove fluid with a needle, but nothing came out. “So she goes in with a bigger needle—nothing comes out,” Schiller said. “Then she goes in with a huge needle, like the size of a pencil lead—nothing comes out.” When the doctor tugged on the plunger, the syringe filled with a chunky, meatlike substance. “And then she gasped,” Schiller said.

"In the U.S., responsibility for food safety is divided among fifteen federal agencies. The most important, in addition to the F.S.I.S., is the Food and Drug Administration, in the Department of Health and Human Services. In theory, the line between these two should be simple: the F.S.I.S. inspects meat and poultry; the F.D.A. covers everything else. In practice, that line is hopelessly blurred. Fish are the province of the F.D.A.—except catfish, which falls under the F.S.I.S. Frozen cheese pizza is regulated by the F.D.A., but frozen pizza with slices of pepperoni is monitored by the F.S.I.S. Bagel dogs are F.D.A.; corn dogs, F.S.I.S. The skin of a link sausage is F.D.A., but the meat inside is F.S.I.S."

Who's up for some lunch?

SIDE NOTE - a never identified Tennessee correctional facility was hit with this problem in 2014, Tyson issued a recall, 15 states involved, details here.

High Schoolers Use 3-D Printer and Pythagoras to Solve Ketchup Mystery

Yeah, what goof off thing is this? It's a by-product of American education reform, STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. And two Missouri boys puzzled out why that first blotch of ketchup out of a container is always watery. Then they used a 3-D printer to fabricate a doo-hickey to prevent it from happening. That's Science!!!

All snark aside - consider this a crystal clear notice: all the good jobs in the next 30 years? STEM, people, STEM.

Now,  the story:


"The prompt was that they had to come up with something that was relevant to them. So we always start with the phrase, ‘it really bugs me when.’'"

"It is based on the pythagorean cup idea .."

So some teenagers using STEM methods and tech, use an idea from 500 BC. to solve a modern complaint. That sure sounds rather like Education.

Hooked: The Science of Corporate Foods

For many years I have offered this joke about food - "Food is addictive. I started eating at a very young age and I still do it, sometimes three times a day."

Seems the joke is on me.

This weekend, Pulitzer prize winning reporter Michael Moss will share an excerpt from his forthcoming book "Sugar Salt Fat: How The Food Giants Hooked Us" in the NYTimes Magazine. The intense scientific effort to create foods which never satisfy yet create constant cravings is laid bare in the book. This link offers the excerpt now. It is a harrowing account of science turned against us.

A very brief sample of the type of research food corps rely on:

"This contradiction is known as “sensory-specific satiety.” In lay terms, it is the tendency for big, distinct flavors to overwhelm the brain, which responds by depressing your desire to have more. Sensory-specific satiety also became a guiding principle for the processed-food industry. The biggest hits — be they Coca-Cola or Doritos — owe their success to complex formulas that pique the taste buds enough to be alluring but don’t have a distinct, overriding single flavor that tells the brain to stop eating."

Go Hungry Says Sen. Campfield

Children in need are being threatened in legislation from Knoxville Senator Campfield. He wants to withhold food stamps from families if a child makes bad grades in school. Campfield wants kids in poverty to face more hardships, worse, face the prospect of going hungry, if they are also having problems with their studies.

Classy Campfield. Punishing kids is Ugly Government.

Another Tennessee government over-reach means lost jobs. The state wants to force private businesses to allow more weapons in the workplace. The massive investment and growth of the VW manufacturing complex in Chattanooga is in jeopardy thanks to this proposal.

More legislators, sadly including my new State Rep Tilman Goins, are refusing to allow funds for health care in the state from the Affordable Care Act go to those who might need it. Firstly, we've paid the taxes that create the funds and are obligated for the debt it creates too. The least we should expect in return is to receive the health care programs and expansions which would follow. Politics aside, even of the funds are turned away, other states will receive the funds, so why cut us out? The state's Federal representatives have made and are making calls for the repeal of the Act - but no go. Until or unless such a repeal takes place then don't let TN get less than their share. If the state refuses the money then residents will just have to find health insurance on their own.

U

The Great Maple Syrup Robbery Mystifies Canada

Just how does one steal over 10 million pounds of maple syrup? And who knew that Canada has a 'global strategic maple syrup reserve'?

One of the warehouses in the 'reserve' network in Canada held an inventory check recently and the theft was discovered ... yet, the thieves only took the syrup and left a massive wall of empty barrels:

"Now, we are trying to evaluate how much maple syrup is missing. It’s walls of barrels of maple syrup. It’s a very big warehouse. We have to take every barrel and check it for the content, and weigh them. We think that its a significant amount. But there is maple syrup left. But we will also have to be very cautious or take a lot of precautions.We will analyze it. Every barrel is graded and has a bar code, and its very strict. So now, that someone has just came in this warehouse, and just like played with the maple syrup? No. This is not fun. We will take it very seriously."

Many folks speculate the syrup was never really there, speculating that someone or a group of someones, hustled thousands of empty barrels into the warehouse. It's a true mystery and perhaps the market will be flooded (slowly perhaps) with black market syrup, estimations are that one-fourth of the 'strategic reserve' are gone.

Oddly - there have been recent numerous instances of large-scale thefts of sweet stuff.

-  In British Columbia, a heist of honey and bees and hives was reported: "The equipment required to pull off such a caper may have been significant. Constable MacDonald speculated that the hive frames may have been placed into a temporary structure, then transported on a flatbed truck. But even lifting the honey-laden frames would not have been easy. 'You can just imagine the weight of some of these large hives,' he said. “They probably needed a forklift.”

-  Tons of elderberries were stolen from one massive Austrian farm: "The thieves, who cut an opening in the perimeter fence to access their target, had probably been at work since last Monday, police said. They even came back for more on Friday and before dawn yesterday. The berries were of a special variety used in the pharmaceutical industry and as colouring agents.

In fact, bulk food theft has been sweeping across Canada and other locations.

POSTSCRIPT: A grim and brutal theft of food in India by politicos, valued at over $14 billion,  leaves populations in starvation.

We The Peeple

 Peep raid on Bin Laden Hideout, image courtesy Washington Post

 A sure sign of a society of immense luxury - a society which creates a huge range of dioramas on political/social themes using the wee marshmellow candies known as Peeps.

The annual Washington Post contest includes RePeeplican Debates and OccuPeep protesters.

Miracle Berries, or The Food That Sugar Companies Hate

A stray comment on a Knoxville message board I frequent brought up something called "food tripping" which led me to be educated about "miracle berries", food trends, history, corporate and government conspiracy, and other oddities of one of life's necessities - eating.

I rather like to eat. I have to do it fairly often. So I was intrigued by the mention of "food tripping" parties which became popular in larger U.S. cities a few years back. Participants gather to eat/sample a range of food and drinks after they chew on some "miracle berries", which magically block sour and bitter receptors on the tongue and boost sweet receptors. Folks say it makes sour things like pickles and limes taste rich and fruity, beer tastes like a milkshake and the effects of the berry on taste buds last for about an hour.

These events of idle folks who seek rare, hipster-ish fads of the moment were featured in a story and video from the NYTimes. And the ingredient in these West African berries which causes (for reasons no one has, at this point, scientifically explicated) the tastebud change is called "miraculin", a name seemingly suited to snake-oil promotionalists. Let the YouTube videos parade past your eyes.

So I plundered into the Google machine for more information. And the ragged historical mystery of the berry soon became linked to corporate warfare dating back to the early 20th century. While African locals had eaten the berry for who knows how long to improve the taste of foods in their diet, it was a French explorer, Chevalier des Marchais, who found them in 1752 and brought them to Western tongues.

But it was an American named Robert Harvey who synthesized the protein in the berry to provide a new sweetener to the U.S. and fell prey to foul deeds:

"In the ’60s and the ’70s, an entrepreneur named Robert Harvey managed to raise tens of millions of dollars to create an all-natural alternative to sugar using the miracle fruit, and he managed to synthesize the active ingredient in this berry, which is a protein called “miraculin.”

"And companies, other corporations started getting interested. And Harvey was turning down offers in the billions for control — billions of dollars were being offered to him for this, because it looked like it was poised to become an all-natural alternative to sugar. And even the artificial sweetening industry was very concerned about this threat of this small red berry.

"But what happened was, that just as it was about to launch, Harvey’s company, his office was raided by industrial spies. His files were stolen. He got into high-speed car chases in the middle of the night. People were following him."

"And then it got banned just as it was about to launch. And he got a letter in 1974 from the FDA saying the miracle berry — miracle berry products are not allowed into the market in any form whatsoever. And so, he had to shut down the entire operation.

"I called the FDA several dozen times and had a very hard time getting anybody to be able to speak about it. But what I did learn was that it is considered a food additive, and it is not allowed to be used as a food additive. Now, the fresh berry itself is different. So they said the berry can be used, and that’s the USDA’s department. But the USDA doesn’t even know it exists. So it is in a kind of regulatory limbo."

But one could, if one desired, order up some of these pills via sites like ThinkGeek and Amazon.

Or you can order the berries themselves from the only supplier in the country, in Florida, at miraclefruitman.com. The are running a Christmas special.

Aside from benefits in replacing sugar, the berries have been found to be most helpful to diabetics and to folks undergoing chemotherapy, as it returns the tastebuds to working order.

Join Me At The Mountain Makins Festival

This weekend marks the 36th Annual Mountain Makins Festival at Rose Center in Morristown, a celebration of Appalachian folk life, history, art, handmade crafts and displays of skill, music, dancing, food and much more. And I will again be the emcee for one of the stages of live music.

I'll be the host for the Gazebo Stage, sponsored by ORNL Federal Credit Union. Here's a lineup of the music - and this year will mark a first: Russian Bluegrass music.

A full write-up on this most entertaining festival is here.

The music line-up includes

FIRST TENNESSEE STAGE
10AM:          Tracy Wilson- Scottish Highland Bagpipes
10-11:          The Red Wellies- Celtic 
11-12:          The Grassabillies- Rockabilly
12-1:            Steve Brown and Hurricane Ridge – Bluegrass
1-2:              Rough Edges- Bluegrass
2-3:              Hot Mountain Caravan
3-4:              Roan Mountain Hilltoppers – Old Time
4-5:              The Grass Pistols- Russian Bluegrass

ORNL  GAZEBO STAGE
10:15:            Tracy Wilson- Scottish Highland Bagpipes
10:30-11:30:   Steve Brown and Hurricane Ridge- Bluegrass
11:30-12:30:   The Red Wellies – Celtic
12:30- 1:30     The Grassabillies – Rockabilly
1:30-2:30:       Roan Mountain Hilltoppers- Old Time
2:30- 3:30:      Grass Pistols – Russian Bluegrass
3:30-4:30:       Rough Edges- Bluegrass
4:30-5:00:       Hot Mountain Caravan- Americana/Folk/Roots

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
FIRST TENNESSEE STAGE
11-12:           The Dulcimer Guys- Hammer and Mountain Dulcimers
12-1:             Earl and Pearl- Old-Time
1-2:               Harmony Strings- Traditional Country and Gospel
2-3:               Hall Family and Friends- Traditional ‘Shape-note’ Singing
3-4:               The Dulcimer Guys- Hammer and Mountain Dulcimers
4-5:               Clinch Valley Bluegrass- Bluegrass

ORNL GAZEBO STAGE
11:30-12:30    The Katts - Americana
12:30-1:30      The Dulcimer Guys- Hammer and Mountain Dulcimers
1:30-2:30        Earl and Pearl- Old Time
2:30-3:30        Clinch Valley Bluegrass- Bluegrass
3:30-4:30        Harmony Strings- Country and Gospel
4:30-5:00        The Dulcimer Guys- Hammer and Mountain Dulcimers

When I Twitter, It's Serious

As I wrote earlier this month, I've taken up The Twitter again, and today I did have much fun with it, but if said fun had any value, I am not sure what it might be.

It started when I saw a mention via The Food Network for readers to send in their titles for a morphed out movie and food mash-up -- the example I first read was "Frying Nemo".

So easy, I thought, firing off my first Tweet with hashtags, even (#foodmovies) - "The Texas Cuisinart Massacre". (Hashtags sounds like a food but apparently is Rather Important When Tweeting.)

Others quickly followed, "Fistful of Fritters", "Lord of the Onion Rings", "Who Fried Roger Rabbit" and I tried like hell to stop.

When The Food Network mentioned their favorites, mine, alas, was not among them. Of their choices, the only one I liked was "I Know What You Cooked Last Summer".

And all day, I kept thinking things like:

"When Harry Ate Sally" (a zombie movie)
"The Long Good Pie"
"A Clockwork Orange Salsa"
"Dude, Where's My Carp?"
"Enter The Dragon Roll"

Exploding Watermelons and other Dangerous Food

Watermelons turning into explosive shrapnel is the kind of story that grabs your attention.

"The report said the farmers sprayed the fruit too late in the season and during wet conditions, which caused the melons to explode like "landmines". After losing three hectares (eight acres), Liu said he was unable to sleep because he could not shake the image of the fruit bursting. "On 7 May, I came out and counted 80 [burst watermelons] but by the afternoon it was 100," he said. "Two days later I didn't bother to count any more." About 20 farmers and 45 hectares around Danyang were affected. The fruit could not be sold and was instead fed to fish and pigs."

Worse, far worse, is this section of the report on China's food production in the story:

"It follows discoveries of the heavy metal cadmium in rice, toxic melamine in milk, arsenic in soy sauce, bleach in mushrooms, and the detergent borax in pork, added to make it resemble beef."

The Perfect Slice

A blogger has taken up the challenge of eating and review-blogging of every slice pizza place in Manhattan called Slice Harvester. He's just passed the year mark.

Me, I am a pizza-holic. If it's near me, I've probably already eaten it. I'm a pizza snob too, real pizza too, not this dessert/haute cuisine stuff either. I completely agree with the blogger, who writes in his first post:

"I am going to eat a slice of pizza at every pizzeria in New York City. I'm going by neighborhood, starting in Manhattan, getting a plain slice at every place. I am fucking sick of the current trend in Pizza Journalism that's all ... artichoke guacamole tahini pizza on rice dough. That shit isn't pizza. Sorry. The only instances where "not pizza" actually is pizza are Zante's in San Francisco on like, 27th and Mission that makes Indian Pizza, and the Turkish Pizza places in Berlin. The rest of it, not pizza. Brie cheese with prosciutto bits and a horseradish mustard, cooked to perfection on flat dough in a hot oven? Sounds delicious, not pizza."

I'm always questing for a good slice, and I loved their gigantic selection and the massive size of some slices. And take a look at this map and see Manhattan is in this incredible pizza joint trifecta of Long Island and New Jersey.

So far he's tracked only two 'perfect slices'

Another recent post features a recounting of a tale from the blogger about touring in Alabama with a rock band and a place called The Hot Spot. His bandmate is stopped by police in 'bama, but walks away with this tale, which prompts a real test of perception too.

"So we were like, "WHAT HAPPENED?!"
And he goes, "Well, he asked for my ID, and I handed it to him and said, 'yessir,' and he goes, 'I didn't know you Maryland boys had an accent?' And I said, 'well I'm a Southern man just like yourself.' And he says, 'Well what're you doin' drivin' around in a New York van?' and I told him I was on tour with a rock'n'roll band and I had moved up to New York cause there ain't much rock'n'roll in Maryland. And he asked what we sing about and I said, 'you know, rock'n'roll things. Fallin' in love... hatin' your boss... America.' And he said I seemed like a nice boy and got the judge on the phone and told him I shouldn't get charged with the full felony hit and run because it was all obviously a big mistake and that I should probably just do something I could settle up over the phone or through the mail because I had a rock'n'roll tour to finish."

So anyway, I have something of an affinity for places called the Hot Spot. I also realize typing it out that more than anything this story just highlights what kind of shit you can get away with if you have white skin privilege in our racist society. I don't think that it cheapens the story or the moment or the cool and clever way my buddy talked his way out of a jam, but I do think it's too glaring not to at least mention. I don't want to be the kind of person that just coasts through the world with no acknowledgment of the privileges I benefit from. Maybe for homework all my readers can think about a way they've benefited from privilege at some point, whether it be class privilege, gender privilege, skin privilege, and just reflect on what that says about the world."

If Food Is Dangerous, Why Do We Have Buffets?

I'll confess it right here and now. I am an addict. My addiction is food. I started eating at a very early age and have continued to eat every day since, often several times a day. I'm hardly alone in my addiction. Everyone I know is an addict too.

My tastes include most anything edible. Except for a few things, like this stuff they call "potted meat". The ingredients listed and the way it tastes and even the name curdle my insides. I really love sushi, but that does not mean when I go fishing and I catch a bass, I'm going to bite a chunk out of it. (And I never keep what I might catch anyway, I always unhook the poor critter and put it back in the water.) I also will not eat pork rinds. I tend to seldom desire to consume something called "rind".

Anyway, this study was recently released ranking Tennessee in 3rd place for "obese population" and the South in general as the Land of the Fatest. I have to agree that I see many folks whose width exceeds their height. I do try and eat things that are healthy for me, but, sometimes I don't. . Let's all remember this simple rule: Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you! ~Tommy Smothers

And before the nation Organizes A Formal Committee to Explore The Problem and Create A Law About Eating Stuff, it's best to consider (and read) this post from DeMarCaTionVille, who says:

"And at such time the US Government requires me to jog or do any activity which could be described as “bouncy,” or when they try to place restrictions on or prohibit in any way my rights to enjoy Southern Foods, such as fried green tomatoes, okra, chicken, gumbo and beer-battered catfish, AND/OR they even attempt to limit how much sugar I can put in my tea, I do hereby declare the South will rise again.

I, personally, will lead a band of freedom fighters on the march to DC with the intention of **overthrowing the federal government. And the Revolution will not be televised… mostly because we’re fat and out-of-shape down here. This means many of us will have heart attacks, strokes and/or die of heat exhaustion before we make it to DC, therefore our numbers will be depleted. Plus, the rest of us will so tired from doin’ all that marching that a 63-year old unarmed DC tour guide could kick our ass, so you might not hear about our Revolution unless you read the Reuters’ Oddly Enough Section.

But that’s not the point. It’s the principle of the matter.

You know how they say: freedom ain’t free - well, this means a lot of different things. One of them being if you expect the government to pay for your poor choices, you’re going to see those choices eliminated. It’s that simple. And if I had my druthers - I’d druther live fat, free and Southern Fried than extend my life expectancy by five years and live to see the day Mama’s cooking is outlawed and I’m required by law to bounce."

Donut Terrorism

Leave it to right-wingnuts like Michelle Malkin to vigorously blend donuts, scarves and Rachel Ray into examples of terrorists taking over America, resulting in a recipe of sheer madness.

That may be one of the most insane sentences I've ever written, and trust me, I have worked hard at times to write some crazy stuff.

Worse, crazier even - the Dunkin' Donuts company was rendered so helpless and fearful by the insane concepts spewed by Malkin, they yanked ads of Rachel Ray wearing the Heinous Scarf.

Says Dunkin' Donuts:

"In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial."

To which Malkin cheered:

"It's refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists."

Jihadi donuts????

The Epi-Log on Epicurious writes:

"It's probably hard for many people to decide who deserves the lion's share of their wrath: Malkin for ignorant (and, as always, borderline racist) demagoguery, the insipid Rachael Ray for aggressively embracing the role of foodie icon while shamelessly peddling nutritional nightmares, or Dunkin' Donuts for manufacturing said fare in the first place and for backing down in the face of Malkin's toothless swagger."

Donuts, people. And scarves.

The murky historical origin of the donut, or doughnut, obviously hides some nefarious plot ....

And clothing, well, that all started with a fig leaf meant to hide from the shame of Original Sin.

And let's not even talk about the evils of eating ice cream:

"Worst of all from this point of view are those more uncivilized forms of eating, like licking an ice cream cone --a catlike activity that has been made acceptable in informal America but that still offends those who know eating in public is offensive."

Corn Wars and Food Riots

Here's a Monday kind of apocalypse - Corn Wars and Food Riots

Corn is a part of so many foods and in the production of food, from beer to eggs to bread and meat and now it's an element of the world's energy supply. A recent documentary, "King Corn" aired on PBS focusing on how much the world relies on it and so corn is one hot, hot controversy and commodity. It's all perfect storm-like as many nations are seeing something once reserved for 19th century history (or maybe for sci-fi future history): Food Riots.

A New Statesman article notes:

"The EU, the United States, India, Brazil and China all have targets to increase biofuels use. But a look at the raw data confirms today's dire situation. According to the World Bank, global maize production increased by 51 million tonnes between 2004 and 2007. During that time, biofuels use in the US alone (mostly ethanol) rose by 50 million tonnes, soaking up almost the entire global increase.

Next year, the use of US corn for ethanol is forecast to rise to 114 million tonnes - nearly a third of the whole projected US crop. American cars now burn enough corn to cover all the import needs of the 82 nations classed by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as "low-income food-deficit countries". There could scarcely be a better way to starve the poor.

The threat posed by biofuels affects all of us. Global grain stockpiles - on which all of humanity depends - are now perilously depleted. Cereal stocks are at their lowest level for 25 years, according to the FAO. The world has consumed more grain than it has produced for seven of the past eight years, and supplies, at roughly only 54 days of consumption, are the lowest on record."

International agencies are getting worried, and a slow but steady diet of gloom is building. Food riots have been reported in a growing trend. (See this report from Amy Goodman for more details.)

Is there a solution? Today, the KNS had several reports about farmers in Tennessee working to make switchgrass a bio-fuel success rather than corn-based ethanol. The scramble for new energy sources and the current uses of the food supply indicate that solutions won't be easy or quick or will take place without real human costs.

More and more, it seems that dire times are looming large:

"People may think these are scare stories, but the price of rice has tripled this year to $1000 per tonne and global wheat stocks are at their lowest for 20 years. Last year we saw the so called ‘Tortilla riots’ in Mexico and only last week, the Bangladeshi government couldn’t buy any rice on the global markets. Not only does this create a more volatile social environment for many UK multinationals, but for food companies it also poses the very real threat that they can’t source essential raw materials at all."

I Am Legume

Heh, the post title today is a pun ... see, my brother sent me this link to a news story on the ribbon-cutting yesterday of the giant seed vault up in Norway (some call it a Noah's Ark, some call it a Doomsday Vault, so ... see the title is an ... oh never mind.)

Maybe I should have gone with the joke made by the Canadian plant gene curator, who said "You can't start a new world without beer."

This massive project to store and protect food plant seeds is on Svalbard Island in Norway is so remote that:

"... with as many polar bears as human beings estimated to live there. The local tourist guide advises visitors not just to always carry a gun when outside the village, but to know how to use it as well."

See, that I Am Legume joke really works here ... oh, never mind.

The Plot Against Chocolate

This is just wrong.

"Chocolate in its purest state - the "liquor" made from ground, processed cacao beans - must contain between 50 percent and 60 percent cocoa butter, also known as cocoa fat.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, Chocolate Manufacturers Association and 10 other food industry groups want more flexibility in those rigid standards. They seek broad permission to add ingredients, use different techniques, employ new shapes and substitute ingredients - something the standards currently don't allow.

---

"Manufacturers already can use vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter - they just can't call it "chocolate." Hundreds of people have filed comments with the FDA, with the overwhelming majority seeking to keep it that way, according to an Associated Press review of the file.

"But the shift would make chocolate cheaper to produce, since cocoa butter can be four or more times the cost of shea, palm oil and other vegetable fats.

"If you're able to replace cocoa butter with another fat, even at the 5 percent level, you're saving lots and lots of money, especially if you are a major manufacturer of chocolate bars," said Bernard Pacyniak, editor in chief of Candy Industry magazine. ... But Gary Guittard, the president of California's Guittard Chocolate Co and others question that and said any change would debase the very nature of chocolate.

"This incremental degradation of foods over the years - it's a degradation that comes from wanting to make it for less money. We're always trying to make a little more money, and that I think is the problem," said Guittard."

Do NOT mess with the chocolate. If you outlaw real chocolate then only outlaws will have real chocolate for sale.

Summer Scenes 2007

My fine friend Chef Bill up in Chicago earned the award last weekend for Best Use of a Cell Phone. He called me up as he was enjoying the sunshine and summer at Wrigley Field watching his beloved Cubs battle the Brewers. The score, while important to the overall game, is not that important while actually watching the game live. I switched my TV over to WGN to watch as we talked and just about then the crowd began their traditional Take Me Out To The Ballgame singalong and Chef Bill just said "listen" and held the phone aloft while the crowd sang a summer classic.

Chef Bill also just finished his first year in an honest-to-Pete chef school last week, so big congrats for his achievement.

Wrigley Field is just one place I want to visit when I actually make the time and effort for a trip to Chicago. It is a holy place in baseball, built on grounds which were once home to a seminary, and having a hot dog and some beer while watching the Cubs on a summer's day sounds like perfection to me.

Speaking of food and chefs and summer, I must confess here that I have become over the last few summers rather addicted to a "reality show" called Hell's Kitchen which airs on Monday nights. Wannabe chefs compete for actual jobs in five-star restaurants and they compete not with oddball tasks and contests, but by performance in the kitchen. You just can't fake your way through the game, you either perform at your best or you're gone.

Chef Ramsey holds all the power in the contest and curses and swears at the wannabe chefs with a savage intensity and a pinpoint accuracy. Being an excellent cook working despite the failures of teammates and grueling pressure from Chef Ramsey is no task for the timid or the unprepared. So it isn't really a game - it's a real-world scenario in which you must compete at the job you want to have.

An angry Scotsman in the kitchen is always entertaining.

Also this week for the 4th of July, the 91st Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest will be held at Coney Island and it looks to be one of the best matches ever. American Joey Chestnut will try again to defeat the astonishing Takeru Kobayashi who has won the contest for the last six years in a row, snarfing down nearly 54 hot dogs last year.

The record, until Kobayashi arrived, held steady at around 20 to 25 hot dogs and buns. He blew that away in 2000 by wolfing down 50 hot dogs and buns. In June of this year at a preliminary competition, Chestnut gobbled down 59 hot dogs and buns, so the mark for this week's big event may well top 60 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes.

Legend -- I mean WikiPedia - says:

"According to legend, on July 4, 1916 four immigrants had a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous stand in Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. After twelve minutes, James Mullen had eaten thirteen hot dogs and was crowned the victor."