food museum blog

Recipe Theft, Deceiving Your Kids, And All That

You may have heard about Jerry Seinfeld's defense of his wife against charges of what he dubbed "vegetable plagiarism." Apparently Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, (Harper Collins,) came out about 6 months after Missy Chase Lapine's book on the same topic, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals  ( Running Press.)  Ms Lapine evidently thinks it's possible that Ms Seinfeld took her ideas and reworked them for her book. Ms Seinfeld says she has never seen the book.

The ideas? Stuffing mushed up veggies in other foods--inside a burger?--in truth, I have read neither book--to get kids to eat them.   According to an AP story, on The David Letterman Show recently Jerry Seinfeld put it this way:

"I love the term 'plagiarism' for this little event," he said. "Because it used to be you had to really take a theme from a major novel, some sort of literary narrative. Now, you're in your kitchen making brownies, you sneak a little spinach in there, your name's dragged through the mud."

Funny! ( Humor defuses many things,  even  possible lawsuits (?), so Jessica is lucky to Jerry on her side.)

A few things here irk /interest me---

1---This "sneaky" and "deceptive" route regarding kids and good food raises many red flags with me, not least the sneaky bit.  What, are you afraid of your kids?  Invite your kids to eat a bit of everything, or at least to try a taste, from the moment the kiddo can do solid foods. Make the food delicious and colorful and unseasoned at first. ( And if she/he won't eat more than a whisper of a veg, do not panic--I recall several little kids who ate only white foods for months, or ate almost nothing, or ate only hotdogs, and they all survived and today are adults who cook  and eat extremely well.)

2--The titles....the  first  is awkward and badly written. The second is waaay too long.

3--The cookbook recipe thing--I have often wondered about this, even as I contributed a couple of "my" recipes to a series of books I wrote about food plants.  I mean, who knows where one gets these things?  A while back I was sauteeing shrimp in some red chile, scallions,  olive oil and garlic and I wanted to make a nifty sauce--so I removed the cooked shrimp, randomly grabbed some tequila, swirled it around in the pan and added a bit of half and half, and had a terrific "new" dish, served with quinoa and baby brocc. Did I really invent something new?  Had no other chef before me put together that combo? I have no clue, but remember, YOU READ IT HERE FIRST, dammit. 

Weigh in, people.

Astonishingly, TV Food Ads Aimed at Kids are Less Than Ideal

No big surprise here as we read in the Washington Post  that half the tv ads aimed at children in the US are for food, most of it in the lousy column. After analyzing 1600 hours of tv programming either specifically designed for kids, or likely to have a large child or teen viewing audience, the Kaiser Family Foundation discovered that " 34 percent marketed candy and snacks, 28 percent were for cereal, and 10 percent promoted fast foods. No commercials promoted fruit or vegetables. " ( Duh.)

In an ideal world young people would be fed well at home, never introduced to junky fast food, and tv would be an occasional diversion.

Tra la.

You can read more at the Kaiser site here.

( Cartoon from calorielab.com)

Dry Cereal ( Whole Grain) Enthusiasts Live Forever

A press release issued by the American Heart Association last week began with this:

"Eating whole-grain breakfast cereals seven or more times per week was associated with a lower risk of heart failure, according to an analysis of the observational Physicians’ Health Study.  Researchers presented findings of the study today at the American Heart Association’s 47^th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.  For the present study, breakfast cereals that contain at least 25 percent oat or bran content were classified as whole-grain cereals.

The analysis shows that those who ate a whole-grain breakfast cereal seven or more times per week were less likely (by 28 percent) to develop heart failure over the course of the study than those who never ate such cereal.  The risk of heart failure decreased by 22 percent in those who ate a whole-grain breakfast cereal from two to six times per week and by 14 percent in those who ate a whole-grain breakfast cereal up to once per week."

Eating cereal "seven or more" times a week? What an appalling thought.  Are we polling college students?( On the other hand, my grandfather apparently ate oatmeal just about every day of his long life.) Isn't there something equine about  folks diving down into big bowls of dry crunchies and cold milk ?  OK, not the milk part.

..."breakfast cereals that contain at least 25 percent oat or bran content were classified as whole-grain cereals. "   Only 1/4 of the cereal contained whole grains? Way at the bottom of the relase it states this:  "In the

United States

, foods considered “whole grain” contain 51 percent or more whole-grain ingredients by weight per reference amount customarily consumed."  ???

..."than those who never ate such cereal. " Huh? What about those who eat whole grain breads or rolls or tortillas or muffins or pancakes for breakfast? 

I have looked around the Internets a bit to try to discover if one of the giant cereal companies could have funded this study, maybe one of the companies with a big stake in oat or bran. So I went to Cheerios.com and right here, to their credit, they do discuss the whole grains we all should be eating and where to find them beyond the cereal box.

Just curious,  I typed  sugar and sugars and sugar content in the website Search box . I got back  "your search for sugar returned no results."  I recall reading once that Cheerios had about 2-3% sugar content, while Capn Crunch and/or Sugar Smacks were well over 50 % in sugar content.

However they are doing it, the Cheerios people certainly seem to have cornered the baby market, ( and maybe also the 7 day plus adult cereal eaters, who knows? )  I seldom encounter a baby or toddler these days who does not have a Cheerio lodged  in his ear or stuck in the wale of her overalls. Those tiny o's appear to attract tiny fingers on most of the highchair trays of America.

Spare the "Nutrition," Spoil the Child with Good Food

I was just listening to a woman from the Center for Science in the Public Interest speaking with Ed Schultz on his  radio show about children and obesity. Now we all recognize that this is a huge  ( sorry) problem in America, as well as in Britain and elsewhere, and much has been said and written about it. But this morning, after chat about changing what is in school vending machines, and an acknowledgment that  lunchrooms have slowly improved their offerings,  the speaker said something about "teaching nutrition" in schools.

Please, no. Turning the food thing into a nutrition lesson will kill off anyone's appetite. ( Except for those of budding biochemists, perhaps.)  Imagine the young eyes glazing over when asked to focus on good and bad fats, which vitamins do what, amino acids--huh?, and so on.  This seems to play right  into the "fear  food" syndrome that appears so bizarre to many Europeans.

Kids need to experience what good food really is--from growing their own veggies, to cooking up tasty meals full of variety, to sitting down with classmates and teachers and family and eating well. And cleaning up!

They also could take pleasure in knowing where food comes from, who raises it, and what its  history is.  ( Yes, The FOOD Museum offers proven educational programs along these lines!)

Interspersed with all that, like green peas in basmati rice, could be inserted stealth nuggets about nutrition...

( Pic from www.newmexicokids.org/.../index.htm.)

Almost Acceptable--Girl Scout Cookies

A good while back I mused on the Girl Scout cookie thing in this blog--whining about the trans fats in said cookies.  Well now the GSers are back and trumpeting the almost no trans fats in their reconfigured products.

Here's the word from GS HQ

"For several decades, it was thought that partially hydrogenated oils–sometimes referred to as trans fats–were a healthier food choice compared with saturated fats. In recent years, data has emerged suggesting that, in fact, trans fats are not a healthier choice than saturated fats. Girl Scouts of the USA is proud to announce that all Girl Scout cookies are now "zero trans fat per serving" with the same great taste that has made them one of America's favorite treats over the years. While some "zero trans fat per serving" varieties of Girl Scout cookies were available in 2005 and 2006, this year all varieties will contain less than 0.5 grams trans fat per serving, which meets or exceeds the FDA guidelines for the "zero trans fat" designation.

Girl Scouts of the USA has worked diligently with our bakers over the past several years to address the issue of trans fats. We began listing the amount of trans fats one full year before FDA requirements went into effect. It is important to remember that Girl Scout Cookies are a snack food and are meant to be consumed in limited quantities within the context of a balanced diet. So that consumers can make an informed choice, the ingredients and nutritional profile of each variety are clearly listed on both the cookie box and the cookie order form."

It's noteworthy that more and more purveyors of cookies and snacks and such are taking pains to point out that these items are  " meant to be consumed in limited quantities within the context of a balanced diet. "

Apparently this concept is something many people have utterly forgotten or perhaps, in recent years, never knew...?

Yucky Peanut Butter

Just went to check the contents of Con Agra's Peter Pan Peanut Butter and that section of the website is down, presumably because their web elves are scrambling to get something together re salmonella, their product, and why consumers  should continue to buy their stuff once the danger has passed.

So I'm guessing here, but I think their product at its most perfect contains sugar, extra oils of the partially hydrogenated variety, and other utterly unneeded extras.

Why are parents buying this stuff for their kids in the first place?!! Try a p.butter that contains peanuts, people---you don't even need to have a salty one. My jar label reads:  "dry roasted peanuts."

Try taking the kids to a store that has those peanut-butter making machines and the cute little clear plastic containers. Justin and Gillian will love watching the peanuts up top turn into the thick gloppy looking p.nut butter that coils into the container. And if they want to make poop jokes, so be it!

( Thanks to www.all-creatures.org/recipes/i-peanuts.html for the peanut pic.)

Spud Heads Soar!

No Couch Potato he, Mr. P.H. was retrofitted last year as a fit and healthy runner, and in his balloon incarnation again will fly in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade this week. In addition, the United States Potato Board has opened a Potato Head-quarters in New York's Chelsea Market that will be offering recipes and family spud fun through Friday.

Not appearing in the parade is an actor some in the business apparently once dubbed "Mr. Potato Head,"  Daniel Craig, the new Bond, James Bond. Frankly, we don't see the resemblance....

European Health Ministers Take On Obesity

Today's story by Maria Cheng from myway.com via Raw Story reports that:

"European health ministers from 53 countries approved the world's first charter to fight obesity on Thursday, vowing greater action against the epidemic of expanding waistlines across the continent.

The charter, approved in Istanbul, Turkey, was drafted by the World Health Organization in consultation with its European member states. It is the first real attempt to compel national authorities to take concrete action to combat obesity."

According to the article,  half of all Europeans, ( that's a large group of disparate people!,) and 20 percent of its children are overweight.

"One of the charter's more contentious inclusions is an obligation for the private sector to limit the marketing of fatty, sugary foods to children. It calls for specific regulatory measures to "substantially reduce" the advertising of unhealthy foods to children.

The clause implies that governments should introduce legislation regarding marketing to children, with an eventual move to adopting an international code of practice. In the past, the food industry has fought against such regulation, since it may eat into their profits."

When is the summit of the Americas on this issue?

On Wasted $$, Indentured Kids, Fatter People, Healthier Fats, Hungrier People

OK, let's see...In today's news, $160 million is being spent in the U.S. on "attack ads," leading up to the November 7 midterm elections. What a marvelous use of what some would consider a good deal of money.

Meanwhile, the NYTimes reports on the growing issue of child labor in Africa and elsewhere, many of them working in agricultural or food-related businesses.

The article is built around a hungry, 6 year-old new conscript , forced to work in a fishing village in Ghana.

"...the children are indentured servants, leased by their parents to Mr. Takyi for as little as $20 a year.

"Until their servitude ends in three or four years, they are as trapped as the fish in their nets, forced to work up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, in a trade that even adult fishermen here call punishing and, at times, dangerous."

"A 2002 study supervised by the labor organization estimated that nearly 12,000 trafficked children toiled in the cocoa fields of Ivory Coast alone. The children, who had no relatives in the area, cleared fields with machetes, applied pesticides and sliced open cocoa pods for beans."

"The International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, estimates that 1.2 million ( children) are sold into servitude every year in an illicit trade that generates as much as $10 billion annually. "

Back in the US, an article by two academics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, posits that an extra one billion gallons of gasoline is used up each year because cars are transporting "fatter Americans."

And KFC, ( Kentucky Fried Chicken,) is phasing out trans fats by the end of April in most of its US outlets. According to this report in The Guardian,

"KFC previously resisted change - in June, the chain said it had been using the same type of oil for 50 years and did not want to tamper with Colonel Sanders's "finger lickin' good" recipe. But it was hit with a lawsuit from the non-profit Centre for Science in the Public Interest, which maintains that trans fats contribute to 50,000 deaths annually in the US. The class action was in the name of Arthur Hoyte, a retired doctor who said he had eaten KFC's chicken without being warned of the health risks.

The Centre yesterday dropped the case and its executive director, Michael Jacobson, praised KFC: "What are McDonald's and Burger King waiting for now? If KFC, which deep-fries almost everything, can get the artificial trans fat out of its frying oil, anyone can. Colonel Sanders deserves a bucket full of praise."

Remember that $160 million?    

The number of hungry people in the world is increasing by 4 million per year

U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization

(Rome, October 30,  2006) Ten years after the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS) in Rome, which promised to reduce the number of undernourished people by half by 2015, there are more hungry people in the developing countries today – 820 million – than there were in 1996, according to a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization report released today  Noting that promises are no substitute for food, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf today called on world leaders to honor a 10-year-old pledge to halve the number of hungry in the world by 2015.

From the World Hunger Education Service.

(AP photo of KFC employee devouring newly healthified fried foods.)

Fat Americans Redux

The non profit group Trust for America's Health reports that obesity rates have risen in 31 U.S. states, despite increasing focus and money being spent on what to eat, what not to eat, how to cook, exercise, and live. Top three fatty states are Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia. Colorado, Hawaii and Massachusetts were the trimmest states, according to the report. TAH is actually calling for more government-funded research into creating better obesity-prevention programs.

What?!  How difficult is this!?   The word is in, long since, people. Move more, eat less, turn off the tube, take pleasure in a wide  range of foods, stop snacking, say "no" to fast food joints, send your kids outside to play, toss out processed foods, reject supermarket blather, drink loads of water, buy locally whenever possible, stand up and prepare and cook fresh food, and sit down to enjoy meals with family and friends. Oh, and if you're not vegan ( and if you were, you would not be fat) eat full fat plain( good quality) yogurt, about half cup a day.

Frankly, my dears, each and every adult in this country has to wake up and take charge of his/her own health and well-being and that of their kiddies.  Because endless more research and programs will never make a dent without personal responsibility. ( OhmygawdIsoundlikeaconservative..................a real one.)

On the other hand, The FOOD Museum could use an infusion of funding, so maybe we could turn this common sense understanding of obesity into a mega-funded research project!

p.s. We know that there is a segment of the U.S. population that is hard-pressed to get access even to a supermarket--only mini marts exist in their neighborhoods. For them eating better is exceedingly difficult indeed.

p.p.s.  Evidently bad eating habits, quite likely inspired by the American fast food model, now abound around the world. So says the International Congress on Obesity, now convened in Sydney, Australia, in this AP report.

( Drawing from Slate.com)