January 4, 2008

What MRSA, Bees, and the idea of Sustainability have in common

The past year brought stories about health scares from ecoli to toys made in China, pet food made in China, (...anything made in China...) and then there are some stories which linger, more troubling-ly, and return again and again with increasing concern. Two such stories are those of MRSA, the new antibiotic-resistant bacteria which is now killing more people than AIDS (in the US), and Colony Collapse Disorder - the troublesome problem of bees, necessary for pollination and therefore integral to food production, flying away and not returning.

In his always evocative and eloquent way, Michael Pollan (did I mention, I *heart* Michael Pollan?) discusses these issues and how they're related directly to modern food practices, and the exact definition of sustainability in a tightly wrapped piece in the NY Times magazine. Read it.

Posted by themindfuleater on January 4, 2008 | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

May 25, 2007

The Flavor of the New Food Debate

Christopher Shea, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, encapsulates, quite brilliantly, the new face of food writing in his article New Grub Street.

In it, he identifies some of the loudest voices in the scene (i.e., everyone's current fav, Michael Pollan), discusses how all news outlets are starting to get a piece of the pie (i.e., the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times are all reporting regularly on the food debate), and he starts to tease out some of the issues floating to the surface, such as eating organic or eating local.

He asks important questions just begging to be answered, such as:

"So which is more energy-efficient... a few large farms supplying a network of well-positioned supermarkets, or a new localized network of small farms?"

and

"Are... these debates about the ethics and politics of food largely a pastime of a tiny elite–grist for editors’ dinner parties but of tiny relevance to most consumers, who rush to the nearest market and grab what they need? "

A very interesting read. Find it here.

Posted by themindfuleater on May 25, 2007 | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)