My latest bizarre television obsession is food reality shows. I can’t really explain it to you because I’m not sure what the logic is, but I’ve somehow become deeply invested in this world where people compete for fame, money, their own cookbooks, restaurants, and shiny trophies conferring some kind of food honour on them. You […]
Tag: food politics
What’s So Bad You’ve Got to Cover It Up, Big Ag?
Ag-gag laws are slowly spreading across the US like a plague, making it more and more difficult to talk about abuses in big agriculture, particularly in slaughterhouses. Such laws primarily ban filming and discussing activity in slaughterhouses, sometimes attempting to extend such bans not just to the slaughterhouse property itself but to neighbouring real estate; […]
March of the Vines: Vineyards are Exploding, But is That Good for Wine Country?
Everyone seems to have an opinion on California wines; some people think they’re insipid and awful, a judgment usually based on the reputation of the early years of the wine industry, and other people think they’re fantastic. In actuality, of course, some vineyards make outstanding, award-winning vintages that rival wines from anywhere else in the […]
My Real Concern About the Great Horsemeat Controversy
Earlier this year, a controversy exploded across Europe as horsemeat was found in ground beef products at a list of locations that seemed to grow by the week. Hamburgers, Ikea meatballs, and more were suddenly invaded by equines, to the horror of many people, and to endless commentary and discussion in the newspapers. A healthy […]
Does Your Version of Food Miles Include Worker Miles?
Food miles have been a hot concept in food politics for quite a while, focusing on the idea that people need to think about how far their food travels to reach them and what kinds of environmental costs come along with it. Generally, the fewer miles, the better, because that means fewer resources expended on […]
Can You Shop Your Way Out of a Broken Food System?
The last few years have marked an unprecedented level of consolidation in the US agriculture industry, largely permitted by regulators. A dwindling number of firms are controlling the bulk of the market, and the products arrayed on the shelves at the center of the grocery store are often produced by the same companies, even if […]
Food Politics: Too Many Cocks In the Chicken Coop
There’s an uncomfortable issue when it comes to livestock that many people prefer to avoid, because it’s an issue without an easy resolution. Particularly in the case of people interested in microlivestock and backyard farming, which are supposed to be fun, humane ways of getting in touch with farming and raising your own food, it’s […]
Fresh Food and Accessibility
The drum of ‘people should eat more fresh food’ is being beaten with increasing urgency these days, and there’s a slow, growing awareness that the obstacles to people eating fresh food might not be so simple as people being lazy and not wanting to eat vegetables. Talk of food deserts has begun to spring from […]
Farming, the Food Supply, and Reality
The disconnect between consumers and the food supply can be extremely stark, and sometimes I’m reminded of it in jarring ways, as when a woman at a conference smugly informed me that discussions about seasonal availability of produce weren’t ‘realistic’ because her grocery store stocks lettuce 365 days a year. Confronting this mismatch between reality—actual […]
Healthism and Food
One of the most commonly expressed forms of healthism comes up at the table, where people feel absolutely free to comment on what other people are eating, with additional suggestions on what they should or should not be eating. Whether it’s legislators attempting to pass soda bans or people at dinner who feel like it’s […]