August 18, 2008

FDA, once again, dismisses a preponderance of evidence...

... and says that Bisphenol A, a plastic additive so common in food containers that it's found in the urine of 93% of Americans, is safe. But don't take it from me...

The report stands in contrast to more than 100 studies performed by government scientists and university laboratories that have found health concerns associated with bisphenol A (BPA). Some studies have linked the chemical to prostate and breast cancers, diabetes, behavioral disorders such as hyperactivity and reproductive problems in laboratory animals.

Exposure to the small amounts of BPA that migrate from the containers into the food they hold are not dangerous to infants or adults, the draft said.

"FDA has concluded that an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure from food contact uses," regulators wrote in the draft report, which will be reviewed Sept. 16 at a meeting of members of an FDA advisory committee studying the safety of the chemical.

The chemical industry and the agencies that regulate the use of BPA, the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency, have deemed the chemical safe, largely on the strength of two industry-funded studies that found no problems.

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March 11, 2008

Are you hungry?

Apparently, so is the rest of the world.

Farmers the world over are producing flat-out. American agricultural exports are expected to increase 23 percent this year to $101 billion, a record. The world’s grain stockpiles have fallen to the lowest levels in decades.

“Everyone wants to eat like an American on this globe,” said Daniel W. Basse of the AgResource Company, a Chicago consultancy. “But if they do, we’re going to need another two or three globes to grow it all.”

In contrast to a run-up in the 1990s, investors this time are betting — as they buy and sell contracts for future delivery of food commodities — that scarcity and high prices will last for years.

If that comes to pass, it is likely to present big problems in managing the American economy. Rising food prices in the United States are already helping to fuel inflation reminiscent of the 1970s.

UGH. Why is it that an article about tight commodities markets always has the doom and gloom quote from some guy who thinks the future is going to look a lot like Soylent Green? There's never the quote from the fella who points out that, historically, times of limited supply and relative scarcity have always been of relatively short duration and are always followed by long periods of overabundance?

As for needing two or three earths? Not at all. What we need is for the rest of the planet to start farming like us. Well, maybe not with all the pollutions and problems of the past but instead with the best practices of today. Let's see some modern farming in Africa instead of the poor ass subsistence farmer plowing a field with technology from the 1860's.

When you read the article, please note how much Nigerians love them some toast.

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March 09, 2008

Someone put Rachael Ray out of my misery

This weekend, Food Network will be showing (in prime time, natch) Rachael Ray Feeds Your Pets.

This hour-long prime time special combines two of Rachael Ray's greatest passions: food and animals.

Rachael prepares three homemade recipes for her beloved dog, Isaboo, who gobbles them right up!

Rachael Ray Feeds Your Pets entertains and informs as it brings practical advice about safe and nutritious food for your pets.

This bitch and her ersatz food drives me crazy. Anyone else remember her hot dog casserole? Or maybe you remember her other elegant hot dig dishes, hot dog salad or hot dog pizza. This all pales in comparison to her scrumptious ham dip. Girl do lover her nitrates, don't she? Be honest. Even looking at this

makes you wanna throw up a little, right?

If she feeds this kinda crap to humans, just what do you think she's going to feed her dog? The contents of the TB, soaked in EVOO? Why don't you watch it and tell me.

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February 29, 2008

If you bought me these I might like you more

This is a bag of Zapp's Spicy Creole Tomato Chips Spiked with Tabasco. These are, quite simply, the most delicious food since bacon. The best part? They have them at HEB AND Randalls!

And yes, all you aspiring candidates out there, we DO change endorsements for those who give us delicious things to eat or drink (like scotch!)

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June 19, 2007

A tale of two Czech restaurants

I've long been a fan of Czech Stop in West, Texas about 20 miles north of Waco. Good cookies, cakes and yummy kolaches filled with tasty sausage, cheese and jalapenos. I've often thought that no one's kolaches even come close. I was wrong. Between Columbus and LaGrange on HWY 71 are two gas stations practically side by side. One is called Hruskas. Stop there on your next trip to Houston from Austin or vice versa. The pan sausage, jalapeno and cheese kolaches are scrumptious and make the ones from Czech Stop look like something out of a box from Randall's.

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