Quinoa is not a staple at our house. I like it a lot, but I don’t make it that often. If I did, I would probably already have negotiated a way through the ethical maze that confronts me. Should I buy quinoa from its homeland in South America, and if so should it be the morally superior stuff grown by small farmers on the altiplano of Peru and Bolivia, or the industrial stuff grown on the coast by greedy land barons cashing in on the mystique cultivated by the local people they despise?
A quinoa dilemma
Quinoa is not a staple at our house. I like it a lot, but I don’t make it that often. If I did, I would probably already have negotiated a way through the ethical maze that confronts me. Should I buy quinoa from its homeland in South America, and if so should it be the […]
Baked Indoctrination
This time of year, approximately speaking, is ripe for investigating food and cultures, as in the episode Celebrating Passover and Easter. With Passover just behind and Easter just ahead, I’m happy to resurrect some more ancient posts.
This time of year, approximately speaking, is ripe for investigating food and cultures, as in the episode Celebrating Passover and Easter. With Passover just behind and Easter just ahead, I’m happy to resurrect some more ancient posts.
Insects will not make pet food more sustainable either
Somewhat sad to see Marion Nestle, with whom I almost always agree, linking, without question or comment, to an article in a pet-food trade journal which suggests that insect protein is a key solution to a sustainable pet food industry. The article contains some eye-opening numbers for the pet food business in the US and […]
Somewhat sad to see Marion Nestle, with whom I almost always agree, linking, without question or comment, to an article in a pet-food trade journal which suggests that insect protein is a key solution to a sustainable pet food industry. The article contains some eye-opening numbers for the pet food business in the US and globally, as well as some dubious claims about pet health; they are not properly sourced, so I’m not going to bother to address them.
I do, however, take issue with this:
“In terms of sustainability, the key point is that this isn’t just greenwashing,” said Hobbs. “Insect protein in pet food truly has a significant positive impact.”
It is just greenwashing.
Hobbs is Aaron Hobbs, executive director of the North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA), so Mandy Rice-Davies applies. The key point, which neither he nor Marion Nestle seem to have appreciated, but which you will because you listened to the recent episode on insects as food (for people and their pets), is that the “waste” that insects are reducing is usually a feed product that could be given direct to livestock and, in some cases, people and their pets.
Premium-priced insect-based pet food might assuage the consciences of some pet owners, but it is unlikely to do anything at all for food waste.
Formula Recall Boosts Breastfeeding Department of Silver Linings
Yesterday’s graph from USDA is really interesting. It shows that the February 2022 recall of formula milk in the US, which compounded the supply chain difficulties of Covid, was associated with a striking increase in the number of infants fully and partially breastfed (and a drop in the number fully formula fed). The survey covers […]
Yesterday’s graph from USDA is really interesting. It shows that the February 2022 recall of formula milk in the US, which compounded the supply chain difficulties of Covid, was associated with a striking increase in the number of infants fully and partially breastfed (and a drop in the number fully formula fed).
The survey covers only people enrolled in the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), so it isn’t comprehensive, but it represents a more vulnerable sector of society. It also shows that while formula offers the benefit of convenience, when push comes to shove many women are able to breastfeed more. Of course I would like to see a more detailed breakdown that factors in things like the need to be out working, but I find these results encouraging.
These findings also suggest a way out for mothers faced with what today’s Guardian said are “historically high” prices for formula in the UK.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found in November that the average price of infant formula had risen by 25% in the past two years and families could save more than £500 over the first year of a baby’s life by switching to cheaper powders.
They could save even more by breastfeeding more and for longer.
Syndicated to the mothership.
Eat This Podcast Xmas Quiz You can’t win unless you enter
Perhaps this will help while away a few minutes as you wait for a new episode to drop. One question for each of this year’s 18 episodes. There will be prizes, but I want to try and ensure that they are things you actually want, so probably tokens or gift cards of some sort. You […]
Perhaps this will help while away a few minutes as you wait for a new episode to drop. One question for each of this year’s 18 episodes. There will be prizes, but I want to try and ensure that they are things you actually want, so probably tokens or gift cards of some sort. You have until midnight GMT on 1 January 2024 to submit your entry
NB: I need an operational email to ensure I can tell you if you are a winner. That is all I will use it for.