gastronoise.com

The United States is a country that demands efficiency, progress and profit margins.  The free market/capitalism thing we have is a machine for innovation; a la airplanes, telephones, and microchips.  We want technology to “improve” all aspects of our life and in the fifties, food in the United States got an overhaul.  We got the ease, convenience, and (gulp) flavors that us Americans really wanted (hey focus groups don’t lie).  Not only did we get a whole world of chemically derived artificial flavors, TV dinners and hydrogenated oils, but we also got flavor crystals in our ready to scoop coffee grounds.  The days of roasting and grinding beans were a thing of the past.  Why go through all that hassle when you can brew an unknown pulp matter enhanced with “flavor” and “caffeine” with such ease?  The Europeans for whatever reasons never went for this approach.  Perhaps a 30-hour workweek perpetuated the old antiquated methods of preparing their morning brew, or more likely they didn’t find artificial foods an acceptable substitute for the real thing.

Fast forward fifty years or so and you see that the same crazed American ingenuity that invented and promoted such unfoodlike foods, are now in the forefront of a culinary revolution.  Starting in northern California in the early nineties and fanning out to cities from coast to coast, we are seeing a return to well crafted and genuinely artisanal foods.  Maybe because food and beverage in Europe has always been decent, you do not see the drive and excitement of a burgeoning foodie culture like we have in the states.  Those Americans who are driving this gastronomic push were raised on fast food and gummy rats.  Maybe you can say we’ve hit rock bottom.

European beers have always been regarded as premium and American beers as flavorless, but now we are now seeing craft breweries pop up all over the states that are the most sought after beers in the world.  The same thing can be said of coffee.  All of the world’s coffees are grown on or near the equator and small independent American roasters have helped to radically change the way in which beans are sourced.  Instead of going through co-ops and buying the best grade (like the Europeans have historically done), these small roasters are establishing relationships directly with farmers so they can monitor the quality of the coffee from the dirt to the cup. 

Now some of the most sought after coffees are auctioned off at “Cup of Excellence” programs and through roasters like Portland’s Stumptown, Chicago’s Intelligentsia or Boston’s Terroir.  Some of these uber-elite beans will sell for hundreds of dollars a pound on auction.  That in and of itself is not doing much for the average joe coffee drinker in America, but these moneys are going almost directly to the farms of coffee producers allowing them the capitol to invest in their operations, and the direct feedback from demanding American coffee geeks.  This system also inspires other farmers to compete in this private and directly traded market, which empowers the growers by avoiding co-ops all together.  If a cup is only as good as the worst bean that goes into it, then commodity coffee will always be inferior to the micro-lots from persnickety producers.  And these producers will be rewarded with the highest prices for their efforts. 

World class coffee is certainly available in our country, but if you were to compare the coffee at a truck stop in Spartanburg county to a truck stop in Sardo, yea it’s gonna suck.  However, the truck stop in Seattle is pretty damn impressive and I think the good stuff is creeping this way.  Starbucks may have effectively put Sanka out of business, but if I’m reading this trend correctly, the best is yet to come.   

Well, depending on if you are on your eighth Budweiser at a Braves game, spending your weekends working for PETA or residing in Spartanburg, SC, I would expect very different opinions regarding “tubular steak.”  I have found myself both delighted and repulsed by the notion of eating such processed meats in my thirty years of consumption.  So let’s spend a few minutes to try to figure out why it is that we do or don’t partake in this national past time.  

There are many reasons for reducing one’s meat consumption.  Besides one’s affinity (or not) for eating animal flesh, there are health, environmental, economic (personal and market-motivating), and ethical reasons as well.  The fact that we can survive just fine without eating meat and, for many people, even enjoy better health without it, is plenty reason for some not to munch on carcass.  But for argument’s sake, let’s say you take the meat.  I do.  I’m kind of picky about it though and I’ve tried to come up with a set of criteria for which meaty products I’m OK with getting stuck between my teeth.

Questionable meat products, production methods and repercussions:

The overwhelming majority of meat that is produced today comes from large factory farms.  The animals are fed grains (mostly genetically modified corn) that have been sprayed with a healthy dose of pesticides.  The animals themselves are raised in cramped conditions and injected with hormones and antibiotics.  The growth hormones administered to cows make them grow faster or produce more milk, but its effects on us and the environment are currently inconclusive.  There have been some studies that link their use to genitalia mutations in small water creatures as well as early-onset puberty in those that consume this meat.  Antibiotics are routinely administered to animals in factory farms to keep them free from illness until slaughter.  This practice allows feedlots to be higher in density than were previously possible when infection and disease were a prohibitive factor.   Again, the long-term effects are not known for sure; but this high-density livestock generates a great deal of poop. It must then be hauled off and dumped somewhere; thus, leading to additional concerns of contaminated crops and water.  The use of antibiotics has also contributed to the rise in superbugs, which threaten us all.

Buy local and organic:

Quite frankly, I would rather spend a slightly larger percentage of my income on food to avoid these questionable practices.  The best way to know about what you are buying is to buy your meat from a local source and perhaps even visit the farm yourself.  Obviously, if you go this route, you have pretty much decided against eating hot dogs.  Another option would be to search out organic and natural meats in the marketplace.  I think these certifications are worthwhile and should be supported.  But it’s no replacement for supporting locally raised grass-fed beef.  As “USDA organic certification” becomes more desirable in the marketplace we will see many of the big producers doing the bare minimum for certification.  Some see this as the tipping point where the demand will force big producers like ConAgra and Archer Daniels Midland to compete with organics.  It will thereby be cost prohibitive for them to have multiple standards for production.  I agree that this market driven organic push is generally desirable and feasible, but for my table I seek out small local producers whether they have USDA certification or not. 

The next best thing to local:

Unless you are in New York with access to Dines, Let’s Be Frank in San Francisco or Grassland Beef in the Midwest, your best option might be to buy Applegate products.  They use pastured beef and they cure the dogs with celery juice instead of nitrates.  Plus, they taste pretty darn good.  Think Nathen’s, not a handmade frank with the snap of natural casing.  The biggest drawback is that they are made from beef raised in South America where grass fed beef is cheaper to produce than in the US.  And although Applegate is more available than meat from regional producers, they haven’t reached the ballparks and drive-thrus yet.  

If you eat meat, don’t be a Meat-Snob:

American’s enjoy the flavor of hot dogs perhaps because of their cheapness and convenience.  They are enjoyed at sporting events, state fairs, and backyard barbeques. If humans weren’t initially impressed with the flavor of intestine stuffed with slurry o’ scrap parts, we are now by association.  The low cost of wieners is the free market’s way of getting us to eat the whole animal and not being wasteful.  If we were to go through the trouble and expense of breeding and feeding livestock to only eat a portion of the slaughtered animal, well that would just be foolish.  If you don’t eat meat that’s one thing, but if you avoid eating certain undesirable vaccinates of the carcass, then you are a meat snob.  

The whole point of this rant is to revisit the perception of processed meats.  Yes, most processed meats in America are gross but most prime cuts are disgusting as well.  Many consider pate fine food but hot dogs are just “lips and assholes.”  I don’t think it is a good idea for anyone to eat as much meat as Americans do, but processed meats if raised and processed right (BIG IF) can be enjoyable and a good source of protein.  Instead of being the poster child for all of the reasons not to eat meat, hot dogs should be a food free of stigma, enjoyed in moderation by all classes of Americans that consider themselves omnivores.  

OK so the plot premise is dumb, and the quantification of “true costs of food” is a joke and it’s one-sidedness is kind of insulting, but this is the best resource available that presents the questionable practices of modern food production in a short seven-minute film.  Enjoy!

true cost of food