There has been a lot of food in the news during the first week of June 2011.
Read on.
The Pyramid is Dead - Long Live The Plate!
The United States Department of Agriculture released its much- hyped replacement for the Food Guide Pyramid - it's called "MyPlate". Whoop-de-do. It seems that a critique of the pyramid scheme published in January 2011 in the journal, World Nutrition, finally devastated the confusing 20-year Food Guide Pyramid. Most nutrition experts welcome the new MyPlate as an improvement, but with reservations. Government food guides date back to the days of war and malnutrition, when many folks had to work hard to attain a balanced diet. Times have changed, but this is an example of an outdated government program that just is not needed anymore, yet it keeps lumbering along under its own momentum.
Organic Farming in -- Surprise! - India
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| Women in a self help group in India reclaiming waste land |
Organic farming is on the rise in India. The use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides is heavily subsidized by the Indian government, but interest going organic is on the rise among farmers who have seen the quality of their farmlands decline since the beginning of the so-called Green Revolution. A very interesting article in the New York Times, 2 June 2011, describes this surprising trend. After all, India has more than 1 billion people to feed, and organic farming is generally considered less productive than conventional farming. But farmers in India are starting to challenge that notion - successfully, too.
Get Out the Salt Shaker - really, it's OK now
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| Comedienne Phyllis Diller, an avid cook, has always rejected the notion of the supposedly healthy low-sodium diet. She is 93 and still going strong. |
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that not only do low-sodium diets not lower high blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health, but that men who ate low-sodium diets were more apt to die from heart attack or stroke. My super-healthy, salt-loving husband says he knew it all along.
Source of European E. Coli Contamination Identified
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| Genetic code of the new e. coli bacterium, dubbed EHEC O104 |
More people died from the exotic new e. coli in Europe this past week. The Germans, who have been blaming Spanish-grown organic cucumbers, have embarrassedly announced that the source is a bean sprout growing facility in Germany. More than 1,700 people in Germany have been affected, including 520 with life-threatening complications where the bacteria attacks the kidneys. People from 90 countries have been sickened - all had traveled in Northern Germany recently. At least 18 people have died and more deaths are expected. The latest news was published in The Telegraph, Sunday 5 June 2011.
Dear Readers -
The goal of Food in the News is to examine the role of food in society through current events. Tell me what you think - and if there are any stories you want to follow. Thanks - Deb Duchon - Editor, Publisher, Dishwasher, and Cook.
