Podchef's Gastrocast Podcast

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The podcast about cooking, food, and the politics of what we eat.

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Gastrocast Cookbook

Gastrocast #78

In this week's show we look at what I've been reading lately. Talk about some important themes related to the book and tv series The Wartime Kitchen and Garden and make Sweet Chilli Sauce.

Dr. Siegel Spinach Article

Flickr Photos









This episode of the Gastrocast was sponsored by The Kitchen Garden Company

by: ChefNeal at 09/29/06 22:39 | link | comments |
cooking, podchef, gastrocast, food contamination, self sufficiency, preserving, preparedness, farming, cooking show podcast, culinary podcast, kitchen garden company, asian cuisne, food politics, food preservation, sweet chilli sauce, dig for victory, wartime food supply

Stop, Don't Bug Me

Every once and a while an idea comes along which is so nutty you have to wonder what the people who thought of it were smoking. Such was the case with a 6 virus mix to be sprayed onto cold-cuts to help kill the Listeria bacteria. Now it seems this nutty idea has a whole host of applications.

Since E. Coli is in the news so much, and it is such a bad bug--why not try to use Viral Bacteriaphages to attack it? That is the latest proposal by a Dr. Brabban at Evergreen State College in Washington.

E.coli lives in the digestive systems of cows and sheep, but it doesn't make them sick. It is only trouble when their waste gets into the human food supply.

"We want to go all the way back to those animals and think, 'how can we solve the problem right away here?' " says Dr. Andy Brabban, a professor at The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

Dr. Brabban along with colleague Betty Kutter and a group of undergraduate students have been researching the problem since 2001. They have discovered you can introduce an otherwise harmless virus called a 'phage' that specifically preys on E.Coli bacteria.

"We can put it in their drinking water, we can put it in their food," says Dr. Brabban.

Wow--do you think it will work? Golly gee, Science will make us all so safe--NOT!

First of all, I know the science says it will work--phages created by viruses can kill bacteria. Perhaps you can even target specific bacterial such as E. Coli 0157:H5 this way. The only trouble is that viruses are among the most unstable critters on the planet. They change and mutate regularly and rapidly. How can they be controlled in a way to make them safe? It is untested and unproven, yet the boffo science types want to unleash, or is that inflict, this weirdness on the world. It is another case of  science gone mad.

Even if this new technology is safe and will work and won't mutate and cause unknown ailments in humans--oh, did I forget to mention that phages already present in our guts can cause all sorts of tummy troubles, like cancers? Or mutate to tackle naturally occuring beneficial bacterias in our digestive tract thereby causing all sorts of digestive and possibly toxic problems. Even if this stuff can be made safe and avoid all of this it is merely a band-aid. A palliative to cover the festering wound which is the real problem.

In the case of Listeria in cold-cuts, the real solution would be to inspect and control the processing plants more vigourously. Not further controls or regulations, mind, just tighten up the process already in place. Impose penalties and fines which hurt rather than bother the corportations behind 75 million food poisioning cases a year. 

In order to solve both the Listeria and the E. Coli problems before they get the chance to taint and poison cold cuts, spinach, hamburger an even simpler step can be made.  The reason these bacterias thrive is due to the confinement and intensive feed-lot manner of raising meats currently employed in the US. Further more, feeding grains to cattle--a grass-grazing herbavore--causes them to get sick. The acid levels in their stomachs rise and they must be fed a constant level of antibiotics to keep them well. What better place to breed a superbug like E. Coli 0157:H5? Same is true of Listeria--the conditions where the animals are raised directly contribute to the levels of contaminant they contain.

Free-Range, pastured, grass-fed meats don't have these same sorts of problems. The cess-pits of confinement don't exist to breed toxic bacterias in a well managed farm system. It is only in Commercial, Corporate Agri-factories where disease is rife.  So instead of fixing the cause of so many outbreaks (remember 75 million of which an unlucky 9000 will most likely die) they would rather just create untested, random fixes like Viral Sprays to cover their tracks and make everyone feel "safe" that they are pro-actively doing something.

Don't buy into it. Commercially processed foods are becoming increasingly toxic and the methods being employed to "fix" the situation are only going to make things worse. Source your foods locally. Know who raises you Meat and Veg. Support the local economy. Eat healthier and live better.

by: ChefNeal at 09/28/06 13:42 | link | comments |
food contamination, e coli, food science, listeria, virus sprays, mad scientists

The chicks are bigger now

But have a look them when they were small:

by: ChefNeal at 09/27/06 13:03 | link | comments (1)|
video, podchef, chickens, chicks, poultry, livestock, hatching

Another Reason. . .

To buy locally from someone you know.  I spoke about Arsenic in our diets a while ago, but it is back in the news.

Arsenic is used in Animal Feed, primarily to kill parasites, both in the feed and in the animals. However, this carcinogen builds up so if you eat lots of chicken, you are slowly poisoning yourself. The Industry claims to have stopped the practice, but I'll believe that--never. Remember, this is the same industry which claimed to stop feeding animals to cows, and didn't for 8 years, and still might not have totally ended the practice.

The really stupid thing is there are better, cheaper and healthier alternatives to using Arsenic in feed. Diatomaceous Earth is great at killing all sorts of pests--internal and external. It can be mixed with feed--Humans can eat it--and it does no harm--except to the bugs--no matter what dosage is recieved. Because it works by a mechanical action, not chemical, it does not build up or poison life. It merely slices the outer shell of tiny creatures like internal parasites, fleas, slugs, etc. I use Diatomaceous Earth regularly on my livestock, pets--like Rowan--and in our animal feed. It works great and is cheap. When I buy chicken feed I make sure it is not used in the production--at least that I am told.

The use of harmful chemicals in our food supply at every level is nothing more than the product of an industry's greed. In trying to use up surplus chemicals, the byproducts of petrolium refining, and stuff created in  a lab., the scientists in the food industry are using their corporations wallet to think--not their own brains. The FDA sets "allowable limits" on chemicals and pollutants in food--to my way of thinking this limit should be moved to zero.

by: ChefNeal at 09/25/06 14:34 | link | comments |
food contamination, arsenic, diatomaceous earth, animal feed, poisons, toxins

The Panic spreads

Raw Milk is once again in the news. And of course, this time it is the Dreaded E. Coli 0157:H7 and children.

What I don't get about this information in this article are the lines:

Doctors treating the children have identified the bacteria as E. coli 0157:H7. While laboratory samples of Organic Pastures raw milk have not detected E. coli 0157:H7 contamination, epidemiologic data collected by the Department of Health Services points to a link with Organic Pastures raw milk. Additional laboratory samples of Organic Pastures raw milk are pending.

These illnesses are not believed to have any connection with the recent E. coli 0157:H7 contamination in raw spinach. Typing of lab samples from one of the children shows a different strain than the one found in the spinach outbreak.

It's tragic that children have gotten sick. Yet the lab can't detect E. Coli in the samples of milk, but because it is Raw Milk it must be the cause of the disease because it has no link to the Spinach problem?

Typical. Raw MIlk is force to take the blame for everything. Quite often it is a symptom of ignorant and lazy dairies, but in and of itself Raw Milk is harmless. It is when it is brought into an industrial scale that things go wrong. It is a shame that Organic Pastures--which appears to be doing everything right and should be lauded--is having this kind of hassle.

When will Raw Milk cease to be a scape goat? Let's hope the kids get well and Organic Pastures is cleared of this supposed outbreak and we focus the spotlight back on the real problem--Industrial Scale Ag washing our food in poo and chemicals.

by: ChefNeal at 09/22/06 22:36 | link | comments |
food contamination, raw milk, food safety, e coli, foodborne illness, fearmonering

Gastrocast #77

Jamming and Spinach in this week's show.

Some of the links:

Flickr Photos

Spinach woes.
Spinach in the News
Great article about the issues at hand. And here.
A cover up?
Fallout for farmer's not caught in the debacle--mentioned below.

Deadly Chinese Body Building Pigs

by: ChefNeal at 09/22/06 22:12 | link | comments |
podchef, gastrocast, food contamination, food safety, foodborne illness, food preservation, spinach, jam

A few thoughts. . . .

Over on the NoNais blog I've just left a comment which I think belongs here as well:

It has been said that if everyone grew there own food people would starve. That we must have large scale commercial agriculture. I don’t believe it. I think, given my own harvest this year, that if *individuals* all tried to grow their own food as self-sufficiently as possible trouble could arise. But nothing says that must be the case. Localities, geographic areas–that is what is meant by “grow our own food”. A parish, a city, etc. Anything within 500 miles would be acceptable, 250 miles better. Then there would be no biosecurity issues. Crop failure could be reduced by having redundant crops in many areas and the bolstering of local economies would leave everyone better off.

Perhaps I am fortunate to live in an area where some of this is already taking place. Perhaps my island view shows me that this has been done and could be done again–successfully. It doesn’t have to replace trade or transportation of goods–who doesn’t like oranges, bananas, grapefruit. But it would dramatically lessen the costs and impact of shipping foodstuffs 1500 miles to our table.

Due to the E. Coli outbreak there are are some NW spinach farmers suffering. The disease is affecting crops 1000 miles away, but they can’t sell their perfect spinach. Here is a tale of two farms–one which bags spinach and can’t sell it and another which boxes bunches of spinach and can sell all it has–locally. The first farm is doing great at local farmers markets due to increased demand, but they have grown too much for a national market which isn’t there anymore and will not be able to recover from the loss. This should be a lesson in the economies of scale. Sure if you are bigger things will be cheaper, but the farther you will have to fall when something wrong happens.

Chances are the spinach thing isn’t bio-terrorism, just bad luck, stupidity and laziness in a larger, quicker, cheaper industry. But it is as clear a window into the possible scenario which could play out as we will ever get.

Bio-tech will not save us. Consolidation of agricultural resources will not save us. Chipping, tracking, regulating to death will not save us. The personal relations of a network of local farmers rasing foods for a given area, monitored and inspected first and foremost by the consumers themselves, then by government agencies, will be the only way to create a safe, healthy and tamper-proof food system.

Now, somehow I feel a bit like Roderick Spode saying stuff like this--how the countryside must be turned up and given over to crop productions,  and the straight back and keen stare of the American farmer will bring us through these troubled times, etc. But damnit if it might not be true. What America needs is practical, patriotic Farmer/Soldier types at the helm. Common Sense and the Constitution will see us through. It's how America was built and what has carried it through all these 380-some years.

by: ChefNeal at 09/22/06 14:02 | link | comments |
comments, e coli, agriterrorism, nonaisorg, spinach, agriculture

Well, slap my thigh. . .

. . .and call me Bo. . . .

Bo Derek is behind an effort to end horse slaughter. WTF?? It's now going to be illegal to buy, sell or trade horses for the purpose of rendering them into something other than Mr. Ed, the talking pet. Why are our public servants wasting their time with this stuff?

I don't know how you feel about the issue--I'm sure you never knew you had feelings about it before today. My point is--what are they going to do with all the old, dying, or unwanted horses, now? Where is glue going to come from? What are people going to feed their pets? Oh, yeah, you know it's in them kibble n' BITS.

Again, I am sure you have never willingly or knowingly eaten Horse meat. Maybe you have. Just as I am sure, that while I have never sought it out, I have been fed it. It is supposed to be like beef, but sweeter. Some people may love Horse Meat. Others are obviously horrified by the thought of eating Black Beauty. I've ridden cows, does that make it wrong to eat beef? Are goats, sheep (well, yeah, perhaps sheep), pigs or Bossie any more dumb than horses? Don't give me that about Horses being so smart. . . .There are just as many stupid ones out there as there are stupid horse owners. If you ask me pigs are far more intelligent, loyal and worth of man's praise than the Horse, but how many carnivores would allow the banning of pork?

Now on the flip side, perhaps the slaughter houses ARE cruel. Perhaps the horses do die a horrible death. If you ask me most industrial scale slaughter operations are horrible. But shouldn't we try to change the procedures, practice and outcome rather than close down a viable industry?  Now I'm not going to go out and seek any Horse Tartar before the ban is in effect. But if people want to eat horse--and who, if push came to shove in a hunger situation wouldn't do it?--than I say, let them. What next? Ban full-fat yoghurt because it's harmful to the people who  eat it?  Granted Europeans are predominantly the consumers of our Pony Pals. And we may do well to ask ourselves why? Perhaps the privations of two World Wars and the necessity of eating horses to avoid starvation led to a culture which sought value beyond Polo to these animals. So then should we Americans see it as so decadent or indecent?

I don't have any horses, now. If I did, I don't think it would occur to me to send them to slaughter. I would do what most people do when they get sick or break a leg--shoot the bugger and either bury it or probably feed it to my dogs. If it was young and not sick and had to be "put down"--I might be tempted to snitch a tenderloin. . . .   The point is that people should have the choice to do with their property what they see fit. Rather than ban Horse Slaughter, why not ban Foreign Slaughter houses in our Country. That leaves the door open to a sudden upswell in horse-flesh cravings. Furthermore this sort of legal action only opens the door for further limiting what we as Citizens can do. Do we really need more layers of regulation and government control in our lives. No. The Government should be more concearned about cleaning up our Food Industry by patroling large Agri-Corps than catering to a bunch of Animal-Rights Activists. I am all for animal welfare, but I am not for the sensless control of everyone when just a few bananas in the bunch are Rotten. This is all just one more step closer to a Nanny State Govenment who has so much control over our lives we have no choice in anything we do.

by: ChefNeal at 09/21/06 22:04 | link | comments |
usdassholes, slaughtering, us government, horse meat, bo derek