Reality imitates comedy

I’m actually trying to get some work done today but a friend shared the Times Online article Scientists grow pork meat in a laboratory on Facebook, which immediately made me think of the Better Off Ted episode Heroes, which I happened to watch this weekend. If you have a chance, watch it. Funny stuff. This new article about cultured pork follows one about cultured beef from about a year ago. Does cultured meat have a future beyond sitcoms?

http://www.hulu.com/embed/rhMlmAFNfiaz4y-ndokLIg

Does the source matter?

If you’re unsure about something, there is probably a non-profit organization (aka special interest group, aka non-governmental organization)  just waiting to tell you what the “facts” are. These organizations all claim to present the most accurate information in their non-peer-reviewed reports, but can we trust them?

Healthy food example set by White House

Since her husband took office, Mrs. Obama has been setting a wonderful example, encouraging healthy food options like fresh fruits and vegetables. The state dinner at the White House is a beautiful demonstration that food can be healthy as well as fancy!

Modern Flourishes at Obamas’ State Dinner in the New York Times leaves me hungry. How wonderful: “the meatless menu included a mix of Indian and American favorites, including some African-American standards. Collard greens and curried prawns, chickpeas and okra, nan and cornbread”. Sounds like a lot of agricultural biodiversity to me! Cheers to Mrs. Obama for continuing to encourage Americans to consider healthy food options by setting such an exquisite example.

For the full menu, see this official press release from the White House (pdf). For pictures, you must see the slide show at the Times – there are very few pictures of the event online.

Karl, you’ll be happy to hear that the pears served for dessert were poached in honey from the White House’s own beehive!

High Health Care Costs Lead to Healthier Eating?

As employers desperately try to keep health care costs down, some are turning to unexpected measures, according to Health Care Savings Could Start in the Cafeteria in Sunday’s New York Times. Employers, including some big ones like IBM, have programs that reward their employees for joining a gym or following a preventive health care regimen. Now, some employers are trying to affect their employees diets by offering healthier foods in their cafeterias and giving employees coupons for healthy prepared food items stocked in local grocery stores. Full Yield (a company that does not seem to have a website!) is a new company working to prepare the healthy food offerings that employees are encouraged to buy. Together with Harvard Pilgrim, an insurance company, Full Yield will track employee health to see if it improves with their food options.

Why am I bringing this up at Biofortified?

Does using GMOs really increase pesticide use?

The Organic Center recently released Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years by Dr. Charles Benbrook, agricultural economist and “Chief Scientist” of the Organic Center. I can’t help but get the feeling that Dr. Benbrook started with a conclusion and found data to fit rather than starting with a general review then finding significant conclusions. It’s not that I necessarily have any specific problems with the information Dr. Benbrook presents, it’s just that I think he’s leaving some key ideas out of the report that should have been considered. There are also generalizations that just aren’t warranted. There are a lot of problems with this report, but I’m particualrly concerned with the way Dr. Benbrook fails, for the most part, to distinguish between different biotech traits, fails to distinguish and between different pesticides, and fails to consider non-biotech traits that could increase pesticide use.