– Did you ever say to yourself, ‘man, chex mix is such a damn good snack, I don’t think it could possibly get any better?’ Well it did. If you know me at all, you have one guess what the secret ingredient is. [SF Gate] (via Serious Eats)
Photo: Hellospuntnik
That’s just one of the many insightful factoids from everyone’s favorite bleeding heart columnist, Nick Kristof, whose latest piece of activism is a call for P-E Obama to appoint the first-ever Secretary of Food. (Pick me! Pick me!) All snarkiness aside, it’s a damn good idea:
A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat.
Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy — all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
“We’re subsidizing the least healthy calories in the supermarket — high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil, and we’re doing very little for farmers trying to grow real food,” notes Michael Pollan, author of such books as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” (and current Eater of the Year lagabout).
Read the full piece here [NYT]
We know, we know, it’s tough waiting those several hours between ES posts everyday. While we don’t have the facilities to post 20 times a day just yet (goddamn day jobs), we wouldn’t want you to have to go reading other blogs or even worse, working, in between Endless Simmer posts. So we’re constantly finding new ways for you to get your simmer fix 24-7.
For those of you who haven’t noticed yet, Endless Simmer is now on Twitter, bringing you all of our teensy little thoughts and tastes that aren’t always big enough to make a full blog post out of.
Sign up and holler at us:
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Undress me up in your love [Brand Week]
Feminism: causing equality in drinking disorders since 1920 [Feministing]
Yummy aborted fetuses [Salon]
As unabashed trend followers, we’re suckers for anything phrased in the form ____ is the new ____. So we were stoked to read epicurious’ list of the Top 10 Food Trend Predictions of 2009.
Apparently, molecular gastronomy, Thai food, and Portland, Oregon are out; while rustic food, Peruvian, and Portland, Maine are in. Who knew?!
What food trends would you like to see put to rest in 2009?
Picture: Elephantitits of the mind.
Chrismakkah is right around the corner, and for the foodies on your list *sellout alert* out sponsors have two titles worth wrapping up.
First there’s The Comfort Table, a new cookbook from Katie Lee Joel, who you might remember as the first incarnation of Padma Lakshmi on Top Chef season one. For those of you who are more into pictures than words, The Autumn Lake Cookbook is a comic book-style, family-friendly New England recipe collection. Click on the ads on the right to check out either of these books, or visit the ES Book Club for more ideas.
Oh, and in non-sponsor news, Jason over at Mr. Bacon Pants has compiled a very comprehensive Bacon Lovers Gift Guide. I’ll take one of everything, in case anyone’s wondering.
Holy turkeys! The big day is almost here. But don’t freak out, ES has oodles of advice as always. If you weren’t inspired by our Meaty Thanksgiving, Candy Thanksgiving, Elitist Thanksgiving, or even Procrastinator’s Thanksgiving, check out some of our slightly more serious ideas from last year, including: