Thursday, June 14, 2007

Couple of articles

Just a few articles I want to point out that I think are noteworthy.

Kellogg Foods to Phase Out Children’s Marketing Campaign In pursuit of leading children to eat better and think about eating healthier Kellogg’s is phasing out its advertising campaign aimed at children.

"Kellogg also announced that it would stop using licensed characters or branded toys to promote foods unless the products meet the nutrition guidelines."

Good for them....Tucan Sam was reported as saying:

"What am I gonna do now?! I have three brats to feed, and they dont even like Fruit Loops!"
(Just kidding... Tucan Sam has yet to comment.)

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Pixar Keeps It Real. Pixar studies sent staff members to follow around chefs like Thomas Keller in preparation for their upcoming movie Ratatouille. I was excited to see this movie to begin with (Much like how I love the chef scene in Little Mermaid ..ok maybe ive said to much) but now with seeing this article I’m really excited.

Mr. Keller, who has lent his name to a companion children’s cookbook for the film and is the voice of a restaurant patron, helped guide the culinary education of the Pixar team and subsequently became friends with Mr. Lewis, the producer.

The chef’s handiwork is most evident in the final dish, the one on which the entire plot hangs. The dish is the movie’s namesake, and needs to be so special it will impress the restaurant critic.

Mr. Keller cooked a fancy layered version of ratatouille called confit byaldi. “We had to think about what would make the food transformed,” Mr. Keller said. “What would transport him back to his childhood in a Proustian sort of way.”


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Foie Gras Ban Upheld In Chicago

sigh... How I wish these people would just go away. Now for the record I’ve had Foie Gras (Goose Liver) twice in my life. While not a big fan of it, I respect its many and diverse uses. To make matters worse, the activist movement to ban Foie entirely has reached Philly, where these people see fit to stand outside respectable places of business and protest..often making diners very uncomfortable.

Annoying...

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Foodist
You will be tickled to know that your post on foie gras turned up in my mailbox via a Google alert I have out on the subject.
Sometimes the cyber world is pretty small.

The Foodist said...

woopie! good to know its getting out there.. now if it gets more people to interact that would be great!

Thanks for the heads up though!

Tyrone said...

Uh yeah, didn't catch that on the little mermaid, BUT I am excited about Pixar's Ratatouille movie coming up...

the first time my wife saw that she said 'you'll be going' it wasn't even a question...plus I love comedy and Pixar's animation.

I also saw Adam Sandler's Spanglish, was a good movie even though he didn't actually do much cooking.

I must agree on the foie gras, although I can't complain much down here in the South we don't/haven't had that problem with it....OH, what am I saying...most of us don't know what it is.

Pig Brain's, Lard, Chitlin's, and Head CHeese, now we'd be killing some people if they tried to ban that. (Next of Kin style)

The Foodist said...

Tyrone;

If you watch the movie its a short bit in which the chef sings a rather humouros song while preparing dinner.

"..I stuff you wit bread, it dont hurt, cause your dead.." really had me laughing.

on to a more serious subject.
I really think that the activists have an issue with Foie for two main reasons.

1- they see the act of Gavage as immoral (If only they realized that these birds actually do it themselves before migration), as compared to cattle or sheep that we let graze. But in a sense we also forcefeed pigs. The phrase "eat like a pig" didnt just drop out of the sky one day. Farmers are known to feed domesticated pigs more then what a wild hog would normaly eat. Thereby increasing body mass and fat content of the animal.

2- I honestly think these people also have the impression that the only product we are after from the animal is the liver, that discard everything else. Come on now, you think were gonna corn-feed a duck for 3-5 months and NOT take advantage of that flavor from the legs, breasts, giblits, etc etc...

Its really hard to say though, Ive never been to a anti-foie gras meeting and heard that side of the debate. You know it might be interesting to go to one just to see...

Ill have to see how I could find one around here

Tyrone said...

You may have a point there (about the foie meeting! Ha!)...

I read one of your newer posts on the books but have to say that I feel the same about posting and commenting that you talked about in the begining...(like the vegan one over on bob dg's)

I don't really want to provoke anybody to 'blogger rage' I just want to get in on the dialogue/debate/comments too!

The Foodist said...

I stopped responding to that Steve guy after his reply to mine. The guy obviously has some issues he needs come to terms with and Ill be damned if Im gonna let him drag me into some blog-drama, so childish.

Anyway, as far the take on vegans and arrogance goes, I have to say ALOT of the vegans I know are really arrogant about it. But i think maybe its because being vegan is in part a belief, and that belief is a minority.

Vegans tend to feel a little more isolated and out of place, imagine eating at a place with friends and a vegan is with you. Its always a "Hassle" to ask for a vegan option.. Im sure it wears down on people after awhile. So maybe the arrogance is a form of frustration?

who knows, not me I can speculate all day about it but it doesnt change the issue.