Slate.com: Sara Dickerson’s delightful look at the popularity of what she has dubbed the piggy confessional, the porcine write o’ passage in which “a dead pig — usually killed, butchered, or eaten by the author — provokes a meditation on the ethics and aesthetics of eating.” (Thx Aunt B.) On a related note, the Dallas Morning News has a chops-licking good meditation on “The Golden Age of Bacon.”
Des Moines Register: An editorial criticizes the raids at Swift & Co. meatpacking as evidence the immigration system is broken but, sympathetic to the undocumented workers, recommends a guest-worker program be set up. This heartbreaking Denver Post story of the workers’ families — datelined Greeley, CO, the setting for much of “Fast Food Nation” — ought to be enough to convince even the hardest-hearted immigration opponent that a travesty of justice is underway. (Shocking in this country, we know.) If you’re interested in following this story, the Greeley Tribune is attempting to cover every possible angle.
New York Times*: Shredded lettuce appears to be the culprit in the latest E. coli outbreak, say FDA officials, who have turned to old-fashioned investigation when tests failed to turn up the bacteria.
The Times (Ill.): As we’ve reported previously, Hormel has asked the USDA to revisit the “natural” label for meat; this article goes into the issues around the label for small producers. Somewhat surprisingly, given his position on the proposed “grass-fed” label, Mack Graves CEO of Panorama Grassfed Meats, is arguing that the label “Natural” also ought to reflect how animals are raised.
Grist: We’re wondering how Tom Philpott has had time to farm lately, given his veritable tsunami of articles on biofuels for Grist. In this one, he (and Gordon Fuller) explain what’s lurking behind the curtains of Brazil, often held up as the poster child for adoption of alternative fuels.
Guardian (UK): It seems a backlash against organic is brewing in Britain’s tabloids, so columnist Peter Melchett sets the record straight on spurious research — and lazy, bored journalists. The comments section is practically a bare-knuckled brawl at this point. So much for English manners.
Quad-City Times (Iowa): Dennis Olson, a professor of animal science at Iowa State University, has a solution for the country’s E. coli problems — just irradiate all our food. No thanks.
Salon.com**: Good thing Michael Pollan started with a smallish head — it must be swollen to twice its normal size right now. Joining the New York Times, Washington Post, Amazon, and a whole mess o’ other literary list-makers, Salon picks “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” as one of its best nonfiction books of 2006. For those of you who still haven’t read it, Salon has an excerpt of the first chapter to whet your appetite.
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December 14th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
tpmmuckraker.com (part of the Talking Points Memo family) has also been following the meat packing story closely, and rooting around in the muck that surrounds the Department of Homeland Security and asking the tough questions.