Ode to umami: In honor of the Year of the Pig, an op-ed asks skittish Americans to reconsider that staple of Chinese cooking — monosodium glutamate, or MSG. If “industrially made MSG is a chemically ‘neat’ form of one of the umami compounds that delight our taste buds when they occur naturally in cheese, ham and seaweed, just as salt is a ‘neat’ form of the saltiness of seawater and white sugar of the sweetness of sugar cane. Is it any worse for us than refined salt and sugar?” asks writer Fuchsia Dunlop. New York Times
Throwing precaution to the winds: An industry op-ed examines the so-called “activist campaign” to demand labeling for foods derived from cloned animals and finds it lacking in logic. We agree with the writer that the problem is that “What industry cannot allow is an argument over the precautionary principle: That all foods are suspect until long-term, comprehensive longitudinal studies can demonstrate beyond doubt that a product is absolutely safe.” The precautionary principle, by the way, is what the European Union uses to determine whether novel foods and drugs are safe for public consumption. But in the U.S., industry won’t allow the lab rats — also known as consumers — even to debate it. CattleNetwork
Foie gras, naturally: Brits are getting excited over the prospect of “ethical” foie gras, the variety from Spain’s Pateria de Sousa that forgoes gavage in favor of geese’s natural tendency to gorge before migration. Although the production of foie gras is banned in the U.K., the British remain among the world’s largest consumers, with 4,270 tons sold every year. Telegraph (UK)
Top of the food chain: A peek inside the cavernous warehouse of Riviera Produce, one of New York City’s produce purveyors competing to connect the supply chain between farmers in Watsonville, CA, and all around the country with Manhattan’s four-star restaurants, hotels, and corporate dining rooms. New York Times Magazine
Books on our wish list: March will see publication of “Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution” by Thomas McNamee. Seattle Times
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