I knew every little detail of Treme was going to be dissected by local viewers. Apparently, David Simon also realized this and published a preemptive letter in the Times Picayune about the "Magic Hubig's" before the first episode aired.
Recently in Food Category
Please compare and contrast these two articles which appeared today in the Chicago Tribune:
Group Says Hot Dogs Should Carry A Warning Label
Lettuce Recalled Due To Salmonella
As a footnote, I would like to mention that many vegetables, such as celery, spinach, and kale, contain a significant amount of nitrates, which is converted by bacteria in our mouths to nitrites. This is why many organic hot dogs contain celery juice extract and bacterial cultures to convert the nitrate in the celery juice to nitrite. This allows them to be packaged "nitrite free" despite the fact that they do contain nitrite, just not as an explicit additive. Yes, this annoys me to no end.
In many urban areas, there unfortunately exist entire neighborhoods without any access to fresh produce. These areas are usually only served by fast food establishments and convenience stores. Citing this inequity, WalMart has decided to hold a "farmers" market in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood -- which just happens to be the exact site of where they would like to put their second store in Chicago. According to the article, WalMart will "feature" the produce vendors they use for their stores. I know that even Sysco has started using local vendors as an option for their customers, but I somewhat doubt we will see Nichols Farm rolling into Chatham for this. More likely than not, it will look more like the stacks and stacks of random flats one can see at the Maxwell Street Market on Sundays. I think that may be stretching the definition of "farmers market" a bit far.
While I do support access to fresh produce and think providing that access would be good, would WalMart moving into the neighborhood improve the neighborhood overall? Would it displace local businesses and jobs, whatever they may be, as the men from Bentonville have a tendency to do? I can't really say. I've never been to Chatham, nor will I probably ever be. All I know is it feels weird when Wal-Mart tries to portray themselves as the good guy.
The Atlantic's usually exemplary Food Channel posted today an entry concerning the humane treatment of crustaceans. While I am a supporter of the humane treatment (and slaughter) of livestock, this article seems a bit past the line for me.
First, the author is extrapolating from the fact that a hermit crab can sense an electrical field in a shell to a lobster suffering from being cooked in a boiling pot of water, despite the fact noted in an article he links to that the sensors in the lobster shut down at 25°C (or slightly above room temperature). The linked article also questions if crustaceans have the mental capacity to perceive pain, having six orders of magnitude less neurons in their brains than mammals. As Sheriff Truman said, "Where there's no sense, there's no feeling."
Second, while the author does describe a practical method for dispatching a lobster in your home kitchen, his other solutions to this inhumanity to crustaceans are the industrial crushing of the lobsters and packaging of the meat or to give your lobster their own electric chair, neither of which are proven to be any better for the crustacean if they were able to perceive pain. The author also alludes to an issue which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, that the American carnivore tries to remove the fact from their mind that meat comes from animals (but I should dedicate that to a future essay here). In any case, while I have been known to brain a lobster before dumping it into a pot of boiling water this method would be utterly impractical for a crawfish boil.
Lastly, when issues like this come up and someone proposes the government get involved, I can't help but think we have bigger issues we need to tackle first. The economy has gone to shit, many people don't have access to basic medical care, some people that don't agree with us are trying to make nuclear weapons, we're in two wars, but let's deal with the possible crustacean torture first. While we're at it, let's look at banning foie gras again too.
