Big Bucks & Brands Backing Ballot Busting
Here’s what I learned in advertising. If you tell people something enough, they will start to internalize it. And the way you get a message in front of the public over and over again is to spend a lot of money on a media campaign.
It’s all about target rating points and how those split into reach and frequency. There are some folks who are obsessed with maximizing reach. But it’s all about the frequency.
The opponents to the recent GMO labeling initiative in Washington spent over $30 per no vote. That took a lot of money. Grist reports the total was $22 million. Where did all of that come from? Well, thanks to the consolidation of the natural and organic foods business, the profits from a lot of brands one might think would support GMO labeling find themselves on the wrong side of the issue.
Let’s take a look at them.
Breaking Bad Pretzels
Last night I finally caved in and started watching Breaking Bad. Good stuff.
So now I’ve got chemistry on the mind. Things like compounds. And some of those that may not be the best for human consumption. But that doesn’t stop people hell bent on their own self destruction.
I’m not going to argue the science and safety of artificial sweeteners. Some smart people will tell you that they’ve been on the market for years, and that they are perfectly safe. But I see no reason to fool my body that it’s getting sugar when it’s not. Plus, I can’t stand the taste.
The food that comes into our home is well inspected. But even though I’m fastidious about reading the ingredients of products I purchase, somehow one slipped through the cracks. And it was most unexpected.
Trying Trenton Tomato Pie
Some will argue that if it’s not New York style that a crust with tomato sauce and cheese dare not call itself a pizza. For the record, I think that is absolute nonsense.
The wide and varied range of pizza styles that’s available around the country is magnificent. Each brings something special to the table, and each has something to love. Whether you are talking one of Wolfgang Puck’s West Coast style pies topped with duck confit, a Chicago style deep-dish, a sheet of Old Forge, a slice from a grandmother pie, a New Haven coal fired clam pizza from Pepe’s, or even an upstate tavern-style round, they all have earned the right to be called pizza.
No, you may not be able to fold a slice of them in half and eat them as you walk from the subway to your apartment. But that is simply the side benefit of one particular style of pizza. And that come from someone who loves NY style pizza slices more than your average bear.
Hopefully you can keep an open mind as I tell you about my latest discovery of Trenton’s famous tomato pies.
Banging Out Baba
You know what’s great about getting to hang out with scientists and mathematicians? They tend to be a wee little bit on the obsessive side. Sometimes that obsessiveness can extend beyond their field of study and into their hobbies.
And some of them like to cook.
So early last month one such fellow, an Israeli who we’ll simply call R, was hosting a dinner party with his wife N. R was doing all of the cooking and he went all out. In these tiny apartments, and with limited cookware, he had produced a staggering number of dishes.
A few of us were gathered in the kitchen and the conversation turned to hummus. Hummus to R is a real big deal. But I along with another American confessed a greater love for baba ganoush. At this, R’s eyes lit up. He checked the oven and confirmed the chicken still had twenty minutes left to cook.
“Perfect, I have plenty of time to make a batch of baba ganoush.” And that changed my life.
Do You Diwali?
Yesterday I attended my first ever Diwali party. It’s embarrassing to admit, but last week I knew little to nothing of this holiday. Now, I’m totally enamored of it.
This international community at IAS is really remarkable. On Friday night the Fussies hosted a potluck in our apartment. I made chana masala and a split mung bean dal. Our Indian neighbors brought a bowl of fragrant spiced minced chicken (and some bread). The Israelis from across the courtyard made a tray of moussaka. And the other American family made a variation of tabouli that tied into their Lebanese heritage.
I also made baba ganoush, because I’ve been making a lot of baba ganoush lately. More on that soon.
But this was the first time that I was serving some of my homemade Indian food to people from India. It was more than a little bit harrowing, but they were very polite and complimentary. I did make a point though to include garnishes of red onion and cilantro, a delicious finishing touch that I usually skip, mostly because those two ingredients are reviled by 75% of the Fussies.
With this modest success under my belt, I decided to take on something a bit more out of my comfort zone for Diwali.
Candy Blow Out
There’s a first time for everything. Last night the Fussies unloaded their entire stash of candy to the wandering hordes of IAS children.
What was in the candy bowl?
Well, I had picked up three bags of Unreal candy. The Smooth One is like Milky Way; The Loaded One is like Snickers; and The Double One is like Reese’s peanut butter cups. In addition to this Little Miss Fussy insisted on including Nerds. Young Master Fussy didn’t feel right without adding a bag of Twix to the mix.
While the kids went out Trick-or-Treating I covered the door and took the opportunity to do a little unsolicited market research on behalf of Unreal. Here’s what I learned.
Horrorshow
This is Halloween. I don’t know when the scary got replaced by sexy. Maybe it’s more terrifying to have our daughters dress up as a sexy slice of pizza than it is to come face to face with a vampire in the chill of a dark October night.
But do you want to know what I am scared of?
Militant vegans with a video camera.
And I don’t even own a farm.
So today, in the spirit of the holiday, I have something especially horrifying for you to watch. And I’m putting the video after the jump because all joking aside, it’s terribly disturbing.
On the upside, it does feature the amazing James Cromwell.
The Lesser Evils of Halloween
For someone who is deeply concerned about the integrity of foodstuffs, grocery shopping can be a harrowing experience. Everything either has GMOs, or is drenched in pesticides, or is full of arsenic, or is packed in a can lined with BPA, or is covered in salmonella. Oils are extracted with hexane, artificial colors are added for almost no discernible reason at all, and artificial flavors are so prevalent it makes one wonder why the foodstuff needed to start out as food in the first place.
Still, you’ve got to eat. And most of us can’t just pick up and move to a monastery.
What you don’t have to do is eat candy. Except for tomorrow, of course. Because on the occasion of Halloween, everyone is expected to buy treats for the real or imaginary neighborhood children who may or may not show up at your door.
I’m absolutely convinced that most Halloween candy purchased is actually consumed by the family that bought it. So the big question is what’s the best candy to buy, especially given the very real concerns of adverse reactions to artificial colors and the child slavery involved in the chocolate industry.
Well, I have one idea that will help for this year, and another to keep in the back of your mind for 2014.
The Uneasy Case for Chicken Nuggets
Chicken nuggets were recently eviscerated in the media earlier this month. Perhaps you saw the news coverage.
It was hardly news. Chicken nuggets aren’t 100% breast meat? Color me shocked. No, as Jamie Oliver showed to a bunch of kids on television, the nuggets are made from a blend of scraps, skin, bone and filler. So yeah, there’s connective tissue in there in addition to nerves and blood vessels.
Have you seen the demo Jamie Oliver did a while back?
Right. So we’re all agreed that these are disgusting foodlike substances made from the worst parts of factory farmed chickens, but cleverly engineered to taste good. They are full of fat, anti-foaming agents, and God knows what else. But they are salty, crispy, juicy, and meaty.
So how can I of all people have anything good to say about them?
I’ll Show You Mine
Earlier today I made a certain assertion in my post of the day about Bryan Fitzgerald’s recent write-up of La Mexicana Grocery and Restaurant. Let’s see if I can dig up the exact quote:
Reading through it, he claimed the tacos come with lettuce. That’s wrong. First, real street tacos should never have lettuce. I can’t even imagine the look you might get if you asked for a taco con lechuga. But that green stuff mixed into the onions at La Mexicana is cilantro.
That link is to the post I wrote for All Over Albany on the place, and it includes a picture of the tacos. Here’s the thing. I’ve been to La Mexicana a lot. A whole heck of a lot. For me, it’s a taste of home, and I try to get there as much as possible.
Never, never ever have I seen them put shredded iceberg lettuce on a taco. On other things? Absolutely. A taco? Never. Yet when one of Steve Barnes readers suggested that Bryan may have gotten it wrong, Steve insists there exists somewhere a cell phone picture of a La Mexicano taco with shredded iceberg lettuce.
Let’s take a look at some more photographic evidence of my own, shall we?
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