Why I Don’t Get My News From Food & Wine
So the crazy thing about bad information is that it can seem less bad the more it’s passed around. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy apparently did some kind of online study that Food & Wine wrote about. But in their report, Food & Wine only linked back to this landing page for Undeniably Dairy.
There I found only one thing that mentions the study. And if you click on it, instead of being shown the actual study, you’ll be whisked off to another story on Today.com about the study. And that story brings you right back to the Food & Wine report.
At least it makes a perfect circle.
To add insult to injury, in the Today.com piece, there is actually a link to an actual abstract of an actual study on fluid dairy. But that one covers much different ground. It is about the nutritional intakes of those who consume flavored milk vs. no milk. And guess what? Those who drink milk get more of the nutrients found in milk than those who don’t drink milk. Mind, blown.
So, as far as I can tell, it is this Food & Wine piece that legitimized this study enough that the Washington Post Wonkblog used it as a hook for its story on consumers and food awareness. It’s hard to know what to make of the study’s findings, since we can’t see the study itself. However, I’m suspicious about some of the conclusions Food & Wine draws based on the data they provide.
I’m going to show some examples by quoting the Food & Wine story, and offering an alternative reading.
Dumb Dairy Data
Let’s be clear about one thing. Data is never dumb. Data is data.
How that data is collected, how it’s interpreted, and actions that are taken as a result can be quite dumb indeed. Now it’s often much more fun to take some data points and tell a snarky story, than it is to actually roll up your sleeves and look at survey questions, results, and analysis.
I get that. But sometimes I see data based stories and they just rub me the wrong way.
What gets me riled up even further is when they are attached to publications that should know better. You know, like the Washington Post. And sure, the story below that drew my ire isn’t in the paper itself, but in the blogs section. So perhaps it doesn’t require the same editorial standards. However, it still bears the brand name of the rag which is trying its best to not let democracy die in the darkness.
And for the most part, I believe in the paper. What I don’t appreciate is the sloppiness behind, The surprising number of American adults who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. It fits into the editorial narrative, “Americans must be complete idiots considering the results of our last election, here’s more proof.”
Let me cast some doubt, at least on the dairy part of that analysis.
Strawberries and Humanity
Someday I’ll remember to stay off Twitter. International media vehicles like The Economist don’t have the bandwidth to be able to report on every individual tragedy around the world. And more importantly, the magazine only publishes letters to the editor which contain substance and worth.
So while you may read contrarian view of the narrative suggested by the magazine, you won’t find such callous regard for humanity as you might on the interwebs. My heart goes out to all of those communities in pain who have recently suffered terrible losses all over the world.
Look. All of humanity is an unlikely development. In the grand movie of geological time we’re barely a flicker on the screen. Our planet itself is little more than a speck of dust floating in the vast emptiness of the universe.
The only answer is to try and work together. To recognize our sameness. Reject those who try to divide us. And oppose violence in all of its forms. Right now, the last thing I want to do is minimize anyone’s suffering, ignore their cries for justice, or be blind to their struggles.
But as I’ve needed to say time and time again over the past few years, this is a food blog. And as long as I’ve already touched on the fragility of life and the seeming capriciousness of our existence, I might as well segue into some further thoughts on strawberries.
The Distillate of Summer
If this past week taught me anything, it’s that summer is coming. And summer will be hot. Fortunately, there are many ways to beat the heat.
You could hang out at the mall. They have great air conditioning, but generally the food is a bit lackluster. At least it is in the food court, and The Melting Pot isn’t open for lunch. So a bowl of molten cheese mixed with wine and garlic is sadly out. Actually, that’s probably a good thing. Both for my diet and the quest to beat the heat.
There are cooling foods. Watermelon is always a favorite. But let’s not forget the obvious ones like ice cream. Yes, we’ll be going on another tour of hard ice cream. Until then, you’ll just have to rely on your wits to make the hard decision about where to go. And if your wits don’t direct you to The Dutch Udder, it’s time to check yourself.
But more than anything else, I’m really a fan of cooling drinks. Something tall, cold, and maybe even a little fizzy. It shouldn’t be that sweet. It doesn’t even have to be alcoholic. Cold brewed iced tea is one of my all time favorites.
However, something recently came to my attention that has me thinking in a boozier direction. Read more…
Cold Cut Comfort
One of the great joys of being a parent is watching the journey of culinary discovery.
In some ways my kids are quite fortunate. In other ways, they are horribly deprived. If I recall correctly, Young Master Fussy was about four years old before he got his first taste of a hot dog. They never developed a taste for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese since I kept it out of the house once I realized the American version contained an ingredient banned around the world. I don’t think they’ve ever had a Ding-Dong, Ho-Ho, or Hostess fruit pie.
Man, I loved those Hostess fruit pies when I was a kid. Just thinking about them brings me back to a very special time and place. But that’s a story for another day.
Because today’s story starts with bologna and a failed trip Chester’s Smokehouse. It even has a happy ending where the Fussies return to Chester’s and discover something amazing.
No Drama Avocada
Woo hoo! The heat has broken. But no worries, I still have a bunch of “damn it’s hot outside” stories to share with you from the past few days. And one of them has some ties with something that’s been burning up the twitter.
It’s apparently a thing. A bad thing. People are accidentally stabbing themselves as they try to remove the pits from and slice their avocados. It’s also not just a millennial thing. Old people are having avocado related injuries too.
As far as I’m concerned, avocado toast is delicious. I’ve been eating it through the heat wave. However, I’ve also been eating it all year long. Avocados are just one of the many things that keep me from living a locavore diet. Remember when that was the big thing?
Maybe part of the problem is just how many terrible instruction videos there are for teaching people how to prepare their avocados. Let’s take a quick look.
Tour de Hard Ice Cream Nominations 2.0
Instead of complaining again today about another scorcher, let’s shift gears and fantasize about ice cream.
But this is more than just fantasy. This is reality. Because soon, I will indeed be leading a group of intrepid eaters into the wilderness in search of some of the best homemade hard ice cream in the region.
Yes, it’s another FUSSYlittleTOUR. We just came off of the Tour de Seasonal Burger Stands, and in the fall we’ll do an epic Tour de Apple Cider Donut: Championship Edition. But now it’s time to think about ice cream. Do you realize that the last Tour de Homemade Hard Ice Cream was in 2012?
That’s five years ago! What have we been doing since then? Well, we had the Tour de FroYo, the Tour de Gelato, and a couple more editions of the Tour de Soft Serve. But on the spring burger tour, Chantelle not only requested we revisit hard ice cream, she also proposed a specific hard ice cream tour for the eastern side of the region.
Now, before we get any further, as is our custom I will open up the floor to nominations.
Spring Heat Wave Saves
It’s too damn hot. Yep. That’s me. Complaining about the weather again.
There seem to be two kinds of people in the Capital Region. Those who delight at complaining about the weather. And those who delight in their aggravation towards those who complain about the weather.
I’m all about letting people speak their mind. Really, who wouldn’t complain when the wind gets so cold that it feels like needles piercing into your eyeballs. Sure, on some level we’ve all chosen to call Upstate New York our home. But that doesn’t mean that we always have to love every little thing about it.
Spring heat waves? They are fundamentally worse than summer heat waves, and here’s why.
Food, Beer & Music Done Right
Man, I’m digging this spring. I’m tempted to call it summer. Because this is the summer side of spring. The winter side of spring is pretty sucky. But now? Now strawberries are in season. The CSA is making deliveries. It’s staying light until late at night. And all the free outdoor concerts have begun.
I can’t keep track of them all, but I was told the Times Union wrote up a summary and put it online somewhere.
Last night was both the first Alive at Five in Albany and the second Brown’s Summer Sessions in Troy. Maybe I did something stupid. I decided to go to both. Of course, that meant I had to miss out on the headliner in Albany. But I really couldn’t tell you anything about the guy who plays sax for the Rolling Stones.
For that matter, I can’t tell you the name of the headlining band at Brown’s Summer Sessions. They came from Philly. I know that. And just like the band that headlined at Brown’s last week, these guys had a ton of energy, a rock star attitude, and a killer sound.
But there’s something else that’s going on in Brown’s backyard that makes this extra special.
Red, White & Ew
June. One of the best things about June is that it’s strawberry season in upstate New York. On June 17 there is even a whole strawberry festival in Schaghticoke. Please don’t make me spell that again, and I’m sure that I’m pronouncing the name of the town wrong. I can’t even say Cohoes correctly.
All you do is head north to Clifton Park, make a right. Head through Mechanicville and just keep going east until you hit the smell of strawberries.
Man, I find that smell to be intoxicating. I love the aroma of strawberries. Actually, I love almost everything about strawberries. Just south of Miami there was an amazing strawberry farm I used to go to with my family as a kid. They made the absolute best strawberry milkshakes I ever had.
What I can’t stand about strawberries actually has less to do with the fruit and more about how the crimes committed by home cooks and professional chefs alike. I’m actually more miffed at the chefs, because they should know better. But after today, hopefully we’ll see some improvements.
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