For The Love Of Food

For The Love of Food
Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.
Another week of thought provoking food and health articles including an excellent argument against Anthony Bourdain’s big fat mouth, why high-fat diets probably don’t cause type 2 diabetes, and a couple of unconventional ways to treat depression.
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Links of the week
- Unsavory Culinary Elitism <<Excellent piece by Frank Bruni, author of Born Round, about why food snobbery is not productive if our mission is to help Americans eat healthier. (New York Times)
- As Farmers’ Markets Go Mainstream, Some Fear a Glut <<Interesting perspective on possible negative effects of the growing number of farmers markets. (New York Times)
- Does a High-Fat Diet Cause Type 2 Diabetes? <<You probably saw the headlines, and I offer a huge thanks to Denise Minger for doing the honors of calling the BS of the week. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
- Military suicides linked to low Omega-3 levels <<A lot of data is mounting that omega-3 fatty acids, particularly the kind found in fish, may play a role in preventing depression. (Los Angeles Times)
- Bending the Rules on Bacteria <<Fascinating analysis on the dangers of leaving stock on your stove top and whether or not it’s safe to reheat it. (New York Times)
- Exercise Can Substitute Effectively as Second ‘Medication’ for People With Depression, Study Suggests <<Just a friendly reminder that exercise not only makes you healthy and beautiful, it can also help with depression. (ScienceDaily)
- I Never Learned to Cook <<I’m a sucker for stories about people finding their way in the kitchen—probably because I didn’t do it until I was 26. (Esquire)
- 39 Ways to Eat a Tomato <<Tis the season. Thanks to Michael Ruhlman for this piece in Men’s Journal. (Ruhlman)
- Creamy Zucchini Soup <<Until Wednesday evening I wouldn’t have given zucchini soup a second glance, but it was a freezing summer night here in SF and my favorite restaurant was serving it. Boy was I blown away. This recipe looks very similar, and my only additional note would be to use very high quality stock (I would use chicken stock). (Jenn Cuisine)
What inspired you this week?
Wow a lot of good articles here. Regarding the “elitism” of food….I agree with both sides of this. I’m “over” both the pretentiousness of foodie mania and I’ve never gotten with Paula Dean and deep fried lasagna. But, surely there is a truly lovely balance in between. My outlook is more Alice Waters, but on a budget I watch the sales and cook accordingly. We don’t bring hardly a processed food into the house and we save money this way. We do not drink soda which is the number one calorie in America and while many food reporters say that the poorer people can’t afford vegetables, I marvel as the coke and pepsi in their fridge. No one is telling the truth about the realities of obesity. It goes hand in hand with a self-indulgent culture even though there are sub culture realities of a different nature, but obesity is not limited to poor folks in Appalachia. I live in richest county of Tennessee. My neighborhood is full of fat kids, fat moms and fat dads and our farmer’s market is 4 miles away and affordable. Our Whole Foods is 2 miles away and has great weekly specials on fresh food. Anthony B. is arrogant but has a point. Paula Deen says she cooks for regular people, but the lie is that regular people only want deep fried fat and enjoy size 24. That “regular” down home food causes problems and it’s no longer appropriate. She is appealing to the REBEL in all of us to eat massive butter and sugar and then laughs about it.
As far as stock on the stove, don’t do it. I’ve had food poisoning many times. Not worth taking that risk.
Thanks for the comment Angela, you’re wise as always.