DownwindLet's Talk "Food"
Food is always a fascinating topic to me both from a Farm Bureau perspective and personally. Topics related to food and farming jump out at me as I skim headlines and go about the daily business of Farm Bureau. Some people collect antiques. Some collect stamps. Some collect arrowheads. Some collect baseball cards. Some collect pig art.
I apparently collect food and farm articles. My collection has no value (except giving me something to write about on occasion).
Here are some recent observations from my collections:
Stay away from that cheese! Researchers 20 years ago, perhaps named “Indiana Jones and Co.”, discovered three ancient mummies in China who had a strange white substance around their necks. Now, new research has revealed the mysterious substance to be a once soft cheese named kefir. They dated the age of the cheese at 3,600 years old. I can’t help wondering how much mold that cheese had on it… It’s only recently that I’ve felt mature enough to be able to eat bleu cheese.
I saw an article about the “innovative protein market” (I call it test tube meat). Republican lawmakers recently wrote a letter to the Director of National Intelligence and the USDA Director of Homeland security urging action to understand the agricultural implications of Chinese biotechnology innovation as China researches the innovative protein market (lab grown meat products). The lawmakers are concerned that China will control more of the world’s food supply by growing more meat in the labs. Maybe we should let China “own” the test tube steak, test tube porkchops, and test tube chicken leg meat production market while US farmers excel at providing consumers the real thing! Side question: Would we define test tube meat as “factory meat production”?
Eat your beets! Who heard that phrase as a child? I have collected articles about the super-food characteristics of beets. Those beets are allegedly good for brain health, blood pressure, anti-inflammatory, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and helps keep you regular. Apparently, we can’t produce enough beets in the USA to keep up with demand, so we’ve agreed to trade for more beets from the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is seeking to export some 20 metric tons of table beets (the English say “beetroot”) to the United States. I hope those English have enough beets to stay healthy as I would hate to deprive them.
In September, the USDA made $58 million available to organic dairy producers to expand the dairy market and increase consumption for milk from cows, goats, and sheep. Perhaps marketing will help but maybe it’s the 2X price tag of organic milk over conventional milk that is the sales obstacle in the dairy section?
California has banned six food colors following the banning of red dye number three last year. Based on my ROY G BIV knowledge, there are not many rainbow colors left to ban. An oversimplification?
This year’s winning pumpkin at our 2024 Giant Pumpkin Contest came in at a whopping 1,424 pounds. My internet search found articles indicating it takes about two pounds of pumpkin to make your average pumpkin pie. Imagine over 700 pies provided by that one pumpkin brought in on that trailer! Warning: Those pies may be a little chewy.
And speaking of pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. A day of family, football, and feasting. For this 2024 Thanksgiving, please remember to thank the farmers that helped create this year’s feast. I do plan on avoiding a lab grown, test tube turkey (how do you stuff the test tube with the stuffing?) and the side of beets on the holiday table.
Every year, the American Farm Bureau Federation conducts a market study snapshot of the cost of Thanksgiving dinner. We expect that article to be released in mid-November and we will post it on our website and Facebook page. Fingers crossed that food price inflation does not prevent people from enjoying this holiday.
Bring on the pumpkin pie and a triple helping of whipped cream!