oy vey it's may
A newsletter full of unappetizing ingredients 🤷🏻♀️
hi & shabbat shalom
my internal monologue at this point continues to be just “fuck fuck fuck fuck…” lately. I feel like someone’s neglected Sims character bouncing around my apartment trying to complete basic tasks. (to skip personal update, scroll to next section).
this is, in part, because of my own poor adherence in taking medications I need to function, though the majority of blame is truly on continued systemic and systematic failures that determine our existence.
in my personal day-to-day i’m fine and I will continue to be fine thanks to my many privileges, like the simple geographic fact that my currently menstruating uterus and I live in California, I have a couple weeks left of unemployment benefits, and a support system (hi mom!) to lean into.
I am a person who cares deeply about queer rights and body liberation. The current and imminent legislative threats to these movements weigh heavily on me. Earlier this week I spoke with my grandmother, who has always been politically and civilly engaged. We discussed the parallels of our experiences trying to build a life amidst global war and domestic attacks on people’s liberty, health, safety, and right to be themselves. She reminded me the critical role Jewish women have played in social movements like the right to abortion and how my Papa, her late husband, had peers who referred to him as the “Jewish Labor Union Organizer from the East Coast” (love a dogwhistle🙄) when he lead his peers during residency at Stanford to organize for better working conditions and wages. She reminded me that protest and advocacy is my legacy and to not let our anger prevent us from taking action, organize, and protect our communities.
I’ve been compiling resources on action opportunities for people who are in a similar position to myself; privileged enough to be safe and angry with enough free time to direct our outrage into political and civic engagement, community care, and donations. I’ve kept it separate from this newsletter, mostly because this is a food systems focused piece and want to recognize the limits of my expertise. I will instead work to uplift abortion organizers and educational resources throughout my newsletters and social media platforms.
Beyond this intro, today’s newsletter will focus on sharing the food systems news you all signed up for.
P.S. oohhmygoodness I made a separate email for newsletters & media subscriptions & it has made a difference in how stressed I am when I check my personal email 10/10 recommend.
if you want to reach out or share resources/articles/events/job opportunities/funny dog videos hit me up at oyveyitskay@gmail.com 💌
what i’ve read
Scientists Find No Benefit to Time-Restricted Eating (TW weight loss + calories) - the title of this is interesting, it says “benefit” in general though essentially the only purported benefit discussed in the NYT piece is losing weight.
brief summary: the new study the study of focus in this article is stated to contradict “benefits” mentioned from other studies on time-restricted eating (you may know it as intermittent fasting) and was done with 139 patients in China over 1 year with fairly limited calories (1200-1500/women and 1500-1800/men). The results do go beyond weight loss/gain but are other associated markers of body size: waist circumference, BMI, body fat, body lean mass, it did consider a couple non-body size markers like metabolic risk factors and blood pressure. Also, the study required participants to take photographs of everything they ate and keep food diaries…so they may not have been able to prove a significant “benefit” to time-restricted eating but damn I do wonder what lasting damage those requirements could have caused participants.
P.S. If you do not have a NYT subscription I can gift a couple articles for free
Five charts that show why our food is not ready for the climate crisis
The maps and graphics are based upon a previous Guardian report Our food system isn’t ready for the climate crisis. These reports and charts are primarily focused on the lack of genetic diversity within global crops and staples like bananas and corn (did we learn nothing from the Irish potato famine???).and climate disasters, like drops in food production due to farm land flooding, changing ocean acidity, etc. It also mentions the globalization of diets with one major comparison between USA and China.This is part of a series on environmental injustices and America’s “broken food system” if you’d like to follow it more regularly. The Guardian allows you to register and access articles for free.
Motif FoodWorks moves to revoke patent at center of Impossible Foods dispute: Motif continues to piss off Impossible Foods and challenge their patent. While I typically do not care about pissing contests between big giant food-tech-science companies, I’m glad Motif is challenging the patent because it could set a good precedent challenging the monopolization occurring in the alt-protein space. We know centralization of information and technology under giant companies has not been friendly to the food system and I want to be cautiously optimistic that this could be helpful at democratizing this space, to a degree.
Four hidden reasons food prices are crazy right now
The four reasons mentioned: invasion of Ukraine complicating the global economy, avian flu that’s killed 29 million birds before they were able to be killed for food so price of poultry and eggs are spiking, drought in California causing farmers to scale back on planting because the rising cost of supplies would limit their profit even if price hikes are passed onto consumers, increased inspection of produce imported from Mexico thanks to Texas’ Fuckhead Governor throwing a fit over federal immigration policies.I am not thrilled with the language of this article.
ex 1 “crazy” in title.
ex 2 “Most consumers also know this is being driven by worker shortages, higher fuel costs and lingering supply-chain snarls from the pandemic.” for fucks sake.. it’s not a worker shortage it’s a lack of employers willing to create positions and work environments that create sustainable conditions for employment. stop blaming individuals start holding employers and companies accountable!
The Politics of Protein: Examining claims about livestock, fish, ‘alternative proteins and sustainability (scroll to bottom for links to exec summary and full report) This is a great resource that engages in critical discussion around animal-based and animal-free protein talking points and gives actual guidance on how to move the discussion along instead of getting stuck in circular discussions over misleading or factually incorrect claims.
recommendation summary: shift focus from protein transition to sustainable food system and policy changes, more comprehensive and useful sustainability metrics that are context specific, address power imbalance from centralized Big Food companies
check out the claims they investigate, I like the framework they use as it presents who promotes the claim, what they define as the problem, what they propose as a solution, and what is left out of the narrative
Don’t believe the high: FDA issues warning over misleading legal weed claims
FDA labeling + cannabis = one happy food regulatory nerdy stoner (it me!)
the subheading “Food and Drug Administration ‘concerned’ about unproven health claim sand packaging that appeals to children” is a mash up of 2 separate issues (packaging/naming/candy flavors) and label claims about compounds that do not have enough evidence to be validated by the FDA. This article really only focuses on misleading claims about ingredients like delta-8 THC and then surprisingly goes into the complicated legal cannabis economy due to lack of federal legalization that prevents dispensaries from accessing certain banking services (and makes me get angry that I have to use my debit card).I find it funny that the language in this article talks about the “FDA crackdown” because the FDA’s tools and resources are so constrained (as mentioned in the Politico report from my last newsletter) so their cracking down tactic is lots of scary strongly worded warning letters that are made public. If it causes enough of a health outbreak it could result in a recall maybe but the legislation is sooo behind it probably will be lots of warning letters that stress the company lawyers out enough to change the wording and marketing techniques without necessarily changing ingredients.
Vegan chocolate recalled by retailers including T.J. Max, contains milk
3 types of chocolate that are labeled dairy-free/vegan that are in fact not either of those things thanks to a supposed manufacturing error!
FDA recall details hereClear the Way for the New Vegan - opinion piece by co-founder of vegan fast food chain Plant Power Fast food that discusses some of the semantics around vegan/plant-based. It motivates me to continue asking people to DEFINE terms like vegan and plant-based because there is truly so much variety in our interpretation.
*thanks to my lovely friend Katie Campisi for sharing!*What Dinner Will Look Like in the Next 100 Years, According to Scientists (and Sci-Fi Authors) an interesting read with theoretical menus for 2032, 2042, and 2122 that are highly specific. Bonus points for a mention of my current favorite sci-fi author Martha Wells, I’m almost finished with the last book of The Murderbot Diaries series.
How some big grocery chains help ensure that food deserts stay barren
the amount of control supermarket chains have over community food access is inexcusable even if their actions are technically legal, as discussed in this article. competition between retailers is an often overlooked aspect of food access and is a barrier that no individual has the power to overcome. it just adds additional pressure on the individual to find food, which is another reason hearing/reading people discussing food security as a personal problem or moral failing sends me through the fucking roof!
when I say these companies need to earn their trust, this is what I mean. they would rather sit on a vacant building and empty parking lot driving up potential for crime, increasing the burden on Emergency Food Operations, and driving down property values for community members than to let another retailer come in and give said community access to food.
fuck them, from the bottom of my heart!!!This plant-based company wants to help dairy farmers pivot from cows to crops
the kind of action that I want to see from more vegan food companies! There have been/are a couple organizations doing similar work and I think it’s crucial to continue to demonstrate our commitment to farmers and farm workers by bringing them into our movement and supporting them when the animal dairy industry does not.
not food related
I thoroughly enjoyed this Donald Glover interview conducted by Donald Glover. It was shared a couple editions back in The Audacious Roundup, an incredible newsletter by Roxanne Gay!
The Anti-Abortion Movement Was Always About a Race War by Eddie Kim
"…despite the power and influence of the anti-abortion political movement in America, roughly two-thirds of Americans support abortion rights and would like to see Roe upheld, and a full 70 percent believe the decision for abortion should be between a person and their doctor.”
what i’m excited about
food, duh! i’ve been making a list of restaurants to try around the Bay Area because nothing motivates me to get out and explore like getting to eat. if you have any recommendations for things I should eat and drink (boba!!) or places to visit please pass them along!
upcoming events
May 6th (today!! come say hi) - Food & Climate Coffee Chats with Planetary Health Collective (free, recurs monthly)
kvetch sesh
Courtney Boyd Myers: A Call to Clean Up the Plant-Based Food Industry
This appears to be an op-ed by Courtney Boyd Myers, the Vegconomist blog doesn’t give a by-line. According to LinkedIn, Courtney Boyd Myers’ (CBM) formal education includes a BA in English, Philosophy, Creative Writing, certificate in Politics of International Economic Relations from NYU, a certificate in Urban Garden Design. Currently CBM lists her position as CEO/CMO & Co-Founder of AKUA, a “Meat-alt company making plant-based foods from regenerative aquaculture”. According to their website, AKUA makes the world’s first Kelp Burger.
If this article had simply been CBM hyping up a kelp burger, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. There are plenty of PR puff pieces on the internet trying to grab your attention long enough to convince you this brand new product will revolutionize your life, if not the entire world. Fine fine.
However, this is how the article starts off:
“Methylcellulose, canola oil, soy lecithin, tapioca syrup, vital wheat gluten, xanthan gum, low erucic acid, rapeseed protein, and tapioca maltodextrin. Feeling hungry? Yeah, me neither. And yet, these are just a handful of the unappetizing ingredients you could find in your next plant-based burger or bowl of vegan ice cream.”
So now you have my attention, CBM. It’s a great hook because it will piss off anyone who has basic food science and nutrition education and knows how to interpret an ingredient list OR it will feed the fire of chemophobia for the #cleaneating community. Also, please note that this appears to be a random list of ingredients not an actual ingredient list of a single product.
First off, ingredient lists are not something I would ever describe to be appetizing regardless of what food the ingredients make up. We don’t get people excited about food by reading off chemical compounds that make up foods, we activate appetite by appealing to our senses; photos of the food, flavor descriptors, texture, scents, etc. Though it continues to be effective, fear-mongering is a truly tired tactic in food industry marketing. Despite it’s efficacy, it’s completely unnecessary. Scaring people doesn't elevate nutrition education or provide an opportunity for consumers to make informed choices, in fact it does the opposite by adding onto the existing mass of food and nutrition misinformation.
After getting over that initial anger, I immediately picked out 2 ingredients from the list, canola oil and vital wheat gluten, that are currently in my pantry. I use both on a semi-regular basis. Vital wheat gluten is the base ingredient for seitan though it can be used in a myriad of ways. Then I noticed the tapioca syrup; tapioca comes from cassava (a plant indigenous to South America) and is also a common ingredient, even if it isn’t immediately familiar to someone with a “western” diet. Tapioca syrup is just a sweetener, one that happens to be animal and gluten-free and has a fairly neutral flavor so it’s pretty versatile in food science applications and home cooking.
Like almost anything we can consume, some of the listed ingredients may cause health issues if they were to be consumed in high doses. It is true that methylcellulose can be used as a laxative, as CBM points out later in the article, but it is also an effective binding ingredient. According to a quick Google search I found that most methylcellulose-based laxatives recommend a 2 gram dose, though according to Ayten Salahi, a brilliant RD who specializes in gut health, people often need to exceed 2 grams for it to have the desired effect. Ayten also mentioned that methylcellulose, along with being a safe binding ingredient, can provide a medical benefit for people with IBS-C or constipation. My educated guess is that a plant-based burger or serving of ice cream won’t contain nearly enough methylcellulose to provide an, um laxative effect, though I can’t confirm this by looking at an ingredient lists of food items (specific formulaic amounts are IP for food brands). The reality will always be that the dose makes the poison.
My next wave of rage came from the second paragraph with a pull quote from a Jacqueline Zhan Fraise, D.Sc. that says:
“Often, overly processed meat and dairy alternatives are loaded with chemicals, damaged fats, and artificial flavor enhancers. And if you don’t know what an ingredient is, the reality is… neither does your body,”
I don’t know how else to say it other than this logic simply is not true. There are so many foods and ingredients I’ve never heard of, that doesn’t mean their chemical makeup is foreign to my body because I have an unsophisticated palate. In fact, I looked at the nutrition label of the AKUA kelp burger and was unfamiliar with one of its ingredients; konjac. By the article’s own logic I should be wary of their burger because I’ve never heard of such a thing. Thanks to the internet, I now know konjac is a root veggie grown in parts of Asia that is used in food formulation for its gel like properties.
The rest of the article feels truly unimportant, it repetitively demonstrates that CBM is leaning hard into chemophobia as part of the AKUA brand. She even quotes herself as saying, “‘No! I don’t want the word METH on my ingredient label!’” when describing her decision to omit methylcellulose from the kelp burger. For someone who hates fillers, the entire article is pretty much just that. There are buzzwords about plant-based category innovation and the dangers of processed foods mixed in with quotes from various CEOs (including Jason Karp, you may remember him from my kvetch sesh on Cosmic Bliss) in the natural CPG food products space.
I’m not surprised at any of this, but I am once again disappointed with the industry. I don’t blame AKUA or CBM, though I would like to see them and other brands do better. As frustrating as it is that this type of article is quite standard in food marketing and communications, it reminds me why I chose this field and demonstrates opportunities for improvement.
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What Myers forgets to include is that konjac, like Methylcellulose, is also known to cause gastrointestinal distress in high quantity. (Just google konjac noodles upset stomach). Why demonize one binder when the one you claim is so clean and perfect does the same thing?