The Sunday News
When José Bové and members of the French farmers’ union the Confédération Paysanne attacked a McDonald’s restaurant in August 1999, the whole world watched. Few know, however, that similar actions continue in France, especially destruction of testing fields for genetically modified crops. These events don’t get a lot of publicity in the USA, but are top news in Europe.
The French press has also extensively covered the decline in standards for the specialized high school courses that train future chefs. It used to be about learning how to simmer sauces; now the young apprentices become whizzes at reheating vacuum-packed dishes. The Observer reveals that British “food technology” classes are suffering the same fate:
“Sensibly, the vocabulary of British food education used to centre on words like sieve, scales, wooden spoon and oven gloves. Now the language that a pupil should master to ensure exam success contains a whole new lexicon of ‘key words’ such as prototype, mouthfeel, sensory profiling, test kitchen, accelerated freeze drying, conveyor belt, unit cost, designated tolerance, dextrinisation and non-enzymatic browning,” writes Joanna Blythman.
Students having taken these classes will probably become “best-before date” watchers, like the majority of Canadians, as explained in the Toronto Star. North Americans seem particularly concerned with buying foods well before their pull date, even though some items retain their quality long after. This makes inventory management a continuing challenge for store managers.
If you shop at farmers markets, however, you may not be confronted with best-before dates. But it is important to use your fresh produce quickly, before it loses its nutritional qualities. So, what to do with it? David Hagedom of the Washington Post has cooked up a number of “Farmers Market Recipes.” Don’t miss the links about local farmers markets if you live in the DC area.
Finally, remember when baby food was all strange-smelling, off-color puréed veggies? Nowadays organic, gourmet baby food is a booming business, reports the New York Times. “For years baby food changed little. Now there has been a growth spurt of alternatives, from single-ingredient purées to complete toddler meals in designer packages,” explains Dana Bowen. The dishes she describes sound good even to me! Are Americans picking up on the French concept of educating childrens’ palates? Let’s hope so!
