sandiasingh

Agray, I read that story about the young woman who became paralyzed--so sad. I received Iron Chef Michael Symon's new book, "Live to Cook" as a Christmas present. His recipes are terrific--especially for a native Midwesterner like me--and his commentary is funny and direct. Symon uses mostly local/sustainable products and says he has always been amazed at how much time people spend on researching a new car they want to buy but don't seem to give a hoot about what they're eating. Something is very screwed up in our culture. It baffles me that people don't connect the dots between eating a diet of processed food and health. I am a total food snob and my friends know it and most of them are too, but I also have a ton of friends who don't have the same philosophy and you can see their eyes glaze over when you mention the words organic or non-processed. I was going to buy a bunch of DVD's of "Food Inc" for my friends and family for Christmas but decided against it. It's like quitting smoking-you have to come to that decision yourself. No one can lead you to it. Hats off to Daisy!

I know, Lisa, it could be pretty harmless stuff and this Santa Fe chef (who is very popular) promotes the use of local/sustainable, so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. What I find interesting is the psychology of relating Sysco with food in such a negative way. Not that I don't agree with my husband, but he really had a reaction he could not help, so what to do? I had a conversation with a friend yesterday about how every chef-owned restaurant now claims to use local & sustainable food and I'm getting to the point where I'm questioning it. Costco sells "organic" grass fed beef, but is it really? You almost have to come home and research the company on the label and who knows if the hype on their website is true? I recently bought a package of baby bellas from WFM and the label said it had "added vitamin D." I don't want added vitamin D in my mushrooms thank you but when I tried to research it on their website (the store employees hadn't a clue) I found that they let them sit in the sunlight for a while before packaging so they naturally absorb vitamin D. This is the kind of misleading labeling that ticks me off. I figure Whole Foods does more than anybody else except local farmers to provide safe food, but I'm sure there are a thousand products even there that aren't really what they claim to be. It's a real job trying to live a normal life and stay on top of all the horrific food issues we have to deal with.

Michael Symon's new book "Live to Cook." His editorial notes are funny and direct, although I don't know how some of it got past one of my favorite food writers, Michael Ruhlman, who helped with the book. I have to think Ruhlman wanted Symon's personality to come through and it really does. Being a native Midwesterner myself many of the recipes are nostalgic for me. His pickling recipes are delicious--I've made some of those--and I can't wait to have a batch of pirogies in the house again.

I read this too and shared it with my girlfriend who has a 4-year old. She is very careful about food but occasionally will let him have a burger at a fast food joint. Hopefully never again. This made me ill just reading about it. We buy ground buffalo from WFM and are picky about eating out--only locally owned restaurants that use fresh/local when possible. But when we recently went to a new chef-owned restaurant in Santa Fe that has been all the buzz and my husband saw a Sysco truck unloading in the back, he said he won't go there again. These food issues are completely unacceptable. It's becoming a part-time job just staying on top of it and preparing the safest, healthiest food we can at home.

Here's Sam Sifton's year-end review in today's NYT. I enjoy reading his column--very down to earth, funny and real. http://events.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/dining/reviews/30year.html