Fault: Andre Agassi's Meth Confession
Ridiculously, I feel betrayed by tennis star Andre Agassi's admission in his new autobiography that he used crystal methamphetamine in 1997, when his career was in the tank. The book, "Open," doesn't come out until next month, but is being excerpted in The Times of London Wednesday and Thursday. In his book, Agassi reveals that he took the drug in his home with his assistant, and then lied to the Association of Tennis Professionals about it to protect his career. I'm not even sure why I feel bad. For most of the years that he played I never even liked Agassi -- I was a "Pistol" Pete Sampras ...
The Meat of the Matter: Less Is More
Mary, I agree with your assessment that we Americans (and citizens of other wealthy nations) are absolutely piggish when it comes to eating meat. And the arguments you cite as to why our dietary excesses are taking a toll on our bodies, our souls, our national health-care system, and our environment, are spot-on. Still, I have to be honest.I don't think I will ever stop eating meat. It's not that I can't live without another burger, or that I can't fight the occasional cravings I get for a juicy rib-eye or a grilled flank steak. I'm pretty sure I could live happily without any of those things. ...
A Bum Steer: Big Beef Throws Its Weight Around at Cal Poly
Big Beef has a bone to pick with Michael Pollan. And who can blame it? After all, Pollan, a professor of journalism at University of California at Berkeley and a critic of industrial agriculture, almost got away with delivering a lecture last week to students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. How dare he?! Pollan had been invited by the university's Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium, a faculty-run group that works to make sure students are exposed to alternatives to conventional agricultural practices. Apparently Big Beef decided to get mad -- and get ...
Since When Is Cooking at Home 'Elitist'?
Speaking of wise eating, Michelle, Sunday's New York Times magazine was full of advice on this issue, and the response in the blogosphere was not all friendly. In fact, it tended toward either extreme, kind of the way our American eating habits (binge/starve; fast food/slow food; cook everything/cook nothing) are portrayed. People seemed to either swoon over every single word that was printed, or to reject its preachy tone and continuous nudging toward home cooking as an answer to our bad eating habits and copious health ills. I didn't find the issue to be especially provocative, though ...
Et Tu, Potatoes? Spud Is Among 'Riskiest' Foods
Well, fellow WUppers, it looks like I may have to retire my fork and knife forever. First came Sunday's gruesome New York Times story detailing what happened to a young woman who ate a hamburger that was tainted with a virulent form of E. coli bacteria. On Tuesday, the food watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest hit us with its Top 10 list of the riskiest foods -- that is, foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration that accounted for the largest number of food-borne outbreaks since 1990. Are you ready? They are: leafy greens, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ...
Can You Trust Your Burger?
With the exception of the vegetarians among us, most of us love to sink our teeth into a big, juicy, beef burger now and then. Perhaps we are satisfying some primal desire when we do this. Apparently, we may also taking a big gamble with our health. On Sunday, the New York Times ran a front-page, above-the-fold story about a 22-year-old dance instructor named Stephanie Smith who suffered severe E. coli poisoning in 2007 after eating a hamburger that her mother had grilled. According to the story, the food poisoning "ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed." It's unlikely that she ...
The Three Disgraces: Roman Polanski's Defenders
You know what I can't believe? I can't believe there is even a debate going on about film director/confessed pedophile Roman Polanski. The guy skipped town to avoid a legal sentence in a plea deal that he agreed to. He needs to be brought back to face the consequences of his despicable actions, as Bonnie describes here. That is the law in our country. Period. As you said, Mary, creative talent does not excuse criminal acts. Just as disgraceful as Polanski's craven behavior of avoiding the law for the past three decades is the misguided, contorted reasoning of those who have come to his ...
Fried Bunny Ears at elBulli; Food for Thought
This past Wednesday, the Washington Post's Food Section ran a thoughtful piece by the paper's chief art critic, Blake Gopnik, who sought to answer whether some of the avant-garde food being created today at places such as elBulli and Minibar approaches the realm of art. In service to the piece, Gopnik traveled to Spain and dined (if it can be called that) at elBulli, where he sampled, among other things, Parmesan "air," Parmesan "pouches" filled with squirming sea anemones, fried rabbit ears, and "several tiny rabbit brains, more like custard than meat." Such are the works of elBulli's chef, ...
'Smart Choices' Foods Aren't, Critics Say
Dang, just when I thought I was getting the go-ahead to feed my kids Froot Loops for breakfast. A new nutrition-labeling program designed to help consumers make "smart," healthful choices at the supermarket is coming under fire for its questionable endorsements of foods including cereals such Froot Loops, Cocoa Puffs, and Frosted Flakes, and pre-packaged Bagel-Fuls, Kid Cuisine, and Lunchables. The Smart Choices marketing campaign, rolled out last month -- just in time for back-to-school -- "was developed by a diverse group of scientists, academicians, health and nutrition specialists and ...
Corn: A Story With More Than One Kernel of Truth
After my most recent rant -- I mean post -- on cheap food, I received a very nice response from Audrae Erickson, the president of the Corn Refiners Association, seeking to clear up any confusion about government subsidies and corn, and to allay any concerns about the sweet nature of corn sweetener. Ms. Erickson posted a short reply in the comments section of my original post, and then followed up with a more detailed reply in an e-mail. Her message reminded me that there are always (at least) two sides to a story. For instance, among the points she made is this one: "Manufacturers of corn ...
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