A reader, Jeff Nelson (whose interview with me is online here), sent me a link to this Japanese study that identified a link between eating mushrooms and prevention of prostate cancer.

The study:  Mushroom consumption and incident risk of prostate cancer in Japan: A pooled analysis of the Miyagi Cohort Study and the Ohsaki Cohort Study.  Shu Zhang, et al.  International Journal of Cancer. First published: 04 September 2019. 

Conclusion: “The present study showed an inverse relationship between mushroom consumption and incident prostate cancer among middle‐aged and elderly Japanese men, suggesting that habitual mushroom intake might help to prevent prostate cancer.”

Funding: “Our study was supported by the NARO Bio‐oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution.”

I looked up NARO:

The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization or NARO is the core institute in Japan for conducting research and development on agriculture and food. Our overall mission is to contribute to the development of society through innovations in agriculture and food, by promoting pioneering and fundamental R&D. We conduct technological development to make agriculture a competitive and attractive industry, and contribute to increasing the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate.

Jeff’s question: “Is this considered commercial research? Mushrooms’ magical impact of preventing cancer?”

My response: “Gastro-patriotism“

I would classify this one as ideologically driven more than commercially driven.  Mushrooms are part of traditional Japanese diets and this institute promotes commercialization of Japanese agricultural products.

The result is far-fetched enough (mushrooms prevent prostate cancer, really?) to be suspicious, but this looks more like gastro-patriotism to me than the result of mushroom industry lobbying–if such exists, it was not disclosed.

Gastro-patriotism is a term I just this minute coined.*  It describes the promotion of nationalism and civic pride through a country’s cuisine.  Examples leap to mind with French cuisine leading the way and anything having to do with terroir.  The Greek government’s promotion of olive oil is another example.

* Addition October 29

A reader, Polly Adema, reminds me that the term is hardly original. There is, she says:

an established concept and practice of gastronationalism. It is a recognized variation of gastrodiplomacy, one getting increasing attention within various academic circles…Lots of articles will come up if you search gastronationalism in google scholar or your search engine of choice.  The term is from and grows out of Michaela DeSoucey’s 2016 book, Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food.  Here is a link to an earlier DeSoucey piece: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0003122410372226#_i11

Oops.  Apologies to Michaela DeSoucey, for not citing her excellent book, which I had read, blurbed, and posted as weekend reading, but did not think of in this context.

Bettina Elias Siegel.  Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World.  Oxford University Press, 2019.

I did a blurb for this book but it is so good, so well written, and so important that nothing I can say can do it justice.

Everyone who cares about what kids eat must read Bettina Siegel’s fabulous Kid Food.  This is a gorgeously written, heartfelt, and deeply compelling manifesto arguing why and how we must do better at feeding our kids more healthfully at home, in schools, and on the soccer field.  Kid Food provides the evidence and the resources; it should inspire all of us to get busy and start advocating for better kid-food policies—right now.

The book is a treasure for what it says about feeding kids in America today—an instant classic.  Its Appendix alone makes the book a must-have: it lists resources for how to feed kids but also for how to advocate for them.

I could have picked excerpts from anywhere in the book but I’m taking the easy route and quoting from the book’s ending as an example of why this book is so worth reading.

Right now, American children are being shortchanged daily by a diet that feeds but doesn’t nourish, that staves off immediate hunger but opens the door to later disease.  The factors leading to this tragic outcome are all too human: naked corporate greed; parental ignorance, confusion, and fatigue; practical necessity, for those who can’t afford healthier food; and, in the case of “treats,” even simple love and affection.   Improving the current paradigm will require not just pushing back against powerful corporate interests, but also shifting a deeply entrenched food culture.  That’s a very heavy lift, but the difficulty of the task doesn’t make it any less urgent or critical.  And the good news is, there is no shortage of opportunities to pitch in.

Vani Hari, a.k.a. The Food Babe, is interested in getting rid of artificial food additives.  She asks an interesting question.  If American companies can eliminate them for sales in Britain, why can’t they do that here?

She has put together lots of surprising examples.  Here is just one.

Impressive, no?

I hope this encourages some changes on these shores.

Rick Barrett at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has written a series of articles under the heading “Dairyland in Distress.”  

1. Chapter One: “Dairy farmers are in crisis — and it could change Wisconsin forever”
2. Chapter Two: “‘Struggling to tread water’: Dairy farmers are caught in an economic system with no winning formula”
3. Chapter Three: “Americans love soda, fancy water and fake milk. Can the dairy industry keep up?”
4. Chapter Four: “Wisconsin farmers helped the world get hooked on dairy, but those customers are becoming competitors”

The articles come with data: The changing market for dairy in 7 charts

These explain the enormous increase in world milk production and its effects on Wisconsin farmers.  The supply is so great that farmers cannot sell their milk at a price high enough to break even.

The answer, of course, is production controls but good luck with that in today’s agricultural politics environment.

USDA policies include incentives for increasing production; they work well for doing precisely that.

Rescuing small and mid-size dairies requires political will and willingness to pay the real costs of milk production.

Otherwise, we will be getting our milk from the cheapest possible sources, and that does not bode well for quality or public health.

This one was sent to me by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous (thanks!).

The Study: Dairy Fat Consumption and the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome: An Examination of the Saturated Fatty Acids in Dairy.  Allison L. Unger,Moises Torres-Gonzalez, and Jana Kraft.  Nutrients 2019, 11(9), 2200; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11092200

The review argues: “it is likely that the diverse array of SFA [saturated fatty acid] constituents within full-fat dairy foods contributes to favorably modulating cardiometabolic health.”

It concludes: “In summary, previous work on the impact of dairy-derived SFA consumption on disease risk suggests that there is currently insufficient evidence to support current dietary guidelines which consolidate all dietary SFA into a single group of nutrients whose consumption should be reduced, regardless of dietary source, food matrix, and composition.”

Funding and Conflicted Interests (my emphasis): “The work involved for this manuscript was funded by National Dairy Council….M.T.-G. is employee of National Dairy Council. J.K. has received research funding from National Dairy Council.

Comment: This purpose of this dairy-funded review is to demonstrate that contrary to contradictory information, the saturated fatty acids in dairy foods are not only benign, but beneficial. The dairy industry would love that to be true.

This particular sponsored review is exceptionally well organized and illustrated.  I especially appreciated the timeline of dietary recommendations for saturated fat from 1977 to the present.  This is the bottom half:

This is a classic industry-funded review arriving at the desired conclusions.  In essence, it is a dairy industry advertisement and should be understood as such.

Why do this?  The dairy industry is in serious economic trouble these days, as I will discuss tomorrow.

This book was especially interesting to me because I know some of the players and reading it told me a lot about their backgrounds and accomplishments.  It deals with several New York City-based organizations, among them United Bronx Parents, the Park Slope Food Coop, God’s Love We Deliver, and, most prominently, the Community Food Resource Center.

Lana Dee Povitz.  Stirrings: How Activist New Yorkers Ignited a Movement for Food Justice.  University of North Carolina Press, 2019. 

I wrote a blurb for this one.

Stirrings uses the political history of food advocacy organizations in New York City to explain why such groups focus almost exclusively on feeding hungry people rather than on addressing the root cause of that hunger–poverty.  The lessons taught by this history make this book essential reading for anyone interested in ending hunger in America.

And here is a brief paragraph from the Introduction (p. 7):

Aside from its material value as a commodity essential to human life, food acts as a lens through which we can understand dominant social values.  How and by whom food is produced, which foods are government-subsidized, who is deemed eligible for food assistance, who becomes the gatekeepers for providing that food—such arrangements speak volumes about who and what is prioritized, especially by those with decision-making power.  By extension, the history of food activism is important because it tracks how these priorities might be rearranged, how people can work to challenge or temporarily overturn established hierarchies, especially of class and race.  Just as often, the history of food activism sheds light on how inequalities and hierarchies are preserved, defended, and even extended.

I’ve been collecting items related to plant-based meat and dairy foods from the various newsletters I read.  I am having a hard time keeping up.  This is a super-hot topic with investors pouring money into these products.

Things are moving so quickly that Food Dive has established a plant-protein tracker to help readers keep up.

Even a quick scan of just the titles of these articles will make clear just how hot this area is.

Let’s start with the in-fighting.

• Impossible Foods CEO: Plant-based competitors ‘suck’ and stifle industry growth: Pat Brown, who started the California company eight years ago, said other offerings in the market only serve to reinforce the idea that faux meat options “are terrible.”

Here’s what he’s talking about.  I’ll bet they don’t agree.

• Nestlé’s Awesome Burger debuts in crowded plant-based meat space: Sweet Earth founders Kelly and Brian Swette discuss their relationship with the Swiss food giant, the creation of the product and why it will beat its competitors.
• Chickpeas: The next big protein source for plant-based meat? Nutriati unveils TVP:  Virginia-based Nutriati has commercialized what it claims is the world’s first textured chickpea protein, providing plant-based meat formulators with a Non-GMO protein source that rivals soy, wheat, and peas in the functionality and nutrition stakes, and could also simplify ingredients lists by removing the need to add methyl cellulose… Read 
• Ripple Foods launches ‘superfood’ milks, relaunches yogurts (‘we messed up’), explores new low-cost plant protein sources: Ripple Foods has debuted a new, improved line of creamy plant-based yogurt alternatives (following an abortive launch of a Greek-style product last year); unveiled a new line of ‘superfood’ plant milks infused with matcha, turmeric and acai; and built some IP around the extraction of protein from ‘secondary’ feedstocks such as sunflower meal… Read 
• What’s next beyond soy, pea, and wheat for plant-based meat? In conversation with ADM:  Soy, wheat, and peas currently dominate the plant-based meat market, but what’s next? FoodNavigator-USA caught up with Ana Ferrell (AF), VP of marketing, and Kurt Long (KL), commercial director of protein specialties and flexitarian solutions at ADM, to talk plant proteins… Read  
• Parabel USA unveils neutral-tasting, beige-colored protein hydrolysate from water lentils:  Parabel USA – best known for its green-hued ingredients from the ‘water lentil,’ a micro aquatic plant also known as duckweed/Lemna/Lemnaceae – has unveiled a neutral-tasting, beige-colored protein hydrolysate suitable for a wide range of applications from plant-based burgers to sports nutrition products… Read  
• Conagra Brands talks plant-based meat: ‘In 7-10 years we’re talking about a $30bn opportunity in the US’  Gardein has quadrupled in size over the past four years and is now the second largest brand in the meat-alternative space behind Morningstar with annual retail and foodservice sales topping $170m. And there is still a significant opportunity to grow in both channels, says brand owner Conagra Brands… Read  
• Atlantic Natural Foods: Shelf-stable is area of untapped opportunity for plant-based meat, poultry, seafood:  While the shelf-stable market for plant-based meats and eggs is small compared with the frozen and chilled segments, it represents an area of significant untapped opportunity, says Atlantic Natural Foods (ANF), which is gaining traction in this market with its Loma Linda and neat brands… Read  
• PowerPlant Ventures partner: ‘The plant-based milk market didn’t take off until they solved the taste issue; the same applies to plant-based meat’  Insect protein remains frustratingly niche, and cell-cultured meat – while groundbreaking – could be a tough sell. But plant-based meat is something mainstream consumers can understand and embrace, provided products truly deliver on taste and price, argues a co-founder of PowerPlant Ventures… Read  
• The ‘clean taste and smooth texture of almond protein are unparalleled in the protein space,’ says Blue Diamond:  Plant-based protein is a hot ingredient in the food industry right now, as formulators experiment with everything from mung beans to sacha inchi. But how does almond protein square up vs the competition?.. Read  
• Vegan start-up takes on mozzarella, parmesan and brie: ‘It’s all about the classics’:  Israeli food tech start-up Goodfoods is developing dairy-free alternatives to classic cheeses based on cashew nuts. It is ‘dairy reinvented’, founder Michal Peleg tells FoodNavigator… Read  
• MycoTechnology unveils texturized fermented vegetable protein for plant based meat applications:  >As the race to expand protein options for plant-based meats heats up, Colorado-based MycoTechnology has thrown its hat into the ring with a texturized version of PureTaste, a vegetable protein produced via the fermentation of pea and rice proteins with Shiitake mushroom mycelium (roots)… Read
• Tyson expands presence in plant-based sector with New Wave Foods investment: US processor Tyson Foods has completed an investment in plant-based shellfish business New Wave Foods… Read
• Tyson Foods launches plant-based range:  US processor Tyson Foods has launched its first range of plant-based and blended products… Read
• Hormel Foods unveils plant-based range: Hormel Foods has become the latest producer to enter the plant-based meat alternatives market with the launch of the Happy Little Plant brand… Read
• Plant-based and cell-based investment skyrockets: Investment in plant-based and cell-based meat alternative companies has grown significantly in the past two years, new research has shown… Read
• Cargill increases investment in pea protein business: US food giant Cargill has invested $75m in pea protein producer Puris to help it double capacity at its Minnesota site… Read
• Smithfield Foods enters plant-based market with Pure Farmland range: Smithfield Foods has thrown its hat into the US plant-based ring with the launch of a new soy-based portfolio… Read
• Thurston Butchers becomes the first in the UK to sell plant-based meat: Thurston Butchers in Suffolk has partnered with THIS to become the first UK butcher to sell plant-based meat alternatives… Read
• US plant-based market now worth $4.5bn: US retail sales of plant-based foods have grown 11% over the past 12 months, according to new data… Read
• Is plant-based reaching saturation? Innovation opportunities in a meat-free market: While certain plant-based categories are booming, others are lacking in innovation. So where do market opportunities in vegan product development lie? FoodNavigator hears from industry experts at Oatly, Bol Foods, and Sainsbury’s… Read

As for what the meat industry thinks of all this…

• Meat industry needs to ‘restore pride’: The meat industry has become a ‘pharmakon’ and needs to communicate its benefits to the public, according to a leading food expert… Read 

And the New York Times’ take on Big Meat’s getting in on this action.

I love the Sugar Association, the chief lobbying group for producers of sugar cane and sugar beets, for its endlessly creative ways of trying to convince that more sugar is good for us. [Note: High Fructose Corn Syrup is represented by a separate group, the Corn Refiners Association, which does much of the same.]

I was sent this account of  sugar-industry speeches at a symposium run by the American Sugar Alliance, another trade group.

What to do about all those pesky “eat less sugar” messages?  According to one public relations speaker,

The fact that sugar comes from a plant is a positive for consumers…The terms “real” and “pure” create positive associations in consumers’ minds…Consumers believe that honey is “the most healthy and natural” of sweeteners and that high-fructose corn syrup is “not real.”

Only 30% think sugar is naturally grown…A key message should be that “sugar comes from a plant—like sugar beets or sugar cane.  It’s grown on a farm and it’s minimally processed.

As always, you can’t make this stuff up.