Russ Parsons and his cookbook collection

The rare and the signed

January 27, 2012

In mid-January, Los Angeles Times food editor Russ Parsons published a meditation on his cookbook collection, focusing not on the cookbooks he used the most but on those he treasured the most — the rare, the unusual, the funky, and above all, the signed first editions that had serendipitously made their way onto his shelves. Whose autographs does Parsons cherish the most? James Beard, Richard Olney, and Paula Wolfert, among others. Later, Parsons asked readers to add their own favorites in comments on a blog post. Check ‘em out for even more obscure suggestions and vintage treasures.

Pesticides and honey bees

A study shows just how bad it can get for bees

January 26, 2012

Among the myriad troubles afflicting honey bees — including parasites, a mysterious ailment called Colony Collapse Disorder, and the possibility of a fungus and a virus working together to attack bees — pesticides have always been considered an obvious threat.

Now comes a Purdue University study documenting direct damage to honey bees from pesticides. The vector? Harmless talc, which is used to help coat corn, soy, and cotton seeds with pesticides, but then gets blown into the air during planting. And because the pesticides are so concentrated on the seeds, honey bees get up to 700,000 times a lethal exposure if they happen to fly or land nearby. Not good.

The Costco universe

The megaretailer, by the numbers

January 25, 2012

Patricia Marx, the New Yorker’s shopping reporter — yes, such a thing exists — recently wrote about shopping for groceries in NYC. Tacked on at the end of a typical roundup of high-end foodie destinations (Fairway, Citarella, Dean & DeLuca) was a fascinating look at Costco, the national warehouse discounter that sells everything from gasoline and hot dogs to bulk toilet tissue and diamonds. Nope, you can’t read the full article online, but here are the stunning numbers:

Last year, in its 596 outlets, Costco sold 92 million hot-dog-and-drink combinations at $1.50 each (the same price as in 1985). It grossed $4.6 billion in meat sales, $855 million in seafood, $1.35 billion in wine (it’s the largest wine merchant in the U.S.), $1.9 billion in TVs, $1.1 billion in baked goods, and $3.9 billion worth of produce. According to ABC News, the chain sells $300,000 worth of cashews every week, buying up more than half the world’s supply of the nut. Toilet paper and nuts, along with rotisserie chicken, are Costco’s three biggest-selling items, excluding tobacco and gasoline. Last year, the store pumped 2.6 billion gallons of gas and filled 35 million prescriptions. If Costco were a country, its revenues would make it the 65th largest in the world, ahead of both the Republic of Microsoft and Applestand and right behind the United Kingdom of Procter & Gamble.

Oily aftermath

Oil spills mean fish kills

January 24, 2012

Nearly two years after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the relevant food science is starting to come in, and yes, it’s bad. As the Los Angeles Times reported, exposure to oil and then to sunlight has been documented to destroy fish embryos, a phenomenon known as phototoxicity:

In the wake of BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico . . . much of the spilled oil stayed at depth, but that which did rise through the water column could have produced phototoxic effects that are still unknown and unstudied.

Will there be fish in the Gulf in the future? Stay tuned.

The Walmart warning

Big isn’t necessarily better

January 23, 2012

Grist takes on the mega-retailer. »

GMOs and your health

The unknown consequences of genetically modified foods

January 20, 2012

Make sure you’ve got a non-GMO shopping list, too. »

The Paula Deen problem

Her diabetes diagnosis frustrates health advocates

January 18, 2012

Deen chooses drugs over diet. »

Juvenile eating habits

Successes and failures

January 17, 2012

What will kids eat? »

Slow Food in crisis

What are its goals these days?

January 16, 2012

Will the real Slow Food please stand up? »