Tonight the US Senate is voting on the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. If you were (are) creeped out by icky eggs, wary of tainted produce and outraged by melamine in baby formula shipped from China, you owe it to yourself and to your family and neighbors to TAKE 5 MINUTES to email your senators to express your support for this bill. Thanks to The New York Times for an op-ed today by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, “A Stale Food Fight.” Read it, then go to your senators’ websites to email your support for the bill.

Oh, and while you’re visiting the NYT website, consider supporting its newsgathering operations with a paid subscription.

UPDATE!

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tue, November 30, 2010 — 10:34 AM ET
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Senate Passes Overhaul of Food Safety Regulations

The Senate passed a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s food-safety system on Tuesday that would give the Food and Drug Administration new powers to order recalls of tainted foods, increase inspections, oversee farming and demand accountability from food companies. The vote was 73-25 in favor.

The bill attracted support from major food makers as well as consumer advocates after a series of problems with tainted eggs, peanut butter and spinach sickened thousands of people.

Despite unusual bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and a strong push from the Obama administration, though, the bill could still die, because there might not be enough time left in the session for the usual haggling between the Senate and House of Representatives, which passed its own version of the bill last year. Top House Democrats have said that they would consider simply passing the Senate version to speed approval.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na
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Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

NOW IT’S TIME TO CONTACT YOUR US HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE! DON’T LET THE SENATE BILL DIE–URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO ADOPT THE SENATE VERSION! IT ONLY TAKES 5 MINUTES!

My definition of “slow food” for purposes of this blog is that it’s food you make yourself. As opposed to fast food you schlep up to the drive-thru for, or prepared food you purchase in restaurants or the grocery store.

Like vegetarianism, there are different types and philosophies of slow food (think vegetarian vs. vegan). Strict adherents of the slow food movement insist on procuring food locally or regionally, or even growing it themselves. It’s all part of an emerging effort to reduce the carbon footprint and toxic nature of processed food. Over the past half-century, fast and processed food has become the social norm in the United States and (increasingly) abroad, and we’re paying for it in so many ways — particularly with obesity and related diseases.

While I admire Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser and other proponents of the slow food movement, I think implementing many of its tenets would be impractical for most people. Growing one’s own food, and especially growing food organically, takes planning and skills that have to be learned and developed. Not everyone has property suitable for growing food. The sheer amount of time it takes to garden, weed, water, compost, etc., is probably the biggest problem. It’s a LOT of work.

Organic food is more expensive, and it alters your shopping habits. Gardener’s markets are nice, but not always convenient, and not always organic. Again, more work to figure out what you’re buying, where it comes from and how it was produced.

Besides, if you think about it, eating locally means no oranges, bananas, tuna or salmon, or produce in winter such as strawberries, blueberries, lettuce and so on… all foods we are told to eat for good health. One must make a whole lot of sacrifices to become a true adherent of the slow food movement.

I’ve always cooked and baked things from scratch and tried to use the purest ingredients. For example, I won’t use margarine, Cool Whip, imitation vanilla flavoring or other “fake foods,” and I try to buy organic when I can afford it. But certain processed foods are also staples on my shelf, such as unbleached white flour. We do the best we can within our particular realities.

 Lemon Bars
 The following recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker’s “Cooky Book,” my first cookbook,
 published in 1963 and given to me by my parents for Christmas when I was 10 years old. To me, 
 Lemon Bars are emblematic of the difference between slow food and processed food.

Lemon Bars are exceedingly simple to make, and require only a handful of ingredients. Yet, many people are duped into thinking they need a packaged mix to make lemon bars! The Krusteaz brand, for example, contains 19-20 different ingredients! And you still have to provide the eggs! We don’t need all those extra chemicals and artificial colorings for a recipe that’s easy-to-make and delicious. And best of all, you likely already have these ingredients on your shelf.

Set oven to 350°F.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

In an 8-inch glass baking dish, melt butter in microwave for 1 minute. Add flour and confectioner’s sugar and mix well until a dough forms. Press evenly into pan and prick with a fork. Bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat eggs with a whisk and add sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon juice. Set aside. When crust is done, remove it from the oven, whisk the lemon mixture again and pour it on top. Bake and additional 20 minutes until filling is set and lightly browned (do not overbake). Cool and cut into 16 squares.

Note: One funny thing that happened with this recipe is that once I mistakenly used baking soda in place of baking powder. The result was bars… still sort of edible but not exactly lemony. The soda and lemon apparently canceled each other out!