The Food Section: Appetizers

Future of Fish

Mark Bittman on overfishing, agriculture, and the decline of seafood: "With wild fish harder to catch, what is served up is often little better than swimming tofu."

Obama's Election Is a Dream Fulfilled for Skinny Black Guys

Finally, a Thin President [New York Times]

From "Swill Milk" to Melamine

China's milk crisis recalls another toxic milk case -- New York City's "Swill Milk" scandal of 1858 -- which was thought to have caused the deaths of some 8,000 children a year.

The Swill Is Gone [New York Times]

Of Hubris and Hamachi

The recent sushi fraud discovered by two DNA-sleuthing New York teens demonstrates how food "experts" can be undone by their own overconfidence.

The Case for Boxed Wine

Not only are boxed wines more environmentally-friendly than bottled wines, argues Tyler Coleman (a.k.a. Dr. Vino) in the New York Times, their lower cost of production could also help keep per-glass prices of wine from rising as the dollar falls. What's more, boxed wines are eminently practical for table wines that do not need to be aged.

Raid at Kosher "Jungle": "A National Disgrace"

The New York Times editorial page slams the Bush administration for its treatment of the hundreds of illegal workers arrested at the Jungle-like Agriprocessors slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa: "By treating illegal low-wage workers as a de facto criminal class, the government is trying to inflate the menace they pose to a level that justifies its rabid efforts to capture and punish them. That is a fraudulent exercise, and a national disgrace."

Test the Cows

Based on an obscure 1913 law, the Department of Agriculture won't allow American beef producers to use a "rapid test" that could screen every cow slaughtered for mad cow disease, writes Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Union. The USDA's existing surveillance program only randomly checks 1 in 1,000 cattle slaughtered.

Against Wine Snobbery

In the Los Angeles Times, Joel Stein slams wine snobs and their annoying winespeak: "When wine drinkers tell me they taste notes of cherries, tobacco and rose petals, usually all I can detect is a whole lot of jackass."

Swearing Off Salmon

With wild salmon in jeopardy and questionable practices involved in the production of farm-raised fish, writer Taras Grescoe is taking a salmon sabbatical.

Farms of the Future

In "Change We Can Stomach," Blue Hill's Dan Barber writes on how a worldwide spike in food prices should lead to policies that "look toward the future," favoring small, diversified farms for improving food security, resource conservation, and growing more food that's good to eat.

First They Came for the Pork Buns

Eric Asimov laments the Department of Health's closing of Chinatown's Mei Lai Wah Coffee House. Comparing this grungy shrine to roast pork buns to some of the funkiest mold-covered wine cellars in Europe, he wonders whether an exception should have been made: "However unappealing such places might be to modern eyes should not success over time earn them a pass?"

NYT: Salvaging the Salmon Crisis

Federal policy disproportionately favoring agricultural and energy interests and agricultural are at the root of the salmon crisis. A long-term strategy is needed if there is to be any hope of a recovery.

The Cure for Carp

Writer Taras Grescoe has a solution for the proliferation of Asian carp and other invasive species in our waterways: eat them.

The Danger of Meat

The environmental toll of oil production and consumption is mirrored by the devastation exacted by the increasing demand for cheap, plentiful meat.

Rise of the Pod People

The case against Nespresso and Illy's E.S.E. (Easy Serving Espresso) coffee pods: "[I]t’s the culinary equivalent of the S.U.V.: too big. Too fussy. Too bad for the environment."

Batali vs. Bloggers

In a guest post at eater.com, Mario Batali inveighs against food bloggers for what he finds to be shoddy journalism.

In Defense of Touching (Your Food)

Daniel Patterson, chef and co-owner of San Francisco's Coi restaurant, opines about the power of using your hands when you cook. Via CHOW.

The Case Against Chicken Fingers

Vanity Fair writer and author David Kamp makes the argument against the unhealthy, tasteless, and highly-processed dishes that have become standardized on restaurant kid's menus.

Worst Day to Dine Out

New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni doesn't recommend dining out on Mondays (or on Sundays, for that matter).

In Defense of Rats

"Rats in restaurants, while distasteful, are more a distraction than a disaster for public health," writes eGullet founder Steven Shaw about New York's rodent crisis and crackdown. The bigger threat to restaurant sanitation, he argues, is salmonella-spreading humans.

In Defense of Rachael Ray

Op-Ed: "In defense of Rachael Ray and the Food Network."

Op-Ed: Dan Barber

Op-Ed: Chef Dan Barber imagines a farm bill that would subsidize crop diversity (rather than yieid) and make corporations pay for the costs of industrial farming.

Politics of Food Safety

Op-Ed: One hundred years after The Jungle, federal responsibility for food safety is hard-hit by an anti-regulatory political climate. Related: Sick from your salad: where's the outrage?

Ephron on Dining

Op-Ed: Writer/filmmaker Nora Ephron shares her frustrations with the current state of restaurant dining.

"Fish Guy"

Op-Ed: Self-described "fish-guy" says the path to sustainable fishing and healthy fish consumption can be found by eschewing big fish like tuna and going vegetarian (i.e., eating fish that don't eat other fish).

Ruhlman Rants

Op-Ed: Author Michael Ruhlman rants against the Whole Foods lobster decision, Chicago's foie gras ban, and human hubris in general: "We are animals who eat other animals. There is nothing wrong with this. Has this country gone insane?"

The Girl Scout Cookie Threat

Op-Ed: in the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof warns against trans fatty Girl Scout cookies: "I've been taking my daughter around the block lately, helping her unload Girl Scout cookies on obliging neighbors -- and wondering whether we're killing them."

Wal-Mart and Organic

Op-Ed: The New York Times editorial page weighs in on Wal-mart and its embrace of organics: "Its market influence will speed up the rate at which organic farming comes to resemble conventional farming in scale, mechanization, processing and transportation. For many people, this is the very antithesis of what organic should be."

The Case Against Gloves

Op-Ed: The case against wearing gloves in the kitchen.

M&M Editorial

Op-Ed: The New York Times editorial page weighs in on one of the more important issues of our time: The introduction of Mega M&M's.

"Garden-Variety Condescension"

Op-Ed: In the New York Times, Julie Powell on elitism, snobbery, and the organic food movement.

Toxic Milk

Op-Ed: Why the nation's milk supply is a target for terrorism.

Howard Johnson's, Adieu

Op-Ed: Chef Jacques Pépin laments the impending disappearance of Howard Johnson's restaurants.

Op-Ed: On Tails and Farms

Op-Ed: Defending cow and pig tails. Plus: Small farms make a comeback.

Struggling with the New Dietary Guidelines

Op-Ed: William Grimes, the former New York Times restaurant critic, struggles with the federal government's new dietary guidelines.

Recollecting Julia Child's Years in France

Op-Ed: Recollecting Julia Child's years in France.

American Influence

Op-Ed: In an opinion piece in the New York Times, author Ian Kelly writes about how America's "dressed down" bistros and brasseries are influencing French cooking in the heart of Paris.

You Are How You Eat

Op-Ed: "You Are How You Eat," by Giuliano Hazan.

Op-Eds

Op-Ed: A critique of New York's Greenmarket. Related: Globalizing local foods.