FEB 15

9. FEB 15

Assigned Work

• Moss, C8, "Liquid Gold"
• Pollan, In Defense of Food, C1 "From Foods to Nutrients" (19-27) (8)
• If you have not seen "Food, Inc." please watch it during this unit (video file in Shared folder). Also these two long form opinion videos from the New York Times update segments of the video. Please watch them during this unit.

• "Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill Our Planet," Semple, Westbrook, and Kessel, NYT. [1]
• "See the True Cost of Your Cheap Chicken," King, Westbrook, Kessel, NYT. [2]

In-Class

• Debrief on SW1. Next steps

Pollan, Michael. Part 1: From Food to Nutrients (19-27)

• Nutritionism in the history of nutrition science.

• claims that in the 80s we started describing food in terms of nutrients.

• credits William Prout with discovery of centrality of protein, fat, and carbs. Liebig credited also. Also discovers role of nitrogen phosphorus, and potassium in growing plants. Claims to have solved problem of nutrition. [There was a big question among chemists about what it is in food that keeps us alive. Recall this is mid-19th. Chemistry came late to the scientific revolution in the 17th and 18th centuries.]

• ”Extractum Carnis” — big business for Liebig. early example of meat protein ideology. Didn’t work as baby formula.

• Alludes to the discovery of the causes of “scurvy” on ships. Reluctance of outfitters to give sailors fresh citrus.

• discovery of vitamins 1912. Casimir Funk. Note the “vitalism” in the name.

• addressed scurvy and “berberi” B1 (Thiamine) deficiency.
• [Digression on Thiamine. Part of a coenzyme that facilitates the energy production cycle ATP in cells. “I can’t, I can’t”. Related to the onset of machines for producing polished rice.]

• First modern conflict between US dietary advice and US food industry.

• 22: 1977 McGovern Committee: first Diet Goals for the US.

• Lipid hypothesis: claim that high levels of heart disease in the US were result of dietary fat consumption, especially from meat and dairy. Not great evidence base at this time.

• Committee rec. reducing fat intake. Backlash. To avoid targeting a particular food industry, the committee started to use broader catergories of foods and nutritional markers to identify dietary goals. McGovern loses reelection, with help from beef lobby.

• Instead of “eat less meat and dairy” - “choose meat, dairy, and fish with less saturated fat.”
• Nutritionism as an ideology: Foods seen as delivery systems for nutrients. Some scientists like T. Colin Campbell objected, claiming that food and diet is still a legit level to see relationships. Heart disease might not only be about fat intake, but also lack of plant based foods. [Mention The China Study — some big criticisms, but later research on fats in context of plant based diet aligns with Campbell’s research.]

• Even when plants were understood as beneficial, they were described in terms of anti-oxidants, vitamin C, and carotenes.

• Nutritionism - the assumption that the right level to think about food nutrition is the biochemical level. [Not so much wrong as limited. There are wholistic effects from diets that involve complexity best captured by “diet” and “food types” (e.g. colors of vegetables predict benefits).]

More Fat Facts

• Our treatment of the dangers of saturated fat is standard nutrition science, but a more sophisticated understanding of fat has emerged. Here’s the update:

• 1970s: We thought saturated fat was a sufficient cause of heart disease. American Heart Association cashed in on lipidphobia and still does. Food companies pay a lot for their seal of approval.

• Later studies (Lancet 2017) looked at 135,000 people in 18 countries and found no correlation between fats, fat intake and risk of cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular disease mortality. Shocking! Lancet study. High carb, high fat diets do have risks.

• More recent studies support Campbell’s hypothesis that plant based diets have a protective effect against some fat consumption.

• Plant-Based Diets in the Reduction of Body Fat: Physiological Effects and Biochemical Insights. More popular source: 'Plant-Based' or Low-Fat Diet: Which Is Better for Your Heart?

Moss, Ch. 8, "Liquid Gold"

• Wallace and Grommet on cheese: [3]

• Stories told in this chapter: Dean Southworth and Cheese Whiz; James Lewis Kraft, cheese entrepreneur!; story of cheese in the US food economy; Kraft marketing of Philadelphia cream cheese and Paula Dean story; closing research on visible/invisible fats. There is no upper bliss point for fat!

• Cheez Whiz

• Cheez Whiz; altered from original, but never a gourmet experience. Pretty much no cheese in it now.

• 2 Tbs have 1/3 maximum saturated fat and 1/3 of max sodium allowance.
• Am cheese consumption: 33pounds/year; 50 gallons of soda. Now 40 pounds, but good news, it’s hitting a plateau!
• traditional consumption of cheese (mention Cesare & Ornella)

• Kraft origins story

• 1912, James Lewis Kraft invented canned cheese. used in field rations. 1928: Velveeta, high sodium as by product of industrial process.
• Eventually Kraft uses an emulsifier, Sodium phosphate, but that increased sodium and reduced cheese flavor.
• point is that industrial cheese can be made in a few days. “Milk in, cheese out” fresh cheeses are quick, but real solid cheese can take 18 months or more to mature. (Is that a real value or just an old way of doing something?). note 167.

• Cheese in US food economy

• anti-fat campaign of 80s led to overproduction of milkfat ("Cows can't make skim milk" - maybe a clue that something's backwards), gov't subsidized milk and cheese; huge warehouses of cheese (1.9 billion pounds at a cost to taxpayers of 44billion a year) ; Reagan admin stopped this, but also raised funds from the industry for new marketing efforts to promote milk consumption.
• 1983 Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act. [1993 Got Milk? Ad campaign for California Milk Processors Board]
• Note the gastronomy segement 171-172 - ex Kraft cheese expert Broockmann.
• Update. Only 1.4 billion pounds in storage! [4]

• Philadelphia Cream Cheese

• "Sliced" didn't work. spreading is part of the fun, but also suppresses serving size information. p. 174: no bliss point for fat.
• Kraft Mac & Cheese. Extended product line with added cheese varieties. Up to 15 grams of saturated fat. Then you are meant to add beef!
• Nutritional profile might not look bad at first glance [5], but check out this comparison [6]
• Stuffing cheese into pizzas.
• Early social media marketing effort using Food network star Paula Dean, targeted to women — “Real Women” (amazing: Mac and cheese, wrapping in bacon and deep fried!) and social media to generate interest. Creating industry based food culture. 5% boost in sales. Sadly, Paula Dean get diabetes and switches her sponsorship to a drug company.

• 2008 Dutch research on visible / invisible fats

• visible / invisible fats and satiety, perception of fat. results: everyone underestimated fat content, visible fat group full faster, about 10% more.
• Personal advice: buy whole fats and eat them sparingly and mindfully. Compare satiety with Costco sized skim-fat products.

• Puzzle: many cultures eat much more cheese than Americans. French 53, Italy 44, Germans 46, yet do not suffer dietary disease from it as we do. [Now we have some answers to this, though there is skepticism about the French!]

• Previous student comment: "This material makes me really glad that I don't like cheese."

• Brief class discussion: What should your cheese strategy be?