Even Breyers is not immune to the pressure of making money, and evidently somewhere between their parent conglomerate (Unilever) and their production line, they have massively overhauled their formula.

Breyers ice cream is no longer ice cream. It’s now “frozen dairy dessert”, and our friends at MousePrint figured out why:

Under federal law, to be called “ice cream”, a product must meet a certain standard of identity, which in this case requires that there be at least 10% milk fat in the product. That generally would come from the cream in the product. If the product does not meet the federal “recipe” for ice cream, it has to be called something else. In this case, they are calling it frozen dairy dessert which has no federal definition (other than it does not meet the standards to be called ice cream.)

Here’s Breyers’ old ingredient list for Vanilla Fudge Twirl:

Ice Cream: Milk, cream, sugar, whey, natural tara gum, natural flavor,
Fudge Twirl:  Milk, sugar, corn syrup, cocoa, whey, cream, natural tara gum, salt.

And here is Breyers’ NEW ingredient list for Vanilla Fudge Twirl:

Frozen Dairy Dessert: Milk, sugar, corn syrup, cream, whey, mono and diglycerides, carob bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, natural flavor, vitamin A palmitate, tara gum.
Twirl Sauce:  Milk, sugar, corn syrup, cocoa, whey, cream, carob bean gum, salt.

See the difference? Cream drops down the list in favor of corn syrup, and there’s more gum being used. Gum is a thickening agent. So on Breyers’ production line, they have a very soupy concoction that has to be aggressively thickened to resemble solid ice cream.

Though they still seem to be using natural ingredients, that Breyers is headed down this path is very troubling. Their website brushes off the change as an improvement.

Our Ice Cream and new Frozen Dairy Dessert varieties continue to use fresh milk, cream and sugar. What distinguishes our Frozen Dairy Dessert from our Ice Cream is that it’s blended in a whole new way to create a smoother texture.

Yeah, okay, Breyers … we believe that’s why you did it.

The Big Mac is the iconic American fast food hamburger. Before I swore off McDonald’s, Big Mac was my time-crunch meal of choice. Years later, my mouth waters as I fondly recall the relative perfection of that sandwich.

Big Mac’s secret is in its sauce. That delicious, addictive sauce. After discovering that McDonald’s posts its ingredient listings online, I couldn’t wait for a few of my long-running questions to be answered. How much artificial flavoring is in there? What’s its base?

Ingredients in Big Mac Sauce

Soybean oil, pickle relish [diced pickles, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, vinegar, corn syrup, salt, calcium chloride, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate (preservative), spice extractives, polysorbate 80], distilled vinegar, water, egg yolks, high fructose corn syrup, onion powder, mustard seed, salt, spices, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate (preservative), mustard bran, sugar, garlic powder, vegetable protein (hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat), caramel color, extractives of paprika, soy lecithin, turmeric (color), calcium disodium EDTA (protect flavor).

A few takeaways …

• The base is soybean oil, very close to a mayonnaise.
• No artificial colors are used, which is surprising given the pickle relish.
• No artificial flavorings!!
• The only unnatural ingredients are the preservatives and the high fructose corn syrup.

Kobe beef, no matter how you slice it, is the product of branding, genetics, and great care. Wagyu cattle farmers in Kobe, Japan, go to great lengths for their herds. They’re fed the good stuff, closely watched, and given a great life. Though Kobe beef is a bit pricey even for a care-free foodie, the cost is a reflection of the quality and love that goes into growing our food.

Since then, I’ve noticed a slow but steady increase in “Kobe beef” marketed in the United States. I’m sure you’ve noticed it too. And yes, it’s expensive, but not $300 per pound expensive.

So what is this Kobe beef showing up in American restaurants? Well, there’s absolutely no way it’s authentic Japanese Kobe, because Japanese beef imports are banned in the United States. Banned.

Larry Olmstead, a contributor to Forbes, argues that American Kobe is hijacking the Japanese brand.

The bottom line is that the only reason there is beef called Kobe beef sold in this country is because our government lets vendors call a lot of things Kobe beef. But the reason consumers buy it is because the cattle industry in Kobe spent lifetimes building a reputation for excellence, a reputation that has essentially been stolen.

There’s a lot to the notion that Kobe’s brand has been stolen.

Food marketers need labels differentiate their product from everything else. In the early days of ground beef, it was USDA Grade A versus lesser grades. More recently we’ve seen an explosion of Angus beef, as well as narrative-based marketing about the breed of cattle that the beef comes from, like Scottish Highland cattle. The difference with Kobe is that the producer has not spent time building up its own label, but rather is piggybacking on another. That’s deceptive, but also completely legal in the United States. The American government does not regulate the usage of ‘Kobe’ in beef products.

Restauranteurs are also suspect, because they are the folks buying the beef and listing it in their menus. The only redeeming factor here, I suppose, is that Kobe burgers are positioned as artisanal food, in which case you’re paying as much for the experience of a specially prepared dish as you are for the quality of the ingredients in it.

My only concern about Olmstead’s piece is how he sensationalizes the controversy. The title is “Food’s Biggest Scam”. Seriously? Something that isn’t particularly widespread is now food’s biggest scam? He paints a thorough picture, but that’s grandstanding.

The US Food and Drug Administration does not require beer and wine manufacturers to list ingredients, and most take full advantage of these regulations. You can search all day long, but you won’t find Anheuser-Busch InBev’s ingredient listings anywhere. Cracking the Chelada mystery, then, requires deduction. That’s right, it’s time to bust out our monocles and magnifying glasses.

Let’s start with the product label. “Beer with natural flavor and certified color.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard a brand brag about its use of certified color. I’m actually chuckling out loud at that thought. “Our color is certified.”

If Chelada equals Bud Light and Mott’s Clamato Brand cocktail juice, we can reasonably assume that the Bud Light portion is water, hops, barley, and rice. You might be thinking, rice!?!!?! Yep, but it’s not uncommon. Rice is used by all the macro-brewers because it’s cheaper than barley and produces a lager that’s lighter on flavor. Unfortunately for them, they still have to include some expensive barley to meet the legal definition of beer.

With the beer component revealed, figuring out the Clamato end only means finding a photo of the label somewhere online. Mott’s, of course, doesn’t mention Clamato’s ingredients on their websites.

Ingredients in Mott’s Clamato Juice

Water, tomato concentrate, high fructose corn syrup, monosodium glutamate, salt, citric acid, onion powder, celery seed, ascorbic acid, garlic powder, dried clam broth, spices, vinegar, natural flavors, red 40.

Somewhat surprisingly, Mott’s is not using any artificial flavorings, though they are using artificial red dye to enhance the color. The only other negative is high fructose corn syrup, which in my book is a deal breaker by itself.

Assuming A-B InBev isn’t using some more magic in the production of their Chelada drink, we’re done here. The next time you crack open an ice cold Chelada, I hope you are able to enjoy the natural flavor and certified color.

This morning, I had an all-natural energy drink in lieu of a cup of coffee. I chose one sweetened with evaporated cane juice, but I could have picked the low-calorie version with Stevia. Sweeteners are incredibly interesting (at least to me). There are many options, both natural and artificial. I’ve been researching these for the last two years, and this marks the first in a series of a posts about sweeteners.

Natural sweeteners

Natural sweeteners are derived from natural sources, mostly plants. Here’s a brief list:

• Cane juice.
• Cane sugar.
• Refined sugar.
• Fructose.
• Xylitol.
• Stevia.
• Sorbitol.
• High fructose corn syrup*

To reach consumer products, natural sweeteners require processing, and the amount of processing is a major variable. For example, high fructose corn syrup is on the natural list because it comes from corn. But it’s not like you can crack an ear of corn in half and get the sugary corn syrup to pour out — instead, HFCS is a byproduct of a Rube Goldberg machine that aims to turn every last gram of corn into something usable.

At the opposite end of the processing continuum, cane juice is a popular drink in some cultures and obtained by simply pressing a juicy sugarcane plant.

Artificial sweeteners

These artificial sweeteners have been approved for human consumption by the US Food and Drug Administration.

• Aspartame.
• Sucralose.
• Neotame.
• Acesulfame potassium.
• Saccharin.

Artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame, are most commonly found in beverages. Saccharis and acesulfame potassium (acesulfame K) are also found in beverages, though less often because of public perception of them as carcinogens.

Brand-name artificial sweeteners are derivatives of these. For example, Splenda is sucralose, and  Sweet’n Low includes saccharin.

Paleo is closely related to keto in that a major consequence of the diet is a reduction in carbohydrate intake. A key difference is that keto focuses on numbers, like exact counts of carbs and protein and fat. Paleo asks a simple question: Would my great, great, great, great, grandmother’s father have eaten this?

If you’ve never heard of paleo, you might be tempted to brush it off as a fad. But if you’re curious, you may be wondering how paleo satisfies those of us with a sweet tooth. And you’re in luck, because the rest of this article covers exactly that.

Using the last of an Amazon.com gift card, I recently ordered Caveman Cookies. The back of the package states, “There is absolutely no flour or refined sugar in Caveman Cookies becuase they are only made with ingredients cavemen had access to (think: nuts & berries!)”.

Ingredients in Caveman Cookies (Original Style)

Honey, almond meal, walnuts, raisins, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon.

Whoa. Can a cookie get any more natural than that? I had to give them a taste.

The cookies themselves are individually wrapped and quite small. That’s okay, though, because these are meant to be snacks — not meals. The texture is very chewy, reminding me of an oatmeal cookie. Spices (ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon) are noticeable, but not overwhelming.

I’m a fan. Though I still love all-natural cookies with flour, refined sugar, and chocolate, Caveman Cookies are a much better fit for my food philosophy. The only downside is price — a bag of 12 Caveman Cookie snacks costs $10. Maybe I can make replicas at home.

Margarine is a chemical solid marketed as an alternative to butter. Aside from its synthetic origin, margarine tastes awful. Seriously, one of the least satisfying tastes ever. But it has three things going for it: Less fat, lower price, and grocery store placement in the immediate proximity of real butter.

Liquid margarine, the fluid version of solidified margarine, is used by many restaurants to sauté ingredients. For example, McDonald’s uses liquid margarine to prepare onions and mushrooms for its sandwiches.

Ingredients in liquid margarine

Liquid soybean oil and hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).

That list is terrifying. You’ve got partially hydrogenated oils with a stabilizer, preservatives, and artificial flavor (presumably the butter taste). You’d be challenged to find another additive as chemically engineered as this. I’m grossed out just picturing liquid margarine in my food.

What makes me nervous is that I don’t usually ask, in restaurants, what the cooks are using to prepare ingredients. I have no problem quizzing waitstaff about fresh versus canned peppers, but when it comes to liquid margarine versus butter, that conversation will sound more like interrogation.

Call me a hater, but I’ve never tried a McDonald’s McRib sandwich. Then again, in the last decade I’ve eaten McDonald’s fast food a grand total of two times.

With a pork patty at its center, the McRib departs from McDonald’s standard hamburger and chicken fare. And though it has ‘rib’ in its name, that patty is mostly pork shoulder. After heating, the McRib is slathered with barbecue sauce, then topped with onions and pickles.

The McRib was introduced in 1981 to help curb a McNuggets-induced shortage of chicken. That’s right, McNuggets were so popular that Americans literally ate up McDonald’s chicken supply chain. Executives hoped that the pork meat McRib would take off in similar fashion. Alas, it did not, and the sandwich was removed from the menu in 1985.

But that’s not the end of our story. McRib made cameo apperances in the late ’80s and early ’90s before being brought back nationally in 1994 as a tie-in with The Flintstones. And on the menu it stayed until a ‘farewell tour’ in 2006-08. And despite the farewell now being over, the McRib has re-appeared both regionally and nationally for limited times.

On the surface, it may seem that McDonald’s executives have no clue what to do with the McRib. I think they’ve marketed this sandwich perfectly. Though Americans prefer beef and chicken, the McRib sells because of its notoriety. You have to snag one while you can, otherwise you may be waiting years until it resurfaces.

Ingredients in a McRib sandwich

With that out of the way, let’s put the McRib under a microscope. Here’s a list of ingredients, drawn from McDonald’s website (source PDF).

McRib bun: Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, yeast, high fructose corn syrup, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, corn meal, wheat gluten, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oils, dextrose, sugar, malted barley flour, cultured wheat flour, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, soy flour, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide), calcium propionate (preservative), soy lecithin.

McRib pork patty: Pork, water, salt, dextrose, preservatives (BHA, propyl gallate, citric acid).

McRib sauce: Water, high fructose corn syrup, tomato paste, distilled vinegar, molasses, natural smoke flavor (plant source), food starch-modified, salt, sugar, spices, soybean oil, xanthan gum, onion powder, garlic powder, chili pepper, sodium benzoate (preservative), caramel color, beet powder.

Did you get all that? McRib has 70 ingredients, and they’re not that bad (in terms of being natural). But we see some red flags: high fructose corn syrup, to start. And also azodicarbonamide. Azodicarbonamide, a flour bleaching agent, is used in the production of foamed plastics. Yes, the McRib bun contains an ingredient also found in gym mats.

Photo credit: TheSussman on Flickr.

To review: I define real food as all-natural, mostly local, and organic when practical.

Capital Gains Media recently profiled Lansing-area restaurants whom are serving up meals made from local ingredients.

Nina Santucci, co-owner of the Purple Carrot Food Truck – a “mobile dining destination” that specializes in locally grown fare – says she chooses to offer local products because “we want to use the highest quality products. Items that are ripe and fresh and don’t have to travel. Secondly, we like supporting the local community. It’s good to be able to see where something’s grown and meet the person who’s grown it, to connect with our food from top to bottom.”

Santucci makes sure her customers know what they’re getting, and every day someone thanks her for what she’s doing. “We’re a tiny little business, a small speck on the map of Lansing, but I think we’re helping to get people excited about local foods. I can buy a case of tomatoes through Cisco for a quarter of what I pay someone who grows locally. It costs more to do this but I think the nutritional value of local foods balances out the extra cost.”

It’s remarkable to me how much Lansing has changed in the last year. (With regard to food, at least). I’m a big fan of Zingerman’s and their approach to good food, but Zingerman’s is in Ann Arbor and most of the state’s good food practitioners congregate nearby. To have restaurants like The Purple Carrot and their food truck brethern Trailer Park’d spring up is a wonderful sight to behold. I’ve been throwing my money at them whenever I get the chance.

While Purple Carrot uses local foods because they are fresher and transparent, another new restaurant in Lansing considers local the morally right thing to do.

Alex Wilder of the Wild Rose Café at 1224 Turner Street in Old Town (where Mama Bear’s used to be) says he buys and serves food from local suppliers partly because the economy is down and he’d rather help the little people who have their own businesses. “We do it more because it’s the right thing to do,” he says.

At the end of the day, these restaurants can only exist because the community supports them. I didn’t think Lansing was ready to start shelling out extra money on real food; perhaps I was wrong. If these restaurants can sustain themselves and continue to grow their customer base, this could be the front end of citywide tipping point. We’ve got a lot to look forward to.

So what’s in it? Like other flavored lattes, you have espresso, steamed milk, and syrup. The Pumpkin Spice magic, then, is in the syrup.

There’s a problem. Though Starbucks is forthcoming about calories, they aren’t overwhelmingly transparent about ingredients. You can’t find that information on their website, but you can email and ask. That’s what I did, and here’s what they said.

Ingredients in Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Sugar, Condensed Nonfat Milk, Sweetened Condensed Nonfat Milk, Annatto (E160b, Colour), Natural and Artificial Flavours, Caramel Colour (E150D), Salt, Potassium Sorbate (E202, a preservative).

I’m glad Starbucks was forthcoming with their ingredients, but I am a bit disappointed by what I found. Other flavored syrup makers use natural additives —  for example, real vanilla instead of vanillin. Starbucks has engineered Pumpkin Spice Syrup with some amount of artificial flavor. Considering how ‘pumpkin spice’ is probably some combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove,  I wonder what they’re faking. At least they’re not using high fructose corn syrup.

In case you’re wondering, competing syrup makers also sell their own versions of pumpkin spice. Though I can’t find exact ingredients, Torani claims to be all-natural. I find this believable since most of Torani’s products are made from natural ingredients. Monin, on the other hand, follows the Starbucks script with some artificial flavors.

I’m thankful for Starbucks’ revealing the ingredients in its Pumpkin Spice Syrup, but knowing that they use artificial flavoring will keep me from ordering this drink in the future. And that’s too bad, the last one I had (a few years ago) was delicious.

Notes: Photo courtesy Katie Stine on Flickr.

The BLT may be America’s most recognizable sandwich. After PB&J, of course.

But with its popularity comes a host of mediocre attempts. Not even bacon can save a sandwich with flavorless tomatoes and dry mass-produced bread. So when I make a BLT, I try to do it right.

The sandwich consists of toasted Zingerman’s roadhouse bread, tomatoes,  lettuce, bacon, and dijon mustard. Served with roasted blue potatoes, seasoned sweet corn, and McClure’s pickles. All produce was grown locally, though I’m not sure where McClure’s gets their pickling cucumbers from. Total cost is about $6.00 worth of ingredients per plate.

I admire Zingerman’s bread. It’s only available around Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the store I buy from in Lansing (East Lansing Food Co-op) is literally as far out as Zingerman’s vans will deliver to. Their baked goods arrive fresh every morning and quickly disappear. Unfortunately, I arrived a bit late and was stuck with a choice between paesano, roadhouse, and chili cheddar. Chili cheddar was ruled out because it doesn’t work as a following-day breakfast bread and paesano isn’t sturdy enough for sandwiches. Roadhouse isn’t the best sandwich bread but its soft and chewy attributes can work if you toast it right.

Preparing the bacon was tricky. You want it firm but not crispy. I’ve had some trouble with bacon in the past, letting it go too long, so this time I watched closely. That’s not easy when you’ve got potatoes roasting and other things waiting for action.

I probably could have stopped here, but seeing as how it’s the end of summer and there’s so much great harvest produce out there, I couldn’t resist adding some sweet corn as a side dish. It’s easy — you just husk, snap, wash, butter, season, foil, and toss in a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Just make sure you floss before bed.

Overall this was a great meal made even better with fresh, local, in-season ingredients.

There’s a lot of corn in America, but very little  is destined to end on your plate in a natural form. Rather, almost all farmed corn goes to concentrated animal feed operations (CAFOs) or processing facilities to create products like high fructose corn syrup and ethanol. Creative use of corn stems from its abundance, and that abundance is due in part to government subsidies. Farmers receive more money for corn so that’s what they grow.

(The corn you’re thinking of is the sweet variety. Most farmed corn is not the kind you’d eat.)

Corn drains nutrients from soil, particularly nitrogen. Traditional farms use cover crops or rotation to restore fertility. Conventional farms use fertilizer — lots and lots of fertilizer. And then they use chemical pesticides. Production of fertilizer and pesticide requires external energy input. What used to be powered by sunlight and rain showers is now dependent on fossil fuel.

The conflict against big agriculture boils down to these major arguments:

• Economic: Rising costs of transportation make global food supply chain unsustainable.
• Environmental:  Large industrial farms, particularly CAFOs, tend to pollute local ecosystems.
• Romantic: Buying locally and naturally from small farms is better just because.

American farmers want to feed the world. That’s a noble goal, but implicit in the credo is that American farmers should feed the world.

Food is a cornerstone of culture. Not just what’s on your plate but the meal in its entirety. Decisions that went into meals were not arbitrary. I’m talking about farming practices, ingredient selection, and cooking. Habits became tradition and tradition became culture. American farm imperialism, then, erodes the meaning of food.

Someday the entire planet may be eating foodlike substances derived from the vast cornfields of America’s heartland, but it is a future that can only occur through the annihilation of food cultures. That’s why I’m not a fan of corn.

How did it happen? I didn’t look past the branding.

The package has a stamp of Michigan and a great slogan: old fashioned goodness. Local and traditionally prepared? There’s no way they use artificial ingredients.

I was wrong. “Michigan Brand” cottage cheese uses modern production techniques and artificial flavoring to extend the product’s shelf life.

I’ve noticed this happening often when products are marketed as old-fashioned. The slogan is meant for us to imagine an era when time and tender loving care were put into our meals.

It’s something I’ve been much more careful about. Owners can change. Recipes do change. I need to check and recheck the foods I buy.

MyPlate doesn’t distinguish between fresh, whole foods and processed, preservative-happy foodlike substances. How can real foodies reconcile their emphasis on natural ingredients with the USDA’s recommendations? Civil Eats and Kristin Wartman take a stab with a handy infographic.

Re-published with permission. Many thanks to Civil Eats and Voltier Creative.

Under the USDA’s process verified program, Perdue gets to select the points it wishes to certify. They have chosen:

• All-vegetarian diet.
• No animal by-products.
• Humanely-raised.
• Raised cage-free.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Just like the free-range chicken from the county next door. Well, maybe not.

Most egg—and broiler—process verification programs certify that the chickens are fed and sheltered. How, is quite another matter.

Perdue’s claims are marketing hype because broilers are pretty much always fed grain, are not routinely fed animal by-products, and are not raised in cages. The claims say nothing about antibiotics so you have to assume these chickens are treated with antibiotics to promote growth and prevent infection under crowded conditions.

What about that humanely-raised claim? Perdue uses benchmarks.

• Education, training, and planning.
• Proper nutrition and feeding.
• Appropriate comfort and shelter.
• Health care.
• Normal patterns of behavior.

But … those best practices aren’t set by any regulatory body. Perdue sets internal guidelines for what they think passes as ‘appropriate comfort and shelter’.

Furthermore, process verified isn’t intended to be tool for quality assurance. It’s a marketing program, not a standard. USDA’s description of process-verified spells it out in exact terms.

Companies with approved USDA Process Verified Programs are able to make marketing claims associated with their process verified points – these include age, source, feeding practices, or other raising and processing claims — and market themselves as “USDA Process Verified” with use of the “USDA Process Verified” shield and term. The USDA Process Verified Program does not relieve the company of meeting regulatory requirements issued by other Federal Departments or USDA Agencies.

So is Perdue humane-washing or putting a mild spin on their marketing?

I’m going to err on the side of spin. Perdue hasn’t changed their business practices, but they’ve been trying to differentiate their product on quality for decades. Perdue’s latest campaign positions them in the path of shifting consumer behavior. You can’t blame them for wanting to capitalize on change.

And perhaps they are right. Perdue’s chickens may have a higher quality of life than competitors.

What about this quote from Perdue’s chief marketing officer?

“Consumers want a company to be transparent,” said John Bartelme, chief marketing officer at Perdue Farms in Salisbury, Md. “They want to know a lot more about the company behind the product.”

So Perdue Farms is taking “a documentary-style approach, including real associates,” Mr. Bartelme said, using the company’s term for employees. Their presence in the campaign is why the new theme is “We believe,” he added, rather than Jim Perdue declaring, “I believe.”

Hmmm. For years, I’ve been advocating food transparency. If eaters saw how big suppliers treat their animals, they’d run to a humane and sustainable alternative.

While Perdue’s campaign plays up transparency, it’s on the people in the company — not the products the company makes. Under the guise of personal narrative, the story that really matters is still opaque.

Two years ago, I wrote an manifesto criticizing America’s industrial agriculture in part on the unsustainable cost of transportation.

Chain supermarkets offer discount prices on grocery items. This is possible because the chain is able to purchase food products at volume discounts from suppliers and wholesalers; these savings are then passed on to customers. To support this structure, chains use regional distribution to pass inventory along to individual locations. That is, an apple goes from a farm to a distribution center, to a truck, to the loading dock of a store, and finally to the display case and a customer’s shopping cart. This organization has led to an unsustainable structure in which the average American meal travels thousands of miles before arriving at a dinner plate.

A parallel argument is carbon footprint. Fossil fuels release carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. I never used this claim specifically, but I did take some solace in buying locally-sourced steak as an environmentally-friendly choice.

A 2008 study in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology challenges this point.

Despite significant recent public concern and media attention to the environmental impacts of food, few studies in the United States have systematically compared the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with food production against long-distance distribution, aka “food-miles.” We find that although food is transported long distances in general (1640 km delivery and 6760 km life-cycle supply chain on average) the GHG emissions associated with food are dominated by the production phase, contributing 83% of the average U.S. household’s 8.1 t CO2e/yr footprint for food consumption. Transportation as a whole represents only 11% of life-cycle GHG emissions, and final delivery from producer to retail contributes only 4%. Different food groups exhibit a large range in GHG-intensity; on average, red meat is around 150% more GHG-intensive than chicken or fish. Thus, we suggest that dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household’s food-related climate footprint than “buying local.” Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food.

(emphasis added)

If you’re trying to reduce your carbon footprint, the takeaway is clear — eating less meat is more effective than eating local. I suggest you try both.

Why does meat have a big impact?

Meat has a greater impact on carbon output because:

• Animals produce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Industrial animal farms release huge amounts of environmental waste.
• Ten calories of energy input are required for every one calorie of energy output in meat production. Animals have to be fed before they can feed you, and feed has transportation costs associated with it as well.

My local chain grocery store has placed Memorial Day reminders prominent locations, everything from charcoal and lighter fluid to buns, ketchup, and mustard. You still have to trot over to the coolers to pick up hamburger, hot dogs, and bratwurst.

In the coolers, the only brands present are the nation’s largest industrial farms. It is challenging to find products from smaller operations, and you have to go somewhere else to find steak from a cow that was raised humanely.

Farmers markets, food co-ops, and natural foods stores usually showcase local suppliers who run sustainable, humane operations. It can be expensive — maybe not kobe beef expensive — but be prepared to pay two, three, or even four times as much. While the price is discouraging, I like to think of it as encouragement to eat more vegetables.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying bacon and bratwurst courtesy of Black Oak Farms in Byron, Michigan. Here’s how they describe their fare:

We farm a 700 acre, second generation, sustainbale family farm on the south branch of the Shiawassee River nestled in the rolling hills of Shiawassee County. We raise Berkshire and Chesterwhite breeds. We ranked 1st in pork quality among 20 producers winning Organic Valley’s 2009 Best Pork Quality Award. We provide for the humane treatment and the health and welfare of our animals. Our animals eat all vegetarian food raised on our farm. Our meat is grown without any checmical additives, antibiotics or hormones.

Black Oak’s products are delicious and they have kept their prices very reasonable, making my shopping decision easy. Unfortunately — other customers at my local natural foods store feel the same way, and Black Oak sells out within a day of weekly re-stocking.

If you want to avoid the industrial meat coolers but can’t find a decent local farm, another option is to make your own sausage. My entire background in homemade sausage is a 30-second clip from an episode of Seinfeld. Luckily, Kevin Weeks from NPR has helped fill in some of the details. Over at that link you’ll find instructions for making italian sausage, lamb sausage, bratwurst, and more. I don’t think sausage-making will enter my weekend plans, but it’s something I’ll think about later this summer.

Ingredients in Diet Pepsi

Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavor

What’s it all doing?

Carbonated water is the principal ingredient because all beverages could be re-labeled as flavored aqua. So no surprise there.

Moving on, we find caramel color. In non-diet sodas, the second ingredient is always some variation of sugar, usually high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar. That we’re jumping all the way to caramel color is a strong indication that Diet Pepsi is about 99% water and 1% other stuff.

Aspartame shows up third. It’s an artificial sweetener and the reason why you see warnings about phenylketonurics on zero-calorie sodas.

Potassium benzoate shows up as a preservative. That’s okay … and then you have caffeine (about 35 milligrams, or 1/2 a cup of coffee), citric acid (adds tartness), and natural flavor. We’re not quite sure what the natural flavor is, but it’s probably just enough of the Pepsi taste to offset the metallic tinge of aspartame.

Unilever is a Dutch/British conglomerate that manufactures more consumer products than you’d like to know about. The tea wing of Unilever is LIPTON, a logo you can find in grocery and convenience stores worldwide.

Unlike sodas loaded with high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring, bottled tea is cheapest when its only ingredients are tea and water.

LIPTON offers a basic line of tea packaged in plastic bottles (or aluminum cans), and an upscale line called PureLeaf which is packaged in glass. Aside from the container’s material, there’s also a difference in ingredients.

Let’s run through some of LIPTON’s products. Thanks to them for posting their ingredient listings online.

LIPTON’s basic line

Ingredients in LIPTON Iced Green Tea with Citrus

Green Tea (Water, Green Tea Extract from Tea Leaves), Sugar, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Acerola, Fruit Extract, REB A (Purified Stevia Extract)

Oddly, LIPTON doesn’t offer a basic unflavored iced tea. Maybe I’m missing it. They brand this iced green tea as 100% natural, and it is. A few more ingredients than you’d expect, but they are natural.

Ingredients in LIPTON Diet Lemon Iced Tea

Water, citric acid, tea, sodium hexametaphosphate (to protect flavor), natural flavor, phosphoric acid, potassium sorbate and potassium benzoate (preserve freshness), sucralose, pectin, acesulfame potassium, calcium disodium edta (to protect flavor)

A glass of unsweetened green or black tea contains fewer calories than a Tic-Tac. It’s hard to sell unflavored tea, so LIPTON tosses in sweeteners and flavors to fill out its product line. Rather than fall back on unsweetened tea, they load up their diet version with artificial sweetener (in this case, Acesulfame K).

Ingredients in LIPTON Sweet Iced Tea

Water, high fructose corn syrup, tea, phosphoric acid, sodium hexametaphosphate (to protect flavor), potassium sorbate and potassium benzoate (preserve freshness), caramel color, calcium disodium edta (to protect flavor), natural flavor, red 40.

Traditionally, sweet tea is made by adding sugar during the brewing process. From the ingredient list, we cannot determine what LIPTON is doing to make their ‘Sweet Iced Tea’. At some point, they are adding high fructose corn syrup. And because the tea isn’t quite the right color, LIPTON adds Red #40—a synthetic dye.

LIPTON’s PureLeaf line

PureLeaf is an all-natural, upscale spinoff of LIPTON’s basic bottled beverages. They even gave PureLeaf its own website.

Ingredients in LIPTON PureLeaf Unsweetened Iced Tea

Brewed tea from Lipton tea leaves, citric acid (provides tartness)

LIPTON gets fancy here. You’re not just drinking tea, you’re drinking tea brewed from Lipton tea leaves.

Ingredients in LIPTON PureLeaf Sweetened Iced Tea

Brewed tea from Lipton tea leaves, sugar, natural apple extract (color), citric acid (provides tartness)

Compared to the basic line, PureLeaf’s sweet tea is very refreshing. Instead of HFCS you get sugar. The only oddity is that they enhance the color by adding apple extract. Apparently Lipton tea leaves don’t make the beverage dark enough.

In any other context, you’d know powdered cellulose by another name—wood pulp.

Don’t freak out. Wood pulp is fibrous, plant-based, and completely natural.

Cellulose is the structural component in the cell walls of green plants. It’s what makes plants rigid, and it takes the same form in celery that it does in cedar.

Food manufacturers are finding more and more room for cellulose in their products.

While some food manufactures say they aren’t increasing the percentage of cellulose in their products, others are boosting the amount of fiber in their foods with cellulose and other ingredients. Companies can save money by using it, even though it costs more by weight than conventional ingredients. Cellulose gives food “more water, more air, a creamy feeling in [the] mouth with less of other ingredients,” and only a very small amount is needed.

One manufacturer of cellulose, GRINDSTED, describes a number of uses for the additive. Here’s what they say about their cellulose gum in ice cream:

In ice cream, GRINDSTED® Cellulose gum (CMC) prevents the formation of coarse ice crystal, even upon long storage periods with low, controlled temperatures. It gives the ice cream excellent melting properties and a good control of overrun.

Even Breyers, a company with a rich heritage in traditional ice cream production, is using cellulose gel in its products (only a few, though).

Though powdered cellulose is a natural ingredient, it’s something I try to avoid for the same reason I avoid artificial additives—it’s a cheap filler to cut corners. However, cellulose is often used to add value rather than replace it, and therefore it’s something I don’t often mind.