Corn: The Omnivores Dilemma

The Omnivore's Dilemma: a natural history of four meals

Author: Michael Pollan

I read this book a few years ago but recently discovered Michael Pollan has been making a lot of noise in the world of food and decided to re-read this book. My opinion regarding the politics of the agriculture industry and US food culture cannot possibly fit into one post on this blog so I’ll focus on this quote, which examines the role of the agriculture industry in our complex economic system.

"The free market has never worked in agriculture and it never will. The economics of a family farm are very different than a firm's: When prices fall, the firm can lay off people, idle factories, and make fewer widgets. Eventually the market finds a new balance between supply and demand. But the demand for food isn't elastic; people don't eat more just because food is cheap. And laying off farmers doesn't help to reduce supply. You can fire me, but you can't fire my land, because some other farmer who needs more cash flow or thinks he's more efficient than I am will come in and farm it. Even if I go out of business this land will keep producing corn."

The quote specifically raises questions about the US’s increasing dependence on corn and the subsequent subsidies and incentives to keep corn booming. As the age old saying goes; you are what you eat. And I think it’s wise to look at what we eat and where it comes from.

Read the ingredients on the label of any processed food and, provided you know the chemical names it travels under, corn is what you will find. For modified or unmodified starch, for glucose syrup and maltodextrin, for crystalline fructose and ascorbic acid, for lecithin and dextrose, lactic acid and lysine, for maltose and HFCS, for MSG and polyols, for the caramel color and xanthan gum, read: corn.

Growing digital space and data centers: The Economist

The Economist

October 27th, 2012

A recent article in the Economist encouraged me to clip this sound byte:

The amount of data being generated is growing at an eye-popping pace: IBM estimates that 2.5 quintillion bytes are being created every day and that 90% of the world’s stock of data is less than two years old.

The article focuses on the implicit growth of data storage as the internet grows. The fact that 90% of the world's stock of data is less than two years old is truly mindblowing. I hesitate to state that it shows the exponential of growth of the internet because that would mean we're already reached a crescendo but perhaps growth will slow and stabilize. 

I think it's easy to think about the internet as not actually existing in physical space, but every bit of data that we save on the "cloud" of the internet is stored somewhere...including this blog. 

Afterlife: The World As I See It

The World As I See It

Author: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is known for his profound scientific theories, though his theories tend to require a high level of knowledge pertaining to physics and mathematics and remain inaccessible to the majority of people. In fact, I recently tried reading a copy of his book “Relativity: The Special and General Theory” and found it nearly impossible for me to digest so quickly switched over to “The World As I See It”, a collection of essays and writings encompassing a variety of subjects. I was surprised at the variety of subjects in the book and it’s nice to see writings outside of disciplines regularly associated with Einstein.

Religion can be a touchy subject so I’ll let this quote speak for itself:

I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature.

What is a sport?: Those Guys Have All the Fun

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN
Authors: James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales

Those Guys Have All The Fun is an interesting book and not just for sports fans, though it certainly doesn't hurt if you are one. The book chronicles the rise of ESPN in a unique format, relying on lengthy quotes and narratives. The book provides interesting insights on cable network developments, the effects of increased media outlets(internet, smartphones) and the increasing integration of sports into America's culture.

I'm a huge fan of sports though I'm not such a huge fan of exhaustive media coverage(e.g. ESPN). However, the book provided an interesting passage regarding what qualifies as a sport:

My biggest complaint was that I’ve never believed golf is a sport. It’s more of a skill, in the same fashion as archery. And we used to have these wonderful debates back in SportsCentury about it. I think a sport involves either cardiovascular abilities or defense, one or the other, but generally both. Golf has neither.

The definition of a sport has been debated and defined but I really like the components of cardiovascular abilities and defense. However, under this definition chess would qualify, and I'm not sure that is quite a sport though we would certainly be arguing semantics. Throughout time and across cultures it seems sports, hobbies and games have intersected and the line has blurred. In the end I'm satisfied with any definition that includes competition, as that is one of the major aspects that I enjoy. 

Taste buds: What the Dog Saw

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Malcom Gladwell released a book that is a collection of articles from his tenure at the magazine, The New Yorker. The articles are generally very interesting and Gladwell’s habit of dissecting seemingly random, though influential people/ideas, is aptly represented in the collection. In one article he talks about the evolution(or lack of) of ketchup. He describes the science behind the ingredients of ketchup and mentions a few interesting facts.

There are five known fundamental tastes in the human palate: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. Umami* is the proteiny, full-bodied taste of chicken soup, or cured meat, or fish stock, or aged cheese, or mother’s milk, or soy sauce…

*MSG (an amino-acid salt that is pure umami),

Small children tend to be neophobic: once they hit two or three, they shrink from new tastes. That makes sense, evolutionarily, because through much of human history that is the age at which children would have first begun to gather and forage for themselves, and those who strayed from what was known and trusted would never have survived.

I think that most people would be able to name four of the five tastes but umami may be absent from the common persons lexicon. I’m sure we would all agree that the taste of meet was a unique and desirable taste but I’m not sure they taught this when I was in elementary school.

It’s also interesting to look at children’s reduced preference for a variety of food tastes after two or three. This really makes a lot of sense to me as I’ve lived all over the world and some countries local food is almost repugnant to me but the locals lap it up. It seems to be whatever you are raised on and I’ve certainly seen this reflected in the cuisine of various cultures (Nigerian’s preference for palm oil and Spanish preference for olive oil)

CIA ‘Agents’: How to Get Away with Murder in America

How to Get Away with Murder in America: Drug Lords, DirtyPols, Obsessed Cops, and the Quiet Man Who Became the CIA’s Master Killer

Author: Evan Wright

An informative, depressive and certainly disturbing, look at corruption and drug lords in America during the late 20^th century. Though Evan Wright’s investigative journalism is well researched and offers a good look at the relationship between the CIA, local cops, politicians and drug lords, one random passage stuck out to me.

(The CIA calls its full-time employees officers, not agents, as they’re known in movies; an “agent” refers to an outside asset recruited for a specific job.)

Yet another example of Hollywood ignoring industry terms and using a “sexier” vocabulary in movies.

This book is an excellent book if you’re interested in modern crime, the drug trade and corruption. It includes a very incriminating bit on the oft parodied and once prominent former State Attorney of Florida and Attorney General Janet Reno. 

What lies beneath: Confessions of an Economic Hitman

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

John Perkins

An excellent book written by an economic “hitman” during the late 20^th century, John Perkins does a wonderful job of mixing a first-hand professional and personal account of economic policy and planning in developing countries. The book rides a fine line between conspiracy and anecdotal experience but many of his stories provide evidence that is difficult to ignore. The story of economic policies created to encourage debt, dependency on corporations and suppress developing countries is as provocative as it is shocking. As the world becomes increasingly globalized, it’s important to look at how we got here.

Members of a conspiracy can be rooted out and brought to justice. This system, however, is fueled by something far more dangerous than conspiracy. It is driven not by a small band of men but by a concept that has become accepted as gospel: the idea that all economic growth benefits humankind and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits. This belief also has a corollary: that those people who excel at stoking the fires of economic growth should be exalted and rewarded, while those born at the fringes are available for exploitation.

When men and women are rewarded for greed, greed becomes a corrupting motivator. When we equate the gluttonous consumption of the earth's resources with a status approaching sainthood, when we teach our children to emulate people who live unbalanced lives, and when we define huge sections of the population as subservient to an elite minority, we ask for trouble. And we get it.

We need a revolution in our approach to education, to empower ourselves and our children to think, to question, and to dare to act. You can set an example. Be a teacher and a student; inspire everyone around you through your example.

We must hear the wisdom of the prophecies, open our hearts and minds to the possibilities, become conscious, and then take action.