15 January 2008

O NO GMO

I was watching a bit of Headline News this morning, and adorable-as-hell Robin Meade did a tease for a story about cloned cattle being one step closer to being on your supermarket shelves.

WTF? No, wait, seriously. What the fuck?

The Washington Post has an old piece slanted in the pro direction; even though they quote a survey that says 63% of respondents were opposed to serving cloned milk and meat at their tables.

Then there's this vid from CNN itself that warns against the possible health risks.

Gentle Goddess, this is horrifying news.

The FDA isn't even going to label things as being cloned; the CNN bit quotes someone from the FDA as saying "Cloned products will be so similar that there will be no need for labels."

How about because you don't want to eat that shit, how's that for a reason? A damn good one, too, if you ask me.

I don't eat red meat; not because I'm vegetarian, but mostly because I really don't like it. A perfectly cooked steak holds absolutely no appeal for me. The reports are talking about cloned cows, and pigs, but not yet chicken. I'm sure that's next on the list.

Fortunately, I do know where to get both chicken and beef from local producers, folks who use organic methods and I can trust. It isn't convenient to buy from either of them, but I'll take the inconvenience over not knowing where the hell the food on my plate comes from.

What is next?

Y'know what...I don't really want an answer to that.


Speaking of being vegetarian, I baked a vegan cake the other day for DH's birthday. My nephew is allergic to eggs, so I'm always looking for recipes for baked goods that don't have eggs. The holiday cookies that I bake with the kids can't have eggs or nuts in them, which makes finding recipes tough. I thought DH's birthday cake would be a good place to experiment, because I had no butter, no eggs, no sour cream and no cream cheese in the house, so a cheesecake was out.

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Bouncing Banana Birthday Cake

Makes 1 8x8 square cake. For layers, or bundt cake, double the recipe.

Oven 350

Whisk together in a large bowl
1-1/2 c unbleached flour
1 c turbinado sugar (sold under the brand name Sugar in the Raw)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In the food processor, combine
2 bananas
1 c water
1/3 c oil (or unsweetened applesauce, or a combination of the two)
1 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla
1-2 drops banana creme candy flavoring (completely optional)

and blend until smooth. Dump the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 8x8 pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Cool on rack in pan 10 minutes and remove from pan. Allow to cool completely before frosting or decorating.


I didn't bother to frost it either time I made it; once, in the square pan just for DH, and the second time in a bundt pan for his family's celebration of his birthday. I used all oil the first time and mostly applesauce the second time. It was definitely more dry the 2nd time around, which just means I've got to tinker with it to find the right mix of oil and applesauce to lower the fat but keep that cake texture. Another change that I made the 2nd time around was to use 1/2 Splenda instead of all turbinado sugar, for my diabetic M-I-L's sake.

I have to say, it turned out far better than I expected. It ages well, too, becoming more moist the 2nd day.

6 comments:

Dawna said...

I will make it tonight and tell ya how it went. My plan is to use all Splenda 'cause I can't find turbinado sugar unless it is in little packets and half and half oil and apple sauce.

This looks GREAT!

Lucy Arin said...

yay! Glad you're excited about it. I find the turbinado @ the health food store...in big plastic bags with white computer labels slapped on them. Sugar in the Raw is ex-spen-sive.

Do let me know how it turns out, I hope it works as well for you as it did for me. :-)

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the whole GMO thing is damn scary. Not the GMO products themselves, mind you; it's the fact that the gubmint has decided (in their infinite biological expertise-laden wisdom) that there's no difference. Fucking FDA. People are entitled to know what the hell they're eating. And with a 20% increase in organics each YEAR, you would think they'd get the message: we cattle actually give a crap what we're eating.

Lucy Arin said...

MM-
Nah, why would we give a damn about what we eat? We (yanks in general) drink gallons and gallons of soda and eat bushels and bushels of fries, not to mention the fast food hamburgers....

You'd think the FDA would get the hint. I hope that a public outcry makes them change their minds, but I'm not holding my breath.

Oh, and wisdom & government in the same sentence? Not so much. :-)

John said...

Scary stuff! Where do the lines get drawn and what is the standard for drawing them? Doesn't seem like we're doing too good a job on our own here...

Related, I recently read that our food travels an average of 1300 miles before it reaches our table! And we're wondering about dependency on foreign energy supplies - let it interrupt the food supply line - look out. Kudos to you for locating local suppliers. It's been fun for us to be a part of the process with fresh eggs. There is a satisfaction knowing we are contributing in some small way.

Hope all is well.

Blessings.

John

Lucy Arin said...

he speaks! ;-) Welcome back to the web, John!

check out http://100milediet.org/ and eatlocal.net for all kinds of further info.

The chicken farm does eggs, too, and what wonderful eggs they are. Love 'em. I think my homeowners association would not like it if I decided to raise chickens in my backyard, though.