michael tuohy's

Tainted Egg Recall

 (pasture raised chickens at Riverdog Farm)

by now you are undoubtedly aware of the latest industrial food industry recall, eggs. this comes on the heels of an article recently published in the ny times which states that 97% of all eggs on the market are from chickens that live in confined cages, often with 6 or more other chickens allowing only 6 inches per bird for their entire life. they stand or sit on soiled concrete by their own feces. in these conditions, the stressed out chickens bite and peck each other, or have their beaks removed to prevent this, which then can lead to sick infected birds that sit in contaminated conditions laying those cheap little eggs that come to a supermarket near you. also, they find their way into the complex foodservice system supplied by large distributors from all around the country. this includes any type of establishment that serves food to the general public and that uses eggs in some shape or form. you can imagine not only is freshness not part of this equation depending of course how you define freshness. traceability becomes a very complex process all in the name of shelf life and distribution. this time the recall is nearly 400 million eggs!! that's right, 400 million. I find this to be absolutely tragic. This is absurd and just plain unacceptable! can't we do better than this? of course we can. you probably know that I am chef at Grange Restaurant in Sacramento, Ca. where we are using only local, organic eggs. even in the Citizen Hotel, where the restaurant is located, you will find that to be the same. in the food service industry, you can buy eggs that are not only fresh, but in liquid form (bag in a box) in cartons, separated yolks only, whites only etc. the problem with this neat "packaging," is that there are additives to give the eggs "shelf life." whatever happened to fresh from the farm? consumed the day or even week after they were layed. as we continue to develop our foods for large scale distribution and for shelf life, the problems that we are experiencing will only continue while putting ourselves at risk with our health as well as our families and children. these are some of the costs associated with the mass production of "cheap food." note the comment towards the end of the egg recall article linked above, "cooking the eggs thoroughly" can kill the salmonella. that is just plain ridiculous advice! just as they say to cook your meat into oblivion as a solution to killing beef tainted with ecoli. wake up people! address the root of the problem which is production. you really need to know who and how your food is being raised and produced. i suggest buying eggs only from reliable, traceable local sources like from a farmer at a local farmers market.

Heirloom Seeds

 

this article is in today's NY Times Magazine. it profiles a young family that is making a difference producing foods that will have significant meaning in the way we eat. this was nice to read before heading to the local sunday morning farmers market!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Restaurants

 

by now you have probably been made aware of the recent study published by the UC Davis Olive Center which states 69% of recently tested Olive Oils that claimed to be Extra Virgin were found to be flawed or defective and should not be marketed and sold as such. of course, there is opposition from some in the industry that claims the study was flawed. interesting that two different laboratories agreed. this is not a new problem, but one that hopefully will be greatly reduced or eliminated altogether when the US adpots new legislation for standards. in the meantime, i was invited by the california olive ranch and the amercian culinary federation to give a presentation and speak on extra virgin olive oil in restaurants and food service operations. you can view the full presentation here at the california olive ranch website.