FERN’s Friday Feed: All-American swill
Welcome to FERN’s Friday Feed (#FFF), where we share the stories from this week that made us stop and think.
An ode to diner coffee
Eater San Francisco
“As I cradle the cup for warmth, a flash of guilt etches across my mind: Unlike the locally roasted single-origin coffee I might brew at home, this cup — courtesy of national distributor US Foods — is likely neither organic nor ethically sourced. At Beth’s and most American diners,” writes Paolo Bicchieri, “the odds are high that the coffee comes from a vacuum-sealed tub stashed behind the bar. It’s the kind of commodity coffee processed in a big factory where the folks on the floor — and, for that matter, back at the farm where the beans were grown — may or may not get fair pay. Still, at diners and casual restaurants all across the United States, it’s bottomless carafes of the stuff that keep truckers, journeymen, service staff, and, frankly, anyone looking for a zip of strength chugging along. And at an affordable price.”
Food as cultural translator
The Guardian
“Food is an international language: an Esperanto that we all speak pretty fluently, for in the end everyone has to eat. But,” writes Rachel Cooke, “dialect words are also involved, and sometimes these are a little harder to translate. Last month, in Slovenia, where I was running a writing workshop, I found myself having to explain not only the meaning of the word pasty, but also the various reasons why the appearance of such a thing in a story might be an indicator of social class or even of character. ‘The author could have had Keith eat a sandwich,’ I said, sounding more confident than I felt. ‘But he went for a pasty instead because he wants to reveal Keith’s masculine needs to the reader. Basically, Keith is the kind of man who feels himself to be woefully deprived unless he has a hot lunch.’”
The Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean
Hakai Magazine
“Atlantification,” writes William von Herff, “is about more than rising temperatures: it’s a process that is reshaping the physical and chemical conditions of the Arctic Ocean. Because of the oceans’ global circulation patterns, water routinely flows from the Atlantic into the Arctic. This exchange mostly occurs in deeper water, with currents carrying warm and relatively salty Atlantic water north. This warm Atlantic water, however, doesn’t mix well with the Arctic’s surface water, which is relatively cool and fresh … As sea ice disappears, however, the surface of the Arctic Ocean is heating up. The barrier between the layers is degrading and Atlantic water is mixing more easily into the upper layer … That’s Atlantification: the transformation of the Arctic Ocean from colder, fresher, and ice-capped to warmer, saltier, and increasingly ice-free.”
How to improve the science of what we eat
The New York Times
“The state of nutrition research is poor, and the problems afflict much of the research into dietary and lifestyle claims around things like coffee, wine, dark chocolate, fad diets, the amount you exercise — you name it,” write Anupam B. Jena and Christopher M. Worsham. “This in part explains other recent flip-flopping around whether moderate drinking is good for you: A recent review found the research methods used in many past studies on the benefits of drinking alcohol to be flawed.”
Our future of blue foods
Aeon
“We are currently at a point in time where the evidence against the ills of factory-farmed meat are simply too jarring to ignore. Results from scientific studies are clear – we cannot keep eating this way without inducing a climate apocalypse,” writes Madhura Rao. “There’s a strong push to find new ways to feed billions of protein-hungry mouths without destroying the planet. With the area of arable land available to us remaining limited, scientists have urged policymakers and decision-takers to turn their attention towards ‘blue foods’ – animals, plants and algae harvested from natural and artificial aquatic environments.”