FERN’s Friday Feed: Know your burger
Welcome to FERN’s Friday Feed (#FFF), where we share the stories from this week that made us stop and think.
Seeing is believing
Oxford American
“To eat in modern America is to participate in not-knowing. We encounter the meal on our plates, yet behind that, much is kept hidden from us: how the animals were treated, how the land was farmed, who processed the bodies, and who butchered them. Some 34 million cattle are slaughtered every year in the US, the conditions of the farm or feedlot or processing plant are obscured,” writes David Cook. “Answers are hidden because, too often, answers are vile and violent. But every so often, we find a window. Through it, we can peer into our meal. We can see the farmers, chefs, butchers, and processors. Behind the Main Street Meats bar in Chattanooga, Tennessee, there’s a square window, opening up to the butchers working in the back of the restaurant and butcher shop. It’s literal: you can watch the Main Street Meats butchers work. It’s also symbolic: we can see. Know. And appreciate the story of our meal. ‘If people knew how much work goes into that hamburger,’ said head butcher Chris LeBlanc, ‘they’d be shocked.’”
Guess what kind of cooking oil is tariff-proof?
The Atlantic
“In the never-ending quest to figure out what we are supposed to eat, a new boogeyman has emerged: seed oils. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pointed to seed oils—a category that includes common varieties such as canola, soybean, and corn—as a major culprit behind America’s chronic-disease problem,” writes Rachel Sugar. “These claims about the dangers of seed oils are not based in science; nutritionists believe that they are not only safe but also good for you in moderation. But that hasn’t stopped the charge against them from going mainstream … The obvious seed-oil replacement, then—similarly vegetal, broadly familiar, delicious—is olive oil … But olive oil may soon cost more—potentially a lot more. Donald Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, which he delayed by 90 days … are coming for the country’s liquid gold. You know what is mostly insulated from the president’s proposed plan? Seed oils.”
The role of greedflation in the price of eggs
Washington Monthly
“The fate of the nation, as we have all learned, hangs on the price of eggs. But have you noticed that the price of eggs—which might finally be coming down—has risen much faster for some eggs than others? In the past, if you went down to your farmers’ market and bought eggs laid by local free-range hens living under humane conditions, you had to pay a big premium. But now, if you go to Walmart or Kroger and buy conventional eggs produced by caged hens on supposedly super-efficient industrial-scale farms, you are likely to pay just as much or even more,” writes Claire Kelloway. “How can this be? Part of the answer lies with the bird flu outbreak, which has affected different kinds of poultry operations differently. But another factor appears to be just as important: corporate collusion and resulting greedflation.”
Finding solace in the company of bees
Emergence Magazine
“While bees have long been understood to be conduits between the living and the dead, bearing witness to tears from God and the grief of common villagers, less is known about the grief of bees themselves,” writes Emily Polk. “Can bees feel sad? Do they feel angst? Among the many roles honeybees play in the hive—housekeeper, queen bee attendant, forager—the one that catches my attention is the undertaker bee, whose primary job is to locate their dead brethren and remove them from the hive … My beekeeper friend Amy, who, like me, has loved bees since she was a little girl, tells me over lunch that one of the craziest things about this is that there’s only one bee doing it at a time. ‘Just one bee will lift the body out of the hive and then fly away with it as far as possible,’ she says. ‘Can you imagine lifting one whole dead human by yourself and carrying it as far as you can?’”
What does a galaxy taste like?
Atlas Obscura
“In 2017, Starbucks released the Unicorn Frappuccino for four days only. This swirled, color-changing concoction of purple and blue Lisa Frank hues came on the heels of a wave of social-media food hype for all things ‘unicorn’: cakes, drinks, and even bagels dyed improbable pastels and often sprinkled with edible glitter. But what did this ‘unicorn’ drink taste like?,” wonders Anne Ewbank. “[I]nternet commentary … reveals that people were mixed on what it could be. Was it raspberry? Cotton candy? Creamsicle? Opinions abounded, but baristas weighed in to note that the main flavor was actually mango, along with brightly colored, tangy powder mixed together with white chocolate drizzle … Connecting concepts and flavors is both an art and a science … There are only a few hundred certified flavorists, or flavor chemists, in the United States. Becoming one is a grueling process, requiring a seven-year apprenticeship on the job, under the supervision of another certified flavor chemist.”