NPR Does a Body Good

I agree that often ‘health’ claims and food ‘facts’ sometimes seem to scare people rather than motivate them to maintain healthy diets. Even being skeptical, what food related news, reports or studies that you heed? And what is your deal with NPR?

I am not immune to news about health claims; just this week I was reminded about the benefits of organic milk. There is pretty strong evidence that organic milk is higher in vitamins, has a better Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio and more antioxidants than its conventional counterpart. Food fads and health claims come and go – see Protein v. Carb, but research will probably bear out ideas like vitamins absorbed through food (as opposed to supplements), Omega 3s and antioxidants are going considered good for quite a long time.

I don’t drink milk but I do possess a profound love for plain yogurt, heavy cream sauces, dairy-rich desserts and cheeses. Yet, I will almost always go for the non-organic milk, ½ & ½ or cream in part because I am being a cheap bastard, well that and the there is some doubt to what cooking/heating does to the health attributes.

Then there is the issue that all of the organic products I find in my store are ultra-pasteurized. I don’t like the taste of ultra-pasteurized cream and find it impossible to make it react with acids to make fresh cheese like ricotta. Traditional pasteurization heats liquids to 145 for 30 minutes. Most products in the states undergo High Temperature; Short Time – HTST which heats products to 162 for 15 seconds. Ultra pasteurization quickly brings dairy to 265-300 for 1 to 3 seconds and then immediately cools the food down. With all three methods, the cream is subjected to either higher temperatures or longer heating times.

Pasteurized milk lasts for 2 weeks, the combination of Ultra-Pasteurized and sterile packing containers extend the shelf life months. I understand organic milk is a greater investment to get into the store and a greater expense for the consumer to take home so you don’t want the product going bad, but taste has to account for something doesn’t it? Then again, I don’t think it is reckless to say organic milk isn’t being sold for taste as much as health and the idea of health.

Still, if my body is going to absorb nutrients better with organics, and you multiply out all the acres of pesticide free farming that growers are doing then factor in the fact for the most part organic milk fetches a better price for the farmer than conventional dairy, it does seem like a wise choice.

As for NPR, Cokie Roberts, the firing of Bob Edwards, the non-stop scolding of the Clintons by Cokie Roberts - that outlasted Bill's Presidency, the self-congratulatory ‘reporting’ of Jan & Michael Stern, the hiring of Juan Williams/the firing of Juan Williams - seriously that's what it took when he violated NPR standards every week by giving his opinion on FOX, you wait for that? Then can't even let his contract run out without comment? The they don’t defend their organization or their reporters…if someone calls them a name, they apologize for being whatever name they are called and promise FOX not to be that thing ever again, they are middle-children: pay attention but don't look at me. Getting punked by punk James O'Keefe. Their breathless coverage of the dot com bubble. The fact her name is pronounced Me-Shell. That people who make more money than I do, literally beg me for money during pledge drives, pledge drives that always seem to be on the few times a year I listen in. That and if congress tries to cut funding I get an email saying Elmo is going to get it if we don’t email our representatives at once. Estate planning? You're going to die but Big Bird doesn't have to? A long time ago, after not subscribing for 2 years during my cancer recovery, I wrote our local Oregon Public Broadcasting a big check, sending it with a note this was making up for a few years and that I wouldn’t be doing this again. They mailed me 2 letters a week for 6 months asking for more money. When I called to ask them to stop sending solicitations that was a one time generous gift, not an invitation to keep asking for money - nothing happened. When I called again and told them I wouldn't give them a cent again until they could go 6 months without calling or mailing me they didn't let up that was over 12 years ago. I rather hear a couple Subaru commercials than boring, hyperbolic solicitations for money. For every golden moment of brilliance of Ira Glass is a canceled by a flawed, self-aggrandizing system that truly needs to step back from what they actually are and challenge themselves to be as creative as they think they are.  And did I mention Cokie Roberts?

Beer Me, Safeway

Today, like most Tuesdays is grocery day. In the Saucyhome, grocery-getting is elevated high above the status of chore, a trip to the store is part entertainment, part promise of meals to come and maybe because a clean, well-lit provisioned store is about the opposite experience of my solitary, dusty apartment - it's something to look forward to. I enjoy shopping for food so much given a choice between seeing a movie and getting groceries, because it's less loud and the plot is generally more coherent (man enters, fills cart, pays and leaves), and because there will be a good meal at the end of my trip, I'll take the grocery every time.

But this might also have something to do with how I shop. I mostly hit smaller, privately-owned stores; this dramatically different from how most people get their food. In the States, we spent around $550 billion in grocery stores last year. The 3 biggest chains, Wal-Mart, Kroger (including its regional divisions like the Pacific NW's Fred Meyer & SoCal's Ralph's) and Safeway pull in about half of that take.

It's been over a decade since I've been inside a Wal-Mart. There is a Kroger's/Fred Meyer in my zip code but their combination of soviet-style displays coupled with indifferent service at an inconvenient location means I almost never set foot in it. Safeway does get a few of my food dollars and even though I can't say I'm sorry every time I go into one, I can say a good trip is when nothing goes wrong – the store has the advertised product, my Safeway card works (the fail rate is about 30% and don't even ask for help about why it's that way) and I don't wait more than 10 minutes in a line.

Safeway was the first store I ever set foot in on the west coast. 11 at night, apartment unpacked, my brother and I went to get some food. I still remember being amazed at the bounty of fresh produce available in January. Coming from the land of potatoes, iceberg and onions, everything was so green, technicolor green. I now realize this has more to do with Oregon's adjacent location to California but at the time, it made me crush on Safeway.

If only they had this sign

When I moved out of downtown, Safeway and I parted ways, but we'd still see each other now and then. About 8-9 years ago, I stopped off to get a 6 pack of beer on my way to see friend Evan. I don't drive, so I almost never have a government issued ID. This time I was carded, I was well into my 30's with prematurely gray hair, (now it's just gray).

I was willing to walk away, that is the price of not carrying ID, you occasionally don't get beer...when the cashier took it upon herself to tell me I should have known better, they card everyone in who buys alcohol, it's the law. It was on. I calmly pointed out that wasn't the law and if the store has special restrictions placed on it by the OLCC (the state agency overseeing alcohol sales) that has little to do with me trying to legally buy a 6 pack on a Saturday afternoon. More words were exchanged, my cashier intimated, and by intimated she pretty much said, that I didn't understand how things work in this part of town. I responded, you mean the part of town I have lived in for 7 years? This did not deescalate the situation, in fact, we exchanged a few more less than pleasantries and then I asked her to page a manager.

A series of things transpired to keep me out of Safeway for a long time: She didn't page a manager, instead she shouted across 3 aisles to her cashiering friends, “Did you hear that, this white man wants me to get a manager for him, I guess we're not good enough to take care of him.” So now we have bad service and racial tensions. She said this loud enough to get the attention of everyone including a floor manager or at least a pasty dude in a white shirt, black work pants and a Safeway tie who looked at me, looked at the cashier and then looked like he was going to wet his pants and rather than deal with this, he actually, walked away. I left the store beerless and not angry, just confused where it all went wrong. When I called the store on the following Monday, to register a complaint, the 'manager' ignored the crux of my complaint and said that was their alcohol policy and I should call corporate if I had a problem. Corporate didn't return my call.

The word boycott has a noble lineage, it implies a sacrifice for a greater purpose. I didn't boycott, I avoided. Eventually, I couldn't ignore some of the ridiculously low prices, but I still avoid the store closest to me, opting instead for one between work and home for my 2 for 1 cough syrups and weekly beef sale. Plus, that store has cashierless checkouts.

As soon as this gets posted I am off to the Portland based New Seasons Market, self-billed as the friendliest store in town, it's if not true at least far more than a slogan. People seem to care about what their doing and we see each other enough that I don't need to bring my ID in order to buy beer

I Feel a Little Dirty

Yesterday, I wrote a fairly upbeat postabout the upcoming Food Day Event. This isn't FOODday, the weekly food specific insert our local newspaper publishes. Nor is it the longstanding Oxfam event designed to raise awareness about world hunger. No, this an event modeled on Earth Day – National Day of Awareness – Local events, national message.

I feel conflicted about this. This has nothing to do with raising awareness about food's origins - that kind of consciousness raising is good. Nationally, heroes and inspirations such as Marion Nestle and Morgan Spurlock will be participating. Locally, the Oregon non-profit organization, Farmers Against Hunger, is leading the local charge for Food Day. How could one even be in opposition to a group called Farmers Against Hunger. It would be like being against pictures of kittens on the Internet.

How Dare you Enjoy That!

My problem, well with this event anyway, is its sponsor, the Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI has very little to do with science – they don't do scientific research in the traditional peer reviewed fashion, they cull info from published studies and tend to cherry pick information, and they have been accused by former researchers of being less than scientific. Their publications are usually alarmist and occasionally speculative. CSPI is a lobbying group, which isn't a problem, people and organizations have a right to petition our government, except they don't even call themselves lobbyist, they imply science and rational thought when they are about as sciencey as Scientologists.

Just to back up a little bit, CSPI was founded in 1971 by a group of former Naderites. This wasn't the post-Gore recalcitrant Ralph Nader, this was the viable and crusading Unsafe at Any Speed, Ralph Nader. At their best, CSPI has lobbied for consistent labeling on products, so that low fat and heart healthy mean something other than marketing slogans. At their worst they have been inconsistent in labeling – with alcohol they feel less information for consumers is better, they, like a lot of 'experts' were for Trans-fats before they were hysterically against them and they unabashedly want to tax butter, soda and 'junk food' (BTW- pizza is junk food to them). CSPI in their righteousness mirrors a self-serving Andrew Breitbart whose corner cutting and truthiness are justified because no one understands as well as they do. This organization has consistently presented skewed information about movie popcorn, Chinese take out, caffeine and beer – better to scare and alarm consumers*. Need more proof: NPR loves to quote them as serious unbiased watchdogs.

I find the CSPI to be scare mongers, food scolds and anti-calorie rather than pro-healthy diet. They are just as bad as all the other voices out there that tell you food is unsafe, it's hard to prepare & who has the time anyway, food doesn't sustain life it kills you, it is joyless. I like butter and the occasional cocktail. I like chips and fries. I am not afraid of these foods - they don't need to be taxed, regulated and treated like forbidden fruit – there are healthy and unhealthy diets, not individual foods. Weight gain is more than calories-in calories-out strategy, let's learn about healthy diets. If we talk about taxing foods, specific foods let's talk about where that money will go to -safe, clean parks, bike lanes, exercise initiatives, because levying a surcharge against the select foods CSPI doesn't like - won't make one person skinny.

Monday's Food Day is not the first time CSPI has tried to launch a National Day of Awareness – originally rolled-out in the mid-70s the project lost momentum and funding. CSPI's founder Michael Jacobson in an interview with the Washington Post wondered where the locavore/Slow Food/organic movements would be today if only Food Day had kept pace with Earth Day. Probably even in worse shape. Fortunately, people like Carlo Petrini, Michael Pollan, Spurlock and Nestle took time to educate people about making more educated food choices instead of scolding, scaring and blackballing select foods.

Enjoy the day, be mindful of the sponsor.

*CSPI's In-house food policies are so strict that founder Jacobson once reportedly intended to get rid of the office coffee machine—until one-third of his 60 employees threatened to quit.

18 Duck Eggs, Paprikas Csirke & Stupid NPR

Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck not goose, Duck

My friend Yvonne gifted me 18 duck eggs last week. I live alone, this is excessive even for a man who thinks carbonara is an appetizer. A day later my neighbor dropped off some misshapen chanterelles. After one exceedingly rich mushroom omelet – and it wasn’t the tablespoon of butter I cooked it in, I still have 16 eggs. Duck eggs are usually a little bigger than chicken eggs, The taste isn’t ducky or strong, but they are rich. Just imagine if you cracked open an egg and it was all yolk. I pretty much wish I could paint my walls that saffron/gold color and I could and with 18, now 16 eggs I probably have enough to do it in tempera.

Some of the eggs will get used for tonight’s dinner of Chicken Paprikash/Paprikas Csirke or for a select few Paprikas Tofuke. Although, rich and velvety, the sauce doesn’t use egg – it's sour cream and stock. Rather the eggs will be mixed into nokedli, the Hungarian analog to spätzle. The rest of the eggs will get mixed into an apple-scented pastry cream for dessert.

NPR beat me to the punch: A few days ago I saw thus rather appalling headline on the Kaiser Health website Indoor Cooking Kills 2 Million Annually. I made a note, wanted to do some research and write about it later this week. Instead, my newsenemies over at Public Radio filed this report today and then despite cliched expectations didn’t break into once to ask for money in exchange for a totebag and promising to unchain Steve Inskeep from his microphone at the end of the pledge drive - well played NPR, well played.

Oh yeah, this. 

Finally, this is probably the last post I will compose on this computer. After 9 years, 2 computers and one new hard drive later, the macbook era is over. While people were lining up to buy the new iphone last week, I remembered Steve Jobs by ordering my first Dell. My smarter-than-me phone has changed the way that I use computers – where once a laptop meant portable and accessible, in the era of email on my mobile, a mac laptop just means expensive. Even if I find the mac air the sexiest piece of machinery ever built, I can’t justify the $1000+ when all I really want is to have a portable computer that I can use in my two favorite writing places in bed or on the couch.

But this mac, now 5 years old, we have accomplished so much together, I have been opening it up everyday for 2 months wondering if this will be the day it freezes up and dies hating to let go despite the slow processing and the labored noise coming from the processor. It’s stupid to have a sentimental attachment to a processor and an airport card, but this is the computer that I have composed 99% of  these blog posts, written a book proposal, done job billing on - that's right I got paid using this mac. With so much history, I don’t know if I should frame it or give it to Free Geek. 

Inspiration

I know, most of the people who read this already know I am the contributor and editor for the Portland Farmers Market Blog. Usually I have no problem double-dipping; occasionally sharing the work I do for PFM with you all here. Usually it's because I am proud, like the interview with my Congressman about the upcoming Farm Bill. And sometimes it's because it's a video, which are for me, a learn as you go enterprise - they always take more time and energy than I budget. 

Today's crossover post is because it took forever to write the apple post and because of that, the thing I was going to write about next, well it just didn't happen. The only thing worse than actors talking about acting, is writers talking about writing: Onanistic doesn't do it justice, that along with the fact talking about writing is never fun and stress reducing. So I won't talk about how difficult this was, instead I will say it's been fun to hear everyone's opinion on apples. It was a joy to talk to Susan Christopherson about heritage apples and my neighbor gave me a pink pearl of my very own. Thanks Jenn. Read, enjoy more next week:

Mother of Apple

Eris, the goddess of discord*, threw a golden apple on the table and said it belonged to the fairest one, next thing you know…the Trojan War. The apple wasn’t any more calming for Adam and Eve, yet the apple carries much less baggage in the rest of the bible – it’s invoked to signify favor in the phrase, apple of my eye or to soothe when one is called upon to comfort me with apples. Historically, apples have played a key part in keeping the doctor away, Isaac Newton becoming a Sir and Sleeping Beauty’s Sleep. In modernity, Robert Frost coupled apples with pinecones before reminding us “Good fences make good neighbors”. Before the curmudgeon Frost, there was the American folk hero Johnny Appleseed - AKA John Chapman helped spread apples westward and just as importantly serve as a metaphor for generosity and enterprise.

Somewhere along the way apples lost their ability to inspire. There are over 7,000 named apple varieties in the world, but only a handful are cultivated commercially. Things were especially bad in the 70s, well, apples suffered especially in the malaise of the 70’s. US producers had pretty much whittled the apple crop down to Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious. By 1980, ¾ of the apple crop in Washington State was the Red Delicious.

Would you launch 1,000 ships for Granny Smith? Is it possible to be tempted or inspired by the ultimate in meh flavor, the Red Delicious? In many ways the current diversity of available varieties mirrors what happened to Farmers Markets. Orchardists, unwilling to compete in a flawed system of too many farmers growing the same fruit for too few buyers or driven by the belief that if they grew a better tasting apple, people would buy it, grafted new varieties onto old stock. Today the Red Delicious accounts for less than 1/3 of the acreage in Washington.

Filling the void are new modern varieties such as Gala, Braeburn, Fuji, and Honeycrips and one of my favorites, the Pink Lady (very good apple, fun to say) but Portland Farmers Market offers its shoppers varieties they will never find in a grocery store. One of our growers Susan Christopherson of Old World Apples tends an orchard on 5 acres of land in Ridgefield, Washington. That’s about 500 trees dedicated to heritage varieties, Susan tells me that only 300 of those trees are viable – Age and grafting are part of the cycle of a orchard but some varieties like the Ripston Pippin are stubborn producers – this year’s bounty of about 10 apples spread over 8 trees.

But the 300 trees that do fruit, grow apples that are rarely seen anymore including Old World Apple’s most popular variety, the Pink Pearl – a golden hued pearl exterior hides a raspberry interior (Susan is bringing the rest of the Pink Pearl’s to PSU this weekend). Old World is one of the few nearby growers who offer the Caville Blanc – once the most popular apple in France, it has been cultivated since the 16^th Century, the fruit smells faintly like a banana and has more Vitamin C than an orange. Susan also has Cox’s Orange Pippin a cidery, tart apple - good in hand or perhaps better in a press.

More variety and flavor had helped reignite passion for apples. Asking Marketeers what their favorite apple was produced some passionate responses. Sylvester, a twitterer, informed me that if I am writing about anything other than Honeycrisps, I am doing a terrible job. Other people kept it far less personal, although equally enthusiastic when naming the Rubinette, Gravenstein, the Ginger Gold from Kiyokawa Family Orchards or the Empire from Sungold Farm as the apple of their mouths?

Maybe you aren’t shopping for a new favorite, just an apple for a weekend pie. Whether you are at Old World Apples, or Drapper Girls, Gala Springs or one of the dozen growers selling apples at our Market, you still follow Susan advice and mix varieties for more flavor in your pie.

* Despite the gender bias, this sounds like a pretty good job yet it isn’t listed on Monster.com 

Going Rogue in the Cereal Aisle

Do you use shopping lists? If so, do you ever go “off list”?

Who needs an App or a smartphone? 

For the most part my shopping “list”, usually written on the outside of my left hand. I should actually tattoo a short list of staples – yogurt, coffee, onions – as not to forget the things I consume almost every day but somehow always forget to buy.

There are times I write down actual items on actual pieces of paper, mostly when I am hopping to the store on lunch break. These scraps of paper are safety nets, because a person should never shop when hungry – unless you are running a sociological experiment, which you don’t really have to do because I can tell you how it will play out in four words – high salt; low fiber. Mostly my shopping list looks like a weekly menu.

This week my list will look more like a very eclectic menu - burrito, carbonara, split pea soup, scalloped potatoes, veg stock, pie, and nutmeg.  That will cue me to purchase – pinto beans, tortillas, salsa, sour cream, ham, pancetta, make sure I have flour at home, a smoked turkey wing, a bag of potatoes, a couple onions, carrots, celery (I have thyme and parsley). I will think about making pie which will set off another mental list, butter, cream cheese, apples, pumpkin – anything on sale?

Sometimes this approximation of a shopping list will spur mental conversations like, “Oh I need sugar and nutmeg, seems like it lasts forever – I distinctly remember doing this 5 years ago, how long have I been out?” This could be why I am told I look anywhere from addled to distracted in the store. Some interpret this as stress, but grocery shopping is one of my favorite activities – it is almost always better and occasionally cheaper than a movie, plus buying ingredients for meals reinforces the belief that the world is full of possibilities and with a little work, knowledge and studying a person can accomplish what they set their mind to – who doesn’t need a feedback loop like that?

The best part about a list is going off list. Only two things can cause this to happen – something beautiful is available and something is on sale. A few weeks ago, I went into Whole Foods to buy rice and olive oil – and walked away with 2 whole chickens. Craving wings? No, Whole Foods had a sale on chickens 99¢ a pound for organic chicken (limit 2 per customer). How can you avoid that?

A sale on winter squash will cause me to drop the carbonara and add pork chops and think about whether or not I have wild rice at home. A sale on Tillamook cheddar will cause me to buy elbow macaroni because it is mac & cheese weather. One of the farms at the market had sweet peppers for so cheap, I had to rethink my menu for the next 10 days – paprikash and Italian sausage. This is good, as much as I would love to buy groceries every day or have the limitless funds to buy what inspires me, I find the list with exceptions allows the flexibility and seasonality to make shopping an adventure rather than a chore.

To be continued on the next post...

Louis CK (Chef of Kitchen)

Last week, Friend of the Blog (FOB), Charlie Seluzicki wrote of his encounters with legendary chef/personality Louis Szathmary. In the Food Network era it’s easy to forget about anyone who isn’t on TeeVee – Even Julia Child, who helped change the way Americans thought about food has the advantage of a DVD legacy.

Szathmary or Chef Louis as he like to be called, arrived from Hungary with a Masters in Journalism, a PhD in psychology, $1.10 in his pocket and no English. By the time he passed away 45 years later he had authored a weekly syndicated newspaper column for over 10 years, published over 500 food science related papers and published 7 books. His thick Hungarian accent might have kept him off TV in the 60s & 70s but if he were alive today, his collection of over 400,000 culinary items and 31 apartment rooms filled with books, he would have at least earned him an episode of Hoarders.

Born in WWI, Szathmary’s family moved around war ravaged Hungary for most of his early life. In WWII, Szathmary was an officer in the Hungarian Army, making Szathmary a soldier in the Axis powers. 300,000 Hungarian troops died in the war. The country had been aligned economically and politically with Italy and Germany before the war, although there were Fascist elements in the government, Hungary was more or less conscripted into the German fighting machine in 1940. While aligning with Hitler, the nation tried to get a truce on with the Allies. Hitler found out, occupied the country and began mass deportation of Jews and Romas (Gypsy) to concentration camps.

Szathmary escaped the carnage of two World Wars and Soviet occupation; escaping with loose change to the US, where his fancy degrees meant little. Louis started his life over at age 32 in his new home as a short order cook. From there he began his own catering company, then he began experimenting with frozen foods that could be easily reheated and served at events - Armour hired him to Chicago to work on frozen entrees. Within a few years, he would create the Stouffers’ classic spinach soufflé. His work in frozen foods would lead to some of the first experimentations with cryovacing – preserving food in airless, plastic pouches. This led to consulting with NASA and being part of the team that helped make the food tubes for astronauts. 15 years from a 110 pennied immigrant to work on the most storied American project in our post war era. You’d think my much more realistic goals would be achievable in comparison, yet I get stuck.

Equally as influential, was The Bakery, his restaurant under the 31 rooms of books and cooking ephemera. The Bakery did 2 things: It made fine dining less formal paving the way for Chez Panisse and the French Laundry and the venue afforded Chef Louis the ability to work the dining room – starched white apron, firefighter’s mustache, a booming accented voice and charisma, Louis became as much of the show as the food, which by all accounts was pretty good.

Before passing away in '96, Szathmary lobbied to have the occupation of Executive Chef added to the directory of job titles, elevating chef to the professional ranks. He donated his books and kitchen items to Johnson & Wales, the Smithsonian, University or Chicago, University of Iowa and other institutions.

Watch it Jiggle

Just who invented gelatin and how and why did they decide to grind up horse hooves?

Gelatin has been around forever, even before people knew what collagen, the main protein in gelatin, was they were using collagen rich parts of animals (Yes, that includes hooves - more on that later) to help thicken sauces, soups and foods. This is no different than you noticing that leftovers from a roast thicken as they cool on the bottom of a pan.

SPOILER ALERT – The Squeamish should skip this paragraph.

The overwhelming majority of gelatin in made from pigskin and cowhide – only about 25% of gelatin in extracted from bones. And its not the bones that are ground up to make gelatin, the collagen is extracted by slowing heating skin and/or bones. After the collagen is removed, the extraction is defatted, filtered, purified and its pH is adjusted to 5.5, a level slightly less acidic than coffee. It is only at this point is gelatin dried into sheets or ground into powdered form. 

Gelatin, the product is pretty amazing – like butter, it melts around a normal body temperature, this provides a quality often called mouth feel – you may have heard the expression ‘melts in your mouth’, well gelatin does, but no one really says that about Jell-o. But it’s not just Jell-o brand, gelatin is used in marshmallows, candy, to stabilize ice cream, yogurt, and cream and along with sugar, it is used to add mouth feel in low fat products.

As for the inventing, powdered gelatin had been available to home cooks since the mid-1800s. It was Charles Knox who invented a process to extract and powder gelatin into product with consistent results. Mr. Knox also managed to market his brand nationally, setting the standard for all other brands. Knox’s eventual usurper, Jell-o was launched in 1897 but didn’t really become popular until shortly before the depression.

At home we tend to think of gelatin as a boxed product but even in the Jell-o capitol of the US, Utah (highest consumption per capita), gelatin is mostly an industrial product used in processing foods, cosmetics, photography and pharmaceuticals.

Remember, no matter what you hear on the street, hallways or internet – wait – playground, gelatin is processed by slowly heating - usually skin but sometimes bones over moderately low heat until the collagen is extracted. Sometimes making foods isn’t pretty but it isn’t as grizzly as grinding horse hooves.