Reconsidering Charity

 This is the time of year when we are reminded of charitable needs. Mark Winne, who used to work for the food bank system in Connecticut, wrote a poignant article last week in the Washington Post. In it he suggests that there may be something intrinsically ‘wrong’ with much charitable giving:

The risk is that the multibillion-dollar system of food banking has become such a pervasive force in the anti-hunger world, and so tied to its donors and its volunteers, that it cannot step back and ask if this is the best way to end hunger, food insecurity, and their root cause, poverty.

You can read the rest of the article here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111601213.html

While Some Eat With Their Eyes Others Just Don’t Eat

 

So we’ve been talking about things like fair trade, social justice, moral responsibility and the conscientious s capitalist. Often we get to arguing about where we should draw the line, who should decide what is ‘enough’, what is ‘too much’ and whether this is really just talk of pie in the sky.

I’ve never been involved in overseas or inner city missions and I live in one of the richest counties in the US. I own four automobiles, including my children’s. My house has cable TV and internet and air conditioning. We have three television sets, two computers, a dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, microwave oven, electric range, DVD players, XBox and PS2, multiple stereos and Lord knows how many defunct cell phones. We eat out at least a couple times a week and like to take drives in the country. I definitely would not hold myself up as an example of someone living a life of mere sufficiency.

So how am I leaving a bigger (or smaller) footprint on this planet than others? Where can I change? Honestly, I’m not ready to give up much, if any, of the things that I just rattled off. Other than turning the water off when I shave or brush my teeth, I can’t think of too many more ways in which I can make a difference. We’ve recycled for years and we keep a close eye on the thermostat and other appliances (because of the money). Now we look for certain labels in our garments or on our boxes, bottles and cans before we buy, but if they’re not available (or too expensive) we usually purchase what’s there.

But I waste quite a bit, and I always have. And most of you folks do as well – it’s just not in ways that are very visible. Some of you know I work in the culinary business and you probably can guess that my industry is responsible for a lot of wasted food. But before you start railing against McDonald’s and Red Lobster you must remember that they are driven by profits and none of them like throwing away food. The market (us) has demanded that a large line for waste be included on most food service P&L’s. If the operation is within budget then waste is not considered excessive. But it’s still waste. Nobody likes it.

The classic visible example of industry conservation has been the disappearance of the obligatory water glass. I remember years ago when (during a drought) we began serving water by request only. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who thought this was a personal affront. After all, how much can a glass of water cost? So you try explaining that it’s not just the 10 ounces of water in the glass, it’s the water used to make the ice as well as the water used to clean the glass (probably another 10-20 ounces).

Of course on top of that there is the energy needed to make the ice and run the dish machine. More soapy water goes down the drain, requiring energy demanding treatment or perhaps running off into the aquifer. The more glassware that’s used the more breakage occurs and the more glass goes into the landfill. More energy and resources are used to make more glasses. And don’t forget – half of the folks never touched their water, so it was often for nothing.

I used to spend an occasional shift working the dish machine just to get a feel for what was coming back from the dining room. This is how I found out that nobody was eating the dill pickle spear we served with all of our sandwiches. When I decided to pull the pickle off of the plate (and take 50 cents off the price) the uproar was loud and angry. Over a pickle. You would have thought the consumption of pickles was protected in our constitution. It was obvious that some people feel an entitlement to some things they become used to. Even fermented cucumbers that they don’t eat. (I stuck to my guns though – pickles ain’t cheap.) How many sandwiches have you seen come out with a slice of tomato, lettuce and onion on the side? I’ll bet at least half of those sides get tossed in the trash. But presentation is king and we all know that people ‘eat with their eyes’. But really they eat with their mouths and their mouths rarely eat the garnish.

Have you ever seen a salad ordered, with dressing on the side (dieters love this trick) but the server presented it dressed? I don’t know how many salads I’ve had to remake because of that unforgivable mistake. But then to see the same diner now take the ramekin of dressing and dump it all over the salad anyway…..jeesh!

How about the burger that should’ve been rare to medium rare and it came out just plain old medium rare? Many people who order in this fashion don’t have the correct nomenclature down. I’ve had customers who didn’t know the difference send their burgers back two or three times. At that point I would personally cook the burger and present it myself; just so all questions of doneness would be resolved. But two perfectly good hamburgers were now in the trash (or going down the drain).

As much flack as the QSR segment gets for ‘supersized’ foods the real culprit behind huge restaurant portions is the Cheesecake Factory. They started this long lived national trend of plating up excessive quantities. Now everyone does it. Real American food, served real big under real big ferns. The funny thing is, probably the most productive and efficient cuisine is from France. French chefs became the best at what they do because they did not have access to cheap and abundant high-quality food. When you are serving cow spleen you better know how to make a good sauce

So maybe you don’t dine out, you do your cooking at home. Do you think that Superfresh is going to sell every one of those tomatoes or bananas or heads of romaine that they put out on display? What about the chicken, beef and pork that we pick through, putting those with the oldest dates to the bottom of the pile? Or the fish that must be fresh, fresh, fresh? (even though only frozen fish is truly fresh in most grocery stores or restaurants). The look of abundance is inviting and appetizing – think of each grocery department as a great big cornucopia of foods. To achieve that effect a lot more perishable food must be displayed than is prudent or necessary. The consumer market demands this look while the food markets’ dumpsters need to be emptied daily.

Many schools receive a Federal partial subsidy for free lunches they provide poorer students. In order to qualify for these subsidies each child must be served the mandated components of a nutritional meal, whether they eat it or not. So quite a lot of vegetables and fruit end up in many school’s trashcans. To demonstrate a higher level of respect for high school students it is required that they be offered a varied choice of entrees at lunch time. This means that more food is prepared than would otherwise be necessary (who knows what dish will move on a particular day and of course no one wants to run out of anything). Salad bars are being strongly encouraged, but of course salad bars and buffets are very wasteful – nothing can be saved from a self-serve line – even in restaurants or at catered events.

So, there seems to be much more to this problem of personal excess than meets the eye. And we have only touched upon three segments of one American industry. Maybe we can be more globally and locally responsible while saving some of our money as well.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref%5C06/05483.pdf

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/FoodReview/Jan1997/Jan97a.pdf

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/19990402c.asp

Thanks, But I’ll Pass on the Turkey.

Yep, we’re finally doing it. Bev and I are checking out of the Thanksgiving Day scenario. We’ve been talking about it for a couple of years but were afraid of making too many waves among our extended families. Our kids are just about grown now, both young adults, so if they want to continue with the tradition it’s up to them.

(First off, I just want to stress that this is a personal ideal of ours and we are not saying that it’s the right thing to do for everyone. So please, enjoy your Thanksgiving Holidays with family and friends.)

For some time I’ve been thinking that this holiday is the epitome of irony. I won’t take the time now to discuss the historicity of the tradition – like many great symbols it may be based upon myth, but myth is often  a good way of remembering some very valuable truths.

The Thanksgiving story that I grew up with went something like this; in their first year in North America the pilgrims almost died, basically because they were unprepared. Fortunately for them, the local “Indians” were friendly and they helped the Pilgrims survive and in the process showed them how to live off the land. Instead of starving, the pilgrims enjoyed a great harvest and in celebration of their good fortune they prepared a feast of thanksgiving for themselves and their new hosts. They were grateful to God for saving them from misery and death and, with the help of the natives, even realized an abundance of riches.

Flash forward nearly 400 years to what Thanksgiving is today. A great meal prepared lovingly by the family matriarch, tremendous quantities of food served to relatives gathered about the dining room table, Dad preparing to inflict his carving abilities upon a beautiful roasted turkey. But first, all heads bow in prayerful thanksgiving for the blessings that God has bestowed upon everyone at the table. Thanks are given for the great good fortune of being born American in a world that is sorely lacking in health, wealth and happiness.

Second and third helpings are served, followed by pumpkin pies and coffee. Grazing upon leftovers throughout the afternoon, friends and family enjoy each other’s company, often while watching the traditional football game on TV. A cozy fire is on the hearth, candles flicker on the mantel.

Cartoon by Ramirez

Here is the irony – what about those not at the table? How can they be thankful for their blessings, especially if they cannot nearly enjoy the same fruits of prosperity as we do? What about those who made this tradition possible, the Native Americans – will they also enjoy a feast giving thanks to the God of the Pilgrims? Should they even consider it? Unlike the Pilgrims, most of us sitting down to this meal,  grateful for our good fortune, have never experienced hunger or poverty. Most of us have never had to rely upon the humbling assistance of others to stay alive, as the Pilgrims had to do. And yet the descendants of those who helped our forefathers carve out a living on this continent are forced to live on the worst land our nation is willing to give back.

As important as the topic is I don’t want to focus on the abuses, past or present, suffered by Native Americans in the aftermath of colonialism.  There are many people in America and around the globe that find it impossible to provide their families with the kind of banquet that many of us  (in spite of its name) take so for granted. Millions can barely scrape together one lousy meal a day.

So, we’re backing out – we can’t do it anymore. And honestly…. it won’t be much of a “sacrifice”. The holiday season has become taxing for us (as well as many other people). It’s like some great frenetic conveyor belt, pulling us along toward goals of decreasing significance in our lives.  We feel it’s high time for the two of us to get off and start looking at where we’ve been going.

A Biblical Travesty: the Slandering of the Pig

(Does this guy look familar? Then keep it to yourselves, please.)

The world’s most famous cookbook, the Old Testament, is pretty darn specific about what animals the chosen people could and could not eat. This was quite a list, as can be seen in the book of Deuteronomy;

3 Do not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. ^[a] 6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. 7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. ^[b] Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. 8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

11 You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon, 14 any kind of raven, 15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

19 All flying insects that swarm are unclean to you; do not eat them. 20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.

And Leviticus adds a few more to the untouchable smörgåsbord:

20 ” ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. 21 There are, however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. 23 But all other winged creatures that have four legs you are to detest.

29′Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. 31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you.

(Why kidney stew, canned salmon and menudo weren’t considered destable is one of God’s mysteries.)

Most of the Mosaic laws were guidelines to help this fledgling people maintain their sense of civility as well as their good health. The proscribed animals are almost all carrion eaters or animals that ate these carrion eaters. Long before anyone had ever thought of animal hygiene or nutritional safety, the Jews had a system in place that would protect them from most of the parasites and poisons that plagued the remainder of the primitive world, even to this day.

Unless one is a practicing Jew or Muslim, most of these animals are no longer on the naughty list. We can thank Peter for sharing a dream he had in which all kinds of animals, including reptiles, were presented to him as acceptable fare. (I wonder what he ate before going to bed that night?) Most of these creatures the typical Westerner would never deign to eat, even with divine invitation. (Insects and reptiles are considered quite tasty throughout most of the world.) Those scrumptious bottom dwellers and carrion eaters we have developed a taste for (shrimp, oysters, crabs, lobsters, clams, crayfish and catfish) pose relatively little health problems (with the exception of oysters and crabs pulled from polluted waters.) One of the scale-less fish, however, is the shark. What’s so dangerous about shark?

So the stigma has been lifted from most of these animals. Except for one, arguably the most nutritious and tasty animal on the list. The king of meats, our own smooth pygmy buffalo, good from the snout to the tail – the pig, Sus Scrofa. Hams, bacon, chops, ribs, cracklin’, loin, roasts – succulent pork is the most versatile and adaptable of all the animal flesh that the human carnivore consumes.

Up until recently, if one was served pork it was usually overcooked, as everyone was well aware of the nasty parasite that might be found embedded in it’s muscle, Trichinosis. As described in Wikipedia:

Trichinosis, also called trichinellosis, or trichiniasis, is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork and wild game products infected with the larvae of a species of roundworm Trichinella spiralis, commonly called the trichina worm. The few cases in the United States are mostly the result of eating undercooked game (an acceptably clean or kosher animal!)or home reared pigs. It is most common in the developing world and where pigs are commonly fed raw garbage.

Today we are fortunate to be able to enjoy pork cooked medium rare, tender, moist and much more flavorful than beef or chicken. And much leaner than both of those as well. Of course, the residents of Europe, Central and South America and our own Southern states have been serving up delicious renderings of our porcine friend for some time now and when they are finished there is little of him left unconsumed.

But I have been consistently plagued by people who refuse to eat the most minuscule piece of pig, claiming that it is dirty and unclean. Now, these gustatorial complainers do not hail from the Jewish or Muslim camps, but there is nevertheless an almost religious fervor in their denunciation of pork. After determining that it is not a dearly held religious custom that generates this response, I will usually endeavor to educate them on the silliness of their fears. (I am not constrained by any unnecessary political correctness. Culinary ignorance is not protected by the Constitution.)

I explain that pork is completely safe, even when served rare but definitely (since time immemorial) when cooked well done. The parasite is not even present when the pigs are fed properly and for over 40 years all commercially raised hogs have enjoyed a very safe and healthy diet. Not only do these malcontents refuse to be edified, they will often resort to insults, referring to our tasty friend as ’swine’ (as if that was a more derogatory term than ‘pig’). It is difficult for me to not take offense as well, since I am a devoted fan of said ’swine’, in all it’s various culinary manifestations.

These folk, as I’ve said, seem to have no religious reservations (the vast majority seem to be Protestant) but they almost always hail from a Northeastern urban background (no Southerner or farm raised Amercian would look down his nose at slow cooked pork shoulder or braised and broiled loin ribs). Upon further interrogation, some will grudgingly admit to a penchant for catfish, crabs and shrimp, all formerly proscribed by the Bible and arguably much more ‘unclean’ than our piggy friends. (Many that I have met, though they may not smoke pork, will smoke cigarettes. So much for the X factor.)

From where does this misguided nutritional vigilantism spring forth? Over the years I have discovered a pattern. I mentioned that the vast majority of these folk were Protestant. More specifically, they tend to belong to conservative denominations that strive on taking the words found within the Bible very literally. Like most literalists, they tend to ‘proof text’ scripture, clinging tightly to some passages, conveniently forgetting others. Taking the Biblical injunction against pork seriously (the one dietary law that for some reason has overshadowed all others in the public eye) they take fair pride in not fouling the pristine temple of their bodies with this beast that God has chosen to loathe.

Their loss. Can someone please pass the barbecue?

The Wine Minister

Oh, boy. Have I found a treasure while hunting on the web.  Here is a fellow who has envisioned a ministry that uses the best that God has given us; good wine. He calls his site:

WineMinistry

Wine, Friends, Food and Theological Musings

http://wineministry.wordpress.com/

There is a pretty good article he just wrote about how just as a wine label can reveal nothing of the wine’s character, the same can be said of people. http://wineministry.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/theology-buying-wine-by-the-label/

I also like this one about how wine can encourage and enhance the celebration of community ;  http://wineministry.wordpress.com/2007/07/

If you like good wine (or, as in my case, good cheap wine) go check him out.  (No wonder I didn’t make it very long as a Methodist.)

But for those of my friends who are doing the 12 Step he also has another site, RevJavaDude’s Cafe:

http://www.revjavadude.com/

Either (or both ways) enjoy.

Umami Knows Best (More Food for Thought)

What a brainstorm! I have just discovered why Americans struggle with obesity….it’s all about umami. No, not your mommy, but umami. Umami is the fifth taste sensation, isolated by Kikunae Ikeda, a food scientist at the University of Tokyo, in 1908. The other four taste sensations are; sweet, sour, salt and bitter.

“

Umami is a Japanese word meaning “savory” or “meaty” and thus applies to the sensation of savoriness—specifically, to the detection of glutamates, which are especially common in meats, cheese and other protein-heavy foods. The action of umami receptors explains why foods treated with monosodium glutamate (MSG) often taste fuller. Inasmuch as it describes the flavor common to savory products such as meat, cheese, and mushrooms, umami is similar to Brillat-Savarin’s concept of osmazome, an early attempt to describe the main flavoring component of meat as extracted in the process of making stock.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

I’ve spent over 20 years in the restaurant business and now teach culinary arts to high school students. During this time I have conducted a passionate love affair with food but I have been far from monogamous. Embracing the French homage to a life well lived; “Viva la difference!” I have allowed myself to be seduced by cuisines hailing from the haute as well as the street.

A challenge I’ve faced over the years has been feigning enthusiasm for offerings that were boring or formulaic, yet much in demand by my clientèle. We find these food preparations on the menus of our great national restaurant chains. With few exceptions, this type of food is conservative, inoffensive and unremarkable. It is very safe.

But if you leave the confines of our sprawling cosmopolitan areas you will find foods that challenge the typical house-broken imagination and its domesticated palate. Channel cats, raw beef, crayfish, chitlins, brain sandwiches, sause, fried rattler, pickled pigs feet, barbecued armadillo, Virginia ham, squirrel pie and prairie oysters. Venture beyond the borders of our country and the possibilities are staggering, if not at times frightening. It seems that the Native American was not the only gourmand that ate everything, including the squeal.

But there are culinary treats that are socially acceptable to the American mindset yet fall into the category of being ‘acquired tastes’; caviar, foie gras, raw shellfish, single malt scotches, good wines, grappa, snails, blood sausage, wild mushrooms, truffles, prosciutto, cold smoked salmon, sashimi, over ripe cheeses….delectables that would stimulate the gag reflexes of many an American consumer. I found it to be very amusing as I watched my students screw up the courage to sample Blinis Demidoff, as they saw in the movie “Babette’s Feast” - and like it!

What is it that the obscure regional favorites of our nation’s backwaters have in common with the commonly held unpalatable fare from abroad? Umami. They are all variously salty, bitter, sweet or sour. Some are spicier than others, some more peppery. Served hot or cold, raw or cooked they all share this distinctive mouth filling quality that the ingenious Japanese have known about for so long.

This aversion to umami on the part of most Americans is in not without chinks in its armor. One reason why ketchup is so popular is that it is full of the glutamates that produce umami. (Funny that those who have allergies to MSG have no problem with this common condiment.) Even more so is good Parmesan cheese, and when combined with other foods high in glutamates (such as tomato sauce and Chianti) the result is far beyond the sum of its parts. Another favorite source of umami is Blue Cheese, but usually cut with mayonnaise and served as a counterpoint to hot sauce. Good chocolate that has not been too adulterated with sugar, milk and lecithin is also high on the umami scale. This all being said, the foods that have the most umami are not the foods that we typically find on the shelves at Super Fresh or Food Lion.

One of the qualities of umami is that it is intense, which is why it is so prevalent among aged cheeses, cold smoked meats and fish, pickled foods and sun dried vegetable and fruits. Bacteria at work in the fermentation process create chemical combinations that result in flavors unique to the host, the bacteria and the terroir. As the water in the food is removed what is left is a higher concentration of this distinctive natural flavoring. This concentration can be so intense, so mouth filling, that little of it is required to sate the appetite of the typical gourmand, occasional gluttonous behavior aside. (No, glutton and gluten are not etymologically related. I looked it up.)

So, since the typical American deliberately removes these intensely flavored foods from his or her diet they tend to eat more of what is aesthetically much less. Quantity is sought to quench the hunger for quality. Could this be one reason why Mediterranean people enjoy ‘fattening’ foods such as cheese, meats and various oils at each meal and yet they seem not to suffer from our dietary afflictions?

What, you may wonder, is an article like this doing on a blog like this? Well here it comes; I will suggest that rampant Protestantism, with its distinctive American puritanical streak, has waged a vicious battle with good food for over 250 years. The weapons of mass digestion employed in this unholy war are despicable and inhumane; tuna casseroles, Jello molds, creamed peas and asparagus, white bread, pasteurized American cheese food, pasteurized everything, potted meat, overcooked pork and fish, mayonnaise, margarine – the list goes on but I can not. It is too painful.

In their attempt to eradicate all things sensual the Puritans in our midst have created a monster in its place. This is an obsession with sugar and carbohydrates that can never satisfy, and a world conquering yet unsavory ‘cuisine’ that threatens to smother the culinary world. Even as we speak the power hungry bureaucrats at the FDA, USDA, AMA and your local health department are conspiring to eradicate those foods that are the most flavorful and perhaps the most healthy. (Why the Europeans, South Americans and Asians are not all dropping dead due to a diet consisting of whole milk cheeses, air dried meats and fish, raw shellfish etc remains a mystery.)

So culinary adventurers everywhere, if you want more out of life than pasteurized cheese product, overcooked meat, faux Peking duck and salty caviar then unite in a common cause. Listen to Umami! And Bon Appetit!

Two Bottles of Adam’s Ale, Please! (Don’t Drink the Water)

I love it, I love it, I love it. I work in the food industry and for years one of my pet peeves has been the conspicuously ’sophisticated’ tastes of some of my clientèle. You know who I’m talking about; the gourmand who would ask if the beef was prime (at what I was charging? c’mon), the aesthete that would send the trout back to have the head removed, the bar denizen who would call for Absolut in his Bloody Mary (who can tell, with all the Worcestershire, Tabasco and horseradish?).

But the ones who really got my goat were the bottled water drinkers. Convinced that tap water was going to kill us all (too many chemicals, likely tainted, or even recycled urine) they would lament the fact that I did not carry their brand of designer water. After giving in to market demands (I’m not a complete fool, there is some nice profit to be had off of this never ending fad) I would daily receive complaints that I was not carrying a specific brand. But who could keep up? In the nineties there was a new boutique water coming out every week. (Some went better with quiche than others did.)

Eventually the big beverage boys decided to get in on the act and Pepsi and Coke both came out with their own brands of bottled water. Why not? They could charge much more than their soft drink product. The water market was so upscale that the typical consumer wouldn’t even touch the cheaper brands. Gads! Not only that, it was cheaper to produce because it was essentially cola without the stuff that made it cola – carbonation, sugar, flavorings, preservatives and dyes. Still, many of these companies did find a way to sneak a fair amount of chemicals into this ‘pure’ beverage.

Bottled water has become such a status symbol that no self respecting business, professional organization, civic group or lobby would dare hold a meeting without a cooler full of bottles chilled and waiting for the program to begin. Ah, the poor old board room water pitcher. Where are you now?

It is de rigeur to provide bottled water at charity marathons and bike-a-thons and the Gatorade coolers are now filled with….Gatorade. The upwardly mobile athletes at these events typically vote Democrat, are health conscious and would choke at the idea of consuming the more dangerous variety of water that springs forth from the walls of every home in America. Something they have in common with the old John Birch Society, I guess. If only they knew.

According to an article in ‘American Demographics’:

Indeed, some 86 percent of Americans harbor concerns about the quality of their tap water, while 32 percent think their water is not as safe as it should be, according to a survey of 1,021 adults released in April by the Water Quality Association (WQA), a group representing makers and sellers of home water treatment systems. The concern rate goes up to 90 percent among Americans with kids under 12. According to a 1999 report by the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF), 91 percent of Americans cook with tap water, but only 75 percent actually drink it. Meanwhile, 65 percent take steps to drink purer water, either using filtration or distillation methods or by drinking bottled water. (Hmm, maybe)

Women constitute the majority of bottled water drinkers: 45 percent of 18- to 34-year-old women and 44.6 percent of 35- to 54-year-old women drink bottled water, according to BMC/MediaLink research, compared with just 35.3 percent and 34.5 percent of their same-age male counterparts. As one might expect, bottled water use climbs with income, says Gary Hemphill, senior vice president at BMC. Use also spikes at the younger end of the core group. Some 47 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds don’t think their water is as safe as it should be, according to the WQA survey, and 41.4 percent of the group drink bottled water regularly, reports BMC.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2001_Oct_1/ai_79052846

I guess that it would be safe to say that the typical bottled water afficianado is fairly young, educated, fit, financially successful and concerned about their health as well as the environment. After all it is the well informed and sophisticated that are the first to identify and address those threats that many choose to ignore; pesticides, global warming, second hand smoke, the ozone layer, high fat diets, overpopulation, carcinogens in meats, fruits, fish, vegetables, bouillabaisse, high tension wires….and good old tap water.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070726/hl_nm/pepsico_aquafina_dc_1

 

You probably aren’t surprised that I am more than a little amused. Finally it is being revealed that the Emperor has no clothes. Under extreme pressure, Pepsi Cola is agreeing to post it’s water source on it’s packaging. And guess what that source is – the faucet. That’s right, both Pepsi’s Aquafina (nice Italian name) and Coke’s Dasani (even nicer- could be Italian, could be North African but whatever- it’s someplace hip) use the same dang water that most of use to wash our dishes (and our toes) in- Adam’s Ale. It’s even the same water that goes FLUSH! for most of us at least a couple times a day. The very same water I use to keep my petunias and my Fescue fresh and colorful as well as my sidewalk clear of grass clippings.

I might be going out on a limb here, but I bet that if you check the ‘fridge of just about any overly worried environmentalist that you will find a bottle or two of designer agua. Then check out the lackadaisical Joe Shmoe’s ice box and you’ll probably see a couple a liters of Dr. Pepper and a partial six pack of Bud. And it turns out that Joe might be the better steward!

And according to the article even those companies that claim to use spring water are only shipping water in from regions that are known to have reputations for ‘good’ tasting water.

Thank God! Now I can stop buying Perrier for my cats.