Clark Wolf is the host and organizer. The panel—on food and politics—includes me, talking about my memoir, Slow Cooked, An Unexpected Life in Food Politics; Chloe Sorvino, author of Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat; Alex Prud’homme, author of Dinner With The President: Food, Politics and the History of Breaking Bread at the White House; and Tanya Holland, author of Tanya Holland’s California Soul. Free, but register here. It starts at 5:00 p.m. and lasts one hour.
McDonald’s goes non-GM (in the U.K., at least)
A colleague brought back a couple of brochures she picked up at a McDonald’s in London. They make interesting reading, especially the parts about genetically modified (GM) ingredients.
“The Simple Facts About Our Food” (printed April 2007) says:
The feed used for rearing our chickens is not genetically modified and is free from antibiotic growth promoters…We know consumers in the UK often express concern about GM products or ingredients and therefore we can reassure you that we do not use any GM products or ingredients containing GM material in our food.
“That’s What Makes McDonald’s” (2008) says:
Our free range eggs…come from hens fed on a non-GM diet and are free from artificial colorants…We’d like to reassure you that we don’t use any GM products or ingredients containing GM material in our food.
Have questions? McDonald’s U.K. answers them (sort of) at www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk.
GM labeling (or non-GM) is a no brainer. If McDonald’s can do it in the U.K., it can do it here. And so can all other food makers. You don’t have to decide whether GM is good, bad, or indifferent to want it labeled. Labeling would reduce suspicion, if nothing else.
And I wonder how those GM Nutrageous candy bars (see previous post) are doing in the U.K.