Where frozen and canned vegetables come from: 2001
Another blast from the past, with iFSN's Andrew Reece editing together some old video on food safety in the Ontario processing vegetable industry. Newbie student Ben Chapman worked the camera and provided some narration, as we toured farms and processing facilities in Ontario.
Posers like Gordon Ramsey can gas on all they like about the political food flavor of the day, producers and processors supply the bulk of food ingredients that are a cornerstone of a healthy and abundant diet.
Gordon Ramsey has a problem with food processing
Chef Gordon Ramsay told the BBC that British restaurants should be fined if they serve fruit and vegetables which are not in season, and that fruit and vegetables should be locally-sourced and only on menus when in season.
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"There should be stringent laws, licensing laws, to make sure produce is only used in season and season only. If we don't restrict our movements within this industry of seasonal-produce only, then the whole thing will spiral out of control."
Ramsay also went on to vent his anger at fellow TV chef Delia Smith, whose latest book, How to Cheat at Cooking, encourages people to mix together ready-made food rather than cook from scratch if they are short of time or on a tight budget, adding,
"I would expect students struggling on £15 a week to survive eating from a can but the nation's favourite, all-time icon reducing us down to using frozen, canned food. It's an insult. And it makes our lives, from a chef's point of view, a lot harder. Here we are trying to establish a reputation across the world for this country's food and along comes Delia and tips it out of a can. That hurts."
Me, I'm a fan of freezing, canning, fresh and whatever. It's about mixing it up. Frozen corn, peas (left) and others, canned tomatoes and sauces, the garden out back, Amy and I got it all (and enjoyed our first spinach and lettuce salad of the season this evening, with frozen scallops, which don't grow so well in Manhattan -- Kansas).
I'll have more to say about this in the next couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, Oxfam's head of research, Duncan Green, said he was sure "the million farmers in east Africa who rely on exporting their goods to scrape a living would see Gordon Ramsay's assertions as a recipe for disaster."
Labelling frozen raw chicken thingies
There are hundreds of frozen products available at retail containing potentially hazardous food; some are fully cooked; some aren't.
This is one example. The Kroger Chicken Kiev label states it's "Microwavable," but also says, UNCOOKED; Keep Frozen; Cook to an Internal Temperature of 165F as measured by a thermometer."
On the back, the microwave instructions say the time estimates are for a 1,000 W microwave, which is more specific than the high, medium or low on the ConAgra Banquet pot pies. I found out our microwave is 1150 W, but don't know if that is high, medium or low.
