The politics of pet food -- over breakfast with Marion Nestle

It's not often you get to sit down and have a meal with one of the leading voices in food safety, nutrition, and enjoying food in America today. But I did just that Friday morning when I met Pet Connection BFF Dr. Marion Nestle at the Cafe Flore in San Francisco for breakfast.

Marion and I have spoken on the phone and been each other's mutual admirers for a long time now, but we'd never met. When we finally did, I felt like I'd known her for years. We talked and talked and talked about San Francisco, where she used to live and I still do, and New York, where she lives now. We talked about our personal lives, our careers, and of course, the pet food recall, subject of her book "Pet Food Politics."

The weather was warm and sunny -- a particular joy to her, coming from the middle of a New York winter -- and it turned out we'd even dressed alike.

I can't remember the last time I had a lovelier meal. And since you'll want to know, Marion had coffee and a cinnamon muffin and I had spinach frittata, bacon, and coffee.

Then she took me out to a wonderful new bookstore, Omnivore Books, which is right next door to the Noe Valley Pet Co., a lovely little store that sells high-end and natural pet foods, including several organic and raw frozen foods.

I think my general cynicism about the safety of even the best pet foods broke the owner's heart a little, but it's hard to feel any differently when you've learned what I've learned about the overall safety of our food supply. After all, there's only one food supply; pet food and our food are inextricably linked. And I'm not too thrilled with the safety of either right now, although I have hope that will change.

I suppose I'm not quite as cynical as I must have seemed to her. I felt kind of bad, but Marion and I had gotten each other pretty riled up over breakfast. Maybe it was the coffee.

The bookstore was incredible. It featured a collection of collectible and new books about food. Cookbooks, books on food gardening, books from the turn of the century or during WWII or the 50s. It was amazing, and I think Gina would go insane with joy there. They have a newsletter; you should sign up.

Speaking of Marion Nestle, don't forget she's chatting with us at PetHobbyist.com this evening, Sunday, Feb. 1, at 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific to talk about pet food, food safety, and just about anything related to food for our cats and dogs. She'll be joined by animal nutritionist Dr. Mal Nesheim, with whom she's co-authored a forthcoming book, "What Pets Eat," the dog and cat version of her bestselling "What to Eat."

They'll be taking questions, which you can ask in the chat, but if you email them to me in advance, they'll have a better chance of being answered.

And if you can't get enough of Marion, check out Kim Campbell Thornton's interview with her here, the Pet Connection feature's look at "Pet Food Politics" and a short profile of her here, and my long interview with her here.

[Update Feb.2, 2009: The transcript of Marion and Mal's chat on PetHobbyist.com is here.]

Comments

[Christie Keith]

I eat bacon if I know where it comes from and I'm okay with it... also, I rarely eat out, so I'm less freaked out about that than what I buy for my own kitchen.



But I wouldn't eat bacon just anywhere, not so much because I think one meal of commercial bacon would kill me, but because of how the pigs are treated.

[Gina Spadafori]

I was just cleaning out the chicken house and putting all the "old stuff" in the compost pile and putting in nice, fresh, clean-smelling bedding. The "old stuff" is breaking down so quickly that I'm just JAZZED by what great compost it'll be.



All I do is think gardening, canning, cooking. It's such a blast to learn new things.



And it all started with a couple of chickens ... well, that and a fundamental belief that our food system is broken, dangerous, cruel and unsustainable. Yah know, little things like that ...

[Dorene]

I've got some 19th century books on truck farming that are as good today as they were then. One of them an elderly friend gave me, some came from auction box lots and a few my mother, the librarian, set aside and bought for me when they were donated to her library's book sale. The illustrations are amazing -- not stuff you see today.

[Susan Fox]

Given where she was, it was probably Niman Ranch bacon. Had some of that ourselves this morning.



I've read that Bill Niman is critical of some of the things the new owners are doing, but, as far as I know, the animals are still raised humanely. If anyone knows differently, let me know and Niman Ranch goes off the ok list.

[EmilyS]

you ate bacon?

;-)

[Gina Spadafori]

"The bookstore was incredible. It featured a collection of collectible and new books about food. Cookbooks, books on food gardening, books from the turn of the century or during WWII or the 50s. It was amazing, and I think Gina would go insane with joy there."



I'm going insane just because I can't get there TODAY.



P.S. That IS a little strange about the striped shirts and black jackets ..

[Cooper]

Love the concept of pet food safety warrior uniforms! You both look sharp and ready for action.

[Christie Keith]

Pat, yes, probably later today! It will be here (not live yet):



http://www.pethobbyist.com/articles/ChatMonth11Transcripts/NestleNesheim.html

[The OTHER Pat]

Christie, will you be publishing the transcript of the PetHobbyist chat with Marion Nestle?

[Christie Keith]

Pffft, cholesterol problems are not caused by dietary fat. They're caused by genetic factors and eating too much sugar, white flour, etc.

[Kim Thornton]

Count me in with Gina as far as going insane over the thought of visiting that bookstore. When I find a great one, it's very difficult for me to leave; I could be perfectly happy spending hours there--and many dollars if I had them.



I love pork, but I won't buy it anymore unless it's Niman Ranch or some other brand that I know is humanely raised. That is why my little sister is the best, because she sent me 2 pounds of humanely raised bacon for Christmas. Mmm, bacon...

[stellaluna]

I'm that way with veal... I just can't bring myself to eat veal at all; never really could. I grew up in a farming area and my brother worked on a dairy farm. He used to tell us how much he felt sorry for the veal calves and how awfully they were treated. There were also the occasional cruelty charges brought against veal producers that made the news, and they were always horrifying.



I guess I should start thinking that way about bacon as well. It's one of my most favorite things in the world and I eat far too much of it to begin with. Plus it's not like I need the extra cholesterol to begin with. (I just wish bacon wasn't so darn good!)



It really sucks to be basically carnivorous these days, for lots of reasons. I keep hoping I'll grow out of it some day, but so far no luck.



The people I work with always freak out when I tell them that I used to raise meat rabbits in California, since they know I have two pet rabbits now. But really, it's a lot more honest to raise your own meat if you're in a position to do it. We'd all be a lot better off if we only ate meat we raised ourselves.



All the convenience of supermarket meat really comes at a huge cost.

[Lori]

Maybe maybe maybe, this will help?



"Obama Orders Review of FDA in Salmonella Outbreak

Saying his daughter should be able to eat peanut butter without getting sick, president acts as salmonella outbreak, peanut recalls, criminal probe continue"



http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/02/02/obama-orders-review-of-fda-in-salmonella-outbreak.html

[Sandi K]

Darn, I am so bummed that I missed this chat! Thank you for posting the transcript, its good to hear she is working on another book. Im sure the PFC's, PFI & AAFCO are dreading that. (-;