nosh nook #6 - monday, march 23, 2009

what next for the beloved, beleaguered peanut? (link)
03.22.09 - houston chronicle - by ted anthony (a.p.)

man, people have been friggin' freaking out over the peanut recall for a good while now. my mom's allergic to peanuts & i know salmonella's some pretty serious stuff when it's all up in yo belly, but does it really deserve this much of a panic? the legumes are out to get us! i'm not usually one to say "trust the government," but this time, all you've got to do is pay attention to the f.d.a.'s recall list. something's on there, don't put it in your mouth. something isn't on there, go ahead & eat it. you probably won't get salmonella. i mean, the folks at the f.d.a. even took time to make a peanut recall widget! i tested it out & learned that there is actually a candy called "bear poop." it's on the recall list.

because everyone's freaking out, the industry's suffering & is forced to work extra hard to convince people to chill the f out. as ap writer ted anthony notes in his article, earlier this month was "peanut farmer appreciation day" at a nascar event in atlanta (where half the u.s. peanut crop comes from). at the event, they handed out 64,000 bags of peanuts. he goes on to talk about the uphill battle the peanut industry has had to fight, even before the recall. it's ridiculous how people freak out over the peanut. as an example, the seattle mariners declared a "peanut-free baseball-watching zone" at two of their home games. i'm pretty sure that qualifies as overkill.

i've seen that same sort of "peanut farmer appreciation day" spin on the new york subways. the peanut council is a regular advertiser on the trains, but there's a new series of ads up in the cars, reminding you that peanuts are actually good for you in a lot of ways. i bet the ad sales dude who has the peanut council account was ready to pop cristal within minutes of the first panicked cnn announcement of the peanut recall. lucky stiff. as anthony hints at in his article about the beleaguered peanut, unfortunately for ad sales dude (& luckily for the peanut industry), america has a short attention span & will eventually chill out about peanuts & move onto something else to panic about. i vote for snuggies...before it's too late.