Archives for The Politics of Food

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Rum to Die For: Plight of Sugar Cane Workers Leads Bar Owners to Dump Popular Brand

By Phaedra Cook
Dec 10, 2015

A Vice Munchies exposé has raised awareness among bartenders and bar owners that horrible working conditions in the sugar cane industry are causing abnormally high instances of potentially fatal chronic kidney disease, or CKD. Studies cited in the report by Boston University and non-profit organization La Isla Foundation specifically point...
Are Tow Truck Drivers Using "Spotters" to Increase Their Profits? [UPDATED]

By Phaedra Cook
Nov 25, 2015

If you parked in the wrong spot (or even if you parked in the correct one) and your car was towed, someone in addition to the wrecker driver and storage lot may have made money from your misfortune. A man who may have been wrongfully towed from the Velvet Taco...
Ben & Jerry's and New Belgium Collaborate on Hybrid Brew and Ice Cream Flavor

By Joanna O'Leary
Nov 12, 2015

Recently, Ben & Jerry's announced it had partnered with New Belgium Brewing to produce a limited edition beer (Salted Caramel Brownie Brown Ale) and ice cream (Salted Caramel Brown-ie) in the spirit of advancing the efforts of Protect Our Winters (POW), an advocacy group dedicated to engaging the snow sports community...
Disruption and Destruction: Should Restaurants Ban Kids?

By Phaedra Cook
Nov 4, 2015

Houston's Cuchara restaurant just spent $1,500 to re-plaster and repaint a wall. The damage was caused by a child. Owner Ana Beaven says that the child scratched the wall extensively with a coin. “His mother was texting at the table. We talked to her and she was almost aggressive. She...
Houston’s Restaurant Staffing Shortage — and What It Means for Diners

By Phaedra Cook
Sep 30, 2015

These days, as a restaurant owner you can’t be too proud to beg—specifically, for staff. Before, and even after, the opening of his new Greek restaurant, Helen, Evan Turner posted multiple requests for applicants on Facebook. “I know you are out there. Charming folks, looking to work at a plucky...
TABC Deems Crowlers Illegal for Retail Beer to Go [UPDATED]

By Phaedra Cook
Sep 2, 2015

Many craft beer fans are well acquainted with growlers, reusable bottles—normally made of amber glass—that bars, grocery stores and beer specialty shops fill with beer on draft for patrons to take home. Crowlers (short for “can growler”) serve exactly the same purpose except they are 32-ounce aluminum cans (the same...
Mindful Eating at a Houston Food Bank Dinner

By Phaedra Cook
Jul 1, 2015

Last week, the Houston Food Bank and IKEA Houston joined forces to put on a dinner to remind people what it’s really like to survive on a low income. Attendees randomly received tickets that corresponded to a financial position: wealth, middle class and poverty. I initially drew middle class and...
Appetites: A Memoir and the State of French Cuisine

By Phaedra Cook
Mar 24, 2015

Last week, Kris Bistro and French cooking school Culinary Institute LeNôtre celebrated two events in one evening. The first was the signing and party for Marie LeNôtre's new book, Appetites: A Memoir. We received an advance review copy and have already finished it, which was no chore. The book is...
Italian Oil Exec Brings Food Makers to Houston

By Jeremy Parzen
Sep 30, 2014

Representatives from six commercial food producers from the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna are visiting Houston this week on a trip organized by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas. Their tour of the city included a walk-around tasting with Houston food buyers and restaurateurs yesterday at the Hilton Houston...
Reasons We Should Eliminate Tipping at Restaurants

By Chris Lane
Jul 28, 2014

I'm always a little shocked and disgusted when I discover that someone I'm friends with is a lousy tipper, or expects some ridiculous level of service in order to extract a meager dollar bill from their miserly pocketbook. It's not usually a case of that person simply being an insensitive...
Minimum-Wage Increase Could Mean Higher Restaurant Prices

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Feb 4, 2014

Last Tuesday during President Obama's State of the Union address, fast-food workers and their fellow minimum-wage workers were an important topic. Obama called for the minimum wage for federal workers to be raised from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. He also called for an increase in the minimum...
Your Anonymous Reviews and Comments May Not Be Anonymous Much Longer

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Jan 14, 2014

So much for free speech. Last week, a Virginia court ruled that Yelp must turn over the identities of seven anonymous reviewers of a carpet store because the commenters may not have been actual customers. According to Yelp's terms of service: "You may expose yourself to liability if, for example,...
10 Signs You Grew Up Eating Food in Southeast Texas

By Molly Dunn
Jan 9, 2014

Do your non-Texan friends wonder why you call every soda a Coke, even if it's a Dr Pepper? Do they ask you why you only suggest restaurants that serve barbecue, Tex-Mex or comfort food? Or do they have no clue what you're talking about when you say the word "kolache"?...
Tipping in Restaurants Reaches a Tipping Point...Will 2014 Be the Year It's Abolished?

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Jan 6, 2014

Next time you hear a waiter or waitress complain about his or her tips, remember that the United States and Canada have the biggest tippers in the world (but maybe don't tell them that fact, 'cause it probably won't help). In many other countries, service is included in the bill,...
Vapor Conflict: E-Cigarettes Ignite Debate About Smoking in Bars and Restaurants

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Dec 3, 2013

I couldn't get anyone I know to speak on the record for this story. The only regular smokers I know are in the restaurant industry, and in spite of the fact that anyone can see them smoking outside between shifts, no one wanted to admit to smoking e-cigarettes. "Is it...
FDA, Calling Them Detrimental to Human Health, Moves to Ban Trans Fats in Food

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Nov 11, 2013

On November 7, the Food and Drug Adminstration proposed that partially hydrogenated oils no longer be "generally recognized as safe" -- a ruling that, if made final, would effectively mean companies could no longer use anything containing trans fats in their products. I asked Houstonians what they thought about this...
Houston Mayoral Candidates Talk Food Trucks, Their Go-To Lunch Spots and Cooking at Home

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Nov 4, 2013

In one of the great election movies of our time, Wag the Dog, CIA agent Mr. Young gives some helpful advice about food: "There are two things I know to be true. There's no difference between good flan and bad flan, and there is no war." Okay, maybe it was...
Hobby Center Lawsuit Has Put Artista in Hot Water

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Oct 18, 2013

It seems Cordúa Restaurants are in a bit of hot water, at least according to the lawsuit recently filed by the Hobby Center for Performing Arts. The Cordúa restaurant Artista has been located inside the Hobby Center for the past 11 years, but when its lease ran out, in 2012,...
Maximus Coffee Workers Strike to Protest Planned Wage Cuts; Voodoo Queen Supports Strikers

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Oct 10, 2013

It still smells like coffee outside the Maximus Coffee Group plant on Harrisburg Boulevard in the Second Ward, but there's no smoke coming from the plant's exhaust chimneys, and no trucks are driving in and out of the complex carrying Maximus coffee. Ninety percent of the 250 unionized workers at...
Shutdown Not Affecting Houston Food Safety, Yet

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Oct 4, 2013

Think of the government shutdown as you would a hurricane. Stock up on canned food, sit tight and wait it out. Evacuate if you must, but you're going to have to travel pretty far to get out of this mess. The government has been getting a lot of (much deserved)...
Food Expiration Dates Not Necessarily the Last Word

By Kaitlin Steinberg
Sep 25, 2013

Last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council released a report titled "The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America". The gist of it is something that most Americans can probably agree on: Labels on our food that seek to aid us are often very...
The Ostensible Randomness of Dining Rewards Cards

By Joanna O'Leary
Sep 4, 2013

It seems like almost every fast-casual dining establishment offers some sort of rewards card, which is perhaps why my cheap wallet barfs out its contents into my purse approximately once a week. Poor wallet -- it just can't handle all this rectangular paperwork promising discounts and freebies. Because I am...

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Archives for The Politics of Food