-
France ended its summer with three record-breaking heatwaves, totaling a record 53 days in unprecedented hot conditions. During its peak in July, Paris reached blistering heats comparable to Dubai, while some of France’s wine-country regions hit nearly 112°F. Climate change has in recent years afflicted France that has grown accustomed to the stable, temperate climates that allows for longer, slower grape-ripening seasons. More importantly, its human toll has magnified France’s imbalanced handling of climate change and growing tension between its carbon neutral aspirations while also protecting its population from the immediate harmful impact of rising temperatures. Severe heatwaves resulted in… Continue Reading ->
-
Well into the harvest and two months into the soybean selling season, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that “China is on track to keep every part of the deal” negotiated between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in late October, which was intended to bring an end to nearly six months of paralysis for the American soybean market. According to a White House “fact-sheet” on the deal, which many have described as more of a “trade truce” in lieu of written commitment from Beijing, China will purchase at least 12 million metric tons of American soybeans “during the last… Continue Reading ->
-
These days, there are few issues that Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on, from national holidays, school curriculum, electoral administration, to foreign assistance. However, one unexpected common enemy that has united both parties is synthetic food dyes. After 35 years of unbridled use in coloring drinks, desserts, processed foods, and even medication – Red Dye No. 3 has finally been banned. The FDA banned Red Dye No. 3 on January 15 in response to a long campaign against artificial food coloring by a coalition of health organizations and relatively minimal resistance from the food industry. Legally, the ban is… Continue Reading ->
-
Like many things American, beef has a racist past. From the belief that beef fueled Western advancement and imperialism, to the deliberate campaign to replace bison with cattle on Indigenous land, and vilifying immigrant populations that did not rely on a bread-and-beef diet, beef, a quintessential component of the American identity, has a complicated history. Culinary Determinism Food historian Rachel Laudan describes the feigned theory that American and European consumption of beef contributed to Western population growth and global power in the 19th century as “culinary determinism”. With limited nutritional science at the time, experts believed that American and Europeans’… Continue Reading ->
Politics & Pomegranates
Politics & Pomegranates is a blog dedicated to the politics of food, and politics through food.
Subscribe!
Never miss a post! No spam, but maybe some politics about SPAM.
