Earlier today I was on Canadian radio, joining the wonderful Costas Halavrezos on his show, Maritime Noon. Unfortunately, technical glitches meant I missed the first part of the show, which included this classic and almost-certainly-documentary footage from the beginning of How To Get Ahead in Advertising. ... read more »

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Posted on 19 March, 2008 - 22:07

All credit to him. Mike Huckabee has a sense of humour about his prospects in the US election.

So now that Mitt Romney has dropped out there are only three candidates worth taking seriously. Since this is Stuffed and Starved I ought probably to find a food related angle to the candidates, rather than posting a couple more suprisingly good Saturday Night Live clips like this one ... read more »

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Posted on 28 February, 2008 - 16:41

Prompted by a reader, I've realised that I've not yet posted this fantastic video by the good people at Free Range Studios. It's an oldie, but for a die-hard Star Wars junkie, this short gets closer to the spirit of the movie series than The Phantom Menace ever could.

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Posted on 7 December, 2007 - 18:01

Starbucks isn't just a nasty and overpriced coffee shop - it is rapidly becoming a place where people buy music. Musicians fight hard to get their CDs picked for sale at the counter. Minor New York City-based musician Davido had what he thought was a surefire Starbucks-compatible tune, the Java Jitter. Starbucks didn't like it so much, so they rejected him.
... read more »

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Posted on 31 October, 2007 - 16:27

We haven't had something from the lighter side of food politics for a while here at Stuffed and Starved. And, in keeping with recent trends, here's a couple of paragraphs from Ronald Reagan, from Paul Krugman's column in the New York Times yesterday:

In 1960, John F. Kennedy, who had been shocked by the hunger he saw in West Virginia, made the fight against hunger a theme of his presidential campaign. After his election he created the modern food stamp program, which today helps millions of Americans get enough to eat. ... read more »

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Posted on 6 October, 2007 - 16:35

An old story seems to have sprouted up again in the food blogosphere. I'm not sure why it has resurfaced, but it's well worth reprinting. Here's the Associated Press version from 21st December, 1999.

Genetically modified food banned in Monsanto staff cafeteria

AP 21dec99

LONDON - Genetically modified food has been banned from the staff cafeteria at Monsanto Co.'s UK headquarters by the company's own caterer, GM food giant Monsanto confirmed Tuesday.

Granada Food Services, whose customers include Monsanto's High Wycombe office near London, recently told clients it would not supply food containing GM soya and GM maize due to customer concerns.

In a statement to clients, Granada said the move was designed "to ensure that you, the customer, can feel confident in the food we serve."

Genetic engineering involves splicing a single gene from one organism to another. GM products, including Monsanto's genetically engineered corn, have recently met with safety concerns in parts of Europe and Asia.

In October, the European Union adopted new marketing rules requiring companies to label food as genetically modified if more than one percent of the product contains GM organisms. Granada's statement said the ban also brings the company into compliance with the new regulations.

Monsanto played down the staff cafeteria policy, and denied it was an embarrassment to have a GM food ban at the head office of a company manufacturing GM crop seeds.

"We believe in choice. At our Cambridge restaurant the notice says some products may contain genetically modified organisms because our staff are happy to eat foods sprayed with fewer chemicals," said Tony Combes, Monsanto's director of corporate affairs.

Combes also pointed out that Granada's GM policy was a blanket ban covering all of its customers and did not target Monsanto specifically.

"It has nothing to do with us really," said Combes. Opponents of GM food said they believe the ban showed a lack of confidence in Monsanto, however.

"The public has made its concerns about GM ingredients very clear. Now it appears that even Monsanto's own catering firm has no confidence in this new technology," said Adrian Bebb, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth.

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Posted on 15 August, 2007 - 13:43

The World's Greatest Economists founded the World Bank in 1944 while wearing matching blue jumpsuits. This is why we no longer have poverty in the world.

Find out about more in these two videos from from Comedy Central's Daily Show and their analysis of the Bank, and Wolfowitz.

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Posted on 2 May, 2007 - 15:58

The wags at Avaaz.org have been drawing attention to their Fire Paul Wolfowitz campaign by mashing up some pop culture with footage of the Embattled World Bank President. (I think they're making "Embattled" a permanent feature of the job description.) Here's the result - thanks to Dan for sending it on. And Dan's right. The British version is funnier.

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Posted on 22 April, 2007 - 21:47

Christine Dann sends a fine nugget of news from New Zealand, and an uplifting one to boot. Given that the last story was about how corporations profit from inducing neuroses in schoolgirls, it's wonderful to see that the opposite also, albeit rarely, applies.

For readers in countries that haven't recently been colonised by Britain, the soft drink in this story, Ribena, is a grape cordial. It is a thick, dark, very very sweet syrup, mixed with water and administered by concerned parents to children who'd rather be drinking something fizzy and canned, but who'll take their sugar where they can find it. ... read more »

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Posted on 28 March, 2007 - 19:49

If you found Ngaire Woods' report on how the WTO works a little dry, you probably won't appreciate the humour at this site, run by the Yes Men.

They've posted a press release from the WTO announcing a "Formalized Slavery Model for Africa".

"The same can be applied to poor Africans", claims GATT.org.

The press release continues

"a WTO initiative for "full private stewardry of labor" for the parts of Africa that have been hardest hit by the 500 years of Africa's free trade with the West. ... read more »

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Posted on 12 January, 2007 - 22:06