The McRib is back! I heard the news on the radio this morning that McDonald’s beloved rack-of-ribs-shaped pork sandwich is back in some 9,000 stores for another limited run, and knew that millions were rejoicing in the magical barbeque patty’s return. McRib’s triumphant return also reminded me of a stroke of brilliance McDonald’s did a […]
For several years now, I’ve spoken to agricultural groups and businesses about a variety of issues related to consumer perceptions of food, food marketing, and agricultural production practices. The discussion can be emotionally charged because most farmers I know derive a great deal of their personal identity and fulfillment, to say nothing of their financial […]
Covering “agricultural issues” is a pretty random grab bag of loosely-related topics. At present, I’m reading up on issues as varied and interwoven as dairy consumption in India, recent research on intermittent caloric restriction, and African Swine Fever. Two such random topics got me thinking over the weekend about how we, particularly in the developed […]
A while back, a friend asked me to recommend some great podcasts. Since I’m an old broadcaster at heart, he theorized, I’d surely have some solid subscriptions to suggest. Sound theory, but I listen to a surprisingly small number of podcasts. They can be summarized this way: one about wrestling (college and freestyle, not WWE), […]
One of the most frustrating paradoxes in the modern age is the obesity epidemic: We know more about food, nutrition, physical activity and human health than at any previous point in recorded history, and more people are obese – even morbidly obese – than at any previous point in recorded history. The internet is awash […]
Confession: house hunting is one of my guilty pleasures. The Stunning Mrs. Vance and I did a fair bit of our courtship going house hunting, actually. We were both renters in excellent situations subletting space from homeowners we absolutely loved, but I was coming up on the end of my lease and thought it was […]
The old saying was “if it bleeds, it leads,” and that truism holds in the age of digital and social media. Consider the past weekend’s “March for Life” as a relevant example: according to the New York Times, mass shootings make up only 1% of gun-related homicide deaths, but draw round-the-clock coverage due to the shocking, […]
As a broadcaster and professional speaker, I’ve moderated quite a few panel discussions over the years. Last night I hosted an especially interesting one on behalf of the Animal Welfare & Behavior Club at The Ohio State University. “Food for Thought” was billed as “an open discussion on food animal production,” and designed to expose […]
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Americans, as a population, are too fat, and obesity is one of the greatest challenges facing us as a society. Oh, you’ve heard that, too, huh? The “obesity epidemic” situation is significant enough that military leaders face a growing challenge (pardon the pun) in finding enough recruits […]
Disruption in the food marketing space has become something of an annoying constant to food marketers over the past decade. With trends – from organic and local to gluten-free or low-carb – ebbing and flowing at an oftentimes dizzying and perplexing pace, established marketers appear to be struggling against plucky up-and-comers. From Bloomberg: Chobani, which […]
