Re: Here's the Official Answer (was Canned Spam in 2006 WAPF Shopping Guide?)

[Guest guest]

Rhonda-

>>If we eliminated Spam from the Shopping Guide because it comes from

>>pigs in confinement, then to be consistent we would also have to

>>eliminate many of the other compromise recommendations that people

>>buy in supermarkets such as eggs, butter and cheese.

That's a reasonable argument, except isn't Spam placed in the " best "

category? Sounds like it should be labeled as an acceptable

compromise or something like that.

-

[Guest guest]

> That's a reasonable argument, except isn't Spam placed in the " best "

> category? Sounds like it should be labeled as an acceptable

> compromise or something like that.

,

It's in the " Good " section of processed meats. However, I feel that

they should leave it out for the sodium nitrite, antibiotic and

pesticide residues in it. There are many many choices of uncured

bacon and ham and such that may not be organic, but come from pigs

that are raised humanely and have no added nitrates/ites or MSG. In

the " Eggs " section they say avoid commercial, but buy if you have no

other choice and eat cooked. Well, no duh if you can't find better

you buy what you can. I use the WAPF shopping guide for superior

choices. I know the basic supermarket offerings. One last thought:

NT frowns on pork altogether because of the changes it produces in the

human body after consumption, so why would the WAPF say factory farmed

canned pork is good? Personally, I would eat something else before

I'd eat SPAM. Isn't canned salmon a much better choice? I've driven

through the Midwest, seeing and smelling the horrible conditions these

animals endure on intensive 'farms.' No thanks.

Deanna

[Guest guest]

why would the WAPF say factory farmed

> canned pork is good?

Spam is in the " good " category because it has no added MSG. I suspect

you know that WAPF doesn't promote any standard commercially processed

foods as an optimal food choice. Since spam is in the " processed

meat " category, it can be understood that it is a sub-optimal food

altogether in the context of all the WAPF literature.

Personally, I would eat something else before

> I'd eat SPAM. Isn't canned salmon a much better choice? I've driven

> through the Midwest, seeing and smelling the horrible conditions these

> animals endure on intensive 'farms.' No thanks.

Because you would rather eat something else is not a good enough

reason for people who who rather eat Spam. They might not share your

other preferences either.

Perhaps you are unaware that Spam is a very popular food item with

certain populations; WAPF is merely trying to be inclusive, not

promote Spam as a superfood. I'm thinking of adding it to my new

fallout kit; Spam Musubi seems a great way to incorporate seaweed into

my diet.

http://static.flickr.com/4/8992243_d9fdb53a2a.jpg

B.

[Guest guest]

,

> Spam is in the " good " category because it has no added MSG. I suspect

> you know that WAPF doesn't promote any standard commercially processed

> foods as an optimal food choice. Since spam is in the " processed

> meat " category, it can be understood that it is a sub-optimal food

> altogether in the context of all the WAPF literature.

My personal preferences aside, I feel the inclusion of SPAM is

inconsistent. For one, some populations are used to many crappy foods

sans MSG, why not include them in the appropriate good choice

category? Secondly:

" Avoid processed meats such as sausage, luncheon meats and bacon that

have been preserved with nitrites, nitrates and other common meat

preservatives. These are potent carcinogens that have been linked to

cancer of the esophagus, stomach, large intestine, bladder and lungs. "

- Sally Fallon, NT p.32

Spam has nitrites, thus it should be avoided.

Deanna

[Guest guest]

Deanna,

> " Avoid processed meats such as sausage, luncheon meats and bacon that

> have been preserved with nitrites, nitrates and other common meat

> preservatives. These are potent carcinogens that have been linked to

> cancer of the esophagus, stomach, large intestine, bladder and lungs. "

> - Sally Fallon, NT p.32

>

> Spam has nitrites, thus it should be avoided.

Right but if processed meats are considered an avoid food or

compromise food in and of themselves then " good " has to be considered

in that context. A " good " in the processed meats category obviously

isn't equal to a " good " in a fresh meat category.

Although I think the language couple probably be modified to make that clearer.

raised the point that sodium nitrite is produced in much

larger amounts in your body than can be gotten from SPAM. That's an

important point to consider.

Chris

--

Dioxins in Animal Foods:

A Case For Vegetarianism?

Find Out the Truth:

http://www.westonaprice.org/envtoxins/dioxins.html

[Guest guest]

> My personal preferences aside, I feel the inclusion of SPAM is

> inconsistent. For one, some populations are used to many crappy foods

> sans MSG, why not include them in the appropriate good choice

> category?

I'd expect you to be familiar with the process of how *any* food gets

included in the shopping guide: Sally asks for suggestions on the CL

list. If there is a crappy food you think is not being represented,

please write in.

Once again, try to understand that Spam is a very popular food among

some populations though perhaps not in your immediate area. This is

why it was included in the guide, because it is relevant to some people.

As far as the other thing, while eating any canned meat is high-risk

behavior, I am reassured to know, that for some freakish reason, there

is no added MSG in Spam. That is all.

B.

[Guest guest]

On 1/19/06, downwardog7 <illneverbecool@...> wrote:

> Once again, try to understand that Spam is a very popular food among

> some populations though perhaps not in your immediate area. This is

> why it was included in the guide, because it is relevant to some people.

I grew up eating the stuff, and have actually thought about it from

time to time.

> As far as the other thing, while eating any canned meat is high-risk

> behavior, I am reassured to know, that for some freakish reason, there

> is no added MSG in Spam. That is all.

Do you think eating canned sardines is high risk?

--

I first met her...in the Student Union at the University...sitting

across and down the table from each other. Our eyes met and that was

it. I was lost immediately in her soulful gaze (which I remember

vividly and tearfully even now) and was drawn inexorably from that

very moment into a love so certain that I never doubted anything about

it, other than the improbability that she would put up with me.

Things worked out. Glory to God!

-Mark Gilstrap

[Guest guest]

Deanna-

>However, I feel that

>they should leave it out for the sodium nitrite, antibiotic and

>pesticide residues in it. There are many many choices of uncured

>bacon and ham and such that may not be organic, but come from pigs

>that are raised humanely and have no added nitrates/ites or MSG. In

>the " Eggs " section they say avoid commercial, but buy if you have no

>other choice and eat cooked. Well, no duh if you can't find better

>you buy what you can.

I agree. If Spam were organic or something I guess I could see

listing it, but a conventional processed and preserved meat product? Yikes.

>NT frowns on pork altogether because of the changes it produces in the

>human body after consumption, so why would the WAPF say factory farmed

>canned pork is good?

NT avoids pork mainly because of Enig, I think. Sally does note

that some experiments suggest it might be problematic, but she also

points out that some very healthy peoples ate fatty pork and thrived on it.

But quality pork and Spam are two wildly different things.

-

[Guest guest]

-

>Perhaps you are unaware that Spam is a very popular food item with

>certain populations;

Well, so are Twinkies, if you get right down to it.

Maybe there's some virtue -- or relative lack of danger -- to Spam

that I'm missing, but I think that at most it should've gone into an

additional category, " Acceptable in a Pinch " .

That said, all this talk has gotten me curious enough that I might

just buy a tin and eat a bite so I'll know what it actually tastes

like. I can't even guess how many Spam jokes I've heard over the

years, including the completely unaccountable routine a couple of my

friends back in middle school came up with to mock another friend's

choice in shorts: " Oh no! I've got SPAM on my Jams! " (said in a

fakey Monty Python man-as-woman accent).

-

[Guest guest]

> That said, all this talk has gotten me curious enough that I might

> just buy a tin and eat a bite so I'll know what it actually tastes

> like.

>

> -

I have some lovely family recipes (thanks Dad). It's not very good

plain & cold.

Connie

[Guest guest]

Connie-

>I have some lovely family recipes (thanks Dad). It's not very good

>plain & cold.

OK. If you post some (low-carb) recipes, I'll buy a can of Spam and

try it. All in the name of cultural literacy, of course. ;-) (Nods

to Mike .)

-

[Guest guest]

--- In , Idol <paul_idol@y...>

wrote:

>

> Connie-

>

> >I have some lovely family recipes (thanks Dad). It's not very good

> >plain & cold.

>

> OK. If you post some (low-carb) recipes, I'll buy a can of Spam and

> try it. All in the name of cultural literacy, of course. ;-) (Nods

> to Mike .)

~~~, have a few carbs and make yourself a grilled Spam and cheese

sandwich. Put a little butter in the skillet, add a couple of slices

of Spam and lightly brown. Butter up a couple of slices of your

favorite bread, slap in skillet with Spam and slices of cheese between

and grill until cheese melts. Like Macaroni and Cheese, like tapioca

pudding, it's on the list of comfort foods for those so inclined. A

few bites of that and you'll be looking for water - really salty.

Rhonda

agreeing with Connie, the stuff is really not very good cold.

[Guest guest]

> Like Macaroni and Cheese, like tapioca

> pudding, it's on the list of comfort foods for those so inclined. A

> few bites of that and you'll be looking for water - really salty.

>

> Rhonda

Rhonda hit it on the head. , no can do on the low-carb Spam

recipes. Tradition says it is served with mega carbs. This is the

postwar fifties in the USA...

Baked Spam. Stud with cloves and cover with crushed pineapple in heavy

syrup in the blue bowl from those nested Pyrex colored bowls. Bake

until it has browned goodness all over.

Spam cake. Take a Betty Crocker yellow cake and make it as directed,

substituting ground spam for the oil. Bake until the top has browned

goodness all over.

The Spam Elvis sandwich! slice thin and cook like bacon. Make

sandwiches on white bread with peanut butter and banana, and grill the

sandwich until it has brown goodness all over. I once served these at

a multicultural potluck. A boss invited his team to a team building

and there were people from all over the world so he thought a potluck

would be a good idea. I was so offended at having to cook for a crappy

potluck and have it called a party that I made those. 99% of the

foreigners thought they were marvelous, a wonderful indigenous

American canape.

Substitute Spam for weenies in any craptacular weenie cuisine.

but... for traditional low-carb, I guess you could cook it like its

more honest predecessor, scrapple.

Connie

>

[Guest guest]

On 1/20/06, Idol <paul_idol@...> wrote:

> That said, all this talk has gotten me curious enough that I might

> just buy a tin and eat a bite so I'll know what it actually tastes

> like.

Plain Spam is the pits. Now fried Spam with cheese and bacon on tasty

grilled bread.....

--

I first met her...in the Student Union at the University...sitting

across and down the table from each other. Our eyes met and that was

it. I was lost immediately in her soulful gaze (which I remember

vividly and tearfully even now) and was drawn inexorably from that

very moment into a love so certain that I never doubted anything about

it, other than the improbability that she would put up with me.

Things worked out. Glory to God!

-Mark Gilstrap

[Guest guest]

So tonight I check the shelves out for Spam. Well it seems the Spam of

my youth is not the Spam of today. There is Spam Classic, which is the

original stuff. Then there is Spam Lite, which appears to be a lower

fat version of Spam. And then there is low sodium Spam, Spam with

cheese, hickory smoked Spam, and Spam turkey, which seems to suggest

that Spam is or is in the process of beginning a generic name that can

applied to a particular product. I also noticed that the low sodium

Spam has chicken blended in with the pork.

I was tempted to buy some but instead bought several cans of sardines

instead to check out Chris' bone appetite satiety theory.

--

" The stone age ended, but not because of any lack or stones.

Undoubtedly the oil age will end the same way. "

Sheik Yamani, one time oil minister to Saudi Arabia

[Guest guest]

> [mailto: ] On Behalf Of

>

> So tonight I check the shelves out for Spam. Well it seems

> the Spam of my youth is not the Spam of today. There is Spam

> Classic, which is the original stuff. Then there is Spam

> Lite, which appears to be a lower fat version of Spam. And

> then there is low sodium Spam, Spam with cheese, hickory

> smoked Spam, and Spam turkey, which seems to suggest that

> Spam is or is in the process of beginning a generic name that

> can applied to a particular product.

But they were all made by Hormel, right? It's only a generic name if other

companies can use it.

[Guest guest]

On 1/22/06, Berg <bberg@...> wrote:

> > [mailto: ] On Behalf Of

> >

> > So tonight I check the shelves out for Spam. Well it seems

> > the Spam of my youth is not the Spam of today. There is Spam

> > Classic, which is the original stuff. Then there is Spam

> > Lite, which appears to be a lower fat version of Spam. And

> > then there is low sodium Spam, Spam with cheese, hickory

> > smoked Spam, and Spam turkey, which seems to suggest that

> > Spam is or is in the process of beginning a generic name that

> > can applied to a particular product.

>

> But they were all made by Hormel, right? It's only a generic name if other

> companies can use it.

>

>

Probably, in which case you are absolutely right.

--

" The stone age ended, but not because of any lack or stones.

Undoubtedly the oil age will end the same way. "

Sheik Yamani, one time oil minister to Saudi Arabia

[Guest guest]

-

>I was tempted to buy some but instead bought several cans of sardines

>instead to check out Chris' bone appetite satiety theory.

I guess I missed that post, but calcium at least has a definite role

in satiation.

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