Humm Baby? We went to our first Giants game in over a year this week. Took a mostly empty Muni train to the ballpark. Had our vaccine QR code at the ready when we reached the entryway. Admittedly shocked when checking our tickets, no one asked for our proof of vaccination. Hmm. We had great seats, row 30 near home plate, looking directly up the first baseline. Indulged in a bratwurst with fries and an ice-cold tall Corona. And then we looked up and around the park, and to our dismay, probably 80% of the crowd was unmasked, with maybe 20% mask-wearing (including us). Ok, guess we should have checked out these guidelines first: FanSafe at Oracle Park (ironically named, right?).
What About WorkerSafe? Oracle Park workers announce strike vote after reporting over 20 COVID infections. “The Giants have failed to mandate and/or enforce masks and social distancing at concourse concessions stands, private suites, and more, and food service workers frequently have to deal with maskless guests who are often drinking,” from a statement by Unite Here Local 2, a union representing about 930 concessions workers at Oracle Park. KNBR
What’s the difference between going to a Giants game and the University of Florida Gators hosting up to 88,000 fans for a football game this Saturday? 🤔 Hint: the ball is a different shape.
By the way, I'm Bruce Cole, Publisher of Edible San Francisco. Welcome to all 31 new subscribers this week! If you'd like to hop off anytime, simply unsubscribe. I appreciate you reading (and sharing) this newsletter.
Here we go.
🎥 Alice Waters: How to Start a Food Revolution. “Every decision that you make, every day, has consequences. And things that you choose to eat have very serious consequences right now.” LA Times
Celia Sack Recommends: Omnivore Book’s proprietor talks about “the old, new, and rare cookbooks she’s excited about this fall, from a Victorian-era ice cream edition to the foods of Macedonia.” Taste
On The Necessity of Nonalcoholic Beverages: “These drinks must exist, in my opinion.” Jim Meehan in Good Drinks
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Croque Monsieur with Bayonne Ham
When visiting family near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, we always hop over the border to France (5 minutes away) to visit our favorite fromagerie and stock up on French (and Swiss) cheeses, charcuterie, and exceptional Bayonne Ham. After we’ve picked up a few fresh loaves of Pain de Campagne we head back home to make Croque Monsieur for lunch. Although traditionally made with gruyere cheese, we love to use Tomme de Savoie, a milder semi-firm cow’s milk cheese that lets the flavor of the Bayonne Ham shine through.
The delicately sweet and savory air-cured Bayonne Ham is produced in the heart of France’s Basque Country and designated by its Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), which ensures its authenticity. It is produced according to culinary traditions that date to the 1600s and is still preserved exclusively with salt from Salies de-Béarn’s salty spring water. The resulting nine to twelve-month aged Bayonne Ham is renowned for its sublime flavor, slight hint of saltiness, and always exceptional quality.
This Croque Monsieur recipe with Bayonne Ham features the trademark cheesy bechamel used to coat the bread slices before baking and makes it a grilled cheese sandwich on a whole other level.
FERN’s Covid-19 Mapping Project Comes to an End: Over 17 months, reporter Leah Douglas counted nearly 100,000 cases and 466 deaths from Covid-19 among farm and food processing workers in nearly every state. The project has reached its conclusion because companies and states have decided to keep much of their data secret. FERN
“78% of hospitalizations due to COVID are Obese and Overweight people.” So said Sweetgreen chief salad maker Jonathan Neman, who also suggested taxing processed food and refined sugar to pay for the impact of the pandemic. Backlash ensued. Eater
Told You So: “For years, Rob Wallace warned that industrial agriculture could cause deadly outbreaks at a global scale. It made him an exile in his field.” The Nation
Mainstream Media’s Default Strategy When Covering Beef And Climate Change: let’s find a former vegetarian who now eats beef. Bonus if they are also a rancher. The Guardian
This Is The Fight: Mainstream media peddling profiles that glorify alt-meat CEO’s as if they are gods sent to save us from the evils of commodity meat, when in fact the solution they may theoretically propose is to replace the vast machinery of industrial animal agriculture with the vast machinery of industrial vegetable agriculture. “The ‘Hedonistic Altruism’ of Plant-Based Meat.” The New York Times
A Black Vegan POV: “I talk about animals from the perspective of the blueprint for oppression — the blueprint of what slavery looks like, and how this is the same blueprint being used all over the world to exploit different marginalized groups, people and species.” Gwenna Hunter in Unbound
And The Winner Is: DoorDash. In the three months ending June 30, customers placed 345 million orders worth a total $10.5 billion. Ca-ching. SF Chronicle
EAT.DRINK.THINK September 2021: the playlist we listen to while cooking dinner every night. Leading off this month with טוויסט (Twist) by Jay Lamotta w/ Michael Moshonov and new tunes by Fousheé, Fantasitic Negrito, Loose Change, Stoop Lee Little Simz and more. Plus some vintage Tony Bennett because we could always use a shot of that sweetness.
That’s all for this week.
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We’re outta here. Be well and take care,
–Bruce
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"Humans — despite their artistic pretensions, their sophistication, and their many accomplishments — owe their existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.” Anonymous