Power builders of every stripe are hammering away at the wedge issues this political season, trying to chip away at alliances and allegiances that might push one presidential candidate over the finish line. Obama’s “foreign” middle name and missing flag pin. McCain’s age and place of birth. Clinton’s cleavage and crying. They’re issues that mean nothing but symbolize everything. Can we really complain? We face these diversionary tactics as frequently in our day-to-day lives as we do in the politisphere. And the truth is, if we scrape away at the surface of them, they frequently reveal something important about the way we think and the way we live. Here are four we found worth digging into:
THE ISSUE: A wedge of cheese
The controversy: We’re not sure synthetic growth hormones in milk are good for us.
Talking points: Beginning in 1994, some American dairy farmers began injecting their cows with a lab-produced growth hormone, known as rBGH or rBST, to increase milk production. The drug is a synthetic version of the growth hormone naturally produced by a cow’s pituitary gland.
Since then, controversy has swirled over whether milk from treated cows and dairy products produced from that milk is safe, in the long term, for human consumption. Some consumers are concerned about the link between the use of the synthetic growth hormone in milk production and increased numbers of breast, prostate and colorectal cancers.
Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration still says the use of rBGH/rBST is safe in conventional food production, the agency’s counterparts in Canada, New Zealand, Japan and the European Union have banned its use, says Mark Kastel, senior farm policy analyst for The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin organic and family farm advocacy group.
Consumers worried about consuming products that contain rBGH/rBST may find the dairy case daunting. But Kastel offers a few basics that can make the shopping easier. First, the drug was never approved for use in goats or sheep, so cheese and milk products from those animals don’t contain synthetic growth hormones.
Cheeses imported from countries that have banned the use of the drug are safe bets, too.
Read the labels. Some conventional creameries have stopped selling products made from rBGH milk and will say so on the label. “If it doesn’t say it on the label, you can assume it is not prohibited by the dairy farmers supplying that brand,” Kastel says.
Sinton Dairy in Colorado is one that has stopped producing rBGH milk; Wal-Mart’s Great Value milk now is from cows not treated with the drug; and private-label milk sold by Kroger, the parent of King Soopers and City Market, as of February, is certified as rBST-free.
Finally, the strongest line of defense is buying certified organic dairy products. “Organic dairy gives consumer highest level of security that there aren’t synthetic compounds in the milk,” Kastel says.
THE ISSUE: Wedge shoes
The controversy: We’re not sure we should wear them.
Talking points: Wedge shoes are back with a vengeance, and to the inexperienced eye, they appear to be footwear fraught with peril.
While they may not be an ideal choice for all women in the fashionista foot race, Denver podiatrist Dr. Stephanie Clements says for some women, wedge heels are a “far better choice than a 3-inch stiletto.”
It has to do with the physics of walking, she says. Tottering around on a 3-inch spike — no matter how beautiful it is — puts a huge amount of pressure on a square centimeter of the heel.
“Your feet are your ambassadors with the floor, and your heel is the chief ambassador,” she says. “Whatever shock your heel can’t absorb, it will pass to the joints above it so it is important to try to land as softly as you can.”
Wedge heels have more surface area in contact with the ground, which helps disburse some of pressure on the foot.
Likewise, a cute, comfy wedge with a medium heel might be a way a woman can relieve the social pressures of dressing sharp for work. “I’ve learned the hard way that people really do judge women by the shoes they wear,” she says. “There are some shoes that won’t ever work for a woman’s resume.”
Clements suggests women experiment with different shapes and styles until they find a shoe that is comfortable for their feet, ankles, knees and lower backs.
“The reason we have a million different shoe styles is because there are a million different ways we can take ’em. Or leave ’em,” she says.
THE ISSUE: A wedge of pie before dinner.
The controversy: It might spoil our appetites.
Talking points: Millions of American parents who have screeched about the importance of not filling up on junk before supper can’t be wrong.
But hold on there, Mama, there’s a whole school of Eastern thought that suggests a little sweet at the beginning of a meal stimulates digestion.
Ayurvedic theory classifies food as sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent or astringent. For the best health, you should try to balance those characteristics in every meal.
“One of the reasons Americans are out of balance around food is because we don’t know how to balance the tastes and qualities in a meal,” says Jennifer Workman, a registered dietitian and owner of the Balanced Approach, a nutrition and weight management education program in Boulder. “Technically, sweet stimulates digestion, so it wouldn’t be hideous to eat a little of your pie first.”
Mom was right, though, about filling up on sweets. To make sure that you don’t run out of gas an hour after eating, you’ll also need to consume enough protein and fat to keep you satiated for the three or four hours you might wait to eat again. “Take a few bites of your pie, eat your lunch, and then finish with a couple more bites of pie,” she says.
But make it a good quality pie, says Eric Stein, a registered dietitian and chef instructor at Johnson & Wales University. “It’s better to have pies made from fresh fruit rather than canned fruit, which will give you more nutrition and less straight sugar.”
THE ISSUE: The wedge salad
The controversy: We’re not sure how to eat it.
Talking points: The wedge salad — iceberg lettuce dressed in blue cheese and bacon — rose to prominence on American menus back in the 1950s and held court until the discovery of gourmet leaf lettuce in the ’70s. But diners are a nostalgic lot, and so with the resurgence of steakhouses came the resurgence of the wedge salad.
Today’s wedge is typically a quarter head of chilled, crisp iceberg lettuce embedded in a pool of rich dressing, and topped with any number of savory and salty things, but always involving bacon.
It’s a tantalizing dish, but the form can feel a little daunting.
That Elway’s Iceberg Wedge Salad is served with a knife driven into it says something about the plan of attack. “You have to man or woman up,” Elway’s executive chef Tyler Wiard says with a laugh.
Be bold, he advises. Move the thick strips of bacon to the side of the plate, and then cut the lettuce into bite-size pieces. Load up your fork with a little lettuce, some onions and chives and swirl it in the blue cheese dressing and crumbles. Put it in your mouth and then pick up a piece of bacon and take a bite. Repeat.
“You might end up with a little stuff on the tablecloth,” he says. “But don’t worry about it. We’ve got plenty of those.”
Still intimidated? You can ask the kitchen to chop your salad before it’s brought to the table. “But it does take away some of the drama,” Wiard says.
Dana Coffield: dcoffield@denverpost.com or 303-954-1954
