Asymmetrical Information

Apparently the parent company involved was called 'natural selection foods.' Now the name makes sense, I guess...

I like spinach. Usually we are told to eat it because it contains iron, which it does. It also contains oxalates which bond to that iron(and any other iron in that meal) and prevent its absorption. But it also contains lutein--so EAT YOUR SPINACH, Jane!

When I first read that, all I could think of was "Well, there goes Popeye." But one thing is that I never eat raw spinach, but only cooked. At a Mongolian Bar-Be-Que place. Mmmmmmmm mmmmmmm gooooooood.

Most people who say they dislike spinach are thinking of the severely overcooked variety, which is perfectly safe due to the fact that the cooking destroys the bacteria. Raw or lightly steamed spinach is, aside from the vaguely unpleasant texture it temporarily imparts to the surface of your teeth, generally regarded as unobjectionable. So it's probably actually your mother who's been vindicated.

As a vegan, I blame meat (manure being a likely source of the e. coli infestation). As a Republican, I blame the meat industry, whose special interests I assure you are right now causing the delay in finding the "source" of the infection to minimize collateral damage to their farming efforts. That's my prediction anyway.

Stewed spinach -- that stuff that is cooked down into a lumpy, gangrenous mass of vile swamp-weed and 'seasoned' with a gross mis-use of perfectly good vinegar -- is nothing more than a household WMD that should be featured in The Anarchist's Cookbook, and not in recipe collections. The real application of iron in a stewed spinach dish must surely be the armor plating that lines the mouths of people who can stand to consume such stuff, and the fact that some parents actually force children to eat this mess is called "admissible evidence."

Cooked spinach should be reserved for gourmet application only, and at that, never served alone.

Fresh spinach, on the other hand, is a very nice addition to any salad, sandwhich, or wrap. Unfortunately, based on this morning's latest FDA announcement, I won't be getting any for quite a while...