Reason.tv - Topics

The Locavore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:00:00 EDT

"If you take the local food movement to its logical extreme...people who live beyond their local food chain are essentially parasites," explains economic geographer Pierre Desrochers, co-author of the book The Localvore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-mile Diet .

Using economic and historical data, Desrochers and his co-author Hiroko Shimizu pick apart the latest food activist trend extolling the benefits of eating local. "If everything was so great when most food was sourced locally centuries ago," asks Desrochers, "why did we go through the trouble of developing a globalized food supply chain in the first place?"

Desrochers sat down with ReasonTV's Nick Gillespie to discuss the book, the benefits of factory farming, and the enduring nature of food activism.

About 5:45 minutes.

Cameras by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain. Edited by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV’s YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new stories go live.

Bikini Banners and F*cking Cops Cracking Down on Curse Words! (Nanny of the Month, June '12)

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 06:30:00 EDT

June's busybodies want to shield your eyes from bikinis and remind you that they're not above ripping your garden out (even if you are complying with city codes).

But top dishonors go to the police chief who admitted on camera that his officers had "more important things to do," but still championed a measure that fines folks for swearing in public.

Presenting Reason.tv's Nanny of the Month for June 2012: Middleborough, Massachusetts Police Chief Bruce Gates!

Approximately 95 seconds.

"Nanny of the Month" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Opening animation by Meredith Bragg.

Watch previous "Nanny of the Month" episodes here.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Obesity in America: To Win, We Have to Lose Government

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Can the government make you lose weight? Officials sure think so.

In May 2012, an HBO documentary and a Washington conference, both named "The Weight of the Nation," made the case for government intervention in your workout, your workplace and your kid's lunchbox. They argue that lack of individual willpower is not to blame for obesity, and that it will take a serious government overhaul to shrink waistlines on a national scale.

"It's an access issue. We live in an obesogenic environment," says Dr. Lisa Santora, chief medical officer of Southern California's Beach Cities Health District. President Obama agrees. He has already bundled $15 billion in with his healthcare reform bill, and we've seen government programs intervening in nutrition time and time again.

So far, the programs haven't worked out too well.

"The reasearch shows that we haven't been very good at trying to, through government, control obesity," says Cal Poly economics professor Michael Marlow. He says that even when the government realizes that their solutions don't work, they will only try more aggressive regulations that will further impend on your freedom to choose whatever you want on the menu.

Produced by Tracy Oppenheimer. Shot by Paul Detrick, Sharif Matar and Oppenheimer.

About 5.40 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.

Nick Gillespie Discusses NYC Mayor Bloomberg's Plan to Ban Sugary Drinks on NBC Nightly News

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Reason's Nick Gillespie appeared on NBC's Nightly News to discuss New York City's latest push in their war on obesity by limiting the amount of sugar in sodas and how this enroachment into personal choice isn't something politicians should be doing. Air Date: May 31, 2012.

About 2 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Food Trucks vs. The Establishment: Attorney Jeffrey Dermer on the Legalities of Mobile Vending

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EDT

"If freedom can't win over something so innocuous and where the benefits are so wide, then you can't win at all," says Jeffrey Dermer, a lawyer and founder of the Southern California Mobile Food Vendor's Association, a group devoted to protecting the legal rights of food truck operators.

Food trucks made news in California when a state assemblyman pushed forward a law that would've banned vendors from operating within 1,500 feet of a school. Popular backlash killed that ban, but other cities around the state are still trying to clamp down on food trucks.

Dermer talked with Reason.tv about SCMFVA's suit against the city of Monrovia, which has enacted a de facto food truck ban, as well as the broader state of the food truck industry, which is often attacked by interest groups representing traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants, which claim that food trucks are unfair competitors.

"I don't think there's anything unfair about it. The problem is, your food isn't good enough," says Dermer.

Run time about 4 minutes.

Interview by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Christopher Sharif Matar. Edited by Weissmueller.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.

4 Loko Tacos & Other Illicit Foods - Kennedy w/ Keep Food Legal's Baylen Linnekin

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

“[Four Loko] is truly vile to drink,” admits Baylen Linnekin, executive director of Keep Food Legal, “but I’m not the arbiter of taste and neither should the government.”

Be it unpasteurized, caffeinated, or sodium-enriched, government inevitably finds excuse to regulate and even ban food and drink that they say risk public health or safety. Keep Food Legal fights to keep the nanny state from ossifying the American palette by promoting people’s right to grow, cook, and consume the edibles of their choosing.

Reason contributor Kennedy dished with Linnekin about Big Government threats to culinary versatility, over some delicious and illegal Four Loko tacos cooked up by Linnekin himself.

About 25 minutes. Filmed by Joshua Swain and Anthony Fisher. Edited by Zach Weissmueller.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

The Foie Gras Fight: Animal Cruelty or Animal Rights Propaganda?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

Chicago tried banning it. Now California wants to do the same. But what's so controversial about foie gras, the fattened liver of a duck or goose that many diners consider a delicacy?

"Foie gras is universally cruel," says animal rights activist and founder of the Animal Protection and Rescue League Bryan Pease.

Pease led the fight against foie gras in California, which often got ugly and scary, but he feels that it was all worth it now that the ban on the production of the food product will go into effect this summer.

"This isn't a product that anyone thinks should be consumed, really," says Pease, "except for a small group of chefs and promoters."

Mark Pastore, owner of Incanto restaurant in San Francsico, believes that animal activists, who have threatened him and Incanto's chef Chris Cosentino, bullied their way into a legislative victory through intimidation and inflated rhetoric.

"I believe that the only way to deal with bullying tactics is to stand up to them," says Pastore, who started serving foie gras after his fellow chef had acid thrown on his car and received a threatening video of his family and notes reading "stop or be stopped" from anti-foie gras activists.

So is the process of force-feeding ducks to produce foie gras cruel, as Pease alleges? Not so, says lawyer and director of Keep Food Legal, Baylen Linnekin.

"Foie gras is not the result of cruel practice," says Linnekin. "It's a bird that can digest or can swallow a fish whole--a large fish." He also points out that ducks and geese are migratory birds that gorge themselves on food in nature before a winter migration, which is how foie gras, a dish dating back to ancient Egypt, came about in the first place.

The animal activists seem have won the California foie gras fight for now, but Linnekin says that in the wake of the overturned Chicago ban, he's still optimistic about the future of food freedom.

"Ultimately, choice trumps," says Linnekin. "It should, and it does. Individual rights are the most important things we have as Americans."

Written and produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Christopher Sharif Matar and Zach Weissmueller.

Approximately 6 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.

Rawesome Foods Raided... Again!

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EDT

A little more than a year ago, Rawesome Foods, a health food co-op based in Venice, California was the target of an armed raid by several agencies, and the resulting video went viral.

On August 3, 2011, Rawesome experienced another multi-agency raid, but this one resulted in the arrest of the establishment's owner James Stewart.

Stewart, and Sharon Palmer, the farmer who supplies him with raw goat milk, are being held on bails in excess of $100,000 and are each charged with four felonies and several more misdemeanors. Some examples of the charges are "processing unpasteurized milk," "improper labeling of food," and "improper egg temperatures."

The government has kept pursuing Stewart and his club for years, despite a lack of any reports of illness or injury from consumption of his foods. Rawesome members argue that they are part of a private club, not subject to government regulation, and that they are being persecuted for their alternative lifestyles.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office would not comment for this video, but offered this press release and also released a list of the charges against Stewart and Palmer.

Reason.tv covered the first Rawesome raid in 2010 here.

Approximately 3:30.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Sharif Matar and Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Plant a Garden, Go to Jail for 93-days?! Nanny of the Month (July 2011)

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:30:00 EDT

They’re cracking down on food trucks in St. Louis and busting those who bust a sag in Collinsville, Illinois, but the nation’s top nanny is the Detroit-area scold who just can’t stand front-yard vegetable gardens.

Last year a Georgia man who committed a similar offense faced only fines, but not Julie Bass, who was looking at 93-days in the slammer for her veggie violation.

Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for July 2011: Oak Park, Michigan City Planner Kevin Rulkowski!

Just over one-minute long.

"Nanny of the Month" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Opening animation by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos and subscribe to Reason.tv’s YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

To watch past "Nanny of the Month" episodes, go here.

Matt Welch Discusses Crack Downs on Food Trucks on Freedom Watch

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch appeared on Freedom Watch to discuss how government regulators, due to health concerns and pressure from brick-and-mortar restaurants, have targeted food trucks and how this has hampered potential business owners and limited customer choice. Air Date: July 19, 2011.

Approximately 4.11 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Baylen Linnekin Discusses Fast Food Advertising and Child Obesity on Freedom Watch

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason contributor Baylen Linnekin appeared on Freedom Watch to discuss whether pressuring Congress to regulate advertising to childern will limit obesity or simply limit what parents can feed their childern. Air date: 6/28/2011.

About 3:00 minutes.

Go here for Reason.tv's coverage of raw milk raids and the fight for food freedom.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

North Carolina Bans Rare Burgers! Nanny of the Month (May 2011)

Tue, 31 May 2011 07:00:00 EDT

May's biggest busybodies are taking it to poker players and teen tanners, but the nation's top nag has lovers of pink-in-the-middle burgers seeing red.

In a stunning blow to all that is juicy and delicious, the Tar Heel state actually prohibits restaurants from serving rare or medium-rare hamburgers. (And if this crime against meat freedom seems especially un-American, keep in mind that it comes from the same state that once banned Old Glory at public rallies.)

Presenting Reason.tv's Nanny of the Month for May 2011: Terry Pierce of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources!

Approximately 95 seconds.

"Nanny of the Month" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Opening animation by Meredith Bragg.

Go here to watch previous Nanny of the Month episodes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Ron Bailey Discusses Corn Subsides and Oil Prices on Russia Today's The Big Picture

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Science Correspondent Ron Bailey appeared on Russia Today's The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann to discuss how corn subsidies have lead to higher oil and food prices. Air Date: May 10, 2011.

Approximately 9 minutes.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Peter Suderman Talks Food Inflation and Fed Policy on Freedom Watch

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Associate Editor of Reason Magazine Peter Suderman appeared on Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano to talk about food inflation, Federal Reserve policy and whether parents should need a license to become parents. Air date: 4/5/11.

Run time approximately 10 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

LA Food Police Ban Burger Joints: Is Your City Next?

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:00:00 EDT

First Lady Michelle Obama hopes to curb childhood obesity by teaching children about nutrition and exercise. "There's no expert on this planet who says that the government telling people what to do actually does any good with this issue," she says.

But local government officials around the country have already adopted a more forceful tack, whether it's New York's salt assault, San Francisco's frown at Happy Meals or, most recently, South LA's all-out ban on new fast-food restaurants.

Reason.tv spoke with Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks, one of the architects behind the ban, who argues that "in order to force choice into the market, we have to limit one that is overconcentrated and attract others that provide other options."

Reason Magazine editor in chief Matt Welch is skeptical of "the idea that you can create more choices by reducing choices," and fitness consultant and documentary filmmaker Chazz Weaver—who ate McDonald's for 30 days and lost body fat—points out that consumers can eat fast food in moderation and still stay healthy. Reason.tv also spoke with the co-owner of The Burger Stand in South Los Angeles about why he thinks that banning new fast-food restaurants is bad for business and bad for his community.

Writer-Producer: Zach Weissmueller. Senior Producer: Ted Balaker. Camera: Hawk Jensen, Paul Detrick, Alex Manning.

Approximately 8 minutes.

Scroll down for HD, ipod, and audio versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's You Tube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Veronique de Rugy Discusses Farm Subsidies on Bloomberg TV

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

According to some U.S. policy makers, there is a global food crisis that can only be solved through massive government subsidies to farmers and other agricultural producers. In her weekly appearance on Bloomberg TV, Reason columnist Veronique de Rugy explains the truth about the so-called food crisis by separating economic fact from economic myth.

Myth 1: Because of the financial meltdown, and its repercussions on aid, the scale of hunger that we see now is unprecedented; more people face starvation related to disasters than ever before.

Fact 1: In fact, while unacceptably high, starvation deaths per year have been declining for the past 60 or 70 years. Better publicity, grain market integration, and work by aid agencies have decreased human deaths during each food crisis since the late 1950’s.

Myth 2: Congress says farm subsidies insure a food supply for the US and for the World.

Fact 2: U.S. farm subsidies have exacerbated the balloon in world food prices. In fact, economists have found that abolishing domestic subsidies would actually lower world prices for these crops.

Myth 3: Farm subsidies are necessary to bolster farmers' incomes in order to alleviate poverty in the United States.

Fact 3: That rationale made some sense in the 1930s but it doesn’t today. Despite the fact that farm households are doing as well or better than other households, farm households are still targeted for billions of dollars in government payments.

For additional information, see de Rugy’ s article "Is There a Global Food Crisis?"

Approximately 4.05 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and make sure to subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive updates on new content.

Lobsters Invade D.C.!

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:54:00 EST

When the Washington D.C. City Council loosened the rules governing food trucks back in 2007, it led to a culinary explosion in the nation’s capital, enabling District lunch-goers to chow down on bulgogi tacos, pork banh mi, gourmet pizza, and more.

Never known as a place for retail innovation, D.C.’s roving lunch scene is starting to compare favorably with such culinary hotspots as New York and Los Angeles, which has been cracking down on its legendary food trucks via a bevy of arbitrary regulations.

D.C.’s bricks-and-mortar restaurants have done their part to lobby for rules that would hobble the new competition, including pushing for a law that would keep food trucks out of entire neighborhoods.

In December 2010, Reason.tv grabbed lunch from the Red Hook Lobster Pound, one of the District's best-known food truck, to find out why customers were willing to stand in line for an hour in 30-degree weather and fork over $15 for lobster rolls.

Approximately 2 minutes.

Produced, Shot and Edited by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Busybodies, Babes, and Bacon: Presenting Reason.tv's 2010 Nanny of the Year!

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST

They touch our lives in so many ways, and now Reason.tv acknowledges those who tell us that if it looks good, tastes good, or feels good, it should be illegal.

Live (to tape) from the fourth floor of the Sepulveda Center in Los Angeles, California—it's the 2010 Nanny of the Year Awards!

Over the past year, Reason.tv has recognized plenty of busybodies who relish minding other people's business, but who deserves to succeed 2009's winner (Meddlin' Mike Bloomberg), and take home the 2010 Nanny?

Will it be the heartland mayor who sacked the Lingerie Football League? The Peach State pol who sued a man for growing vegetables in his own yard? A member of the food police?

Remember, it's a dishonor just to be nominated. So get your awards season started off right, and tune in to the only black-tie ceremony that delivers busybodies, bikini babes, and bacon!

Approximately 1.53 minutes.

"Reason.tv's 2010 Nanny of the Year Awards" is written and produced by Ted Balaker, who also hosts. Animation: Austin Bragg; Camera: Zach Weissmueller and Hawk Jensen; Voice Over: Rin Palmer

To learn more about our nominees and to watch more Nanny of the Month (and Year) videos, go here.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Raw Foods Raid: The Fight for the Right to Eat What You Want

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:00:00 EST

This summer armed government agents raided Rawesome Foods, a Venice, California health food co-op. What were the agents after? Unpasteurized milk, it turns out.

Raw milk raids are happening all over the United States. The Food and Drug Administration warns that raw milk consumption can cause health problems, but a growing community of raw foods enthusiasts are ignoring government recommendations and claiming that they are getting tastier, more nutritious food by going raw.

Reason.tv visited Rawesome to examine the circumstances of the raid and discovered that this particular raw foods case stretches across county lines and involves at least five separate government agencies, despite the fact that not a single member of Rawesome has complained or been harmed by the raw foods. In fact, members have to sign a contract stating that they understand and accept the risks of consuming raw foods before they are allowed to step inside.

If members of a private club sign a waiver stating that they want to drink a certain type of milk, why is the government getting involved? As Jarel Winterhawk, a manager at Rawesome, puts it, "This is America. How are you going to tell me what I can and cannot eat?"

Though no charges have yet resulted from the raid, Rawesome is threated with shutdown due to the involvement of yet another government agency, Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, and the club's raw goat milk supplier, Healthy Family Farms, has had its dairy license suspended.

"Raw Foods Raid" is written and produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Alex Manning and Weissmueller. Senior Producer is Ted Balaker. Music by Jami Sieber, Five Star Fall, and Kammen and Swan (Magnatune Records).

Approximately 7 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable iPod, HD, and audio versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Anchor Brewing Company: A conversation with craft beer pioneer Fritz Maytag

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:30:00 EDT

Fritz Maytag, longtime owner and brew master of the Anchor Brewing Company, is a central figure in the story of the American craft beer revolution. When Maytag bought Anchor Brewing Company in 1965, he blazed a new trail in the beer industry. At a time when the market was increasingly dominated by big breweries selling inexpensive, watery lagers, Maytag decided to devote his life to creating more flavorful and traditional beers.

While Maytag worked to improve the quality of Anchor's beer, the number of breweries in the US continued to dwindle, and by 1980 there were fewer than 50 breweries in the United States. But then everything began to change. To the home brewers in the Bay Area who began opening their own small breweries in the 80s and 90s, Maytag was both an inspiration and a mentor. Today, astonishingly, there are more than 1500 breweries in the US.

The craft beer revolution is part of what Maytag calls the "food renaissance." Over the past few decades, economic, political, and cultural freedom—coupled with a uniquely American sense of entrepreneurship—has produced more and better choices for American consumers. Remember how difficult it was to find a decent cup of coffee, let alone an espresso, in the 1970s? Well, today we routinely enjoy outstanding coffee, artisan breads and cheeses, superb California wine and, of course, great American beer.

On behalf of craft brew lovers everywhere—thanks, Fritz!

(Maytag recently sold Anchor Brewing Company to the Griffin Group in an arrangement that will maintain the time-honored traditions of the brewery.)

Approximately 10 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of the video and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Free the 'Shine! Why It's Finally Time to Legalize Liquor

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:01:00 EDT

If drinking makes us healthier and wealthier, why is America's liquor policy so screwy?

Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in 1978, and that newfound freedom fueled the craft beer movement that continues to lavish beer lovers with endless choices. But in many ways, laws that govern whiskey, gin, and other distilled spirits are stuck in the 1920s.

Federal agents still raid distilleries much like they did during Prohibition, and making any amount of moonshine at home is not only illegal, it's a felony that can carry up to five years in prison. The result is a market dominated by a few big names, where would-be craftsmen are forced to hide their work.

And yet, despite the danger, America is in the midst of "moonshine renaissance," in which a new wave of hipster hobbyists has joined with old-time 'shiners to flout the law and do what they love to do.

"Free the 'Shine" is written and produced by Paul Detrick and Zach Weissmueller. Senior Producer: Ted Balaker; Additional Camera: Meredith Bragg, Josh Swain, and Alex Manning.

Approximately six minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of the video and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Katherine Mangu-Ward Discusses the "Food Police" on Stossel

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EDT

Reason Magazine Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward debates MeMe Roth on whether the government should ban toys in kids' meals, regulate bake sales, and tax candy with Stossel on July 15, 2010.

Approximately 5.35 minutes.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

New Threats to Freedom: A Reason Event Featuring Adam Bellow, Stephen Schwartz, Christine Rosen, and Katherine Mangu-Ward

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:03:00 EDT

On May 17, 2010, Reason sponsored a panel discussion on the new collection New Threats to Freedom featuring editor Adam Bellow ("Where Have All the Grownups Gone?"), Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward, Stephen Schwartz ("Shariah in the West"), and Christine Rosen ("The New Behaviorists").

New Threats (visit the book's website here) includes contributions from figures such as Christopher Hitchens ("Multiculturalism and the Threat of Conformity"), David Mamet ("The Fairness Doctrine"), Glenn Reynolds ("Liberty and Complacency"), Anne Applebaum ("The Decline of American Press Freedom"), and Reason staffers Katherine Mangu-Ward ("The War on Negative Liberty") and Michael C. Moynihan ("The Anticapitalists").

In his introductory essay, Bellow calls for a reinvigorated debate about the meaning and necessity of freedom in a world that is a generation past the Cold War. Reflecting on figures such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and his own father, the Nobel Prize winning novelist Saul Bellow, he writes,

Many of us assumed that there would always be such people on hand to make the case for freedom and democracy. The loss of many of these outsized intellectual and literary figures in the first decade of this century leaves one wondering whether there are still any grownups around.
But here is a sobering thought: merely to ask the question is to assume responsibility for embracing the task oneself. Resistance doesn't come out of nowhere; it has to be fostered the old-fashioned way, word by word, through magazines and books, think-tank panels, conferences and seminars. We are the grownups now, and we owe it to the next generation to provide a model of how to be serious about ultimate questions.

Approximately 27 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes, Meredith Bragg, and Josh Swain.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For a 4.45 minute interview with Adam Bellow, go here.

Reason Weekend 2010: Nick Gillespie & Liz Williams Talk Culinary Freedom

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EDT

The forces of neo-Prohibitionism are afoot everywhere, seeking to minimize not just our choices when it comes to food and drink, but our very pleasure. In San Francisco, health officials have cracked down on high-end bars that make their own bitters. In New York, raw eggs have been banned from use in cocktails such as sloe gin fizzes. When will it ever stop?

To get a sense of the range and causes of the neo-Prohibitionist mind-set, Reason's Nick Gillespie talked with unabashed culinary freedom fighter Liz Williams, the founder and president of New Orleans' own Southern Food and Beverage Museum.

Williams believes we are what we eat, and we should be free to eat and drink what we want. She is a lawyer by training, has served as a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Army, and is the author of the forthcoming book The Encyclopedia of Law and Food.

Approximately 44 minutes.

This discussion was part of Reason Weekend, an annual conference held by Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes Reason.tv. This year's event took place in New Orleans from April 15-18 in New Orleans.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Cocktail Shakedown: The New War Against Classic Mixed Drinks

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:00:00 EDT

Beat a raw egg white into a citrusy cocktail and you get a meringue-like effect, frothy and delicious. The resulting beverage—technically classified as a flip or fizz—is irresistible, not just to cocktail connoisseurs but to regulators and food cops.

On January 19, 2010 one of New York's cocktail hot spots, the Pegu Club, got in trouble with city health department officials for serving just such a drink.

Despite warnings printed on the menu, and raw egg white listed in the ingredients, a health inspector busted a bartender for failing to verbally inform a customer of the risky ingredient. Pegu Club had to yank the Earl Grey MarTEAni from the menu, restoring it only after the health department backed off serious penalties and a court summons.

America is in the midst of a cocktail renaissance. A cadre of elite mixologists in New York, Portland, D.C., and other creative-class cities is bringing back classics and offering new twists on old techniques. Yet retrograde health inspectors and bureaucrats are cracking down on innovation from coast to coast. Indeed, a San Francisco bar ran afoul of regulations by having the audacity to make its own bitters.

Todd Thrasher is an award-winning mixologist at PX Lounge in Alexandria, Virginia. In this video, he speaks with Reason.tv about the perils of doing booze business in Virginia, the virtues of free choice at the bar, and the relationship between freedom and innovation. All while mixing up a swank fizz cocktail for his interlocutor, Reason Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward.

And for those inclined to play the home version of Reason.tv, here's the recipe for Melanie's Pisco Pipe Dream:

1.5 oz Pisco
.75 oz coconut Water / coconut milk mixture
.75 oz sweetened Meyer lemon juice
.25 oz citrus vinegar
white of one egg
1 tsp powdered sugar

Put all contents in a shaker and dry shake (without ice) for 30 seconds. Add ice, and shake for 1 minute, double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with Meyer lemon-black pepper reduction. Relax and enjoy responsibly.

Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg, who also edited the piece. Approximately 8 minutes long. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions. Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube page and receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Taco Truck Takedown! Why is the LAPD harassing food carts?

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

Taco trucks pull up to curbs and offer LA eaters everything from tofu bowls to Korean barbeque. Customers flock to them, and recently so have police officers. Truck owners report being cited for everything from parking too close to curbs to parking too far away. Sometimes officers shut them down.

Why would law enforcement target taco trucks for nuisance violations?

Turns out nearby restaurants don't like the competition.

"Taco Truck Takedown" is produced by Ted Balaker. The director of photography is Alex Manning, the field producer is Paul Detrick and the production associate is Tannen Wels. Music by Magnatune.

Approximately two-and-a-half minutes.

Go here to subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel and receive automatic notification when new videos go live.

Related Reason.tv video: Food Fight: Battle of the Bacon Dogs, featuring Drew Carey and a woman who served 45 days in jail for selling something that is simply delicious.

Jerome Tuccille on "Gallo Be Thy Name"

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT

When Reason.tv last checked in with author Jerome Tuccille (in July 2008), it was to discuss a new edition of his classic libertarian-movement memoir, It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand.

Now Tuccille is back with a new book that explores the lives and times of Ernest & Julio Gallo, the California brothers who went from relative obscurity to being the biggest winemakers in the world.

Gallo Be Thy Name: The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market is a mesmerizing story of true crime, murder, Prohibition, family drama, and capitalism. It is also an engrossing social history of the last 100 years of America and explains how we went from a nation that gulped Thunderbird, Ripple, Boone's Farm and other Gallo-created plonk to a country of refined Chardonnay and Zinfandel sippers.

Approximately 10 minutes. Interview by Nick Gillespie; shot by Meredith Bragg and Dan Hayes and edited by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for embed code, and iPod and audio versions.

Ethanol

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Ethanol advocates claim that the biofuel is a cheap, renewable energy source that reduces pollution and our dependence on foreign oil. It sounds too good to be true—and it is.

Ethanol, especially the corn-based variety, is bad for taxpayers, bad for consumers, bad for the environment, and horrible for the world's poor. In fact, even environmentalists are critical of ethanol subsidies these days. The ethanol craze has distorted markets and increased the price of food worldwide. The only people who still support ethanol subsidies are the ethanol producers—and politicians from both sides of the aisle. Together, they make sure the subsidies keep coming.

In a recent interview about the current food crisis, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said, "If part of our problem is that the Chinese are going to eat meat and you've got to have corn and soybeans to feed the Chinese their meat, then why isn't it just as legitimate for the Chinese to go back and eat rice as it is for us to change our policy on corn to ethanol?"

Let them eat rice? So that American taxpayers can continue to pay people to turn corn into fuel?

Silly senator, corn is for food.

This seven-and-a-half-minute video explores the case against ethanol subsidies. Hosted by reason's Nick Gillespie and featuring Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey, it was produced by Paul Feine and PF Bentley.

For an audio podcast version, go here.

Baylen Linnekin: The Duckathlon vs. NYC Nanny State Food Bans

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

New York City is simultaneously the ultimate culinary city in the United States and one of the worst offenders when it comes to annoying nanny state bans against substances such as trans fat.

Crispy on the Outside food blogger Baylen Linnekin recently attended the fourth annual Duckathlon, a food competition based in New York and organized by D'Artagnan, a fine foods company that sells everything from foie gras to buffalo-meat hot dogs.

Read Linnekin's account of the Duckathlon—which featured the challenging "Testicle Festival" among other events—at Reason Online and then check out his three-minute reason.tv defense of "culinary freedom," the notion that cooks and customers, not bureaucrats, should decide on what they can and cannot eat.

Interview conducted by Nick Gillespie and shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Food Fight

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:13:00 EDT

Amid the hustle and bustle of downtown Los Angeles, there exists another world, an underground world of illicit trade in—not drugs or sex—but bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Street vendors may sell you an illegal bacon dog, but hardly anyone will talk about it, for fear of being hassled, shut down or worse. Our camera caught it on tape. One minute bacon dogs are sold in plain view, the next minute cops have confiscated carts, and ordered the dogs dumped into the trash.

Elizabeth Palacios is one of the few vendors willing to speak publicly. “Doing bacon is illegal,” she explains. Problem is customers love bacon, and Palacios says she loses business if she doesn’t give them the bacon they demand. “Bacon is a potentially hazardous food,” says Terrence Powell of the LA County Health Department. Continue selling bacon dogs without county-approved equipment and you risk fines and jail time.

Palacios knows all about that. She spent 45 days in the slammer for selling bacon dogs, and with the lost time from work, fines, and attorney’s fees, she fears she might lose the house that bacon dogs helped buy. She must provide for her family, but remains trapped between government regulations and consumer demand. Customers don’t care about safety codes, says Palacios. “They just want the bacon.”

In "Food Fight: Battle of the Bacon Dogs," reason.tv host Drew Carey takes a long look at the human cost of trying to prohibit trade in oh-so-tasty treats.