Meat&Poultry - July 2012 - 98

The Insider

Presidential welcome

OVER HERD

“President Obama, Jesus, Bobby Flay, and Ronald Reagan.”
—Most frequent names (in order) given by Americans responding to the question: Who would you most like to invite to a grill-side chat for the July 4th holiday? (Source: The
2012 Char-Broil Sizzle Study).

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
During a visit this past month to the American Meat Institute’s Washington DC office, M&P staffers were amused to see a new portrait hanging in the lobby area, which portrayed generations of Republican presidents playing poker together, with their attention fi xed on Abraham Lincoln. All look to be sharing a laugh courtesy of the bearded executive and chief. “Grand Ol’ Gang,” painted by Andy Thomas, is hard for AMI visitors to miss and we felt was a not-so-passive endorsement of the Republican Party just months before the Presidential election. ■ First there was the meat dress. Now there’s a new exhibit named “Meat Horizon” by Philadelphia artist Barbara Weissberger that is on display at the Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Mont. The artist is on the faculty of the Univ. of Pittsburgh. In describing this exhibit, it is said her kaleidoscopic wall collages appear to be beautiful flowers, among other things. But in looking closer, they are arrangements of images of flowers and pieces of raw meat. By adding mirrors, Weissberger said she has constructed a series of reflecting Rorschach images, explains writer Marga Lincoln in the Independent Record. “I am interested in the psycho(Photo courtesy of Jessica Smith)

Burger destinations
For travelers looking for carnivorous vacation spots this summer, we were pleased to see Travel+Leisure readers include a Kansas City burger institution in its 2012 ranking of the country’s top 35 burger cities. T+L ranked Providence, RI, as the top spot for burger indulgence, especially for the New England Grass-Fed Burger served at Local 121 and the Hereford sliders on the menu of Harry’s Bar and Burger. Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston and San Juan, PR rounded out the top five burger cities respectively (and deliciously). Other cities are noted for their use of Angus or Wagyu beef, while others get high marks for topping burgers with a fried duck egg or shaved truffles. Just minutes from the Meat&Poultry offices, Blanc Burgers + Bottles, helped push KC to the No. 8 position, and we will attest to its validity and worthiness for serving high quality burgers in a town where diners know their beef. ■

logical aspect ... the tension between beauty and disgust,” Weissberger said. Weissberger began using meat in her artwork in 2005, when she did a series of cartoons using the hamburger as an American icon. Meat became metaphor. “Meat is both body and food; in turns beautiful and repulsive; both nature and culture,” she writes in her artist statement. ■

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Meat&Poultry - July 2012

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