Comments on: BjË†rky Had a Little Lamb

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 23:57:10 +0000

I have to disagree with everything you (PeterB) said, mainly about the lovely Icelandic delicacy known as Skyr. You have clearly never tasted it, as you call it, “Cottage Cheese That Costs More Than The Stuff You Probably Should Have Bought” because it is in fact NOTHING like cottage cheese.
On the contrary, it is more like a thick yogurt (think Yoplait ‘custard style,’ except thicker). I just came back from a trip to Iceland where Skyr is ubiquitous. It is a wonderful low fat treat that is great for breakfast or as a desert.
My point is that Skyr kept me alive on my trip through Iceland, seeing as it was cheap there and I am a poor college student on a shoe string budget. Yes, it will be more expensive here, but I will pay top dollar for it. It is a delightful food product with no equivalent in North American cuisine. Please try the product that you rant about before incorrectly identifying it for everyone else on this forum. Thanks.

P.S. I agree with some of the other posts by Americans. Your lack of research and analysis makes me ashamed to be born and raised here. On another note, I loved Iceland very much. It was the most beautiful place that I have ever visited. I fulfilled a dream that began when I was 12 years old, and I am saving to go back as soon as I can.
I am also writing a book for my senior thesis about my travels in Iceland/research that I have been doing on Icelandic culture (I am an English major, Sociology minor, so this project works for me! If any Icelanders on this board can help me out with historical facts, etc, please let me know.

By: Bevin

Bevin — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:27:25 +0000

It’s the rudeness and zealous jingoism that are so off-putting. My main point is this: Peter, your article started off as useful insight into American supermarkets, but you lost me and started a “let’s wave our country’s flag” posting war with comments like those in your January 28th post. Sure, you’re trying to say that “I’m not trashing Iceland…I’m trashing Whole Foods for pimping them,” but the sarcasm really hurt your argument.

I came back to the site to see if there was any reasonable response, but all I saw was more mudslinging. Tough luck, huh?

By: ingimar

ingimar — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 22:40:13 +0000

No IÂ¥m not saying that Iceland hunting whales is good and the US doing it is bad, IÂ¥m just pointing out that the US does it too a fact overlooked by way to many Americans. At the same time IÂ¥d say I was saying mind your own business.

While the actual blog was about Whole Foods another commenter had to bring up the whaling thing as a point of argument in how unenvironmental we are. And Peterb is quite possibly only accurate about the branch he does his shopping at. At least his statement is not accurate when it comes to the West Hartford CT branch. They also had American and New Zealand lamb meat in their meat counter at the time they had the Icelandic one. He also makes a statement about Whole Foods carrying the icelandic products to make higher marginal profits. He doesnÂ¥t know that he just claims they do and as I point out heÂ¥s wrong.

I canÂ¥t see how you can see that kind of a comment as something that makes me overtaken by nationalistic pride, I was defending Whole Foods not Iceland. As IÂ¥ve spent a lot of time in the US lately and I do my shopping in Whole Foods when IÂ¥m there (I have tried other supermarkets) and itÂ¥s by far the nicest place to do that, including Icelandic supermarkets.

By: Nat

Nat — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 21:31:34 +0000

You’re simultaneously arguing that Iceland’s whaling isn’t bad, but that the US whales much much more.

It’s incoherent and dumb.

Either whaling is bad, in which case Iceland’s whaling is bad too, or whaling is good, in which case it doesn’t matter how much the US whales. Make up your mind.

This is also completely unrelated to Whole Foods in any way other than that you’re apparently so overtaken by nationalistic pride that you feel the need to yell at strangers online about supermarket marketing.

By: ingimar

ingimar — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:41:21 +0000

Your point being?

By: peterb

peterb — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:28:00 +0000

Hi. Please make up your mind if you’re arguing “Well, your mother is a dirty whore, too” or “Hey, being a dirty whore isn’t a bad thing!”

Thanks!

-peterb

By: Ingimar

Ingimar — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:15:18 +0000

We havenÂ¥t been doing commercial whale hunting since the late 1980Â¥s. The last two years we have been hunting 38 animals a year for scientific purposes. You can call that sucking at it if it makes you feel better.

So I was wrong about The Us ranking as the number one whale hunting nation. Boohoo. I donÂ¥t care if the whale hunting Americans do is for aboriginals or not. If you have to be leading in banning other nations to hunt whales stop doing it yourselfs. IÂ¥m sure those people can find something else to do.

The whale stock in Icelandic waters is not and hasnÂ¥t been endangered since the early 1920Â¥s when foreign whale hunters were forced to leave and the government established a quota that remained until the whale hunting ban to protect the population.

By: Dr. Click

Dr. Click — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 02:31:56 +0000

> look for the facts yourself

How much does Iceland SUCK if it has an official whaling program, and yet manages to catch FEWER whales than the US?

But I digress. The real point is that you should have looked at the facts yourself. If you look at the catch tables from the International Whaling Commission:

http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/table_aboriginal.htm
http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/table_permit.htm

the US ranks *fourth* (third on a good year) behind Japan, Denmark, and Russia. Once you exclude the aboriginal catch, the US has caught the grand total of *zero* whales each year since the commercial whaling moratorium took effect in 1986.

Now, would you like a side of crow with that whale?

By: Ingimar

Ingimar — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 23:45:33 +0000

IÂ¥m really not sure I should be wasting my time making a comment to this, but I will anyway.

My girlfriend bought icelandic lamb meat at Whole Foods in West Hartford CT last fall and it was nowhere near the price you mentioned.At the same time they had American and New Zealand lamb and the Icelandic one was the cheapest. ThatÂ¥s not all I know for a fact, being Icelandic and reading the newspapers here that Whole Foods are buying the Kg for more than $10 FOB so they canÂ¥t be making huge profits.

She was a bit bummed out that her Whole Foods branch wasnÂ¥t carrying skyr, the product you mistake for being cheese, itÂ¥s not cheese for some absurd reason the US government demands of classifying it a such though to get more money in customs. Still youÂ¥re getting the product at a similar price as we get it in Iceland. That bummes us out.

I did read that CIA fact thing recently and itÂ¥s ridiculus. ItÂ¥s a joke.

On your whale hunting comment. No nation in the world kills as many whales as you Americans do, you can look for the facts yourself.

By the way whale meat is delicious.

By: Bevin

Bevin — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 00:06:59 +0000

PeterB,

What a nice, mature response you have to SB. I guess it’s your right to say whatever you want on your post, but please. You seem to have taken SB’s comments quite personally. Not everyone thinks skyr is disgusting. It can be sweet and fulfilling, unlike the your non-fact-based, generalized criticism of all things foreign. Come on, “Icelanders poop talcum powder and pee only the sweetest, purest spring water”? Are you TRYING to start a flame war? Or you can you not help being an ass?

Bloggers like you make me ashamed to call myself a born-and-bred American.