Great read

Hello!
A friend recommended a really great book to me called "The Butcher and the Vegetarian".
Blurb about book from Amazon:
Food-writer Weaver grew up in a Northern California vegetarian household, but later developed health issues—overwhelming fatigue and weight gain—that prompted her doctor to recommend she eat meat. She started out slowly with chicken stock and worked her way through chimichurri, chateaubriand, blood sausage, Martha Stewart’s crown roast, and barbecued meat of all sorts. The year-long experience changed her life as she encountered appealing butchers, meat clubs for girls only, and cowboys on eco-friendly ranches. Struggling with the guilt of eating flesh, she plunged into a deep examination of food as nutrition and sustenance versus the object of lust and gratification. She explores the different types and motivations of vegetarians, recalling childhood memories of wanting to be accepted among the meat-eaters and cheating outside her mother’s home. Weaver touches on the emotional, ethical, economic, nutritional, ecological, and gustatory issues involving meat and food in general that have been highlighted by Michael Pollan and others. This is a mouthwatering excursion through environmental and food issues with what may be a surprising denouement for most readers.

In the book, Weaver visits a few ranches that are trying to make their operations as eco-friendly and humane as possible. Ranches that graze cows on actual grass to slaughtering the animals in sight of the fields they grazed in, she doesn't shy away from really understanding where her food is coming from. She talks quite a bit about the ecological impact of society's food choices, and eating locally. I was kind of surprised at how much she talked about it. Its a pretty fast read, entertaining, and probably familiar since you've taken Andy's class =) .

Hope you're having a great summer!
Christina

Will we get an electric car?

I probably wouldn't have posted this a while back as it seems to have little to do with the good stuff: FOOD.

But after a whole semester I know how related vehicles and food are:

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/who-killed-the-electric-car/

This is a pretty great documentary. There is lots in here I didn't know. If you watch it, I'd love to hear what you thought here.

-NLP

eat or not to eat turtles?

I came to a grocery store in Chinatown near where I live and I saw this store also selling live turtles with other seafoods and meat, ready to be butchered. Eating turtle seems very strange for me, while it is very common for Chinese culture in the name of having good sex drive and maintain good health. I wonder if selling turtles for food consumption is legal in US since turtle often seen as endangered species world wide.

I found the link that show how a guy butchered these turtles in one grocery store in Chicago Chinatown, I thought it kinda cruel :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CCqEL3SjAw

-Camelia

My roommate joined a volunteer work called Celebration Of Hope program through Willow Creek Church to pack seeds to help feed and fight hunger Zimbabwe families. I thought this program is interesting because instead sending the Zimbabwean families food, they send them seeds and volunteer trainers that can help them to grow their own foods to stabilize their community's hunger. The farmland of Zimbabwe once earned the country its nickname "The Breadbasket of Africa", then hyper-inflation of economy, struggling with AIDS and decline of commercial farm production has led Zimbabwe into poverty and hunger crisis.

Celebration of Hope program support Zimbabwe families to grow their own crops with sending these seeds. The harvest from one family garden can support six to eight people for a year, and surplus crops can be sold, providing income to meet basic needs. Check out the volunteer website if you interesting to join summer work they have: willowcreek.org/coh

-Camelia

Pig Business-The Impact of Factory Pig Farms

I just received an email from the Center for Food Safety regarding the devastating global impact of factory pig farms on our environment, human health, rural communities, and animal welfare.

"Pig Business, featuring Robert Kennedy, Jr., and UK eco-campaigner and director Tracy Worcester, reveals how U.S. concentrated agriculture feeding operations (CAFOs) are now moving to Eastern Europe—particularly to Poland—and demonstrates the link between clearing forests in the Amazon to grow soy for feed to pig farms."

http://www.pigbusiness.co.uk/

Here is a link to the youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz1_knWUpVk

Also, here is a link to "The Meatrix": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEkc70ztOrc

~Bree

Community Supported Agriculture available to chicago residents

Hey everyone,
I came across this CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program that this farm called Genesis Growers who are located in St. Anne, IL have. I was looking into doing a CSA for the summer and signed up for these guys one. I figured id post their website if anyone was also interested in signing up for one themselves, they offer summer,fall, spring, and all year round options ! Its a great way to directly support your local farmers and get the freshest produce available, weekly. They also sell at Green City Market farmers market which is open every other week now, but will be open every week during the summer ! yumyum!



http://www.genesis-growers.com/aboutcsa.htm



-Maggie

Prison Cookery

Last weekend I attended "Prison Cookery," a talk/demonstration by chef Brinton Holland, organized by the curatorial team It Takes Two to Stereo (IT2TS) and hosted by the Op Shop, an experimental art and community space in Hyde Park.

Prison inmates get $55-75 every two weeks to spend on various (mainly) snack foods from the prison commissary. Brinton showed us how to make a few recipes, derived from his interviews with ex-convicts, that inmates in Texas prisons have devised using these foods as ingredients. The recipes included the "Prison Burrito," which consists of crushed-up ramen noodles, ramen flavoring, and potato chips (in several flavors) mixed together with hot water and kneaded into a burrito shape, and "Prison Cheesecake," which consists of a filling made of powdered milk, Sprite, and fruit jelly in a graham cracker or cookie crumb crust.

Brinton talked a little about the reasons inmates make these dishes; one big one is simple boredom. Another is that prison cafeterias are staffed by prisoners, and rivalries or vendettas (gang-related or otherwise) can mean you might not get served enough food, or that the food you are served is unsafe or unhygienic. He also made and ate this food for a month and a half to get a feel for what it was like, and said that the dishes actually started to taste like the foods they were supposed to represent (burritos, pizza, tamales, casseroles), and that they were more filling than the individual snack foods eaten separately, but that the experience left him feeling sick and exhausted—not surprising, considering the ingredients.

More info and pictures in these posts on the IT2TS blog: Prison Cookery at the OP Shop, Prison Cookery pictures

Arend

Fish Chocolate

I was at Wallgreens today and I came across these Dark Chocolate Squares. These squares seem to be fortified with heart healthy Omega 3 fats obtained from fish such as Sardines and Mackerels. I was going to pick it up but I decided to go home and look up reviews for the product first.(since it was kind of expensive-$15)

I'm very glad I did! Most reviews I read said the chocolates were inedible. It also said that the fish oil they were using weren't distilled like it is in fish oil capsules. Maramor's failure is very unfortunate because if there really was an omega 3 supplement that tasted like chocolate I would be very willing to purchase it!

Shreya

The Saga of Salmonella in Pringles

In what may be the largest food recall ever, the FDA is asking for a recall of products including Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, or "HVP"

As the FDA reports, the HVP in question was manufactured by Basic Food Flavors, Inc., in Las Vegas, NV.

"HVP is a flavor enhancer used in a wide variety of processed food products, such as soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips, and dressings. It is often blended with other spices to make seasonings that are used in or on foods."

The extensive "sprinkling"of this flavor enhancer in the food system points to the difficulties of food safety today. Stephen Colbert points out the strange way this affects particular foods, like Pringles...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Consumer Alert - Pringles
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

AY

Raw Milk > Paralysis?

The purported health benefits of unpasteurized milk versus the risks weighed in the recent case of a Pennsylvania man...

If you can't see the video, go HERE

AY

Salty Problems

A new report recommends the FDA release and enforce new guidelines for salt in processed foods (to download the PDF of the actual report, click HERE).

It claims Americans consume an average of double the recommended daily allowance of salt, a pattern that they claim lead to increased rates of stroke and heart attack, and thus major expense to the US healthcare system.

A brief video lays out the basics - watch the CBS News Videos Online


Data from the report certainly lays out the increase in salt intake over the last few of decades:

Maybe throw that extra dash over your shoulder for good luck rather than on your dinner, yeah?

AY

Meat Industry Introduces New Easy-Tear Perforated Beef

Now that is what I call a product of the industrial and processed food system!

From this reputable news source

AY

info about farming!

dear class,

thank you so much for listening to our presentation during last class!

if you have any comments or questions about our project, please ask.

here is the link to the garden/farm that we are volunteering:

-Ginkgo Organic Gardens

(every saturday from 10-1pm, off sheridan red line stop)

here is the link to the urban gardening festival that we will going to visit this coming saturday

( april 24, 2010) at the garfield park conservatory:

-GreenNet's 18th Annual Green & Growing Fair

(starts from 10 to 3pm, free admission)

and here is the link to the green festival at navy pier on may 22-23, 2010:

-Chicago Green Festival

(free admission with student id, want volunteer? here)

hope you will join them.

lets "farm out"!

by misato and georgi go to kenya

(http://misatoandgeorgi.wordpress.com/)

The Ultimate Cake Off

The greatest cake artists in the world go head to head in competition to build the ultimate cake. Each week, three renowned cake decorators lead their teams to build cakes over five feet tall, weighing hundreds of pounds. These cakes are themed to fit a marquee event where the winning cake will be showcased as a centerpiece.

Chunky Chester, a great Indiana baker, created this edible green creature entirely out of fondant and cake.

-shreya

Garbage Diet - literally!

For small animals eating can be hazardous given the vast quantities of garbage humans dispose of in the ocean. A report this week by scientists and their analysis of a beached whale's stomach content in Seattle grimly attest to this fact:

"...it had a large amount of garbage in its stomach — ranging from a pair of sweat pants to a golf ball. The scientists say most of the whale's stomach contents was algae — typical of the bottom-feeding mammals. But they say a surprising amount of human debris was found. Besides the pants and golf ball, there were more than 20 plastic bags, small towels, duct tape and surgical gloves."

AY

if you know how to raise pigs, you know how to raise Enviropigs!

The Enviropig™....

Developed at the University of Guelph, in Guelph, Ontario Canada.

"...is a trademark used to designate a genetically modified line of Yorkshire pigs that produces phytase in the salivary glands (parotid, submaxillary and sublingual), and secretes the enzyme in the saliva... Since the Enviropig™ is able to digest cereal grain phosphorus there is no need to supplement the diet with either mineral phosphate or commercially produced phytase, and there is less phosphorus in the manure."

They claims that the Enviropig has two benefits:

1) it reduces feed cost

2) reduces the potential of water pollution

Read more about the Enviropig's...

-Technology

-Environmental Benefits

-Commercialization & Regulatory

-Societal and Ethical Issues

-Features, Performance, Pictures

Here is an article about the Enviropig in

“Genetically engineered meat close to your table” November 22 2008, Toronto Star

Cathy Holtslander, community organizer with Saskatchewan-based Beyond Factory Farming, says "The model of high-intensity large-scale hog production hasn't worked even from the point of view of profitability and survival of the hog industry. So it's a failed model, and introducing a genetically modified pig to a failed model is not going to be beneficial, it's not going to solve that problem, and I really wonder about the impact.”

--Miso

rBGH & Puberty - preemptive strike

Dangers of rGBH "Wal-Mart Milk" @ Snopes

Somatotropins (growth hormones) are not the same as gonadotrpins (sexual development hormones), and they don't cross functions, especially when applied to different species.

Why is puberty coming earlier for girls today? @ HowStuffWorks

...this hormone isn't a steroid like estrogen, and it's destroyed too quickly during digestion to have any real effect on the human reproductive system. Right now, the biggest culprit seems to be the super-sized American diet. The rate of obesity in children ages 2 to 11 has nearly tripled over the last few decades [source: CDC]. Fat cells produce estrogen, as well as the hormone leptin, which can stimulate the release of the hormones that trigger puberty.

The truth behind early puberty @ Livescience

On average, African American girls show signs of puberty, with breast development and chemical changes in their bodies, almost two years sooner than white girls, at age 8.8. This is according to the largest study on precocious puberty, involving over 17,000 girls, by Marcia Hermann-Giddens of the University of North Carolina, published in 1997 in the journal Pediatrics.

So it's not the milk and it's probably the fatty diets, though we can't rule out pollution from plastics in some cases. And based on what I know about the regrettable history of women and the medical profession, I wouldn't be surprised if puberty isn't starting earlier at all - we're just looking for it.

-Brett

Portion Control

I came across an interview that was mainly about how this couple managed to save money. There was a section of the interview that caught my eye and it briefly talks about the amount of food we eat rather than just buying organic food.

"
Aside from driving less and being happy with a smaller house, what other significant things we should cut back on?

Eating lower on the food chain, for one. I try to spend only a dollar a pound on food. It's a myth that it costs more to eat healthy. You can spend a lot, but when you think about the kinds of things we should eat the most of--whole grains, legumes, and produce--they tend to cost less per pound than things that are bad for us like red meat and many processed foods that are high in trans saturated fats. I encourage people to eat more meals at home. Forty-five percent of the average U.S. family food budget is spent on food prepared outside of home. And they cost an average of 80 percent more than preparing the same food at home. There's a lot of waste, too. According to the USDA, about 25 percent of food is thrown away, so arguably you could reduce your spending here by 25 percent simply by being smarter about food storage and portion control.

You write a lot about the relationship between being frugal and environmentally conscious on thedailygreen.com. Any takeaways?

For most Americans, the greenest thing you can do is consume less, which probably means spending less. I think there's some hypocrisy in the current green movement, even though I've been an ardent environmentalist my whole adult life. I fear that the so-called green movement is catching on now because there's a bunch of cool, expensive green stuff we can by. It's become what I call a "cause de stuff." Much of the current environmental movement in the U.S. seems to be built around the very thing it should be seeking to combat ... rampant consumerism. Take green cleaning products. They tend to be more expensive than the toxic products. But you can clean almost everything with baking soda and vinegar, which are safer for the environment than green products and cost less than any other cleaning products, green or toxic. Hybrid vehicles are another example. It's cool now to own a $35,000 Prius, although driving a gas guzzler to work instead is better for the environment IF you carpool with four friends. Sure, the greenest choice would be to carpool in a hybrid, but I don't see Americans being that committed to environmentalism. We're really mostly committed to buying cool, expensive, green stuff. That's the hypocrisy I'm talking about.

You must make big purchases every now and then. What's your strategy?

I'm a big believer in the Consumer Reports approach to shopping. Buyer's remorse is at epidemic proportions. How is spending money on something we'll regret later a good thing? It makes us poorer, and clearly hasn't made us happy. My advice is to have a mandatory waiting period. Wait at least a week after you see something in the store that you want. I guarantee that half the time, you won't go buy it.

Once or twice a year, I look at the things I've spent more money on, and ask myself one simple question: "If I had it to do over again, would I have spent that money?" I call it a 'what heck was I thinking? audit." Maybe you'll see that you spend a lot on restaurant meals that you regret. I noticed that when I had a regular 9-to-5 job, when I was stressed at work, I'd often buy things I regretted later. It's a way of helping you learn from your mistakes and change your spending behavior.

"

for the full article, please see this:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-Be-a-Savvy-usnews-3454225752.html?x=0

Also, Mark Bittman also mentions about eating less in this TED talk. I'm not too sure if this has been posted but it relates to this:

http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html

-Cleo

Relaunching Lunch in Chicago Public Schools

1
A Chicago Tribune feature from this week discusses groups working in schools to improve student nutrition and education around food, a video here on an apple experience.



and pictures of CPS kids getting into cooking...

2
A couple weeks back the Chicago Tribune reported on local students speaking out about the food they are served at school:

One by one, they enumerated the "slop" they are served in school cafeterias and implored officials to change the contract guiding food services at the district. Specifically, they lamented the nachos, pizza and burgers offered almost daily.

"Access to nutrient-poor, calorie-rich food is the norm," said Brian Damacio, a sophomore at Social Justice High School. "If we're lucky, the cheese looks normal."

3
And a few local parents and activists are exploring CPS lunch first hand, including the blog Fed Up with Lunch: The School Lunch Project

Some particularly interesting ones of late include:
Day 60: Popcorn Chicken

French School Lunch


AY

Putting your Money Where your Mouth Is?

Some physicians are criticizing the choice by major life and health insurance companies to invest heavily in Fast Food resturant chains, claiming it is contradictory for major health providers to be so heavily supporting food industries known to be unhealthful:

"If the insurance industry is willing to invest in products known to be harmful and/or kill people then, prima facie, this is not an industry that actually cares about health and well-being."

AY

French Documentary " The World According to Monsanto" shows the company in a grim light

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/monsanto_movie080307

I came across this french documentary about Monsanto when looking more into GM foods. After watching the trailer, it looks very promising and quite interesting. It specifically covers GM foods and their impact globally on farmers. Also, I was talking to my roommate about GM foods and she told me that lots of dairy companies were sued a few years ago by Monsanto in her home state, Maine. I found this article in the The Portland Press Herald about Maine farmers opposition to this agribusiness giant:

http://www.pressherald.com/archive/farmers-foodies-and-activists-take-on-a-giant_2009-10-13.html?searchterm=Oakhurst+dairy

-Maggie

India-Genetically Modified Eggplant

An Indian-based firm Mahyco backed by the American seed giant Monsanto applied for approval of introducing bt-Brinjal in India.

If sown, it shall sprout to become world’s first-ever genetically modified vegetable.

Paying little or no heed to yet to be concluded worldwide debate on playing with the genes or as technically called the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), the Biotechnology regulatory body in India - Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) recommended bt-Brinjal to its parent ministry.

However, the most recent decision (as of April 13th in the Hindu Newspaper) has stated that

"In the wake of strong views in favour and against allowing commercial cultivation of genetically modified Bt brinjal, the government on Thursday sought to take a middle path by putting the report in the public domain for wider consultation."

-Shreya

Botany of Desire

This comes in book form, but for those of us who are students and not only taking Ecology of Food and may not have time to read the book right now, it also comes in DVD form. It's probably not as in-depth as the book, but it's pretty good. It's put out by PBS and you can get it through the i-share catalogue.

-Etta

Kilgus Farmstead Milk

Last week we were talking about milk and where we get it and the price, etc. I just wanted to share about this local milk that I've been buying recently. I looked up the farm and they seem to be doing good things (pasture-feeding their cows, for one) and the milk is good too. It's alittle pricy ($3.50/half gallon) but I think it's worth it for supporting a local producer and for the product that you're getting - as we know, "Happy milk comes from happy cows". It can be purchased at this nice local foods store downtown, Chicago's Downtown Farmstand, which has local food all year, and also at the Green City Market.

-Etta

Food Resources from Huffington Post

I was looking at news on Huffington Post and saw a link to their food page. I believe it's new, and I excitedly clicked on it to check it out. It has a lot of articles, links, images, and pages, including many that are relevant to topics we have discussed and things that we've looked at in class.

-Etta

Intelligent Design and Natural Selection

Interesting video on intelligent design and natural selection, covers DNA and complexity of cells.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5585125669588896670#

~Bree

Future Food

If you have heard of the innovative, and expensive restaurant, Moto then you may have heard of the TV show Future Food that focuses on the crazy things that are made in the lab... I mean kitchen.

Here is a link to a video clip of the show.

I don't know anything about their food ethics, such as where they get their meat or if they use organic products but I do know that have an edible menu.

-Liberty

Food Regulation in the News - Toys in Food; Street Vendors in Minneapolis

In following up on our conversation from this last week about the government regulating food, a recent poll published a couple days ago seems to show Americans are not that interested, taking the view they know what is best:

For example Americans polled overwhelmingly (82%) rejected that the government should regulate the use of toys in kids meals as an anti-obesity measure. overall, 93% said the parents know what is best for a child's health, not the government.

I think the latter poll question itself poses a problematic and false dichotomy in the way it is asked - perhaps parents could/should know best, but is that to say that the government or its regualtions couldn't substantially help?

In other food law news....

A report from this week on how Minneapolis is could "spice up" its culinary options by relaxing street vendor laws, but just to what extent the city will really allow it is still up for debate...






AY

Carnivorous Plants Getting Sick on the Flies?

That is the suggestion by UK scientists trying to find answers to the global decrease in carnivorous plants worldwide. Such plants still do photosynthesis, but typically live in nutrient poor soils where supplementation from insects is a benefit. Researchers are wondering though if flies contaminated with heavy metals like cadmium are poisoning these otherwise autotrophic creatures, as the metal appear to stunt plant growth....


AY

"slimming soybeans" ?

We were talking this past week in class about food nutrients(specifically trans and monounsaturated fats) that differ in how they help us regulate cholesteroal and fat metabolism, as well as affect inflammation.

This report today discusses a peptide (short protein) found in soybeans that seems to be beneficial in terms of down regulating inflammation and enhancing metabolism in positive ways.

Interestingly the research was done at the University of Illinois, but funded by Monsanto. Perhaps the futre (as the article suggests) is the creation of "nutriceuticals" like this peptide to help with helath and weight loss? The fountain of youth in a bean....

AY

Pork Chop as a Whale Dish? Complexities of the global food chain...

white-sided dolphin hunt in the Faroe Islands

A recent report is querying whether Iceland is exporting ground up whale meat for use as a deitary protein supplement for livestock in Europe. Cows are herbivores by nature, but it doesn't mean you can't slip other things into their feed, making the whole issue of trophic food webs that much more complex...

Most countries now do not support commercial whaling, with Iceland, Norway and Japan being notable and controversial exceptions. This is especially true for Japan and their whale hunt that continues to draw aggressive protests and lots of media attention. The recent movie The Cove has highlighted the dolphin hunt in a small fishing village in Japan, raising the ire not only of animal advocates but health ones as well; considering the high levels of mercury found in their meat, many think eating whale simply doesn't make nutritional sense.

And perhaps not good culinary and business sense either, as owners of the California sushi restaurant, The Hump, recently found out when they were busted for illegally serving whale.

AY

I just came across an interesting educational game about globalization that demonstrates how to build a McDonald's from the ground up. It includes an animated web of interconnections necessary to create products like the hamburger and brand identity such as "demolishing a village to create pasture land to raise cattle" or "demolishing a village to grow soy beans".

Check it out!

http://www.mcvideogame.com/game-eng.html

~Bree

Food Revolution (in America?)

I briefly mentioned British chef Jamie Oliver's campaign to change the quality and nutrition of school lunches in England - and now he's started his project here in the US - "Jamie's Food Revolution."

In fact at this site you can even watch the first two episodes of the show, which I highly recommend. It highlights the issues of nutritional guidelines, the American industrial food system, and food culture in amazing and disturbing ways.

Not everyone thinks the show will be a success, including fellow TV Brit Ricky Gervais:

"His heart's in the right place, but he's got no chance. No way. They know what's making them fat -- it's all the pies. They know, so that so if you go, 'Those pies are fattening,' they're not going, 'Oh really? I thought it was the jogging.' Fat people don't get fat behind their own backs. ... They know why they're fat and they like it."

But the show is supposed to be the end-goal in itself, but a component a a bigger revolution, hence the online petition he is asking people to sign. A little vague in what it sems to be going for, but it will be interesting to see just how many sign on to the possibility of not only improving school food, but also advocating that cooking skills be re-integrated into school curricula.

Check it all out...

AY

GOOD

My friend introduced me to this site which has various interesting articles about pretty much everything under the sun. The section for Food is very interesting. Also, this site is littered with amazing information graphics so be sure to look out for those.

Here are a few articles worth reading and related to what we have been discussing so far:

Here's a debate about people discussing if meat should be eaten or not.
http://www.good.is/post/reasonable-people-disagree-about-meat/

For interesting info graphics, here's one of every fast-food burger in america:
http://www.good.is/post/map-of-every-fast-food-hamburger-in-america/

Also, here's a simple list that shows how each food is using energy:
http://www.good.is/post/a-list-of-foods-by-environmental-impact/

Here's putting food production for Manhatten specifically in a silent film:
http://www.good.is/post/could-manhattan-feed-manhattan/

And in one of the quiz 7 questions on why a salad costs more than a big mac, here's a neat graph that shows you why:
http://www.good.is/post/why-does-a-salad-cost-more-than-a-big-mac/

Enjoy!

-Cleo

Walmart vs. Wholefoods???!

I recently heard that Whole Foods' new competition is Walmart.  This may be seen as a good thing for those who couldn't afford organic food before, but how is this going to effect the organic food industry?  Could this be some start of a shift in food accessibility or just another instance of greenwashing?

The Great Grocery Smackdown

-Amelia

weird food - Japan

Calpis Water, Onomichi, Hiroshima-ken. Try saying "Calpis Water" ten times in rapid succession. Mmm...mmm, nothing can quench a summer thirst like half a litre of chilled bovine urine. Quite wisely, this product is sold overseas as "Calpico Water". This product is similar to Pocari Sweat and Post water.






Lotte Coffee, Japan. A coffee-flavoured chewing gum that leaves your breath coffee-fresh.














Potato Chips, Japan. "Winter's Potato Chips: Creamy Stew Flavour". Every month in Japan, a multitude of new snack foods are born only to tragically die before their best-before dates a few weeks later. This is yet another one of them. While being somewhat creamy, they don't taste anything like the cream stew pictured. It's more like a sour cream and onion chip minus the sour and the onion.

Relief Chocolate, Japan: a Disney branded laxative?

Potato Chips, Japan. "American Burger Flavour". Every month in Japan, a multitude of new snack foods are born only to tragically die before their best-before dates a few weeks later. This is one of the more interesting ones.

Wasabi Choco, Japan. The text on the right reads: "Is it sweet? Is it spicy? A new chocolate sensation!" You've got white chocolate in my Japanese horseradish! You've got Japanese horseradish in my white chocolate!

by Jee Ah Yoon

Workplace Turmoil, Stress And Obesity Linked By Rochester Study

Workplace Turmoil, Stress And Obesity Linked By Rochester Study

"A new study that provides a snapshot of a typical American workplace observed that chronic job stress and lack of physical activity are strongly associated with being overweight or obese..."

Read the full news report HERE

Jee Ah Yoon

doomsday vault

follow the link to watch.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/26/norway.seeds/index.html

-Emily

What do Pepsi, the NFL and Truvia (another artificial sweetener disguised as a healthy alternative to sugar) all have in common?

The desire to maintain a positive image and make more money, of course.

http://www.refresheverything.com/

Isn’t it ironic that the multi-million-dollar companies that are most part of the problem like to pretend that they’re part of the solution. This website outlines Pepsi's large social media based "goodwill campaign" from this past SuperBowl.

http://www.nfl.com/partner?partnerType=refresh-project

I also found it interesting that both Pepsi and Coca Cola are using the FDA approved Truvia , an artificial sweetener manufactured from Stevia, the naturally occurring and highly beneficial herb that coincidentally has not been able to receive FDA approval.

http://www.bevreview.com/2009/01/01/coke-pepsi-introduce-drinks-with-stevia-artificial-sweetener/

http://www.ktradionetwork.com/2010/03/10/the-truviastevia-fda-conspiracy/

"Truvia(TM), AKA RebianaŽ is an abbreviation for Rebaudioside A, one of the many sweet-tasting compounds in Stevia. Rebaudioside A has the least bitter after-taste of all compounds in natural Stevia, that’s why the Coca Cola Company, faced with mounting consumer pressure to remove Aspartame from their products got it rushed to FDA approval."

-Bree

COFFEE LUWAK, World's most expensive coffee from Palm Civet Dung!

COFFEE LUWAK, World's most expensive coffee from Palm Civet Dung.

When I grew up in Indonesia, I heard the myth about this special coffee that going through natural fermentation inside Palm Civet guts and its result as fine, rare and expensive coffee waste in Civet's dung. Then I found out that it wasn't a myth, though I never have a chance to taste it myself. Related to what we learn in class, I'm not sure why the cost is so expensive, is it because the cost of travel distance or because the limited source of Civet population itself. Overall, it still worth to try this unique taste!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCG31fSAr4M

Kosher Song

LH

The School Lunch Project

A teacher is fed up with school lunches. She has decided to take on a year long project - to eat school lunches like the kids in her school do everyday for the year 2010.

This project is to raise the awareness of how the food children are eating in their schools is affecting their well-being and success in school.

This is her blog that she updates daily. Other than showing what she eats, she also has guest bloggers come on and post what other teachers eat at their own schools.

http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

I think it's also good to be aware of not just young school kids but even college students' meals and what they have chosen to eat. Many students in our school actually don't know how to cook. Currently the Residential College in the dormitories has set up some cooking classes in their curriculum but that only reaches to a small group of students.

I think a great way to teach people to cook is to have cooking gatherings and start a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution! A Jamie Oliver Food Revolution is where you teach a recipe to someone you know and they have to pass that recipe on to someone else. Like Pay It Forward but there's food involved so you know it'll be good!


- Cleo

The Charcuterie Underground

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-charcuterie-underground-outlaw-bacon-curers-and-sausage-grinders/Content?oid=1241681

Last year, the Chicago Reader ran this story about "underground" meat which operates outside the eye of the USDA, which prevents independent processors to sell meat as retail unless it is prepared in a licensed commercial facility. With the local food movement growing, E & P Meats have no problem finding a client base - people want meat that is "made by hand".

"It's no longer scary to know what's in your sausage," says Erik [of E&P]. "It's just pork shoulder and about five spices."

Really interesting (and a little drool-worthy) article, which brings up the food safety legislation that independent producers have to deal with, when the regulations are written for industrial production.


- Stephanie

Pig farmer - insider

Hey again!

This week in class we watched about cow/meat farmers, and how meat is processed.
and it reminded me of this episode from This American Life. In their season 1 dvd of This American Life, Ira Glass talks about Pork/pig farming, and how pigs are fed to be eaten. The pigs are without immune systems and can grow exponentially. It's crazy.

Here is a short clip of the show.

I own it on dvd if anyone wants to watch the full episode!


Enjoy!
Jocelyn

book review: Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal

Hey class,

I highly recommend this book, "Food That Harms, Food that Heal"

You can get yourself a used copy on amazon for a penny.
but the knowledge you get from reading this is priceless.

It is a A to Z guide to basic food and health knowledge. It is well organized and has lots of sample case study to help breakdown complicated ideas..butter or margarine: which is better?

It's a fun and easy read!

Click on this link to the amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Foods-That-Harm-Heal-Healthy/dp/0895779129

Jocelyn

Are penguins getting cold?

I was very surprised to come across this article AND picture on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1256577/One-rare-bird-Black-penguin-suffers-zillion-mutation.html. I was thinking, why? Is he cold? Maybe he will be the warmest of all, or, if its a female, her baby/egg may stay very warm under her coat. I have to admit, I am still a little suspect about the picture- its just so crazy!

np