Thinking about food can make you less hungry?

I was flipping channels yesterday and came across CBS talking about a new study being done at Carnegie Mellon, by researcher Carey Morewedge, about thinking about your food. The hypothesis is that if you concentrate on eating your food and every part of the process of consuming that food item (smell, taste, texture) that it would make you have less of a craving to eat said food.

-Rachel

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20025295-10391704.html

The Real Reason McDonalds Failed in Jamaica

After watching Life and Debt I researched how McDonald's has been fairing in Jamaica. As of 2005, it was out of business, just a few years after it opened in Jamaica. But why?

Simply put, the portions were not big enough! Eloquently expressed by Jamaica Star columnist, Leighton Levy.

http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20051007/cleisure/cleisure1.html

HA!

Tessa

organosulfur, magnesium, omega3fatty, phosphorous, zinc, etc :)

http://healthnews.benabraham.com/html/superfoods_of_great_value.html

Burying Seeds near Norway and More GM discussion

I was looking through an old Seed magazine ( "Science is Culture" is there header), and was reading up on how a small group of Artic Ocean islands, north of Norway, will become home to the world's largest bank of seeds. I realized it was from 2007 so I decided to look at their website to try to get an update.

I searched the article's name, and the Svalbard bank, a project of the Global Crop Diversity Trust which was to function as a centralized depository located on or inside politically stable ground. The Svalbard vault which is built into a sandstone mountain is to withstand just about any imaginable catastrophe. One of the questions and challenges was how to get the seeds to Svalbard intact, along with building a digital infrastructure to sort and catalogue the seeds currently stored in places from Colorado, to Peru to Zambia. The deposit opened in the winter of 2008. A strong interest and point to the article was how protecting this genetic material , which is the foundation of all agriculture and the link or wall between thriving societies and potential societies, is more important now than ever.

This article came out nearly 3 years ago, and as I tried to look into what had happened here, there wasn't much I could find. I wonder whether or not it has advanced or helped in this 3 year span since this was written, but it sounds like we are finding ourselves still in a place where these genetic material and seeds are more relevant and crucial as ever to find a solution and way to feed the world.

I did find an article titled Scientific Flip Flop.

It is a debate between "5 experts" who discuss the roots of the GM opposition, whether we've achieved real scientific consensus and the role of big "agribussiness."

The article starts it's debate discussing a pest resistant maize manufactured by Monsanto called "Mon 810"

But even though Mon 810 has an official sanction under EU law, countries such as France, Austria, Greece, Hungary, and Luxembourg have imposed national bans on the GE crop and apparently Germany was just added to this list.

That's huge.

Apparently Europe in general is turning increasingly against GE crops.

Most Europeans do not seem to be anti-science, in fact Europe fully embraces the scientific consencus on global warming. So another question and debate of this article investigates whether or not it is about the technology itself or the mistrust of "big agribusiness."

I think these are obvious questions we have been pondering ourselves in class with this last debate!

http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/scientific_flip-flop/\

thats the link!

Bird

urban foraging in Chicago

We have discussed farming, but what about foraging? In the city? 

Here is a short documentary about urban foraging in Chicago.

http://vimeo.com/2666963

-Jessica

Future Food at Moto Restaurant

Over the thanksgiving break I visited the Museum of Science and Industry and found myself in the "future" section. One futuristic scientist caught my eye because he's also a well-known chef. Homaro Cantu is the Executive Chef of Moto Restaurant right here in Chicago and he also has a tv show called "Future Food". He's invented some pretty incredible (and EDIBLE) stuff from edible paper that tastes like chips & salsa to a tuna maki roll made out of watermelon.

This past month he did a TED talk on the Future of Food and how he's trying to create a sustainable way of eating. Check it out. Pretty sweet... (pun intended)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk52YkSV8PE

-Lauren

Documentary: The Pipe

In the most dramatic clash of cultures in modern Ireland, the rights of farmers over their fields, and of fishermen to their fishing grounds, has come in direct conflict with one of the worlds most powerful oil companies. When the citizens look to their state to protect their rights, they find that the state has put Shell’s right to lay a pipeline over their own.

The Pipe is a story of a community tragically divided, and how they deal with a pipe that could bring economic prosperity or destruction of a way of life shared for generations.

http://www.thepipethefilm.com/main-sect/home/

Grasshopper Sushi

Went out to dinner for a friend's birthday last week and they happily gave him their grasshopper special, on the house. The owner/manager even took a picture of him eating the grasshopper sushi.

The article may be heavy on the food review side but I think this relates to the water bugs AY ate several months ago.

-Liberty H

Palin's Reckless Views on Obesity

Roland Martin asks Sarah Palin to stick a fork in it for criticizing Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign against obesity. Read the article here and get the whole story.

-Liberty H

Great Depression Cooking

ever since we brought up the topic about low income families not being able to get or provide a healthy meal because all the cheap food was high sugar high fat content and what not, it made me remember this youtube channel i found a couple years back: Great Depression Cooking.

Her name's Clara, and she is 95 years old, she has also written a book: Clara's Kitchen. Her great grandchildren thought it would be a good idea to keep a video diary/documentary about what she went through during The Great Depression as well as what she ate.

With the little money they had, they were still able to make due with what they were able to buy which seemed (to me at least) pretty nutritious, albeit processed and starchy, but it seems better to eat that stuff than a brick of government cheese and koolaid to wash it down.

anyway, here's one of the videos that's currently showing:

it's interesting to see that some of her videos talks about foraging for food... it's a pity that it's semi-unheard of nowadays to forage unless you're stranded in the forest and your name is either Bear Grills or Les Stroud.

also, it's fun and scary to watch this granny wield a knife around in her tissue-paper-crinkly skin....

-Robyn

The GMO Debate ~

k, so that was a good debate in class! But clearly we didn't have the proper amount of time to discuss it all as we should together, which is a shame the GM food issue is so critical.

So: I want us to continue the conversation over the next two weeks on our blog! How would you address the resolution yourself personally?

I am asking everyone to post their personal reflection on the issue here. In the comment line of this post.

You can come down one side or another, but you can also be undecided or less black and white. Either way, please say what you are thinking and WHY. What arguments and rationales in the debate do you find most or less compelling? If you are Pro or Anti, what concerns on the other side might be legitimate (but in the end may be of low priority to you or perhaps fixable?)

Or, perhaps the resolution itself is poorly formulated and leads us to oversimplifying conclusions? What is a better way to think about the issue? What questions still remain that need to be answered?

Write to out here thoughtfully and drawing from all the various forms of arguments and evidence we've come across (I'd say a minimum of 150 words). Please sign your name too so we know who's thoughts we are reading!

As a consumer, voter, and cultural producer it is important to have a point of view on GM as it is likely to only between a larger issues in the years to come in our daily lives and globally....

Resolution:
The risks of GM foods outweigh the purported benefits and should not be allowed to be sold and planted.

Meanwhile, feel free to continue posting to blog items of relevant and interest!


AY

Edible Alchemy!

I recently learned about Edible Alchemy, a Chicago-based food exchange program founded by SAIC alumni in early 2009. Here's their mission statement:

"Edible Alchemy is a catalyst for the creation, expansion, and connectivity of a vibrant food community. We organize open discussion and potlucks, distribute local organic produce shares, offer volunteer opportunities, and provide for community-related events. We believe that nutritious food is essential to the healthy individual and to healthy shared environments."

You can pay $20 to receive a box of a combination of local fruit and produce. The contents of the boxes depends on what items are in season. Although a delivery service isn't available, the boxes contain enough items "...to fill your kitchen with fruits and veggies for about 2 weeks for 2 vegetable lovers cooking 3-5 meals a week."

In addition to participating in the fruit and produce share, dry bulk, homemade baked good, dairy products and eggs are available for purchase.

-Anna Gorman

Sweet Potato, The SuperFood!

Here's a great article published in the New York Times on Thanksgiving this year, about modified sweet potatoes and their possible use in preventing malnutrition in Africa. Runs right up next to the movie we saw last week. Very uplifting!

"Bless The Orange Sweet Potato"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/opinion/25kristof.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

-Tessa
*^-^*

Seaweed, The SuperFood!!

This article discusses the amazing capabilities of seaweed, and the possibility of harvesting the greenery to help feed our fishies and clean our oceans and waterways. It can be used as a major component in nutrient rich feed for cattle and livestock (lessening our reliance on soy). It's great food for human consumption (so rich in protein), and it needs no fertilizer to grow, helping cut out nitrates. And we have tons of space, no need to compete over land... we can use our oceans!

From Ode Magazine:
http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/73/grow-your-own-seaweed/

Tessa

Modern Toilet

I know this doesn't directly connect to health or the environment, but I just had to mention this place because I find it interesting how some food is presented and how customers gravitate towards it. The reason I mention this is because I would definitely want to go here one day. There is a restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan called "Modern Toilet," and just like it sounds, it's a bathroom themed restaurant. I have a fondness for themed places, but this one is particularly hilarious.

Posted below is the link to the restaurant's site and a link to a video clip about it that was on the travel channel.

http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/about.asp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85nwqhaCIgU

-Rachel

Food for a dollar

A book by photographer Jonathan Blaustein that investigates food products valued at one dollar. Living in Mexico he only choose food he could attain there so "viewers can see how interconnected global commerce can be".

- Coycth

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/food-for-a-dollar/

The Supersizers

The other night my friend mentioned this BBC television series to me. It's called The Supersizers. It's a show about the history of food, main focus being in Britain.

"The series originated in a one off edition in April 2007 as part of a season of programmes on the Edwardian period, "Edwardian Supersize Me", a reference to the film Supersize Me by Morgan Spurlock. This programme set the format for the subsequent television series in that Coren and Perkins adopted the persona of a couple living in the Edwardian period and for a week ate the food which people from that period would have eaten. In addition they would take part in the interests and activities of them too, even going so far as adopting the dress and mannerisms of the time. Before and after the experience they are subject to medical tests to see how the diet affected them."

More info, the wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Supersizers...

You can view it here for free. If it doesn't work, all episodes are apparently on youtube.
http://www.ovguide.com/tv/the_supersizers_eat.htm

I have yet to sit down and watch the series, but I plan to view a bit during Thanksgiving break. :)

Stephanie

1/4 of all Americans in a government food program

The number of federal food programs (upwards of fifteen) vary quite a but and include school lunch programs  (breakfast and lunch for 30 million children) and Women, Infants and Children - WIC -  which serves more than 9 million mothers feeding infants and children.

These data are interesting consider given the question of government food policy, nutritional guidelines, food stamp regulations, and commodity food the the governmet some times provides those in need. 

To read more:
 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americans-enrolled-government-food-program/story?id=12152128

AY
 

Nutraloaf: Cruel and Unusual Punishment

We can all imagine that the food served in prison couldn't be very tasty, but guess what... it can get worse! Inmates in Cook County Jail who step out of line find themselves faced with a food nightmare: NUTRALOAF. That's right, its a loaf "Packed with protein, fat, carbohydrates, and 1,110 calories. Nutraloaf contains everything from carrots and cabbage to kidney beans and potatoes, plus shadowy ingredients such as “dairy blend” and “mechanically separated poultry.”

It's not necessarily a cruel punishment, but most inmates who exhibited behavioral issues and were force fed the bland concoction got their act together fairly quickly.

Check out the yummy article you ne'er do wells...

-Lauren

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/September-2010/Dining-Critic-Tries-Nutraloaf-the-Prison-Food-for-Misbehaving-Inmates/

Morphine in cheese...

Apparently, since the 1980s there has been trace amounts of morphine in the cheeses that we've been eating. On top of being regulated by Dairy Management to be placed in as much of our food as possible, it's got legitimate addicting properties. When cheese is processed, the levels of the morphine are greater than would be in just plain milk.

“Since cheese is processed to express out all the liquid, it’s an incredibly concentrated source of casomorphins—you might call it dairy crack.”

Read more at Care2 by clicking the dairy crack



-Mike