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

lettuce persuade you

A current PETA campaign in India, this woman wearing a dress made of lettuce says "Let Veganism Grow on You"

(taken from the BBC News service)


AY

Potato Famines vs. All-You-Can-Eat

Denny's made a big PR slip week in advertising their all-can-eat fries and pancakes offer as in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the end of the Irish Potato Famine.

Given that was an event in which it is estimated some 1 million people died and upwards of two million more left the country, especially for Canada and the US, it is no surprise a large Irish-American Facebook movement is seeking a boycott of the restaurant chain.

This fascinating flash interactive video aimed towards kids takes you through the social, economic, and agricultural context for the famine, including the land rental system that farmers were burdened under.

The odd and ironic contrasts of this Denny's commercial in pointing out too little to eat then and there, and too much to eat here and now is interesting to consider, especially given the complex causes of the famine itself in terms of ecology: initiated by a potato blight (a parasite taking evolutionary advantage over the monocropping of potatoes there), which itself was a part of the emerging modern food system of reliance on fewer crops....
AY

Male Frogs Turning Into Female Frogs

A pesticide weed killer, called Atrazine, which is used in the Midwest for corn fields, can possibly "castrate" male frogs and turn some males into females, according to this CNN article. Its frightening to know that this pesticide is effecting the levels of hormones in frogs enough to turn a male into a female and by doing so, greatly disrupting their ecosystem . Makes you wonder what these pesticides may be doing to us....

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/science/03/01/pesticide.study.frogs/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

Radiolab Podcast/ chimps, bonobos!

check out this podcast about communication with one particularly bright primate. I think it ties in nicely with what we are reading and talking about!

http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2010/02/19/lucy/



-Emily

teen farmers in chicago

The Green Youth Farm in North Lawndale, Chicago is run by the Chicago Botanic Garden established in 2003.

It is a collaboration with the Lake County Forest Preserve District, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, NeighborSpace and Chicago Public Schools.

Students who are 13 to 18 years old learn the aspects of organic farming and its ecosystem by growing their own food.

They grow, eat and sell organic vegetables to the community.

Wait until it gets warm and visit their farmer's market. It starts in July!

miso

Possum Living

an interesting (albeit a bit old) video about cheap livin'. ( the rest of the series is on Youtube, if you care to view them )

you could go to jail for protesting GM foods.

i came across this article, and while i feel it will never get passed, even the thought that they are attempting to stiffen an individuals rights to say no to GM foods and products is quite mind blowing. Plane and simple it is unconstitutional, but all the same it is clear to see the big money interests are at play here.

click here to view that article.

killer citrus disease transported by bugs.

I mentioned this last week in class, and found an article that elaborates further on the issue. I find it absolutely astounding that a tiny creature no larger then an aphid hiding inside a container of curry leaves can possibly take down a citrus industry producing more then a billion dollars a year. see what you think.

julia

click here to view the article

Kentucky Tuna

-----
...that's apparently what they are calling it now! This video clip gives cooking tips and recipes for Asian Carp. Here, as in many places the argument is that if there is a market for eating them, perhaps that will control their populations.

Is it an odd sort of situation where from a biodiversity conversation standpoint ideally these creatures would be unsustainably/overfished!?

AY

Permaculture documentary

Here is a 5 part documentary found on youtube. A British farmer learns about permaculture from other local farmers here. I found it really interesting and inspiring. The basic idea is that the natural state of the land is returned to the farm so in the long run less energy is used in many aspects. Cows graze freely, no need to ship food in, farmers needn't labor so much either. There are many How-to documents online also. It sounds really great, I'd love to learn more. (Nina)

The Lives of Squid (a la "Green Porno")

__-
Last week during our discussion of contested ecology of cod, seals, and fisherman in the North Atlantic one other species made an appearance: the squid. One big question was what their role was in accounting for the dynamics among populations of cod in the ocean...but then the squid-topic elusively swam away from us.

Isabella Rosselini's "Green Porno" series has been exploring the lives of creatures for three seasons now, but this last one has featured a bit of a twist by including the human food ecology context for organisms such as the shrimp, anchovy, and squid in here "Bon Appetit" series.

Check them all out, but the SQUID one is particularly interesting in the context of overfishing, ecology, and energy use on a global scale.

enjoy!

AY

jamie oliver educates kids...

-mdoh

"Got Milk?" (how exactly do we get it...?)

---Major new outlets are paying attention the the questions of food production like never beofre, and especially the conditions under which most of our food is produced on an industrial scale for the sake of lower cost. CBS News has been running a series, and now ABC News is getting into it as well with this exposé on the treatment of dairy cattle at a farm in upstate New York. (the video is somewhat graphic, so be warned)

The growing awareness of the conditions under which our food is produced and the concerns it raises for food safety, animal welfare, and workers rights (different focuses depending on the reporting) is remarkable, and gives all all a lot to think about more carefully.

The image included here is from the Kids Page of the Tongala Dairy Industry's website called "Golden Cow." (Tongala is in Australia). The image does a good job of illustrating the factory nature of much milk production.

The Kids Page incidentally also has a lot of coloring and word find activities if you want to take a break from making art!

AY

Eating our Way to Ecological Conservation? (the Asian Carp)

If you've been paying any attention to the news lately, you've heard of the current panic over the possibility of the invasive Asian Carp infilitrating from the Chicago Shipping Canal into Lake Michigan.

Starting in the Mississippi River, the state of Michigan just sued in federal court to force Illinois to close the canal as a mean to keep the carp out, for fears that once they enter it will completely crash the Great Lakes ecosystem worse than any of invasive in the history the lakes.

Some worry it is simply inevitable. Others are wondering whether perhaps there fight by a culinary means to intervene, at least in part: eat them!

It's unclear that these fast growing and voracious fish are actually that tasty, but chefs are trying to convince us otherwise, at least on a nutritional basis:

"[It has] 70-percent more Omega-3 than in catfish and tilapia," an animated Parola told an assembled crowd at his booth. "No mercury because it's a filter fish."

Parola was talking about the Asian Carp-- a slimy, boney fish that breeds quickly and is widely considered a pest. Parola's message: Eat the carp. Save the Great Lakes."

hmmm... or "mmmm!" (?)

But seriously - this is no doubt one of the most serious ecological challenges to the U.S. currently; the videos below are "must see"


Asian Carp Invasion (Part 1)

Asian Carp Invasion (Part II)

Eating the Asian Carp?

(p.s. among other things, these things are a jumping menace (!) injuring many people every year)

AY

Eating Spiders in Cambodia

I came across this clip while searching for strange foods. I would say i am willing to eat almost anything and everything, but this i am sorry to say does not make my list. Tapping into my fear of spiders watching it brought out a true sense of horror. With some many things we eat they no longer retain their original form, but here the spiders look exactly the same. I will say what i do love is seeing the moment when even a man from the same culture has no interest in eating this delicacy. It makes me wonder about the lost traditions in food as things such as canned goods, and more processed food sources became the norm pushing out traditions in cambodia's culinary history. What do you think, and would you dare to eat this?

Julia

USDA Ruling

Hi Andy-
The USDA posted its final ruling regarding access to pasture for organic livestock operations.
Apparently it is a major victory for organic consumers, the integrity of the organic label, and the lives of organic livestock (according to Whole Foods).
The ruling and its explanation is on the USDA website.
The statement mentions something about "finish feeding" and I was wondering if anyone knows what that is?
Have a great week!
Christina S.

Grocery Store Wars

While researching nutritional topics on the web, I came across an intriguing video created by Free Range Studios (a division of the Organic Trade Association), depicting the battle between farm fresh food and the rapidly invading unsustainable and pesticide laden "dark side". From Obi Wan Cannoli to Darth Tater you are sure to enjoy your trip to a supermarket far far away (or perhaps not so far far away)...

-Bree

ps: A link to Free Range Films' call for submission to their 7th annual film festival!

http://www.freerangefilm.com/

-------
-----

HFCS Battle

Parks and Recreation - Sweetums

Parks and Recreation is a show by some of the same writers as The Office. This episode involves a snack company who wants to sell their "healthy" snacks in the parks. Some of the characters try to convince the town that the snacks are bad for them because of their high amounts of high fructose corn syrup.

-Etta

rib-bit sushi

Talking to a friend today about the upcoming Chinese New Year, eating chicken feet, eating insects, etc, etc. she pointed me to this video she'd recently seen on the phenomenon of "frog sushi." The consumption of the still-beating frog heart can't help but be a little eyebrow-raising:



AY

A Very Brief Summary of Slow Food

Turning the Tables

I found this article in Good Magazine. It doesn't go very in depth but it gives a nice anecdotal history of the beginning of the Slow Food movement. It has some good statistics in it that relate to the article Andy showed us in class with the images of the fossil fuel consumption of eating meat vs. eating vegetables as well.

Also, here's an interview with the president of Slow Food USA from the same magazine.

-Etta

Cooking Crocs and others Cold-bloodeds

----
In thinking about all those crawling things we might call food, the "cons" most also be consider with the "pros"

In this short report they discuss the risks of reptile eating in the context of the global food system (it isn't just beef, pork, and chicken anymore!):

"Some countries use turtles, crocodiles, snakes and lizards as a source of protein in the human food chain. Frozen imported meat from crocodiles, caimans, iguanas and pythons can be found in the EU"

Maybe not surprisingly, freezing and proper cooking is key.

Here is a link to some reptile recipes, fyi.


AY

for all of you Iron Chef fans

taken from this great food blog:
http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2010/01/strange_sauce_the_week_in_nati.php


Michelle Obama appeared on Iron Chef America and challenged contestants to use ingredients from the White House vegetable garden. Mario Batali, known for his hideous orange Crocs, dubbed Michelle's dress "Obamatali Orange."

-Emily

Eating the Six-Legged

--
A promise is a promise, and I swore to the class last semester I'd eat the giant Thai water bugs I bought at my neighborhood grocery (discussed in originally in this post).

I can't say I was looking forward to this meal per se, but I wasn't too apprehensive either. Being a New England boy, I love shellfish, and so shell-on shrimp, lobsters, and full-bellied clams all taste good to me. How different would this be? So I went with that culinary theme and decided to go with the Deep-Fry option , having it be part of a side dish to my lunch:


















Am I feeling squeamish, or focusing with laser-like attention
on my palate? You be the judge.

I finished it off with garlic and some curry powder sprinkle to accompany my tofu and shiitake mushrooms.

I have to say, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. The texture was crunchy and a bit scaly (I anticipated that), however the flavor was odd ~ it was like an aromatic blend of banana leaves and something else I can't put my finger on - somewhat nutty, almost like a pungent jasmine, and VERY salty. All that said, I can't say that it was tasty, at least not the way I prepared it, the novice that I am.

One thing I marveled at was the meat inside the thorax, clearly these guys fly a fair bit as their flight muscles were bulky and fleshy the way you see in dragonflies, in fact, you can actually make it out by texture distinctively as meat:























I didn't end up eating every last bit, but gave it a good "college try" as they used to say. Some parts were just a little to chitinous to manage....


















For some more entomophagy related posts from the Ecology of Food blog, go here, there, and this one!

A recent post on the a sister SAIC insect blog also highlights some advanced cooking of insects Creole style in New Orleans.


AY

Dan Barber's foie gras parable

Dan Barber's foie gras parable | Video on TED.com

I can watch this video over and over, what a great example of serving natures whims and in return receiving her choicest prizes. The world would do well with more innovative and thoughtful farmers like Eduardo who seek out solutions that work with nature to serve our culinary tastes.

Cheers all- Enjoy!

Savannah Cipriano

thinking outside the fridge

I came across Jihyun Ryou's Save Food from the Fridge project, and thought it was pretty awesome.

Her creative shelves explore the options of letting certain foods benefit from each other.

Read her project blog at: http://www.savefoodfromthefridge.blogspot.com/

Jocelyn Chow

Chickens

For those of you who are not comfortable with blood or animals being killed, I would advise you not to watch the following.

Cleo Ngiam

School lunch as a work of art...

Yes, the "culinary arts" involve the nuances of gustatory taste, but visual sensibilities also come into play, especially for some of the most demanding connoisseurs: children.

Picky as can be, parents know anything to make the food go down smoother is worth it. On the other hand, some just love to "jazz it up." Take for example Kai Wilden, the former graphic designer who tricks out his kid's lunchbox with cartoon motifs (pictured here).

To check out a range of his creations, go see this slideshow. Of course, many people are into these fancy box lunches that derive from the Japanese "bento box" tradition - check out a Flickr stream

of them here.

AY

Ramen-rific

Any of you who have had the luck to travel to Japan may now just how obsessed the country is with ramen, that lovely Chinese noodle bowl dish.

This past week the NY Times had a nice and reeeeeally extensive feature of the ramen chops and culture of Tokyo. Imagine entering a shop....

"From then on there is only one sound — the slurping of noodles. Oh, it’s punctuated by the occasional happy hum of a diner chewing pork or guzzling the fat-flecked broth, or even by the faint chatter of the chef’s radio, but it’s the slurps that take center stage, long and loud and enthusiastic, showing appreciation for the chef’s métier even as they cool the noodles down to edible temperature."

The slideshow is mouth watering.

AY

Bluefin tuna ban? Japanese sushi chefs likely to cry.....

A few months back I posted about the apparent failure for European countries to come to any real agreement on addressing the rapidly dwindling (perhaps to soon extinction) blue fin tuna populations of the Mediterranean.

Fished aggressively and largely for the Japan sushi market (supposedly the destination for 80% of the catch which prizes the fatty belly meat), things looked grim last fall as no one (Italy, France, and Spain included) was willing to put even a temporary ban on fishing these creatures in hopes of letting the population rebound.

Now Prince Albert of Monaco (click to see this dashing fellow) is leading the charge, and apparently with some success with moving toward a ban in the near future, as the New York Times reports. Of course the fishing industry is not happy, not even the US industry since bluefin is also found in the Atlantic:

The United States fishing industry is “strongly opposed” to listing the fish under the endangered species convention, said Rich Ruais, executive director of the American Bluefin Tuna Association, who said the trade ban “would create a huge black market.”

“In fact,” he said, “we believe a listing has the possibility of doing more damage than good.”

Which all begs the question of economics. But also the willingness for the fish industry to actually enforce itself.

Of course the question of what sustainable fishing and sustainable fish eating is at the enter of it all. The site Sustainable Sushi is a nice place to explore some of these issues...

AY