Archive for the ‘news bites’ Category
2010
06.03
Tags: beer, bees, colony collapse disorder, songs about food
Posted in news bites | 2 Comments »
I’m a day early but I won’t have much time tomorrow, so here you go – your food news, bite sized and easily digestible!
- A Precarious Strand in the Web of Life. A recently released survey indicates an epidemic of colony collapse disorder: last winter, over 1/3 of commercially managed honeybee colonies failed to survive. The likely culprit? Pesticides. This has enormous repercussions. Beside the fact that bees are gorgeous and powerful creatures, they also happen to pollinate most of our (non-GMO) crops. Per the article, as much as 1 of every 3 bites of food we eat comes from food pollinated by insects. These little black and gold critters are key to our global food security. Please support organics and protest the use of toxins in our food!
- Well, Not If You Can’t Digest Gluten…A position advertised as the “best job in the world” is available. Now, hang on a sec. What do you think of when you imagine the best job in the world? I imagine Anthony Bourdain’s job hosting No Reservations. Other people may prefer Manager of the Red Sox, or massage therapist at a resort in Mexico. Well, this best job involves tasting beer in London. But it doesn’t pay! Tasting lots of beer and not getting paid for it…that sounds like what most British people do anyway.
- I Love Rocky Road. So put another dime in the jukebox, baby. Check out this list of the top songs about food from the 1980s and 1990s.
2010
05.14
Tags: alice waters, berkeley unified school district, edible schoolyard, food what, san francisco food, three sisters nutrition, wine on tap
Posted in general nutrition, healthy living, news bites | 2 Comments »
Happy Friday!
Before we begin, another “thank you” to Miz Fit for allowing me to guest post on her fabulous site.
Now, the news.
- ORGANIC, GRASS-FINISHED, GLUTEN FREE CHICKEN NUGGETS. Fantastic series up at La Vida Locavore about the Berkeley Unified School District’s Edible Schoolyard Program, developed by Alice Waters. I was fortunate enough to live in SFO for four years. That’s where I learned about food. That’s where I went to holistic nutrition school. And that’s where I launched the Sustainability Initiative, a food reform project at the psych unit where I worked. The Bay: a (hot)bed of nutritional revolution!
- POSSIBLY THE COOLEST NONPROFIT EVER. Also out of the Bay – Food, What?!, a “youth empowerment program using food, through sustainable agriculture and health, as the vehicle for bringing about personal growth and transformation”. When I read that, it sounded like the mission statement for my business, Three Sisters Nutrition. And interestingly, the second post down on this blog is about the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash).
- IT’S STILL $16.50 PER GLASS. Yet more love for the Yay. I can’t get away from it today. So we all know we’re supposed to get Siggs and reusable glass bottles for our water, ensuring our landfills don’t overflow with plastic. Now, some San Francisco restaurants are introducing wine on tap, filled from reusable casks. If we want to clean up our Earth we’ve all got to start thinking more along these lines.
2010
05.07
Tags: gulf coast, gulf coast oil spill, hip hop about junk food, junk food, junk food hip hop, oil spill, pesticides poisonous, pesticides toxic, using hay to clean up oil
Posted in general nutrition, news bites, weight loss | 1 Comment »
2010
04.16
Tags: chocolate giveaway, lose weight, raj patel, ronald mcdonald, school lunch, urban trader, weight loss
Posted in healthy living, news bites | 2 Comments »
- 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A TATER TOT (see, I am using my undergrad degree in English Lit).Feeling nostalgic for your chocolate milk and soggy burger? Check out this slideshow of school lunches. Any one of these nutritionally devoid meals can be yours for an average of 90 cents. Is the health of our children truly such a low priority??
- RETIRE RONALD. Calling him a “hamburglar”, Raj Patel calls for Ronald McDonald to hang up his large red clown shoes. Per the American Academy of Pediatrics, “advertising directed toward children is inherently deceptive and exploits children under eight years of age.” And Patel points out that the structure of the American food system would look very different without this cheap commodity-driven chain.
- CHOCOLATE, COMING SOON. Urban Trader sources products from urban poor communities at a fair wage. They re-invest a substantial portion of their profits back into these communities. And their chocolate is delicious. That’s why 9weightloss is hosting our VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY of their ORGANIC, FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE next Wednesday. Stop by the blog and leave a comment to enter.
2010
04.02
Tags: eric schlosser, mcdonalds, michael pollan, wendy's, white house food
Posted in general nutrition, news bites | No Comments »
A day late, here’s a collection of false food news.
- BIG MACS WON’T BREAK DOWN. McDonald’s announces it’s discontinuing plans for a composting initiative after scientists discover their food won’t break down. Apparently upon learning of this article, the Golden Arches at least pretended to have a sense of humor about it, and tweeted “This…had us laughing”. Not much else they can do.
- DISINTEGRATING ORGANS PROMPT CHANGE OF HEART. In light of recent research demonstrating that their GMO corn is linked to organ disintegration in rats, Monsanto says they will stop production of this seed. Furthermore, they will donate all projected earnings for 2010 ($5.1 billion) to local, farmer-based solutions for world hunger.
- MICHAEL POLLAN HAWKS WENDY’S. He and Eric Schlosser will be filming a series of commercials to promote the chain’s new grass-fed burger. I fell for it at first.
- WHITE HOUSE CREATES STRANGE PRODUCE RITUALS. I can’t figure out if this one is a joke or not. Mrs. Obama dancing and chanting “Grow, rhubarb, grow!”? Sam Cass, Food Initiative Coordinator, shaking his hips? Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack shouting “Yay for broccoli! Yay for carrots! Yay for spinach!”? Fair enough, they were hosting 40 elementary school kids. But it was posted on April Fool’s…
2010
03.10
Tags: obamas, prehistoric snake, tainted peanut butter
Posted in news bites | No Comments »
- Colombian Slither – Scientists have unearthed the remains of a 42-foot prehistoric snake in South America. It’s kind of scary to learn that the stuff of Hollywood horror films actually existed millions of years ago. Ladies and gentlemen…these snakes are slitherin’…with dollar signs in they eyes, with tongues so reptilian.
- Overdose of Adorableness – The Obamas visited a second grade class in DC, where they were interviewed by the students. They got a lot of laughs, with nary a pet goat in sight.
- Brownie’s legacy - FEMA just can’t seem to catch a break. Now they’re accidentally feeding tainted peanut butter to blizzard survivors. Anyone know the number of a miracle-working PR outfit?
2010
03.10
Tags: al gore, ben and jerry's, high fructose corn syrup, rbgh free yogurt, rbgh yogurt, rgbh
Posted in general nutrition, news bites | No Comments »
Better Yo-Late than Never: Yo-Plait has announced that by August of 2009 all of their products will be free of rbGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone). They will be joining the ranks of other leading yogurt producers such as Stonyfield, who have been rbGH-free since 1993. rbGH has been linked to breast cancer and questions about its impact on the human body remain unresolved. And come on, do you really want to be drinking artificial cow hormone? Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the entire European Union have already banned it, and you can thank Montsano for its continued presence in our food supply. Ok, Yo-Plait, good going…now it’s time to re-think all that sugar you put in your product!
Corny Propaganda: The Corn Refiners Association recently launched a $25 million campaign to clear the name of high fructose corn syrup. You may have seen their creepy ads. Check out the King Corn group as they take on the HFCS industry’s Sweet Surprise ad with a spoof of their own. This one’s pretty funny as well.
Heil Al: Glenn Beck, conservative political commentator, takes umbrage with Al Gore’s assertion to kids that “you know some things your parents don’t”. In a nearly two minute rant he suggests that the former VP is creating a new cadre of Hitler Youth. I’m sorry, but how can you pick on Al Gore? In the Westminster of life, he’s like a kind and well-meaning brown labrador retriever, while Glenn Beck’s behavior is evocative of a yappy, persistently irritated chihuahua.
From the ‘Duh’ Files: How did no one think of this already! Those clever Aussies have come up with a toilet/sink combo that recycles water from handwashing right into the toilet bowl. They claim that a regular toilet plus “hand basin” uses over 50,000 litres of H2O per year combined, while their Profile Toilet Suite uses fewer than 20,000. But this is assuming you wash your hands after you use the restroom.
Country Pumpkin: Ben & Jerry’s has renamed their pecan flavor Yes, Pecan! in honor of President Obama. It is described as Amber Waves of Buttery Ice Cream With Roasted Non-Partisan Pecans. Sadly, Barack is not a fan of ice cream but hopefully he appreciates the sentiment. In keeping with the theme of presidential flavors, here’s a list of potential names for an ice cream honoring G.W. Bush. My favorites: Impeach Cobbler, Guantanamallow, Nut’n Accomplished, Credit Crunch, Reeses’s-cession, and I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands . . . with nuts. What is a post about ice cream doing on a weight loss site? I don’t really know, but it’s food news, and it’s funny
2010
03.05
Tags: potlikker, san francisco toxic sludge, starbucks, toxic compost, trenta
Posted in general nutrition, news bites | No Comments »
- HOW DOES YOUR TOXIC GARDEN GROW? With industrial waste products, of course. San Franciscans are furious after discovering the free “organic biosolids compost” they received from the city actually contains toxic sewage sludge. The first clue was when their carrots started glowing (ok, not really). The city defended its actions, saying their use of the term ‘organic’ ”referred to the scientific definition of organic matter as in containing significant amounts of organic carbon”. And I didn’t have sexual relations with that woman.
- EVERYTHING KEEPS GETTING BIGGER. Grande isn’t enough? The new Trenta, available at your local Starbucks, contains 31 oz of your choice of iced tea or iced coffee. That’s nearly 4 cups. Most of us know caffeine makes us jittery, but we don’t know why. It’s because it causes a surge of cortisol, aka your fight or flight hormone. This, in turn, spikes your blood sugar. Repeated over months and years, this dynamic has the potential to create a number of pathological conditions in the body – including some serious weight gain.
- REGIONAL EATS. A Georgia foodie shares a traditional Southern recipe that’s rich in both minerals and taste: potlikker.
