Civil Eats Post - Freeing Hens From Cages Too Important To Delay

May 3rd, 2010

By Sara Shields

A recent Associated Press article about one researcher’s effort to breed “gentler” chickens is getting a lot of attention. Agribusiness representatives have seized the article to defend the cruel practice of confining hens in cages (claiming that most egg-laying hens are, by nature, too aggressive to each other to let them live in a cage-free environment). A closer inspection of the issue leads to a different conclusion. Certainly, studies that lead to improved animal welfare—such as reduced feather-pecking among laying hens—are a positive step. However, the egg industry needn’t wait for new bird strains to exist before working to improve birds’ quality of life.

http://civileats.com/2010/05/03/freeing-hens-from-cages-too-important-to-delay/

LA Times Article - Nutrition Lab: Milk, soft drinks and bone strength

By Elena Conis
May 3, 2010

Want strong bones? Eat foods high in calcium and vitamin D, get plenty of exercise — and maybe steer clear of soda. In recent decades, as consumption of the beverage has steadily displaced the consumption of others —particularly milk — studies have consistently linked soda consumption with weaker bones. Now scientists are trying to figure out how and why, precisely, drinking soda may affect skeletons.

http://www.latimes.com/news/health/la-he-nutrition-lab-20100503,0,750958,full.story

Diner's Journal Recipe - Vegetable and Mushroom Pot Pie

By ELAINE LOUIE
May 3, 2010

This pot pie recipe comes from David and Karen Waltuck, owners of Chanterelle, the widely admired New York restaurant that opened in 1979 and closed in 2009. Making this pot pie is time-consuming but rewarding.

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/the-temporary-vegetarian-vegetable-and-mushroom-pot-pie/

TIME Article - Building a Better Label

By Adi Narayan
May 2, 2010

Food labels have gone awry in this country, say nutritionists and obesity researchers. Now the FDA aims to fix them.

At a Bravo supermarket on a recent weekday evening in Brooklyn, N.Y, shopper Jamilya Shroud-Garrett looks for a breakfast cereal for her son. She points to a box of Cheerios, which has a banner-style label bearing the message, "Can help lower cholesterol," and dismisses it as ridiculous. "It's common sense. If you have high cholesterol, it's not going to help to eat two bowls of cereal," she says. Shroud-Garrett is an unusually conscious brand of consumer, not easily swayed by so-called "front-of-pack" labeling — the carefully worded, attention-getting health and nutrition claims (Made with whole grains! All natural!), which appear on so many processed-food packages and which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now seeking to rein in. While Shroud-Garrett scanned the more detailed dietary information contained in the Nutrition Facts panel on the side of the box, most other shoppers who paused for an interview in the cereal aisle that evening said their choices were guided either by past purchases or front-of-the-box labels.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1986269_1986240_1986272-1,00.html

NY Times Article - For High-Fructose Corn Syrup, the Sweet Talk Gets Harder

By Melanie Warner
April 30, 2010

For much of 2009, Michael Locascio, an executive at ConAgra Foods, watched with concern as the bad news about high-fructose corn syrup kept coming. In January, there were studies showing that samples of the sweetener contained the toxic metal mercury. Then came a popular Facebook page that was critical of the syrup. By year-end, there were about a dozen spoofs on YouTube mocking efforts by makers of high-fructose corn syrup to show that science is on their side.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/business/02syrup.html?ref=business

Recipe - Blueberry Oat Muffins

A friend (thanks, Sky!) passed along this recipe for Organic, Vegan Blueberry Oat Muffins, which I modified slightly when I made the muffins today (they came out great and were very easy to make). See my (non-vegan) version below.

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine:
- 1 cup (vanilla) soymilk
- 1 cup rolled oats
• Let the oats and soymilk sit for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
• Add:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3/4 cup sugar
- oat/soymilk mixture
• Gently stir in:
- 1 cup (frozen) blueberries
• Spoon into muffin tin and bake 20-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Enjoy!

Big names in food among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People

Congratulations to the following people who are recognized in this year's Time 100 issue for making a difference in America's food industry - whether through journalism, animal welfare research, community outreach, or government action:

• Michael Pollan

• Temple Grandin

• Will Allen

• Kathleen Merrigan

SF Chronicle Column - Food Matters

Nutrition and public policy expert Marion Nestle answers readers' questions in this monthly column written exclusively for The Chronicle. Email your questions to food@sfchronicle.com, with "Marion Nestle" in the subject line.

This month's piece:
Sugary school meals hit lobbyists' sweet spot

Q: I'm stunned by the amount of sugar my daughter is served routinely in school: candied cereals, flavored milk, Pop Tarts, breakfast cookies, fruit juice - 15 teaspoons of sugar, just in breakfast. Why no standards for regulating sugar in school meals, especially when obesity and diabetes are such concerns?

See Nestle's answer here.

What the F*ck Should I Make for Dinner?

A friend (thanks, Lukas!) just told me about What the F*ck Should I Make for Dinner, a new recipe generator website that pulls its suggestions from either Epicurious (for non-vegetarian recipes) or Recipe.com (for meatless recipes), and is essentially, as described on the Huffington Post, Recipe Roulette.

Here's what happens when you enter the site:
1. A non-vegetarian dish is suggested. If you like the sound of it, click on it and you'll be taken to the full recipe on Epicurious.
2. If you don't like the suggested dish, click on "I don't fucking like that" and another suggestion will appear.
3. If you want a vegetarian dish, click on "I don't fucking eat meat," and a meatless suggestion will appear. If you like the sound of it, click on it and you'll be taken to the full recipe on Recipe.com.
4. And so on.

This is a great recipe resource for when boredom or indecision strike and you're not seeking anything specific to cook. The randomness is refreshing too, and will perhaps lead you to dishes / food combinations you'd never before heard of or considered.

Enjoy!

Guardian Article - Vegetarians gain more options for fine dining with 50% rise in foodie eateries

By Denis Campbell
April 30, 2010

Vegetarian food was never really synonymous with fine dining, but today a new generation of sleek, modern restaurants offering meat-free fine food is banishing the sector's former reputation. The number of high-end vegetarian eateries is rising fast, despite the recession, prompted by culinary innovation by leading chefs, interest in healthy lifestyles and a growing belief that carnivorous cuisine is bad for the environment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/30/vegetarian-restaurants-uk-boom

I wonder if a similar trend has occurred in the United States...