News Bites

Articles and posts that I’ve read & liked recently:

Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables [Mark Bittman in New York Times]

Infographic: The Carbon Footprints of 20 Foods, Shown as Car-Miles – Daniel Fromson – Life – The Atlantic [The Atlantic]

High steaks: Meat eaters’ climate impact [Grist]

McDonald’s ‘Healthier’ New Happy Meals: Still Unhealthy [Marion Nestle in The Atlantic]

Fooducate‘s take on the Happy Meal Makeover

The Folly of Bourgeois Sustainable Food [The Atlantic]

Infographic: Local Farms in the Bronx and What They Grow [Marion Nestle in The Atlantic]

Clingstone Peaches: Worth the Work! [Ontario's Own] – The peaches have been great this year

Toronto bartender’s first barrel-aged Manhattan mostly tastes like wood [The Globe and Mail]

How to pretend you’re an amazing cook [Macleans] – A piece about my buddy Matt Kantor. Also see ghostchef.ca

That’s Not Trash, That’s Dinner [NYTimes] LOVED this one.

Instant Iced Tea: A Refreshing Glass of Potential Dangers [Organic Authority] One of the statements in the article that relates to a post I did recently: “According to School of Medicine researchers, there are dangerously high levels of fluoride in instant tea and iced tea mixes”

Is Gluten-Free Just A Fad? [Fooducate]

Way cool: Food Blog Devoted to ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Fantasy Series [Serious Eats]

Happy reading!

News Bites, with lots of goodies

(Sitting in my drafts folder…)

• The Toronto Food Policy Council and Local Food Plus get shout outs in American magazine Grist.

• 10 Energy Drinks Not Worth The Sugar Rush [Huffington Post] “Munchkins” are the Dunkin’ Donuts/American equivalent of Timbits? Cute. I’ll take the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies over the “energy drink” any time.

• What, your mother never told you to eat your sunscreen? [Sweet Potato Chronicles]

• Cooking With Nonna [Jewcy]

• This one is a year old but it seems like a good time to bring it out again: Grist reviews six non-dairy ice creams. Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss is my current favorite. I have a carton of the Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge flavour in my freezer, along with a carton of Ciao Bella’s Blood Orange sorbet. (Dairy free and sugar free.)

• Joshua Ozersky on the closing of New York City’s H&H Bagels, why hated their bagels and what their bagels represented [Time]

• Lima, Peru is now a GMO-free zone [Organic Authority]

• Scientists have developed grapes used in wine production that are more resistant to insects and fungus, in what may lead to the first commercially available genetically modified wine. [Organic Authority]

• ‘Big Food’ Money Accused of Influencing Science [ABC News]

• Food Combining: More Important than You Think? [Organic Authority] I keep forgetting about this. I know about combining for digestive health but I don’t know if I knew about nutrient absorption.

• Official Gluten-Free Certification Program Now Underway [Organic Authority]

• Toronto hospital, chef team up to find a cure for the common hospital meal [The Globe and Mail] Kudos to Scarborough Hospital and Joshna!

• Yet More Proof That Grass-Fed Meat Is Better – Sustainable Farming [Mother Earth News]

• Is the ‘Clean 15’ just as toxic as the ‘Dirty Dozen’? [Grist] This one’s interesting and discusses the effects of pesticides on farm workers. ” In short, what’s clean for consumers is too often dirty for farm workers, and vice-versa.”

• Mystery Veggies in Your CSA Box? What to do with what’s in your box. [Nourished Kitchen] -Great tips!

• Life on the family fruit farm [Toronto Star] Please buy directly from your farmer when possible.

• You are what what you eat eats, and the most important fish in the sea is one you’ve never heard of. Nutrient packed, they are a staple food for dozens of fish species, marine mammals and sea birds. [Grist]

• Le Creuset opens flagship store in Toronto [Chatelaine.com] Is Sherway Gardens considered Toronto? I’d love to check out the new store but will continue to ogle the Le Creuset merch at Nella Cucina (Bathurst just north of Bloor) and Good Egg (Kensington Market).

News Bites

Should You Be Eating Seaweed? [Organic Authority]

10 Ways to Reduce Food Waste at Home [Good Food]

The next fried food trend: Deep fried Kool-Aid. Really. [Eater, Globe and Mail, Mashable - for the tech perspective] At the end of their article, Globe and Mail asks, “What are the best and worst fair foods you’ve tried?” How about you?

Kind of like cow patties but you eat them. [Good Food]

5 Vibrant Foods To Boost Your Memory [Organic Authority]

Krispy Kreme has begun a healthwashing campaign. “Krispy Kreme Wants To Be Good For You.” [Blisstree]

KFC Supports Juvanile Diabetes: This one’s been going around. I first saw a reference on Twitter from Lisa Borden to Meghan Telpner. It was originally posted at the Selfish Giving blog and that article was cross-published in Huffington post. Also see: That’s Fit, Grist, Food Politics.

I’ve been curious about dumpster diving/freeganism for years. This guy talks about it.

Where to find cold, tasty ice cream alternatives in Toronto [The Grid]

Are energy drinks a new gateway drug? [Chatelaine] Energy drinks shouldn’t even exist. Also, if kids are drinking them, their tolerance for stimulants could increase, then they need more. This adds to the coffee problem.

McDonald’s Canada’s All-Access Moms [PhD in Parenting] I love this blog post and video

Marketing Magazine wrote about it too. See Meghan’s response there.

It’s strawberry season!
Five health reasons to eat more fresh strawberries [Chatelaine]

The Strawberries That Changed My World [Poor Man's Feast]

News Bites

• The new “dirty dozen”: An Apple a Day…But the Pesticide Won’t Go Away [Fooducate] Strawberries have fallen from #1 to #3.
• Too Many Antibiotics in Your Meat Lands the FDA in Court [Organic Authority]
• 5 Vibrant Foods To Boost Your Memory [Organic Authority]
• 5 Reasons to Ditch Dairy [That's fit]
• 5 Ways to Clean Your Home With (Yes) Vodka [Organic Authority]
• Apples Help Keep Muscles Strong, Mouse Study Finds [Medline Plus]
• A Bulgarian brings Montreal bagels to Brooklyn. The headline is, “Un bagel? Qu’est ce que c’est un bagel?” [The Brooklyn Paper]
• Local Food Alert: Delicious, Sweet Rhubarb Crisp [That's fit] Those reasons to eat rhubarb look good enough to me!
• How to Get Iron from Vegetarian Sources [Fully Nourished]
• Dieters More Likely to be Duped by Food Labels [Fooducate]
• How to Get the Most Out of Your CSA [The Kitchn]
• By now you might have read about the US government’s replacement for the food pyramind, the food plate. Jillian Michaels weighs in: We Need Policy Not Plates [Everyday Health]
• Volunteer Opportunities at The Stop [via OCTA]

News Bites, May 28-11

• A reason to keep your digestive tract: Your Brain May Be Controlled by Your Gut [That's Fit]

• The Double Down returns in time for summer. [Marketwire]
  *shudder*

• Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance Presents the 2011 Ontario Culinary Adventure Guide.

• What celiac is and isn’t [The Seattle Times]
  -People are often confused about whether or not oats contain gluten. They don’t, but are often consider not gluten-free because they’re often processed alongside wheat products and thus may be contaminated with gluten.

• Soak Your Celery To Make It Last Longer [Blisstree]

• Is beer a legit post-workout beverage? [Well+Good NYC]
  -I once discovered that Guinness is refreshing after a hot yoga session.

• Joy McCarthey urges you to Just Say ‘No’ to Boring Salads [That's Fit]

• The Cutting Veg offers actions to enhance your relationship with food, and the health of the planet

• If that inspires you, The Cutting Veg needs volunteers on the farm and at the CSA. Learn more and get in touch with them.

• Fiesta Farms wants you to Share Your Pain for a Chance to Win