#Doubt cast on advantages of organic produce and meat Researchers say organic foods are no more nutritious and no less likely to be contaminated.
Are organic fruits and vegetables more nutritious than conventional fruits and vegetables? Maybe#or maybe not.
Scientists at Stanford university have weighed in on the maybe not#side of the debate after an extensive examination of four decades of research comparing organic and conventional foods.
The researchers also found no obvious health advantages to organic meats. Conventional fruits and vegetables did have more pesticide residue,
we thought that there would likely be some findings that would support the superiority of organics over conventional food,
Organic meat has a smaller share of the American market, at $538 million last year,
Advocates for organic farming said the Stanford researchers failed to appreciate the differences they did find between the two types of food#differences that validated the reasons people usually cite for buying organic.
Organic chicken and pork were less likely to be contaminated by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Those are the big motivators for the organic consumer,
examining a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and meats. For four years, they performed statistical analyses looking for signs of health benefits from adding organic foods to the diet.
The researchers did not use any outside financing for their research. I really wanted us to have no perception of bias,
But because almost everyone gets adequate phosphorus from a wide variety of foods, they said,
#Similarly, organic meat contained considerably lower levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria than conventionally raised animals did,
but bacteria, antibiotic-resistant or otherwise, would be killed during cooking. Dr. Bravata agreed that people bought organic food for a variety of reasons#concerns about the effects of pesticides on young children,
But if the choice were based mainly on the hope that organic foods would provide more nutrients
Critics of the Stanford study also argue that lumping all organic foods into one analysis misses the greater benefits of certain foods.
And they do it all without a coffee break#three shifts a day, 365 days a year. All told, the factory here has several dozen workers per shift, about a tenth as many as the plant in the Chinese city of Zhuhai.
#But Bran Ferren, a veteran roboticist and industrial product designer at Applied Minds in Glendale, Calif.,argues that there are still steep obstacles that have made the dream of the universal assembly robot elusive.
Robots could soon replace workers at companies like C & S Wholesale Grocers, the nation s largest grocery distributor,
From this warehouse in Newburgh, C & S, the nation s largest grocery wholesaler, supplies a major supermarket chain.
and darting electric vehicles as workers with headsets are directed to cases of food by a computer that speaks to them in four languages.
and on command will race along an aisle until it reaches its destination#a case of food to retrieve
From the aisle, the robots wait their turn to pull into a special open lane where they deposit each load into an elevator that sends a stream of food cases down to a conveyor belt that leads to a large robot arm.
the cases of food moving through the robotic warehouse are like the digital bits being processed by the computer.
and retrieves cases of food. That led to the elimination of 106 jobs roughly 20 percent of the work force.
and innovation,#said Ian Maw, vice president for food, agriculture and natural resources at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities in Washington, D c. At traditional agriculture powerhouses such as Penn State,
Schools in more urban regions draw students interested in local foods and healthy eating. Farmland prices have tripled in the U s. in the past decade
Connecticut s students choose majors such as animal sciences and human nutrition in hopes of becoming veterinarians and dieticians at hospitals or corporations
Students show an interest in the big problems of the day#obesity and food safety in the U s. and hunger in the developing world,
Better health through local foods and farmers markets appeal to them, added Weidemann, who noted deans at other universities have observed a similar trend.
The focus here is on local foods, small farms, maintaining our local dairy industry, which is still fairly large,
and see cows in a pasture, in contrast to Iowa, where they have a large agriculture industry.#
#Superfood Cocolicious Chocolates will rock your world Is your chocolate Organic, Raw, Low Glycemic, Vegan, and Gluten Free?
Cocolicious chocolates are a great new chocolate on the market for people who are health conscious yet recognize the value that chocolate is able to provide.
It has the particular advantages of being organic, low glycemic, raw, vegan and gluten free!
took time away from her chocolate creations to answer a few pertinent questions about creating healthy chocolates
and supporting organizations that help this world to be a better place Cocolicious Chocolates provide a healthy way to enjoy chocolate.
and coconut oil and wanted to have them in my diet, so I created a chocolate for myself that was extremely healthy and that I loved.
What problem does it solve? Experiencing the utter bliss of consuming chocolate without any of the negative properties (processed sugars, unhealthy fats, emulsifiers, lactose, etc..
Cocolicious chocolates are very low glycemic, soy, dairy and gluten free. After you came up with the idea,
how did you size up the market and decide who your customers would be? The whole thing developed organically.
I started bringing little baggies of Cocolicious chocolates to sell at our raw food potlucks.
Then the local food coop approached me and said I absolutely need to be selling my chocolate there, so
I did! How did you go about naming your product? I did a market poll and Cocolicious#was rated as the favorite by far.
I formulated Cocolicious chocolate in one day and made refinements to it over a period of a couple of years.
In Boulder, CO at Whole Foods on Pearl & 28th, Ideal Market (Whole Foods), Vitamin Cottage and Alfalfas as well as samplings, the Boulder County Farmer s market, brochures, word of mouth and my forthcoming website.
I just couldn t help it Anyone who has to hold an ipad in the course of a day,
Study A diet based on healthy carbs offers best chance of keeping weight off. A study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that a diet based on healthy carbohydrates#ather than a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet#ffers the best chance of keeping weight
off without bringing unwanted side effects. Study participants following a low-glycemic-index diet, which is similar to a Mediterranean diet
Such a diet might include minimally processed oatmeal almonds, brown rice, beans and healthy fats like olive oil, among other foods.
The study was led by researchers at the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children s Hospital and funded by the National institutes of health and the New Balance Foundation,
It was designed to assess how each of three common diets affects the ability to keep weight off.
Participants had all of their food prepared for them, and their food intake was monitored. They ate many meals at the hospital,
picking up others to eat at home. David Ludwig one of the study s authors and the director of the center, explained that most people struggle to keep weight off.
Previous studies have shown that weight loss reduces the body s daily energy expenditure#r how many calories the body burns through activity
Dr. Ludwig s study was designed to look at the impact of the three diets on measures of energy expenditure,
A month later, participants were placed on one of three diets for a month: a low-fat diet limiting fats to 20%of total calories;
a low-carbohydrate diet modeled on the Atkins diet, limiting carbohydrate intake to 10%of total calories;
and a low-glycemic-index diet, which contained 40%of total calories from carbohydrates, 40%from fats and 20%from protein.
Participants were switched then to the other two diets during two additional four-week periods. The low-fat diet had the worst effect#on energy expenditure,
Dr. Ludwig said. Participants on that diet also had increases in triglycerides, a type of fat,
and lower levels of so-called good cholesterol. We should avoid severely restricting any major nutrient
and focus on the quality of the nutrient, #he said. Dr. Ludwig said those on the low-carb diet had the biggest boost in total energy expenditure
burning about 300 calories more per day than those on the low-fat diet#bout the same as an hour of moderate exercise.
But that bump came at a cost: increases in cortisol, a stress hormone, and a measure of inflammation called CRP,
Those on the low-glycemic-index diet burned about 150 calories a day more than those on the low-fat diet without any negative impacts on cholesterol levels
or various hormones, making it the ideal diet, Dr. Ludwig said. The glycemic index measures the impact of carbohydrates on blood-sugar levels.
N h. It was a performance that might have called for a bottle of Champagne #if that were a luxury Mr. Golson could have afforded.
what is called the Genius Bar. Apple declined requests for interviews for this article. Instead, the company issued a statement:
Thousands of incredibly talented professionals work behind the Genius Bar anddeliver the best customer service in the world.
If there is a secret to Apple s sauce, this is it: the company ennobles employees. It understands that a lot of people will forgo money
when the bar was open, management at these stores decreed, it was to be staffed by any technician in the building.
Repairs that could not be done at the bar would wait. As a result, the late shift in the repair room at these stores ended not at 10 p m.
And we all got two tacos from a taco truck. That was our surprise. Two tacos.#
#Rising to the Top Like many who spoke for this article, Shane Garcia, the former Chicago manager, talked about Apple with a bittersweet mix of admiration and sadness.
Chamovitz answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. 1. How did you first get interested in this topic?
can t migrate in the search of food or a mate. So plants had to develop incredibly sensitive and complex sensory mechanisms that would let them survive in ever changing environments.
you can walk to the nearest watering hole (or bar. If you re hot, you can move north,
They need to see where their food is. They need to feel the weather, and they need to smell danger.
Another example of a plant using smell is how a parasitic plant called dodder finds its food.
ashy roasts we drink today. Big producers want uniform taste, and a dark roast makes that easy:
it evens out flavors and masks flaws. But now the best beans are increasingly being set aside
Improvements like these have allowed roasters to make coffee that tastes like Seville oranges or toasted almonds or berries,
Starbucks, for instance, now has a Blonde Roast. As quality continues to improve, coffee will lighten,
and dark roasts may just become a relic of the past. 3. Analytical Undies Your spandex can now subtly nag you to work out.
certain jams could be avoided simply through harmonizing speeds and smoothing driver reactions. One study shows that even a highway that is running at peak capacity has only 4. 5 percent of its surface area occupied.
Instead of short climbing walls, there should be towering monkey bars. Instead of plastic crawl tubes, there should be tall, steep slides.
A World without Hangovers Researchers at Imperial College London are closing in on a formula for a new kind of booze#synthetic alcohol
it s called#that would forever eliminate the next morning s headache (not to mention other problems associated with drinking.
a psychiatrist and former British drug czar, has identified six compounds similar to benzodiazepines#a broad class of psychoactive drugs#that won t get you rip-roaring drunk
According to Nutt, the alcohol substitute would be a flavorless additive that you could put in a nonalcoholic drink.
what you need for dinner. The cart uses Microsoft s Kinect motion-sensor technology to track
Michelin-Star TV DINNERS Frozen food may soon be on par with anything you can get at a three-star restaurant.
Sous vide#a process in which food is heated over a very long period in a low-temperature water bath#has been used in high-end restaurants for more than a decade.
Cuisine Solutions, the company that pioneered sous vide (Keller hired it to train his chefs),
now supplies food to grocery stores and the U s. military. Your local Costco or Wegmans may sell perfectly cooked sous vide lamb shanks, osso buco or turkey roulade.
Unlike most meals in the freezer aisle, sous vide food can be reheated in a pot of boiling water
and still taste as if it were prepared just. And because sous vide makes it almost impossible to overcook food,
it s perfect for the home cook. Fortunately sous vide machines are becoming more affordable.
It s like the microwave was 30 years ago, #Keller says. 29. Reduce, Reuse, Masticate It s depressing to think how much food packaging there is in your kitchen right now#all those juice cartons, water bottles and ice-cream containers.
But what if you could eat them? We ve got to package in the same way nature does,
. And so he has devised a way to convert foods into shell-like containers and films that he calls Wikicells.
The newly wrapped ice cream and yogurt will be available later this month at the lab store in Paris,
with juice and tea coming within the next year or two. 30. The Constant Gardner Rather than spray water
Apple ells hundreds of millions of hardware gadgets all over the world and yet it doesn need t actually to stockpile its goods. The only company on Gartner s list of 25 companies that turns over its product faster is Mcdonald s
High volume/low margin companies (like grocery stores) may have 12 or more inventory turns per year or more.#
Unfortunately, the breast is also masterful at converting these molecules into food in the way of breast milk.#
and enough to power three million average American homes, according to the American Wine Energy Association.
Says Should Not Exist The solar system is passing through a region of the Milky way filled with cosmic rays and interstellar clouds.
and livestock feed such as alfalfa and clover. Massive loss of honeybees could result in billions of dollars in agricultural losses, experts estimate.
through nectar from plants or through high-fructose corn syrup beekeepers use to feed their bees.
it s also found in corn syrup.)In the summer of 2010, the researchers conducted an in situ study in Worcester County,
the hives were empty except for food stores, some pollen, and young bees, with few dead bees nearby.
#Wikicells edible food containers Edible bottles Nature creates its own packaging for perishable foodstuffs. Most fruits and vegetables come prepackaged in delicious edible containers.
The biomedical engineer who came up with huffable food, David Edwards, is customized now developing edible containers for all kinds of food, from juice to wine to chocolate.
The containers, called Wikicells, are made membranes out of a combination of biodegradable polymer and particles of food, held together with electrostatic forces instead of something less appetizing like glue.
The food particles give the membrane flavor, and Edwards has been working on a variety of prototypes,
including an orange-flavored membrane full of orange juice, a tomato-flavored bottle with gazpacho inside, and grape packages that can hold wine.
Wikicells are capable of containing just about anything, from solids to liquids to foams. At their present stage of development, they re more on the biodegradable#end of things than the tasty and enjoyable#side,
and work sort of like the shell on a hard-boiled egg that you can peel open to enjoy what s inside.
When Edwards figures out how to scrumptiousify the whole thing, you ll probably see Wikicells first as novelty items in restaurants and specialty stores.
Ultimately the idea is to create some kind of machine that can produce these thin delicious membranes#(as the Harvard press release calls them),
It s whats for dinner. Next time you re stuffing your face with popcorn, don t feel guilty;
far from being junk food, popcorn packs a better nutritional punch than fruit or vegetables.
but it doesn t count as a balanced diet alone. Science Daily Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati o
#Americans eat the cheapest food in the world. Unhealthy thanks to bad food. USDA data shows that in 2010 Americans spent 9. 4 percent of their disposable income on food,
which equals 5. 5 percent at home and 3. 9 percent eating out. As a nation, we spend far less of a percentage on our food than we ever have before.
For example, in 1929 we spent 23.4 percent of our disposable income on food, which equaled 20.3 percent at home and 3. 1 percent eating out.
Not only are we spending much less of our money on the foods we eat we eat out far more than ever before,
buying fatty processed and fast foods laden with saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars. When compared to other countries,
our food is by far the cheapest According to Carpe diem: The 5. 5%of disposable income that Americans spend on food at home is less than half the amount of income spent by Germans (11.4%),The french (13.6%),the Italians (14.4),
%and less than one-third the amount of income spent by consumers in South africa (20.1%),Mexico (24.1),
%and Turkey (24.5), %which is about what Americans spent DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION, and far below what consumers spend in Kenya (45.9%)and Pakistan (45.6%).
%)But let s be clear, it s not like we re getting a deal overall. The big picture is much more grim because of the ecological ramifications of our industrialized food system.
It also means we re spending more than ever on healthcare because we re so absurdly overweight.
If Americans continue to pack on pounds, obesity will cost us about $344 billion in medical-related expenses by 2018,
and pesticide-bathed food system. Before Organic Was Organic With American industrialization came the changing face of a food system
which was driven once locally. While we ve used pesticides on our crops since the turn of the 20th century, the sheer quantity has risen to epic proportions.
The dangers of overusing pesticides should have motivated a wide spread scaling back of their use.
Conventional foods are modified largely genetically and covered in pesticide residue. But recent findings are showing that Monsanto s Roundup can cause major health problems.
Factory Farming, a Relatively Recent Disaster Cheapening our food supply in such a real way has caused also undue harm to the animals that fall victim to our twisted pricing.
factory farming accounted for 40 percent of the global meat supply. Not only has meant its growth the gross suffering of animals and a huge weight on the planet,
In the end, the new corporate structure of our food system has cheapened our diets in a way the world has seen never.
While food may cost less in the U s, . it s costing us more than we know in terms of our health,
Over time this could evolve into vital data to feed into our global food supply. 5.)Whole Earth Animal Genealogy Project Once again, the same as#3 and#4,
while other seed-eaters, like mice, appeared to prefer foraging in noisy areas. This difference in noise tolerance would affect the likely germination of seeds
The world s six biggest tobacco firms made $35. 1 billion in profits in 2010 equal to the combined earnings of Coca-cola, Microsoft and Mcdonald s,
#30 to 50 percent of food produced in the world is thrown away Two women collect food waste beside an industrial dumpster at the main food market in Madrid.
Today, cleaning your plate may not help feed starving children, but the timeworn advice of mothers everywhere may help reduce food waste from the farm to the fork,
help the environment and make it easier to feed the world s growing population. Hard data is still being collected,
but experts at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago this week said an estimated 30 percent to 50 percent of the food produced in the world goes uneaten.
The average American throws away 33 pounds of food each month#about $40 worth#according to the Natural resources Defense Council,
which plans to publish a report on food waste in April. In a year, that means each person throws away almost 400 pounds of food, the weight of an adult male gorilla.
The U s. Department of agriculture estimates that 23 percent of eggs and an even higher percentage of produce ends up in the trash.
We forget we have all these fresh fruits and vegetables, and at the end of the week we have to throw them away,
#Not sustainable if not eatenbut the impact of food waste stretches far beyond the kitchen. Agriculture is the world s largest user of water, a big consumer of energy and chemicals and major emitter of greenhouse gases during production, distribution and landfill decay.
if the food s not getting eaten, it s not sustainable and it s not a good use of our resources,#Dana Gunders, a sustainable agriculture specialist at the NRDC, said at the Reuters Summit.
or were eaten not at a restaurant. In developing countries, much food spoils before it gets to market due to poor roads and lack of refrigeration.
High food prices are another factor, since some people can t afford the food that s produced,
said Patrick Woodall, research director and senior policy advocate for Food and Water Watch. It s not a situation where you have to massively ramp up production,
#Woodall told the Reuters Summit. Even in 2008, when there were hunger riots around the world,
there was enough food to feed people, it was just too expensive.##Dupont is working with farmers in Kenya to extend the life of raw milk.
Often farmers have to travel up to 20 kilometers to get their milk to market, and due to the country s high temperatures, much of the milk gets wasted, Jim Borel,
Making pizza toppings stickeurope is a leader in tackling food waste, but the United states is catching on as producers,
a General mills pizza plant found a way to use heat to make toppings stick to frozen pizzas better.
The system is expected to prevent thousands of pounds of cheese and other pizza toppings from going to waste each year.
The U s. Environmental protection agency said 33 million tons of food waste hit landfills and incinerators in 2010, the largest solid waste product in the system.
EPA has launched a program to address the issue. Experts from EPA and other groups have floated a variety of recommended fixes.
#and use by#dates could help consumers avoid throwing food in the garbage too soon. Some food could be rescued
#and used in soup kitchens, while certain leftovers could be used as animal feed. Increasing composting could boost soil health and drought resistance,
while also easing the burden on landfills and reducing decomposition of garbage into greenhouse gas methane.
purchases meat in bulk; and freezes what she doesn need t immediately. She also has introduced her kids to frozen banana treats,
#Researchers say people of every age#especially children#contribute to the food waste problem. Gove said she has cut waste by starting with smaller meal portions for her children,
who get more only when they ask. Still, she says, there is a limit to how far she ll go.
in half#aying the aim is to slow the spread of the problematic superweeds. Even though said superweeds,
#Americans eating less meat Meatless meals were s a top food trend for 2011. It may be due to rising prices,
but Americans are eating less meat. According to recent USDA projections, the country will see a sharp drop in meat consumption this year.
Americans are expected to eat 12 percent less meat and poultry than they ate five years ago.
Tanya Steel, editor of epicurious. com, saw the trend coming, pegging meatless meals as a top food trend for 2011.
Anecdotal evidence, said Steel, as well as searches on epicurious. com bear out her predictions. More people especially those over 65 and those under 30, are eating less
and less meat and searching for high protein items to replace meat, #said Steel. Tempeh, tofu, quinoa, lentils, eggs, peanut butter, nuts, soy, beans,
as well as fish and shellfish, are all rising up in our search queries.##The Allrecipes food site found in its recent survey,
What American Families are Eating and Cooking,#that more than one-third of U s. households ate less meat in 2011, mostly for health reasons.
But not just on Meatless Mondays, although that nonprofit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health, continues to attract attention.
The Meatless Monday initiative stresses the health benefits of cutting meat consumption, as well as the environmental impact of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing water usage and reducing the use of fossil fuels.
Even pork-loving celeb chef Mario Batali embraces the skip-meat-once-a-week trend
and offers more meat-free options in his restaurants. In Indianapolis, diners are interested very#in meatless dishes,
said Jennifer Laughner, a chef at Sobro Cafe. Known as chef Jenxie,#Laughner said she draws inspiration for meat-free dishes from a variety of world cuisines.
It s very hard to find good, healthy, ready-to-eat food, #said Laughner. I decided that would be a really good niche.#
#Meatless dishes on the Sobro Cafe menu include barbecue lentils, sweet-and-sour cabbage, a savory Dutch pancake and a veggie burger that s the No. 1 seller.
I can t seem to keep enough of it, #she said. Laughner, who has been a vegetarian
but now eats some meat, said her style of cooking focuses on creating healthy food that tastes good.
That some of it is vegetarian is beside the point. That s not what it s about,#she said.
I like making food so that people don t notice that there s no meat in it.##Via USA Today Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati b
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