Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Batch of links

- I’m putting this link way at the top because it’s something in which I believe, so I’d like to get some traffic to the page. There’s a new Kickstarter project up today: Shauna Ahern (Gluten-Free Girl) and Danny Ahern (the Chef) want to sell their own gluten-free flour mixes. There’s a month to go, and the initial response seems very good (it has only been several hours, and my pledge brings this up to just over 7% of the goal already). There would be an all-purpose mix (40% whole grain, free of the top 8 allergens, kosher) and a (denser) grain-free flour blend. Check out the Kickstarter site!

- Another good article about celiac disease in the New York Times, while I’ve got your attention.

- Very exciting insight into peanut allergies! It turns out that it may be the process of dry-roasting peanuts that worsens allergies in the first place, which could help explain why there are so relatively few cases of peanut allergies in Asia, as compared to North America.

- Okra could soon be used as a stabilizer in ice cream, which would make for a nice vegan alternative (I’m thinking about vegan ice creams as well as dairy ones!).

- What Twitter reveals about the way Americans eat. This ties in nicely with the weirdest eating patterns in each state.

- Manischewitz – The great story of a not-so-great wine. It may not be great, but it’s sweet enough that I can tolerate it! On a similar topic, Goyim taste Jewish food for the first time. Been there, done that, totally agree that “matzoh ball soup is like the gateway drug to Jewish food.”

- Just so you know, the food arrives when it’s ready. I completely agree with the article about the context in which this trend goes too far.

- An update on bees and colony collapse disorder, because we don’t hear a lot about it these days.

- A photo history of American school lunches - I learned a few things.

- Rats given a junk food diet gain weight, lose motivation to complete tasks, and “appear unresponsive to normal sensory cues about what to eat” – even scarier, the effects last even after returning to a normal diet. Just like humans, I guess.

- The scoop on the changes in canning lid procedures.

- Belgium is going to have an underground pipeline of beer.

- Inside the Secret World of Trader Joe’s, a very interesting article about a grocery store I’ve come to appreciate very much.

- Whole Foods is trying to rebrand its image as profits fall, mostly because other grocery stores started offering organic foods. Personally, I still think it’s hard to beat when to comes to certain niche products (like Green Valley Organics lactose-free sour cream, to name just one), not to mention fair trade and other ethical concerns. One change is that Whole Foods now has an online ordering service, allowing it to compete with Amazon’s Fresh Direct, for example. (That service isn’t yet available in San Antonio, unfortunately.)

- Some American chefs, like Edna Lewis, Julia Child and James Beard, now have their own USPS stamps. I know what I’m buying next time I need to stock up!

- 33 grocery store staples named after real people, like Sara Lee, Uncle Ben and Granny Smith.

- And here’s a story linking my favorite band and food. Taylor Hanson recently partnered up with Food on the Move, a mobile food initiative to help combat hunger in Oklahoma while fostering a deeper sense of community. In this case, the organization is combatting food deserts and fostering a sense of community. You can find out more thanks to ”The Conversation With”.

No comments: