For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Sorry this is a bit late today, I’m on the road and neither my flight nor my hotel last night had functional internet?! Starbucks, of all places, saved the day.

This week a new perspective on salt, new information on GMO foods and a brilliant strategy for getting drugs out of our meat.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato,  Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you. (And yes, I took that pepper heart pic myself).

Links of the week

• Salt, We Misjudged You <<Confused about salt? I’ve covered it in the past, but here Gary Taubes adds some new info and passes serious doubt on current recommendations. (New York Times)
• GM Myths and Truths: A critical review of the science <<Curious how much we know about all that genetically modified food you’re eating? The evidence was recently reviewed, and it’s a little scary. (Food Politics)
• GMO foods don’t need special label, American Medical Assn. says <<Given that last article, would you agree with me that the AMA deserves to be called out for BS of the week? (LA Times)
• Your meat on drugs: Will grocery stores cut out antibiotics? <<I think targeting grocery stores (as opposed to government agencies) for geting antibiotics out of our meat is a terrific idea. Trader Joe’s, we’re looking at you. (Grist)
• Is It Time to Retire the Low-Carb Diet “Fad”? <<Another brilliant (and hilarious) piece by Denise Minger about how Facebook inhibits the cholesterol lowering effects of Justin Bieber. Ok, it’s about fat and carbs in Sweden, but it’s still funny. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
• Study: No-Fat, Low-Fat Dressings Don’t Get Most Nutrients out of Salads <<I’ve said it before, but just to reiterate salads are healthier when you put oil on them. (ScienceDaily)
• The food politics of… broccoli! <<A totally awesome discussion of how broccoli is being used as a political tool. Must read. (Food Politics)
• 12 Most Toxic Fruits and Vegetables <<The Environmental Working Group put out their new Dirty Dozen list of fruits and vegetables with the most pesticides. Watch those industrial apple peels! (Treehugger)
• The Senate roll-call votes on farm bill amendments <<A new farm bill passed! Here’s an update on what changed. (Food Politics)
• Kale Market Salad Recipe <<I’m going to eat this as soon as I get home. Looks unbelievable. (101 Cookbooks)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week, the risk of storing food in plastic, everything you’ve ever wanted to fight about regarding meat production and consumption, and how an herbal remedy is causing cancer in Taiwan.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• If the food’s in plastic, what’s in the food? <<A really good question, in my option. (Washington Post)
• To Heal, First Eat <<Woohoo! Some doctors are finally starting to understand why spending time in the kitchen is so important. (New York Times)
• Joel Salatin responds to New York Times’ ‘Myth of Sustainable Meat’ <<It’s no secret that I adore Joel Salatin, and I thank him deeply for calling BS of the week on the New York Times for their reprehensibly irresponsible article on sustainable farming. (And thanks Grist for publishing it).
• The FDA takes action on animal antibiotics, at long last <<And speaking of sustainable farming, it appears the FDA is finally coming around… (Food Politics)
• Is Eating Meat Ethical? <<Mark Sisson does a great job of explaining why this is a loaded question. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
• Herbal Remedy Ingredient Tied to Cancer, Kidney Failure <<Just a friendly reminder that not all natural remedies are helpful, or even harmless. (Medline)
• What Eating Too Much Sugar Does to Your Brain <<This is from a couple weeks ago but it combines my two favorite subjects, so I thought it was worth sharing. I think the main idea here is a bit too oversimplified, but it’s an issue worth thinking about. (Forbes)
• The dilemma of pink slime: cost or culture? <<Interesting take on the pink slime stuff. Honestly I’ve been confused why this is such a hot topic. Didn’t you guys know most ground meat was made from sterilized processed scraps? Is this news? Besides, entrails and offal are among the most trendy items on fancy SF restaurant menus. (Food Politics)
• The magic of mise en place – How a ‘chef secret’ can help you prepare for the busy week ahead… <<Cool kitchen time saver. It’s intuitive, but sometimes we need stuff like this spelled out for us. (Stone Soup)
• Creamy Asparagus Soup <<Nothing says “springtime” like the intoxicating aroma of asparagus pee. Ha! Seriously though, it’s only in season for a few weeks so get your asparagus fill while you can. (Simply Recipes)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Why eating vegetables is cheaper than eating at McDonald’s, there are worse things than white rice and the best reason I’ve ever heard to go to the gym.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Are Veggies Cheap? <<I told ya so. (Forbes)
• What Reading that White Rice and Diabetes Study Actually Told Me <<I’m sure you saw the headlines. Turns out this study was even more poorly designed than the red meat study from last week, and the headlines even more sensationalized. Harvard is on a roll. (Weighty Matters)
• New Antibiotic Could Make Food Safer and Cows Healthier <<BS of the week. Just what we need, more antibiotics in our livestock. Oh yeah, and ones that can legally be in the dairy products we consume. Woohoo! (ScienceDaily)
• Calories Are Everywhere, Yet Hard to Track <<Quick preview of Marion Nestle’s new book coming out next week that I can’t wait to get my hands on. (New York Times)
• Antioxidant Supplements Seem to Increase Mortality, Review Shows <<Unfortunately for those taking antioxidant supplements, this study was actually fairly well designed. The good news is it doesn’t increase mortality by much. Still, I avoid specialty vitamins. (ScienceDaily)
• Stronger smell linked to smaller bites, vanilla-custard study says <<I was so excited by this headline but the study itself is so disappointing. Custard from a tube? I’m sure this maps just perfectly to everyday life. My hopes are up for some better follow up research though. (Los Angeles Times)
• Exercise Can Lead to Female Orgasm, Sexual Pleasure <<Ladies, if this doesn’t get you to the gym I should just give up now. (ScienceDaily)
• Umami Dearest <<I had no idea so many things could be done with miso. Miso butter? Yes please. (New York Times)
• Beet, Egg & Potato Salad with Pickled Fennel and Capers <<This recipe is from another of the wonderful food writers I met at the Edible Institute in Santa Barbara, Kathy Erway. Just look at those perfectly boiled eggs! And I love the brownie points system. (Not Eating Out In New York)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

I haven’t published a link love round up since before the holidays (I’ve been traveling and then moving, and still don’t have internet at my new home), so I included some great ones here that you might have missed over the past couple weeks. Below I’ve included some wonderful pieces on weight loss and willpower in the Times, a lamesauce ruling by the FDA on antibiotics use in factory farms and a thoughtful editorial on the state of organic farming.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• The Fat Trap <<I love this piece by NYTimes health writer Tara Parker-Pope about the difficulties of losing weight once you’ve gained it. Excellent food for thought.
• New Year’s Resolutions Stick When Willpower is Reinforced <<Another great one from the Times, this time summarizing one of my favorite books from last year Willpower.
• Antibiotics in farm animals: FDA issues weak rule. <<Thanks to Marion Nestle for calling BS of the week on the FDA for being influenced by the beef, pork and chicken industries, allowing liberal use of antibiotics for non-disease purposes and endangering humanity. (Food Politics)
• Eating Animals <<This is an incredibly thoughtful piece reminding why all animal food industries are not evil (and some are even necessary). (The Atlantic)
• Kids prefer variety of foods and colors on their plates <<Want your kids to eat more vegetables? Choose a lot of colorful ones and arrange them to look like hearts and happy faces. Note: this will not work on your parents or husband. (Los Angeles Times)
• What’s in that OJ? Tropicana is sued <<Remember when we found out recently that supermarket orange juice isn’t really naturally flavored? Well, some folks are demanding an explanation. (Yahoo! News)
• Organic Agriculture May Be Outgrowing Its Ideals <<One of the many reasons I shop at the farmers market but don’t preach organics. (New York Times)
• How Alcohol is Metabolized <<Come on, you know you’re curious. (Nutrition Diva)
• The Truth About Ansel Keys: We’ve Got It All Wrong <<This is a brilliant piece, but it’s super intellectual and science geeky. If you read Good Calories, Bad Calories and were intrigued though, you should definitely read this. (Raw Foods SOS)
• Butternut Squash Stew <<Doesn’t this look like a wonderful winter stew? I’m so there. (Chez Us)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Many must-read articles this week, including the juice on processed OJ, the truth about factory farming and antibiotic resistance and the latest demolition of our favorite vegan propaganda book, The China Study.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato) and the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Dirty Little Secret: Orange Juice Is Artificially Flavored to Taste Like Oranges <<I discussed this last week on Google+ as well, and I’m still angry about it. (Gizmodo)
• What the USDA Doesn’t Want You to Know About Antibiotics and Factory Farms <<The threat of antibiotic resisistance is one of the biggest reasons I don’t buy (aka support) industrial farms. (Mother Jones)
• My Fit Foods: Losing Weight by Buying Food You Don’t Want to Eat <<BS of the week. This makes me sick, and I recommend the exact opposite approach to weight loss and health. Eat what you love, life is too short. (Dallas Observer)
• One Year Later: The China Study, Revisited and Re-Bashed <<I’m not a fan of The China Study, and what I like about this critique is that it points out dozens of peer-reviewed papers that show the exact opposite of the claims made in the book—most co-authored by Dr. Campbell himself. Makes me wonder how he justifies these contradictions to himself. (Raw Food SOS).
• Train your brain to crave healthy foods <<It seems I’m not the only one who craves salads. Interesting tips here. (CNN)
• All-you-can-eat America: Average weight gain for Britons holidaying in the USA is 8lb <<I guess if you live here you’re totally screwed. (Mail  Online)
• Can chewing more help you eat less? <<In my experience chewing is very effective for slowing down and eating less. Here’s some data. (Reuters)
• How Chocolate Can Help Your Workout <<I expected to be calling BS on this one but it’s actually pretty interesting. Worth a read. (New York Times)
• Some exercise is better than none for lowering heart disease risk <<The previous study shows this too, but every little bit helps. (Los Angeles Times)
• Summer Corn Salad Recipe <<Fresh corn is delicious, and this looks amazing. (101 Cookbooks)

What inspired you this week?