For The Love of Food

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

Tough decisions were made this week to narrow it down to 10 stories. Love the calorie infographic, also the commentary by Dr. Ludwig on industrial food and the “small” 32 oz. soda at a SF movie theater.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg, Twitter (@summertomato) or 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

• Where Do Americans Get Their Calories? (Infographic) <<This is REALLY cool. Notice grain consumption increased nearly 50% (just like the AHA recommends), same with added fat (aka processed vegetable oils) and sugars. Veggie intake hasn’t changed, nor has dairy, and barely “meat, egg and nuts”. Fruit has gone up. Sounds like we’re obeying the food pyramid, yet eating 25% more calories and gaining weight and disease faster than ever. Lovely. (CivilEats)
• Food technology has been bad for human health since long before the invention of high-fructose corn syrup <<The wonderful Dr. Ludwig tells a more complete story about the nature of obesity. It’s not just the fructose. (Los Angeles Times)
• Food is cheap at market, but costs a lot elsewhere <<Food prices are going up, but are you confused why experts say calories are “cheap”? Learn the gory details from Marion Nestle. (SFGate)
• When did a “small” soft drink become 32 ounces? <<This saddening fact qualifies for BS of the week. Like seriously, this is disgusting. (SFGate)
• Sweet! Candy eaters surprisingly slimmer <<Interestingly, this study relied on a 24hr recall questionnaire, meaning that it didn’t actually test candy eating, but the awareness of candy eating. Mindful eating may be the key factor. (MSNBC)
• Vitamin D Can Decrease — Or Increase — Breast Cancer Development and Insulin Resistance, Study Finds <<Just in case you needed more convincing, relying on supplements is scary (especially if you over do it). (ScienceDaily)
• Food Day Campaign is Launched! <<Think real food is important? Me too! We now have a day to celebrate it! (CSPI)
• Routine Periodic Fasting Is Good for Your Health, and Your Heart, Study Suggests <<Fasting data is a lot more convincing than the “eat every 2-3 hrs” data. Just saying. (ScienceDaily)
• Substance in Tangerines Fights Obesity and Protects Against Heart Disease <<It would be nice if stuff like this ever panned out. We’ll see. (ScienceDaily)
• Not Your Mama’s Deviled Eggs <<I completely love deviled eggs, and these sound absolutely divine. Cheers to springtime 🙂 (The Novice Chef)

What inspired you this week?

It’s time to choose our next topic for Summer Tomato Live. Episode #6 is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30pm PST. Please vote for the topic you’d like me to cover.

[poll id=”11″]

Poll closes Sunday at midnight PST.

Episode #5 is scheduled for next Monday, April 11, at 6:30pm PST, and the topic is Dairy: Friend or Foe? Does dairy prevent or cause osteoporosis? How does milk affect acne? Is raw milk really the holy grail? Join us!

To participate live, sign up for the premium newsletter Tomato Slice.

For more information on the newsletter and live show, please read this.

Thanks to those of you who participated in episode #4 about healthy vegetarian & vegan diets. I learned a lot while researching this post, and there’s valuable info on omega-3 fatty acids, essential minerals and other nutrition information that’s important for omnivores as well.

All show notes, including my annotated Kindle notes of Amazon’s most popular vegetarian nutrition book (I’m not a fan) are below. Everyone should at least skim through them, there’s a lot of great information/clarification in there.

Episode #5, Dairy: Friend or Foe? is airing on Monday, April 11 at 6:30pm PST. Does milk help or hurt your chances or getting osteoporosis? Does calcium cause prostate cancer? What’s the role of milk in acne? What about raw milk, is it really the holy grail? Join us on Monday to learn the answers.

______________________________________________________

March 29, 2011 | Episode #4 of Summer Tomato Live. The topic is healthy vegetarian and vegan diets (with lots of interesting nutrition information for omnivores too).

Live participation is only available to subscribers of the newsletter Tomato Slice. You can sign up at any time, even during the show, and the password for participation will be emailed to you immediately.

Click here to sign up and get the password

Read this for more information on the show and newsletter

To watch live and join the discussion click the red “Join event” button, login with Twitter or your Vokle account, and enter the password when prompted.

I encourage you to call in with video questions, particularly if your question is nuanced and may involve a back and forth discussion. Please use headphones to call in however, or the feedback from the show is unbearable.

The show will be recorded and released to the public next week. Show notes are below.

Show notes:

Follow Darya on Kindle

Darya’s Kindle notes on Becoming Vegetarian by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis

Health:

• Healthy Vegetable Sources of Protein and Iron
• Eco-Atkins Diet May Be Healthier Alternative for Weight Loss
• Fish Eaters and Vegetarians Have Less Cancer
• Intact Grains vs. Whole Grains
• Quinoa: Did You Know?
• Fishing For Answers: How To Choose Fish and Seafood
• Latest Study on Vitamin K and Coronary Heart Disease (Whole Health Source)
• The Unconvincing Evidence that Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease (Raw Food SOS)
• Which Non-Dairy Milk is Best? (Nutrition Diva)
• A caveman and a vegan walk into a bar…
• Summer Tomato Book Review: The China Study

Tools:

• How (And Why) To Cook And Freeze Large Batches Of Lentils
• How To Cook Dried Beans Using A Pressure Cooker
• Are You Bean Careful?
• How To Cook Perfect Rice Without A Rice Cooker

I hope to see you there!

Artistic Oranges

I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the settings on my camera were really messed up this weekend and I didn’t notice until I got home and looked at the images on my computer. Yes, that makes 2 unrelated camera fails in a row.

Oops.

To get around the issue I did what any dedicated geek would do, I screwed around in Photoshop until the images looked cool.

Artistic Lobok

It’s a shame too, because the produce was beautiful today at the market, and the overcast weather would have normally made for perfect photos. But I discovered a world of crazy effects and filters, and I hope you enjoy the new perspective.

Artistic Radishes

At the market this week I’m loving the spring greens and salad fixings. Radishes, while normally not my favorite food, are divine right now and I’m using them whenever possible. Same with carrots and beets.

Artistic Beets

Salad greens like lettuce, spinach and arugula are amazing, but so is the Swiss chard, which is a fluffy and crisp as I have ever seen.

Artistic Chard

Another spring signature is the asparagus, and I’ve been eating my fair share. Especially with eggs. If asparagus isn’t your favorite but you’d like to get better acquainted, try cooking it in a bit of acid, like balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. It does wonders.

Artistic Asparagus

I’m also trying to take advantage of artichoke season, indulging in both the small baby artichokes as well as the larger varieties. I love them all (and really need to publish my recipe for making a perfect steamed artichoke).

Artistic Artichokes

Other spring treats including olives, horseradish, walnuts (and walnut oil), avocados and citrus.

Artistic Olives

Oh, and of course fresh shetland fleece.

Artistic Fleece

Today’s purchases (~$20):

• Swiss chard (Capay Organics)
• Red Russian Kale (Catalán Family Farm)
• Artichoke (Iacopi Farm)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Navel oranges (Hamada Farms)
• Meyer lemons (Hamada Farms)
• Mint (Marin Roots Farm)

For The Love of Food

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

This week around the web I found interesting tips on how to avoid cellphone radiation (it’s real), BPA and mad cow disease. Also smaller packages give you less for more, and introducing the bacon alarm clock. Yes, you read that right.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete list of my favorite stories check out my links on Digg. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Cellphone Radiation May Alter Your Brain. Let’s Talk. <<I actually learned a lot from this article, like that the most radiation comes when your phone makes contact with the tower at the beginning of the call. (New York Times)
• What’s up with food dyes and hyperactivity? <<There are a bunch of articles about this, but I like Marion Nestle’s point that the only purpose of these dyes is to sell junk food. (Food Politics)
• Make Yourself a Quesadilla <<BS of the week. The New York Times just dropped a notch in credibility for me. I don’t care if you put broccoli in it (who does that anyway?), a quesadilla isn’t a “healthy snack”.
• Weight-Loss Supplement Has Teensy Potential Side Effect: You Might *Get Mad Cow Disease*! <<One more reason to avoid diet pills and the like. (Discover Blogs)
• Wake n’ Bacon is most delicious alarm clock ever <<Now that’s innovation! (DViCE)
• Food Inflation Kept Hidden in Tinier Bags <<It seems portions are getting smaller whether we like it or not. This makes me perversely happy. (New York Times)
• Poor Eating Habits May Lead to Anemia in Women <<This shouldn’t be too surprising, but make sure it doesn’t happen to you. (Business Week)
• 6 Steps to Avoiding BPA in Your Daily Life <<Helpful advice. I’ve found it pretty easy to avoid BPA, how about you? (Fast Company)
• Pretty Patterns That Camouflage a Poison <<Apparently it is not just food from China you should avoid. Time to chuck those decorative plates as well, unless you enjoy eating lead. (New York Times)
• Swiss Chard with Olives <<Chard is in season! Enjoy it! (Simply Recipes)

What inspired you this week?