For The Love Of Food
by Darya Rose | Mar 23, 2012

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.
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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?
I’m not advocating McDonalds, but these comparisons are as whack as crack. Shouldn’t the vegetable article compare on a $ per/calorie basis?
1 serving artichoke @ $1.68/serving is 76 calories = $0.022/calorie
1 big mac @ $3.29/serving is 540 calories = $.0058/calorie
That makes artichokes almost 3.8x as expensive as Big Macs on a per calorie basis.
Why not on a dollar per nutrient basis? What good is a calorie if it poisons you?
Well, I didn’t write the study, but I assume they didn’t do that because going to your editor with a headline of “Vegetables healthier than McDonalds” would get you laughed at and possibly fired.
I just don’t see the point in publishing an article that has such an obvious flaw, with no disclaimers. I mean, you rightfully tore apart that Harvard meat study, but you don’t even put a disclaimer on this one?
Calories are not created equal. In this country people are overfed, yet undernourished.
Avocado is a great bargain, calorie wise.
I am not sure what would be a good comparing unit: volume, calorie, nutrient? Anyway, can you compare processed food and whole food? Whole food wins in the long term, whatever its price, because it is what is keeping you healthy.
What inspired me this week? The free worldwide online premiere of the ‘Hungry For Change’ movie. Can be watch for free here, until the end of this month: http://www.hungryforchange.tv/online-premiere