Doritos creator dies in Dallas at 97

By: ASSOCIATED PRESS
From: http://www.chron.com/

DALLAS— Arch West, a retired Frito-Lay marketing executive credited with creating Doritos as the first national tortilla chip brand, has died in Dallas at age 97.

A statement issued by the West family says he died on Tuesday at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

A graveside service is scheduled for Oct. 1. Daughter Jana Hacker, of Allen, told The Dallas Morning News that the family plans on "tossing Doritos chips in before they put the dirt over the urn."

West was a marketing vice president for Dallas-based Frito-Lay in 1961 when, while on a family vacation near San Diego, he found a snack shack selling fried tortilla chips.

Hacker said her father got a tepid corporate response to the tortilla chip idea but conducted marketing research that led to the Doritos rollout.

He drove 1,400 miles for Stoughton pizza

By Amanda Cedrone, Globe Staff
From: http://www.boston.com/

Town Spa Pizza

Is it really that good? An image of Town Spa Pizza, where the pies are made that David Schuler and his family craves.

Sure, there’s nothing like a good pizza -- it’s a sublime symphony of crust, sauce, and cheese. But is any pie worth a 1,400-mile drive?

David Schuler thinks so. He drove 1,400 miles from Mississippi to pick up 150 of them from Town Spa Pizza in Stoughton.

A Stoughton native until age 13, Schuler grew up eating at the pizza place – then his family moved to Jackson, Miss.

“The only pizza we ate growing up was Town Spa Pizza,” he said. “I just assumed pizza was like that everywhere. We got to Mississippi and pizza here was just horrible.”

Schuler and his siblings began to get competitive – every time someone went back to the Boston area to visit family, they would see how many pizzas they could get back to Mississippi.

His sister started with five. His brother brought back 10. His sister went again and brought back 15. Then Schuler decided to give it a try. He bought a suitcase that he filled with pizzas, and that cost him a baggage fee of $87 to fly home from Logan Airport.

Schuler decided there must be a more efficient way to get the pizzas back to Mississippi. After a few fits and starts, he figured it out

“If you buy them frozen, you can’t get them back quick enough,” he said. “The crust gets soggy and there’s no way to get it out.”

Instead, Schuler buys the pizzas half-cooked, seals them in vacuum-packed plastic, and places them in coolers with ice packs. Following this method, the pizzas are just fine when he gets back to Mississippi.

“I’ve got a good system,” he said.

For 150 pizzas, it took Schuler four coolers, cramming the pizzas in like vinyl records on a shelf. He even had room left over for some Funny Bones and Yodels. You can’t get those in Mississippi, either, he added.

Schuler isn’t the only customer who comes from long distances to get Town Spa Pizza, said Richard Phillips, general manager of the pizzeria. Others have come from places as far away as Hawaii and California.

Customers are so loyal to the family-owned restaurant because of its consistency, he said.

“We’re in our fourth generation here,” he said. “We make it consistent. It’s the same pizza it was 50 years ago. It’s the same sauce we made 50 years ago.”

When he arrives back in Jackson, Schuler’s first stop was his mother’s house where he stores the pizzas in her deep freezer. He distributed the pizzas to his sisters, nieces, and nephews, who are always appreciative.

My sister “was in tears when I handed them to her,” he said.

Schuler has no plans on stopping his thousand-mile pizza delivery route. Next time he’s looking to pick up 200.

“I’m getting myself psyched up,” he said.

Free Filtered Water For Reusable Bottle Users - The Trend Grows

by A.K. Streeter

From: http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo A. Streeter via flickr and Creative Commons.

Certain places hold us captive to buying bottled water - which if you've seen the documentary Tapped you'll likely not want to do. Airports are generally the worst - if you unthinkingly purchase bottles in the terminal before passing through security, your very expensive water will basically go staight into the trash. Adding a reusable bottle to the things we all cart around sometimes feels like a drag, but hopefully a new trend makes schlepping the reusable Kleen Kanteen or other stainless or glass bottle much more rewarding.

The Chicago Department of Aviation has installed filtered water stations especially designed for reusable bottles at both O'Hare (Terminal 2) and Chicago Midway airports. Not only is this a boon to those of us with reusable bottles and a real aversion to buying bottled water. It's also saving CO2 emissions. Yes, a drop in the proverbial bucket, but a start in turning back the massive tide of bottled water that is so damaging to our environment and so unnecessary.

At both the airports, there's a Liquid Disposal Station before security lines, and refill stations are located right next to the regular drinking fountains (a big plus, as it is quite difficult to refill bottles at the regular fountains).

You simply set your bottle onto the station's metal tray and refill happens hands free.

The Dept. of Aviation estimates the water stations, installed after Earth Day 2010, will save approximately 17,000 pounds of greenhouse gases from being emitted, and 29 fewer tons of trash from going to landfill annually.

In San Francisco, Virgin Airways is sponsoring a similar filtered water refill station.

Washingtonians are also lucky - the TapIt initiative means there are more than 60 spots in the city, (participating businesses) that will allow you to fill your reusable bottle for free.

Reviewing some of the highlights from the documentary for your water edification:

- A large amount of the water you are buying in bottled water comes from the same sources as tap water.

- Bottled water is more than a $10 billion annual business, with the biggest corporate players being Coca-Cola, Pepsico, and Nestle.

- Approximately 18 million barrels of oil are used each year to transport water for bottled water consumption.

-Eliminating or minimizing bottled water usage would be a huge boon for the ocean where lots of plastic ends up circling endlessly in loops like the Pacific Gyre.


-Storing water in plastic is a very risky business, as toxic chemicals have been shown to leach from the plastic in to the water, especially over time (including bisphenol-A).

And, most relevant for consumers, bottled water costs from 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon to purchase than tap water (NRDC source).

The Art and Science of S’mores

From: http://www.visualnews.com/

Does anyone know where the idea for the s’more came from? How about how it got its name? Did you know that there is an official 3-step process to making them? And where DID all those parts come from, anyway? I bet you want to know. I did. Yes, It’s all here, the classic ingredients, the history, the tips on mallow roasting and fire managing, and even–yes–an explanation of the Russian Matryoshka Mallow doll technique. You too, can be a master of the mallow and czar of sweet, sticky, melty campfire crackers. REI shares its tips and tricks of this delectable, historic treat.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Foodie Underground: Top 10 Oddest Food and Foodie Blogs

by Anna Brones
from http://ecosalon.com/

ColumnThanks to the internet, there’s a blog for every kind of food, no matter how weird.

The only thing more important to a foodie than a kitchen is the internet. How else are you going to showcase all of your favorite food porn shots that you take at dinner every night? But just like with anything on the internet, it’s easy to go too far. Fortunately that means entertainment for the rest of us, and if you’re really lucky, maybe even some weird food inspiration. Here are our top 10 picks of weird food blogs, enjoy!

1. Scandybars

“Like a blog in a candy store,” this blog is almost a scientific collection of candy. It features the photos of cross sections of various candy bars, making you think of your favorite $0.99 overly sugary chocolate fix in a whole new way.

2. Scanwiches

The cross section fad continues, this time with scanwiches. Some look grosser than others (hint: hotdogs), but you never know what might just turn into the inspiration for tomorrow’s lunch.

3. F*ck You Yelper

As helpful as Yelp can be, crowd sourcing food reviews inevitably leads to a fair amount of moronic opinions. Thankfully F*ck You Yelper has them all rounded up in one place, sure to amuse anyone that’s ever questioned the future of society after spending a little too much time perusing Yelp comments.

4. The Bacon Show

Disclaimer: there are a lot of bacon blogs out there. But this one is one of the most extensive, currently claiming over 2000 recipes. And they stick true to their motto of, “One Bacon Recipe, Everyday, Forever.” So if you’re as obsessed with bacon as every other internet user, check it out.

5. Airline Meals

There’s no getting around it: traveling is fun but airplane food is not. Just because you got yourself on an international flight and don’t have to pay $10 for a dry and scratchy turkey – wait, is that actually turkey?? – sandwich, does not mean you’re going to get a satisfying meal. If you’re stuck in economy, all you can do is hope that your meal will be interesting enough to photograph and pop onto Airline Meals, which has a stunning archive of all kinds of meals served to the mile high club.

6. What the F*ck Should I Make for Dinner?

Tired? Feeling a drought of culinary creativity? Take that negative energy and make your way over to What the F*ck Should I Make for Dinner, a site that gives some simple and humorous suggestions on what you should be serving. Don’t expect any recipes, but at least you’re getting some advice, which we all know the internet is always good for.

7. This is Why You’re Fat

An internet sensation, This is Why You’re Fat is the epitome of weird food blogs. Feel bad about your diet lately? A quick scan through some of these photos will get you back to carrot sticks and hummus in no time.

8. Hipster Food

A quality food blog whose name is intended to be tongue-in-cheek. It’s actually a vegan food blog with creative recipes and hipster enough that they don’t capitalize the first letter of a sentence. Even if you have a vegan vendetta, you should still probably check it out.

9. Cutest Food

If you’re like me and have a cupcake aversion, consider yourself warned: this blog is sweet, saccharin, and mostly pink. Think panda cupcakes and waffles with multicolored heart shaped sprinkles. Le sigh.

10. Paula Deen Riding Things

What can we say, the iconic sugar, butter and fried queen photoshopped onto various images is hilarious. Almost as great as Paula’s actual website.

Trim Your Electric Bill With these No-Cook Recipes

• Frugal Foodie
• From: http://www.mint.com/
  

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When the temperature starts to climb, it’s cheaper not to cook. Yes, really.

Using the oven makes your house hotter, forcing the air conditioner to work that much harder and padding your electricity bill. Haven’t turned on the a/c yet? The extra heat may make it that much more tempting. But it’s not as though dining out is cheap, either. The combo solution: turn on the oven only in the cooler evening hours, use the microwave or grill outside when possible and work in a few no-cook, cooling recipes.

We asked chefs, bloggers and home cooks for their best cheap summer recipes that will help you beat the heat and don’t require the use of the oven or stove:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frozen Bars

Cost: $1.78, or $0.15 per serving

Dietician Brenda Ponichtera, the author of Quick and Healthy, makes a frozen treat that is both decadent and diet-friendly. Line a 9” by 13” pan with graham cracker squares. In a separate bowl, prepare two packages of chocolate pudding according to the package directions but using only three and one-third cups fat-free milk. Beat in one-quarter cup peanut butter. Spread mixture on top of graham crackers and then top with another layer of crackers. Freeze for four hours, and then cut into squares.

Banana “Ice Cream”

Cost: $1.45, or $0.36 per serving

No ice cream maker necessary for this faux ice cream from Happy Herbivore blogger Lindsay Nixon. Just throw two frozen bananas into a food processor with a quarter-cup non-dairy milk plus a quarter-teaspoon each of vanilla extract and cinnamon. The chilled, blended banana mimics the texture of ice cream perfectly.

Tangy Watermelon Salad

Cost: $6.20, or $0.62 per serving

This recipe from Jill Ross of Gooseberry Patch is not your average fruit salad. Cube a watermelon (about 14 cups) and mix with one thinly sliced red onion. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine three-quarters cup orange juice, five tablespoons red wine vinegar, two and a half tablespoons honey, a tablespoon finely chopped green pepper, a half-teaspoon salt, a quarter-teaspoon pepper, a quarter-teaspoon garlic powder, a quarter teaspoon onion powder, a quarter-teaspoon dry mustard and three-quarters of a cup of oil. Pour dressing over watermelon and mix gently. Refrigerate for two hours.

Stuffed tomatoes

Cost: $1.80, or $0.90 per serving

Joan Jacobsen of Baby Boomer Way makes stuffed tomatoes by cutting the tops off two large, firm tomatoes and scooping out the insides. In a bowl, mix a 12-ounce can of tuna, a stalk of finely chopped celery, a quarter-cup of chopped red onion, half of a ripe avocado and the pulp of the tomatoes. Add the juices of half of a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Mix all together with a fork, and then place into tomato shells. Chill, then serve.

Strawberry Mint Lassi

Cost: $3.65, or $0.91 per serving

“Mint, yogurt and ice work collectively as a trilogy of coolants,” says Gurapeet Bains, the author of Indian Superfood. Place in a blender nine ounces of hulled strawberries, a few fresh mint leaves, seven ounces plain yogurt, a large handful of ice and sugar to taste. Blend together until smooth.

Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup

Cost: $3.71, or $0.93 per serving

Cumin and peperoncini and a kick to this cold soup recipe from Anne Maxfield of Accidental Locavore. Blend, chill, enjoy.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Cost: $12.55, or $1.25 per serving

For a refreshing cold soup, Chef Eric Gruber of Shore Lodge and Whitetail Club in McCall, Idaho, pairs a peeled, diced seedless watermelon with more savory fare. Blend the watermelon in a blender in batches with 10 diced Roma tomatoes, two diced red onions, two peeled, seeded and chopper cucumbers, two seeded and diced jalapenos, one seeded and diced poblano, two quarts of V8 vegetable juice, a quarter-cup lemon juice, a quarter-cup lime juice, a bunch of chopped cilantro, a tablespoon Tabasco sauce, a tablespoon sriracha sauce, a quarter-cup olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate overnight and then pass through a medium mesh strainer to remove any remaining chunks.

Frugal Foodie is a journalist based in New York City who spends her days writing about personal finance and obsessing about what she’ll have for dinner. Chat with her on Twitter through @MintFoodie http://www.twitter.com/mintfoodie.

Five Tips for Effective Food Photography

By Kholood Eid
From http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/

Kholood Eid

​

As beautiful as food can be, it's not always that easy to photograph--especially if there's no food stylist on call or elaborate studio space to occupy. Here at Chow Bella, we've compiled a list of tips to keep in mind when out shooting, regardless of how attractive the dish or how sophisticated the equipment on hand may be.

Kholood Eid

​5. Focus on the Details

A lot of chefs treat each dish like a presentation, so handle it with care. Really take a look at the food before hitting the shutter button on the camera. Consider the composition. Does the entire plate need to be in the shot? Do you need to get in tighter, cropping out some of the food in order to get the nitty gritty details? Does the garnish need to be included? It's a call that you can only make after seeing what's in front of you. But we'd suggest taking a variety of shots, just in case. And from different angles. When focusing, we suggest shooting with a wider aperture if your camera has the option to adjust those settings (maybe an f-stop of 2.8). That allows for a shallow depth of field, which will better control where the viewers' eyes go in the photograph.

Kholood Eid

​4. Know When to Use Props--And When Not To

Some folks may be tempted to pair silverware with every dish photographed, but try to fight that urge. Props can be lovely when incorporated in the right manner. And forks, spoons and knives aren't the only items available to use. What's the scene of the restaurant like? Implementing that into the photo can be a nice change of pace from the usual super tight shot, but don't get too hung up on trying to always squeeze the environment in. For food photography, less is usually more. The tighter the better, but every now and then, if the opportunity presents itself, zoom out (if you do decide to incorporate a background, make sure the image isn't overly chaotic and confusing.).

3. Sometimes, You Just Have to MacGyver It

We understand that not everyone is toting around thousands of dollars worth of equipment--and even those who are may still be lacking in some pretty basic tools to make the job easier. That's why it pays to be resourceful and inventive. Don't have a diffuser to filter light? Buy a white sheet or use white napkins. No lightstand to balance a reflector? Use a chair at the restaurant. No tripod? Position the camera on a table, maybe with a stack of camera manuels or menus under it to vary the height. Just remember to always have rubber bands, duct tape and a cool head on your shoulders.

Kholood Eid

​2. Behold the Wonders of Natural Light!

You cannot underestimate the beauty of natural light. Don't get us wrong, being able to control the exact amount of power released from strobes in a studio run under your orders is a fantastic thing. But not all of us have that luxury, or some of us are being sent to the restaurants to photograph the dishes. Kindly request that the dish be brought to you at a table close to a window while you set up. And by "set up," I mean you're pulling out a reflector and a tripod--if you've got it.

Say you've got a plate of pita chips and hummus to photograph and you place it with the window to its left. Light travels in straight lines that don't curve at your will--unless you make them. Chances are you'll need a fill light for the right side of the dish so the shadows aren't too heavy and the other side of the food still has enough light. This is where a reflector is perfect, or even a white napkin. Either will help bounce light back into the scene. Reflectors range in price and can cost anywhere from $12 to pushing $100. There's no need to spend more than $12-$20, because it's a simple enough device that can be created on your own (remember that whole resourceful thing?).

Do not use a flash. Please, just don't do it. It will look overbearing and can either wash out the dish or create heavy, distracting shadows. If you do still find yourself really wanting to use a flash, put a gel over it so that it matches the color temperature of the room and put a diffuser over that so the light isn't too powerful. And it would probably be best to have the flash off-camera (still tempted to use flash over natural light??).

We'd ditch the flash for a reflector and a tripod. The tripod is great to have because, even with the natural light and restaurant lights, the room may still be too dim for a handheld shot. If you're using an iPhone camera, steady hands will go a long way here. Or check out tripods made for iPhones, if you really want to pimp out your camera phone gear.

Kholood Eid

​1. Technical Proficiency Is a Must

As basic as this sounds, well, you need to know the basics. Otherwise, it gets difficult to produce quality work. Proper exposure, focus, composition, white balance--these are essential points to understand. If your shot is underexposed, there's only so much you can do in post-production work (i.e. software like Photoshop) to adjust that. But there's not a whole lot that can be done to fix a badly composed or blurry shot after it's been taken. So, as our photo instructors in college would ask, Why not just get it right the first time around? Make sure the food is well lit and that the camera settings are adjusted to read the light properly, and go from there. Is it in focus? Try to use that shallow depth of field as mentioned in previous tips.

And don't forget color balance.

A filet mignon will not look all that appetizing if the photo is murky and green. Proper color balance of a photo is essential in food photography. Avoid having that color cast over the image by setting your camera to automatic white balance before shooting, or manually adjust it depending on the color temperature of the light (tungsten, which often casts orange tones, will have a different color temperature than shooting under florescent, which can give photos a green-like-The-Matrix look if you're not careful). If you find yourself with a photo that you've taken that does have a strange off-color look to it, it's an easy fix in Photoshop and/or other software. It can be fixed by adjusting the balance of colors (for example, adding magenta will help to take away green from an overly-green image). Check with the program you're using for more details on how to do go about the different methods of color correction.

And although we've already touched on composition in preview tips, we have something to add: For the love of God, don't tilt the camera for that stupid diagonal horizon effect. It rarely (if ever) adds anything to the photograph.

Peachy Canyon Winery: Old Jesse James Hideout Turns Sustainable Winery

by Jerry James Stone

from http://www.treehugger.com/

• 
  
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Photo via Peachy Canyon



Peachy Canyon Winery is a sustainable, family-owned winery located on the westside of Paso Robles' popular Highway 46. The winery is named after a horse thief who took refuge in a cave near the vineyard; Jesse James made use of the same hideout.

Peachy--the oddly named horse thief--was eventually caught and hung in town. Jesse James' uncle, Drury James, co-founded the town of El Paso de Robles and was part owner of the famous La Panza Ranch where James and his brother, Frank, took shelter after holding up a bank in Russellville, Kentucky, on March 20, 1868. Jesse was ailing a gunshot wound from the robbery.

 
Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch

The winery has four estate vineyards, totaling 100 acres, and also sources grapes from other growers within the Paso Robles AVA. The Old School House Vineyard, located within the county's Templeton Gap, was purchased in 1998. The property's landmark attraction--yes, a school house--was built circa 1886 and now serves as the winery's only public tasting room. Their other vineyards include Snow Vineyard, Mustang Springs Ranch and Mustard Creek.

A Family Affair

The Beckett family relocated to Paso back in 1982 when they sold everything they had to buy a walnut farm in the area. It was there that Doug Beckett met hobby winemaker Pat Wheeler who had a garage-based winery. Soon Doug had his eyes set on an even larger commercial venture, a winery. Pat, who was hoping to leave the Golden State (crazy talk!), was less interested. So Doug, along with his wife Nancy, moved all of the winemaking equipment from Pat's garage to the farm near Peachy Canyon Road.

Thanks to a load of Zinfandel grapes from Benito Dusi's vineyard, Peachy Canyon Winery officially launched their label in 1988 with just a few hundred cases. Since then the Beckett's have gotten a wee bit more ambitious, production this year is set for 84,000 cases!

 
Photo of Josh Beckett via Peachy Canyon
While Doug and Nancy still head the winery, their sons Josh and Jake also play a big part in the family business. Josh has worked at the winery for about nine years and has been the winemaker since 2003. Jake is the winery's General Sales Manager.

You Gotta be Nuts!

Josh explains that before the original vineyard was in fact a vineyard, it was an organic walnut grove, "There was no certification back then but it was definitely organic because [with] dry farmland that's all you do -- prune and cultivate, and that's it. Like out there, there's no spraying, no nothing going on out there. You just turn the soil, shake the trees and pick the nuts up off the ground, and you prune in the winter, and that's it. That's all you do with walnuts."

Walnuts were sold to both Diamond Foods of California and a tiny little candy company known as See's Candies. In fact, the original vineyard near Peachy Canyon Road still grows both crops. It's about one-quarter walnuts and the rest is grapes.

 
Photo via Peachy Canyon

The walnuts didn't stick around but the sustainable farming practices did.

Doing It the Old Fashioned Way

All four vineyards compost the waste accumulated during harvest; grape skins, stems, seeds, everything is recycled and put back into the vineyard. By doing so, Peachy Canyon is able to avoid using fertilizers.

Cover crops are grown throughout the vineyards every year. Barley is the crop of choice as it prevents runoff during the rainy season. Other plants include vetch, legumes and other beans. In the Spring, the barley and other plants are mowed and disked back into the soil.

"We like to see the grass and we like to see the different weeds because we know there's life in there [the vineyard] and there's healthy stuff going on. There's worms, there's all this stuff out there. Without that greenery and without that life, it [the vineyard] wouldn't be there," says Josh.

Pests are kept to a minimum using beneficial insects such as ladybugs, praying mantis and lacewings. Organic style oil is used to thwart leaf hoppers, the vineyards' most common pest. Netting is used to keep out the birds.

Peachy Canyon has been SIP certified since 2007 like some of its neighbors such as Halter Ranch and Robert Hall.

 
Photo via Jaymi Heimbuch

Josh explains that while they do sometimes water and spray, "we don't get on a regimented spray program or a regimented irrigation program. We go out there and spend time [in the vineyards], and we'll see what the plants actually need and don't need, and don't just water just to water. [We] don't just do things because. A lot of the big, huge farms, they have to. They don't have a choice."

Deadly Zins

While Peachy Canyon grows a plethora of varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Malbec, and Petite Verdot but they are really known for their Zins.

Their 2008 Old School House Zinfandel is brooding with dark cherries, cocoa and just enough citrus to keep it fresh and light. This School House Zin is bound to land you in detention. Josh really hits it home with his 2009 Cirque Du Vin, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec that borders on blasphemy. The wine gracefully dances between herbal notes and ripe fruit. Both of these wines can be purchased online for $36 and $17 respectively.

There are two things I never turn down and one of them is a Cab Franc. So I am hesitant to mention Peachy Canyon's 2008 Cabernet Franc. The wine is a tsunami of cherries and currents anchored by a touch of oak and some herbal undercurrents. It retails for $25 and is also available online along with their other wines.
While Paso Robles is no longer the Wild Wild West, you could very well end up in a duel over Peachy Canyon's wine.

Visit TreeHugger's Green Wine Guide for more green wineries, recipes and virtual tours.

First Packaging-Free, Zero-Waste Grocery Store In US Coming To Austin, Texas

by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder, Colorado

from: http://www.treehugger.com/

Image: bcmom via flickr

It's gotten harder and harder over the years to avoid excess packaging when shopping for everyday items, but plans are in the works for a store in Austin (also the home of Whole Foods) that will specialize in local and organic ingredients, but more importantly, will eliminate all packaging from the store. If it succeeds and the bulk trend catches on, the environmental footprint—petroleum consumption and transportation emissions specifically—of our country's grocery runs could be slashed pretty quickly.

In.gredients plans to become the country's very first "package-free, zero waste grocery store." GOOD describes the store in this fitting and awesome way: "It's as if the specialty bulk food section rebelled and took over the rest of a traditional grocery store."

GOOD outlines the benefits of bulk food in numbers:

Americans add 570 million pounds of food packaging to their landfills each day, while pre-packaged foods force consumers to buy more than they need, stuffing their bellies and their trash bins: 27 percent of food brought into U.S. kitchens ends up getting tossed out.

A lot of supermarkets now do have bulk food sections for dry goods, but they're obviously a minor part of a much larger store that specializes in bulk packaging. And buying liquids in bulk is not even an option.

Bringing Bulk-Purchasing Back
There used to be stores around the country that had bulk supplies and allowed you to bring refillable containers for those more difficult-to-buy-in-bulk items, like liquid soap and laundry detergent, but those stores have closed, or at least stopped providing the bulk option, one by one. Whole Foods does have a small section for bulk liquid soaps and other small stores likely do as well (feel free to share info about any such stores in the comments below), but again, these sections are all dwarfed by aisles and aisles of plastic bottles and excess packaging.

As long as bulk the alternative and doesn't dominate the store, it's not going to influence people's buying habits—and eliminate waste—on a large scale.

Reducing the Waste Stream
Here are some more numbers for you: about 50 percent of plastic waste in the U.S. is said to come from packaging and containers. According to the EPA, about 31 percent of all municipal solid waste in the U.S. was containers and packaging in 2008. That's 76,760 thousand tons—and less than half of that gets recycled.

Eliminating the option for packaging completely at the store means also eliminating a huge chunk of our nation's waste stream in one easy step.

If a store like In.gredients succeeds, will it push big brands to start providing bulk options in chain stores, and those chain stores to accept and promote those options? It'll be huge if we reach a point where you can bring a refillable bottle into Walmart or Target and fill it with shampoo or laundry detergent, and leave the store carrying all your groceries with no more packaging than you entered with.

In.gredients co-founder Christian Lane said in a press release: "Truth be told, what's normal in the grocery business isn't healthy for consumers or the environment... In addition to the unhealthiness associated with common food processing, nearly all the food we buy in the grocery store is packaged, leaving us no choice but to continue buying packaged food that's not always reusable or recyclable."

This is all, however, only once In.gredients raises the funds it needs to launch, which it is trying to do at IndieGoGo.com.

More on the benefits of buying in bulk:
Unpackaged: A Success Story
6 Best Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint at the Grocery Store
Save Money on Organic Food: Join a Natural Foods Co-op
Incredible Bulk

Time to find out what the world’s most expensive popsicle costs

Author: Bob
From: http://thechive.com/

If you head over poolside at the 237-all suite Marquis Los Cabos resort in Baja California Sur you may get to sample Popsicle perfection. You might not believe it but the frozen treats go for the ridiculously low, low price of $1000 a pop. Each one contains 24 carat gold and Tequilas Premium Clase Azul Ultra, a special brand of tequila that generally sells for $1,500 a bottle. The frozen treat is served on a classic plastic stick, with some gold chocolate coins (I’m hoping a prostitute is lingering close by). What do you think, worth it??

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Via odditycentral

Sugar Sues High Fructose Corn Syrup

by Sara Novak, Columbia
from http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo: colros

It's about the lesser of two evils, isn't it? But when push comes to shove, how different is sugar from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?

The Western Sugar Cooperative is claiming that the two are in fact very different. It recently filed suit against sugar refiners for misleading consumers in calling HFCS corn sugar, according to the Des Moines Register and as discussed on Food Politics. "The lawsuit names as defendants Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc., and other major corn syrup processors as well as the Corn Refiners Association."

So, is it fair to call HFCS sugar? Not according to the Western Sugar Cooperative.

"This suit is about false advertising, pure and simple," said Inder Mathur, president and CEO of Western Sugar Cooperative, the grower group that filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court along with the Michigan Sugar Co. and C&H Sugar Co. Inc. "If consumers are concerned about your product, then you should improve it or explain its benefits, not try to deceive people about its name or distort scientific facts."

Corn Refiners Petition to Be Called Corn Sugar

I wrote in March that the Corn Refiners Association had asked the FDA to change the name HFCS to corn sugar. The Corn Refiner's Association lobbied hard for the name change because more and more people are refusing to buy products containing HFCS. As a result, many food manufacturers have stopped using HFCS and, instead, have replaced it with sugar. The sky rocketing price of corn, which has shot up nearly 50 percent in the past couple of months, has also been a factor. But it turns out that an existing FDA regulation makes the name change difficult. Marion Nestle wrote on Huffington Post that the name was already taken:

The Corn Refiners have just petitioned the FDA to be allowed to use the name "corn sugar" to apply to both glucose/dextrose and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). But the existing definition seems to exclude HFCS. While HFCS is about half glucose, it is also about half fructose, and its manufacture from corn starch requires one more enzyme.

Here's the FDA regulation
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But even still, HFCS has been using the name in its new advertising push, which is no small campaign. Corn Refiners spent nearly $30 million on advertising in 2008.

But how different are HFCS and sugar? Let's be clear: sugar and HFCS share the same biochemistry. Marion Nestle defines:

Sucrose: a double sugar of 50% glucose and 50% fructose linked together HFCS: a syrup of about 45% glucose and 55% fructose, separated

However, HFCS goes through highly unnatural processing. The process starts off with corn kernels. The corn is spun at a high velocity and combined with three other enzymes: alpha-amylase, glucoamylase, and xylose isomerase, so that it forms a thick syrup that's way sweeter than sugar.

But in the end it's all about market share. Each group wants a bigger piece of the economic pie and as public perception of these ingredients evolves, so too does the name by which each group would like to be referred.

Thailand: All aboard the crazy train

Can you tell this wasn’t filmed in America?

Full Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IqUzkqUa64

Uploaded by TravelChannelTV on Aug 13, 2009

Tony visits a rural market in Thailand where the local train cuts right through the bustling crowd of anxious shoppers and food stalls. New episodes of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations air Mondays at 10PM, only on Travel Channel. http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Anthony_Bourdain

Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes

On Charlie Sheen's new cooking show; Winning Recipes, Charlie shows you how to cook using all of the power of a warlock.

Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes from Charlie Sheen

Mmmm….Fresh Bread at San Francisco’s Boudin Bakery

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From: http://www.vivaboo.com/

There’s something about the smell of freshly made bread. Before you even get there, you can smell it….the freshly made sourdough French bread. The smells flood your senses and you are drawn in as if you were being pulled along. Keep walking, it’s not far…San Francisco’s renowned Boudin Bakery is just ahead.

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It started way back in 1849, when the Boudin family opened the original Boudin French Bakery. Just a tiny little bakery, amongst many others in San Francisco, the Boudin Bakery brought something new to the table….a little bit of old world taste. As the story goes, it was the wild yeast that make their bread a little tart. It was that same tartness that brought into existence what is affectionately known today as “San Francisco sourdough French bread”.
Keeping true to the Boudin family heritage, that sourdough recipe is still used to this day. And unbeknown to many, a small portion of the original “mother dough” is used to start each and every day’s batch of sourdough bread.
Something else that makes the Boudin Bakery a place to go…besides the fresh sourdough bread, wonderful clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, etc….is the fact that they make their bread in all shapes and sizes, right before your very eyes.
There are sourdough turtles, lobsters, crabs, teddy bears, alligators and more. There is even a 5-foot sourdough alligator…try taking that guy for a walk.
So, follow your senses (or your GPS) the next time you are in San Francisco and you’ll be sure to come across the wonder that is the Boudin Bakery.

Images by Loren Javier and Nemo’s great uncle

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