How has this recent soon-to-be pandemic not yet been 100% linked to our food system? The swine flu outbreak was said to have originated in Granja Carroll, Mexico, where a big, fat, unsanitary concentration-camp pig farm resides. Granja Carroll is a subsidiary of the US company Smithfield Foods, which is the world's largest pork producer.
"Because concentrated animal feeding operations tend to concentrate large numbers of animals close together, they facilitate rapid transmission and mixing of viruses,” said scientists from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2006.*
I've read some interesting responses.
Time to get a twitter account ...
*Mary J. Gilchrist, Christina Greko, David B. Wallinga, George W. Beran, David G. Riley and Peter S. Thorne, "The Potential Role of CAFOs in Infectious Disease Epidemics and Antibiotic Resistance," Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, 14 November 2006.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Product Shout-Out
I need to mention a flax company that makes me want to holler "I LOVE FLAXMEAL" from my fire escape. I flax my food up everyday with "Flax & Company's Original ground flaxmeal" and I think it's grrrrEAT! Flaxmeal doesn't have a taste but it feels like you have little hair shavings all over your food. Well NOT WHEN YOU USE FLAX & COMPANY! The type I like is mixed with ground sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, almond and pumpkin seeds, so it makes whatever you're sprinkling, tossing, blending or baking delicioso. The company needs to hire me, because they're getting free promotion here... Thing is, flax usually has a greater n-3:n-6 ratio, but this product has an n-3:n-6 of 3300mg:4360mg. It's due to the nut combination they chose, so I think I might write to the company and ask them to add more walnuts in their mix to topple the omega balance.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Good Sperm = Good nutrition!
A recent study suggests that men consuming excessive amounts of processed meat and full-fat dairy have poorer sperm quality. They found higher-quality sperm in men who consumed more fruits, vegetables and skim milk.
Thirty Spanish men with poor semen quality (cases) were measured against 31 normospermic control couples. Diets were recorded using a food frequency questionnaire and semen parameters and hormone levels were analyzed.
The controls had a higher intake of skimmed milk, shellfish, tomatoes, and lettuce, and the cases consumed more yogurt, meat products, and potatoes. The cases also had lower intake of lettuce and tomatoes, fruits (apricots and peaches), and significantly higher intake of dairy and meat processed products.
The study concluded that the frequent intake of meat products or milk may negatively affect semen quality in humans, whereas some fruits or vegetables may maintain or improve semen quality.
Thirty Spanish men with poor semen quality (cases) were measured against 31 normospermic control couples. Diets were recorded using a food frequency questionnaire and semen parameters and hormone levels were analyzed.
The controls had a higher intake of skimmed milk, shellfish, tomatoes, and lettuce, and the cases consumed more yogurt, meat products, and potatoes. The cases also had lower intake of lettuce and tomatoes, fruits (apricots and peaches), and significantly higher intake of dairy and meat processed products.
The study concluded that the frequent intake of meat products or milk may negatively affect semen quality in humans, whereas some fruits or vegetables may maintain or improve semen quality.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Cherry Blossom Festival Indian Dance
I like the moves of the little girl that I zoomed in on, all the way to the right.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Rhyming on the train with a little vino in your tums
There's something called wine,
it comes from the vine,
it happens to warm up your throat!
It makes you feel older,
ur no longer colder,
u wish u could sober your goat!
Your goat? Your goat?
But what in the world'd u just wrote?
I once had a tiger, made out of fiber
but not like the type in your colon.
My tiger would stare
while I'd go do my hair
and he'd watch me, too, when I spoke.
Sometimes I rhyme, do it all the time,
comes out, easy, no prob.
It's fun, u know, to rhyme as u go,
as long as it ain't on the job.
it comes from the vine,
it happens to warm up your throat!
It makes you feel older,
ur no longer colder,
u wish u could sober your goat!
Your goat? Your goat?
But what in the world'd u just wrote?
I once had a tiger, made out of fiber
but not like the type in your colon.
My tiger would stare
while I'd go do my hair
and he'd watch me, too, when I spoke.
Sometimes I rhyme, do it all the time,
comes out, easy, no prob.
It's fun, u know, to rhyme as u go,
as long as it ain't on the job.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Nurse Charged with Killing Dialysis Pt
Saturday, April 04, 2009
A Review of the NYC Restaurant Show (03/09)
Exhibitors from all around the world stake out their spots at the Jacob Javits Convention Center to present the latest and greatest food-stuffs of 2009. The main draw of the show is to taste different cuisines, learn about new products and test machinery that food service can use in their kitchens.
Being hungry and having room in one's belly is a bad idea before attending this event, mainly because a few nibbles over the course of one hour can add up to a whole day's worth of calories if you're not careful. I had the luxury of being in a food coma, complete with blurry vision and the onset of hypochondriacal diabetes; however, I was lucky to remain lucid enough throughout the day in order to learn about some new foods that will be presented in the restaurants this year.
Some sushi places will now begin using soy paper instead of seaweed nori to wrap up their sushi. The soy papers come in an array of colors and flavors, including hot spicy pink and squash yellow. For me, this takes away from the tradition of having black seaweed surrounding sushi, but I suppose restaurants will apply the new seaweed fad accordingly. Some other interesting delights I found were "Japanese foie gras of the sea" (Ankimo), "100% all-natural certified organic fro-yo" by a company called "The Lite Choice" (organic and fro-yo should be banned from sharing room in the same sentence) and "Energy-multigrain bagels" that tout themselves for its high fiber (high fiber because the bagel's the size of your head!)
One of the major highlights of the day included an impromptu talk with Chuck Hunt, the executive vice president of the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association. Since day one, he has always been against the caloric labeling on menus in restaurants of over 10-15 chains. Me being a proponent of them, we seemed to get into a heated academic debate about the issue, all while tasting sliced cheese and chicken-sticks.
Vendors presented their products with elaborate displays and demos. I tried the "Ergo Chef" heavy-duty knife, whose blade conjured flashbacks of an unfortunate skin-chopping incident. "It's the new shape of cutlery," the seller declared. If I don't cut my fingers off, then I'll consider this new shape, I thought.
Parched from the additives, high-fat and salty items, I searched for water. Vendors, vendors everywhere but not a drop to drink... Until the NYC Local Tap Water booth presented itself way back toward the left of the room. I pounced on it like a traveler in the desert. I had reached water-jug Mecca, and I was not leaving until satisfied.
Sake and wine stands couldn't lure me at that point but I witnessed a major tasting party in the southeast corner and thought about the aftermath of stumbling out of the Javits at 12PM. That wasn't enticing to me.
A fork of oyster and a spoonful of dip later, I left the madness of food service advertising and welcomed back my bland world of eggs and oats.
For more information about the Restaurant Show, visit their website.
Being hungry and having room in one's belly is a bad idea before attending this event, mainly because a few nibbles over the course of one hour can add up to a whole day's worth of calories if you're not careful. I had the luxury of being in a food coma, complete with blurry vision and the onset of hypochondriacal diabetes; however, I was lucky to remain lucid enough throughout the day in order to learn about some new foods that will be presented in the restaurants this year.
Some sushi places will now begin using soy paper instead of seaweed nori to wrap up their sushi. The soy papers come in an array of colors and flavors, including hot spicy pink and squash yellow. For me, this takes away from the tradition of having black seaweed surrounding sushi, but I suppose restaurants will apply the new seaweed fad accordingly. Some other interesting delights I found were "Japanese foie gras of the sea" (Ankimo), "100% all-natural certified organic fro-yo" by a company called "The Lite Choice" (organic and fro-yo should be banned from sharing room in the same sentence) and "Energy-multigrain bagels" that tout themselves for its high fiber (high fiber because the bagel's the size of your head!)
One of the major highlights of the day included an impromptu talk with Chuck Hunt, the executive vice president of the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association. Since day one, he has always been against the caloric labeling on menus in restaurants of over 10-15 chains. Me being a proponent of them, we seemed to get into a heated academic debate about the issue, all while tasting sliced cheese and chicken-sticks.
Vendors presented their products with elaborate displays and demos. I tried the "Ergo Chef" heavy-duty knife, whose blade conjured flashbacks of an unfortunate skin-chopping incident. "It's the new shape of cutlery," the seller declared. If I don't cut my fingers off, then I'll consider this new shape, I thought.
Parched from the additives, high-fat and salty items, I searched for water. Vendors, vendors everywhere but not a drop to drink... Until the NYC Local Tap Water booth presented itself way back toward the left of the room. I pounced on it like a traveler in the desert. I had reached water-jug Mecca, and I was not leaving until satisfied.
Sake and wine stands couldn't lure me at that point but I witnessed a major tasting party in the southeast corner and thought about the aftermath of stumbling out of the Javits at 12PM. That wasn't enticing to me.
A fork of oyster and a spoonful of dip later, I left the madness of food service advertising and welcomed back my bland world of eggs and oats.
For more information about the Restaurant Show, visit their website.
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