Welcome once again for another week's round-up of eco-foodie news, tips, links & recipes. Each week I glean tasty bits from the various blogs & sites I follow outside of the Kos-verse and bring them together here for your perusal. If you have a good tasty bit to share let us know about it in the comments!
This week's mystery gadget is an older version of something you might find in a modern kitchen especially if there is baking going on;
News
Resistant Salmonella: Deadly Yet Somehow Not Illegal
In food-safety regulation, there’s a concept called “adulterant”, a substance that by law may not be distributed in food. When you hear the word, what springs to mind is probably Upton Sinclair-style additives such as sawdust and plaster. But foodborne disease organisms can be adulterants also. The best-known is undoubtedly E. coli O157, which was declared an adulterant in 1994, one year after the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak that killed 4 children and put 171 in the hospital.
Salmonella, though, is not an adulterant. The federal government has never named it one, despite pleas from nonprofit organizations such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which in May filed a petition with the USDA that specifically asked for drug-resistant Salmonella — the organism in this outbreak — to be declared an adulterant so that extra preventative steps could be authorized according to law. The USDA has not acted on the request.
Organic Poultry Farms Have Fewer Drug Resistant Bacteria
A study out today in Environmental Health Perspectives adds some weight to the argument that organic poultry, at least, may reduce one type of health risk. A team of scientists from the University of Maryland and other universities found that large-scale organic poultry farms — which are not allowed to use antibiotics to prevent disease in the animals — had significantly lower levels of one group of drug-resistant bacteria than their conventional counterparts.
Spoiled food: Could it be safe to eat?
Spoilage bacteria turn last week's roast chicken into a scene from Zombie Flesh Eaters. Like the undead, they're everywhere (air, soil, water, plants, and animals), so the invasion of your groceries is pretty much inevitable. Evolved to consume corpses and dead plants, which are customarily served cool, they're the dominant bacteria in your 35-40-degree fridge. (Conversely, temperatures above 85 degrees enervate them.) The stench is from the breakdown of amino acids into amines, which include the evocatively named cadaverine, putrescine, and spermidine. As repulsive as they are, only one, histamine, has been linked to negative health effects, and that's just for people who have allergies to it or who eat certain kinds of improperly stored fish. Spoilage bacteria are harmless.
Antioxidant spices, like turmeric and cinnamon, reduce negative effects of high-fat meal
"Normally, when you eat a high-fat meal, you end up with high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in your blood," said Sheila West, associate professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State, who led the study. "If this happens too frequently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk of heart disease is increased. We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 percent, compared to a similar meal with no spices added."
Baby's Palate and Food Memories Shaped Before Birth
At 21 weeks after conception, a developing baby weighs about as much as a can of Coke — and he or she can taste it, too. Still in the womb, the growing baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid daily. That fluid surrounding the baby is actually flavored by the foods and beverages the mother has eaten in the last few hours.
"Things like vanilla, carrot, garlic, anise, mint — these are some of the flavors that have been shown to be transmitted to amniotic fluid or mother's milk," says Julie Mennella, who studies taste in infants at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. In fact, Mennella says there isn't a single flavor they have found that doesn't show up in utero. Her work has been published in the journal Pediatrics.
Not your grandma's strawberries
Donald Davis, a scientist retired from the University of Texas at Austin, and his colleagues published a study in 2004 comparing U.S. Department of Agriculture data on vegetable nutrients from 1950 to data from 1999, and found notable decreases, particularly for key nutrients like calcium, iron, phosphorus, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid.
Davis believes that the primary reason for the decrease is selective breeding: As growers and researchers have spent the last 50 years trying to produce varieties of crops that yield more fruit, they've been ignoring the effects on nutrient content. Davis cites a few studies that compared high-yield varieties to non-high-yield varieties in the same soil and growing conditions, and found decreased nutrient content in the former.
A Tale of Two Cans: Why Canned Salmon is Better than Tuna
[. . .]The conscientious diner striving to save depleted cod stocks might choose a farmed tilapia for his fish and chips only to learn that his tilapia may have been grown in China and high doses of antibiotics and toxic antifoulants could have been administered on the farm. A shrimp lover might eschew farmed shrimp because of the damage shrimp farming can do to mangrove forests, only to learn that shrimp caught in the wild often result in significant bycatch of unmarketable fish and sea turtles.
But in spite of all of this noise in the marketplace, there are actually a few very clear choices. One of them presents itself each time we step into a large supermarket. It is a choice made not at the fresh seafood counter or even in the frozen section. It is made in that humdrum aisle where the cans are kept. The choice is there before us: canned salmon or canned tuna? Which is better?
The answer is salmon, hands down, with three quick and easy explanations.
NY: Gov. Cuomo launches "Fresh Connect Farmers' Markets"
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the "New York Fresh Connect Farmers' Markets" (FreshConnect) program, which launches new farmers' markets and expands others around the State of New York. The program is designed to assist New York farmers by increasing the sale of locally-grown food in communities. The program will also bring fresh food to underserved communities, improve nutrition education, and help create local jobs.
FreshConnect is designed to meet the needs of communities. In some places, new markets will serve rural or urban communities that do not have sufficient access to grocery stores; in others, markets will provide low-income, high-unemployment neighborhoods with healthy, New York-grown produce, as well as jobs by staffing the markets with local youth. Other markets will provide residents and tourists with an array of New York farm fresh products.
Home & Garden
Singapore will soon become more garden than city
In a recently proposed 10-year development plan, Singapore aims to go from being "a garden city" to "a city in a garden." The proposal marks the latest milestone in the city's decades-long effort to become an eco-city.
How to Properly Season a Wok
7 Alternative Uses for Brown Paper Bags
Paper Towels and Frugality
Dehydrated foods work well for the frugal-minded cook
Enjoy Fresh Salads All Week with a Vacuum Sealer and Mason Jars
Flavor Whole Coffee Beans with Spices
Tips for the slow home: Conserving Water
Solar Systems Can Increase Home Value
10 Things Every First Apartment Should Have
Great checklist for new renters as well as college kids headed off to their first dorm or apartment!
DIY: Install an easy pour spout on a Mason jar
Recipes
Indian Spiced Ketchup Chutney
Roasted tomato lentil salad
Tomato salad with crushed croutons
Crunchy Red Swiss Chard Falafel
Figgy Pecan Bleu Pizza
Penne with Piment d'Espelette
Grilling: Eggplant Caprese
Baked Chile Rellenos with Corn and Crema
Herb Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs
Simple Tuna Bruschetta
Stuffed baked zucchini with rice, orzo and cherry tomatoes
Zucchini and pesto pizza
cross-posted to firefly-dreaming and Original Cin's