Category Archives: Food

FOOD & AGRICULTURE: “The Robot Producing Crops Of The Future” (WSJ Video)

Arizona has what researchers call “the climate of tomorrow, today.” Scientists are using a 30-ton robotic field scanner in the state to study plant genetics and hopefully develop stress-resilient crops.

Photo: Jesse Rieser for The Wall Street Journal

More from the Wall Street Journal: Visit WSJ.com: http://www.wsj.com

Infographics: “Reducing Salt In Diet & Foods To Improve Blood Pressure”

Tip To Improve Blood Pressure - Infographic - Eufic

Does reducing salt improve our blood pressure?

There is consistent evidence that moderate reductions (i.e. a decrease of 3 to 5 g or ½ to 1 teaspoon a day) in salt intake can lead to a reduction in blood pressure.5,6 However, these effects may not be the same for everyone and will depend on an individual’s starting blood pressure (greater benefits are seen in those with higher blood pressure), their current level of salt intake, genetics, disease status and medication use.

It is important to note that salt is not the only lifestyle factor that can influence our blood pressure. Other factors such as eating enough potassium, maintaining a healthy body weight, not smoking, and being physically active are also important when it comes to reducing blood pressure. You can find 7 lifestyle tips to help reduce blood pressure here.

High salt foods:

  • Processed meats such as bacon, salami, sausages and ham
  • Cheeses
  • Gravy granules, stock cubes, yeast extracts
  • Olives, pickles and other pickled foods
  • Salted and dry-roasted nuts and crisps
  • Salted and smoked meat and fish
  • Sauces: soy sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce

How Much Salt Is Too Much Salt - Infographic Eufic

What is salt?

Salt is the common name for sodium chloride (or NaCl). It consists of 40% sodium and 60% chloride. In other words, 2.5 g of salt contains 1 g of sodium and 1.5 g of chloride.

Why do we need salt?

Both sodium and chloride are essential for many body functions. They help regulate blood pressure, control fluid balance, maintain the right conditions for muscle and nerve function and allow for the absorption and transport of nutrients across cell membranes. Chloride is also used to produce stomach acid (hydrochloric acid, HCl) which helps us digest foods.

How much salt do we need per day?

The exact minimum daily requirement for salt is unknown, but it is thought to be around 1.25 g – 2.5 g (0.5 – 1 g sodium) per day.1 As salt is found in a large variety of foods the risk of deficiency is low.1,2 The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has stated that a salt intake of 5 g per day (equivalent to 2 g of sodium) is sufficient to meet both our sodium and chloride requirements as well as reduce our risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.1,2 This is equivalent to around 1 teaspoon of salt per day from all sources.

Both sodium and chloride are released from our body through our urine and when we sweat. This means bouts of heavy sweating such as during exercise can increase our salt requirements slightly. However, as most people consume well above required levels it is usually not necessary to increase salt intake during these conditions.1

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Food & Nature: “The Wild Harvest – Mid Summer” With Chef Alan Bergo

 

Filmed and Directed by: Jesse Roesler

Produced by: Credo Nonfiction
Featuring: Alan Bergo, Forager Chef

Edited by: Sam Kaiser

From James Beard Award-winning filmmaker Jesse Roesler and renowned Forager Chef Alan Bergo, The Wild Harvest is a new foraging & cooking series that celebrates the beauty and bounty of nature and explores what’s culinarily possible with easily foraged wild foods. This series is being created safely during quarantine using social distancing measures.

Episode 3 features the bounty of mid summer in the northern hemisphere including a wild greens salad, walleye wrapped in squash leaves with chanterelles and a blueberry desert that captures the spirit of the pine barrens. Featured foraged ingredients include Lamb’s Quarters, Chickweed, Purslane, Bee Balm, Chanterelles, Wild Blueberries, Sweet Fern, Hazelnuts.

We hope to release a new episode every 3-4 weeks for free, but are currently seeking sponsors.

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Foods & Flavors: “The Story Of Vanilla” (CBS)

With so many of us staying at home these days and spending more time in the kitchen, vanilla sales, of all things, are booming. Correspondent Seth Doane travels to the island of Madagascar – which supplies 80% of the world’s vanilla – to learn more about the extraordinarily colorful (and sometimes unsavory) story of a familiar spice, and why this valuable cash crop can be worth more by weight than silver.

Food Trends: American “Fresh Seaweed” Products Are Expanding (Podcast)

NPR PodcastAtlantic Sea Farms is the largest commercial seaweed farm in the U.S. They line-grow their seaweed in clear, icy cold Maine waters. The seaweed — which is sold frozen in pureed cubes and in ready to eat cut strands and fermented products — is never dyed or dehydrated.

Beyond sushi restaurants and roasted snacks, seaweed is increasingly accepted, appreciated, even adored, in American kitchens — and for good reason.

Seaweed is really good for you. It’s loaded with potassium, magnesium, Vitamin B12, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and tons of calcium. And then there’s the umami bomb of taste: briny, sweet, meaty, and vegetal are just some of the ways cooks describe the flavor of various seaweeds.

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Dining: Interview With Private Chef Platform “APT” – Richard Lee Massey

The EntrepreneursRichard Lee Massey is the founder of Apt, a new hospitality platform in London. The reopening of London’s restaurants earlier this month was a welcome relief for many. But with physical-distancing restrictions still in place, Apt will allow groups of friends to dine in a more intimate setting.

They can choose from a host of top chefs and rent one of 98 private apartments at east London’s Town Hall Hotel for their meal.

Travel, Food & Wine: Top Australian Restaurants And Vineyards (Podcast)

Monocle 24 Only In Australia PodcastUnrestrained by culinary tradition, Australia’s fine drinking and dining scene applauds creativity and food fusion. The country’s outdoor eating culture is enlivened by some of the world’s best fresh produce, breathtaking landscapes and ideal growing conditions. 

Get your tummy ready to rumble as Georgina Godwin takes a tour through some of Australia’s finest dining rooms, vineyards and cellar doors, with star wine-makers, foragers of fine food and industry-leading artisans as her guides.

Food & Dining: “How A Michelin Star Restaurant Will Cope Post Covid-19”

After months in lockdown, restaurants are back. But they’re coming out of hibernation into a strange new world shaped by the coronavirus pandemic. In the first in a new series of films, food writer Tim Hayward and the FT’s Daniel Garrahan visit Lyle’s in east London to see how a Michelin star restaurant has pivoted from fine dining to pizza.

Legendary Food: “An Ode To Manny’s Deli, Chicago”

NPR PodcastI’ve had lunch with politicians, clergy, reporters and people who’ve just been indicted at Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen in Chicago, and there’s a code of silence over the clatter: it doesn’t count.

The schmear of cream cheese thick enough to be a ski jump? No calories! Potato pancakes hefty as manhole covers?

No calories!

But the weeks of the shutdown became months. Even as businesses reopened, multitudes still work from home.

“That can’t pay our rent, insurance, our payroll,” says Dan Raskin. “We can’t go on like that.”

When a family business is forced to close, people lose their livelihoods, families lose support, and a city loses revenue and vitality. A landmark like Manny’s is also a link to history. You can point to where Barack Obama talked politics over pastrami, Oprah had apple sauce on her latkes, and where your grandfather went when he got tired of dieting.

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