Research & Rescue

Chewing and chewing all day long. The way that a cow does....

Sorry, Violet, but the gum isn't quite ready for prime time. Now off to the juicing room with you!

Willy Wonka 3-course meal in stick of chewing gum now a possibility | Mail Online

Mechanically separated chicken

Udpate: dangerousmeta! has kindly informed me that Snopes picked up on this and has marked it with half true and half false. You can read their assessment here: http://bit.ly/cUSZNV

You know, I love fried chicken stuff but if you aren't totally grossed out by this, there is something wrong with you. According to Early Onset of the Night, the eyes and guts of the chicken are extruded along with everything else. Then they wash it in ammonia to kill the bacteria. If you'll excuse me, I need to go be ill now....

via early-onset-of-night.tumblr.com

Worldwide Beer Consumption

by Zoe Pollock

 

The Economist reports China is now the world's biggest beer market, grossly surpassing the United States. Let the international power hour begin.

via andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

Don't drink and job hunt

 

U. MICHIGAN/U. PENNSYLVANIA (US)—Drinking alcohol during a lunch or dinner job interview—even when the boss does—could lower the likelihood of getting hired, according to a new study.

“Alcohol consumption plays a prominent role in many professional interactions, including job interviews, negotiations, and informal meetings,” says Scott Rick, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan.

“By introducing alcohol, managers can create a relaxed atmosphere that facilitates information exchange and relationship development.

“But merely holding an alcoholic beverage may reduce the perceived intelligence of the person holding it, in the absence of any actual reduction in cognitive performance—a mistake we term the imbibing idiot bias.”

Read the rest at www.futurity.org

Kentucky Fried WTF on a stick

Cool? Gross? You decide. Instructables has a piece today on pieces of unidentified fried stuff and how to create their carcinogenic goodness.

Gender appropriate foods?

I guess I suspected that men liked bar food more than women did, in general but gender-appropriate food? Who knew?

Boys learn at an early age that certain foods (red meat, beer) are associated with masculinity, while others (fish, vegetables, yogurt) are considered feminine. Eating gender-appropriate grub becomes a way of affirming one’s manliness. As they grow into men, those choices gradually become habitual.

Read the whole things at www.miller-mccune.com

Panera's Pay-What-You-Want Restaurant

I've heard of this concept before and wondered if it would work. Apparently, it does. Panera Bread gave customers suggested prices for its menu items and the majority of patrons paid in full. Moreover, Panera thinks it should be able to recover costs for doing this within just a few months.

I can see a couple of ugly caveats, given my musings on human nature lately. The first is the people who will say, "Well, Panera is clearly able to cut the price, so they should just cut the price on the menu and let me pay less." The second is the notion that every business will do this and , therefore, we can cut the social safety net.

Here's hoping, though, that the success of this experiment will spread across the restaurant industry in this difficult economic climate.

Read about it at www.good.is

Government Report Finds Dangerous Residues in Meat

I don't have any proof of this and it's purely conjecture but I suspect that all the maladies that seem to be appearing in society, like autism, skin problems, fibromyalgia, etc. have a lot to do with all the crap that goes into our food and into our food and water supply.

Many food consumers worry about pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria in their meat. But according to a new government report, they should worry more about veterinary drugs, pesticides and heavy metals in their food.

A new Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released last month finds the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) fails to test for many drugs in cattle, inadequately tests for others and fails to recall meat which is clearly contaminated.

Read the rest at blogs.alternet.org

24 Weird and Unique Hamburgers

This list is missing the peanut butter and bacon burger that Reid had on the specials just before Over Easy in Santa Fe closed. Maybe he'll put it on the menu at Flying Tortilla (please?). Yes, friends, I know it sounds disgusting but it was really good!

A hamburger is not inherently an exotic food. However, in the hands of the right creative (or crazy) individual, that single slab of meat and two buns can become nothing short of spectacular.  Or, as KoldCast TV’s new  dark comedy/thriller series, Leidy’s New Boyfriend, illustrates, an “erotic date” that begins with a hamburger can lead to something sinister.  With that as an introduction, KoldCast presents you with the weirdest and most unique hamburgers on Earth – or at least on the Internet.  Just make sure you don’t read the rest of this article on an empty stomach. Enjoy!

via blog.koldcast.tv via @paul_steele and @weirdchina on Twitter

24 Weird and Unique Hamburgers | KoldCast TV - News Blog

Haitian Farmers Burning Monsanto RoundUp Ready Seed on World Environment Day

"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.

In an open letter sent May 14, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the executive director of MPP and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP), called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds ... and on what is left our environment in Haiti."(1) Haitian social movements have been vocal in their opposition to agribusiness imports of seeds and food, which undermines local production with local seed stocks. They have expressed special concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Read the rest at www.truthout.org