Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
Pushing Junk Food Out of Schools

The Obama administration plans a massive drive this week to change the foods that schools offer to children – banning candy and sugary beverages from school lunch rooms and vending machines, in exchange for more nutritious fare.

And while the story the Times shares of Mrs. Almond and her candy cart is touching (though I imagine she can just as easily fundraise with anything else), you truly don’t realise how awful the junk-food-in-schools situation is until you spend time in a school. To that end, don’t miss the ‘Fed Up with School Lunch’ project – one teacher’s attempt to eat (and blog) school lunch every day for an entire year.

Just a head’s up, though: It’s disturbing.

Feb 08, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #

Donald Goerke, SpaghettiOs Creator, Dies at 83

Wow. It feels like a part of my childhood has just been ripped from me.

Jan 15, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #

Food Stamp Use Soars

Part of an ongoing series that looks at the U.S. government’s array of social safety net efforts, Jason DeParle and Robert Gebeloff write about the increasing reliance on food stamps in America.

Nov 28, 2009 :: Tagged under: , :: #

Cakes Gone Wrong

A New York Times piece on a truly wonderful blog called “Cake Wrecks” – dedicated to those horrifying accidents when professionally-made cakes go wrong.

I couldn’t stop laughing.

Oct 28, 2009 :: Tagged under: , :: #

"Don't Eat Egg Salad From a Vending Machine"

It’s time for the New York Times Magazine’s annual Food Issue, and author and contributing writer Michael Pollan has assembled a collection of sage “rules for eating” from his readers. As he explains:

How did humans manage to choose foods and stay healthy before there were nutrition experts and food pyramids or breakfast cereals promising to improve your child’s focus or restaurant portions bigger than your head? We relied on culture, which is another way of saying: on the accumulated wisdom of the tribe.

He received more than 2,500 responses to his solicitation for popular wisdom about food and eating, and he now shares his favourite from among them. Some anecdotes are philosophical (“When you’re eating, don’t talk about other past meals, whether better or worse. Focus on what’s in front of you”), some are pragmatic (“It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor”), and some are poignantly telling, in this mass-produced & processed, industry-driven world of food we now live: “Don’t eat anything that took more energy to ship than to grow.”

Oct 11, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , :: #