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Global cuisine
School lunches from around the world
The popcornsicle
New take on popcorn: iced on stick
Kiddie spas
More spas catering to kiddie set
Under the heading of "Who doesn't have an iPhone app":
Dunkin Run
Dunkin’ Donuts Online Ordering & iPhone App
Whole Foods goes mobile
Whole Foods Market Recipes on the iPhone
iBacon is here
...and for the bacon lovers out there, cook bacon on your iPhone or iPod
Enjoy!
Giving new meaning to "chicken feed"
The Energy Potential of Chicken Droppings
The First Lady of Food
First Lady Michelle Obama Becomes The New Leader Of America's Food Movement
Best Buy goes Brammo
Best Buy to Test Electric Motorcycle and Bike Sales
iPhone art
In celebration of OS 3.0...we give you iPhone art
Buying organic
See which of the country’s largest food producers are behind your favorite organic snacks
23 banana-inspired innovations
From Recycled Banana Box Art to Banana-Flavor Beer
Enjoy!
A map of the world, showing the most popular social networks by country, according to Alexa & Google Trends for Websites traffic data (June 2009). (Good luck deciphering the subtleties of the colors!)
It's hard to know even what to say about Burger King's new scent with a hint of flame-broiled meat that "captures the essence of that love and gives it to you," other than we're buying some right now on firemeetsdesire.com!
Gardening Mama: Nintendo gets a green thumb
Billed as "the first ever gardening game on Nintendo DS," Gardening Mama challenges players to plant, water, fertilize, prune, and harvest. Via The Food Section
Facebook's Fatal Error
At 12:01 a.m. Saturday, 200 million Facebook users will make a mad scramble to claim a user name...Is this the beginning of the end?
10 most creative people in food
Here are Fast Company's picks of the folks changing the way we eat
The Carl's Jr. Channel
Carl's Jr. Pairs With Popular YouTuber for Viral Success
Fun with Post-Its
Got Post-Its? New ideas to keep you busy on deadline (the music, if you’re curious, is Röyksopp)
Island bars: The first all-American chocolate bar
The Hawaiian chocolate industry in taking off thanks to two producers
Original Hawaiian Chocolate
Malie Kai
Enjoy!
Today, the food section on The Atlantic is featuring an animated slideshow in which Grant Achatz of Alinea demonstrates how to engineer true experience into the dining experience….A reimagined take on Benihana.
Diners eat off of a communal setting "plated" on gray silicone mats that cover the entire table, breaking the typical boundaries of the white restaurant plate, as well as the personal boundaries of the diners themselves.
Here, Achatz "plates" the food directly at the table for diners to interact and engage with the process.
For more on Grant Achatz and technoemotional cuisine, download our white paper, Technoemotional: An innovative cuisine trend emerges.
There’s functional food and there’s functional food, and then there’s Xtreme functional food.
While we applaud Biosilo Foods for thinking beyond physical health with Gamer Grub, their entrée into the functional food snack category, we’re not so sure about the wisdom of tying the brand so patently to a narrow consumer segment.
Here is the week that was, interesting finds and online items abuzz:
Farmers' markets go the hospital
Hospitals host farmers markets–hit or miss?
Cheese roll in Gloucester, Enland
Great pics of Cooper's Hill cheese-rolling (caution...some nudity!)
Produce search trends
This AllRecipes.com chart shows food searches patterns on the web as related to fresh fruits/vegetables.
Self-Sustainable Chair
This dress/chair combo comes with shoes you pump as you walk. Get too tired, just sit down!
Wanna snoedel in bed?
This isn’t spooning nor is it a dainty German pastry to nibble on while watching episodes of Lost.
Are Crunchberries real berries?
Reasonable consumer would know "Crunchberries" are not real, judge rules
Enjoy!
Maybe indulgence is healthy when it goes toward a good cause? Good for the conscience but not so much for the waistline. But who cares when you can save doggies and feed the homeless? This may be a great opportunity for CPG companies looking to leverage “classic” brands (read less-than-healthy) by coupling it with a good cause. Keep in mind that consumers are savvy and will only respond positively if a brand and charity are believable in the same space. Haagen Dazs helps save the bumble bees- YES! Little Debbie for Diabetes Awareness- not so much.
Guilt-free donuts
Eat a glazed or jelly-filled at a Southern California donut shop on National Donut Day and feed the homeless this Friday, June 5.
Drink CSDs and help save animals
Drinking soda may not be best for the body, but with artisan made Margo's Bark Root Beer, it's at least good for the soul. All proceeds from sales benefit local animal shelters and dog-rescue organizations. The story behind Margo's Bark is real sweet, too. A 7-year-old elementary student made root beer for a science-fair project that turned out so tasty, his family decided to bottle it and name it after the family dog, Margo.
In the US, we see lots of supplemented foods and beverages on the supermarket shelves. But in Korea, they’ve taken functional drinks to a whole new level with a fiber-enriched beer. Billboards in Seoul tout it as “The Stylish Beer with Fiber.” This is a great example of taking functional foods way too far.
Functional foods and beverages that have had success tend to be products that make cultural sense such as calcium + orange juice. This works for consumers because orange juice is opaque, the calcium is more readily dispersed. Calcium is opaque, orange juice is opaque...makes sense. (Calcium and carbonated soft drinks...not so much.) And, to consumers, calcium and orange juice already signify a healthy way to start the day. A functional product that has been less successful is Special K protein water, one reason being protein is perceived as being at the very least opaque and not exactly thirst quenching.
While stylish beer with fiber may seem like a great way to get some more fiber in your diet, it takes away from the original reason we drink beer: a quenching bit of escapism that makes life seem more interesting and fun. Fortified fiber will continue to do well in the more sober and inherent breakfast isle.
