FitSugar

King Corn Coming to Theaters Near You

FitSugar — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 03:00:00 PDT

Corn, it is an ingredient in just about everything. The cob is manufactured into fillers, oils and sweeteners. Many have theorized that the rise in obesity is due to the increased use of high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. While the jury is still out on that particular connection, many see the corn subsidy as the underlying problem with American food production and agriculture.
In light of all this, two recent college graduates decided to plant an acre of corn in Iowa in an attempt to learn more about the crop that is taking over America. The tale they tell in the documentary King Corn is entertaining, enlightening and funny. Regardless if you have or haven’t read Michael Pollan’s treatise on agriculture in the U.S. - The Omnivore's Dilemma - you should see this film. If you are what you eat, then we are all corn!

King Corn will be shown in select theaters around the country this October. If you can't make it to see the film, don't fret. You can read about the film and its protagonist / antagonist, corn, on their website.

Feel-Full Quick Tricks

Health — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:49:40 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

By Health.com

It's not just what you eat that can make you more satisfied - it's how you eat, too. Try these tips to feel fuller longer.

H2O some more
Drink two eight-ounce glasses (16 ounces total) of water before each meal. It will fill up your stomach and trim up to 60 calories per meal.

Health.com: Which Foods Burn the Most Fat?

Flavor of the day
Use vinegar (or vinaigrette) and cinnamon for flavor whenever possible. These two ingredients can help regulate blood sugars after meals and help you feel full longer after eating, according to a study from the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, in Zurich, Switzerland.

Keep reading for quick feel-full tricks.

A Look Back at the Second Annual Good Food Awards

YumSugar — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:05:17 PST

Food artisans from around the country were honored at the second annual Good Food Awards, which celebrate American food producers, who enhance the country's agricultural landscape and help to build community. On Friday, we hit up the awards ceremony, where a veritable who's who of the food industry, from Alice Waters to Ruth Reichl, spoke to the importance of heirloom products, and where we had a chance to taste some of the best heirloom products being made in this country right now. For a few snapshots from the event, keep reading.

Ruth Reichl: "American Food Is the Best in the World Right Now"

Susannah Chen — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:23:06 PST

This weekend, food artisans from around the country are being honored in the second annual Good Food Awards, which celebrate American food producers who enhance the country's agricultural landscape and help to build community. While the awards are relatively new to the gastronomic landscape, they're already backed by some of the country's biggest food influencers, such as Whole Foods, and seminal culinary figures, like Ruth Reichl.
Ruth is currently the editorial adviser at Gilt Taste, another cosponsor of this weekend's Good Food Awards. The author, former New York Times food critic, and final Gourmet editor sat down with me over dinner at Mission Chinese Food to talk more about good food and future projects.

YumSugar: Tell me about the partnership between Gilt Taste and the Good Food Awards. How did it come about?
Ruth Reichl: I've known Sarah [Weiner, the director] for a long time, and we've been talking about this for a long time. When I went to Gilt Taste, it just seemed like a seamless, natural partnership, finding and supporting food artisans in America.

YS: You're the keynote speaker at this year's Good Food Awards. What kind of a legacy do these awards create?
RR: It's hard for younger people to understand how bad things were in America, a time when all food was essentially industrial. There were no farmers markets. I have an interview with Wolfgang Puck that I did in 1982 where he goes, "Six years ago, there was no decent food in America." Now, there's this explosion of farmers markets, and while so much of the world is abandoning their food heritage, Americans are reclaiming theirs before it gets lost . . . We have these two completely parallel, simultaneous, and opposite tracks: on the one hand, people with money who eat organic, sustainable, handmade food. But if you're a poor person, you're stuck eating stuff that's cheaper than food and that will kill you. Food safety in this country becomes a worse and worse issue; we import more and more food; 80 percent of the antibiotics in this country go to perfectly healthy animals. We have a real crisis on the one hand - and on the other hand, we have, for the first time, an awareness of it. Which is quite stunning.

I really do think American food is the best in the world right now, because of the people making the kind of food that goes to the Good Food Awards. We have to nurture it, and make sure that it doesn't just stay with us in this little enclave.

YS: There's movement toward eating a plant-based diet. What do you think of that?

To find out her answer, keep reading.

Government Replaces Food Pyramid With MyPlate

Katie Sweeney — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:34:01 PDT

This morning, Michelle Obama and the US Department of Agriculture revealed a new symbol for a healthy American diet. The food pyramid, which has been around since 1992, has been replaced with MyPlate. The color-coded guidelines call for a fruit- and vegetable-heavy diet with grains and proteins consumed in smaller quantities. The government recommends that Americans switch to low-fat or fat-free milk, reduce processed and frozen meals as well as portion size, and opt for water instead of sugary drinks.

They emphasize that food choice is a personal thing, but that the correct choices need to be made. "Enjoy your food," the website says, "but eat less."

I try to eat as many fruit and vegetables as possible and don't drink sodas, so I'm on my way to meeting the standards set by MyPlate. How about you? What do you think of MyPlate?

Source