One serious problem for travelers flying on airplanes is Jet Bloating. No, I did not make that term up. It’s used to refer to the burping and bloating caused by gases that expand the stomach at high altitude.
The main culprit of the ailment is certain foods that lead to water retention and indigestion. Some obvious foods and drinks to avoid include broccoli, beans, salty snacks and carbonated drinks. However, there are some less apparent fare that fliers shouldn’t be eating as well, such as bread, fois gras, peaches and fried cuisine.
Jet Bloating is no laughing matter. Along with making you the least liked person on the plane, it can also disturb the flight itself. In 2006, a US domestic airline was forced to land early after passengers complained of a weird odor in the bathroom. It turned out the smell was from a spent match, which a passenger had lit to disguise an unpleasant stomach issue.
So, what should you eat before and while flying? Green tea, bananas, berries, pineapple, onions, garlic, turmeric and potatoes all help to aid digestion. Additionally, celery can calm your nerves, while whole cereal grains and leafy greens reduce stress. Ginger is also excellent, although make sure to order a flat soda if you go the ginger ale route.
The world’s only Pinta Island Tortoise died on Sunday, leaving the planet one species poorer. Lonesome George, the iconic tortoise of the Galapagos Islands, was believed to be over 100 years old.
When Lonesome George was discovered on Pinta Island in 1972, Galapagos National Park officials had already believed the specifies to be extinct. The tortoise was then taken to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island to be cared for under the park service’s tortoise program.
On a happier note, it looks like Lonesome George didn’t have to be all that lonesome during his passing. Two females from the Espanola tortoise population, the species most genetically similar to Pinta tortoises, stayed by George until his last breath.
Staff members of the Galapagos National Park Service are still unsure as to what the cause of death was. To honor the beloved animal, however, the park is holding an international workshop in July on effective strategies for restoring tortoise populations over the next 10 years.
The National Wildlife Federation has declared today, June 23, as the Great American Backyard Campout. To celebrate the event, which is designed to help reconnect young people with the outdoors, the organization is encouraging friends and families to spend the night sleeping out under the stars.
Thanks to the introduction of the Internet, video games, television and other technological distractions, fewer and fewer kids are actually going outside to play these days. The NWF says that only about 25 percent of American children now spend any significant time outdoors on a daily basis. Just two decades ago that number was actually 75 percent. The organization feels that by getting children to go outside we not only improve their health, but also help them build a solid respect for nature and wildlife.
This event also serves as a fundraiser for the NWF, which encourages campers to register their campout and ask friends and family to sponsor their backyard adventure. By doing so, they can earn official GABC T-shirts and be eligible to win a trip to New York or Los Angeles to be on a National Wildlife Federation television show. The organization promises that 80 cents out of every dollar earned goes directly to support their cause, which is to protect and preserve America’s diverse wildlife populations.
Tonight, thousands of people across the U.S. will take part in the Great American Backyard Campout. They’ll huddle around a campfire and tell tall tales while singing camping songs and making delicious s’mores. And when they’re ready to call it an evening, they’ll slip inside their tents, crawl in a comfy sleeping bag and drift off to sleep with the sounds of nature all about them. Perhaps in doing so, they will also begin to instill a bit of love for the outdoors in themselves and their children too.
Find out more about the Great American Backyard Campout by clicking here.
From where I stood on the roof of Bastille Cafe & Bar in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, I could see flocks of seagulls circling nearby fishing boats, as I catch whiffs of brine, gasoline and eau de canal water.
Despite the industrial marine supplies and salmon canneries across the way, up here I was surrounded by buzzing honeybees and dozens of varieties of produce, from heirloom French beans and petit pois to herbs, tomato starts, lettuces and cucumber vines.
Bastille is part of an emerging breed of urban restaurant (many of which are located in hotels) popping up across America. Not content to just source food locally, today’s seasonally- and sustainably-driven chefs and restaurateurs are installing rooftop gardens and beehives to augment the product they purchase from family farms.
Many of these restaurants offer public tours of their rooftop gardens, greenhouses and hives, so even city-dwellers (or line cooks) no longer have an excuse to remain clueless about where their food comes from – and the public can’t get enough. With the urban farming movement – backyard produce, chickens, bees, even dairy goats – at critical mass, savvy chefs, concerned about their carbon footprint and wanting more control over the production and quality of their ingredients, have turned their rooftops into kitchen gardens.
Few restaurants can spare the labor or have staff experienced in cultivating crops, which is where small businesses like Seattle Urban Farm Company and Ballard Bee Company come in. The Urban Farm Company’s services include construction and maintenance of residential backyard farms, rooftop gardens, educational school gardens, and on-site gardens at restaurants and businesses. With regard to the latter, chefs and cooks receive education as well, and become involved in caring for and harvesting crops and collaborating on plantings based on menu ideas.
Corky Luster of Ballard Bee offers hive hosting or rental, where homeowners keep hives on their property, in exchange for maintenance, harvesting, and a share of the honey. Bastille keeps hives, and uses the honey in cocktails and dishes ranging from vinaigrette’s to desserts.
Following is the short list of rooftop garden restaurants that have served as inspiration for imitators, nationwide. Here’s to dirty cooks, everywhere.Bastille Cafe & Bar, Seattle
Seattle Urban Farm Company owner/founder Colin McCrate and his business partner Brad Halm and staff conceptualized Bastille’s garden with the restaurant’s owners three years ago. After substantial roof retrofitting, rectangular garden beds were installed. Over time, beehives were introduced, and this past year, plastic children’s swimming pools were reinforced with landscape fabric and UV-protective cloth, expanding the garden space to 4,500 feet.
In summer and fall, the garden supplies chef Jason Stoneburner and his staff with 25 percent of their produce for Bastille’s French-inspired seasonal cuisine. Housed in a lavishly restored, historic 1920s building, it has the vibe of a traditional Parisian brasserie, but here you’ll find an emphasis on lighter dishes as well as cocktails crafted from boutique spirits and rooftop ingredients.
Every Wednesday, Rooftop Garden Tours are hosted by Seattle Urban Farm Company, and include a complimentary Rum Fizz, made with Jamaican rum, mint, sparkling wine, bitters and (of course) rooftop honey. Cost is $10 per person; limit 10 people. Contact the restaurant for reservations.
flour + water, and Central Kitchen, San Francisco
Thomas McNaughton of popular Mission pizzeria flour + water opened his newest venture on May 9. Both restaurants have rooftop gardens, and Central Kitchen is a lovely, modern rustic sanctuary serving simple, seasonal fare that highlights Northern California ingredients.
In addition to beehives, Central Kitchen is producing peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, berries, figs, citrus and herbs in a 2,000-square-foot space. Lexans (heavy-weight plastic storage containers used in professional kitchens) serve as garden beds, while herbs flourish in a converted Foosball table. Talk about recycling!
Uncommon Ground on Clark, Chicago
This big sister to the new Edgewater location features a 2,500-square-foot garden with solar panels to heat water used in the restaurant. Everything from beets, eggplant, okra and bush beans are cultivated, including rare seed varieties from the Slow Food “Ark of Taste.” The Ark is dedicated to preserving the “economic, social, and cultural heritage of fruits and vegetables,” as well as promoting genetic diversity. Expect refined crunchy granola fare with ethnic flourishes. Roberta’s, Brooklyn
This insanely popular Bushwick restaurant made national headlines when chef Carlo Mirarchi was named a 2011 Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine for his wood-fired pizzas and way with rooftop produce, including some heirloom varieties.
Mirarchi, who is passionate about urban farming and community involvement, uses two repurposed cargo containers on the restaurant’s roof for cultivating crops, and keeps a blog about the evolution of the garden.
[Photo credits: honeycomb; Laurel Miller; tomatoes, Flickr user Muffet]
In this video, Chef Robert Gerstenecker of Park 75 restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel, Atlanta, talks rooftop gardening and beekeeping. He grew up on a family farm and dairy in Ohio.
Following a series of high profile protests over the past few months China has quietly taken steps to close the borders of Tibet. The closure means that foreign travelers are once again banned from entering the Buddhist country just as the busiest travel period of the year is about to begin.
Last Wednesday, a number of tour operators in Beijing announced that the government had instructed them to stop booking foreign travelers into Tibet for the foreseeable future. The move comes just as the popular Saga Dawa festival, which typically brings an influx of visitors, got under way yesterday. That festival is an annual celebration of the birth of Buddha, which is of particular importance within Tibetan culture.
China’s decision to close the borders is in direct response to recent protests within Tibet, which included three monks committing suicide by setting themselves on fire in the month of May alone. Two of those self-immolations took place in the nation’s capital of Lhasa, a city which previously hadn’t been subjected to those types of protests. Over the course of the past year 36 people have committed suicide in a similar fashion throughout the country.
In addition to closing the borders, the Chinese government has also moved an additional 3000 troops into Lhasa and arrested an estimated 600 Tibetans. The crackdown is expected to continue indefinitely and could shut down travel into the country for weeks or even months.
If you have plans to visit Tibet in the near future you’ll definitely want to check the status of your tour or whether or not entry visas are being granted. It seems that for at least the next few weeks there will be no one getting into the country.