Global rise in food costs: The real effects

by Anna Brones on

The dollar has hit a new low against the euro, America is on the verge of recession and global food prices are on an upward spiral. In fact, global food prices have risen by 40% in the last nine months. Add to that the fact that food reserves are at their lowest in 30 years and the global economic situation looks grim. But beyond percentages and figures what does this really mean?

To showcase the real effects of the global rise in food costs the BBC has put together an interesting piece featuring six families from around the world, their shopping lists and exactly how their shopping habits have changed because of the rise in prices.

The six families are from Guatemala, India, Kenya, China, Egypt and the UK. In Guatemala the Rodas family has gone from eating meat five times a week to two. In Egypt the Abdulwahab family speculates a household used to be able to eat for one Egyptian pound; today it costs more than five.

The article also itemizes each family’s shopping list, which provides for some eye-opening figures. The Classik family from the UK spends 10% of its monthly income on food, while in Egypt, the Abdulwahab family spends about 80%. Makes you think twice about complaining about how expensive everything is going to be on your next trip to Europe; travel is still a luxury.

Read the whole BBC article here.

Alternatives for ice-chewers traveling to Spain

by Abha Malpani on

Alert for travel-industry: the next lucrative market niche you must target is that of ice-chewers — people addicted to chewing ice who, alongside price, look at the availability of ice-chewing options when they travel. Yes, the cult of ice-chewers is on the brink of a revolution as more and more of them come out of the closet and share their fetish for ice-chewing.

The underground world of ice-chewers was exposed recently by the Wall Street Journal that reveals how these people spend their time fascinating over the feeling of different ice-forms in their mouth while ice-machine makers are competing over how to make the best chewable ice.

There is an online forum of ice-chewers (that currently has 3334 registered members) where “ice restaurants” are a topic of discussion. The Wall Street Journal article quotes Amy Grant’s ice-chewer husband saying: “Europe is a drag…I ask for ice, and they give me one or two cubes. They’re stingy with their ice. I’d never survive there.”

That’s true, I have lived in Europe for over 18-months and never have I been served ice in any other form but cubes. However, here are a few suggestions to get your dose of crushed ice to chew on — but you can’t be fussy about it being flavored: (does it make a difference?)

  • Ice-popsicles: Available everywhere in every imaginable flavor. In the various brands and shapes available, you will probably find a form of compact ice that will match the type you like to chew on.
  • “Flashes”: Well, that’s what they are called here. They are long bags of plastic filled with flavored ice, mainly made for kids to chew on.
  • “Granizados”: In Spain people are big on a slush called “granizado” — which translates to something “grained”, in this case, it’s ice. Lemon and coffee flavor are available almost everywhere; the density and crunch-ability of the ice varies so I’m sure you’ll be able to find something similar to the type of ice you like to chew on. If you drink the flavor out quickly, what you are left with is plain chewable ice. Since these places serve these slushes year-round, they are probably your best shot, but you’d have to ask for it and try your luck.

So, ice-chewers, if these alternatives work for you, you can add Spain to your list of countries to visit :)

Egyptian host family starves student

by Martha Edwards on

The term ‘starving students’ took on a whole new meaning during a recent exchange to Egypt for one American teenager. Jonathon McCallum, once a healthy 155 lbs, recently returned home to his family–or, at least half of him did–weighing only 97 lbs after spending a school semester with a family in Egypt. So weak that climbing stairs and carrying baggage were a struggle, McCallum’s emaciated appearance stunned friends and family members in Maine when he returned home recently.

What’s the reason behind the dramatic change? McCallum’s host family. Practicing Coptic Christians, they traditionally fast for 200 days out of the year, and when they weren’t fasting, they doled out only meager portions of food to their charge. Although classmates urged McCallum to request a new host family, the 17-year-old was determined to stick it out.

However, McCallum’s host father, Shaker Hanna, is denying the teenagers claims, calling them a lie. He goes on to say, “The truth is, the boy we hosted for nearly six months was eating for an hour and a half at every meal. The amount of food he ate at each meal was equal to six people.” Right. Because this looks like the body of someone who eats like a pig.

Can’t decide where to eat in a city? Urban Spoon to the rescue!

by Abha Malpani on

How many times have you randomly chosen a place to eat and it’s turned out to be a waste of time, taste-buds and money — when you just wished you had read a review or two before walking in? This happens to me ALL the time.

A quick skim through Urban Spoon before you choose where to eat and you might just save yourself from the agony of eating bad food or paying a ridiculous bill. Not only will you be able to find a plethora of options, but all of them have time-critical reviews and ratings pulled from various local news sources like Time Out, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post — depending on the city you choose. Alongside media reviews, you can also see reviews and votes from bloggers and friends. And, of course, they have your standard top 10 / top 100 lists.

The search for restaurants is pretty advanced: other than being able to find a place basis price, neighborhood and type of food, you can also pick a place basis whether it’s romantic, open late night, kid-friendly, vegan friendly, has home delivery, if the food is gluten-free, and even if the place has happy hour! Is that cool or is that cool!?

The site reminded me of MetaCritic, but for restaurants. However, unfortunately the site is restricted to cities in the US and Canada, but nevertheless it looks like a useful resource.

Big in Japan: Deadly dumplings injure 175

by Matthew Firestone on

One of the many things that I’ve learned about the Japanese since moving to Tokyo is that they love to eat.

Of course, unlike Americans who seem to take extreme pleasure in enormous portion sizes of incredibly fatty food, the Japanese are much more refined in their culinary choices.

Indeed, Japanese society is structured around the fine art of sharing food with friends, which is perhaps one reason why the quality of meals over here is arguably the best in the world.

So, you can imagine the havoc that is spreading through Japan this week following the news that 175 people checked themselves into the hospital after dining on deadly dumplings.

How potentially deadly where the dumplings in question?

Well, not that deadly – unless of course you consider pesticides to be an acceptable condiment!

Delicious. Nothing like a few hundred milligrams of an insect-killing chemical concoction to cleanse the palatte and settle the stomach!

Jokes aside, the case of the deadly dumplings is actually an incredibly serious matter that might possibly endanger the future of Chinese-Japanese economic and political relations!

(I told you that eating was a very serious business in Japan!)

So, let’s start off with something simple – what exactly is a dumpling?

Good question!

Dumplings in Japan are known as gyōza (餃子), and are generally comprised of some mystery blend of meat and vegetable that is wrapped into a thinly rolled and sealed piece of dough.

Gyoza are generally served with three dipping sauces – soy sauce, rice vinegar and hot chili sauce – though each gyoza aficionado generally mixes up their own special blend of the three.

Anyway, let’s get back to the story….

Two weeks ago, the Chinese government launched a fourth-month campaign to eliminate “non-food materials” from their food exports.

What exactly is a non-food material you ask? Well, simply put, anything that isn’t a food material, like industrial dyes, pesticides and fungicides.

Getting hungry yet?

Despite this pledge however, Chinese-made dumplings containing pesticides sickened 175 Japanese, which has created a huge scandal that is impossible to ignore in a society that is borderline obsessed with their personal safety.

Last year, the Chinese exported a whopping US$56.7 billion of food to Japan, though analysts are warning that this lucrative industry is about to take a huge hit.

According to Minoru Morita, a Tokyo-based economist, “Japanese consumers, already distrustful of Chinese products, may stop buying them.”

Just ask Hiroko Date, a 38-year-old mother of two in Tokyo: “It makes you scared to buy imported food — you worry about your kids.”

So, for the time being, it looks like there won’t be too many plates of dumplings gracing the dinner tables of Japan for quite some time.

With that said, if you’re reading this article somewhere across the Pacific Ocean in North America, you also probably might want to pass on any pre-packaged dumplings you might find at the local supermarket.

Sigh – looks like I might have to find another favorite drunk food, though fortunately ramen is still safe!

** The images of the delicious dumplings were courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons Project **

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