We’ve gone from roasting to processing over thousands of years. What does the future hold for our food? Watch the video above to see what we’ll be eating in decades to come.
Humanity’s relationship with food production has certainly been a fruitful one. Our constant pursuit of refining how we eat is one of the reasons there are billions of us alive today. But it’s also a key factor as to why we are greatly damaging the Earth.
It all begins with fire. As far back as 29,000 BC Central Europeans were using primitive forms of ovens, roasting pits covered by yurts. Back then, mammoth was on the menu.
As we invented tools like ploughs and mills to help turn resources from the earth into food in our bellies, we produced enough to feed houses, then villages, then towns. Human civilization established itself.
One feature of civilizations that evolved was a thing called trade, and we did a lot of it. That’s why most of today’s biggest cities are found close to rivers and trade routes.
As agricultural revolutions took place, our population exploded, our food became more resilient due to developments such as machine refrigeration and pasteurizing, invented by this guy, French chemist Louise Pasteur in 1864. We could send hundreds of thousands of men to war and feed them thanks to food storage in cans.
By the 20th century microwave ovens arrived, meaning the mammoth we cooked 30,000 years ago in a pit, could now spin around in our kitchens.
We reached a point where the scale of production needed to feed everyone was impacting the planet’s resources. By the 1990’s we were selling genetically modified tomatoes to ensure reliable crop results.
This brings us to today’s climate concerns. Current food production is responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. How will we continue to feed a vastly increasing population while reducing damage to the environment? How do we tackle our global obesity epidemic and encourage healthier diets? One thing is certain, we must look immediately for new approaches. We’ve achieved it many times before, so it shouldn’t be too hard too swallow, right?
Well, that was delicious.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Food. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Food. Mostrar todas las entradas
viernes, 26 de mayo de 2017
jueves, 18 de mayo de 2017
This gardener regularly grows 100-pound vegetables
Growing up in a very large family, Phillip Vowles learned to appreciate the effort it took to feed all his brothers and sisters. So when he started harvesting his own crop, he decided to supersize his project. As Phillip says, “big vegetables feed big families.” Today, his giant veggies top-out at over 100 pounds and can feed more than just a few families.
Good day!
We grow giant marrows, four foot in a month. 45 inches. These marrows would taste exactly the same as a normal marrow. Nice and tender and lush. Some of them look a bit tough, but once you cut into them, they cut like butter.
My name is Phillip Vowles. I live in Llanharry, Wales and I grow giant vegetables. I've been growing giant vegetables now for the last 30 years.
I come from a very large family. My mother had 17 children. 13 of us survived, and I think, you know, that was something, you know, big vegetables feed big families.
You know, I’m up here every morning, every night, every single day of the week. There's a lot of love and care goes into it. Sometimes I do a bit of talking to them as well to encourage them to grow, which is a bit of, you know, a bit of fun.
I think he's just about finished growing there now.
I got to be very careful the wife is not about when I start talking to my vegetables, but it's all good fun. I broke the world record for the heaviest cucumber what, 25 years ago. It weighed 18 1/2 pound and it was just incredible the way it grew.
When I started, if we had a marrow 20, 30 pound in weight, you had a big marrow. Now, we're up over a 100 pound in weight. A normal cabbage would be two pound in weight, but we're growing 'em 120 pound. You know, you can feed 120, 130, 140 people off one cabbage. This is why I supply the local pub, and they use 'em up for Sunday lunch.
I've developed my own strain, more or less, now. I select my own seed every year, the biggest and the best seed, and it just seems to be improving which is incredible. I grow organically.
I had to think, if I can do it, anybody can do it, and it's a big thrill every day. The wife say, "What am I doing up the lot every day?" And when she comes up she realize.
Good day!
We grow giant marrows, four foot in a month. 45 inches. These marrows would taste exactly the same as a normal marrow. Nice and tender and lush. Some of them look a bit tough, but once you cut into them, they cut like butter.
My name is Phillip Vowles. I live in Llanharry, Wales and I grow giant vegetables. I've been growing giant vegetables now for the last 30 years.
I come from a very large family. My mother had 17 children. 13 of us survived, and I think, you know, that was something, you know, big vegetables feed big families.
You know, I’m up here every morning, every night, every single day of the week. There's a lot of love and care goes into it. Sometimes I do a bit of talking to them as well to encourage them to grow, which is a bit of, you know, a bit of fun.
I think he's just about finished growing there now.
I got to be very careful the wife is not about when I start talking to my vegetables, but it's all good fun. I broke the world record for the heaviest cucumber what, 25 years ago. It weighed 18 1/2 pound and it was just incredible the way it grew.
When I started, if we had a marrow 20, 30 pound in weight, you had a big marrow. Now, we're up over a 100 pound in weight. A normal cabbage would be two pound in weight, but we're growing 'em 120 pound. You know, you can feed 120, 130, 140 people off one cabbage. This is why I supply the local pub, and they use 'em up for Sunday lunch.
I've developed my own strain, more or less, now. I select my own seed every year, the biggest and the best seed, and it just seems to be improving which is incredible. I grow organically.
I had to think, if I can do it, anybody can do it, and it's a big thrill every day. The wife say, "What am I doing up the lot every day?" And when she comes up she realize.
miércoles, 22 de marzo de 2017
Talking point: Food waste
This week's talking point is food waste. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
Do you usually write a shopping list before you go to the supermarket?
Do you ever buy more food than you really need or are you careful?
Do you look for special offers, such as ‘buy one get one free’, or ‘two for the price of one’?
Do you check the shelf life of food as you buy it?
Do you end up throwing food in the bin every week?
If so, how much money do you think you waste?
If not, how do you avoid throwing out food that’s past its sell-by date?
Look at the following suggestions for reducing household food waste. Which of these…
do you already do?
would you like to start doing?
would you never do?
1 Plan your meals for the week and then write a shopping list.
2 Don’t shop when you’re hungry.
3 Make sure your fridge is at the right temperature.
4 Use old fruit and vegetables to make smoothies or soup.
5 Use your leftovers for lunch the next day.
6 When you buy new food, bring the old food to the front of the fridge.
7 Serve small portions and give people more if they actually want it.
8 Only buy what you need- avoid ‘buy one get one free’.
9 Use the freezer- defrost food as you need it.
10 Use a compost bin.
To illustrate the topic, watch the video of Selina Juul, a key part of Denmark’s food waste revolution.
Do you usually write a shopping list before you go to the supermarket?
Do you ever buy more food than you really need or are you careful?
Do you look for special offers, such as ‘buy one get one free’, or ‘two for the price of one’?
Do you check the shelf life of food as you buy it?
Do you end up throwing food in the bin every week?
If so, how much money do you think you waste?
If not, how do you avoid throwing out food that’s past its sell-by date?
Look at the following suggestions for reducing household food waste. Which of these…
do you already do?
would you like to start doing?
would you never do?
1 Plan your meals for the week and then write a shopping list.
2 Don’t shop when you’re hungry.
3 Make sure your fridge is at the right temperature.
4 Use old fruit and vegetables to make smoothies or soup.
5 Use your leftovers for lunch the next day.
6 When you buy new food, bring the old food to the front of the fridge.
7 Serve small portions and give people more if they actually want it.
8 Only buy what you need- avoid ‘buy one get one free’.
9 Use the freezer- defrost food as you need it.
10 Use a compost bin.
To illustrate the topic, watch the video of Selina Juul, a key part of Denmark’s food waste revolution.
miércoles, 11 de enero de 2017
Talking point: Food
This week's talking point is food. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
Are you any good at cooking? If so, how did you learn?
What is the best dish you can cook?
What kind of thing do you usually eat in the morning? For lunch? In the evening?
Are you a fussy eater, an unadventurous eater or an adventurous eater?
Which do you prefer, fish or meat?
What is your country’s national dish?
What ingredients does it have?
How do you cook it?
How often do you eat out? Where do you usually go?
What’s the best/worst restaurant you’ve ever eaten in?
What foreign cuisines can you get in restaurants in your town/city?
Where can you buy foreign food where you live?
Do you ever buy foreign/imported food?
What food from your country would you missed if you went to live abroad?
What food and eating habits in your country do you think foreigners might find strange?
To illustrate the topic, you can watch this group of friends discussing British food.
So it's been a while since I’ve been back to England, so I’m looking forward to going home and having some good old English food.
English food!
Fish and chips!
Well, there’s a lot more to English food than fish and chips.
Really? Isn’t English all food mashed potato and…
Well, you know, we have traditional dishes like, you know, shepherd’s pie which is mashed potato and meat and vegetables, and the steak and kidney pie and things like that, Cornish pastries and all those things. But then, you know, these days the English… the restaurants scene in England is really buzzing, with lots of international restaurants, lots of international food having influence on English food…
The most Indian food I ever had in my life was in London.
Really?
Hands-down. In East London there is a street where they just huller out…
Brick Lane
… yeah, where they just huller out deals, and you go in there, and liquid seeps from every orifice in your face as if you were in heaven.
It sounds dangerous. I don’t know if I want to go to that restaurant.
I’m telling you, I’m telling you… It’s wonderful.
Yeah, yeah, I love spicy food… that’s Indian.
Actually, actually there are some, what you might think Indian dishes which are actually English dishes like chicken tikka masala, which was invented by the Indians for the English.
No…
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
It’s England’s national dish?
So you now claim it as your own.
We might have a few Indians…
It’s like American pizza
We might have a few Indian spices in it but it’s our dish, the number one food in England.
Really?
And if you go to any Indian restaurants in the States the number one dish order and the number one that they advertise is chicken tikka masala.
Really?
You’ve been eating English food for longer than you knew.
Yeah, really. I didn’t know that.
And I don’t know if you guys have ever had one, but a steak and ale pie, you know, in a proper British pub…
Very good.
… could be one of the best things I have ever had, the fluffy pastry and the gravy.
It’s not the health option though, is it? It’s not good for the arteries maybe.
It’s good for the soul.
It’s better than …
Did you know outside of France, London is the place which got the most Michelin stars, you know the Michellin stars.
That’s not true.
I read this the other day.
That’s incorrect. It’s absolutely Tokyo.
Really?
Absolutely.
Well, then it must be after Tokyo it is London, but it’s strange everyone criticizes English food, but then, you know, we do have a lot of restaurants with Michelin stars. We might be international…
…capitals in the world?
You do have a lot of famous, a lot of celebrity chefs.
Yeah, like Jamie Oliver, he’s famous in Australia, too.
Yes, he is.
And then we’ve got Gordon Ramsey, who is quite famous in the States.
He’s the rude one, isn’t he?
Well, yeah, every other word is a swear word. But his shows are quite… I’ve been watching Kitchen Nightmares, it’s quite good. He kind of goes into a restaurant that is failing and he tries to help them, make the restaurant a success. It’s quite interesting, he doesn’t usually manage…
I wouldn’t trash talk the fish and chips because it’s such a simple dish. You have a wonderful fish and fresh chips, it can really make your day, I think I want one today.
Oh, yeah, me too.
Hey, come up to my place, I’ll make fish and chips.
Got it.
Are you any good at cooking? If so, how did you learn?
What is the best dish you can cook?
What kind of thing do you usually eat in the morning? For lunch? In the evening?
Are you a fussy eater, an unadventurous eater or an adventurous eater?
Which do you prefer, fish or meat?
What is your country’s national dish?
What ingredients does it have?
How do you cook it?
How often do you eat out? Where do you usually go?
What’s the best/worst restaurant you’ve ever eaten in?
What foreign cuisines can you get in restaurants in your town/city?
Where can you buy foreign food where you live?
Do you ever buy foreign/imported food?
What food from your country would you missed if you went to live abroad?
What food and eating habits in your country do you think foreigners might find strange?
To illustrate the topic, you can watch this group of friends discussing British food.
So it's been a while since I’ve been back to England, so I’m looking forward to going home and having some good old English food.
English food!
Fish and chips!
Well, there’s a lot more to English food than fish and chips.
Really? Isn’t English all food mashed potato and…
Well, you know, we have traditional dishes like, you know, shepherd’s pie which is mashed potato and meat and vegetables, and the steak and kidney pie and things like that, Cornish pastries and all those things. But then, you know, these days the English… the restaurants scene in England is really buzzing, with lots of international restaurants, lots of international food having influence on English food…
The most Indian food I ever had in my life was in London.
Really?
Hands-down. In East London there is a street where they just huller out…
Brick Lane
… yeah, where they just huller out deals, and you go in there, and liquid seeps from every orifice in your face as if you were in heaven.
It sounds dangerous. I don’t know if I want to go to that restaurant.
I’m telling you, I’m telling you… It’s wonderful.
Yeah, yeah, I love spicy food… that’s Indian.
Actually, actually there are some, what you might think Indian dishes which are actually English dishes like chicken tikka masala, which was invented by the Indians for the English.
No…
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
It’s England’s national dish?
So you now claim it as your own.
We might have a few Indians…
It’s like American pizza
We might have a few Indian spices in it but it’s our dish, the number one food in England.
Really?
And if you go to any Indian restaurants in the States the number one dish order and the number one that they advertise is chicken tikka masala.
Really?
You’ve been eating English food for longer than you knew.
Yeah, really. I didn’t know that.
And I don’t know if you guys have ever had one, but a steak and ale pie, you know, in a proper British pub…
Very good.
… could be one of the best things I have ever had, the fluffy pastry and the gravy.
It’s not the health option though, is it? It’s not good for the arteries maybe.
It’s good for the soul.
It’s better than …
Did you know outside of France, London is the place which got the most Michelin stars, you know the Michellin stars.
That’s not true.
I read this the other day.
That’s incorrect. It’s absolutely Tokyo.
Really?
Absolutely.
Well, then it must be after Tokyo it is London, but it’s strange everyone criticizes English food, but then, you know, we do have a lot of restaurants with Michelin stars. We might be international…
…capitals in the world?
You do have a lot of famous, a lot of celebrity chefs.
Yeah, like Jamie Oliver, he’s famous in Australia, too.
Yes, he is.
And then we’ve got Gordon Ramsey, who is quite famous in the States.
He’s the rude one, isn’t he?
Well, yeah, every other word is a swear word. But his shows are quite… I’ve been watching Kitchen Nightmares, it’s quite good. He kind of goes into a restaurant that is failing and he tries to help them, make the restaurant a success. It’s quite interesting, he doesn’t usually manage…
I wouldn’t trash talk the fish and chips because it’s such a simple dish. You have a wonderful fish and fresh chips, it can really make your day, I think I want one today.
Oh, yeah, me too.
Hey, come up to my place, I’ll make fish and chips.
Got it.
lunes, 19 de diciembre de 2016
Listening test: Gourmet Ireland
Listen to this report on Irish cuisine and choose the option A, B or C which best answers the question or completes the sentence.
1 The introduction to the report suggests that Irish cuisine
A. has only ever had one real ingredient.
B. was based on very basic and simple foods.
C. was traditionally very bad for your health.
2) Ciaran Fitzgerald's restaurant at the Blue Haven Hotel
A. has the finest imported products.
B. is famous for its locally caught fish and seafood.
C. is well known for its elaborate dishes of meat.
3) The teams of chefs at the hotel are
A. all from Kinsale and south-west Ireland.
B. come from abroad but were trained in Ireland.
C. nearly three quarters Irish in origin.
4) How does Ciaran Fitzgerald describe the food found at his restaurant?
A. A mixture of traditional Irish and international dishes.
B. International dishes with local Irish touches.
C. Traditional Irish food with international accompaniments.
5) Which statement best describes the population of south-west Ireland?
A. Both Irish and foreign people have lived there for some time.
B. The area's scenery has recently attracted foreign visitors.
C. There are mainly only Irish people living there.
6) How would you best summarise Jeffa Gill’s experiments with cheese-making?
A. Her success has been totally unexpected.
B. She always wanted to be a professional cheese-maker.
C. She makes enough money from it now to survive.
7) She concludes that cheese-making has enabled her to
A. have time to enjoy her hobbies.
B. live in a place where there is very little other work.
C. start a family in an area which she loves.
Many people still associate Irish cuisine with the potato, which has been a major part of the Irish diet for centuries. Generations of Irish people grew up eating potatoes, Irish stews and cottage pies — carbohydrates ruled. Over the past 10 years, all this has changed, however. At the centre of the fine food revolution is the fishing town of Kinsale, Ireland's `Gourmet Capital'. One of the most famous hotels in town is the Blue Haven. It is managed and co-owned by Ciaran Fitzgerald, the youngest in a Kinsale family of six. Ciaran was only 25, and working as an accountant, when he took over the running of the hotel last year. The hotel's outer wall is the oldest wall in town: 200 years ago, there was a fish market here. Kinsale's fishing heritage, says Ciaran Fitzgerald, is very much reflected in the Blue Haven's restaurant menu.
We have very much focused on seafood. Seafood is emphasised. You've got fresh lobster from the tank, you've got John Dory, you've got red snapper, a lot of just nice seafood dishes. I suppose, Kinsale, fishing... traditionally a fishing town, great access to some fantastic local suppliers of seafood. So we... I suppose that's what we represent here, and that's what I would see as modern Irish cuisine. I've a team of chefs in there who, who have pretty much, I'd say 70 per cent of them are Irish, but they've trained abroad.
So they take those dishes and they put some little twist on them, with the different accompaniments and different things like that. So, I suppose the basic dish itself, the roots of it are traditional Irish type of food, and then you just garnish and accompany it with more kind of international flavours.
Places like Kinsale have benefited from Ireland's new wealth. People now have more money to go to restaurants. But the beautiful scenery of the southwest has attracted both Irish and foreign residents since the 1960s.
Many started small farm businesses here, often growing organic produce. Today, more and more people want to buy high-quality food that is produced locally. Driving west from Kinsale, you pass the town of Clonakilty. This is the home of Ireland's famous black pudding, made from ox blood, oatmeal, onions, beef and six spices.
Further north along the coast, lonely Sheep's Head Peninsula sees few tourists. And yet on this rugged finger of land Jeffa Gill produces rind washed Durrus cheese. The cheese has won prizes and is even sold as far afield as Tokyo. Jeffa Gil didn't expect this to happen when she began making cheese back in 1979. At that time cheese-making was virtually a lost art in Ireland:
I didn't really intend to become a cheesemaker. I was young and enthusiastic and we had a small farm, and we had a small herd of cows. And I started to make cheese from the left-over milk from taking the milk to the diary, to the creamery. So it started very much as a hobby. It wasn’t something I intended to do. I did not intend to build a cheese factory! But it was just in the 70s, and we needed to make a living off a small farm. So I made cheese. And the cheese developed and the market developed . Because it just went from selling to friends to selling to restaurants, to sell¬ing to the local shop and selling to a local distributor. You know, going from a pan on the stove" to a vat in the comer, and then the house grew up around the cheese, and the dairy grew up. I just de¬veloped an interest in it, verging on an obsession, I suppose, but also an obses¬sion to make a living. It was a way to make a living, and live in West Cork. I always wanted to live in West Cork. Un¬less you were a writer, or you had a private income, you couldn't live here.
Key:
1B 2B 3C 4C 5A 6A 7B
Source: Speak up Italy
1 The introduction to the report suggests that Irish cuisine
A. has only ever had one real ingredient.
B. was based on very basic and simple foods.
C. was traditionally very bad for your health.
2) Ciaran Fitzgerald's restaurant at the Blue Haven Hotel
A. has the finest imported products.
B. is famous for its locally caught fish and seafood.
C. is well known for its elaborate dishes of meat.
3) The teams of chefs at the hotel are
A. all from Kinsale and south-west Ireland.
B. come from abroad but were trained in Ireland.
C. nearly three quarters Irish in origin.
4) How does Ciaran Fitzgerald describe the food found at his restaurant?
A. A mixture of traditional Irish and international dishes.
B. International dishes with local Irish touches.
C. Traditional Irish food with international accompaniments.
5) Which statement best describes the population of south-west Ireland?
A. Both Irish and foreign people have lived there for some time.
B. The area's scenery has recently attracted foreign visitors.
C. There are mainly only Irish people living there.
6) How would you best summarise Jeffa Gill’s experiments with cheese-making?
A. Her success has been totally unexpected.
B. She always wanted to be a professional cheese-maker.
C. She makes enough money from it now to survive.
7) She concludes that cheese-making has enabled her to
A. have time to enjoy her hobbies.
B. live in a place where there is very little other work.
C. start a family in an area which she loves.
Many people still associate Irish cuisine with the potato, which has been a major part of the Irish diet for centuries. Generations of Irish people grew up eating potatoes, Irish stews and cottage pies — carbohydrates ruled. Over the past 10 years, all this has changed, however. At the centre of the fine food revolution is the fishing town of Kinsale, Ireland's `Gourmet Capital'. One of the most famous hotels in town is the Blue Haven. It is managed and co-owned by Ciaran Fitzgerald, the youngest in a Kinsale family of six. Ciaran was only 25, and working as an accountant, when he took over the running of the hotel last year. The hotel's outer wall is the oldest wall in town: 200 years ago, there was a fish market here. Kinsale's fishing heritage, says Ciaran Fitzgerald, is very much reflected in the Blue Haven's restaurant menu.
We have very much focused on seafood. Seafood is emphasised. You've got fresh lobster from the tank, you've got John Dory, you've got red snapper, a lot of just nice seafood dishes. I suppose, Kinsale, fishing... traditionally a fishing town, great access to some fantastic local suppliers of seafood. So we... I suppose that's what we represent here, and that's what I would see as modern Irish cuisine. I've a team of chefs in there who, who have pretty much, I'd say 70 per cent of them are Irish, but they've trained abroad.
So they take those dishes and they put some little twist on them, with the different accompaniments and different things like that. So, I suppose the basic dish itself, the roots of it are traditional Irish type of food, and then you just garnish and accompany it with more kind of international flavours.
Places like Kinsale have benefited from Ireland's new wealth. People now have more money to go to restaurants. But the beautiful scenery of the southwest has attracted both Irish and foreign residents since the 1960s.
Many started small farm businesses here, often growing organic produce. Today, more and more people want to buy high-quality food that is produced locally. Driving west from Kinsale, you pass the town of Clonakilty. This is the home of Ireland's famous black pudding, made from ox blood, oatmeal, onions, beef and six spices.
Further north along the coast, lonely Sheep's Head Peninsula sees few tourists. And yet on this rugged finger of land Jeffa Gill produces rind washed Durrus cheese. The cheese has won prizes and is even sold as far afield as Tokyo. Jeffa Gil didn't expect this to happen when she began making cheese back in 1979. At that time cheese-making was virtually a lost art in Ireland:
I didn't really intend to become a cheesemaker. I was young and enthusiastic and we had a small farm, and we had a small herd of cows. And I started to make cheese from the left-over milk from taking the milk to the diary, to the creamery. So it started very much as a hobby. It wasn’t something I intended to do. I did not intend to build a cheese factory! But it was just in the 70s, and we needed to make a living off a small farm. So I made cheese. And the cheese developed and the market developed . Because it just went from selling to friends to selling to restaurants, to sell¬ing to the local shop and selling to a local distributor. You know, going from a pan on the stove" to a vat in the comer, and then the house grew up around the cheese, and the dairy grew up. I just de¬veloped an interest in it, verging on an obsession, I suppose, but also an obses¬sion to make a living. It was a way to make a living, and live in West Cork. I always wanted to live in West Cork. Un¬less you were a writer, or you had a private income, you couldn't live here.
Key:
1B 2B 3C 4C 5A 6A 7B
martes, 6 de diciembre de 2016
In the kitchen with Barbara Lynch
Barbara Lynch is a gritty Boston restaurateur whose home kitchen is the height of industrial chic.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What does Barbara hate?
2 How old is she?
3 Who taught her how to cook?
4 What was she like as a child?
5 When does she cry now?
6 How many children does she have?
7 What effect does cooking at home have for her?
You may also be interested in Barbary Lynch's TED Talk in Boston Back to the Basics.
I think my approach to cooking is somewhat different from other chefs. You know, it's chaos usually here. It's fun.
Most of my life is in the kitchen, so why wouldn't I want to have a professional kitchen at home? And I wanted it to sort of look professional, but yet home, like it's been here. I like to have clean minds and clean space. I hate clutter. I hate it.
Believe it or not, I was a really shy person, a really shy kid, up until 40, so that's 10 years ago. It's so nice not to have to talk. It's so nice just to cook and just to focus on what you're doing.
My one obsession, just because I'm self-taught, is cookbooks. I mean, I don't follow recipes. It's the food porn. It's the beautiful photos. I got Suzanne Goin. I got Julia Child. I got it all.
I'm still self-conscious, you know? Do I really cook good? Can I… am I really doing this? I always feel like, jeez, what the hell? How'd I get here?
So I grew up in South Boston. We were crafty as kids. We weren't bad. We were just creative. I was selling drugs off of like a moped, which we stole, so I kind of had that like tough attitude, but honestly, I'm really like a softy. I cry at commercials. You know, I'm a softy. I am.
For some reason, I always felt like I'm was Italian. Here I am, I named my daughter Marchesa Fiorella Petri. I thought my mother was going to kill me. She's like, why couldn't you name a Katherine, or Denise, or Margaret? I'm like, I don't know, mom. I just didn't want to.
I think people have a different perception of me. I think they always think of me of Barbara the chef, but not Barbara the mother. You know, I'm a different person at home.
Hi!
Hi.
I have an 11-year-old girl, and she has a million friends, and my God, they're picky. One has been a vegetarian since she's seven. One will just eat pasta with butter. But I don't hold that against them. I was a vegan once, maybe for a week.
Cooking to me is like, I don't know, if you were a runner, you get into a zone. Your breathing is right. You feel good. There could be chaos all around me, and if I'm working on a particular dish, I don't even look up. When I'm home, I'm cooking, and it's therapeutic.
Key:
1 clutter
2 fifty
3 nobody, she taught herself
4 (shy), crafty, creative, not bad
5 when watching commercials
6 an eleven-year-old daughter
7 it's therapeutic
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What does Barbara hate?
2 How old is she?
3 Who taught her how to cook?
4 What was she like as a child?
5 When does she cry now?
6 How many children does she have?
7 What effect does cooking at home have for her?
You may also be interested in Barbary Lynch's TED Talk in Boston Back to the Basics.
I think my approach to cooking is somewhat different from other chefs. You know, it's chaos usually here. It's fun.
Most of my life is in the kitchen, so why wouldn't I want to have a professional kitchen at home? And I wanted it to sort of look professional, but yet home, like it's been here. I like to have clean minds and clean space. I hate clutter. I hate it.
Believe it or not, I was a really shy person, a really shy kid, up until 40, so that's 10 years ago. It's so nice not to have to talk. It's so nice just to cook and just to focus on what you're doing.
My one obsession, just because I'm self-taught, is cookbooks. I mean, I don't follow recipes. It's the food porn. It's the beautiful photos. I got Suzanne Goin. I got Julia Child. I got it all.
I'm still self-conscious, you know? Do I really cook good? Can I… am I really doing this? I always feel like, jeez, what the hell? How'd I get here?
So I grew up in South Boston. We were crafty as kids. We weren't bad. We were just creative. I was selling drugs off of like a moped, which we stole, so I kind of had that like tough attitude, but honestly, I'm really like a softy. I cry at commercials. You know, I'm a softy. I am.
For some reason, I always felt like I'm was Italian. Here I am, I named my daughter Marchesa Fiorella Petri. I thought my mother was going to kill me. She's like, why couldn't you name a Katherine, or Denise, or Margaret? I'm like, I don't know, mom. I just didn't want to.
I think people have a different perception of me. I think they always think of me of Barbara the chef, but not Barbara the mother. You know, I'm a different person at home.
Hi!
Hi.
I have an 11-year-old girl, and she has a million friends, and my God, they're picky. One has been a vegetarian since she's seven. One will just eat pasta with butter. But I don't hold that against them. I was a vegan once, maybe for a week.
Cooking to me is like, I don't know, if you were a runner, you get into a zone. Your breathing is right. You feel good. There could be chaos all around me, and if I'm working on a particular dish, I don't even look up. When I'm home, I'm cooking, and it's therapeutic.
Key:
1 clutter
2 fifty
3 nobody, she taught herself
4 (shy), crafty, creative, not bad
5 when watching commercials
6 an eleven-year-old daughter
7 it's therapeutic
martes, 29 de noviembre de 2016
Changing face of California agriculture
Mark Bittman visits the Central Valley to learn how Hmong farmers can sustain and expand their businesses in the face of huge cultural changes.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Where and when can you buy a Japanese eggplant in California?
2 How far from the market do the Hmong families live?
3 When did the Hmongs arrive in US?
4 What are some of the challenges that the Hmong farmers are facing?
5 On how much land does Bentley Vang grow his crops?
6 What is the new project Jennifer is initiating with Hmong farmers?
7 What is the other project that she mentions?
8 What are some of the new measures the Hmong farmers have implemented as a result of the second project?
I'd like pretty much everyone to know that I've never had more fun cooking than I have since moving to California. One recent meal was a simple eggplant sandwich, but it wasn't your normal run-of-the-mill globe eggplant but a Japanese eggplant, which you can pick up at almost any decent market in the Bay Area, or for that matter, the state, most times of the year.
At the downtown Berkeley farmer's market there are several Hmong families selling their produce. They drive more than three hours from Fresno, which is home to the nation's largest Hmong farming community.
On a chilly morning, I was joined to the market by UC Berkeley's Jennifer Sowerwine. She helps small scale Hmong farmers sustain and expand their businesses. I sat down with Jennifer to learn more about what she calls the changing face of California agriculture.
The Hmong farmers, they've been farming since they arrived from Laos, beginning in around the 1980s or so. They were able to access small plots of land and adapt a lot of their cultural practices in farming here in the Central Valley, you know, in this hotbed of corporate agriculture. And so they began slowly cultivating a lot of the crops they were familiar with and then they began looking, seeking out markets.
So I was out there in Fresno a couple of years ago, saw some Hmong farmers. And I thought it was really interesting. They were struggling, needless to say. You have all these small farmers doing real food, mostly for their communities, but when you go to standard supermarkets you might as well be in Boise. What's happening with the food in Fresno that small farmers are growing? Where is it getting to?
You're right. The Hmong farmers, you know, are up against a lot of challenging odds. They've had huge challenges with limited English language and limited ability to access connections. So a lot of them have turned to farmers markets where, you know, it's fairly easy to get in. And they produce a lot of these vegetables for their customers all across the state.
One of those farmers is Bentley Vang, who leases land in Fresno County and is a regular vendor at the Berkeley farmer's market. Like many Hmong farmers he fled Laos and the aftermath of the Vietnam War. But since arriving in the US he's been farming, and he now grows a huge number of crops on around eight acres.
Jennifer travels often to the Central Valley to work with local regulating agencies to provide more culturally accessible training for Hmong farmers.
So what's your current work and what are you hoping to get done?
I'm just initiating a new project to look at the impact of the drought on Hmong farmers. So what we're going to do is interview about 150 farmers just to get a sense of what strategies are they using to cope with the drought and the extent to which they're able to access the government support programs. Another project we're looking at, too, is food safety. There already have been some implications where the buyers are requiring the Hmong to have food safety certification, and that's very costly. So we are already seeing evidence that some of the Hmong farmers are losing market.
Wow. Oh, that's delicious.
So we developed a very straightforward training program for a number of Hmong farmers in the Fresno area and it's a very hands-on applied food safety class. I mean, it's just washing your hands, making sure that you have a hand washing station next to the bathroom and you have paper towels. And one of the farmers, because he went through the food safety training, now he's able to sell to Fresno Unified School
District. And so it was really exciting to see the benefits of those classes on some of the farmers instituting a lot of the practices. And we would like to see more farmers being able to access markets like this.
Meanwhile, the stands at Bay Area farmer's markets do brisk business as new and repeat customers like Jennifer and me pick up tender cooking greens, squashes, and yes, the best eggplant.
I love these little eggplant.
Key:
1 at almost every market in the state most times of the year
2 a three-hour drive
3 in the 1980's or so
4 limited English, limited ability to access connexions
5 eight acres
6 the impact of the drought
7 food safety
8 washing their hands, using paper towels
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Where and when can you buy a Japanese eggplant in California?
2 How far from the market do the Hmong families live?
3 When did the Hmongs arrive in US?
4 What are some of the challenges that the Hmong farmers are facing?
5 On how much land does Bentley Vang grow his crops?
6 What is the new project Jennifer is initiating with Hmong farmers?
7 What is the other project that she mentions?
8 What are some of the new measures the Hmong farmers have implemented as a result of the second project?
I'd like pretty much everyone to know that I've never had more fun cooking than I have since moving to California. One recent meal was a simple eggplant sandwich, but it wasn't your normal run-of-the-mill globe eggplant but a Japanese eggplant, which you can pick up at almost any decent market in the Bay Area, or for that matter, the state, most times of the year.
At the downtown Berkeley farmer's market there are several Hmong families selling their produce. They drive more than three hours from Fresno, which is home to the nation's largest Hmong farming community.
On a chilly morning, I was joined to the market by UC Berkeley's Jennifer Sowerwine. She helps small scale Hmong farmers sustain and expand their businesses. I sat down with Jennifer to learn more about what she calls the changing face of California agriculture.
The Hmong farmers, they've been farming since they arrived from Laos, beginning in around the 1980s or so. They were able to access small plots of land and adapt a lot of their cultural practices in farming here in the Central Valley, you know, in this hotbed of corporate agriculture. And so they began slowly cultivating a lot of the crops they were familiar with and then they began looking, seeking out markets.
So I was out there in Fresno a couple of years ago, saw some Hmong farmers. And I thought it was really interesting. They were struggling, needless to say. You have all these small farmers doing real food, mostly for their communities, but when you go to standard supermarkets you might as well be in Boise. What's happening with the food in Fresno that small farmers are growing? Where is it getting to?
You're right. The Hmong farmers, you know, are up against a lot of challenging odds. They've had huge challenges with limited English language and limited ability to access connections. So a lot of them have turned to farmers markets where, you know, it's fairly easy to get in. And they produce a lot of these vegetables for their customers all across the state.
One of those farmers is Bentley Vang, who leases land in Fresno County and is a regular vendor at the Berkeley farmer's market. Like many Hmong farmers he fled Laos and the aftermath of the Vietnam War. But since arriving in the US he's been farming, and he now grows a huge number of crops on around eight acres.
Jennifer travels often to the Central Valley to work with local regulating agencies to provide more culturally accessible training for Hmong farmers.
So what's your current work and what are you hoping to get done?
I'm just initiating a new project to look at the impact of the drought on Hmong farmers. So what we're going to do is interview about 150 farmers just to get a sense of what strategies are they using to cope with the drought and the extent to which they're able to access the government support programs. Another project we're looking at, too, is food safety. There already have been some implications where the buyers are requiring the Hmong to have food safety certification, and that's very costly. So we are already seeing evidence that some of the Hmong farmers are losing market.
Wow. Oh, that's delicious.
So we developed a very straightforward training program for a number of Hmong farmers in the Fresno area and it's a very hands-on applied food safety class. I mean, it's just washing your hands, making sure that you have a hand washing station next to the bathroom and you have paper towels. And one of the farmers, because he went through the food safety training, now he's able to sell to Fresno Unified School
District. And so it was really exciting to see the benefits of those classes on some of the farmers instituting a lot of the practices. And we would like to see more farmers being able to access markets like this.
Meanwhile, the stands at Bay Area farmer's markets do brisk business as new and repeat customers like Jennifer and me pick up tender cooking greens, squashes, and yes, the best eggplant.
I love these little eggplant.
Key:
1 at almost every market in the state most times of the year
2 a three-hour drive
3 in the 1980's or so
4 limited English, limited ability to access connexions
5 eight acres
6 the impact of the drought
7 food safety
8 washing their hands, using paper towels
jueves, 10 de noviembre de 2016
Tonga's obesity crisis
The Pacific island of Tonga is the most obese country in the world. Up to 40% of the population is thought to have type 2 diabetes and life expectancy is falling.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How has the diet of Tongans changed in recent years?
2 What does 90% refer to?
3 What happened to Kesaia as a result of the complications of her diabetes?
4 How do some scientists explain the obesity problem?
5 Why do food and eating play an important role in Tonga?
6 What solution to the problem is Tonga's Health Minister thinking of?
Every morning Tonga's fishermen bring their catch to the local market but it is getting harder to sell to customers, especially when there is competition like this: On the other side of the harbour, cuts of imported meat such as these fatty mutton flaps have become a Tongan staple in recent years. With globalisation trade has become easier and food cheaper, supermarkets are stocked with tinned and frozen meat from abroad and local produce is relatively costly.
It’s the foreign food that is being blamed for our health crisis here and across the Pacific Islands. It’s a crisis that isn’t just costly for health but for the government's finances too.
This is the queue for the daily diabetes clinic, the biggest queue by far here in the country's main hospital. 90% of Tongans are obese or overweight and it has a massive health impact. This country has one of the highest levels of type two diabetes in the world.
The doctors are working flat out. Despite government initiatives to make people aware of the dangers of obesity and illnesses like diabetes it is yet to make a big difference here.
Where we are, we still continue to see so many people living with diabetes. Our workload is not easing up. If anything, it’s expanding.
The Huni family have been through a lot. Kesaia lost her leg several years ago because of complications with diabetes, but she is not the only one suffering.
It started with my grandma, now my mum, my dad, two of my sisters and now me, and we’ve gone from, you know, just eating whatever to watching what we eat.
Some scientists believe Tonga's problem is partly down to genetics, that Pacific Islanders in the past had to survive long periods without food, so their bodies are programmed to cling on to fats. But diet plays a huge role and in a deeply religious country where feasting and food are central to life here, it’s a hard message to sell. Even Tonga's health Minister thinks people could do more to help themselves. Charging for health care may be unpopular, but he thinks it could make a difference.
They know that if they do this, they will get sick and they will end up in the hospital, and if they end up in the hospital they will have to pay. But right now that is not the mentality of people, we do what we do to get sick, we won't be charged.
Key:
1 They have stopped eating fish and started to eat meat.
2 Percentage of Tongans who are obese or overweight.
3 She lost her leg.
4 It has to do with genetics.
5 Because of religious reasons.
6 Making people pay for health expenses.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How has the diet of Tongans changed in recent years?
2 What does 90% refer to?
3 What happened to Kesaia as a result of the complications of her diabetes?
4 How do some scientists explain the obesity problem?
5 Why do food and eating play an important role in Tonga?
6 What solution to the problem is Tonga's Health Minister thinking of?
Every morning Tonga's fishermen bring their catch to the local market but it is getting harder to sell to customers, especially when there is competition like this: On the other side of the harbour, cuts of imported meat such as these fatty mutton flaps have become a Tongan staple in recent years. With globalisation trade has become easier and food cheaper, supermarkets are stocked with tinned and frozen meat from abroad and local produce is relatively costly.
It’s the foreign food that is being blamed for our health crisis here and across the Pacific Islands. It’s a crisis that isn’t just costly for health but for the government's finances too.
This is the queue for the daily diabetes clinic, the biggest queue by far here in the country's main hospital. 90% of Tongans are obese or overweight and it has a massive health impact. This country has one of the highest levels of type two diabetes in the world.
The doctors are working flat out. Despite government initiatives to make people aware of the dangers of obesity and illnesses like diabetes it is yet to make a big difference here.
Where we are, we still continue to see so many people living with diabetes. Our workload is not easing up. If anything, it’s expanding.
The Huni family have been through a lot. Kesaia lost her leg several years ago because of complications with diabetes, but she is not the only one suffering.
It started with my grandma, now my mum, my dad, two of my sisters and now me, and we’ve gone from, you know, just eating whatever to watching what we eat.
Some scientists believe Tonga's problem is partly down to genetics, that Pacific Islanders in the past had to survive long periods without food, so their bodies are programmed to cling on to fats. But diet plays a huge role and in a deeply religious country where feasting and food are central to life here, it’s a hard message to sell. Even Tonga's health Minister thinks people could do more to help themselves. Charging for health care may be unpopular, but he thinks it could make a difference.
They know that if they do this, they will get sick and they will end up in the hospital, and if they end up in the hospital they will have to pay. But right now that is not the mentality of people, we do what we do to get sick, we won't be charged.
Key:
1 They have stopped eating fish and started to eat meat.
2 Percentage of Tongans who are obese or overweight.
3 She lost her leg.
4 It has to do with genetics.
5 Because of religious reasons.
6 Making people pay for health expenses.
viernes, 9 de septiembre de 2016
Where did sugar come from?
Brian Cox looks into where sugar originally came from and talks to a sugar historian about when it arrived in Britain.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. As well as sugar what other commodities were available to our ancestors part of the year?
2. Where was wild cane first farmed?
3. When did sugar first come into Britain?
4. Who could afford to buy it?
5. Apart from being an additive to food and drinks, what was sugar used for?
6. How much sugar did Henry III order?
7. How much sugar could you find across the entire kingdom back in Henry III's times?
Back in the Middle Ages, sugar was only available to our ancestors part of the year, as fruit or honey. Sweetness was in short supply, so where did sugar, as we know it, come from? Well, it originated centuries before as a giant wild grass in the South Pacific, where its value was so recognised.
Legends from there tell of a story of how a sugar cane sprouted a man and a woman, who founded the human race. Wild cane was first tamed and farmed in New Guinea, and over time, spread by travellers, across the globe.
By the 13th century, it had migrated to the Middle East, where traders discovered it, and carried it to Europe. A commodity so rare, sugar's value equalled that of precious gems.
And what about its first appearance in Britain? My journey begins in Cumbria, where I'm going to meet a sugar historian, whom I'm told has a rather hands-on approach to this subject.
All of the sugar we imported into this country came from the Arab world, via the Venetians. The Venetians were the sugar controllers, they bought it from the Middle East, and then they shipped it out to every other European nation and they put a huge premium on it. If we go back into the 13th century, small quantities of it are coming to this country, but they are only being purchased by royal palaces.
Because it was quite expensive?
It was very expensive, and it was rare. Sugar in the early modern period is very much a symbol of status. But it was used as a plastic medium, as an art form. We have some marvellously detailed images of these sugar sculptures.
My gosh.
There is one piece of sculpture which was six-feet high, entirely made out of sugar.
Six-feet high!
Yeah, so it is standing like that on the table.
And this would be consumed, they wouldn't be ornamental?
No, no, no it was totally ornamental.
You are talking about a kind of decadence. Ordinary people eat food just to sustain themselves, but the very wealthy use it to show off, and having a sugar sculpture, six- foot high, on your table, is the equivalent of having a Maserati nowadays.
And all we have is this evidence of it.
The only evidence we have are the actual images we have of them. The other bit of evidence, that is not really obvious, we also have some of the tools we used to create it. So, for instance, this lovely wooden mould has got these four little goddesses on it. I’m going to get you actually to have a go at making some of these….
Really!
Okay, that’s it, one more there, it’s sticking there. If you just drop it on to the surface, you have your perfect grinning gibbons.
My goodness me!
One of the first recorded royal requests for sugar was by Henry III in the 13th century, who ordered three pounds of it, if so much is to be had, he’s reputed to have said.
It was so rare and luxurious that today’s equivalent of a bag and a half from a supermarket might be all there was across the entire kingdom.
You have created your own beautiful little thing.
I am impressed, I am, because I'm so cack-handed normally.
Key:
1. fruit and honey
2. New Guinea
3. 13th century
4. royal palaces
5. art, ornaments
6. three pounds
7. (the equivalent of) a bag and a half (from a supermarket)
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. As well as sugar what other commodities were available to our ancestors part of the year?
2. Where was wild cane first farmed?
3. When did sugar first come into Britain?
4. Who could afford to buy it?
5. Apart from being an additive to food and drinks, what was sugar used for?
6. How much sugar did Henry III order?
7. How much sugar could you find across the entire kingdom back in Henry III's times?
Back in the Middle Ages, sugar was only available to our ancestors part of the year, as fruit or honey. Sweetness was in short supply, so where did sugar, as we know it, come from? Well, it originated centuries before as a giant wild grass in the South Pacific, where its value was so recognised.
Legends from there tell of a story of how a sugar cane sprouted a man and a woman, who founded the human race. Wild cane was first tamed and farmed in New Guinea, and over time, spread by travellers, across the globe.
By the 13th century, it had migrated to the Middle East, where traders discovered it, and carried it to Europe. A commodity so rare, sugar's value equalled that of precious gems.
And what about its first appearance in Britain? My journey begins in Cumbria, where I'm going to meet a sugar historian, whom I'm told has a rather hands-on approach to this subject.
All of the sugar we imported into this country came from the Arab world, via the Venetians. The Venetians were the sugar controllers, they bought it from the Middle East, and then they shipped it out to every other European nation and they put a huge premium on it. If we go back into the 13th century, small quantities of it are coming to this country, but they are only being purchased by royal palaces.
Because it was quite expensive?
It was very expensive, and it was rare. Sugar in the early modern period is very much a symbol of status. But it was used as a plastic medium, as an art form. We have some marvellously detailed images of these sugar sculptures.
My gosh.
There is one piece of sculpture which was six-feet high, entirely made out of sugar.
Six-feet high!
Yeah, so it is standing like that on the table.
And this would be consumed, they wouldn't be ornamental?
No, no, no it was totally ornamental.
You are talking about a kind of decadence. Ordinary people eat food just to sustain themselves, but the very wealthy use it to show off, and having a sugar sculpture, six- foot high, on your table, is the equivalent of having a Maserati nowadays.
And all we have is this evidence of it.
The only evidence we have are the actual images we have of them. The other bit of evidence, that is not really obvious, we also have some of the tools we used to create it. So, for instance, this lovely wooden mould has got these four little goddesses on it. I’m going to get you actually to have a go at making some of these….
Really!
Okay, that’s it, one more there, it’s sticking there. If you just drop it on to the surface, you have your perfect grinning gibbons.
My goodness me!
One of the first recorded royal requests for sugar was by Henry III in the 13th century, who ordered three pounds of it, if so much is to be had, he’s reputed to have said.
It was so rare and luxurious that today’s equivalent of a bag and a half from a supermarket might be all there was across the entire kingdom.
You have created your own beautiful little thing.
I am impressed, I am, because I'm so cack-handed normally.
Key:
1. fruit and honey
2. New Guinea
3. 13th century
4. royal palaces
5. art, ornaments
6. three pounds
7. (the equivalent of) a bag and a half (from a supermarket)
jueves, 11 de agosto de 2016
Are vegetarians healthier or should I eat meat?
Michael Mosley compares the difference between a meat lunch and a vegetarian lunch to find out whether or not it is actually healthier to be a vegetarian?
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What percentage of Adventists are vegetarian and what meat-eaters?
2 What is the advantage of using Adventists for health-related studies?
3 How many subjects have participated in Dr Gary Fraser's studies?
4 What's the difference in dietary habits between the reporter and Dr Fraser?
5 What do cardiovascular risk factors involve?
6 How much beef do you need to eat to have massive risk to your health?
7 What's the difference in life expentancy between meat-eaters and vegetarians?
What makes Adventists of particular interest to scientists is that although about half are vegetarian, around half eat meat so the two groups can be compared. And unlike the wider population, Adventist meat-eaters tend not to be heavy smokers or drinkers, factors which can influence any comparisons between vegetarians and more red-blooded Americans.
Since the 1950s, scientists at Loma Linda University have been conducting numerous health studies on Adventists. The most recent have been trying to identify the health habits of the long-livers. I am here to meet Dr Gary Fraser, who's been leading this research for three decades covering over 150,000 Adventists. These huge epidemiological studies track people's diets and lifestyles and look for associations between what they eat, their overall health and what eventually kills them.
Hello.
Hi.
Hi, Mike Mosley, hello. Nice to meet you.
I'm joining the good doctor for lunch and as I'm on a high-meat diet, our choices couldn't be more different.
OK, so differences in what we've got here, then.
I've got pulled pork while Dr Fraser has a vegetarian salad with nuts.
I have to confess, I had bacon for breakfast as well.
OK.
I had four rashers of bacon.
Wow! All right. I hope you survive this experiment.
Thank you!
So kind of broadly, what have your studies revealed?
That when you look at cardiovascular risk factors in a broad sense - diabetes, hypertension, being overweight, having increased blood lipid levels - that the vegetarians are doing better than the non-vegetarians. And indeed that has translated in most of the studies to the vegetarians having a lower risk of heart attack and cardiovascular disease, so that whole area, I think, is fairly well established.
Dr Fraser found that men in the study who ate beef at least three times a week had double the risk of fatal heart disease compared to the vegetarians. And this apparently massive risk to health was in people eating under 60 grams a day, which is less than your average Brit and half what I'm currently eating.
So you have found that even eating what some people would regard as quite a modest level of meat makes a difference.
Yes.
I mean, how big a difference?
You know, I don't think we have all of the answers on that to be very precise about it and of course your plate of food there has got some things on there that go beyond the meat that I wouldn't necessarily recommend. So let me put it this way. That plate as compared to this plate, where I have replaced the meat with nuts and with whole-grain bread and so forth, our evidence says that you're probably looking at a difference of five years, four to five years in life expectancy.
Key:
1 half
2 Adventist meat-eaters tend not to smoke or drink
3 150,000
4 the former is a meat-eater and the latter is a vegetarian
5 diabetes, hypertension, being overweight, having increased blood lipid levels
6 eat beef three times a week / 60 grams a day
7 four/five years
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What percentage of Adventists are vegetarian and what meat-eaters?
2 What is the advantage of using Adventists for health-related studies?
3 How many subjects have participated in Dr Gary Fraser's studies?
4 What's the difference in dietary habits between the reporter and Dr Fraser?
5 What do cardiovascular risk factors involve?
6 How much beef do you need to eat to have massive risk to your health?
7 What's the difference in life expentancy between meat-eaters and vegetarians?
What makes Adventists of particular interest to scientists is that although about half are vegetarian, around half eat meat so the two groups can be compared. And unlike the wider population, Adventist meat-eaters tend not to be heavy smokers or drinkers, factors which can influence any comparisons between vegetarians and more red-blooded Americans.
Since the 1950s, scientists at Loma Linda University have been conducting numerous health studies on Adventists. The most recent have been trying to identify the health habits of the long-livers. I am here to meet Dr Gary Fraser, who's been leading this research for three decades covering over 150,000 Adventists. These huge epidemiological studies track people's diets and lifestyles and look for associations between what they eat, their overall health and what eventually kills them.
Hello.
Hi.
Hi, Mike Mosley, hello. Nice to meet you.
I'm joining the good doctor for lunch and as I'm on a high-meat diet, our choices couldn't be more different.
OK, so differences in what we've got here, then.
I've got pulled pork while Dr Fraser has a vegetarian salad with nuts.
I have to confess, I had bacon for breakfast as well.
OK.
I had four rashers of bacon.
Wow! All right. I hope you survive this experiment.
Thank you!
So kind of broadly, what have your studies revealed?
That when you look at cardiovascular risk factors in a broad sense - diabetes, hypertension, being overweight, having increased blood lipid levels - that the vegetarians are doing better than the non-vegetarians. And indeed that has translated in most of the studies to the vegetarians having a lower risk of heart attack and cardiovascular disease, so that whole area, I think, is fairly well established.
Dr Fraser found that men in the study who ate beef at least three times a week had double the risk of fatal heart disease compared to the vegetarians. And this apparently massive risk to health was in people eating under 60 grams a day, which is less than your average Brit and half what I'm currently eating.
So you have found that even eating what some people would regard as quite a modest level of meat makes a difference.
Yes.
I mean, how big a difference?
You know, I don't think we have all of the answers on that to be very precise about it and of course your plate of food there has got some things on there that go beyond the meat that I wouldn't necessarily recommend. So let me put it this way. That plate as compared to this plate, where I have replaced the meat with nuts and with whole-grain bread and so forth, our evidence says that you're probably looking at a difference of five years, four to five years in life expectancy.
Key:
1 half
2 Adventist meat-eaters tend not to smoke or drink
3 150,000
4 the former is a meat-eater and the latter is a vegetarian
5 diabetes, hypertension, being overweight, having increased blood lipid levels
6 eat beef three times a week / 60 grams a day
7 four/five years
jueves, 4 de agosto de 2016
Singer Kelis opens pop-up restaurant in London
Singer Kelis has opened up her own restaurant with the founders of Le Bun in London.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Where does Kelis get inspiration for her cooking?
2 What does 'Friday' refer to?
3 What does 'Monday' refer to?
4 What's the name of the music festival in Austin?
5 What's the title of her cook book?
6 What will Kellis be doing this summer?
We are chefs and we are cooking.
Yeah.
Her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard… as does the rest of her culinary skills apparently. Singer Kelis has opened her very own restaurant - a collaborative pop-up in London. She’s teamed up with street food sensation Le Bun and his co-founders, having met them at Standon Festival. You'd be forgiven for thinking she created an establishment that just sells dairy-based treats, but after studying at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school she is serving up a wide range of foods inspired by her travels around the world. Kelis explains how she decided to hone her skills.
I was working on getting out of a label deal that I was on for a very long time and finally when I got the call that said that I was released I… it was the first time in my life that I had my own time, really, and that I was able to make my own schedule. I was sitting in my kitchen and I called Le Cordon Bleu and they were… it was a Friday, and they were like our next session starts Monday morning and I was like, I’m in! I signed up and I started literally that Monday like full time in school.
Wondering whether she has gotten herself in too deep? It's not her first time getting bossy around the kitchen. Her first attempt with street food resulted in her own food truck at SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas in 2014. She has since gone on to release her own Bounty & Full sauce range and hugely successful cook book 'My Life on a Plate'.
For now, Kelis says she is happy to make both music and food. The singer has not given up on her day job and will be playing at a number of UK festivals this summer. If you want to taste her culinary creations there is a small window. The pop up will be open July 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th. She won’t teach you, but she´ll have to charge.
You know what, you’ll just have to wait and see.
Key:
1 travels around the world
2 the day when she called Le Bon
3 the day when the course started
4 SXSW
5 My name on a plate
6 playing at a number of UK festivals
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Where does Kelis get inspiration for her cooking?
2 What does 'Friday' refer to?
3 What does 'Monday' refer to?
4 What's the name of the music festival in Austin?
5 What's the title of her cook book?
6 What will Kellis be doing this summer?
We are chefs and we are cooking.
Yeah.
Her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard… as does the rest of her culinary skills apparently. Singer Kelis has opened her very own restaurant - a collaborative pop-up in London. She’s teamed up with street food sensation Le Bun and his co-founders, having met them at Standon Festival. You'd be forgiven for thinking she created an establishment that just sells dairy-based treats, but after studying at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school she is serving up a wide range of foods inspired by her travels around the world. Kelis explains how she decided to hone her skills.
I was working on getting out of a label deal that I was on for a very long time and finally when I got the call that said that I was released I… it was the first time in my life that I had my own time, really, and that I was able to make my own schedule. I was sitting in my kitchen and I called Le Cordon Bleu and they were… it was a Friday, and they were like our next session starts Monday morning and I was like, I’m in! I signed up and I started literally that Monday like full time in school.
Wondering whether she has gotten herself in too deep? It's not her first time getting bossy around the kitchen. Her first attempt with street food resulted in her own food truck at SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas in 2014. She has since gone on to release her own Bounty & Full sauce range and hugely successful cook book 'My Life on a Plate'.
For now, Kelis says she is happy to make both music and food. The singer has not given up on her day job and will be playing at a number of UK festivals this summer. If you want to taste her culinary creations there is a small window. The pop up will be open July 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th. She won’t teach you, but she´ll have to charge.
You know what, you’ll just have to wait and see.
Key:
1 travels around the world
2 the day when she called Le Bon
3 the day when the course started
4 SXSW
5 My name on a plate
6 playing at a number of UK festivals
martes, 2 de agosto de 2016
Growing Organics ‘Sin Fronteras’
Eduardo Rivera, a Mexican-born farmer living in Minnesota, is striving to make organic vegetables accessible to the Latino community.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What is the first challenge that Eduardo mentions?
2 Why are some people skeptical about organic?
3 What identity problem does Eduardo have?
4 What medical conditions do latino communities suffer from?
5 What's the difference in price between Eduardo's tomatillos and those of other latinos?
6 What's Eduardo's nickname in his family?
7 What has Eduardo started to make organic food affordable to the Latino community?
I started farming when I was a kid in Mexico. Farming is a way for me to just learn about myself, learn about what I can do and then also work with these beautiful plants. I mean, they teach you a lot. It's pretty amazing. I love it.
There's numerous challenges- access to land. It took me three years to find this spot. I pay myself $1,200 a month. But because of the hours that I work, it turns out to be more like $5 an hour.
Hey, what's up? Yeah, just checking in to see if you needed jalapeno, poblano, xixito, padron.
I mean, a lot of people are skeptical about organic. It's very expensive, and it's just out of some people's reach. I'm aware that I can't change the world and I can't feed the world. But I can impact a certain amount of people around me and basically that's what I'm trying to do.
My mom brought us here when I was 10 years old. And because I left Mexico so young, it's like you're stuck in the middle of both places. And you really feel like you're not from here or from there either.
Latino communities have the highest rate of diabetes, high blood pressure. I mean, you name the sicknesses, we're up there.
One of my ultimate goals is to provide the Latino communities with access to local organic foods.
It's nearly impossible to get into places like this, and they just basically shut the door in front of your face and, that's why I have to look elsewhere.
Are you guys out of tomatillos? Never mind, dude, they're right here. I just didn't see them. They're hiding.
This is where I usually shop for groceries. I sell lots of hot peppers here and tomatillos as well.
Let's take these, because they're on sale.
My tomatillos are $4.99 here. And at the Latino stores, they're $0.99. What hurts the most is that my people can't have access to my food because it's so expensive. But I can't afford to drop the price any more.
We have joke amongst us. We call Eduardo a potato because he's brown on the outside but he's American on the inside.
She says that because I'm all into organic. But, I mean, my heart's brown.
To make organic food affordable to the Latino community, I decided to start the CSA program.
How you feeling, dude?
Some of the Latino CSA customers may not be able to afford the whole price. But in return, we'd normally barter for one of their skills that they have. Right now, we have six CSA customers. And my intention is to have 100. But it takes baby steps.
I want everyone to eat my food. But I really want to make an impact in my community, and I don't think I'm going to stop until I get there. Even if it's hard, even if it takes me all my life, I'm never going to stop.
These want to turn color but we just don't let them.
Key:
1 access to land
2 it is expensive and beyond their reach
3 he is neither American nor Mexican
4 highest rate of diabetes, high blood pressure
5 $4
6 potato
7 the CSA program
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What is the first challenge that Eduardo mentions?
2 Why are some people skeptical about organic?
3 What identity problem does Eduardo have?
4 What medical conditions do latino communities suffer from?
5 What's the difference in price between Eduardo's tomatillos and those of other latinos?
6 What's Eduardo's nickname in his family?
7 What has Eduardo started to make organic food affordable to the Latino community?
I started farming when I was a kid in Mexico. Farming is a way for me to just learn about myself, learn about what I can do and then also work with these beautiful plants. I mean, they teach you a lot. It's pretty amazing. I love it.
There's numerous challenges- access to land. It took me three years to find this spot. I pay myself $1,200 a month. But because of the hours that I work, it turns out to be more like $5 an hour.
Hey, what's up? Yeah, just checking in to see if you needed jalapeno, poblano, xixito, padron.
I mean, a lot of people are skeptical about organic. It's very expensive, and it's just out of some people's reach. I'm aware that I can't change the world and I can't feed the world. But I can impact a certain amount of people around me and basically that's what I'm trying to do.
My mom brought us here when I was 10 years old. And because I left Mexico so young, it's like you're stuck in the middle of both places. And you really feel like you're not from here or from there either.
Latino communities have the highest rate of diabetes, high blood pressure. I mean, you name the sicknesses, we're up there.
One of my ultimate goals is to provide the Latino communities with access to local organic foods.
It's nearly impossible to get into places like this, and they just basically shut the door in front of your face and, that's why I have to look elsewhere.
Are you guys out of tomatillos? Never mind, dude, they're right here. I just didn't see them. They're hiding.
This is where I usually shop for groceries. I sell lots of hot peppers here and tomatillos as well.
Let's take these, because they're on sale.
My tomatillos are $4.99 here. And at the Latino stores, they're $0.99. What hurts the most is that my people can't have access to my food because it's so expensive. But I can't afford to drop the price any more.
We have joke amongst us. We call Eduardo a potato because he's brown on the outside but he's American on the inside.
She says that because I'm all into organic. But, I mean, my heart's brown.
To make organic food affordable to the Latino community, I decided to start the CSA program.
How you feeling, dude?
Some of the Latino CSA customers may not be able to afford the whole price. But in return, we'd normally barter for one of their skills that they have. Right now, we have six CSA customers. And my intention is to have 100. But it takes baby steps.
I want everyone to eat my food. But I really want to make an impact in my community, and I don't think I'm going to stop until I get there. Even if it's hard, even if it takes me all my life, I'm never going to stop.
These want to turn color but we just don't let them.
Key:
1 access to land
2 it is expensive and beyond their reach
3 he is neither American nor Mexican
4 highest rate of diabetes, high blood pressure
5 $4
6 potato
7 the CSA program
jueves, 28 de julio de 2016
London’s first naked dining experience opens
London has a new restaurant serving raw, or "naked" food, and its customers are asked to dress accordingly.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What do customers have at the bar?
2 What are they given in the changing rooms?
3 What restrictions does the dining area have?
4 What did the restaurant open?
5 Apart from being a restaurant, what is Bunyadi?
We are in South London, at a pop-up restaurant called Bunyadi. But unlike most restaurants, this restaurant doesn’t require you to wear any clothes. Let’s see.
Hello, I’m Ignacio, the architect, the manager of the Bunyadi, London, a restaurant where everything is naked. When customers come in, they are welcome to this bar. Some of them travel all around the world to come here and they don’t know what to expect. They have one drink or two, and then they are taken to the changing room, where we give them gowns and slippers. After they get changed, we take them to the dining area, where no phone or any electrical devices are allowed. They are taken to the tables and then they can enjoy and experience the amazing food.
It’s about enjoying nakedness when it comes to bodies, food, nakedness from technology, basically a space where you are free from the modern trappings of the world.
We launched it a couple of weeks ago. We have, are now a waiting list of 4 to 5 thousand people. One of the biggest reasons why we started Bunyadi was naked food, our food is sauce to plate, raw without any preservatives, colour. I think the second reason is liberation from technology while you’re eating. I think we all get annoyed when the phones come out during dinner. So when you go to the toilet, if you’re with someone and you come back, the other person is waiting for you to finish the conversation and not literally on their phones.
Perhaps the most important thing is giving these people the space where they’ll be comfortable. I think, I think it’s not only about a restaurant. It’s a social experiment. There is a big problem all over the world with objectification and sexualisation of bodies, and I think people need to think of ideas which will help to desexualise this aspect of… this very physical aspect of human, humans which everyone has.
So I think you bring all these things together and you’ve got a recipe of a space where people feel comfortable being naked and not judged.
Key:
1 one drink or two
2 a gown and slippers
3 no phone or any electrical devices are allowed
4 two weeks ago
5 a social experiment
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What do customers have at the bar?
2 What are they given in the changing rooms?
3 What restrictions does the dining area have?
4 What did the restaurant open?
5 Apart from being a restaurant, what is Bunyadi?
We are in South London, at a pop-up restaurant called Bunyadi. But unlike most restaurants, this restaurant doesn’t require you to wear any clothes. Let’s see.
Hello, I’m Ignacio, the architect, the manager of the Bunyadi, London, a restaurant where everything is naked. When customers come in, they are welcome to this bar. Some of them travel all around the world to come here and they don’t know what to expect. They have one drink or two, and then they are taken to the changing room, where we give them gowns and slippers. After they get changed, we take them to the dining area, where no phone or any electrical devices are allowed. They are taken to the tables and then they can enjoy and experience the amazing food.
It’s about enjoying nakedness when it comes to bodies, food, nakedness from technology, basically a space where you are free from the modern trappings of the world.
We launched it a couple of weeks ago. We have, are now a waiting list of 4 to 5 thousand people. One of the biggest reasons why we started Bunyadi was naked food, our food is sauce to plate, raw without any preservatives, colour. I think the second reason is liberation from technology while you’re eating. I think we all get annoyed when the phones come out during dinner. So when you go to the toilet, if you’re with someone and you come back, the other person is waiting for you to finish the conversation and not literally on their phones.
Perhaps the most important thing is giving these people the space where they’ll be comfortable. I think, I think it’s not only about a restaurant. It’s a social experiment. There is a big problem all over the world with objectification and sexualisation of bodies, and I think people need to think of ideas which will help to desexualise this aspect of… this very physical aspect of human, humans which everyone has.
So I think you bring all these things together and you’ve got a recipe of a space where people feel comfortable being naked and not judged.
Key:
1 one drink or two
2 a gown and slippers
3 no phone or any electrical devices are allowed
4 two weeks ago
5 a social experiment
jueves, 7 de julio de 2016
Largest urban farm opens in abandoned factory in Netherlands
A Scottish farmer has opened Europe's largest urban farm in an abandoned factory in the Netherlands.
Self-study activity:
Watch the clip and anwer the questions below.
1 When was the Phillips factory built on the site?
2 Where exactly is the urban farm?
3 Apart from being self-sustainable, what is the farm meant to do?
4 What two things are the fish doing?
5 How many people does Mark intend to supply?
6 How expensive is the produce?
It started life as a television and telephone factory built for the electronics company Phillips, back in the nineteen fifties. When they moved out this building was left empty, abandoned, until now.
Look up! There's a sign on the site. The new residents have just moved in. We are now seven storeys above the city. We've escaped from the exhaust fumes and we're inside a lush urban oasis surrounded by sweet-scented tomatoes, silky aubergines and a patchwork of microgreens.
If you can be here and smell and feel and see and taste everything all at once, then you're totally consumed with what you're doing, you're not just shoving a tomato on your face so that you can have your lunch quickly.
The farm is designed to be self-sustainable and produce zero waste. They might not realize it, but these tilapia here are playing a vital role.
The fish are doing two things for us here. They're, they're producing our fertilizer for our plants, which is really important because in the city you don't have cows and pigs and sheep to produce the nutrients so we do that with the fish. And the other thing that it does is it creates a source of protein in the city as well.
Mark's ambition is to supply a thousand families a week. His initial challenge will be to convince those customers to swap their comparatively cheap supermarket produce.
I think it's a little bit more expensive therefore it really has to differentiate itself from what we now already find in the supermarket so it should be ultra fresh, ultra tasty, and the other thing is it is a high-tech nature, therefore some consumers will like this but others will probably prefer the traditional agriculture out in the field with their light from the sun and water from the rain.
This enthusiastic chef was the first to buy into the concept. If this pioneering project is a success, the team are hoping to inspire people in places like Glasgow, Manchester, in Cardiff to cultivate their own urban farm lands in the sky.
Anna Holligan BBC News in The Hague.
Key:
1 in the 1950s
2 on the seventh floor
3 produce zero waste
4 producing fertilizers and creating proteins
5 one thousand families
6 more than if you buy at a supermarket
Self-study activity:
Watch the clip and anwer the questions below.
1 When was the Phillips factory built on the site?
2 Where exactly is the urban farm?
3 Apart from being self-sustainable, what is the farm meant to do?
4 What two things are the fish doing?
5 How many people does Mark intend to supply?
6 How expensive is the produce?
It started life as a television and telephone factory built for the electronics company Phillips, back in the nineteen fifties. When they moved out this building was left empty, abandoned, until now.
Look up! There's a sign on the site. The new residents have just moved in. We are now seven storeys above the city. We've escaped from the exhaust fumes and we're inside a lush urban oasis surrounded by sweet-scented tomatoes, silky aubergines and a patchwork of microgreens.
If you can be here and smell and feel and see and taste everything all at once, then you're totally consumed with what you're doing, you're not just shoving a tomato on your face so that you can have your lunch quickly.
The farm is designed to be self-sustainable and produce zero waste. They might not realize it, but these tilapia here are playing a vital role.
The fish are doing two things for us here. They're, they're producing our fertilizer for our plants, which is really important because in the city you don't have cows and pigs and sheep to produce the nutrients so we do that with the fish. And the other thing that it does is it creates a source of protein in the city as well.
Mark's ambition is to supply a thousand families a week. His initial challenge will be to convince those customers to swap their comparatively cheap supermarket produce.
I think it's a little bit more expensive therefore it really has to differentiate itself from what we now already find in the supermarket so it should be ultra fresh, ultra tasty, and the other thing is it is a high-tech nature, therefore some consumers will like this but others will probably prefer the traditional agriculture out in the field with their light from the sun and water from the rain.
This enthusiastic chef was the first to buy into the concept. If this pioneering project is a success, the team are hoping to inspire people in places like Glasgow, Manchester, in Cardiff to cultivate their own urban farm lands in the sky.
Anna Holligan BBC News in The Hague.
Key:
1 in the 1950s
2 on the seventh floor
3 produce zero waste
4 producing fertilizers and creating proteins
5 one thousand families
6 more than if you buy at a supermarket
miércoles, 29 de junio de 2016
Talking point: Ageing and health
This week's talking point is ageing and health.
Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go
over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day
you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary
problems beforehand.
‘Ageing is one of the most profitable fears of our time’. How do you interpret this quote?
Which of these anti-aging treatments would you be willing to try? Money is no object:
Would you like to live for 1,000 years? Why (not)?
Why do people follow special diets?
Have you (or has someone you know) ever had to follow a diet? How was it?
What are your opinions of these statements? Talk about your own experiences.
-How old someone feels depends entirely on their health.
-TV ads represent older people in realistic ways.
-It’s easier for people under 40 to get a job than those over 40.
-The longer you live, the more eccentric you become.
-Companies which sell anti-ageing products don’t want people to feel good about themselves.
INTERACTION -Choosing a diet
You and your partner have decided to start a diet. Read about the diets below and choose the most convenient diet for you to go on. If none of the diets is of your liking, suggest another one.
The 5:2 diet
The 5:2 diet is based on a principle known as intermittent fasting (IF) – where you eat normally for five days a week and fast on the other two days. On top of losing weight, fans claim the 5:2 diet can improve lifespan and brain function, and protect against conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's.
The Dukan diet
The diet has four phases. During phase one you can eat chicken, turkey, eggs, fish and fat-free dairy. This is for an average of five days to achieve quick weight loss. No vegetables are allowed and seriously restricts fat. The next three phases of the plan see the gradual introduction of some fruit, veg and carbs, and eventually all foods. There's no time limit to the final phase, which involves having a protein-only day once a week and taking regular exercise.
The alkaline diet
The alkaline diet, whose celebrity fans reportedly include Gywneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Victoria Beckham, recommends cutting back on meat, wheat and other grains, refined sugar, dairy products, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods in favour of "alkaline foods": Plenty of fruit and vegetables. Some followers adopt the "80/20 rule", consisting of a diet based on 80% fruit and veg and 20% grains and protein.
The Cambridge diet
It iis based around buying and eating a range of meal-replacement products. There are six flexible diet plans ranging from 415 calories to 1,500 calories or more a day. The bars, soups, porridges and shakes can be used as your sole source of nutrition or together with low-calorie regular meals. While on the programme, you receive advice and support on healthy eating and exercise from a Cambridge adviser.
‘Ageing is one of the most profitable fears of our time’. How do you interpret this quote?
Which of these anti-aging treatments would you be willing to try? Money is no object:
- Snail slime cream –potents anti-ageing treatment that helps to reduce acne and skin rashes as well as smoothing wrinkles
- Emu oil –Used for centuries for its healing powers, emu oil leaves you with a glowing complexion
- Bee sting venom –The venom from the sting is tranferred into a gel and then rubbed on the face as part of an intensive facial.
Would you like to live for 1,000 years? Why (not)?
Why do people follow special diets?
Have you (or has someone you know) ever had to follow a diet? How was it?
What are your opinions of these statements? Talk about your own experiences.
-How old someone feels depends entirely on their health.
-TV ads represent older people in realistic ways.
-It’s easier for people under 40 to get a job than those over 40.
-The longer you live, the more eccentric you become.
-Companies which sell anti-ageing products don’t want people to feel good about themselves.
INTERACTION -Choosing a diet
You and your partner have decided to start a diet. Read about the diets below and choose the most convenient diet for you to go on. If none of the diets is of your liking, suggest another one.
The 5:2 diet
The 5:2 diet is based on a principle known as intermittent fasting (IF) – where you eat normally for five days a week and fast on the other two days. On top of losing weight, fans claim the 5:2 diet can improve lifespan and brain function, and protect against conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's.
The Dukan diet
The diet has four phases. During phase one you can eat chicken, turkey, eggs, fish and fat-free dairy. This is for an average of five days to achieve quick weight loss. No vegetables are allowed and seriously restricts fat. The next three phases of the plan see the gradual introduction of some fruit, veg and carbs, and eventually all foods. There's no time limit to the final phase, which involves having a protein-only day once a week and taking regular exercise.
The alkaline diet
The alkaline diet, whose celebrity fans reportedly include Gywneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Victoria Beckham, recommends cutting back on meat, wheat and other grains, refined sugar, dairy products, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods in favour of "alkaline foods": Plenty of fruit and vegetables. Some followers adopt the "80/20 rule", consisting of a diet based on 80% fruit and veg and 20% grains and protein.
The Cambridge diet
It iis based around buying and eating a range of meal-replacement products. There are six flexible diet plans ranging from 415 calories to 1,500 calories or more a day. The bars, soups, porridges and shakes can be used as your sole source of nutrition or together with low-calorie regular meals. While on the programme, you receive advice and support on healthy eating and exercise from a Cambridge adviser.
martes, 28 de junio de 2016
What Oysters Reveal about Sea Change
Head out with Mark Bittman as he braves the elements and cruises along the waters off of Marshall, CA. There, UC Davis researchers are helping local food producers like Hog Island Oyster Farm monitor the effects of ocean acidification on the marine ecosystem.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 Mark Bittman lives in San Franscisco.
2 Oysters were discovered 2,000 years ago.
3 Ocean water is being deprived of carbon dioxide.
4 The high acidity in the water is happening all year round.
5 Terry cultivates oysters all year round.
6 Tessa Hill is conducting nationwide research into the acidification of ocean waters.
Mark Bittman: I've been to the San Francisco Ferry Building many times since its reopening as a food destination. But now that I'm living out here, Saturday morning visits have become routine. The views never get old, and the markets and the raw bars are big draws.
For the most part, you can't get fresher seafoods than an oyster. Shucked raw on ice, grilled or fried, oysters have been cultivated for at least 2,000 years and consumed since prehistoric times. But there are troubled waters ahead for oysters, in large part because of ocean acidification. This is basically a change in the chemistry of ocean water brought about by absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And it's affecting the marine ecosystem, including the shellfish so many of us love.
Tessa Hill of UC Davis is helping monitor the impact of ocean acidification on marine invertebrates all along the Pacific Coast, including oysters harvested at the Hog Island Oyster Farm. So I met Tessa at the farm along with Terry Sawyer, who's one of the co-owners of Hog Island Oyster Company.
Let's see. I'm going to guess that water is sequestering carbon.
Tessa Hill: Right, so 30% of what we put into the atmosphere ends up in the ocean. When you add that carbon dioxide into the sea water, it changes the acidity of the water. And animals have a harder time finding their building block to make a shell.
Mark Bittman: You're changing their environment, and you're robbing them of the level of pH that they want.
Terry Sawyer: A lot of these stresses that we're talking about are also bringing about disease or bacterial effects. So you got hatcheries over there, very high densities. These animals get stressed, your hatchery would just be completely wiped up.
Tessa Hill: What you end up with are animals that are weakened. They take longer to get to reproductive age.
Mark Bittman: For now, the research shows that high acidity in the water is seasonal and related to upwellings. So hatcheries, like Terry's, are responding by not spawning new oysters when conditions are bad. But by 2030, upwellings are expected to last longer, and they may even be year-round in many places by 2050. Tessa's collaboration with Terry has become a model experiment.
Tessa Hill: What we started by doing is just deploying an extra set of sensors out on his sea water intake lines. The idea was, "Look, we're learning some interesting things from this data. Terry can plan around some business decisions. We're learning about the Tomales Bay Watershed, and the oceanography in this bay." And people started to take notice. Our regional system got money from the National Ocean Observing System to pick this as a site to monitor for climate change and ocean acidification.
Mark Bittman: What's next on the national project?
Tessa Hill: The West Coast program will extend from California all the way up to Alaska. The northeast coast and the Gulf Coast, in particular, are very susceptible to these impacts of ocean acidification, and so I would expect that monitoring systems like these will start to crop up in those locations as well.
Terry Sawyer: So then it's policy. It all has to be taken to the state and national levels to put money towards alternative forms of energy, transportation, whatever.
Tessa Hill: Absolutely.
Mark Bittman: As we headed back to shore, I could see tourists at the farm. Shucking oysters by the bucket and settling in to eat out al fresco. We joined in. As we gobbled out a few dozen just shucked oysters, I thought about the impact of this research. One thing it will do is help keep such delights on the table, but this type of collaboration will also lead to policies that will promote a healthier marine system and planet. That's something we can all hope for.
University of California Global Food Initiative Berkeley Food Institute
Wondering what I'm doing out in California? Find out. Click the subscribe button, and watch more episodes.
Key:
1T 2F 3F 4F 5F 6F
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 Mark Bittman lives in San Franscisco.
2 Oysters were discovered 2,000 years ago.
3 Ocean water is being deprived of carbon dioxide.
4 The high acidity in the water is happening all year round.
5 Terry cultivates oysters all year round.
6 Tessa Hill is conducting nationwide research into the acidification of ocean waters.
Mark Bittman: I've been to the San Francisco Ferry Building many times since its reopening as a food destination. But now that I'm living out here, Saturday morning visits have become routine. The views never get old, and the markets and the raw bars are big draws.
For the most part, you can't get fresher seafoods than an oyster. Shucked raw on ice, grilled or fried, oysters have been cultivated for at least 2,000 years and consumed since prehistoric times. But there are troubled waters ahead for oysters, in large part because of ocean acidification. This is basically a change in the chemistry of ocean water brought about by absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And it's affecting the marine ecosystem, including the shellfish so many of us love.
Tessa Hill of UC Davis is helping monitor the impact of ocean acidification on marine invertebrates all along the Pacific Coast, including oysters harvested at the Hog Island Oyster Farm. So I met Tessa at the farm along with Terry Sawyer, who's one of the co-owners of Hog Island Oyster Company.
Let's see. I'm going to guess that water is sequestering carbon.
Tessa Hill: Right, so 30% of what we put into the atmosphere ends up in the ocean. When you add that carbon dioxide into the sea water, it changes the acidity of the water. And animals have a harder time finding their building block to make a shell.
Mark Bittman: You're changing their environment, and you're robbing them of the level of pH that they want.
Terry Sawyer: A lot of these stresses that we're talking about are also bringing about disease or bacterial effects. So you got hatcheries over there, very high densities. These animals get stressed, your hatchery would just be completely wiped up.
Tessa Hill: What you end up with are animals that are weakened. They take longer to get to reproductive age.
Mark Bittman: For now, the research shows that high acidity in the water is seasonal and related to upwellings. So hatcheries, like Terry's, are responding by not spawning new oysters when conditions are bad. But by 2030, upwellings are expected to last longer, and they may even be year-round in many places by 2050. Tessa's collaboration with Terry has become a model experiment.
Tessa Hill: What we started by doing is just deploying an extra set of sensors out on his sea water intake lines. The idea was, "Look, we're learning some interesting things from this data. Terry can plan around some business decisions. We're learning about the Tomales Bay Watershed, and the oceanography in this bay." And people started to take notice. Our regional system got money from the National Ocean Observing System to pick this as a site to monitor for climate change and ocean acidification.
Mark Bittman: What's next on the national project?
Tessa Hill: The West Coast program will extend from California all the way up to Alaska. The northeast coast and the Gulf Coast, in particular, are very susceptible to these impacts of ocean acidification, and so I would expect that monitoring systems like these will start to crop up in those locations as well.
Terry Sawyer: So then it's policy. It all has to be taken to the state and national levels to put money towards alternative forms of energy, transportation, whatever.
Tessa Hill: Absolutely.
Mark Bittman: As we headed back to shore, I could see tourists at the farm. Shucking oysters by the bucket and settling in to eat out al fresco. We joined in. As we gobbled out a few dozen just shucked oysters, I thought about the impact of this research. One thing it will do is help keep such delights on the table, but this type of collaboration will also lead to policies that will promote a healthier marine system and planet. That's something we can all hope for.
University of California Global Food Initiative Berkeley Food Institute
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Key:
1T 2F 3F 4F 5F 6F
lunes, 27 de junio de 2016
Listening test: Message in a bottle
Listen to envinronmentalist and writer Bea Johnson talking on the ways we can reduce our food waste and complete the blanks in the sentences below with up to three words. 0 is an example.
0 Example:
Bea Johnson is the author of the book Zero Waste Home.
1 The bottle with waste Bea carries with her wherever she goes is the size of _________________ .
2 The five rules Bea and her family follow are refuse, _______________ and rot.
3 The first rule of the zero waste lifestyle is _________________ to the things we don’t need.
4 Bea works a _________________ and has a busy life.
5 Making other people have access to the things you don’t need boosts the _________________ and allows you to share your resources with other people.
6 In Bea’s opinion, those things that we don’t have won’t need to be _______________ maintained and eventually discarded and repurchased.
7 People who live in apartments can leave their compost system on their balcony or in a spot in _________________ .
8 Waste-free products can be found in both health food stores and at _________________ .
Bea Johnson is a zero waste guru and an author of a best-selling book called Zero Waste Home. She proudly carries a bottle around with her which contains all the waste she and her three member family have created over the last year. It’s about the size of a marmalade jar. And Bea was one of the stars at the Zero Waste conference, hosted by the non-profit organisation Bezobalu, which took place in Prague this week. I met her prior to the conference I asked her if she could outline the main ideas behind the philosophy:
Zero waste aims at eliminating a maximum waste from your life. So we have been able to eliminate ours to just one jar per year. All we do is simply follow five rules in order: we refuse, reduce, reuse recycle and rot, so at the end we are left with very little waste.
So first rule, for example, is to refuse what we do not need, because in the consumerist society we are the targets of many consumer goods that are free, but every time we accept them, we are creating a demand to make more. So every time we take a free plastic bag, for example, it is a way for us to say that we love plastic bags, and we want more oil to be drilled from the ground to create a replacement and the replacement will be created. So we’ve simply learned to say no to these things and that’s the first rule of the zero waste lifestyle.
Isn't it too complicated, because that’s what many people say, that it’s time-consuming to live this way of life?
People that say that it’s too complicated do not know zero waste lifestyle and I am here to share all the misconceptions that are associated with this lifestyle. I work a full time job and I have a very busy schedule. If I am able to do it, I believe other people are able to do that too.
What takes the most time is actually to find a system that works for you. It also takes time to declutter your life from the things that you do not really need. That’s the second rule of the zero waste life style: to reduce the things that you do need.
So it takes a while to go through the things that you have so that you can let them go and make other people have access to them, so then you are boosting the second-hand market and sharing those precious resources with other people.
But once the system is in place you'll discover that it really saves a lot of time, because it is a life-style that is based on simplicity. Simplicity, by definition, is not there to complicate your life but to simplify it, to make room in your life for what matters the most. What you don’t have won’t need to be cleaned, stored, eventually repaired, maintained and then eventually discarded and repurchased.
Some people also say that it’s complicated, for instance, if you live in a city like Prague, there are no package-free shops. If you live in an apartment you can’t compost your biodegradable waste.
There is a compost system out there for every situation. For people that live in an apartment have a choice of either a worm bin, some people put it on their balcony or they find a spot in their cupboard. It actually doesn't smell. People are afraid of it because they think it is going to smell, it does not smell, so don’t worry about it.
Otherwise, there is actually a system that can be plugged. It’s a kind of composter that you plug in, it does require electricity but it is much faster than a worm composter and you can even add meat and fish bones to it.
And then as far as the bulk food stores, well there is one here in Prague, but also people need to understand that waste-free products is not just what we find in health food stores. It’s also at the farmers markets. It’s anything that you find without packaging, so it’s the bakery shop, your local butcher shop or your local fish shop. You just bring your own containers to these things to stop packaging at the source.
Key:
1 a marmalade jar
2 reduce, reuse, recycle
3 saying no
4 full time job
5 second-hand market
6 cleaned, stored, repaired
7 their/a cupboard
8 (the) farmer markets
0 Example:
Bea Johnson is the author of the book Zero Waste Home.
1 The bottle with waste Bea carries with her wherever she goes is the size of _________________ .
2 The five rules Bea and her family follow are refuse, _______________ and rot.
3 The first rule of the zero waste lifestyle is _________________ to the things we don’t need.
4 Bea works a _________________ and has a busy life.
5 Making other people have access to the things you don’t need boosts the _________________ and allows you to share your resources with other people.
6 In Bea’s opinion, those things that we don’t have won’t need to be _______________ maintained and eventually discarded and repurchased.
7 People who live in apartments can leave their compost system on their balcony or in a spot in _________________ .
8 Waste-free products can be found in both health food stores and at _________________ .
Bea Johnson is a zero waste guru and an author of a best-selling book called Zero Waste Home. She proudly carries a bottle around with her which contains all the waste she and her three member family have created over the last year. It’s about the size of a marmalade jar. And Bea was one of the stars at the Zero Waste conference, hosted by the non-profit organisation Bezobalu, which took place in Prague this week. I met her prior to the conference I asked her if she could outline the main ideas behind the philosophy:
Zero waste aims at eliminating a maximum waste from your life. So we have been able to eliminate ours to just one jar per year. All we do is simply follow five rules in order: we refuse, reduce, reuse recycle and rot, so at the end we are left with very little waste.
So first rule, for example, is to refuse what we do not need, because in the consumerist society we are the targets of many consumer goods that are free, but every time we accept them, we are creating a demand to make more. So every time we take a free plastic bag, for example, it is a way for us to say that we love plastic bags, and we want more oil to be drilled from the ground to create a replacement and the replacement will be created. So we’ve simply learned to say no to these things and that’s the first rule of the zero waste lifestyle.
Isn't it too complicated, because that’s what many people say, that it’s time-consuming to live this way of life?
People that say that it’s too complicated do not know zero waste lifestyle and I am here to share all the misconceptions that are associated with this lifestyle. I work a full time job and I have a very busy schedule. If I am able to do it, I believe other people are able to do that too.
What takes the most time is actually to find a system that works for you. It also takes time to declutter your life from the things that you do not really need. That’s the second rule of the zero waste life style: to reduce the things that you do need.
So it takes a while to go through the things that you have so that you can let them go and make other people have access to them, so then you are boosting the second-hand market and sharing those precious resources with other people.
But once the system is in place you'll discover that it really saves a lot of time, because it is a life-style that is based on simplicity. Simplicity, by definition, is not there to complicate your life but to simplify it, to make room in your life for what matters the most. What you don’t have won’t need to be cleaned, stored, eventually repaired, maintained and then eventually discarded and repurchased.
Some people also say that it’s complicated, for instance, if you live in a city like Prague, there are no package-free shops. If you live in an apartment you can’t compost your biodegradable waste.
There is a compost system out there for every situation. For people that live in an apartment have a choice of either a worm bin, some people put it on their balcony or they find a spot in their cupboard. It actually doesn't smell. People are afraid of it because they think it is going to smell, it does not smell, so don’t worry about it.
Otherwise, there is actually a system that can be plugged. It’s a kind of composter that you plug in, it does require electricity but it is much faster than a worm composter and you can even add meat and fish bones to it.
And then as far as the bulk food stores, well there is one here in Prague, but also people need to understand that waste-free products is not just what we find in health food stores. It’s also at the farmers markets. It’s anything that you find without packaging, so it’s the bakery shop, your local butcher shop or your local fish shop. You just bring your own containers to these things to stop packaging at the source.
Key:
1 a marmalade jar
2 reduce, reuse, recycle
3 saying no
4 full time job
5 second-hand market
6 cleaned, stored, repaired
7 their/a cupboard
8 (the) farmer markets
domingo, 19 de junio de 2016
Extensive listening: The truth about healthy eating
BBC reporter Fiona Phillips teams up with leading scientists to look at how to eat and drink to good health, and she uncovers some surprising truths.
She reveals which cheap, everyday foods can give us all the benefits of so-called superfoods at a fraction of the price and why frying can be the healthiest way to cook.
Fiona becomes a human guinea pig to test some of the top-selling health drinks and supplements. She investigates whether antioxidant smoothies really give us the healthy boost we think and discovers why multivitamin pills might do us more harm than good.
In a unique experiment with scientists from Aston and Liverpool John Moores universities, she sets out to find the healthiest breakfast, and discovers why we'd be better off with bacon and eggs rather than cereal and fruit.
To find out whether we can really detoxify our bodies, she puts some popular detox foods and drinks to the test and reveals why we're better off with fresh foods and the odd glass of wine.
She reveals which cheap, everyday foods can give us all the benefits of so-called superfoods at a fraction of the price and why frying can be the healthiest way to cook.
Fiona becomes a human guinea pig to test some of the top-selling health drinks and supplements. She investigates whether antioxidant smoothies really give us the healthy boost we think and discovers why multivitamin pills might do us more harm than good.
In a unique experiment with scientists from Aston and Liverpool John Moores universities, she sets out to find the healthiest breakfast, and discovers why we'd be better off with bacon and eggs rather than cereal and fruit.
To find out whether we can really detoxify our bodies, she puts some popular detox foods and drinks to the test and reveals why we're better off with fresh foods and the odd glass of wine.
viernes, 13 de mayo de 2016
easyJet takes on food shopping with new store
Famous for no-frills budget flights, the famous orange signs can now be found above a corner shop, as easyJet looks to revolutionise food shopping.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Where was the EasyJet airline owner born?
2 What groups of people can benefit from the cheap groceries?
3 How much would the same item cost in a local shop?
4 How many children does the single mum have?
5 How big is the range of products on offer?
6 What EasyJet failures are mentioned?
There are no big brand baked beans here and the butter wouldn’t ring any bells but this is budget shopping, Stelios style. The Greek-born billionaire, now a knight of the realm, has taken the business model from his easyJet airline, moving from cheap getaways to cheap groceries too.
People who are, you know, pensioners, unwaged, on low wages moving off benefits into a low-wage job so they no longer entitled to use food banks, this is what caters for them. A small range of high-quality goods very, very competitively priced.
The range isn't extensive just the essentials, but for those whose cupboards are bare this food is affordable.
I think we’re struggling, whether you’re working, even if you're working now lots of people are on low wage and it’s very hard to feed the family, you know.
In the local shops it would £1,97. I’ve got a freedom pass. I come here, I can get eight for that.
Being a single mom on benefits with two little boys is very difficult to pounce the money and be able to get them treats and pounce food. I mean, I know a lot of the vegs is in tins, anything, but it’s still vegs.
There clearly is a market for cheap produce but how successful is this business going to be?
It just doesn't seem to relate to how the market has moved in recent years. I mean, people these days, most people, would want a rather more pleasant store environment and they certainly want fresh fruits, it’s a very important part of the mix at the moment… it's not just … package. I think they’d want a bigger range too, I mean families come in here, pick up a few products, then they gonna go on.
Whether it works in the long run is yet to be seen. For every easyJet success story there’s failures such as Easy Cinema or Easy Car, but with over one million people using food banks last year, affordable food may not be such a flash in the pan.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Where was the EasyJet airline owner born?
2 What groups of people can benefit from the cheap groceries?
3 How much would the same item cost in a local shop?
4 How many children does the single mum have?
5 How big is the range of products on offer?
6 What EasyJet failures are mentioned?
There are no big brand baked beans here and the butter wouldn’t ring any bells but this is budget shopping, Stelios style. The Greek-born billionaire, now a knight of the realm, has taken the business model from his easyJet airline, moving from cheap getaways to cheap groceries too.
People who are, you know, pensioners, unwaged, on low wages moving off benefits into a low-wage job so they no longer entitled to use food banks, this is what caters for them. A small range of high-quality goods very, very competitively priced.
The range isn't extensive just the essentials, but for those whose cupboards are bare this food is affordable.
I think we’re struggling, whether you’re working, even if you're working now lots of people are on low wage and it’s very hard to feed the family, you know.
In the local shops it would £1,97. I’ve got a freedom pass. I come here, I can get eight for that.
Being a single mom on benefits with two little boys is very difficult to pounce the money and be able to get them treats and pounce food. I mean, I know a lot of the vegs is in tins, anything, but it’s still vegs.
There clearly is a market for cheap produce but how successful is this business going to be?
It just doesn't seem to relate to how the market has moved in recent years. I mean, people these days, most people, would want a rather more pleasant store environment and they certainly want fresh fruits, it’s a very important part of the mix at the moment… it's not just … package. I think they’d want a bigger range too, I mean families come in here, pick up a few products, then they gonna go on.
Whether it works in the long run is yet to be seen. For every easyJet success story there’s failures such as Easy Cinema or Easy Car, but with over one million people using food banks last year, affordable food may not be such a flash in the pan.
viernes, 22 de abril de 2016
Start-ups changing the food delivery business
A group of British start-up companies are trying to disrupt the food takeaway business, by making it easier for restaurants to deliver, that wouldn't normally consider it.
We’re changing what people think about takeaway.
I’ve got a six-month-old baby asleep upstairs.
We’ve got to be at Nando’s in two minutes.
For over a decade now we’ve been able to order takeaway food with the click of the mouse button. It’s a popular and lucrative business, but recently some new kids have arrived on the block offering a new twist to the formula and doing rather well. They want to bring you food from places that wouldn’t normally not takeaway, whether it’s Nando’s or your favourite Little Italian.
The biggest of these companies in the UK is Deliveroo. To get a 360 view of how this kind of companies works, I took my camera along to hang out with one of their top drivers during the lunchtime rush, not forgetting to stick a camera on his helmet. And I also met up with the boss who came up with the idea.
In our platform, restaurants all they have to do is cook the food and we take it and bring it to people, which means we can work with A) a higher class of restaurant and B) the delivery times are much faster.
The rider I’m shadowing is certainly pretty fast as he pedals down his patch in London Islington. I’m struggling to keep up even though we are both on electric bikes. When the electric bike kicks in, it does help. Luckily our first assignment isn’t too far away. I’m curious to see what kind of customer uses this service.
With Deliveroo you have the ease of a takeaway and I know there’s good restaurants on there. I’ve got a six-month-old baby asleep upstairs in his cot, so I couldn’t leave the house.
I used to work in New York after university and I worked there for three years and I was in investment banking where I had to order food late all the time, but the options were very good. When I moved to London in 2004 I found there to be a lack of quality, you know, takeaway. Yet London actually has amazing restaurants.
So you’ve got an order in, it’s Nando’s in Islington…
Yeah.
Nando is quite a popular one.
Yeah.
We’ve got to speed in Nando’s in two minutes.
The helmet camera lets me see what’s going on inside the restaurant. Somewhere there’s a tablet computer coordinating the booking with the courier’s smart phone. Restaurants pay a commission to Deliveroo for the service.
You got the stuff?
Yeah.
Our customer actually only lives a two-minute walk-away from Nando’s and it’s a glorious day.
That’s sly customer?
Very much.
Apparently she was working at her desk at home and didn’t want to break her concentration. Meanwhile, our activity has called the attention of a neighbour who quite likes the Deliveroo idea.
My friend who is… is house-bound so it’d be good for him, you know.
Who’s actually using the service?
It’s really… depends on the neighbourhood you’re in. In Mayfair it’s a lot of hedge-funds, people like that. In Shoreridge it’s a lot of single people. You pay the exact same prices as you would in the restaurant plus a ₤2.50 delivery fee.
Our final job involves a visit to the kind of restaurants that Deliveroo really wants to attract, a local Italian that doesn’t normally deliver food.
It’s time for our longest journey yet, ten minutes towards Hackney. It’s a bit of a maze, but we find the flat eventually. It’s another person, Raffal tells me who’s discovered the joys of working from home. Raffal is a man of few words but I feel we’ve bonded during our short time working together. He’s just one of over 700 delivery drivers hard at home in London. Will their pedal power change the way we think about takeaway food?
We’re changing what people think about takeaway.
I’ve got a six-month-old baby asleep upstairs.
We’ve got to be at Nando’s in two minutes.
For over a decade now we’ve been able to order takeaway food with the click of the mouse button. It’s a popular and lucrative business, but recently some new kids have arrived on the block offering a new twist to the formula and doing rather well. They want to bring you food from places that wouldn’t normally not takeaway, whether it’s Nando’s or your favourite Little Italian.
The biggest of these companies in the UK is Deliveroo. To get a 360 view of how this kind of companies works, I took my camera along to hang out with one of their top drivers during the lunchtime rush, not forgetting to stick a camera on his helmet. And I also met up with the boss who came up with the idea.
In our platform, restaurants all they have to do is cook the food and we take it and bring it to people, which means we can work with A) a higher class of restaurant and B) the delivery times are much faster.
The rider I’m shadowing is certainly pretty fast as he pedals down his patch in London Islington. I’m struggling to keep up even though we are both on electric bikes. When the electric bike kicks in, it does help. Luckily our first assignment isn’t too far away. I’m curious to see what kind of customer uses this service.
With Deliveroo you have the ease of a takeaway and I know there’s good restaurants on there. I’ve got a six-month-old baby asleep upstairs in his cot, so I couldn’t leave the house.
I used to work in New York after university and I worked there for three years and I was in investment banking where I had to order food late all the time, but the options were very good. When I moved to London in 2004 I found there to be a lack of quality, you know, takeaway. Yet London actually has amazing restaurants.
So you’ve got an order in, it’s Nando’s in Islington…
Yeah.
Nando is quite a popular one.
Yeah.
We’ve got to speed in Nando’s in two minutes.
The helmet camera lets me see what’s going on inside the restaurant. Somewhere there’s a tablet computer coordinating the booking with the courier’s smart phone. Restaurants pay a commission to Deliveroo for the service.
You got the stuff?
Yeah.
Our customer actually only lives a two-minute walk-away from Nando’s and it’s a glorious day.
That’s sly customer?
Very much.
Apparently she was working at her desk at home and didn’t want to break her concentration. Meanwhile, our activity has called the attention of a neighbour who quite likes the Deliveroo idea.
My friend who is… is house-bound so it’d be good for him, you know.
Who’s actually using the service?
It’s really… depends on the neighbourhood you’re in. In Mayfair it’s a lot of hedge-funds, people like that. In Shoreridge it’s a lot of single people. You pay the exact same prices as you would in the restaurant plus a ₤2.50 delivery fee.
Our final job involves a visit to the kind of restaurants that Deliveroo really wants to attract, a local Italian that doesn’t normally deliver food.
It’s time for our longest journey yet, ten minutes towards Hackney. It’s a bit of a maze, but we find the flat eventually. It’s another person, Raffal tells me who’s discovered the joys of working from home. Raffal is a man of few words but I feel we’ve bonded during our short time working together. He’s just one of over 700 delivery drivers hard at home in London. Will their pedal power change the way we think about takeaway food?
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