Yesterday, as I was closing my computer for the end of the workday, I was convinced (CONVINCED) it was already Friday. Maybe it has something to do with the tradition of Thursday night happy hour in Brussels. Or all the pretty lights that guide you into the weekend…
http://instagram.com/p/uyLb6bgVmH/
Nevertheless, the weekend is around the corner and so is some free reading and TV-viewing time. Enjoy!
When have you ever seen food policy on late night TV? John Oliver might be a first. And he does a hilarious job drawing attention to the debate on mandatory added sugar labeling in the US:
Then, this World Economic Forum blogpost by a development economist draws interesting links between savings and food security, and in the process unpacks some of the difficulties of impact evaluation. Worth a read.
The New York Times discovers that it is, indeed, possible to survive on fast food wages – only not in the US, but in Denmark. Interesting insight in two very different social systems. This is especially interesting in a globalization context where it is exactly the same business – whether McDonald’s or Burger King – that is operating in these different systems. Favorite quote:
Measured in Big Macs, McDonald’s workers in Denmark earn the equivalent of 3.4 Big Macs an hour, while their American counterparts earn 1.8, according to a study by Orley C. Ashenfelter, a Princeton economics professor, and Stepan Jurajda, an economics professor at Charles University in Prague.
Oh the irony of measuring big mac-making wages in big macs…
The Environmental Working Group has released a new food database that, upon scanning a brand-name item or searching for it on the website, will tell you nutrition facts as well as what could be hidden concerns – from “contaminants like BPA in canned foods, mercury in seafood, antibiotics in meat, arsenic in rice and pesticide residues in produce, to food additives, like preservatives, artificial and natural flavors and colors, low-calorie sweeteners and fat replacers”, as the Time reports. Combined out of nutrition, ingredient and processing concerns, the site will then give your choice a grade – just as an example, the oatmeal I made this morning got a 1.1 (very good), whereas the alternative choice my kid-self would have preferred, frosted flakes, got a 5 (due to high sugar content, moderate processing concerns, and apparently it contains something called “butylated hydroxytoluene” – I can’t even pronounce that). Super cool to play around with! And I can’t imagine how much work it must have been to input and rate all these foods…
And finally, this report claims that ‘vegetarianism isn’t all it’s cracked up to be’ because plants can sense when they are being threatened and respond to danger. AKA eating a carrot is still murder. Uh-oh…
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/99635253]
Have a happy weekend!