Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/13/466545600/chipotles-food-safety-woes-dont-expect-sympathy-from-rest-of-industry?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

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Weekend Edition Saturday

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A Chipotle restaurant in Union Station in Washington, D.C. The company’s food-safety troubles have provoked quite a bit of schadenfreude in the rest of the food industry.
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Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/13/466569938/dinner-with-a-side-of-i-dos-for-restaurants-proposals-are-good-business?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Marriage proposals are pretty routine at America’s high-end restaurants. They can lift the mood in the entire dining room, boost tips and create lifelong customers. Unless the answer is “no,” that is.

iStockphoto

If you work in a restaurant, marriage proposals are good for business. Happy couples lift the mood in the entire dining room and often turn into lifelong customers. That once-in-a-lifetime experience for them is pretty routine for restaurateurs.

High-end restaurants with nice decor can count on someone popping the question every week or two. At a few rooms with big views, such as The Sun Dial in Atlanta or the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas, proposals are a daily occurrence.

“It’s very, very common, and we absolutely love it,” says Ti Martin, one of the owners of the famed Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. “I’m a sucker for a good proposal.”

Remember the opening scene of that 1987 movie Moonstruck, when Danny Aiello proposes to Cher? He gets down on his knees, the waiter worries he’s ruining his suit and a neighboring diner tut-tuts that he didn’t spring for a ring. Once Cher accepts, the whole place bursts into applause.

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Source: http://greatist.com/live/truth-about-sex?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Between personal desires, dating norms, and physiological logistics, getting it on can be surprisingly complicated. Add in all the false information that’s floating around out there, and we’re all pretty much screwed (and not in the good way).

To help us separate sexual fact from fiction, we asked the field’s top experts—from sex coaches to fertility experts to couples therapists—to tell us the biggest misconceptions about sex they encounter. Here’s what we should really know when we’re getting down.

1. Everyone is having more sex than you.

“People seem to think everyone is doing it a certain number of times per week. Each person’s sex life is their own. The most important question is: Are you happy and are you fulfilled? Would you like to have more sex or less sex? Start by asking that of yourself and then check in with your partner. You want to be on pretty close to the same page. To me that’s the definition of a good sex life, not how often you do it.”

— Rachel Sussman, LCSW, author of The Breakup Bible: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Healing from a Breakup or…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/when-couples-get-engaged?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

When you log onto Facebook in your mid-20s, right above those quickie recipe videos and angsty status updates is an announcement, a major announcement: Another one of your friends got engaged. And of course the social network thought this deserved top billing on your Newsfeed.

Then the panic strikes, especially if you’re in a long(ish) relationship. Are things moving too slow? Is two years the time when you should start talking rings and whether you prefer a DJ or a band? First, we’d say your friends shouldn’t be adding pressure to your love life. It’s moving along at just the right pace. But if stats help you sleep at night, a new survey found that couples spend an average of 3.3 years dating before getting engaged. When you break it down by region, couples in the Northeast date the longest (3.9 years), while those in the South have the shortest courting period (2.9 years). And the small survey of 1,000 recently married people found that a quarter of all couples date for five years before getting hitched.

Photo: Weddington Way …

Source: http://greatist.com/health/what%25E2%2580%2599s-best-cooking-oil?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Getting busy in the kitchen? You’re going to need a little bit of fat to add flavor and moisture and keep food from sticking in the pan. While some fats can handle the heat, others don’t fare so well, losing their original taste and nutrition content in the cooking process. Those that do hold up (a.k.a. have higher smoking thresholds) tend to be best for cooking, at least for those of us who prefer our meals without a side of char. Read on to find out how to pick the best fat for cooking any dish.

Greased Lightning—Your Action Plan

Oils tend to handle higher temperatures better than solid fats, which burn more quickly. Additionally, cooking with oil versus butter or lard is generally a better (and oftentimes more flavorful!) option for those trying to minimize saturated fats.1

Olive Oil

Olive oil takes first place in the Great Oil Marathon (yes, we’re making that a thing). It’s most flavorful in its raw, uncooked form, but it’s also a winner for cooking too. Olive oil is extremely rich in monounsaturated fats and a great source of phytochemicals, which might help prevent some types of cancer. And compared…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/mental-health-first-aid?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

You know what to do if your roommate cuts her finger cooking dinner, but what if she has a panic attack? The truth is, many of us aren’t equipped to deal with mental health crises, even if we’d like to offer help. But the organization Mental Health First Aid is hoping to change that.

It’s put together an all-day course to teach everyone about common mental health problems. It’s full of actionable takeaways, so you’ll know when someone is struggling and how to help them. Even more important, the class is designed to help you be more comfortable in these often tense situations and lessen the “crazy-person” stigma surrounding mental illness. Students learn to help people using the action plan ALGEE, which stands for:

Assess for risk of suicide or harm
Listen non-judgmentally
Give reassurance and information
Encourage appropriate professional help
Encourage self-help and other support strategies

These steps aren’t perfect for every incident involving mental illness, and they don’t make you qualified to diagnose someone, but you can at least use them to guide others in the right direction. And with nearly one in five Americans struggling with mental illness, these moments happen more than you think.

Mental Health First Aid offers classes throughout the country. Click below to find one in your area.

I Want to Sign Up!

(h/t The Atlantic)

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Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/02/weekend-reading-fed-up/

Dale Finley Slongwhite.  Fed Up: The High Costs of Cheap Food.  University Press of Florida, 2014.

Yes, there’s a movie called Fed Up (in which I make a very brief appearance) but this book covers a quite different topic.  It takes a tough look at the impact of widespread pesticide use on farmworkers in the area around Lake Apopka in Central Florida.  Slongwhite tells the individual stories of these workers through oral histories, thereby putting a human face on callous disregard for people and the environment.

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Source: http://greatist.com/eat/breakfast-quinoa-recipes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Cold mornings call for a warm, hearty, flavorful breakfast. But sometimes oats can feel too heavy, waffles too time-intensive, and scrambled eggs just… boring. Sure, we can pop some bread in the toaster and call it a day, but there’s a better option.

While quinoa is commonly served as a side dish or protein-packed salad topper, it’s ideal for a.m. fare too. Suitable for both sweet and savory moods and easy to throw together in minutes, breakfast quinoa is pretty much the perfect weekday morning meal—even when it’s not served oatmeal-style.

Sweet Bowls

Photo: Minimalist Baker

1. Chocolate Banana Breakfast Quinoa

Who doesn’t love eating chocolate for breakfast? We sure do, which is why we created this cocoa-infused recipe. Sweetened with honey, mashed banana, and vanilla extract, it tastes like a decadent dessert but makes for an awesome pre- or post-workout snack or e…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/meditation/questions-about-love/

One day a year, America puts “love” in the hot seat. For that brief moment, it’s all people can talk about—whether they want it, have it, or are somewhere in between. This Valentine’s Day, open your mind to new thoughts on this topic from folks who, by trade, study this intense feeling 365 days of the year. In this roundtable discussion with five experts of varying backgrounds—ranging from mindfulness and spirituality to anthropology and psychology—we’ve curated answers to your burning questions about romantic love. Each master in their respective field offers a unique perspective and invaluable insight that may help bring you closer to experiencing more of this wonderfully complex, deep, and enriching emotion in life. Despite their differing approaches to love, their overall message is similar and, we’re happy to report, very hopeful.

PANEL OF EXPERTS

*Lodro Rinzler: Sonima columnist, a teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, author of five books on meditation, including How to Love Yourself (and Sometimes Other People), and founder of MNDFL, a New York City-based meditation studio.

*Sri Dharma Mittra: Legendary yoga teacher, founder of the Dharma Yoga New York Center, model and creator of the famous “Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures,” and author of Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses.

*Helen Fisher, Ph.D.: Anthropologist, Match.com chief scientific adviser, a…

Source: http://summertomato.com/for-the-love-of-food-splenda-linked-to-cancer-fish-reduces-alzheimers-risk-and-winter-tomatoes-get-respect/

For the Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup. 

This week Splenda linked to cancer, fish reduces Alzheimer’s risk, and winter tomatoes get respect.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app I just discovered to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

CSPI Downgrades Sucralose from “Caution” to “Avoid” <<Translation: Sucralose = Splenda; Downgrade = more dangerous than we previously thought. (CSPI)
To Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer’s, Eat Fish <<While this is only true for people with the known Alzheimer’s risk gene ApoE4, those of us with the gene are happy to know we have some say in the matter. (NY Times)
The New Era of 30-Day Fitness Challenges <<I find the psychology here fascinating. I imagine feeling “disconnected from past imperfections” is a big part of the appeal, si…