Sweet equality: Teen petitions Hasbro for a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING To McKenna Pope, not all Easy-Bake Ovens are created equal. The New Jersey teen’s 4-year-old brother, Gavin, asked for a dinosaur and an Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven for Christmas. When the family went shopping, they saw that the mini cooker was available only in pink and purple, and therefore chose not to buy […]

Above it all: BrightFarms grows food at the grocery store

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING With BrightFarms on-site greenhouses, grocery store produce is getting fresher. The company contracts with grocery stores to build and manage hydroponic greenhouses on their rooftops. BrightFarms takes care of all the operations and the stores agree to buy all of the produce that’s grown upstairs. Growing produce right where it’s […]

Thisfish tracks seafood from water to waiter

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING Ecotrust Canada’s Thisfish tagging system keeps tabs on the journey of consumers’ ocean-based dinners. Here’s how it works: Participating fishermen in western and eastern Canada tag individual fish or entire lots of seafood with a unique code. When consumers type the code into the Thisfish website they can see who […]

Message in a bottle: HobNob wines target Millennials with a multimedia blitz

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING With HobNob wines, vino is just the beginning. The line of five wines, which is geared toward Millennials, has a super-splashy, interactive website that positions the booze in the center of a busy, fabulous lifestyle (NYTimes.com, 25 October 2010). To describe the wines, the site has a personals-style profile for […]

FoodPair links cooks with recipes from multiple food sites

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING FoodPair, a new recipe search engine, helps consumers take what’s in the pantry and the fridge and turn it into dinner (TrendCentral.com 9.2.10). Here’s how it works: If a consumer types in “chicken,” up pop 15 options, from chicken breast to chicken fat and chicken sausage. Choosing chicken breast pulls […]

The farmacy: Prescriptions for produce, not pills

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING Doctors at three Massachusetts health clinics are writing prescriptions that are filled at the farmers’ market instead of the pharmacy (NYTimes.com 8.12.10). The “prescriptions,” which are given to low-income patients, come in the form of $1 coupons that can be redeemed at local farmers’ markets. To maximize the program’s impact, […]

Make food, not war: Conflict Kitchen serves takeout with a side of understanding

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING Pittsburgh’s Conflict Kitchen offers only one menu item, but its mission goes way beyond food. The tiny takeout shop was created by a group of local artists. Their idea? Choose a country that America is in conflict with and serve up one of that country’s traditional foods. Every four months, […]

Primal urge: The hunter-gatherers of New York City

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING A small subset of New York City dwellers is going back — way back — to a prehistoric way of life (NYTimes.com 1.10.10). These elemental 20- and 30somethings (called cavemen, paleos or hunter-gatherers) believe in a lifestyle that’s more similar to that of our very ancient ancestors. They eat large quantities of […]

Pie power: Creating community through dessert

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING Pie Lab — a pop-up dessert shop in Greensboro, Alabama — serves pie, with a little hope on the side. Hale County, where Greensboro is located, is one of the poorest counties in America and it still struggles with deep-seeded racial divides. The organizers of Pie Lab hope to create […]

Street smarts: L.A. restaurant serves exotic nibbles from around the world

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING Well-known Los Angeles chef Susan Feniger has opened Street, a restaurant that takes its inspiration from street vendors from across the globe. The menu — a mix of small plates, medium-sized portions and proper entrées — features dishes from Singapore to India. Kaya toast, a common breakfast dish in Singapore, is […]

Meat market: Beef industry rolls out new cuts

by Nina Elder WHAT’S HAPPENING Consumers will soon be seeing some new names in the butcher case (NYTimes.com 4.29.09). The beef industry spent five years and $1.5 million studying the chuck roll, the area under the shoulder blade that’s normally turned into moderately priced steaks and chuck roast — and came up with five new […]