Originally published on Mon March 11, 2013 4:47 pm
Sure, we know that gluten-free is the Jennifer Lawrence of food trends. But we were still startled to hear that one-third of Americans say they're trying to avoid gluten. Really?
“Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture,” on view now at the American Museum of Natural History, explores how our food is produced, distributed and eaten.
Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media
We learn that chili peppers got their spiciness ratings from the Scoville Heat Unit scale, which was created in 1912.
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In Japan, farmers have transformed the spherical look of a watermelon by growing them in square glass boxes.
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The show takes visitors back to a 16th century Aztec market and the staples of that cuisine -- like chocolate and tomatoes -- now so ingrained in our diets.
Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media
A towering sculpture of trash is meant to represent the staggering amount of food an American consumer throws out each year: 414 pounds.
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Part of the exhibit includes an interactive cookbook in which recipes for West African groundnut, or peanut, soup are offered up.
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Smelling stations waft sweet scents of popcorn and lavender to your nose with a touch of a button.
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Mongolian ruler Kublai Khan ate flower dumplings, steamed mutton, fish and green onions back in the day.
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Ices made from damsom plums, currants, caramel, cream and sugar were eaten by the writer Jane Austen at home in Kent.
Can a watermelon be grown in the shape of a square? What do Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps eat for breakfast? Which island nation produces the most lamb in the world? Consumers interested in pulling back the curtain on our food system will get these and many other questions answered at “Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture.” The exhibition, on view now at the American Museum of Natural History, explores how our food is produced, distributed and eaten.
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Some consumers consider raw milk cheese more nutritious because pasteurization hasn’t killed living beneficial organisms in the milk. But not pasteurizing milk can also allow harmful bacteria to live. Raw milk cheese has sickened more than 500 people in t
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Kathy Lane, a regular at Clover’s Natural Market in Columbia, Mo., looks over the store's cheese case. When asked if she would give raw milk cheese a try, she is uncertain: “I would try it, but I’m not sure.”
Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media
Noah Earle, the grocery manager at Clover’s Natural Market in Columbia, Mo., says over the last five years he's seen an increasing interest in raw milk, with a corresponding interest in raw milk cheese.
Raw milk cheese — which is made from unpasteurized milk — has gathered a small but fervent following for its taste, nutritional benefits and freshness.
This blog is part of ongoing coverage from Harvest Public Media, a public radio reporting project in the Midwest that focuses on important issues related to food production and agriculture.
When I dig into a burger, I might think about how the cow the beef came from was raised -- whether it was grass or grain fed, locally raised or imported -- but rarely do I consider what breed of cow the meat came from.
