"change" news and stories

With only a few days left until Valentine's, we thought that it would be fun to take a look at the role that food can play in our relationships with a little mini series leading into February 14th.

Yesterday, we talked about what it was like to date someone with really restrictive diet, or conversely, what it was like to date someone with a very broad palate when you were the one with a restricted eating habits. Some shared that the felt it gave them new perspective and forced them to become more creative in the kitchen, while others were of the mindset that "if you are a picky eater, that is remarkably unsexy and you are gone." This all leads us into today's question, which is whether or not you would change your eating habits to impress?

Small things are easy to change and it isn't uncommon for us to be more aware of our eating quirks when we're out on a first date and want to make a good impression. For example, even if you don't particularly care for broccoli, you might find yourself taking a few bites if it is served with your dinner on a first date with a girl you really like. Or perhaps you are a chicken-and-fish kind of girl, but decide to share in an order of beef chili fries at a big football game, since you know your date loves them. The more restrictive the diet, however, the more difficult the change, but there are some dedicated meat-lovers who are willing to go vegetarian, or mostly vegetarian, to try and impress a vegan or vegetarian significant other.

The interesting thing about these types of dietary changes is that they are not permanent. Meat-lovers go back to eating meat and broccoli-haters continue to avoid broccoli, which makes you wonder whether the change is worthwhile in the first place, since there is minimal intention of changing your overall inclinations.

After more than five years of pressure from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, McDonald's recently announced that it will change the design of its McFlurry cups to make them less dangerous to hungry hedgehogs. Apparently the little critters are prone to crawling into discarded cups to lap up the last of the melted ice cream only to find themselves stuck there. The result is often death by starvation and dehydration, according to The Times. The new cups will have smaller openings that should make them harder for hedgehogs to get into.

[Via Boing Boing]

Today's Washington Times features an odd little story about how congressional cafeterias in Washington, D.C., have apparently abandoned the terms "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" and returned to using the word French to describe the fried treats. Times reporter Christina Bellantoni didn't have much luck getting comments from either of the politicians that introduced the patriotic name change back in March 2003, however. "I really don't see how this is a story," one representative's spokesman said. Still, regardless of how the shift in menus came about, it appears that changes have been made.

New versions of history textbooks for primary and middle schools in India have been updated to omit mention of the beef-eating practices of ancient Hindus, according to The Toronto Star. Previously, many historical texts used in Indian schools made note of how cows were slaughtered and eaten for festival meals and also used as ritual offerings by people of both upper and lower classes in ancient India. These sections were omitted under pressure from Hindu activists who found the historical references insulting, the Star reported. The piece also quotes several noted historians who feel that the sections should remain in the textbooks, as there are a variety of historical documents supporting the carnivorous claims.

The Food and Drug Administration has a thing or two to say about the heart-healthy claims made by Mars' CocoaVia chocolate, launched last year. A letter to Mars' parent company Masterfoods USA from the FDA describes CocoaVia as "misbranded," due to what the FDA believes are conflicts between the antioxidant-rich chocolate's saturated fat content and its claim to be a heart healthy product, NutraIngredients-USA.com reported. Claims of health benefits make CocoaVia more drug than food, and would, in turn, require pre-market approval and a change in how the chocolate is marketed. The FDA also takes issue with the amounts of folic acid in some CocoaVia products, citing their recommendation of 1 mg per day. Masterfoods USA must now notify the FDA of how it plans to comply with the group's complaints, according NutraIngredients-USA.