"Fresh" news and stories

There are currently two major concerns surrounding the country's food stamp program: does financial incentive (discounts) change people's eating habits? In other words, is obesity and other health deficiencies more common in low-income populations simply because healthier food costs more? The second is: how should the government help? A new incentive pilot program announced yesterday offers discounts for fresh produce, and it may be the government's biggest step towards clarity.

As The Boston Globe reports, The Agriculture Department awarded $20 million to Massachusetts and Abt Associates, Inc (a research firm in Cambridge) as part of its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to temporarily grant thousands of Hampden County food stamp recipients with a 30-cent discount on every dollar spent on fresh produce. Out of the 50,000 households with food stamps in the county, these select families with then be tracked for 15 months to see how their health compares to food stamp recipients paying full price for produce. The program is estimated to start next fall.

Tired of your usual beef burger? This Asian-inspired salmon version is a wake-up call for the senses. The recipe cleverly incorporates pickled cucumber, fresh ginger, scallion, hot pepper flakes, mustard seeds and soy sauce for bright flavor, and the aroma is appealingly fresh and spicy. As for the color? Well, let's just say sandwiches around the world are envious.

Put it on whatever bread you have on hand -- the original recipe calls for pumpernickel, but this sesame bread does the trick as well, as would a plain old hamburger bun .

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot of having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Sunday afternoon, midwesterners packed a small independent movie theater in Kansas City, Mo., for a screening of the new documentary "Fresh," which takes a close and at times disturbing look at factory farming in the United States. Along with its director, Ana Sofia Joanes, "Fresh" (click the trailer above) is wending its way across the country in the hopes, Joanes said at a panel discussion between two sold-out screenings, of "changing the misconception that we need the industrial food system." This isn't the first new anti-Big Farming flick to hit the silver screen, so we're calling a trend.

"Fresh" follows the lives of four farm families, including a Missouri hog farmer who exterminated his industrial stock after being gored by one of his hogs and doctors found that he was resistant to most antibiotics. Michael Pollan and John E. Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri, make cameos as talking heads.

The real star, however, may be the swoon-worthy (if you like the rugged type) sustainable Virginia farmer Joel Salatin, who has the vocabulary of a professor and no shame about embracing "the chickenness" of his hens when greeting them with a "Good morning, girls!" each day.

• One writer searches out the best Chicago-style hot dogs in Kansas City and finds them at Miami Ice, Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill, Fritz's Superior Meat and elsewhere.
• A couple takes their love of cooking and history to new heights by digging up historical recipes for antiquated dishes like World War I Potato Salad.
• New barbecue books from five grill fiends.
• Zuccardi Zeta 2005 , a notable Argentinian bottle of vino is, at $48, as pricey as it is palatable.
• The lowdown on the fast food at five of the city's big sports and entertainment venues.
• "Fresh," a sustainable food documentary that features some local names, will screen next weekend.
• A roundup of notable restaurants serving everything from barbecue to Ethiopian food.
• Recipes: Pork Cutlets with Warm Florentine Bean Salad, Strawberry Pie and 7-Day Menu Planner

There is a new product out in Japan that I would love to get a hold of. It's an instant, fresh matcha tea, two words that usually aren't paired together when talking about tea, especially the bottled kind. The unique bottle design allows the tea to be both.

The design makes it so that when you twist the air tight cap a portion of matcha tea is released into mineral water. All you have to do is shake it up. Matcha is a traditional Kyoto (Japan) green tea that is very green and is usually the go-to flavoring for anything "green tea". It's made from leaves that have been covered so that it grows more slowly, which makes it a little sweeter.

As a big fan of tea, I would really like to be able to try an instant, fresh matcha tea. Does anyone know if this is available in the US?

[Via Trends in Japan]

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