"marion nestle" news and stories

• Someday, San Franciscans will find it -- the rainbow connection. (But not at the local pastry shop, sadly.)
• Forty years ago, a cultural revolution. Today, a cookie revolution?
• One of these cookies is not like the others -- because it's actually a pretzel.
• Marion Nestle reminds readers of the best way to eat healthfully. Hint: It's not a complicated process.
• But back to cookies. Le Boulange store-bought cookie dough takes the cake (as it were).

Wal-Mart practically had us at hello with their sustainability announcement yesterday, and we weren't alone. News that the retailing behemoth was launching a new global commitment to sustainable agriculture, with a focus on small and medium-sized farmers had blogs and Twitter feeds ablaze.

The announcement wasn't vague. It outlined specific goals that Wal-Mart is committed to reach by 2015. Among them:

* Selling $1 billion in food sourced from 1 million small and medium farmers.
* Asking suppliers about the water, energy, fertilizer and pesticide used per unit of food produced.
* Implementing a requirement for sustainably sourced palm oil for all Wal-Mart private-brand products.
* Sourcing only beef that does not contribute to the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon.

"Grocery is more than half of Wal-Mart's business," Michael T. Duke, president and chief executive was quoted as saying in The New York Times. "Yet only four of our 39 public sustainability goals address food.

Fred Kirschenmann, distinguished fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and president of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture told Slashfood he met with Mike Duke in Iowa last month while the executive was visiting a farm committed to sustainable practices.

• When rare isn't rare enough, you gotta go raw.
• Marion Nestle points out that not all grains are created equal.
• Who won the toaster pastry contest? (Hint: This is no "pop" quiz.)
• Carrot juice isn't just for drinking.
• Disco makes a comeback in Oakland. Disco Volante, that is.

NPR's Melissa Block recently spoke with noted nutritionist Marion Nestle about grocery shopping, food advertisements and healthy eating, all of which are the subjects of Nestle's new book What to Eat. Nestle talks about how grocery stores lure shoppers through their aisles and how food manufacturer's advertising "crosses an ethical line" by marketing products to children. Nestle calls for restrictions of television advertising and, if possible, the elimination of cartoons on food packaging. In an additional clip, she goes on to talk about the trend toward organic offerings by large supermarkets and the move to weaken organic standards.