• Oprah may have made the acai berry a Superfood, but now the craze is robbing poor Brazilians of a native product critical to their health.
• Like every other city, Pittsburgh is coming alive with farmers markets. Here's a list of them.
  
• The Ball jar is celebrating its 125th anniversary, so get canning!
• Hugo Chavez has seized temporary control of one of Cargill Inc.'s pasta processing plants in Venezuela for breaking regulations.
• Rachel Carson Homestead is celebrating its dedication to local foods with a Sustainable Feast.
• Need more rhubarb in your life? Read on to learn more about rhubarb history and the plant's role in treats like this crisp with strawberry, a spring tonic and in a pie or tart with apple.

What's up with these 'cleansing' diets and why are they so popular? In the latest high-profile example, Oprah has just completed a three week vegan cleansing diet, and, according to Access Hollywood, she feels not only refreshed, but awakened. She states that she is now more aware of the global food crisis.

Oprah's diet was based on Kathy Freston's book "Quantum Wellness." To find out more about her cleansing experience, you can read her blog. Apparently, everything she ate, with the exception of olive oil, came from her garden. I can understand feeling healthy after a cleansing diet, but I'm not sure I'd say that it made me more sensitive to the world's food problems. Oprah, coming from you, that just seems a little ridiculous, not to mention a bit insensitive!

Have you tried a cleansing diet? If so, which ones and how did they work out?

...well, not forever. Technically, only for 21 days, along with all animal products, caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and gluten. Oh, right: and she's calling it a "cleanse," in hopes that it will prepare her for her "inner makeover."

Now, giving up alcohol, caffeine, and animal products is a difficult decision, and one that shouldn't be taken lightly.

But, (big surprise), I have several issues with this. First of all, I dislike the word "cleanse." It's often associated with that ridiculous maple syrup/cayenne pepper diet, and don't even try to convince me that it works, because depriving yourself of food is simply unhealthy, I don't care if you feel "amazing" or not (most likely, that "amazing, high" feeling is the effects of oxygen depletion to your brain, sweetie).

How did we miss this?!?!

Apparently, even if Rachael's show were actually getting cancelled (it's not), she won't go down without a fight. The TV chef is working on an animated series that stars herself as a young chef. The show is being produced by Oprah's company, Harpo Productions (naturally) and is scheduled for debut in January 2009.

Now, I'm not sure how I feel about this one, but to be quite honest, an animated version of Rachael might be easier on the eyes. Then again, it'll still be her voice.

[via: PopCrunch]

I watched the episode of Oprah a few weeks ago that had Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica, talking about her new get-your-kids-to-eat cookbook Deceptively Delicious. Basically, she purees up the good stuff her kids should be eating (broccoli, cauliflower, other veggies) and secretly puts them inside foods that her kids really love (chicken fingers, chocolate chip cookies, etc). But is this a new thing?

I ask this because I had heard about doing something similar, and a woman who wrote and published another cookbook is wondering if the two projects are too similar. Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Sneaky Chef (published in April by Running Press), says that her publicists pitched the idea to Oprah five times with no luck, and then six months later Jessica Seinfeld is on the show with her cookbook doing very similar recipes and cooking tips, and that Oprah it was being "touted as an entirely new technique."

That's according to Mehmet Oz, the doctor who always appears on Oprah in his scrubs, talking about colons, and Joel Harper, in this quick Q and A at Esquire.com.

Oz and Harper (a personal trainer) answer several questions about food, health, and exercise. Besides declaring blueberries the healthiest fruit, they also say that the only good thing about pizza is the sauce, that colon cleansing isn't really worth it, and that a little alcohol isn't bad for us at all. They also answer the question on whether it's ok to eat something that has fallen on the floor as long as we pick it up within five seconds.

As for the pizza advice, I think there's another good thing that they're forgetting: pizza is totally awesome!

I was surfing around the new and improved AOL Food today, and I came across this A to Z Guide To Diets. It doesn't have every single diet, of course (how could they when there's a new diet book out every week?), but it has the one that you're probably on or are thinking of trying, including The 3 Hour Diet, The Abs Diet, Atkins, Blood Type Diet, Bob Greene, Cabbage Soup, Dr. Phil's Diet, Fat Flush, Fat Smash, Grapefruit Diet, L.A. Weight Loss Diet, NutriSystem, Sonoma, Ultimate New York Diet, Ultrametabolism, Weight Watchers, and The Zone.

The only plan I've tried is The Abs Diet, because it's not only sensible and realistic, it promotes a lot of exercise and not starving yourself or cutting out a ton of foods you like to eat. But I cringe at the word "diet." It just screams "temporary fix," and keeping the weight off and your body healthy is a life-long plan.

I know that Joe's been slinging burgers at you every day at noon in honor of (questionably official) National Burger Month, but those are Burgers of the Day. This is the Burger of the Night.

This monster burger is from The Counter Burger in Santa Monica, CA, which happens to be number 15 on Alan Richman's GQ List of the 20 Burgers You Must Eat Before You Die (we also covered the California Burger from Houston's from that list earlier this month), and which happens to be a burger that had its own Oprah moment. I went to the Counter, and I have to say, I was not overly impressed. Then again, "must eat before you die" and Oprah builds up some pretty high expectations.

I will say, however, that the sweet potato French fries that we had with the burgers were out of this world. The Counter is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area, but don't go out of your way just to make it before you die.

A lot has been said over the past few years about "superfoods" -- certain foods that reportedly contribute greatly toward your overall health. Now, Dr. Perricone, an M.D. probably best known for his guest appearances on such television shows as 'Oprah,' the 'Today Show' and 'Larry King Live,' has weighed in with his top 10 choices. I found it interesting because even though there are some standards there, his list does include a few items that I haven't necessarily seen referred to as "superfoods" before.

Though each food has different possible benefits, it is believed that consuming these may help to regulate metabolism and burn body fat, lower cholesterol, prevent cancer, protect against heart disease and act as an aid to your digestive health. As always though, check that with your own doctor first. Perricone actually calls Wild Alaskan Salmon the "King of Superfoods" (which I suppose makes this a top 11 list instead), followed by the following 10:

• Açai Berry -- A high energy berry from the Amazon
• The Allium Family -- Garlic, onions, shallots, leeks and chives
• Barley
• Green foods including blue green algae, barley grass and wheat grass
• Buckwheat seed -- More protein than rice or wheat
• Beans and lentils -- High in fiber
• Hot peppers -- Anti-inflammatory analgesic
• Nuts and seeds
• Sprouts
• Yogurt or kefir

Now that spring has officially arrived, just the thought of exotic fruits, vegetables, and crisp, fresh salads is probably enough to get us all running out the door to our local grocery stores or farmers' market.

If you're like me, though, after the initial thrill of spring produce shopping wears off, I tend to fall into the trap of making the same, boring salads night after night. However this chart, which I found on Oprah's site, should come in extremely handy for choosing items that go well with the salad basics that you have on hand, and give you endless ideas for healthy meals.

She has suggestions for which lettuce to choose based on the type of salad you'd like to make, as well as which add-ons would go well, such as beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, cheese and tofu, meats and poultry, and fish and shellfish. By mixing and matching the suggestions, you could probably have a different salad every day between now and September.

How can someone who puts out such a fun food mag put on such an unbearable TV show?

I want to like Rachael Ray, the TV show. I really, really do. Honest. But it's just an annoying hour to me. Maybe it's because I'm a guy. One minute Rachael will be teaching us how to make some cool quick meal with pasta and vegetables, and then five minutes later she'll be talking about women in abusive relationships or how someone can organize the shoes in their closets. It just doesn't work for me. (And there's also the whole thing with her voice and bubbly personality, which I can take on 30 Minute Meals but when it's an hour every day...). But it's really popular, so maybe I'm not the right audience.

But Every Day With Rachael Ray? That's a great little magazine. It has a bunch of recipes that you feel you can actually cook (unlike some mags), quick guides to eating in various cities, tips on shopping, tips on buying wine, interviews. It's well-done. If there's one quibble I have is the whole "celebrity fridge" feature in the back of every issue. It's kinda funny to see what celebs have in there, but do we have to have some quiz about what they have? On the same page where we can see the answers?!? It seems to be a quiz made for people who find the TV Guide crossword difficult.

I don't know if it's more disturbing or more reassuring, but it seems that Americans are more likely to trust an actor like Brad Pitt before they trust a Senator like Ted Kennedy.

According to organizational behaviorist James Bailey, we trust actors because we associate them with the characters they play on tv or in movies. Forbes has listed the 10 Most Trustworty Celebrities, as measured by Los Angeles-based Davie-Brown Talent, which measures more than 1,500 celebrities' trustworthiness. Not surprisingly, actors like Tom Hanks appear on the list, as does Oprah Winfrey. And most surprising of all to me?

Rachael Ray was #2.

How cool is that?!?!

We've mentioned burgers here countless times here at Slashfood, and we've mentioned The Counter at least a couple of times. The Counter is a burger joint that opened about three years ago in Santa Monica, CA, where you can "Build Your Own Burger," or BYOB. The restaurant has quite a loyal local following, and apparently, national fans as well. Alan Richman mentioned The Counter in GQ last summer as one of the Burgers You Must Eat Before You Die. And more recently, Oprah mentioned it.

In fact, it was this mention on Oprah's show back in February that launched The Counter from a $40,000 a month to a $245,000 a month operation. Let's just call it the Oprah effect. 31-year-old owner/founder Jeff Weinstein has already opened a location in Palo Alto, and has plans to open 60 location over the next three years. Let's just hope that The Counter doesn't go the way of Krispy Kreme.