"philippines" news and stories

If you live in a developing country, that is: In the U.S., land o'plenty, so the golden arches will always remain a convenience as a drive-through window, but in cities that are congested and land is scarce, McDonald's has taken to delivery.

Where would you have to go to get your Big Mac and fries delivered right to your door with a delivery charge of anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar? Ronald McDonald commissions fleets of delivery people in cars or on motorbikes in cities like Manila, Taipei, Cairo, for a total of about 25 cities, with a half dozen more in the works.

Really, I think L.A. is congested enough of a city that McDonald's delivery could work here. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up on a weekend morning craving an Egg McMuffin, but was a little too, uh, "dehydrated" to get in the car and get to a McDonald's before 10:30AM!

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In the past it wasn't so, but now it looks like Asia has taken on the challenge and stepped up to bat in the organic produce game. Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and most especially China have moved into the game. So far China is producing 85% of the organics in the region, but the other countries are gearing up and increasing production every year. The quality they produce is very good, with China growing excellent crops at great prices.

Europe and North America currently consume a vast majority of the worlds organic produce with Asia only just starting to join in, but they are starting to catch up. Since organic still costs more to produce each of these countries consumes less by far than they export. The West consumes organics for a variety of reasons from perceived health benefits to sustainability, animal welfare, humanitarian reasons, and environmental concerns; while the East's focus is primarily on the supposed health benefits. Although "Buddhist countries like Thailand and Singapore also tend to favour organic production because of its perceived harmony with nature."

There is a tendency that as production goes up, prices should come down, and so organic foods will be more in demand domestically in Asia over the next few years as well. So expect to see more and more of the world's high quality organic produce coming from Asia in the next decade as additional countries join in, and production rises dramatically.

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I should really have warned any chocoholics to avert their eyes before reading this post because this ultra-rich chocolate truffle layer cake, photographed by Lori of Dessert Comes First, is one of the most tempting chocolate desserts in the blogosphere. The cake is from a bakery in Manila called "In Love With Sweets" and they have garnered themselves many fans with this cake. A bestseller, the cake is dense and very, very rich. It has four layers of cake and a very thick, truffle-like fudge frosting that melts into your mouth. The whole thing is topped with a chocolate truffle, but if you have a chance to indulge in this cake, you might want to eat the truffle first, because you won't have room for it if you've able to finish off a whole slice of cake.

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Lori, at Dessert First, recently blogged about her visit with Ian the ice cream man, who was inspired by Ben & Jerry's to take ice cream up a few notches and sells his delicious blends in the Philippines via his new business, Sebastian's. To showcase some of his flavors, Lori put together a whole array of ice cream creations, but these sandwiches look like the ultimate treat for a summer day. Not only are the ice cream sandwiches made using fresh, crisp chocolate chip cookies as a base, but the ice cream itself contains chocolate chip cookie dough. Once the outside of the cookie has been rolled in large chocolate chips, a chocolate chip cookie lover will be in heaven, though "heaven" might require a napkin or two to eat it. Not that that should be a problem for anyone.

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A school principal in Montreal reportedly told a parent: "'Every time your son eats like a pig, he'll be disciplined.'" Maria Theresa Gallardo, the mother of 7-year old Luc Cagadoc, says that now her son no longer wants to go to school and dreads lunchtime. Luc's "problem" was that he ate his lunch with a fork and a spoon, as he says Filipinos traditionally do. When his teacher saw him doing this, she called him "disgusting," "a pig" and "a  clown."

This conflict has sparked and international protest over whether little Luc should be forced to "adjust to the Canadian way of eating. The school board claims that this is a matter of etiquette, not culture, while people on the other side of the issue are calling it "an affront to Filipino culture" and outright racism. Cultural sensitivity needs to be taught to educators, say anti-racism groups, so that discrimination - even if it is unintentional - can be avoided.

What utensils do the school officials expect small children to use during lunch? The majority of schools seem to provive no more than sporks to students - would such a fusion be more or less acceptable than separate use of the spoon and fork?

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