Last Friday, students at CalTech put away their high tech pursuits and joined forces to harvest all the olives that grow on the school's 130 olive trees. This is the second year they've been picking the olives and the first year that they school went all out to throw a campus-wide harvest festival, complete with three-course family style Italian meal.

It got started last year when the university president spotted two students picking some of the olives. He promised them a home cooked meal if they could devise a way of making oil from the olives. They came up with a mechanism and the campus interest grew. The rest, as they say, is history. For those of you live in the area and want to try out some of the CalTech olive oil, it will be available in their bookstore in about three weeks.

[via Metafilter]

Have you ever seen someone using a fork, knife or another eating utensil in a way that seems incredibly awkward? Because the ability to use a knife and fork is a mark of a well-socialized individual and is a skill that is typically picked up from observing others, it is hard not to wonder they picked up such unusual habits. In Japan, some schools are wondering the same thing and want to make sure that such sloppy, untraditional habits of chopstick use are stopped before they spread any further. The Hisatagakuen Sasebo Girls' High School will be testing students on their skill with chopsticks as part of their entrance examinations. The 10-minute test will require that students "transfer beads, marbles, dice and beans from one plate to another."

Administrators say that the purpose of this test is to show respect for "the Japanese spirit" but, in light of the decline of chopstick use among Japanese children, it also seems like a rather unusual way to make sure everyone has good table manners.

For his science experiment this year, a middle school student from Boca Raton, Florida decided that he would test the effects of energy drinks on blood sugar. He came up with the idea because the drinks are hugely popular with his friends who feel that the drinks give them a "boost" and was already familiar with blood sugar and testing it because his cousin is a diabetic. Lucas Peel's hypothesis was that the drinks with the greatest amount of sugar and caffeine would produce the greatest increase in blood sugar, giving the drinker a burst of energy.

Over the course of about a week, Lucas drank Red Bull, Rock Star, Amp and water, testing his blood sugar levels twice after each of the three times he tried each drink. He found that, contrary to his original theory, it was "the energy drinks with the least sugar [that] increased blood sugar level." Red Bull boosted blood sugar more than any of the other drinks.

Lucas says that he avoids energy drinks and hopes that his project will help some of his fellow students to realize that they are not a good replacement for a real breakfast.

This isn't the first time that a middle-school student has conducted a science project that attracts a far-ranging interest. Earlier this year, for example, a student in Tampa, FL tested samples of water from the toilets at fast food restaurants and compared it to the ice from the soda machines, only to discover that there were more bacteria in the soda machine than the toilet.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in conjunction with the University of California, Davis, has uncovered a difference in the way that the eating habits of men and women are impacted by body image.

When shown images of "ideal-bodied people" of their own gender, young men and women often changed their eating habits depending on how they perceived their own body in relation to the image shown. If they were insecure about their bodies, some women would eat less after seeing the image, while some men would eat more. The food used in the study was pretzels, which the participants were given free access to during another activity.

The body images that the women saw were taken from magazines like Cosmo, Vogue, Shape and Elle. The men's images came from fitness magazines, including Men's Health, Men's Fitness and Muscle & Fitness. The participants were all of average build.

The question that remains is what effect viewing these images has in the long run and whether it contributes to the development of eating disorders.

The rivalry between UC Berkeley and Stanford has been taken to a new arena: the kitchen. The Big Cookoff was held over the weekend in Cal's Pauley Ballroom, which was made over into an approximation of the Iron Chef's Kitchen Stadium, where fresh vegetables and other ingredients lined the walls. The two 5-student teams were allowed to bring in outside specialty ingredients, as well.

The secret ingredient - fresh tomatoes - was revealed 30 minutes before the official time began and the teams had to complete three dishes in 35 minutes, although they both made more. Cal's Cooking Club came up with a trio of soups: Gazpacho, Spicy yellow tomato and ginger, Roasted tomato, chipotle, and pancetta; panko and chili crusted chicken breast with three salsas; pizza on puff pastry with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato topped with mixed green salad and a sundried tomato vingairette; and a tomato, pineapple, mango, and lime wonton-ravioli drizzled with chocolate sauce and served with a spicy tomato sorbet. Stanford made panzanella salad with an aged balsamic vinegar reduction dressing, two tomato soups, and a tofu, goat cheese, crab and tomato custard as the main dish.

Taking a cue from the Axe that is up for grabs in the Big Game, the two teams competed for "the cleaver." The new trophy will be passed back and forth (if Stanford actually manages to beat Cal at some point) as long as the battle of culinary skill rages.

Go Bears!

What would you do if your child were punished because you did not pack a lunch that met the schools' guidelines?

In Kent, England, a 10-year old boy was made to leave the lunchroom and eat outside under supervision because his lunch contained "one more snack than allowed". At Lunsford Primary School, a lunch is only permitted to contain two snacks (the type and quantity of other food items was not specified) and young Ryan Stupples's lunch had cheese biscuits, a cake and a fromage frais yogurt. We can assume that the school felt that the contents of Ryan's lunch would have a negative impact on the eating habits of the other children, or else they would not have sent him outside to eat. "Ryan said he...felt upset and frightened and feared he was 'going to be suspended'."

The school defended the decision to remove the child from the lunchroom, stating that they had given the father a warning about packing appropriate lunches.

To celebrate their 35th anniversary, Starbucks is serving drinks from cups bearing their original logo for the month of September. The logo (top right) shows the Starbucks mermaid in full, complete with split tails and bare chest, unlike the more streamlined version that is usually seen in their stores.

BloggingBaby mentioned that a Seattle area school saw some problems with the more detailed logo. The principle or an elementary school in Kent, Washington has asked teachers to make sure that the logo on their coffee cups is completely covered up if they bring it into school. A spokeswoman said that the principle "thought that it could be distracting for students."

Some students, like one 12-year old, said that students would definitely talk about the logo if they noticed it and said that the rule was a good idea. Parents in the area largely thought it was unnecessary, especially considering the very small size of the logo on the cups, and commenters at BloggingBaby felt the same way. Schools, they felt, have bigger problems to worry about than an inch high drawing on a coffee cup that isn't particularly scandalous.

A group of Swedish university students is taking part in a study that is recreating Morgan Spurlock's fast food experiment, Super Size Me, in laboratory conditions. Under the supervision of professor Fredrik Nyström, two groups of young medical school students are stuffing themselves with fast foods and avoiding exercise. All of the calories they eat must come from fast food, although they are allowed to make breakfast at home so long as it was "bacon-and-eggs based".

Nyström thought it would have been more difficult to find people willing to participate, but the students were more than eager. More men than women applied and the chosen were the most highly motivated, who were likely to stick to the 6,000 calories-a-day diet. All their food throughout the study would be paid for and they were provided with bus passes so they would not have to walk any more than necessary. The only control on the study was that the Swedish ethics board said the participants must be removed from the study if they increased their bodyweight by more than 15%.

The freshman 15 may be a myth, but college students still face a lot of challenges when it comes to eating healthy. Greasy foods, especially pizzas, seem to be everywhere as clubs and other organizations try to lure students into their meetings. It is tempting, and myth or not, a student can still gain more weight than they would like if they don't watch what they eat. Just keep a couple of tips in mind and you should emerge from your freshman year no heavier than when you entered it.

• Low fat yogurt is a great food to keep in the mini fridge. Yogurts come in so many flavors that you're unlikely to get bored with them, and they can be mixed with fresh fruits or even some granola for a change of pace. Yogurts also frequently go on sale, so stock up by buying at those times.
• Trail mix, GORP or any other combination of nuts and dried fruits is a good snack to have around. The nuts are healthy and filling, while the fruits add a sweetness. A handful or two should put a stop to any candy-bar cravings you might have.

Thanks to Sarah, we now know which universities the Princeton Review thinks have the best on-campus food, but most college students will be happy to tell you that off-campus food is almost always better. With schools starting up right and left, students need to be prepared to find those places because greasy pizzas and pb&j gets boring pretty quickly. CampusFood.com is a website that allows users to search for lists of off-campus eateries and order their food online from the menus published on the site. Their ever-growing database includes independent restaurants and chains. Delivery is up to the individual restaurant (some only allow pick-up orders), but not only is this a boon to college students who want to really streamline their days, it is good for small restaurants whose primary business comes from college student, making them more accessible to their tech-savvy (and hungry) customer base.

By the way, the services offered by the website are not limited to college students - anyone can order food online as long as they are near enough for either delivery or pickup.

Nicole recently posted about fingerprint scanners used by school cafeterias to ensure that kids are eating healthy meals. Well, some graduate students have now used similar technology to make getting junk food easier. An engineering professor at the University of California San Diego started the "biometric soda machine" project and students in his department have since outfitted a regular snack machine with thumbprint and facial recognition, as well as a bar code scanner, CR80 News reported. The goal of the project, known as SodaVision, is an easy, debit-based system where people can walk up to the machine, be recognized, choose their snack and walk away. A visit to the SodaVision site also has examples of the machine's interface, which looks like a screen from Star Trek.

[Via Pure Pedantry]

Two British researchers have published a study suggesting that hunger may relate to how men perceive different female body types, BBC News reports. The researchers surveyed 61 male college students coming and going from a university dining hall, first asking them how hungry they were and then asking them to rate a series of photographs of similarly dressed women of varying weights and body types. The half of the group that said they were hungry rated heavier women as more attractive, according to the abstract of the study, which appears in the British Journal of Psychology. The researchers now plan on reversing the study to see how hunger affects female perception of male body types.

As a full-time college student, I rarely had the time to devote a whole day to a meal. When I successfully defended my thesis a month before graduation, I decided that it was time to make dinner.

Throughout my four years at a small liberal arts school in Florida, I tried not to let the restrictions of dorm life hinder my ability to cook well. When I was getting ready to start school, I called the residence life office to see if my dorm would have any cooking facilities. They told me that the rooms had no facilities, but that there were communal kitchens in each of the dorm complexes. Whomever I spoke with assured me that I would be put in a room near one of these kitchens. Not totally satisfied with the prospect of leaving my room to make a grilled cheese sandwich, I e-mailed residence life and asked what their policy was on students using cooking equipment-hot plates, toasters, microwaves-in their rooms. The reply told me that microwaves were just fine, but that other electric cooking equipment, such as toaster ovens, fell under the category of "Oh, god no!"

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]

It seems that Giant Food Stores loves to sponsor events that get principals dirty. First, they sponsored an event at a York, Pennsylvania elementary school where the principal became a human burger and now they have a principal dunking her head in a vat of chocolate pudding. To help raise money for the school's Life Skills class, Kristin Herb, the principal of Carlisle High School, went bobbing for objects that were hidden in a huge container of pudding in front of a cheering crowd of students. Though she requested the flavor, after pulling out a plastic action figure, a baby's teething ring, a rubber ball, a squid and a toy dog bone, she probably won't be eating any voluntarily for quite some time.

[Image The Sentinel]

One of the pastry classes at the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute took on a big task this year. They learned how to recreate preservative-laden childhood favorites without using the preservatives or the machines that are typically used to engineer candies like gummy worms, Zingers and lollipops. And then they made them giant.

At their final exhibition, there were cupcakes and candies that would have fit in perfectly at Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Perhaps the most impressive was the creation made by Brandon Finley: a giant tootsie pop. Pictured here, the lollipop weighed more than 40 pounds and used a 24-inch french rolling pin as a "stick." The chocolate tootsie center weighed about 15 pounds alone. Finley said that he had planned to make the confection larger, but the school actually ran out of sugar after the other students finished their projects and Finley used more that 25 pounds of it in his.

I wonder how many licks it took to get to the center of that pop.

[Image The Worldlink]