Foraging for news

While my flatmate attempts his first pizza (may the force of the yeast be with him), I thought I’d dig up some random food news from the BBC.

Shock at Uganda dog meat arrests
Dogs' dinners prove popular in Nigeria
I realize that the dog meat articles might shock some people. I love dogs with a passion - as pets. I was eating lunch while reading these articles and nearly couldn’t handle it. However, I think that it’s always worth thinking about what different cultures consider taboo – or not. In the case of these articles, communities are split to extremes, which I find quite disturbing, especially with stories of people stealing pet dogs to eat. Anyone who has gazed into the eyes of their pooch would find the action despicable. If you’re a vegetarian, eating any animal is. Other examples of taboo foods? Horse meat is eaten in Italy, but Americans and the British wouldn’t even contemplate the thought. I can’t eat rabbit because I had pet rabbits and loved them very much, but I do know that it tastes good and lots of people love it. The French have their frog legs and snails which for many of us would be just, well, gross. Equitorial Guinea has monkeys (very sad). And what about kosher, halal and hindu dietary customs and laws?

Not my bag: My mission? 31 days without plastic
This is a cool blog that’s in its fifth day by a correspondent on the BBC. Talk about a challenge. I am tempted to join her. When I moved to the UK, it was the first time that I was truly self-sufficient. Even my year living in an apartment at college felt pampered some how, so when I finally started becoming aware of how food was marketed to me, I was shocked. Everything outside the outdoor markets was suffocated in plastic. I try to buy all my veggies at the market, but even there you feel forced to use the flimsy little plastic bags they provide for separating your veg because it helps them weigh things. Our council, Haringey, wouldn’t even take plastic to be recycled from your curb-side bin. You have to take it to your local recycling centre. And they vacuum-seal cucumbers in plastic! What planet is the UK on? We’ve been recycling in the States for a long long time. Plus, cucumbers do not need to be vacuum-sealed. Why cucumbers? But there is too much plastic in all supermarkets, everywhere. Period. So I’m interested to watch how she does. End of mini rant.

Shunned Starbucks in Aussie exit
All I have to say is that the Australians are my new heroes.