DailyDirt: Common Sense Ain't So Common

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mammals drink milk when they're young. Maybe there are some exceptions to that, but the examples of milk-drinking mammals are pretty easy to find. People are mammals, and so the cow milk industry is sizable: the US alone produced over 200,000,000,000 pounds of cow milk in 2013. In other parts of the world, goat milk is more popular (and there are a lot of other kinds of milk that people drink, too). Okay, so why doesn't anyone drink pig milk?

• The Illinois Pork Producers' Association has an answer. Basically, it's harder to milk a pig, and cows are so much better at it now that it would be hard for the pork industry to enter that market even if there was demand for pig milk. [url]
• Chef Edward Lee is actually trying to milk a pig. And if he succeeds, he's going to make some pig milk cheese with it. [url]
• An April Fool's joke claimed that a pig milking machine was ready to go and patented. No commercial pig milking machinery seems to exist, but there's at least one patent that covers a device for milking a miniature pig. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: cheese, dairy, food, mammals, milk, pigs

DailyDirt: Drinking Healthy Stuff...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

If you look closely enough at anything, you're bound to find more complexity and unanswered questions than you'd imagine. Especially when it comes to health recommendations, it seems like the consensus for what's "bad" for you flips every few decades. That's not exactly true, but as we learn more of the details about how substances we eat are metabolized, we have to change the simple recommendations that are broadcast to everyone. Here are just a few links on what you might want to drink (or not drink) to stay healthy.

• Hydropathy started in the early 1800s promoting all kinds of health benefits from water. The lasting legacy of the hydropathy movement is the recommendation to drink 8 glasses of water per day -- even though there's no scientific evidence to support that specific amount of water for everyone to consume daily. [url]
• Orange juice used to be considered the standard healthy beverage for breakfast, able to cure ailments from scurvy to acidosis. Nowadays, though, OJ isn't viewed as favorably due to its high sugar content and its sometimes heavily-processed varieties. [url]
• The health benefits of skim milk versus whole milk aren't as clear cut as you might have thought. Some recent studies find that consuming whole-fat dairy correlates with lower rates of obesity, but adults with high cholesterol may still want to limit full-fat dairy in their diets. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: acidosis, beverages, dairy, drinks, fat, health, hydropathy, milk, obesity, oj, orange juice, scurvy, skim milk, water

DailyDirt: We All Scream For Ice Cream

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Frozen desserts aren't usually enjoyed as much around this time of year (unless you're reading this from Australia, then they most certainly are). But if you like ice cream and other cold treats, here are just a few recipes and projects that might interest you.

• A machine for making ice cream with liquid nitrogen makes frozen treats on demand. Is it still fresh if it's frozen really really fast? [url]
• Make your own ice cream with liquid nitrogen with this recipe. A gallon of ice cream will use about five gallons of liquid nitrogen (and beware of frostbite while handling the liquid nitrogen). [url]
• HowStuffWorks covers the history of ice cream and notes that about 8% of all milk produced in the US ends up as a frozen dessert. Not all frozen desserts are ice cream, but all ice creams are frozen desserts. [url]
• If you live near Mountain View, you might see some healthier popsicles in your neighborhood. The Little Bee Pop project has been fully funded on Kickstarter, so locally sourced fruits and honey are going to be frozen and sold in the Silicon Valley area. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: frozen desserts, ice cream, liquid nitrogen, milk, popsicles
Companies: kickstarter, little bee pop

Dailydirt: GMO Food -- You Are What You Eat?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are invading the food chain. Some folks say that the trend to grow more and more GMO food is almost a requirement to keep up with the world's demand for food. Others disagree, arguing that there are alternatives to GMOs that could meet demands without potentially endangering our fragile ecosystem. Here are just a few examples of the seemingly unstoppable development of GMOs for food.

• If there was a baby formula product that came from a cow and was more similar to human breast milk, would mothers be wiling to try genetically modified cow milk? The Magic8ball says: "My sources say no." [url]
• The Gates Foundation is working on GMO crops to increase food production in developing nations. But there are ethical questions about using the developing world as an experiment for GMO foods. [url]
• The FDA has reviewed the first genetically modified animal for human consumption -- the AquAdvantage salmon. This fish grows bigger and faster than wild Atlantic salmon, and it's made sterile so its genes won't get loose in the environment. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: aquadvantage, food, gmo, milk, salmon
Companies: fda, gates foundation

DailyDirt: Don't Drink The Water?!

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Drinking eight glasses of water every day might be overkill, but it's good to stay hydrated. Even though it's almost the end of summer (for folks in the northern hemisphere at least), here are a few quick links on quenching your thirst.

• Milk could be better than water or sports drinks for re-hydrating active kids. Got Milk? [url]
• Forget Camelbaks if you live in Seattle. Just wear a raincatch -- a raincoat that collects and purifies water for its wearer. It ain't pretty (and it's probably really heavy), but it'll keep you hydrated if you're really paranoid about potable water... [url]
• Swimming in fresh warm water sounds like fun -- until you get an amoeba in your nose. You're more likely to be struck by lightning than inhale an amoeba, though. [url]
• To discover more food&drink-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: amoeba, milk, raincatch, water
Companies: camelbak

DailyDirt: Strange Foods

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

With the holidays approaching, there are lots of recipes and cooking ideas floating around online. But it's way more interesting to us to read up on weird foods that are out there (not turduckens). We're making a list. We're not checking it twice. Most of these foods are not nice at all, and some are just gross. Bon appetit!

A 2,400-year-old old soup has been discovered in China. I wonder how long modern soup cans will last? Mmm. Mmm. Good. [url]

Russians are working on mice that can produce milk with human breast milk proteins. And eventually, these human milk genes will be commercially available in rabbits, goats and cows. [url]

Until other mammals start making human milk, though, there's always milk trading groups on Facebook. But the FDA doesn't recommend this process, either. [url]

Maybe people should be eating more insects. It's not just for reality TV shows. [url]

If the thought of eating insects isn't appealing, it's a lot more appetizing to eat meat from animals that feel no pain. It's just a couple steps away from the restaurant at the end of the universe. [url]

For the holidays, Estonians are singled out for their blood-sausage-eating tradition on Christmas. Some Taiwanese pig blood popsicles sound good to me, too. [url]

We'd love to hear about some more weird foods in the comments, too.

Filed Under: christmas, food, milk, traditions

China Discovers It Can't Block All Online Talk Of Contaminated Milk

from the you-can't-control-everything dept

China, of course, is famous for using its "Great Firewall" to block certain unflattering news from being spread among the population there, but it can't block everything, and people seem to be fighting back in some cases. Last week, as news spread about contaminated milk poisoning thousands, and killing at least three babies, angry Chinese citizens went online to express their displeasure -- and, even worse, they've gone on the attack against popular search engine Baidu, which was accused of blocking access to any news about the tainted milk (the company denies it blocked access to such news). There have been a series of stories recently trying to paint the Great Firewall in a nicer light, often with quotes from Chinese citizens about how they appreciate their government watching out for them. But with more stories like this coming out, it sounds like there are plenty of people who are quite frustrated with the attempts at blocking any unfavorable news.

Filed Under: china, contamination, milk, online