Results for “food” 1948 found
Will the Middle East run out of water?
Farmers, who account for 70 percent of the world’s water consumption, are often hugely uneconomical about it. For example, in growing water-intensive crops they derive a less-than-optimal nutrition content from a given quantity of water. Agriculture, in fact, is one of the real villains in the global water drama…Half the water used by the world’s farmers generates no food…A 10 percent improvement in the distribution of water to agriculture would double the world’s potable water supply.
Middle Eastern countries could solve many of their water problems with free trade, economic diversification, and better agricultural incentives, and yes that means don’t grow bananas in the desert. Yemen needs to stop growing qat; this addictive drug accounts for over seventy percent of their water use.
Ideally the relatively water-rich Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey could be selling water to the rest of the region but for political reasons don’t expect much of that anytime soon. Sometimes the easiest way to trade water is inside a tomato.
As for desalination, the costs have fallen dramatically over the last decade, and may continue to fall. The real problem is not producing the water but rather transporting it uphill. Desalination won’t solve your problems if you live in the mountains.
The above passage is from Fredrik Segerfeldt’s excellent Water for Sale: How Business and the Market Can Resolve the World’s Water Crisis, published by Cato, and thanks to Alex for the pointer.
Why health care is good for you
Here are the bald asseverations I made to Bryan Caplan yesterday, over Bolivian food:
1. Health care is very, very good for you. Here is one good summary of the earlier blogosphere debate.
2. Don’t be fooled by studies that say the opposite.
3. At most those studies show that health care is not good for you at some additional margin. Make sure you get to that margin.
4. It is true that many regressions show a zero positive effect for health care once you introduce a variable for income. This mainly shows that income is a better proxy for real health care than many of our highly imperfect measures for health care.
5. Almost every family in my Mexican village has lost a kid or two before the kid reaches age five. Few of these deaths would have occurred if a) a doctor rather than a shaman were around, b) they had a ready antidote for scorpion bites, c) they knew to take the right pills for diarrhea and fever and to stay hydrated. These variables will be more closely correlated with measured income than with whatever screwy figure the Mexican government provides for expenditures on medical care. Health care still matters, even though it won’t show up as significant in the regression.
6. The above example can be generalized to wealthier countries. Might education be the best proxy of all for the consumption of real health care? Yes stupid doctors can kill you but a smart patient will not do better staying at home.
7. It is obvious that health care leads to greater longevity, and this is the greatest good of all. Just ask yourself, how much money would you have to receive to give up health care for the rest of your life? For me no sum of money would suffice.
8. Yes the famous Rand Corporation study showed that more doctor visits don’t help people. I can buy that, but advances in medical science still bring huge pay-offs.
Caveats: These are lunchtime comments, I am not accountable for them in the same way as if I posted them on my blog. And I am still too afraid to go see the doctor and get a check-up.
Why Mexican barbeuce [barbacoa] is superb
Goat and lamb are the specialties. They cook the food in a buried pit at low heat, for about ten hours. It is then shipped out by truck, early in the morning. The restaurants, or should I say tables, open between nine and ten o’clock, yes that is a.m.. When they run out of fresh meat, the restaurant simply closes, usually by 1 p.m. or so. You can only keep the stuff heated and fresh for so long. A few restaurants receive a second shipment of meat, in which case you sit there and wait until it arrives.
Dubner and Levitt on monkey monies
It seems that monkeys can be taught to use money:
…[but] do the capuchins actually understand money? Or is Chen [the researcher] simply exploiting their endless appetites to make them perform neat tricks?
Several facts suggest the former. During a recent capuchin experiment that used cucumbers as treats, a research assistant happened to slice the cucumber into discs instead of cubes, as was typical. One capuchin picked up a slice, started to eat it and then ran over to a researcher to see if he could ”buy” something sweeter with it. To the capuchin, a round slice of cucumber bore enough resemblance to Chen’s silver tokens to seem like another piece of currency.
Then there is the stealing. Santos has observed that the monkeys never deliberately save any money, but they do sometimes purloin a token or two during an experiment. All seven monkeys live in a communal main chamber of about 750 cubic feet. For experiments, one capuchin at a time is let into a smaller testing chamber next door. Once, a capuchin in the testing chamber picked up an entire tray of tokens, flung them into the main chamber and then scurried in after them — a combination jailbreak and bank heist — which led to a chaotic scene in which the human researchers had to rush into the main chamber and offer food bribes for the tokens, a reinforcement that in effect encouraged more stealing.
Something else happened during that chaotic scene, something that convinced Chen of the monkeys’ true grasp of money. Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of money, after all, is its fungibility, the fact that it can be used to buy not just food but anything. During the chaos in the monkey cage, Chen saw something out of the corner of his eye that he would later try to play down but in his heart of hearts he knew to be true. What he witnessed was probably the first observed exchange of money for sex in the history of monkeykind. (Further proof that the monkeys truly understood money: the monkey who was paid for sex immediately traded the token in for a grape.)
Here is the full story.
Problems no one worries about anymore
The concern over the rising cost of living, which reached an acute stage about 1909, was the basis for much of the criticism directed against cold storage. In the search for a reason for the greater cost of food, a vocal segment of the public came to believe that the refrigerated warehouse was largely responsible…
It went so far that commissions were appointed to look into the problem. Which of today’s issues will someday seem equally ridiculous?
And how did this all happen?
This very human tendency to blame the new and strange may have been stimulated by politicians with ulterior motives…beginning in 1910 the Republicans had blamed cold storage for the high cost of living in an effort to save the high tariff…
Both passages are from Oscar Edward Anderson’s excellent Refrigeration in America: A History of a New Technology and its Impact.
Markets in everything — brown rice edition
Foodies are feeling a little "flushed" about a new restaurant in Taiwan that serves them food in pint-sized toilet-bowl dishes.
And, yes, the food is designed to look like something that belongs in pint-sized toilet-bowl dishes.
Restaurateur Eric Wang’s theme eatery, called "Marton" – named after the Chinese word for "toilet," matong – has become quite the popular one in the southern city of Kaohsiung (search), Taiwan’s second-largest, since its opening last year.
You see, at Toilet, the food isn’t served on boring old plates. No, no, no. The meals "bowl" diners over as they arrive at the table in miniaturized Western and Asian-style porcelain thrones.
And Wang doesn’t stop with the theme. The venue is a bottomless pit of toilet tricks and treats [TC: dare I mention the phrase pu pu platter?].
Nestled in the teeny-tiny toilet bowls are squishy offerings like curry chicken rice, chocolate ice cream and anything else that reminds one of, well, the real thing.
Patrons seem to love it.
Here is the link.
Vermont Fact of the Day
I’m in Vermont singing Eagles songs and toasting marshmallows while gathered around a campfire. I know, know, but I have only one vote! One the positive side, it is has been a long time since I’ve really seen the stars.
Here’s an interesting tidbit from our guidebook:
The 1870s saw the maximum of cleared land in the state – at that time as little as 20% of the state was in forest – the figure today approaches 85%.
I can’t vouch for the specific fact but the general idea is certainly correct. Forestland is up not down. We think of the city as the enemy of the environment but in fact the main constraint on forest is farmland and better technology has meant that we are producing more food from less land than ever before. See here for more.
Thanks to Monique van Hoek for the pointer.
American vs. European labor revisited: the household dimension
…you ask why we Americans work more hours than do Europeans. But perhaps we don’t. While the data do show that Americans work more hours AT FORMAL JOBS, it doesn’t follow that Americans work more hours in total. The reason is that, compared to Europeans, Americans have more time-saving household appliances, as well as greater access to other time-saving amenities such as prepared foods, child care, and housecleaning services. As a result, we Americans work fewer hours taking care of our households and, hence, can work more hours earning income.
Let’s not forget that buying things is much easier in the U.S. as well. Don Boudreaux just submitted the above in a letter to The Economist.
How to order in a restaurant
Kottke.org offers the following parody:
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Glance quickly at the menu and order whatever catches your eye first. Spend no more than 2-3 seconds deciding or the quality of your choice (and your meal) will decline.Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The key to ordering a good meal in a restaurant is understanding the economic incentives involved. Ask the server what they recommend and order something else…they are probably trying to get you to order something with a high profit margin or a dish that the restaurant needs to get rid of before the chicken goes bad or something. Never order the second least expensive bottle of wine; it’s typically the one with the highest mark-up on the list (i.e. the worst deal).The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
Take the menu and rip it into 4 or 5 pieces. Order from only one of the pieces, ignoring the choices on the rest of the menu. You will be happier with your meal.The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
Poll the other patrons at the restaurant about what they’re having and order the most popular choices for yourself.Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson
Order anything made with lots of butter, sugar, etc. Avoid salad or anything organic. A meal of all desserts may be appropriate. Or see if you can get the chef to make you a special dish like foie gras and bacon covered with butterscotch and hot fudge. Ideally, you will have brought a Super Sized McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal into the restaurant with you. Smoke and drink liberally.
Thanks to Chris Masse for the pointer.
Vending machines for everything
This I would not have expected…aren’t vending machines for impulse purchases, or could this be one…?
And if you are wondering, Savannah is superb for seafood (grouper, most of all) and only so-so for barbecue.
Imaginary book excerpts
Charles Fourier, the nineteenth century French Utopian Socialist, saw gastronomy as a key to political philosophy. Sex and food should be the dual bases of the new socialist order, which he referred to as “Gastrosophy.” Continual stimulation of the senses would bring about a true harmony of interests, as enforced by elitist culinary judges and juries [TC: who enforces the sex part?]. But sadly culinary science had been corrupted by capitalism and its imposition of artificial scarcity. Fourier considered the Aristotelian virtue of moderation to be an abomination. He saw the socialist future as bringing five meals a day plus two snacks. Men will be seven feet tall, digestion will be easy, and life expectancy will reach 144 years. Fourier, of course, in addition predicted that socialism would bring ships pulled by dolphins and oceans full of lemonade. But hey, not everyone is perfect. They also laughed when he proclaimed that the steam locomotive would revolutionize European travel.
That is by me, of course. I thank Priscilla Ferguson’s intriguing Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine for some of the details.
Will Wilkinson on Thomas Jefferson
The more I read about the guy, the more I dislike him. He was without doubt a man of incandescent brilliance. But he also seems to have been sly, creepy, and an insufferable snob, in addition to having been a racist, slaveholding, anti-cosmopolitan, anti-commercial, Jacobin utopian. When his visage appears on Cato promotional material, as it so often does, I try to stay positive.
I like that Jefferson cared so much about food, but I’ve never found his political writings very illuminating. Read the whole post, Will serves up some other controversial opinions.
Which cultures do we tend to undervalue?
Large and insular ones. The Cape Verde islands produce music which is immediately accessible, whether or not you are a local or an insider. The music could not have flourished as it has without external support; the same is true for Jamaican reggae.
On the other hand, you might find that Chinese music sounds like screeching cats being murdered. But in reality, you probably should accept the old saw that 1.3 billion (or however many) people can’t be wrong. Get used to the idea that musical timbre can be as important as traditional harmony, or that shrill voices, loud gongs, and droning background instruments can make for fun.
If you are looking for some Chinese music that won’t offend your Western ears, try the pipa (think elaborate Chinese lute) player Min Xiao-Fen. Here is her home page and some press quotes. Here is a disc to buy. But don’t expect all Chinese music to be so easy.
What about sea cucumber? The Chinese love the culinary texture of smoothness, even if you don’t. Jellyfish is yummy and crunchy, and don’t forget chicken kidney boiled with fishhead. (For real Chinese food in Northern Virginia, try China Star of Fairfax, or Saigon Palace, at Seven Corners, Falls Church, they have the kidney dish, and yes I know Saigon is in Vietnam but a Hong Kong entrepreneur just bought out the old place).
Are you curious and looking for new cultural adventures? Or just seeking a new and difficult way to signal your sophistication? You probably alrerady grasp island cultures relatively well. Spend your marginal time and energy on learning the creations of large and remote foreign territories.
Yes, dogs can communicate with you
…a raft of experiments by Mr. Csányi’s team and another led by Michael Tomasello of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, showed that dogs were far more skilled then either chimps or wolves at using human social cues to find food. Those results left researchers with this question: If dogs can pick up on human cues, do they turn the tables and put out cues for humans to understand?
To find out, Mr. Csányi and Réka Polgárdi, a graduate student, went to the homes of Budapest’s many dog owners. After introducing the researchers to the dogs, the owners would leave the room. Then the dogs would watch Mr. Csányi hide a piece of food somewhere inaccessible to them. When the owners returned, the dogs would run or glance back and forth from master to hiding place, clearly signaling its location. More-recent experiments substituted nonfood objects and had similar results, which suggests the dogs may be placing themselves in their owner’s shoes, and realizing that the humans are ignorant of the object’s location.
The Hungarian researchers also discovered that dogs excel at imitating humans. In one of the laboratories down the hall from Mr. Csányi’s office, Zsófia Virányi, a post-doctoral researcher, demonstrates with Tódor, an enthusiastic little mutt that she hand-raised to serve as a member of a control group for another experiment. Tódor sits attentively as Ms. Virányi spins around in a circle and comes to a stop. "Csinal!" or "you do it!" she says, at which Tódor does a little 360 on the tiled floor and lets out an enthusiastic bark. He easily imitates Ms. Virányi’s bowing and lifting an arm (or paw, in his case).
Here is the full story, which contains much, much more.
Amish futurists
The title of the post is not an oxymoron. The Amish have been enthusiastic adopters of genetically modified crops. Ironically, the higher productivity of the crop substitutes for the fact that the Amish harvest it by hand. Less ironically the GM crops use fewer pesticides and herbicides.
Amish scholars say genetically enhanced
crops are not inconsistent with the simple life that is central to Amish
beliefs because it helps them continue their ties
to agriculture, allowing families to
work together.
Hat tip to Stewart Brand’s recent essay Environmental Heresies which also contains this insight on a question that has long bothered me.
Why was water fluoridization rejected by the political right and
“frankenfood” by the political left? The answer, I suspect, is that
fluoridization came from government and genetically modified (GM) crops
from corporations. If the origins had been reversed–as they could have
been–the positions would be reversed, too.