Curio Cabinet

It's Flashback Friday! In this time of new year’s resolutions, enjoy these curios focused on health and nutrition.
 
Here’s some food for thought. On September 14, researchers at Rush University Medical Center published a study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease that shows the effectiveness of what they dubbed the “MIND diet” in warding off Alzheimer's Disease. MIND stands for “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay,” and has two components. The Mediterranean portion of the diet includes several servings of fish, olive oil, wine, fruit and vegetables every day, while DASH (which stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”) throws whole grains and low fat or fat-free dairy into the mix. Each diet has been proven in the past to be beneficial to heart health, and the new study shows that when combined, it can slow cognitive decline and lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) dementia.
 
The study examined the brains of 569 people whose diets were well documented and whose cognitive functions were tested near the time of death. Post-mortem examinations of the brains showed that even with the presence of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (brain abnormalities which are strongly associated with AD) those who had followed the MIND diet fared better in cognitive tests. In fact, according to the study, up to two-thirds of the brains examined received a postmortem diagnosis of AD, but only one-third had shown any symptoms of AD prior to death. Klodian Dhana, lead author of the study, said in a statement, "We found that a higher MIND diet score was associated with better memory and thinking skills independently of Alzheimer's disease pathology and other common age-related brain pathologies. The diet seemed to have a protective capacity and may contribute to cognitive resilience in the elderly." If following a strict diet seems daunting, fret not. The MIND diet isn’t nearly as restrictive as it sounds, and even allows for red meat, fast food, butter, sweets and pastries, as long as it’s in moderation. Martha Clare Morris, the late nutritional epidemiologist at Rush, once said in a statement that, “One of the more exciting things about this is that people who adhered even moderately to the MIND diet had a reduction in their risk for AD.” Mind what you eat!

 
[Image description: Healthy foods, including fruits, veggies and a whole fish, against a black background.] Credit & copyright: FotoshopTofs, Pixabay

It's Flashback Friday! In this time of new year’s resolutions, enjoy these curios focused on health and nutrition.
 

Where'd your food come from? This simple question is not so easy to answer thanks to today's processed, prepackaged food culture—a troubling fact at the heart of Alice Waters' work as a world-renowned chef and activist.  

Waters, a Californian-by-way-of-New Jersey, was drawn to the history and culture of food while studying abroad in France in the 1960s. There, she saw families buying local produce from the market twice a day and spending hours preparing home-cooked meals. The centrality of food and cooking to people's lives seemed so fundamental, and Waters wanted to bring this principle back to America.  

In 1971, two decades after McDonald's became a franchise, Waters opened a very different kind of restaurant in Berkeley, California called Chez Panisse. While it was originally intended to serve only friends and family, locals loved the food, ambiance, and prix fixe menu. Word quickly spread. Because Waters insisted on serving only food produced by local farmers, ranchers, and fisherman, Chez Panisse's prices stayed high and their offerings limited to what was seasonal. But it also strengthened the restaurant's brand, which came to be labeled as farm-to-table.  

As important a role as Chez Panisse has played in the development of American cuisine, Waters' greater legacy seems to be unfolding in real-time, thanks to her work outside the kitchen. (She stopped cooking at Chez Panisse in 1983.) In 2001, she teamed up with a local middle school to turn a rundown concrete playground into a kid-staffed vegetable garden. The Edible Schoolyard Project was born. Since then, the project has exploded into a global movement called edible education, where classroom activities are centered around gardening. From math to biology to home economics, teachers use real flowers, fruits, and vegetables—tended to by students—to impart a holistic education.  

It's early yet, but studies on the edible education movement are encouraging for Waters' message. A three-year study of students enrolled in the program showed increased fruit and vegetable intake and greater nutritional knowledge. To Waters, it's a sign: edible education, like the fresh food it produces, is a movement worth growing.  

[Image description: Alice Waters smiles and laughs while sitting at an outdoor dining table. Other people stand and sit in the background.] Credit & copyright: David Sifry, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size.

It's Flashback Friday! In this time of new year’s resolutions, enjoy these curios focused on health and nutrition.
 

The United Nations World Food Programme estimates Covid-19 will double the number of people suffering from food insecurity. Their surveys determined that, "55 countries and territories that are home to 135 million acutely food-insecure people in need of urgent humanitarian food and nutrition assistance are the most vulnerable to the consequences of this pandemic as they have very limited or no capacity to cope with either the health or socioeconomic aspects of the shock." Food scientists like Cedric Habiyaremye have been searching for creative solutions to the global food crisis. After much research Habiyaremye landed on quinoa. Yes, that grain, seemingly ubiquitous in every health store and restaurant in the 2010s. Pronounced KEEN-wa, it was originally cultivated in the Lake Titicaca basin between 5.2 and 7 thousand years ago to feed livestock. Revered as a superfood—quinoa is gluten free, contains all the essential amino acids, and various vitamins and minerals. Technically a seed, it grows on a flowering plant in the Amaranth family. The crop is remarkably hardy and adaptable. Not only can it withstand a range of temperatures (from -4 to 38 degrees Celsius) and humidity levels, but is also water efficient and drought resistant. No wonder it was considered sacred by the Incas. They called it chisaya mama or "mother of all grains." Even the emperor sowed the plant. Today, the main producers of quinoa are Bolivia, Peru, and the United States. Habiyaremye and a research team at Washington State University are working to add the African nation of Rwanda to that list.
 

As a child, Habiyaremye was a refugee displaced by the Rwandan Civil War (1990-1994). Not only did the war result in
the genocide of between 500,000 and 1 million Tutsis and Hutus, it also left Rwanda in complete disarray. Two decades later, over 35% of Rwandan children suffer from malnourishment. Even though more than 70% of Rwandans work in agriculture, they still struggle to feed themselves. One of their main crops is beans, which, although edible at every stage of development, require crop rotation. Farmers can't keep growing beans in the same field year after year. Searching for an alternative, Habiyaremye and his research team settled upon quinoa. They tested 20 varieties in 3 different ecological zones (Rwanda has mountain rainforests, savannah woodlands, wetlands, and aquatic forests). Eventually, they piloted the Quinoa Model Farmers Program, which now includes over 500 farmers, including Habiyaremye's mother. They hope the crop, along with others like millet, sorghum, barley, and oats, will provide a sustainable food source for locals. Looks like quinoa is the real nutritional mother lode after all.
 
Image credit & copyright: Jai79, Pixabay

We've written before about lab grown chicken meat, but this new dish is a different beast (or rather plant) altogether. On January 5, KFC announced the nation-wide launch of Beyond Fried Chicken, a plant-based menu item developed in partnership with Beyond Meat. As the name suggests, the new offering is meant to taste and feel just like chicken. Although the individual pieces look like oversized chicken nuggets, which are usually made from ground up meat, KFC has described the texture as firmer and more like whole muscle meat, such as chicken breast.
 
According to KFC’s press release, the company began testing its product by offering it in Atlanta back in August, 2019. The test run was successful, with stores selling out within hours, leading the company to expand the experiment to include Nashville and Charlotte while improving the recipe. Now, Beyond Fried Chicken will be available in KFC’s 4,000 or so locations in the U.S., the largest poultry meat-substitute roll-out ever by a fast-food chain. In a press release, KFC President Kevin Hochman said, “The mission from day one was simple—make the world-famous Kentucky Fried Chicken from plants. And now over two years later we can say, ‘mission accomplished.’”
 
Ethan Brown, CEO and founder of Beyond Meat, also chimed in, saying, “We couldn’t be prouder to partner with KFC to offer a best-in-class product that not only delivers the delicious experience consumers expect from this iconic chain, but also provides the added benefits of plant-based meat. We are truly thrilled to make it available to consumers nationwide.” Currently, a 12-piece order costs $6.99, but it comes with some caveats. A disclaimer on the press release shows that the faux-chicken dish is “Not prepared in vegan/vegetarian manner.” So, while it may not yet be suitable for strict vegans and vegetarians, it might be good enough for those who are looking to reduce their consumption of real meat, whether they are motivated by environmental factors or animal rights. Winner, winner, not-so-chicken dinner.

 
[Image description: The outside of a KFC restaurant.] Credit & copyright: Phillip Pessar, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size