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Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Food Stamp Use Reaches Record Numbers

11:05 am By Maegan La Mala · Food| Money| economy · Comments Off

26 Nov 2008

Once upon a time when I was a teen, food stamps were actually like stamps, well actually more like coupons on Monopoly money colored paper and I remember being ashamed when my then boyfriend’s mom sent me to the corner bodega to buy something with them. While sadly the stigma still exists with using food stamp benefits, even if they no are accessed via an atm like card but for more and more familias, food stamps are a need not a want if they want to keep their family fed.

“We soon will have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a D.C.-based anti-hunger policy organization. “If the economic forecasts come true, we’re likely to see the most hunger that we’ve seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established.”

The Agriculture Department is set to release the new numbers as early as this week. Agency officials declined to confirm the figures but outlined them in a briefing last month for advocates and administrators of state food stamp programs. Breaking the symbolically important 30 million mark comes on the heels of government data showing that 11.9 million people went hungry in the United States at some point last year. That included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50 percent from the year before.

Via / The Washington Post

Bush Drinks Some Peruvian Cultura

9:05 am By Maegan La Mala · Food| Peru · 1 Comment

26 Nov 2008

Apparently dressing like a Peruvian isn’t enough for President Bush. While at the APEC Summit in Lima, Bush was spotted drinking in some local culture as well, in the form of a Pisco Sour.

Wait, isn’t Bush supposed to be a recovering alcoholic or something? Last time I had a Pisco Sour (a lo Chileno – go ahead Peruanos and Chilenos- argue about it) it had alcohol and Pisco is no joke.

I’m not as convinced as the HufPo:

Of course, the president often drinks non-alcoholic beer; he could easily be drinking a non-alcoholic Pisco Sour in this shot.

What the hell is a Pisco Sour without the Pisco?!

Via / The Huffington Post

FDA Approves Genetically Engineered Animals

2:18 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Food · 1 Comment

19 Sep 2008

pigs%20in%20crates.jpg In an extraordinarily gross move, the FDA has given permission to scientist to go full force on whatever disgusting experiments they want to conduct on animals, all, supposedly for the benefit of the consumer:

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday opened the way for genetically engineered salmon, cows and other animals to move from the laboratory to the marketplace, unveiling an approval process that would treat the modified creatures like drugs.

The guidelines make explicit the regulatory hoops that companies would have to jump through to sell products from modified animals. “It’s about time the federal government has acknowledged that these animals are on [the] doorstep and need to be regulated to ensure their safety,” said Greg Jaffe, director of the project on biotechnology at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.

Many experts, however, fear that the proposed regulations do not go far enough. In particular, they argue that the approval process would be highly secretive to protect the commercial interests of the companies involved. They also say the new rules do not place sufficient weight on the environmental effect of what many consider to be “Frankenstein” animals.

I am not even close to a religious person. I do, however, believe that Mother Nature is the only scientist that has ever known what the hell she was doing. Thus, outside of the fact that I find genetically modifying animals to be morally wrong because how they treat the lives of animals–I also find GM to be ethically wrong because they do nothing at all to improve the lives of animals or humans. And shouldn’t every scientists’ ethical responsibility to society be to improve society’s quality of living rather than destroy it?

Miss Universe to Appear in an Episode of Top Chef (and she will be clothed)

9:30 am By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities| Food| New York City| TV| Venezuela · 4 Comments

7 Aug 2008

Last night, An super secret source was inside the taping for an episode of next season’s Top Chef. The episode of the hit Bravo show was filmed on 27th street on the East Side and involved the contestants cooking food for an AIDS organization. The winner was chosen by the people at the dinner (about 300) placing red ribbons on the dish they liked best.

Also present at the taping was Miss Universe, Venezolana Dayana Mendoza. She was fully clothed, unlike the recent fotos of her that have surfaced. My source said that Mendoza is tall, slim, and with booty to spare.

Makes sense that she was at this AIDS charity themed Top Chef challenge, as she is the latest madrina for the Latino Commission on AIDS.

By the way the president of Miss Universe, Paula M. Shugart, said that Mendoza is not in danger of losing her crown over the recently revealed nekkid pics.

Via / Hispanic Tips, Remolacha

Vegan de Guadalupe?

8:50 pm By Maegan La Mala · Food · 1 Comment

30 Jul 2008

On the really great blog Vegans of Color, they recently posted about a fabulous new zine recipe book targeted to Chican@s on the border and all those who love border food. Chocked full of awesome vegan alternatives to traditional border meals.

Because I’ve heard with frequency people comment on how expensive its to make vegan mexican food. That’s bull! So I wanted to prove people wrong but also make a zine that consists of easy mexican food recipes, that is great for vegan beginners, and bilingual because i’m a border child with half her heart in Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley. So all the recipes are in english and spanish. It has great cover design by my bff danae; who incidentally introduced me to veganism while attending school in Monterrey, Mexico.

The zine sports a particularly beautiful cover:

la%20vegan%20de%20guadalupe.jpg

Check out etsy for how to buy!

L.A. Moves to Ban Fast Food from Poor Neighborhoods

1:55 pm By Maegan La Mala · Food| Health| Los Angeles| society · 3 Comments

30 Jul 2008

Who woulda thunk it: L.A. is setting a health standard that is admirable — the city is trying to do something about an obesity crisis affecting one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. The idea is great, but I am skeptical it will work.

The local city council is banning fast food outlets in the less than privileged neighborhood of South L.A.:

A law that would bar fast-food restaurants from opening in South Los Angeles for at least a year sailed through the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday.

The council approved the fast-food moratorium unanimously, despite complaints from representatives of McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr. and other companies, who said they were being unfairly targeted.

Councilwoman Jan Perry, who has pushed for a moratorium for six years, said the initiative would give the city time to craft measures to lure sit-down restaurants serving healthier food to a part of the city that desperately wants more of them.

“I believe this is a victory for the people of South and southeast Los Angeles, for them to have greater food options,” she said.

Urban Jibaro: Blogging on an empty stomach….

1:20 pm By Maegan La Mala · Food · Comments Off

27 Jul 2008

Ok…I admit I am very hungry right now and I am so upset that my friend Ana sold the bodega around my house where I get my empanadas. The new owners are from El Salvador and only make pupusas now (but I already got a spot to get those, shout out to Cielito Lindo in Freeport).

So as I go thru withdrawals (shaking and sweating…lol) I call her up to ask her if she will come over and make me some…She tells me that I need to learn how to make them myself so I start looking for “How To Videos” and I found a Latina named Madeline Merced who takes us through step by step how to feed my addiction to empanadas. Madeline or the “How To Girl” as she as known, has a great site and I would tell you more about it but I don’t have time right now…I really need to get in the kitchen and get my empanada making on…Buen Provecho!!!!

Check Madeline Merced out at http://www.howtogirl.com/

ANA…. UGGGGH I DONT LIKE YOU RIGHT NOW!!!

As I am,
The Urban Jibaro aka El Empanadero

Sofrito For Your Soul

It’s All the Jalapeños Fault

9:31 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Food| Health| Texas · Comments Off

22 Jul 2008

The world is now safe from and for tomatoes. It’s those spicy Tex-Mex jalapeños that are not taking the heat for a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

Federal officials investigating a three-month-old salmonella outbreak have isolated the bacteria in a jalapeño pepper from a small distribution facility in McAllen, Tex., and yesterday warned consumers nationwide to avoid eating raw jalapeños or products that contain them until more is known.

So baby, if you like it raw and spicy, too damn bad.

Via / The Washington Post

Why Is There Cafe Bustelo in My Fridge? Introducing Bustelo Cool.

12:00 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Food| Marketing · Comments Off

2 Jul 2008

Not being able to drink Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee has been making me sweat as a I drink hot Colombian coffee from the bakery across the street. Enter Cafe Bustelo. The Dominican coffee brand recently came out with a new cold beverage called Bustelo Cool. I asked for a sample. Bustelo sent me a whole case.
“This better be good,” I worried aloud, if not I’d be stuck. This morning, after a full night’s chilling in the nevera, I opened a can of Bustelo Cool.

Damn, Does This Whole Rachel Ray is A Terrorist Thing Mean No Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee for Me?

30 May 2008

Rachel Ray annoys me. Her “simple”, so-called 20 minute recipes and happy happy cooking piss off my struggling to put a Latino meal on the table while blogging and chasing two kids. But I wouldn’t call Rachel Ray a terrorist or that she supports terrorists because she’s wearing an “Arab looking” scarf while selling Dunkin Donuts iced coffee drinks. But conservatives, among them Michelle “I suffer from self-hate ” Malkin, think that the scarf Ms. Ray wore during a DD’s ad:

looked too much like a keffiyeh, what Malkin describes as “the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.

. And Dunkin Donuts said: ok we’ll pull the ad. Stupid move Dunkin Donuts.

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