The Next Pandemic May Come From Meat Farms

 Almost all the meat we eat today comes from industrialized factory farms, AKA Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs. Globally, 90 percent of the world’s meat supply comes from CAFOs, and in the US, it’s close to 99 percent. CAFOs may be tough on farm animals, but they’re ideal for breeding virus and bacteria mutations new to human immune systems. A Vox video.

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Domino’s Robot Pizza Delivery In Houston

Perhaps believing there aren’t enough unemployed delivery drivers in Texas, Domino’s Pizza will deliver pies via Nuro R2 autonomous robot vehicles in Houston. Domino’s selling point to customers: no tipping.

Houston traffic. Robot cars with a top speed of 25 MPH. Texan gun ownership rate. What could possibly go wrong?

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More:

“Nuro’s self-driving robot will deliver Domino’s pizza orders to customers in Houston,” Kim Lyons, The Verge

“Houston, we have a robot: Nuro, Domino’s team up for autonomous pizza delivery,” Brian Straight, Modern Shipper, via FreightWaves

“Beep Beep: Domino’s Is Testing a Self-Driving Delivery Car,” Jenny G. Zhang, Eater

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Top image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Spice Up Solar Panels With Chili Peppers

“Here’s some news hot off the press. Researchers have found a secret ingredient for making solar panels that absorb the sun’s energy more efficiently. Depending on what you like to eat, there’s a good chance you can find it at home. Capsaicin, the chemical that gives chili peppers their spicy sting, also improves perovskite solar cells – the devices that make up solar panels.

Making Gruyère in the Swiss Alps

Gruyère d’alpage, a hard-textured cheese with no holes, is only made from May through October, when cows are allowed to graze freely in the Swiss mountains. Alexandre Murith’s family has been making it for five generations. A video from Great Big Story.

More:

“A Season With Swiss Cheesemakers,” Alan Taylor, The Atlantic

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Groundhog Day

It’s February 2nd, time to monitor Marmota monax  (on Zoom this year) and dream of winter’s end. Whether or not you believe in woodchuck weathermen, one thing is certain: you can’t have groundhogs if you want a backyard full of fresh garden veggies.

Groundhogs (aka woodchucks, whistlepigs, and marmots) are insecto-vegetarians and confirmed locavores. If you plan to plant this spring, harvest those hairy beasts now. Celebrate Groundhog Day with critter cuisine.

Serving suggestions:

Woodchuck au Vin

Canadian Fried Woodchuck

Groundhog Pie

Woodchuck Recipes from Michigan (Oriental Groundhog,Waco Groundhog in Sour Cream,Woodchuck Stew, Woodchuck Meat Loaf)

More groundhog lore and recipes here and here.

In his book Groundhog Day, Don Yoder reprints a classic groundhog recipe from Cooking with the Groundhog, published as a fundraiser by a hospital auxiliary in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, home of the “official” Groundhog’s Day Festival (there are more than a few others ). A Georgia groundhog is on Twitter.

Ten years ago, whilst stalking the elusive picture book Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather, we espied an ad for the Range Kleen Preseasoned Cast Iron 10 Inch Fry Pan on the book’s Amazon.com page and cooked up today’s graphic. There’s obviously no “storybook ending” to this post if you’re a groundhog.

Related:

“Eight Things You Didn’t Know About Groundhogs,” Jason G. Goldman, Scientific American blog

“Groundhogs and Ground Squirrels: Winter Prognosticators,”  Sharol Nelson-Embry, Quest

“40 years of groundhog forecasts, mapped,” Kennedy Elliott and Shelly Tan, Washington Post

“Punxsutawney Phil: incompetent — or evil?” Phil Edwards, Vox

“Depressed Groundhog Sees Shadow Of Rodent He Once Was,”The Onion

“Where Did Groundhog Day Come From? ” Mental Floss

“A Short History of Groundhog Day,” Danny Lewis, Smithsonian.com

“Groundhog Day Explained,” CGP Grey (video)

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Image (“Marmot sauté, after John James Audubon”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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McRib. Repeat: McRib.

The McRib is back. It’s a seasonal plague, like the flu.

Often mistaken for an innocent sandwich, the McR is composed of “Restructured Meat” made from pulverized and re-glued pig innards, ammonium sulfate, polysorbate 80, sodium benzoate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oils, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, soy flour, sodium stearoyl lactylate, ascorbic acid, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, calcium peroxide, calcium propionate,high fructose corn syrup, xanthan gum, and sodium benzoate. And let’s not forget azodicarbonamide, used to make yoga mats.

Want to see what it looks like before it’s covered in sauce? Sure? Okay then, look here.

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Video from Weird History.

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The 12 Days of Waffle House Christmas

“The 12 Days of Waffle House Christmas,” served up by Sons-N- Britches from round ’bout Kennesaw, Georgia. That’s Christmas in the South, buddy.

Menu (mmm … cheese grits)

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Thanksgiving 2020

In this pandemic year, many people have decided not to visit Grandma for Thanksgiving, since giving her COVID-19 in exchange for roast turkey and green bean whoopie seems unfair. With smaller holiday gatherings, the market for great big turkeys has collapsed, as farmers see seasonal profits gobbled up by social distancing. Many small pandemic pod parties want smaller turkeys, but growers have not been able to get those big fat birds to lose weight. If you’ve been binge eating during quarantine, maybe you can relate.

More:

“Turkey farmers fear that, this year, they’ve bred too many big birds,” Laura Reiley, Washington Post

“Scaled-back Thanksgiving plans leave turkey farmers in limbo,” Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press

“Fauci says small gatherings driving new Covid outbreaks, worries about Thanksgiving,” Sara G. Miller, NBC News

“Thanksgiving In The Time Of COVID-19: To Grandmother’s House Or No?” April Fulton, NPR

“CDC issues new guidance for Thanksgiving gatherings,” Joseph Choi, The Hill

“Traditional Thanksgivings Off the Table As Coronavirus Surges,” Emma Coleman, Route Fifty

“‘A loaded pistol for Grandma’s head’: Colorado governor asks people not to bring COVID to Thanksgiving table,” Alexander Kirk, Nate Lynn, and Jennifer Campbell-Hicks, Fox West Texas

Zero Waste Restaurant

 Douglas McMaster opened the Silo Restaurant to demonstrate that dining can be environmentally sustainable. Video directed by Matt Hopkins.

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Crickets. Yum!

Cricket farmers Adam Brody and Jude Tallichet raise insects in their Manhattan apartments. On purpose. For food. They want you to add the musical hoppers to your diet. A New Yorker video.

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