weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food
- London-based photographer Carl Warner uses bits of food to construct intricate landscapes like the one above, and many more. (Design Boom)
- Seattle is setting the example for community gardens: "Parks and rec departments are starting to realize that community gardens can be a vital part of a program, just like a skate park or a dog park. A community garden is a new asset the residents are asking for, nationally." (NPR, KPLU Seattle)
- Japan may be the spiritual homeland of the vending machine, but Belgium is winning points for the sheer awesomeness that is the Frites Machine, which fries up a cone for you in just 95 seconds. Sigh. (Laughing Squid)
- A special whisky for the customers who will pay the earth, Johnnie Walker debuts new “super-premium” whiskies costing more than £100 a bottle in response to demand from China and other emerging markets. (Scotsman)
- The latest lifestyle marketing lesson comes from real estate, where mini-movies, complete with actors and staged parties, are increasingly the way to sell high-end properties. They "add a little emotion" and give people a view into the life they aspire to. (Wall Street Journal)
- The trend of merging retail and restaurant marches on in New York as popular seafood market Lobster Place expands into the Cull & Pistol. "They way people shop for food — particularly at the high-end — is changing. The idea that is should be sort of a visceral experience has really caught on. People very much look at it as a lifestyle hobby." (Seafood Business)
“The way people shop for food — particularly at the high end — is changing. The idea that it should be sort of a visceral experience has really caught on. People very much look at it as a lifestyle hobby,” MacGregor says. - See more at: http://seafoodbusiness.com/articledetail.aspx?id=21605#sthash.5xVLjBBg.dpuf“The way people shop for food — particularly at the high end — is changing. The idea that it should be sort of a visceral experience has really caught on. People very much look at it as a lifestyle hobby,” - See more at: http://seafoodbusiness.com/articledetail.aspx?id=21605#sthash.5xVLjBBg.dpuf“The way people shop for food — particularly at the high end — is changing. The idea that it should be sort of a visceral experience has really caught on. People very much look at it as a lifestyle hobby,” - See more at: http://seafoodbusiness.com/articledetail.aspx?id=21605#sthash.5xVLjBBg.dpuf(Seafood Business)
- It's back to school time. In promoting healthy choices, especially for kids, Revolution Foods is taking on Lunchables (a little box of poor quality, industrial food) in the pre-made lunch market. “There’s good potential for new brands to come in and establish themselves in this category...Portable foods are still very relevant to dual-income households with kids on the go, and products like these suit their needs.” (New York Times)
- NPR went dumpling-wild this week with stories on the origins of dumplings (there's archaeological evidence of dumplings in China more than a thousand years ago) and an essay on the emotions and remembrances that get stuffed inside — wontons, tortellini, pierogi or whatever you want to cal them — for many of us. (NPR)
- Take a peak into the "miracle" kitchen of the future, tomorrowland-style, with a 1957 promotional video from Whirlpool, complete with a Star Trek-worthy control panel that does everything from calling the butcher to setting the mood lighting. They only thing they didn't invision was changing gender roles.
