Friday Faves No. 114

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

When farmers are working so hard to grow vegetables, it's crazy that we would let any go to waste for superficial reasons like irregular looks. French supermarket Intermarché launched an ingenious campaign to get people eating more vegetables while reducing food waste. A two-minute video explain the project.  (JW Intelligence)

One of the strongest food reads this week is the OpEd Don’t Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers (and it's by a shellfish and seaweed farmer). And then some interesting letters to the editors get in on the topic. (New York Times)

Oh great, just what we needed: more corn. Shifting Climate Has North Dakota Farmers Swapping Wheat For Corn  (NPR)

Consumers are demanding antibiotic-free meat, and Big Food is starting to listen (even if our politicians are still mostly ignoring us) Alas, antibiotic free meat is still just about 5% of the total US supply. Sense of urgency please.... (PRI/The World)

The New Encyclopedia of Southern Food  "Twenty-six people, places, and ingredients are changing the way we eat right now" from Appalachian food to Moonshine Universtiy. (Garden & Gun)

Cashew Juice, the Apple of Pepsi’s Eye  "Pepsi is betting that the tangy, sweet juice from cashew apples can be the next coconut water or açaí juice....The demanding demographic group known as millennials, as well as new consumers among the world’s emerging middle class, have a restless appetite that is driving food companies to experiment on a grand scale with flavors and ingredients whose appeal until recently were largely local." (New York Times)

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 60

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• These cones were made for walkin: Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has created a line of shoes where the heel is decked out with a sparkly ice cream cone (right) or Brazilian plastic footwear brand Melissa. Another great find from fave blog Laughing Squid.

• NPR's On Point featured an interview with New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter on the problems of antibiotic use in livestock. The shocking out-take: as many people die of antibiotic-resistant superbugs in the US now as die of AIDS.

• And just to prove that it doesn't have to be that way, The New Pork Gospel is a loving profile by Barry Estabrook of Russ Kremer, the pig farmer that inspired Chipotle's commercial in praise of small pork producers.

• Here’s a project in Brazil that takes a different spin on the food truck concept: food trucks that, rather than selling food, are training people how to prepare food and manage their own culinary businesses (and maybe even their own food trucks!)

• The Beastie Boys' Mike D Runs a Free Food Truck in the Rockaway neighborhood of New York City, helping out residents hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy.

• For your weekend reading pleasure, we've found a new favorite food journal find in London-based The Gourmand. And it doesn't hurt that their logo looks a bit like the Pork Fairy.

• We will leave you with a few words of wisdom from Chef Thomas Keller on why it's desire and not passion that make the best cooks. "It’s not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place too much importance on. Passion ebbs and flows. To me, it’s about desire. If you have constant, unwavering desire to be a cook, then you’ll be a great cook...(more)"