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This is what school lunches look like around the world

Where do you wish you’d grown up?

via Sweetgreen.com

Lunch looks a lot different outside of the U.S.

For those of us who grew up in the United States eating lunch in a cafeteria, the idea of looking at a bunch of trays of school food may be less than compelling. But what's surprisingly interesting, however, is what children from the rest of the world are eating instead. Check out these common lunch dishes from around the globe and let us know they seem accurate.

The photos were part of a project entitled "School Lunches Around the World" by Sweetgreen In Schools , a program "that educates kids about healthy eating, fitness, and sustainability through fun, hands-on activities."

This article originally appeared on 10.30.17

From Your Site Articles
food
Science

100 years ago, people were eating things that most of us will never taste. So what happened?

Um ... where did all the seeds go?


Time travel back to 1905.

Back in 1905, a book called "The Apples of New York " was published by the New York State Department of Agriculture . It featured hundreds of apple varieties of all shapes, colors, and sizes, including Thomas Jefferson's personal favorite, the Esopus Spitzenburg.






That was 110 years ago, when commercial apple orchards were still pretty rare and when even in the biggest of those orchards, everything was done by hand.

1905, image of an apple orchard in Oregon

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But why is that apple book such a big deal? The book is significant because most of the apples listed in it have all but disappeared in the past century. DISAPPEARED. In fact, we used to have thousands of apple varieties, but most of those have largely vanished due to industrial agriculture. Now, many varieties are only found tucked away in agricultural research centers and preservationist orchards.

Fact: Today, the 15 most popular apple varieties account for 90% of all apple sales in the U.S. The most commonly sold apple? Red delicious.

2015 looks so different.

The fate of all those apple varieties is not uncommon. "In the last century, nearly 75% of our agricultural crops have disappeared. They're simply gone. Today, farmers primarily grow 12 crops. And of these, we mainly eat potatoes, rice, corn, and wheat. "

So what gives? Why the huge shift? In part, the shift has a lot to do with seed regulation. Back in the day, farmers would save seeds from year to year and share them with friends and neighbors. But nowadays, most seed production is controlled by big companies — and those companies patent their seeds , prohibiting things like seed saving or sharing.

So what do we do now?

Not all hope is lost (yay!) . It may be an uphill battle, but there are lots of small farmers working to preserve the freedom to freely share and use seeds. People store thousands of seeds from all around the world in buildings called seed banks, and trade with other farmers at seed swaps.

"They're preserving culture and biodiversity, one seed, one plant, and one person at a time." How 'bout them apples? (No, really, I bet those antique apples they're swappin' are ridiculously tasty.)

To check out the full story from The Lexicon of Sustainability, watch the video below:


This article originally appeared on August 14, 2016

From Your Site Articles
Joy

Why eggplants are called eggplants and 9 other fun food facts

Did you know that Doritos can help start a campfire? Our food is full of yummy surprises.

Representative Image From Canva

Food provides just as much entertainment as it does nourishment, doesn't it?

It’s funny how food is something that, presumably, every person on Earth has encountered each and every day of their life—probably three times a day, for most of us. And yet, food never ceases to surprise us. There are endless new flavor mash-ups, hidden histories and health benefits to discover.

So, in honor of this…as we are more likely to celebrate Pi day, Mar 14, with a deep dish pizza or merengue-filled pastry than we are to do anything remotely mathematical, let’s sink our teeth into some fun   food facts, shall we?

Enjoy 10 savory, sweet, and even surprising morsels of food-based tidbits below.

one There’s actually a good reason we call them eggplants

eggplant, eggplant recipes

Totally see how they got the name eggplant now

qph.cf2.quoracdn.net

Though across the pond these nightshades are called aubergine, they are called eggplants in the U.S. Which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, given that the eggplants we buy at the store are oblong and purple. I don’t know about you, but I’d be concerned for whatever bird laid an egg like that.

But when eggplants were first discovered in the mid-18th century (well, discovered by the British occupiers of India, anyway) they grew small an white out of the vine, much more akin to a chicken egg. These types of white eggplants still exist, but just aren’t as marketable as their purple counterparts.

Oh, and eggplants are technically more of a berry . Remember that next time you’re at Olive Garden.

While we’re on the subject of berries….

two Order a bouquet of…raspberries?

Raspberries, as well as strawberries and blackberries, aren’t actually berries, but are instead part of the rose family . Thorns and all.

However, botanically speaking, bananas, pumpkins and lemons totally are berries. Cause why not.

3. Going camping? Don’t forget the Doritos!

doritos, doritos campfire, camping

A nice campfire at only 150 calories per serving.

Representative Image From Canva

According to Mashed.com , Doritos have the perfect combination of cornstarch, vegetable oil, and salt to make them “flammable enough to maintain strong flames.” This goes for any corn based chip, really. So if you’re more of a Fritos or Cheetos person, fear not!

4. Julius Caesar did not create the Caesar salad. A guy in Tijuana did.

caesar salad, caesar sala recipe

So basically these should be served in both Mexican and Italian restaurants.

Representative Image From Canva

Back in 1927 hotel owner Caesar Cardin i made the salad for some guests using the limited ingredients he had on hand at the time: lettuce stalks, olive oil, raw egg, croutons, parmesan cheese and Worcestershire sauce. The concoction became one of the most popular salads of all time.

Granted, Caesar had moved from Italy to Tijuana to avoid Prohibition, so you could still say Caesar salad is an Italian food.

5. Spam stands for 'spiced ham'

Considering Spam is made with just six ingredients—pork, salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrate—seems a bit misleading. But definitely catchy.

6. Croissants aren't as French as they seem

cookie dough croissant, croissant recipe

No matter where they come from, croissants are delightful

Representative Image From Canva

What with cookie dough croissants going viral right now, this history lesson seemed the most appropo.

While these fluffy, flaky, buttery pastries seem about as Parisian as it gets, it is widely agreed that this style of baked bread first came from Austria, with the kipferl.

As the popular legend goes, the kipferl celebrated Vienna’s defeat of the Ottoman Empire, its shape representing the moon on the Ottoman flag.

Essentially, Vienna was eating its enemies.

7. Peanuts are the bomb. Literally.

The oil in peanuts makes glycerol, which is sometimes used to make nitro-glycerine —a key ingredient of dynamite. Of course, peanuts are not an essential dynamite ingredient.

8. Don’t let Froot Loops’ rainbow colors fool you

froot loops, cereal

Red=froot, blue=froot, yellow=froot…you get it.

Representative Image From Canva

There is only one flavor. " Froot flavor. ” That’s it. That’s all there ever was, and likely all there ever will be.

9. German chocolate cake was brought to you by a Texan

The first-ever published recipe for German chocolate cake can be traced back to a Texas homemaker in the '50s. “German” was used as a credit to Sam German (also not German) whose brand of baking chocolate was used to bake the cake. In fact, it was originally called “German’s Chocolate Cake. But eventually the “‘s” was dropped.

10. One single spaghetti noodle is called a spaghetto .

Welp, SpaghettiOs make even less sense now.

Of course, these fun facts are only appetizers in the never-ending courses of interesting stories our foods provide. But still, something to chew on.

From Your Site Articles
food
Family

Woman shares a simple hack for deboning a rotisserie chicken

Now you can get all of the meat.

via Jennifer Burk/Unsplash and 46137/Flickr

A rotisserie chiekcn becomes shredded chicken.

In a world where grocery prices are still sky-high , one deal that you can get at just about any grocery store is a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. In some places, you can get one for as low as $4.99 and they have enough meat on ‘em to feed a small family (with some sides, of course).

The trick to getting the most out of your reasonably priced chicken is ensuring no meat is left on the bone. That’s where a TikTokker named Katie R. comes in . She recently shared an easy technique that’ll help you remove all the meat from the bone, and the video was clearly a big help; it's received over 6.8 million views.

​ Here’s how it’s done: Place the chicken in a plastic freezer bag while it is still warm. Then, give the chicken a good massage, rubbing the meat out of the bones. Flip the bag over a few times, keep rubbing, and the meat will be separated from the bones in a few minutes.

Now you’re ready to make shredded chicken tacos.

#debonechickenhack #rotisseriechicken

@katierreames

#debonechickenhack #rotisseriechicken

One important note: When you’re done, be sure to thoroughly remove any small bones trapped among the shredded chicken.

The commenters loved the video, but a few joked that they never get to the point where they need to debone the chicken because they eat it while they’re still in the store. "Wait.. we’re not eating the whole thing while we shop ?" FaKup wrote. "Wait! We’re not eating the whole thing while picking up the groceries? Cause I thought that’s what it was for… just a snacky snack," Shannon added.

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