food

Vendr.tv combines three of my favorite things in their latest episode: cycling, food, and Los Angeles.

“One thing about LA – you can’t escape the sun. Everywhere you look people are tanning, swimming, and running. So, a mobile ice cream vendor is often the perfect fix to beat the heat. Enter Locali, a bicycle powered ice pop shop that focuses on serving local, organic, and sustainable ice cream products all over Los Angeles.”

Reports of Walmart going into the local food business have focused on blind taste tests and the competition with Whole Foods and other locavore suppliers.

What it reminds me of is Microsoft’s “Embrace, extend, extinguish” strategy of destroying competition…or really, a similar strategy to what Walmart has been doing all along to local businesses. Artificially deflated prices forces competitors out and eventually destroys any semblance of a healthy local economic ecosystem. It’s even spawned a neologism: Walmarting.

Do you think Walmart would have done this if there weren’t Whole Foods, Fresh & Easy, and other such stores around? Do you think Walmart will keep those local-food prices artificially low once they force other stores out of business? Will they even carry local food after that?

Find your local food producers and support them directly.

“Canned food is a perversion,” Ignatius said. “I suspect that it is ultimately very damaging to the soul.”

— from A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Dan Buettner, writer for National Geographic, and a team studied communities around the world where a higher percentage of people lived to older ages, even into their 100s. In this TED video, Dan describes three communities they found where folks both grow older and grow older better. He refers to the talk as “How to Live Past 100+”, but really it’s about how to better your chances of a longer, healthier life — more years and better ones.

At the end, he outlines the nine common elements they distilled from studying the Nuoro Province in Sardinia, Okinawa, and Loma Linda, right down the road here in Southern California.

The big do’s:

1. Move Naturally — physical activity every day, but not in gyms.
2. Right Outlook — downshifting intensity during the day, sense of purpose.
3. Eat Wisely — wine, plants (legumes, nuts, leafy greens), some meat, but don’t overeat.
4. Connect — belong in your family, friends, tribe.

Fascinating talk. I was worried it was going to be a bit snake oily, but it wound up being quite interesting.

Pedaling.tv is a new web series that combines two of my favorite topics: cycling and food! :)

PEDALING: is a web-based cycling travel series featuring unique characters, regional food and wine activities, special guests, and unexpected curves in the road. PEDALING: is an original production of BrakeThrough Media and Panforte Productions.

Via Cyclelicious, who mentioned that they will be launching January 5th and will start with NYC.