Poor Haitians Having to Eat Dirt

Due to rising food prices, many poor people in Haiti can’t afford food and have to resort to eating mud and dirt. A traditional Haitian remedy for curing hunger pains involves making cookies from dried yellow dirt from Haiti’s central plateau. For a long time the mud has been used by pregnant women and children as an antacid and a source of calcium.

Food prices around the entire world have increased due to higher oil prices and oil is needed for fertilizer, irrigation, and transportation. The increase in demand for biofuels is also affecting the food markets. The Caribbean islands depend heavily on imported goods and food prices have risen 40 percent in some areas.

The 2007 hurricane season caused floods and crop damage so bad that the U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency had to declare states of emergency in Haiti and other Caribbean countries. Leaders in the Caribbean held an emergency summit in December to talk about reducing food taxes and making large regional farms to decrease the dependence on imported goods.

The cost of the dirt isn’t free. The dirt to make 100 cookies costs $5. About 80 percent of the Haitian population lives on less than $2 per day. Merchants would bring the dirt by truck from a central town to the food market. Women would buy the dirt and then process it into mud cookies. They would have to strain out the rocks and clumps from the dirt on a sheet and stir in shortening and salt to make the cookies. The cookies would be left out in the sun to dry. Some people sell the cookies in the market or on the street to make money.

It is not safe to eat the mud cookies because dirt can have deadly parasites or toxins. The cookies can also cause malnutrition. A positive thing about the cookies though is that they can strengthen the immunity of fetuses in pregnant women.

Bill Nye the Science Guy Seeking Restraining Order Against Ex

Bill Nye, who hosted the PBS series “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” is seeking a permanent restraining order against his ex-fiancé, Blair Tindall. He claims that she tried to poison his vegetable garden. He says that she went to this home on September 3^rd dressed in black and carrying two plastic bottles filled with a solvent and thinks that the solvent was poured on his garden, from which he eats the food he grows. He wants the restraining order to keep his ex away from his house and to keep her from contacting him.

His ex-fiancé is the author of “Mozart in the Jungle” and a former concert oboist. She admitted to pouring two bottles of weed killer in his garden. She says that she only meant to hurt his garden and not him. She also says that she has started counseling and is not a threat to Nye. A hearing is scheduled for December 20^th for the case.

New York Restaurant Offers Dessert Costing $25,000

A New York restaurant, called Serendipity 3, is offering the most expensive dessert in the world. The dessert is called the Frrrozen Haute Chocolate. It is a frozen and slushy mix of cocoas from 14 countries, milk, and 5 grams of 24-carat gold with whip cream on top and shavings from a La Madeline au Truffle. It is served in a goblet with a band of gold and decorated with 1 carat of diamonds. It is also served with a golden spoon that you can take home with you.

Sleeping Pills Cause Woman to Awake From Coma

A sleeping pill named zolpidem, sold under the name Ambien, caused a 23 year old woman named Amy Pickard to awake from a 6 year coma after being given the drug. She is one of 360 patients from around the world that is involved in a test trial of using zolpidem to treat coma patients. She had gone into a coma at the age of 17 after injection heroine. After taking the pill, she was able eat and breathe on her own. She is also able to visually focus on things in her room and starting to talk again.

New Dinosaur Species Found in Argentina

In Argentina a skeleton of a new dinosaur was found. The dinosaur was 105 feet long and a plant eater. It is one of the largest dinosaurs found in Argentina. It was named Futalognkosaurus dukei after the Mapuche Indian words “giant” and “chief” and for the Duke Energy Argentina that helped to financially fund the excavation of the skeleton.

Paleontologists have already dug up the dinosaur’s neck, back region, hips, and the first vertebra of its tail. The neck is estimated to be 56 feet long and the tail was about 49 feet long. The weight of the spinal column was 9 tons. Even though they have found most of its bones they still have to find the bones of its arms and legs. The other two largest dinosaurs were also found in Argentina. The Argentinosaurus was115 feet long and the Puertasaurus reuili was between 115 to 131 feet long.

Scientist Explain Reasons for Chocolate Cravings

A study has found there is a type of bacteria in the digestive system that craves chocolate. Everyone has microbes in their stomach but people who have chocolate cravings have different colonies of bacteria.

The study was done by finding 11 men who never ate chocolate and 11 men who ate chocolate everyday. All of the men wee healthy, not obese, and were fed the same foods for five days. The researchers examined the byproducts of their metabolism in their blood and urine and found that a dozen substances were different between the two groups. The amino acid glycine levels were higher in the men that ate chocolate. People who ate chocolate also had lower levels of bad cholesterol.

It is known that bacteria interact with what you eat and studies have shown that intestinal bacteria changes when people lose weight. Someday, some types of obesity will be able to be treated by changing the bacteria in the intestines and stomach.

Burger King Will Have Healthier Kid’s Menu

Burger King has decided to offer healthier items on their menu for children under age 12. They plan to sell flame-broiled Chicken Tenders and apples cut to look like thickly cut french fries. They also have set nutritional guidelines to follow when targeting children under 12 years old in advertising by only advertising Kids Meals that have less than 560 calories with less than 30 percent of the calories from fat and no more than 10 percent of the calories from added sugars.

The company is making a Kids Meal that will have the flame-broiled Tenders, organic unsweetened applesauce, and low-fat milk. The meal would have 305 calories and 8.5 grams of fat. They are also in the process of developing the BK Fresh Apple Fries, which are red apples that are cut to look like french fries and are served in the same containers as fries. They are not fried and are served without the skin and cold. They will only have 35 calories. Burger King will use U.S. grown apples that are cut and packaged in a clean and sterile environment. They will wash the apples with a pre-wash that contains lemon to prevent them from turning brown.

All of the changes and improvements are an effort to offer healthier options and make people more aware and cautious about what they eat and feed their children at fast-food restaurants. It will only be successful if the food tastes good and is filling. It may bring positive and healthy changes.

New Spinach Recall

Yesterday there was another recall on bagged spinach after it was tested for salmonella. Click this link to read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295111,00.html