snackdown! - 4.9.10

it's time to play ball bitchez! this week, the baseball season officially kicked off with sunday night's game between the ny yankees & my beloved boston red sox. with a new baseball season comes the usual 1,001 stories about all the new & diverse food options now available in & around the ballparks, from food & drink at jerry remy's new sports bar & grill in boston to tony o's cuban sandwich at minnesota's new target field. a bar & grill endorsed by a beloved sportscaster & a cuban sandwich endorsed by a former star outfielder? you can't beat that with a bat! let's get to the snackdown!

• about a year back, frito-lay announced that they were going to start selling their sun chips in compostable packaging. this year, they're continuing their eco-friendly efforts as they've made a licensing deal with ecoist, a company that "upcycles" waste into "stylish, high quality, and limited collection handbags." through the agreement, ecoist will be upcycling frito-lay waste into items like "purses, clutches and place mats." they also offer a potato chip bowl that's "hand-woven from 260 'upcycled' lays potato chip bags," the perfect gift for someone who thinks that it's a good idea to spend $40 on a potato chip bowl just because it's made from upcycled materials. (la times)


• if there's one thing that the hemingway name is known for, it's bliss. with that in mind, mariel hemingway, who's best known for her role in woody allen's 1979 film manhattan, has recently come out with blisscuits, a snack she developed in her kitchen & describes as a "healthy 'health' bar." as of right now, they're only available in nyc (at gourmet garage) & in seattle (at tully's coffee), but the blisscuit website promises that that'll change soon, "because of its wonderful taste, incredible food value, and support of healthy living, while being actively promoted by mariel’s involvement and reputation." bonus! if you're a fan of hers, she'll be visiting five different tully's coffee locales today & tomorrow. feel the bliss, people. (seattle post-intelligencer)


• you might think that germans feast on nothing but schnitzel & bratwurst, but that's not the case. according to abc news and a 2008 poll by german men's health magazine, doner kebab, a "grilled meat snack that comes wrapped in a pita bread with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions and different dressings" has become germany's favorite fast food item. the snack, which was "originally made of lamb and sold only on a plate," came to germany forty years ago along with a large influx of turkish folks. since its arrival, it's gone through some changes, as doner kebab vendors have added pita bread & dressing to the mix. mcdonald's germany hasn't tried to capitalize on its popularity yet, but based on the recent addition of nyc-themed cupcakes to their menu, i have trouble believing that a mcdoner kebab's not in the works. (abc news)


• it's a sad time for pickle businesses here in nyc. a century ago, the lower east side was home to a thriving pickle industry, with "as many as 150 other pickle places in existence," but these days, there's little left of that industry. sure there's still the annual pickle festival, but last august, guss' pickles (a l.e.s. fixture for 85 years) had to close down their manhattan location & move to brooklyn. all that remains now is the pickle guys. i guess folks just don't have the same enthusiasm for soured, phallic-shaped vegetables that they used to. (straits times)


• while pickles are hurting in nyc, nationwide, hummus is on the rise. as fox news reports, hummus has been a dietary mainstay in the middle east for centuries, but here in the u.s., it's only recently become popular. according to information resources inc (some market research company). back in 2006 it was only in 12% of households, but by last year, it was in 17% of them. in the last twenty-one months, u.s. hummus consumption has increased by 35%. gitti crowley, the VP of marketing for tribe hummus "attributes its growth to america's embrace of ethnic foods in general." i attribute it to bruno's attempt to jumpstart the israeli-palestinian peace process. (fox news)

nosh nook #25 - friday, april 17, 2009

sunchips bags to disintegrate (link)
04.16.09 - the topeka capital journal - by mike hall

i've always enjoyed sunchips. they have simple flavors, taste good (mmm french onion) & aren't as greasy as most chips. compared to the rest of chips out there, they're healthier for you than most & fairly harmless overall. now frito-lay/pepsico is attempting to make them less harmless on the environment as well, with 100% compostable packaging. i'm part hippie & as such, really love the totally positive vibe that sunchips have always given off.  being environmentally conscious only enhances that vibe.

according to mike hall's article, frito-lay has already "reduced the amount of plastic in packaging by 10 percent in the past five years." starting now, they're going to start selling sunchips in bags that are one-third compostable, with the goal of making the bags 100% compostable by earth day of next year. they're doing so by using polyactic acid/plant-based material in their packaging.

it's good to see that pepsico is doing something about their environmental impact. as a multinational, multi-billion dollar company, they have a larger impact on the globe than many small countries do. as hall notes, frito-lay donated $1 million dollars to help repair greensburg, ks, the town that was basically leveled by a tornado almost two years ago. they also had a hand in "inaugurating a solar concentrator field at frito-lay’s modesto, calif., facility," and "(e)nergy from the sun’s rays is helping run the modesto plant."

it looks like making efforts like this, so that frito-lay/pepsico can have a counterweight against the negative efffects of their corporate impact, has now become the cost of doing business. sure, they're still pepsico, but for now, i'll take it, especially if it makes sunchips more appealing.