Five Fascinating Links

Food: Whole Foods, Expensive Cheese, and the Dilemma of Cheap Prison Labor.

I had no idea public-private enterprises for prison labor use existed (again). It seems like a sticky situation, in that I can understand the arguments that this is a good thing and a bad thing. It’s definitely something for me to further mull over. And I’d love to know your thoughts on the matter, please.

A cheese board with built in cutlery. Alas, it won't help me cut through the ethical problems with so many cheeses.

Beer: The Defining Reason to Talk About Sam Adams Not Being ‘Craft’

“Craft” is a tricky word in the beer industry and in the beer community. You may have heard about (or participated in!) the debates around “craft vs ‘crafty’,” but the conversation seems to have died down some in the years since that press release was put out. While I doubt Bryan Roth is trying to rekindle that debate, his data-driven assessment of Sam Adams may do just that.

Science: How Giant Prawns Could Fight Tropical Disease and Poverty

If I could write half as well as Ed Yong, I’d be overjoyed. In this case, he takes on one of my most favorite topics: biological controls of biological problems. In this case, a stable source of fresh water for much of Senegal resulted in schistosomiasis. However, a giant prawn that also has significant possibilities for economic use can take care of that problem. Maybe.

Blather: The Diversity Racket.

What are we losing to not let people be their whole selves; when we ask them to do the hard, hard work of making a space more inclusive?

One of mine: Some Food Science Related to Brewers’ Spent Grain.

Bill and I have a very leaky blender at this point. It still makes amazing smoothies, but it leaks. The Sweet Home’s post on blenders makes it clear this is probably my fault. But, really, how can I not want to mill brewers’ spent grain when there’s so much to love about it?

A blender making spent grain flour. For delicious, delicious things.

3 thoughts on “Five Fascinating Links

  1. Is the spent grain wet when you are putting it in yr blender? If not, might a grain mill be a better solution both for yr grains & smoothies that don’t leak away?

    • It’s dry, yeah. A grain mill is almost certainly where we’re going next, but our readings lead us to understand that we could use the blender for this. Since we didn’t know if this was going to be a major thing or a one off, it seemed best to use things we already owned.

      That said, once we started looking up grain mills, Bill started looking at milling his own wheat for bread. And, to be clear, this was months ago. This isn’t a Portland, Oregon-induced phase.

    • If we get serious (more serious?), the next step is probably the KitchenAid attachment . Cheaper than a full-size mill though not quite as capable. Also, it’ll help Tasha justify the bigger stand mixer 🙂

Comments are closed.