Free Republic

Even though the van used to transport the groceries from the store to the race track was jam packed with supplies, the $3,742.10 only covered food for three days. Freeman says that is just a fraction of the total cost the Sahara Force India team will spend throughout their time in Austin. “We normally spend about 10,000 pounds per race– that’s about $16,000,” said Freeman. Over the course of eight days, Chef Freeman and his kitchen crew of six people will prepare three meals-a-day for more than 100 people. That includes mechanical crews, drivers and their guests. “We couldn’t ship...

Would you eat “nuclear soup”? Japanese artists serve broth made with Fukushima-grown vegetables Philip Kendall 17 hours ago Would you eat a bowl of soup made mainly with vegetables grown in Fukushima Prefecture? What if the cook swore to you that everything that went into the soup had been tested and was safe for human consumption? Would you be able to push all thoughts of Fukushima Daiichi, contaminated groundwater and Blinky the three-eyed fish out of your mind long enough to risk a spoonful? A pair of artists from Japan recently gave visitors to the Frieze Art Fair in London...

A Papa John's employee who was shot and killed in a cold-blooded stickup inside a Tennessee restaurant was laid to rest Saturday in a moving ceremony attended by the national pizza chain's very own founder and CEO, his family said. John Schnatter flew out to Spring Hill to pay his respects to 22-year-old Gordon Schaffer's family along with about 25 cars packed with other Papa John's employees, his grieving sister said. "We never once imagined that this would touch anyone high up in the Papa John's corporate office, let alone, John Schnatter," his sister, Devan Cronin, posted on Facebook Sunday.

TOWN OF DANE, Wis. - The Dane County Sheriff’s Office is trying to determine who shot three pigs in their pen in the town of Dane. Deputies were called to 7503 Lodi-Springfield Rd just after 6 p.m. on Saturday by a farmer who reported three pigs had been shot. One of the pigs was dead, and the other two were injured severely enough they had to be euthanized.

While Michelle Obama’s skimpy school lunch mandates have been widely rejected by students and schools, the elite private school attended by both Obama daughters will be serving chicken wings and potato chips on Wednesday. Sidwell Friends is the elite private school with a $36,264 tuition per child where President Obama sent his daughtersinstead of Cardozo high school, a government-run school in Washington, D.C. After Wednesday’s chicken wings , on Thursday Obama’s daughters can get a Cuban sandwich. Pasco County Schools in Florida had to eliminate Cuban sandwiches because they violated Michelle Obama’s lunch standards. Land O’ Lakes High had gone...

He has been bitten on the nose by a leopard and had his shoulder separated after wrestling with a full-grown Bengal tiger.But Carl Bovard, who is blind in one eye, believes living with 14 big cats including two lions, six tigers and a desert lynx, is a risk worth taking to raise awareness about endangered species. They all spend time living in his Florida home before moving into the outside enclosure and are seen clambering over the pool table and cuddling up in his bed.   (edit)

I guess Orson Welles wasn't the only actor to hawk cheap wine to pay the bills. Yikes!

<p>Seattle this week to discuss their vegan recipes and America’s relationship with food.</p> <p>The cover of the controversial vegan cookbook, “Thug Kitchen.”</p> <p>They packed their suitcases only to learn Monday they were uninvited.</p> <p>Book Larder, a culinary-themed bookstore in Fremont, decided to cancel a book signing scheduled for Wednesday night over concerns that critics would take over the event.</p>

Hikers in Sierra Nevada are being told to stop taking selfies with the wild bears.The worrying and very real trend has seen visitors to South Lake Tahoe, California, put themselves at risk to get a share-able snap of themselves with a bear in the background.Hikers have got as close as a few feet away from the wild bears, and officials have now been forced to send out an official warning.   (edit)A recent visitor at the site said she saw dozens of people taking selfies with the bears, who were unafraid of the group.‘There were like 30 people taking pictures...

TRUMAN, Minn. (WCCO) — Thousands of animals have died in a massive fire in southern Minnesota. The fire broke out Saturday afternoon just after 3 p.m. at the Cougar Run Farm, near the town of Truman. “This is really hard for us right now,” Cougar Run employee Kaycee Gebhart said. “A truck is replaceable, barns are replaceable, but these hogs are our livelihood and we cared for them every day.” Roughly 50 percent of the hog farm was destroyed by the fire, that took the help of 10 responding agencies from across Martin County to get under control. “When we...

Crop rotation is the practice of growing different crops, on the same land, in sequential planting cycles ranging from 2 to 8 years...

In case anyone needed another reason to love chocolate, a new study suggests that a natural compound found in cocoa, tea and some vegetables can reverse age-related memory loss. The findings suggest that the compound increases connectivity and, subsequently, blood flow in a region of the brain critical to memory, the researchers said. Researchers said that if a person had the memory of a typical 60-year-old at the beginning of the study, after three months, on average, that person’s memory would function more like a 30- or 40-year-old’s. The researchers also cautioned that more work is needed because of the...

FELLSMERE, Fla. (CBS12) -- A 61-year-old man was arrested after he stabbed his nephew during a fight over pork chops, Fellsmere police say. Billy Wall and his nephew Charles Williams were arguing over the number of pork chops each one got to eat for dinner. -snip Both men began to fight again after Williams said his nephew grabbed a machete and threatened him.

Despite all the gloom and doom from people like Paul Ehrlich and the warmers who say global warming will stunt food production, the reality is far different. It seems the increase in CO2 along with adaptive crop genetics may have combined to produce this bonanza. Based on the latest forecasts for production and utilization, world cereal stocks at the close of crop seasons ending in 2015 would surge to 627.5 million tonnes, up 8.3 percent from an already large volume at the start of the season and its highest level in 15 years. Maize would account for the biggest increase,...

If you of a certain age, you may remember the great American heyday of kids’ breakfast cereals. It was a glorious time — a time when supermarket aisles as long as basketball courts teemed with boxes of sugary goodness and when we were all free to buy Count Chocula cereal every day of the year.Those days are long gone. Still, since 2010, Americans have at least been able to look forward to seasonal distribution of Count Chocula cereal — and Franken-Berry, and Boo-Berry — during the September and October run-up to Halloween.Now, even this tradition is imperiled because some hipster...

After posting yet another disappointing quarter, McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson said Tuesday the company hasn’t been keeping up with the times and that changes are in store for its U.S. restaurants. Thompson said that starting in January, McDonald’s will “simplify” its menu to make room for restaurants to offer options that are best-suited for their regions. To offer greater customization, he also said the company planned to expand its “Create Your Taste” offering that lets people pick the buns and toppings they want on burgers by tapping a touchscreen. The program is currently being offered in Southern California, and McDonald’s...

You'd figure a typical Roman gladiator to be a real meat-and-potatoes guy, right? You'd be figuring wrong—at least if you were talking about gladiators from the city of Ephesus.

LOS ANGELES: Men who are vegans and vegetarians may have significantly reduced sperm counts than meat eaters, according to a new study. Researchers at Loma Linda University Medical School in the US found that while a diet that is rich in fruit and vegetables can protect against many illnesses and can prolong life, it appears that it may also harm fertility. Researchers studied how diets affect sperm in study participants in southern California. The region has a high population of Seventh-Day Adventist Christians who are strict vegetarians. Seventh-day Adventists live an average of 10 years longer than the American life...

The World Trade Organization has rejected U.S. rules requiring labels on packaged steaks, ribs and other cuts of meat identifying where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered. In a ruling Monday, the WTO said the requirements put Canadian and Mexican livestock at an unfair disadvantage. …