Posts Tagged: chocolate
If You Like Chocolate, Thank the Midges!
If you like chocolate, thank the midges. These tiny flies (about 1 to 3mm) pollinate the intricate...
Ernesto Sandoval, collections manager for the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, checks out the cacao tree, aka "chocolate tree." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Coleus, Pretty, and Pretty Easy to Grow.
By Denise Seghesio Levine, U.C. Master Gardener of Napa County A seed packet of Rainbow...
Please Pass the Chocolate Chirp Cookies
Bugs: they're what's for dinner! Well, at some dinners. In. Many. Parts. Of. The....
Chocolate Chirp Cookies, the work of Heather Baker, UC Davis graduate student studying malaria mosquitoes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology cookie social! From left: account manager Guyla Yoak, contest coordinator; and winners Elvia Mayes, account manager; Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the department; Heather Baker, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Shirley Luckhart lab; Stacey Rice, junior specialist of the Larry Godfrey lab; and Mimi Portilla, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Sharon Lawler lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Anybody for Chocolate Chirp Cookies?
If you're whipping up a cookie recipe for an entomology social, it's a good idea to use cricket...
Account manager Guyla Yoak (far left) coordinated the cookie contest. With her (from left) are the winners: Elvia Mayes, account manager; Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; Heather Baker, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Shirley Luckhart lab; Stacey Rice, junior specialist of the Larry Godfrey lab; and Mimi Portilla, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Sharon Lawler lab.
These Chocolate Chirp Cookies, the work of graduate student Heather Baker, won first in the innovative category.
"Merrie Minnies," entered by account manager Elvia Mayes, won the "Best Decorated" category.
Two winners! "Citrus Cranberry Walnut Cookies" (left), made by department chair Steve Nadler won "Best Taste Without Chocolate" while "Chocolate Bug Bites," made by junior entomology specialist Stacey Rice, won "Best Taste with Chocolate."
These White Poinsetta Almond Cookies, the work of cookie contest coordinator Guyla Yoak, drew oohs and aahs from the crowd. As the coordinator, she removed herself from the winners' circle. (Yoak earlier won third place in a Staff Assembly cookie contest with these decorative cookies.)
The great flavored milk debate
There has been much talk about flavored milk in recent months, and much of this debate has been fueled by Jamie Oliver who has a popular television show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, on ABC. His goal is simple: "To revolutionize school lunches to save the health of America’s next generation." Oliver launched a “sugary milk campaign” back in April, 2011. The purpose of the campaign is to ask schools to promote plain white milk instead of flavored milks. According to Oliver’s website, “chocolate milk has the same amount of sugar as a soft drink and just one additional soft drink per day increases a child’s obesity risk by 60 percent and is a major contributor to Type 2 diabetes.”
Well before Oliver emerged on the scene, people have debated the merits of offering flavored milk in the school lunch program. Chocolate (the most common), strawberry, vanilla and other interesting flavors are widely available in districts across the country. The milk provides essential nutrients, but with that comes added sugars that contribute extra calories to the diet – something most American children do not need.
Is there a place for flavored milk on the school lunch tray?
According to the American Dietetic Association, the Dairy Council and other health and nutrition organizations – the answer is yes.
Supporters of flavored milk in schools argue that it provides nine essential nutrients – unlike sodas and other sweetened beverages that offer no nutritional benefit besides extra calories.
According to the American Dietetic Association, leading health and nutrition organizations (including the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical Association and School Nutrition Association) recognize the role that low-fat or fat free milk (including flavored milk) plays in helping kids achieve daily dairy serving recommendations. According to the ADA, kids will drink more milk when it’s flavored and kids drink less milk (and get fewer nutrients) when flavored milk is taken away.
The Diary Council offers an overview for school nutrition professionals in favor of flavored milk on the lunch tray. The Dairy Council of California argues that we cannot forget flavored milk has both natural sugars (lactose) and added sugar, and the amount of high-fructose corn syrup added to flavored milk is much less than the amount added to sugary beverages like soda or other processed foods. Additionally, some studies suggest that kids who drink flavored milk are less likely to consume soda and other sugary beverages, they consume more nutrients and are more likely to maintain a healthy body weight.
Where does LAUSD, the school district placed at the center of this debate, stand?
The burning question we all want to know the answer to now is, will LAUSD students switch over to low fat or fat free plain milk when chocolate or strawberry milk is no longer available in the fall? The answer will be very interesting and perhaps will put an end to the great flavored milk debate!