Nevis Mango and Food Festival Set For July 8-10

May 31, 2016 By: Newswire

Nevis is getting set for its annual "Mango and Food Festival" from July 8-10. This year, the Nevis Mango and Food Festival has a roster of events that will take guests throughout the island and that will feature dinners and cooking demonstrations by two very special European chefs. 

On Friday, July 8, the festival kicks off with the "Mango Madness Street Fair" down Main Street in Charlestown, which celebrates all things mango.

There will be displays and sales of mango varieties and food products, cooking demonstrations and tastings, a presentation on how to graft mango trees and lots of music and entertainment. 

That evening begins the three-day dining extravaganza with a gourmet mango-themed dinner at Montpelier Plantation & Beach with U.K. "Iron Chef" Judy Joo. A Korean-American French-trained chef based in London, Joo draws from her unique personal and professional experiences, melding tastes from Asia, America and Europe in her recipes.

On Saturday evening, U.K chef Natasha Corrett will prepare a dinner appropriately held at Four Seasons Mango Restaurant. Corrett is author of the bestselling book, "Honestly Healthy: Eat with Your Body in Mind, the Alkaline Way."

Sunday afternoon, visitors will enjoy a "Nevisian Chefs Mango Feast" on beautiful Oualie Beach, where authentic Nevisian mango dishes will be prepared and served by some of the best local chefs on Nevis. 

For more information, click here and visit www.nevisisland.com.

What do you think of this $type? Latest News in Saint Kitts and Nevis
Source: Nevis Mango and Food Festival Set For July 8-10

Easy Ways to Reduce Travel Expenses

One of the major reasons that stop you from travelling to your dream destinations could be the expense that comes along with it. However, if you're smart enough while planning the trip, you can travel to those places at a pocket-friendly budget. Let's take a look of some of the ways to reduce travel expenses and efficiently plan the trip!

1. Avoid Travelling During Peak Season

Travelling to popular destinations during the 'best time to visit' is a NO if you're looking for a budget-friendly travel. The accommodation and the travel expenses would be higher during these seasons. Do ensure that you don't visit any place during festive seasons like Diwali, Holi, etc.

Photo Courtesy: Satish Krishnamurthy 

2. Book Your Flights Well Ahead

If you're planning to visit a place that demands air travel, it is always better to plan it well in advance. You can save a lot on your flight tickets this way.

3. Check Out the Time of the Flights

It's not just the dates of the air journey that matters, even the time of your travel has a role to play when it comes to the cost of the tickets. Choose tickets that are not during late night or early morning, which are generally expensive than day travel.

 

4. Go For a Tour Package

Instead of going to an unknown city and trying to explore it your own, you can try any of the reliable tour operators available. You may avail exciting offers along with hotel/flight tickets too, which may fetch you upto 30% discount on the rates.

5. Trains are Economic

If you're travelling a distance not too far, it's better to opt for a train rather than spending all the money on flight tickets. There are trains run by Indian Railways that are exclusively for tourists, taking you to major cities at reasonable fares.

6. Reduce The Cost of Food

If you choose to stay at a hotel where extra amount is charged for food, your travel expenses are likely to increase. Go for a decent hotel where the rent also covers the food, so that you don't have to spend on food outside.

7. Avoid Cities

Life is cities is expensive compared to villages. Since rural tourism is gaining popularity, you should give a shot visiting some such places where you can stay away from the crowd, enjoy the place without being heavy on the pocket.

Source: Easy Ways to Reduce Travel Expenses

BBC Food website 'could close': All you need to know

Food will disappear, but the recipes will be archived and moved over to BBC Good Food. The BBC's Travel website will also be axed.

The cost-cutting exercise comes amid government pressure to reduce non-essential services to justify continued state funding.

The recipes you love will still be available and we'll migrate as much of the content as possible to the BBC Good Food website.

Over time, they may get a bit harder to find, for reasons that a young person who knows what search engine optimisation is might be able to explain.

On Tuesday morning, the BBC said the recipes would be removed from the internet.

It is expected that BBC website users can expect a reduction in local news and travel content. Maybe Chancellor George Osborne is partly to blame, as he highlighted recipes as one area of the BBC's "imperial ambitions" that needed to be curbed.

BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker tweeted: 'Has there ever been a more pointless thing than removing recipes from a website that loads of people enjoy?

In last week's White Paper, though, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale urged the Beeb to make "more distinctive programmes". Those recipes are yours, you paid for them with your licence fee.

Coast Guard, Good Samaritan rescue four survivors following in-air mishapThe planes were involved in "an in-flight mishap" at around 10:40 a.m. during a routine training mission, the Navy said. A second helicopter team from Air Station Elizabeth City hoisted the two Navy airmen from the fishing vessel.

"There's been a lot of interest in BBC recipes today", a BBC spokesperson said.

On the surface the BBC is being responsive to the needs of commercial publishers by trimming back its sites, but Ian Whittaker, media analyst at Liberum thinks there's there more to it.

"We have said firstly that the BBC needs to be more distinctive".

We've most of us tried BBC recipes at one point or another - delicious cake from Mary Berry, yummy curries from Jamie Oliver, decadent creamy dishes from the lovely Nigella - and they're tried and tested and they work.

The corporation had come under criticism for not offering services that were distinct enough from newspapers.

Close the BBC's Food website.

Hours after the news broke, a developer called Howard Yeend had set up a website called Auntie's Recipes promising a searchable index of the BBC pages.

Source: BBC Food website 'could close': All you need to know

Tap Your Foot While You Eat: Best 3 Live Music Restaurants in Mumbai

Mumbai, the dreamers' paradise, is also a haven for music lovers and foodies alike. There are plenty of restaurants where they play your favourite music as you relish a sumptuous meal with your loved ones. Here are some of the best eateries to try out, to hum along a song as you eat!

1. The Den - Khar WestBeing a buzzing city, it is rare that you find a restaurant with a peaceful ambience in Mumbai. The Den is one such place which is ideal for couples who would want to spend some time for themselves, away from the crowd, with some good food and soft music to accompany.

Cuisine: North Indian, European, AmericanOpening Hours: 6pm-1.30am (Sundays - 12pm-1.30am)Address: Ground Floor, Prabhat Kunj, 24th Road, Khar West, Khar

A view of Hard Rock CafePhoto Courtesy: Official Website 

2. Hard Rock Cafe - WorliHard Rock Café is for the rock-n-roll lover in you. Located in Worli, the café is a perfect place for food, music and for the crazy crowd that makes the space alive. The Swiss burger served here is one not to be missed. You can also buy goodies from t-shirts to mugs from Rock Shop, an in-house store.

Cuisine: American, Continental, ItalianOpening Hours: Restaurant hours - 12pm-1.30am, Rock Shop hours - 12pm-1amAddress: Bombay Dyeing Mill Compound, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Worli Mumbai

A live crowd at The Blue FrogPhoto Courtesy: Official Website 

3. The Blue Frog - Lower ParelThe Blue Frog is an event space where book launches, parties and other events keep happening. Music lovers flock in to the café to have some great food as they indulge in some good food. It is also known to have a good choice of drinks.

Cuisine: European, AsianOpening Hours: 6pm-1am (Happy hours - 6pm-9pm from Tue-Sun)Address: D/2 Mathuradas Mills Compound, NM Joshi Marg, India, Lower Parel

If you're still not convinced with the cafés mentioned above, you could also try Exotic Flavours at Mulund West, Jughead's - The Unrestaurant at Andheri West or Fushion Dhaba at Thane West. Eat, drink and have fun!

Source: Tap Your Foot While You Eat: Best 3 Live Music Restaurants in Mumbai

Be our guest, not our pest: Summer travel rules to enjoy places without destroying them

What are you doing for your summer vacation this year - killing any wildlife? Destroying spectacular natural habitats?

The news has been littered with horrible tales of tourists behaving badly in historic forests, tropical beaches and international theme parks.

Disneyland Shanghai, which doesn't even open until June 16, has already had to issue an etiquette guide this week because guests attending the Magic Kingdom's soft opening have been trashing the place. One guest tweeted a photo of a child defecating on the grass in the new park's plaza - with her mother's help.

Come on, people. We're literally turning each of these perfect vacation spots into a dump. So with Memorial Day kicking off the summer travel season this weekend, park rangers and tourism ambassadors share how to visit a place without destroying it.

WATCH OUT FOR WILDLIFE

If you take one golden rule from this guide, it should be:

*Don't touch the animals. Two tragic scenarios include the bison calf that had to be put down in Yellowstone National Park after two well-meaning guests put it in their SUV. And some thoughtless beachgoers killed a baby dolphin in Argentina after passing it around to take selfies with it. "Let wildlife be wild, and watch from a distance," said Sarah Aucoin, the chief of education and wildlife at the NYC Parks Department. If self-interest must be your guide, know that approaching animals increases your risk of getting bitten, exposing you to diseases.

*Don't take the animals. A natural corrolary to the previous rule is to leave animals where you find them. Guests often stumble across baby animals whose parents left them briefly to forage. "You don't know that, as a matter of fact, the mother is in the bushes right behind them waiting for you to leave," Aucoin said. And once an animal scents humans on its offspring, it may reject it. So if you think an animal is in distress, call 911 (or 311 in NYC) to get a trained expert to assess the situation.

*Don't feed the animals. Any of them, anywhere. That includes giving peanuts to squirrels and bread to ducks. "It really is not good for them," said Aucoin, who recently saw someone put out a bowl of pasta bolognese for the birds in Central Park. Look, if it's not that great for humans, imagine what it could do to a critter's GI tract. "Plus when animals begin to associate people with food, they will approach people for food, which could result in an animal becoming a nuisance and needing to be taken care of," added Aucoin. And yes, "taken care of" can mean euthanization.

LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS IN FORESTS

Last weekend, the University of Oregon fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha trashed a Lake Shasta campground so badly that rangers aren't sure they'll have it cleaned up by Memorial Day. They've already collected a ridiculous amount of garbage, including a cooler reading "Do you wanna do some blow man?"

*Don't litter. This is true everywhere, but especially when camping and hiking. The golden rule: Take out what you bring in. That includes all of your camping equipment, garbage and food leftovers. This not only leaves the place pristine for the next person, but it will keep away animals that might be drawn to the trash. We want to keep the beasties and the tourists a respectable distance apart, remember?

*Don't deface rocks, tree trunks or any other natural formations. Vanessa Hudgens recently made news when she was fined $1,000 for carving her and her boyfriend's names into the historic red rock formations at Arizona's Coconino National Park. Don't be like Vanessa. Resist the urge to draw or etch onto the scenery. It's vandalism. We don't need what few natural wonders we have left tagged with grafitti.

*Don't walk off marked paths. The same week the bison was put down in Yellowstone, news broke that four Canadian adventure tourists videotaped themselves stepping off the path at the parks's hot springs and trampling the delicate ground. "Boardwalks and trails protect you and preserve delicate formations," explain Yellowstone park rules, which are there to protect both the springs and its visitors. "Scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust. Pools may be near or above the boiling temperature and can cause severe, possibly even fatal, burns."

But the same goes for the paths in Central Park and in Brooklyn Bridge Park. "Many of these acres of wild, natural area have undergone very careful restoration to return native species to the place, and going off the path can destroy them," said Aucoin.

*Don't pick flowers, branches or artifacts. Whether you're in Yellowstone or Central Park, taking wildflowers, antlers, rocks, and arrowheads is bad. Technically, those are natural or cultural resources, and their removal disturbs the delicate ecosystem and historic value of a place. Plus, don't be an ass. If all 8.5 million New Yorkers picked "just one flower" or foraged mushrooms and berries, then there would be no flowers left for anyone to enjoy - and no mushrooms or berries for animals to live on. See how that works?

PRESERVE ISLAND PARADISES

Thailand authories closed the popular Koh Tachai island indefinitely last week because tourists have littered the pristine white beaches with garbage and food waste, and gasoline from tour boats has polluted the water and damaged the coral reefs. The Bahamas have launched public service announcements to educate guests on the dos and don'ts of island life, according to Earlston McPhee from the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.

*Pick up after yourself. "Land pollution is one of the great threats to our fragile marine environment," said McPhee - and more than 75% of that trash ends up in the water, turning that crystal-clear sea into a murky mess. "Tourists can assist by ensuring that their trash is placed in secure garbage receptacle bins."

*Save energy. The countries that you visit may not have the same resources as your home does. Fresh water is an expensive commodity in island communities, so don't leave the water running. And turn off the lights and the air conditioning when you leave your hotel room to conserve electricity.

*When diving or snorkeling, take photos, leave bubbles. "Some visitors ... attempt to touch and or take samples of coral or a sensitive natural resource," said McPhee. It took up to 10,000 years for many reefs to grow. The damage from divers won't be repaired in our lifetime. And don't attempt to smuggle your own "Finding Nemo" clownfish or another decorative fish out of the reef. It's illegal, and it's also endangering many species.

Send a Letter to the Editor Join the Conversation: facebook Tweet
Source: Be our guest, not our pest: Summer travel rules to enjoy places without destroying them

Singapore: colonial heritage, cool modern architecture, food

ap file photos

Clockwise from above, swimmers in a pool overlooking the Singapore skyline; suspension bridge in the "supertrees" of Gardens by the Bay; street in Singapore's Chinatown district.

SINGAPORE

Info: yoursingapore.com/en.html.

FYI: Tropical climate, frequent rainfall (heaviest November-early January). EZ-Link transit cards cover public transportation and taxis, as well as many food and drink outlets.

At 51, Singapore is shrugging off all symptoms of a midlife crisis and embracing travelers with more and better things to see, taste and experience than ever before.

The tiny city-state with a living standard the envy of many nations recently celebrated 50 years of independence since being thrown out of the Malaysian federation. Back then there was no telling what the future held; the nation's founder, Lee Kuan Yew, reportedly cried as he announced the split. But Singapore has emerged as one of Asia's most prosperous, multicultural and stable countries. It's also famously clean, with strict laws against littering.

Travelers have long used Singapore as a stopover en route to more exotic Asian destinations. But there's enough here for a longer stay. Attractions can be split into neat categories: colonial heritage, contemporary attractions, ethnic neighborhoods, food and shopping. Coupled with stunningly efficient transportation, it's easy to plan an itinerary lasting several days.

I started my visit with a walk exploring Singapore's British colonial past along the city's quays. Historic buildings here include the Gothic St. Andrew's Cathedral, Victoria Theatre and the Empress Place Building, which houses the intriguing Asian Civilisations Museum. The famous Raffles Hotel is a colonial gem that has hosted the likes of Rudyard Kipling and Michael Jackson, while the Fullerton Hotel was the main post office until 1996. Off the Fullerton, I took time to admire the intricate Cavenagh and Anderson bridges, landing conveniently on Boat Quay, a buzzy waterfront of bars and restaurants. As I walked, I snacked on a mango wafer-ice cream sandwich, topping it off with a kopi, a traditional coffee drink made from beans roasted with butter and sugar, sometimes served with rich condensed milk.

Finish off your heritage walk with some of Singapore's striking contemporary architecture: the Norman Foster-designed Supreme Court, the Esplanade Theatres or the flower-shaped ArtScience Museum, reached via the quirky Helix Bridge, shaped like DNA's double helix.

The backdrop for all this is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, one of the world's most photographed hotels. Designed to resemble three decks of cards, it's joined together at the 57th floor by a stunning SkyPark with the world's highest infinity pool, a lounge and bar. Anyone can visit the SkyPark Observation Deck for 360-degree views of the harbor and skyline, but the pool is open only to hotel guests. Rooms are pricey — more than $250 a night even in low season (summer-early fall).

Singapore is extremely clean. You're not allowed to bring gum into the country, and the U.S. State Department's travel advisory warns about physical punishment for vandalism. (I unthinkingly popped a soda open on the subway, then quickly hid it in response to other passengers' disparaging stares.) But ethnic and traditional neighborhoods are a little less sterile and more colorful than downtown streets.

Chinatown is dotted with temples and buildings attesting to the rich heritage of Malay-born Chinese who immigrated here in the 19th century. You'll see fine art deco homes on streets like Ann Siang Road. At the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, a tooth ostensibly belonging to the Buddha is encased in a 900-pound solid-gold stupa. Little India is a jolting feast for the senses: busy shops selling anything from cellphones to spices, hole-in-the-wall restaurants with flavorful cuisine, mosques and colorful Hindu temples.

Singapore's "hawker centres" are something of a foodie legend. You could spend days shuttling between the biggest ones, sampling from stalls of Singaporean, Indian, Chinese, Malay and Indonesian cuisine. Seating is usually outdoors on shared benches under a canopy. Walk up to a stall and look at the pictures. Then order, pay the cashier and wait for your food (sometimes it will be brought to your table). You can buy different plates from different vendors. Don't forget fresh juices (sugar cane is a must) and desserts (mango, please!). I ate satay every day. Also great: the ubiquitous, succulent stir-fried squid with onions, scallions and shallots in a spicy tomato sauce. Most dishes cost around $5 US. Food courts in malls charge a bit more for similar fare, but with air conditioning.

Speaking of malls, Orchard Boulevard is lined with luxury shopping centers, worth a visit for people-watching if not for browsing. Istana, the presidential palace, is at the southern end, while the botanical garden is at its northern tip.

I skipped the botanical garden in favor of Singapore's hippest attraction, Gardens by the Bay. Adjacent to Marina Bay Sands, the park is dotted with "supertrees" — structures as tall as 15-story buildings that function as vertical gardens, loaded with exotic plants. A spectacular sound and light show plays here twice every evening, creating a sci-fi forest.

At the Singapore Zoo, most animals live outdoors, cage-free, from penguins and crocodiles to white tigers and polar bears. A combined ticket to the zoo and nearby night safari by tram will save you some cash. Safaris sell out, so book ahead.

All in all, the mix of cultures, food, colonial heritage and modern — even futuristic — infrastructure and amenities makes the country an ideal destination. Just be sure to leave your bubblegum home.

Source: Singapore: colonial heritage, cool modern architecture, food

Celebrating Indonesian Weekend in London

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - To liven up the bank holiday weekend on Saturday and Sunday the 28th to the 29th of May  2016, Indonesia Weekend! presents food, music, culture, fashion and travel event being held with free entrance at Potters Field Park in Central London, London Bridge Tube Station, from 12-noon to 9pm BST (6pm WIB to 3am WIB).  Bangga Indonesia Ltd and Ditali Cipta Kreatif organisers bring performers to show martial arts, chefs for cooking demos, models for fashion show, dancers and musicians from Indonesia. People travelling, living, working and studying in London will wander on this 2-day event through the sounds and tastes of exotic Indonesia.

The Indonesian Ambassador officially opened Indonesian Weekend! at 12-noon on Saturday (28/05). "London is an International melting pot and source of inspiration for many creative start-up industries in Europe," said H.E. Rizal Sukma, Indonesian Ambassador. He continued, "This weekend will celebrate the welcoming energy of our warm tropical country, manifest in the young artists and entrepreneurs we bring to promote our creativity and look for future opportunities for increased collaboration between our two countries."

The ceremony progressed with Indonesian martial arts whilst stalls officially opened. The rest of the weekend will be bathed in Indonesia hospitality, in the green park and iconic setting of London, promoting the beauty, sophistication and friendliness of Indonesia in London. The Indonesian government are promoting Indonesia through a series of events that bring Indonesia to the UK. As part of London Weekend! at London Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) yesterday (27/05) has organised an introduction to a select group of business people based in the UK to meet and share experiences in an informal setting over canapés about Indonesian SMEs' fashion and crafts products, i.e. jewellery, accessories, clothes and crafts.

If you've holidayed in Bali, or taken a cultural tour of Java, you'll know that the way to the heart of Indonesians is through the food. Mr. Degan Septoadji, judge for Master-Chef Indonesia, and Mr. Gede Susila Yadnya from the famous Potato Head Club in Bali demonstrating their creative flair. For the hungry, food outlets from Indonesian of UK-based caterers and restaurants and the emerging coffee houses of Java will serve you authentic Indonesian food at their stalls.

If you've only seen Indonesia on television or film, 'Raid Star' Cecep demonstrating Pencak Silat, Indonesia's historic martial art. Local Indonesian band, gamelan ensemble playing on stage, and Angklung, the traditional bamboo instruments can be tried in a pop-up music school. If you want to shop, over 2 dozens of Indonesia's most innovative enterprises have set-up stands and be selling fashion items, accessories, beautiful Indonesian hand crafted scarves, shoes and handbags. Fashion shows will let you consider that there will of course be something for everyone.

The Indonesian Government, -including the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Cooperatives of SMEs and Ministry of Education and Culture, including local governments of Central Java Province, Central Kalimantan Province and City of Bandung supported the event to target bringing more than 20 million foreign tourists to Indonesia by 2019, strengthening the growing commercial and tourism ties between Britain and Indonesia, showcasing the multi-faceted culture of Indonesia to Londoners and tourists from all over the world, as well as supporting the international growth of Indonesian brands.

TEMPO | PETIR GB

Source: Celebrating Indonesian Weekend in London

Singapore’s colonial heritage, immaculate streets and food-vendor delights

SINGAPORE — At 51, Singapore is shrugging off all symptoms of a midlife crisis and embracing travelers with more and better things to see, taste and experience than ever before.

The tiny city-state with a living standard the envy of many nations recently celebrated 50 years of independence since being thrown out of the Malaysian federation. Back then there was no telling what the future held; the nation's founder, Lee Kuan Yew, reportedly cried as he announced the split. But Singapore has emerged as one of Asia's most prosperous, multicultural and stable countries. It's also famously clean, with strict laws against littering.

Travelers have long used Singapore as a stopover en route to more exotic Asian destinations. But there's enough here for a longer stay. Attractions can be split into neat categories: colonial heritage, contemporary attractions, ethnic neighborhoods, food and shopping. Coupled with stunningly efficient transportation, it's easy to plan an itinerary lasting several days.

British colonial past

I started my visit with a walk exploring Singapore's British colonial past along the city's quays. Historic buildings here include the Gothic St. Andrew's Cathedral, Victoria Theatre and the Empress Place Building, which houses the intriguing Asian Civilisations Museum. The famous Raffles Hotel is a colonial gem that has hosted the likes of Rudyard Kipling and Michael Jackson, while the Fullerton Hotel was the main post office until 1996. Off the Fullerton, I took time to admire the intricate Cavenagh and Anderson bridges, landing conveniently on Boat Quay, a buzzy waterfront of bars and restaurants. As I walked, I snacked on a mango wafer-ice cream sandwich, topping it off with a kopi, a traditional coffee drink made from beans roasted with butter and sugar, sometimes served with rich condensed milk.

Finish off your heritage walk with some of Singapore's striking contemporary architecture: the Norman Foster-designed Supreme Court, the Esplanade Theatres or the flower-shaped ArtScience Museum, reached via the quirky Helix Bridge, shaped like DNA's double-helix. The backdrop for all this is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, one of the world's most photographed hotels. Designed to resemble three decks of cards, it's joined together at the 57th floor by a stunning SkyPark with the world's highest infinity pool, a lounge and bar. Anyone can visit the SkyPark Observation Deck for stunning 360-degree views of the harbor and skyline, but the pool is open only to hotel guests. Rooms are pricey — more than $250 a night even in low season (summer-early fall).

No chewing gum

Singapore is extremely clean. You're not allowed to bring gum into the country, and the U.S. State Department's travel advisory warns about physical punishment for vandalism. (I unthinkingly popped a soda open on the subway, then quickly hid it in response to other passengers' disparaging stares.) But ethnic and traditional neighborhoods are a little less sterile and more colorful than downtown streets.

Chinatown is dotted with temples and buildings attesting to the rich heritage of Malay-born Chinese who immigrated here in the 19th century. You'll see fine art-deco homes on streets such as Ann Siang Road. At the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, a tooth ostensibly belonging to the Buddha is encased in a 900-pound solid-gold stupa. Little India is a jolting feast for the senses: busy shops selling anything from cellphones to spices, hole-in-the-wall restaurants with flavorful cuisine, mosques and colorful Hindu temples.

Singapore's "hawker centres" are something of a foodie legend. You could spend days shuttling between the biggest ones, sampling from stalls of Singaporean, Indian, Chinese, Malay and Indonesian cuisine. Seating is usually outdoors on shared benches under a canopy. Walk up to a stall and look at the pictures. Then order, pay the cashier and wait for your food (sometimes it will be brought to your table). You can buy different plates from different vendors. Don't forget fresh juices (sugar cane is a must) and desserts (mango, please!). I ate satay every day. Also great: the ubiquitous, succulent stir-fried squid with onions, scallions and shallots in a spicy tomato sauce. Most dishes cost around $5 U.S. Food courts in malls charge a bit more for similar fare, but with air conditioning.

Shopping and a sci-fi forest

Speaking of malls, Orchard Boulevard is lined with luxury shopping centers, worth a visit for people-watching if not for browsing. Istana, the presidential palace, is at Orchard Road's southern end, while the Botanical Garden is at its northern tip.

I skipped the Botanical Garden in favor of Singapore's hippest attraction, Gardens by the Bay. Adjacent to Marina Bay Sands, the park is dotted with "Supertrees" — structures as tall as 15-story buildings that function as vertical gardens, loaded with exotic plants. A spectacular sound and light show plays here twice every evening, creating a sci-fi forest.

At the Singapore Zoo, most animals live outdoors, cage-free, from penguins and crocodiles to white tigers and polar bears. A combined ticket to the zoo and nearby night safari by tram will save you some cash. Safaris sell out, so book ahead.

All in all, the mix of cultures, food, colonial heritage and modern — even futuristic — infrastructure and amenities makes the country an ideal destination. Just be sure to leave your bubble gum at home.

More information: yoursingapore.com

Source: Singapore's colonial heritage, immaculate streets and food-vendor delights

The Insider’s Guide to Vancouver’s Food Truck Scene

RELATED OFFERS

Seattle To Victoria Overnight With The ...Clipper Vacations

Agent Incentive Available -$1000 ...Clipper Vacations

Whale Watching for the Whole Family!Clipper Vacations

All Travel Offers

PHOTO: Mom's Grilled Cheese isn't your dad's grilled cheese. (Courtesy Clipper Vacations)

Canada's "Hollywood North" is a city on the move, and that hustle and bustle has given birth to a diverse and delicious food truck scene.

When you're looking to grab a bite on the go, the street fare in Vancouver – one of the great excursions of Clipper Vacations – will help you indulge every craving, from sweet to savory, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you want to sample what the locals love, be sure to check out these popular, delicious spots.

Mom's Grilled Cheese TruckA comfort food favorite, you can find Mom's Grilled Cheese Truck parked in the heart of the city across from the Vancouver Art Gallery. Pick your favorite bread, cheese and a variety of tasty toppings (such as red onion, hot banana peppers, double smoked bacon or avocado) for the ultimate melty masterpiece. For a truly unique grab and go treat, try "The PMJ"—a grilled play on peanut butter and jelly. After you're sufficiently comforted, make sure to investigate the artistic institution located directly across the street.

Soho Road Naan KebabIf you're on the lookout for great Southeast Asian cuisine, go to Soho Road Naan Kebab. Located on the corner of Georgia Street and Granville Street, this Food Network–featured food truck serves up delicious, traditionally made tandoori meats that are cooked in the oven right in the truck, then topped off with diced cucumbers and yogurt sauce, and wrapped up in naan for easy eating.

READ MORE: 5 Reasons To Market Seattle To Your Pre- And Post-Cruise Clients

Vij's Railway ExpressA mobile extension of Vij's Restaurant, Vij's Railway Express brings traditional Indian flavors curbside, often with a cross-cultural twist. Menu favorites include the butter chicken schnitzel and the Bengali squash and kale curry, which inject European and Western flavors into well-known Indian dishes. The downtown location varies, so make sure to look them up before heading out!

La Bohéme CrêperieThis authentic French crêperie, run by owner and France native Bruno Dehier, serves up organic, locally sourced ingredients wrapped in delicious sweet or savory buckwheat crêpes. Try the chèvre, pesto brie, ali baba and herbed squash if you're in the mood for something rich, or the fresh berries and lemon-honey ricotta if you have a sweet tooth. La Bohéme can be found either at the Trout Lake Farmers Market or the Kitsilano Farmers Market during the weekend. The line is almost always long, but it's worth the wait.

Tacofino White LightningThis local favorite is an offshoot of the legendary Tofino-based truck, which opened with the simple intention of selling killer Baja-inspired tacos to local surfers. Now you can find Tacofino on the streets of downtown Vancouver in their big orange truck, hand-painted by Vancouver Island artist Lee Robinsong. Offerings include the fish taco with crispy ling cod and salsa fresca, the Japanese-inspired chicken karaage taco with avocado and radish and the "Gringa," a pork al pastor with two cheeses and crema.

Food trucks are a great meal option when you don't feel like heading indoors for a sit-down lunch. Take advantage of Vancouver's food truck scene by exploring the city streets or take the guess work out of it with a guided food truck tour! This two-hour tour includes four courses, five tastings and enough food truck goodness to fill you up until dinner.

This blog originally appeared on Clipper Vacations' website.

Source: The Insider's Guide to Vancouver's Food Truck Scene

New crop of startups reaps profits from food waste

Just as Rumpelstiltskin spun gold from straw, scores of new companies are trying to spin profits out of food waste.

Several startups are chasing ways to use food waste to make other edibles. Some aim to quickly distribute food that is about to be thrown out. And yet others are working to use every last ounce of ingredients.

Food waste, in other words, is now a platform for commerce.

"I'm convinced there's a business that's a kind of Uber for refrigerated trucks," said Jesse Fink, a founder of the travel site Priceline who now calls himself a food-waste evangelist.

Most Read Stories

Power restored after major, hour-long outage in downtown Seattle

Trump, Clinton win Washington state primary

Designed in Seattle, this $1 cup could save millions of babies

Seattle's vanishing black community

Boeing plans hundreds of layoffs in local IT unit

This week, save 90% on digital access.

The businesses have a lot to work with. Up to 40 percent of the U.S. food supply goes in the trash. Most of the waste comes from consumers and retailers, the government estimates, and in recent years, the issue has resonated, particularly with younger consumers.

The business of food waste is not well tracked; most data available now is on funding for individual companies.

But Back to the Roots, which is based in Oakland, Calif., and sells products such as a mushroom-growing kit that uses coffee grounds, recently raised $5.8 million from individual investors such as Michael Pollan and Blake Mycoskie.

EcoScraps, which is based in Utah and turns food waste into gardening products, has raised $13 million from Peterson Ventures and others, according to CB Insights, a research firm.

"Over the last year, we've seen investors put millions of dollars into early-stage brands that appeal to consumers based on their sustainability and transparency," said Rory Eakin, chief operating officer of CircleUp, a marketplace for investors and early-stage consumer brands.

He cited examples like the Forager Project, Misfit and Back to the Roots. "Many of these emerging brands incorporate food waste and upcycling products" — using once-discarded materials as components of new products — "as part of their brand portfolio."

Others are working to solve the unusual distribution and logistics challenges posed in using food scraps, Eakin said.

Some of the new businesses can bootstrap their operations, since they are essentially taking inexpensive or free scraps from others. But many have taken outside investment.

Take Cerplus, for instance, which raised a small amount from friends and family investors late last year and got $20,000 from Y Combinator in exchange for securities if Cerplus has a financing round or sells for more than $100 million. The company started in January as a sort of online go-between, linking farms and wholesalers with food on the verge of going to waste with restaurants and other businesses.

"We let people know what's available and offer a pretty good discount," said Zoe Wong, co-founder and chief executive.

On a recent day, Cerplus had organic artichokes for $1.30 a pound and ripe bananas for 55 cents a pound, minimum order 40 pounds. The company started serving the San Francisco Bay Area in January and has shipped more than 13,000 pounds of food to more than 60 clients, Wong said.

"Plenty of these businesses need early-stage, venture-capital type of investment," said Fink, a trustee of the Fink Family Foundation, which has focused on how to reduce food waste. But he said some other businesses related to food waste, such as large-scale composting, require significant capital.

CB Insights found that Kleiner Perkins, a venture-capital firm, and others have put a total $248 million into Harvest Power, a company in Waltham, Mass., that processes organic waste into mulch and fertilizer. And Liquid Environmental Solutions, which is based in Irving, Texas, and processes waste water and used cooking oil, has raised $51.6 million from investors including ABS Capital Partners.

Retailers, wholesalers and food-service companies may reject entire semitrailers of produce if they spot a single crushed box or carton. Then producers must scramble to figure out how to get rid of the produce to avoid extra transport costs.

"There are typically 22 pallets on a truck, which is what helps keep food costs low in this country," said Roger Gordon, a food-waste entrepreneur. "But if no one is going to pay the bill for all that, the easiest place to deliver it is a dumpster."

Gordon is a co-founder of Food Cowboy, which uses a mobile app to connect rejected truckloads of fresh foods to charities and other organizations. The company maintains a database with details about loading docks, refrigeration and other equipment to help it coordinate.

"We once had a situation early on where a church at the end of a one-lane road agreed to take a delivery from a 53-foot-plus tractor-trailer," Gordon said. "They thought the word truck meant something like an F-150."

Even old-school food companies are finding gold in food waste.

Baldor Specialty Foods, which supplies restaurants and institutional kitchens, is developing a sort of flour made from things like cabbage cores and pepper shoulders. Other scraps go to Flying Pigs Farm, one of its pork suppliers, for animal feed.

"We now know what pigs like and what they don't like," said Michael Muzyk, president of Baldor. They refuse to eat onion skins, apparently.

Chefs like Bill Telepan are experimenting with the flour — Baldor has not decided what to call it — and some large organic retailers have expressed interest. "I do think there's a positive revenue stream — eventually," Muzyk said.

Baldor had to reroute its conveyor belts and figure out how to ensure that waste held in bins for processing did not violate city health regulations, examples of the unusual challenges food-waste entrepreneurs face.

Source: New crop of startups reaps profits from food waste

Travel along on a Hawaiian foodie adventure

Michelle Nickens(Photo: Michelle Nickens)

Aloha, Tallahassee.

April was an amazing month for me on so many levels. One of the most important events was celebrating my 20th anniversary with my husband, Kevin. What did we do? We realized a dream come true — a trip to Hawaii! We are so fortunate to have been able to take this trip and experience so many things we have never seen, eaten or done before. This post is sprinkled with some history, food, cocktails, photography and fun.

We started our journey after landing in Hawaii's capital, Honolulu. Hawaii consists of hundreds of islands that stretch over 1,500 miles. However, there are six main islands. Honolulu is on the island of Oahu and is Hawaii's largest city.

Hawaiian guides Carl and Joy. (Photo: Michelle Nickens)

One of the tours we participated in was the Hole in the Wall Food Tour that took us to local restaurants to try unique eats. The tour focused on foods of Hawaii, not necessarily Hawaiian foods (that is for a separate blog post). However, the local flavors and culture along with Asian influences have resulted in a diverse and unique blend of culinary delights. As our amazing guides, Carl and Joy, explained, thousands of immigrants from various countries came to the islands during the 19th century, flooding the area with their culture, traditions and ethnic flavors (http://www.hawaiifoodtours.com/hole-in-the-wall-tour/).

Baked Manapua—Portuguese Sausage. (Photo: Michelle Nickens)

We started our food adventure at Royal Kitchen where we tried Baked Manapua. These Chinese Bao Buns are traditionally filled with a sweet roast pork but Royal Kitchen offers a variety of fillings such as smoked kalua pork, curry chicken, Okinawan purple sweet potato, as well as sweet versions such as coconut and Chinese black sugar. Kevin and I tried an original with roast pork and one filled with Portuguese sausage. These two choices resulted in a sweet and savory experience. The pork was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the sausage was sweet with hints of garlic and paprika. There were a couple of dozen people (in addition to our group) that came and went in the 15 or so minutes we were at Royal Kitchen. And, now that we've tried these little bun gems, we know why this is a hot spot.

Leonard's Bakery, Honolulu (Photo: Michelle Nickens)

Our next stop was Liliha Bakery for Coco Puffs. But this was not any ordinary coco puff. This rich and creamy nugget was filled with a smooth chocolate and adorned with a Chantilly frosting. Joy explained that the name Liliha means "to be nauseated by rich and fatty foods" and that the bakery sells more that 5,000 puffs a day. The Chantilly frosting is made of just butter, egg yolks, sugar, evaporated milk and salt but, to me, it had a caramel like flavor and was a perfect match with the creamy chocolate center.

Coco puffs from Liliha Bakery. (Photo: Michelle Nickens)

Honolulu's Chinatown is one of the oldest in the United States. Jammed into this 36 acres are dozens of restaurants, markets and shops. The Ying Leong Look Funn Factory produces thousands of pounds of rice noodle sheets everyday. We had the opportunity to watch workers in the kitchen prepare the rice noodles. Once the noodles are steamed, they are hand folded and stacked. Then, they are sent to restaurants.

Pitaya or dragon fruit. (Photo: Michelle Nickens)

The kitchen was warm and the workers were busily rushing back and forth. Hard work. Great reward. Right outside, we tried some fresh chow funn noodles, a stir fry noodle dish and some Korean barbecue chicken. Afterwards, we huddled in the square and Carl explained that the longan (or dragon eye) is a small round fruit. Unpeeled, it looks like a large grape. After removing the outer skin, the fruit resembles an eye ball, with its flesh color and black seed in the middle. This melon-like fruit was juicy and sweet. It is delightful alone, but can be added to numerous dishes, such as soups and desserts. We also snacked on some Pitaya (or dragon fruit). Beautiful pink color with bits of black seeds. Melts in your mouth but the taste is similar to a kiwi. For me, this fruit and its vibrant color would be beautiful for a fruit plate display but for an every day nibble, I'd be fine with a kiwi.

We had almost an hour to wander Chinatown on our own. The markets were a fish-lover's dream. The freshest and the most unique seafood I have seen was laid out in rows.

We gathered back together after our free time. Joy had brought some treats for us to try including ma tai su (or Chinese pot pie), Spam Musubi and ahi poke.  We learned that Hawaiians love Spam and Spam Musubi (sometimes referred to as Spam sushi) is a regular treat—one that both of us were eager to taste. Hawaiians eat more Spam than any other state. Millions of cans of Spam are sold each year in Hawaii. Our guides even said that places like Costco have limits on how many cans customers can buy at a time. There are also many  different kinds of Spam, including Spam with bacon, hot and spicy Spam, teriyaki, chorizo, Portuguese sausage seasoning, garlic and many others. There's even a festival — the Waikiki Spam Jam — that celebrates Hawaiians' love of Spam (http://spamjamhawaii.com). So, what did we think? I liked it. Not being a Spam fan, I found it a bit salty but the grilling brought out a ham-like flavor. I would eat it again, maybe with a little soy sauce and wasabi.< /p>

One of my personal favorites — ahi poke (rhythms with OK) —was perfectly fresh and fused with green onions, seaweed and a little soy sauce. The tuna melted in your mouth and the flavors popped. De-lish!

Next, we tried Caramel Banana Lumpia and Maui Gold plain pineapple and a pineapple sprinkled with li hing mui. Li hing mui is dried plum. A red rusty color, this ingredient has a savory, salt and sour, taste and Hawaiians put it on everything. We purchased a bag and can't wait to give it a try. Especially, for the Li hing margarita.

Our last stop in Chinatown was Char Siu House where we tried Red Roast Pork and 5 Layers of Heaven. The 5 Layers of Heaven is basically pork belly using skin, the meat, and the fat — in layers. Melts in our mouth but I'm not a fan of seeing the layer of fat that I am going to put in my mouth, so definitely worth the try but not something I'll keep on my regular menu.

One thing that was definitely on our list of must-tries were Malasadas, or the Portuguese Doughnut. And there is no better place to get one than Leonard's Bakery—referenced frequently on Food Network. You can even make their recipe at home (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/malasadas-recipe.html).

These warm soft bundles of joy are fried and then rolled in sugar. There are other types you can order, including some with fillings. We tried the original (sugar only) and a cinnamon and sugar version. Light, fluffy, with a subtle sweetness — these were a perfect ending to a wonderful tour around Honolulu's food scene.

Traditional Mai Tai at Tiki Restaurant in Honolulu. (Photo: Michelle Nickens)

Back at the hotel, the day would not be complete without a Mai Tai. This cocktail is made with rum, Curaçao liqueur and lime juice. One classic recipe can be found at http://www.liquor.com/recipes/traditional-mai-tai/#gs.MqbOebY.

There are so many more stories to tell about our trip to Hawaii, but for now — Huli pau, Tallahassee!

Michelle Nickens is the author of the novel "Precious Little Secrets" and writes the blog WineKnows. Find out about both at www.michellenickens.com.

Read or Share this story: http://on.tdo.com/1TETxG4

Source: Travel along on a Hawaiian foodie adventure

5 Reasons Why Travel Is The Solution To 21st Century Society

I LOVE the world -- I'm a travel blogger, so that was probably a given -- but I don't really like the (mostly western) society that's in it.

I don't like our obsession with celebrity, our misconceived notion of beauty, our dependence on what ever is our drug of choice -- be it technology, alcohol or something more illicit, and the availability of such vices. Then there is the big stuff: racism, violence, terrorism, (and, dare I say it?!) religion. I could go on, but I'm sure everyone has their own idea's about what is wrong with society (if they think there is anything wrong at all!) But I am a firm believer that, whatever you think is the problem with 21st Century society -- travel is the solution.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're sick and tired of reading why travel is so good for you. That it teaches you patience, cultural awareness and blah blah blah. That you're sick of people trotting out the same romanticized sentiments that don't really translate to anything but idealized notions of living a better life. I get it. If you don't travel, posts like that could be seen as condescending, patronizing, even and in some cases downright narcissistic. And if you do travel - you've read it all before. I really hope that this post doesn't read in either negative way(!) but I would like to share with you why I think travel makes me a better version of myself and how that can be reflected in this messed up 21st Century Society we find ourselves in.

♪♪ Money talks, money talks, dirty cash I want you, dirty cash I need you oh.. ♪♪

I'm not sure how many of you will recognize the song lyrics above -- I don't think it was ever that famous, that sentence just always sticks with me -- but we have an unhealthy obsession with money whilst at the same time a frivolous uncaring attitude about how we spend it.

We all need money -- those bills won't pay themselves (and those plane tickets aren't free!) but do we need all the money? Why do we not realize that having enough to live comfortably -- or to finance the lifestyle you want (in my case it's a life of travel) that that is the perfect amount. Society drives us to work harder and for longer hours in the pursuit of a bigger paycheck. Which we then never have the time to spend -- or we spend it on worthless things. I notice such a stark difference in how I treat my money when I'm traveling compared to working a 9-5. When I travel, I am conscious of every dollar/euro/dong/baht (you get the idea) that I spend. I budget so that we live frugally enough to sustain our travels, but have enough cash there to splurge where necessary to ensure we get the best experience. Yet at my 9-5, I am less likely to think twice about spending $10 on lunch, or buying that super cute dress that I might wear once before it joins my already bulging walk in ro be.

I value money more as a traveler. Yes I still go to the pub for lunch on a Friday and I have a nice handbag every couple of years -- but compared to the me I was before I traveled, I am much more responsible with my money and traveling on a budget, I appreciate how far a little bit of money can go.

I read a post the other day about how our lives have been dictated to us by the working week - that we are forced to conform to a 5 day working week to keep the corporate big wigs in business yet we leave very little time for ourselves and feel guilty when we don't have time to exercise and keep ourselves fit and healthy. I resonated with this post so much in relation to my 9-5 life -- I used to spend money on gym memberships and sneak out on my lunch breaks -- but I'm not a saint (pub-lunch Fridays anyone?!) and when work is busy, it's hard to keep it up day to day. Plus I felt like I was wasting money on a gym when walking outside is free!

None of this is even a concern when traveling. If I don't have my backpack on my back (which is a workout in itself -- I don't pack light!), I'm walking 15,000 -- 20,000+ steps per day and I enjoy just being outside. I love walking and exploring and I am not counting the hours whilst doing it, or even worse, counting the hours I don't have time to do it.

Travel makes you go outside -- makes you exercise without you even realizing and your body is better for it -- we are not designed to sit at desks 8 hours a day -- and a world of people with back problems is a testament to that!

Ah, fast food, you're such a convenience -- but could you try to be a little bit healthier? Now, I don't actually eat fast food, but my sentiments around food are the same. The food (and alcohol) we have access to is for the most part on the unhealthy side. Yes, there is a push for salads, grains and other healthy options -- but the fact remains that unless combined with the exercise bit above, counting calories can have little to no effect on our health or weight management and I'm a firm believer in eating/drinking in moderation.

I think the overriding problem with western society and our diet is that we eat at the times our working day says we should. We have a designated hour for lunch -- so that would be a good time to eat, right? And to fit with that, we have breakfast and dinner either side. Plus maybe even morning or afternoon tea -- and who doesn't like a bit of supper?! I think we are in the habit of eating for the sake of eating and have created all these meal times to justify excessive food consumption.

When I travel I eat when I'm hungry and traveling on a budget, I don't eat for the sake of eating.

Then there's the booze -- ours is a society that works for the weekends and there's a feeling that after working a full week -- you deserve a drink on a Friday night (and some most weeks I completely agree!) and so we splurge on Friday and Saturday nights, drinking to excess in some cases, just because we can. You don't need me to tell you that this really isn't good for us.

When I travel, I class alcohol as a 'luxury' item. A once in a while treat. In stretching my money it's just not something I am willing to splurge on. And my diet and health is better for it.

I admit it. I would be lost without my iPhone and MacBookAir and I couldn't imagine living in a world where the internet did not exist. But at the same time, we are all so connected all the time and people feel like they have lost an arm when their phones are more than arms reach away. Did you know that the average user checks their phone 85 times a day? It's incredible! And it's great that we have such readily available access to whatever news, gossip (or in my case) travel sites that we could want. It really opens up the world and everyone can find a community, website or hub for something that they are passionate about and connect with likeminded people. But I think we have been spoilt by technology. And don't even get me started on the 24/7 availability! I feel like because we have the technology to facilitate instant communication, doesn't mean that it should be a mandatory part of our existence. Most devices and platforms now have a feature to tell the sender when their mess age or email was read by the recipient. Queue feelings of angst or even annoyance when you can see people have read it and not responded -- or even guilt from the recipient who knows they have seen it and not responded. I did not sign up to a world where I could be held accountable for my non-immediate (sometimes even slack!) responses -- and even though I might not reply immediately, it was never my intention to snub/disrespect or annoy the sender.

And this is another reason why I love travel. I can go all day without checking my phone, restricting my internet time to the evenings in a hotel using the benefit of their free wifi (a must-have feature of a hotel/hostel for the budget traveler) and I don't feel guilty for not being accessible 24/7. I am unplugged yet connected at the same time and it's just fantastic. And people understand that -- like traveling is a legitimate excuse for tardy communication -- whereas the inconvenience of 'real life' (which is often the reason I don't get back to people immediately) is just not a good enough reason to not respond immediately.

I hate society's obsession with celebrity, and the misguided notion of beauty that is constantly portrayed in the media. I hate the young girls are taught to think that being 'attractive' is the best way to succeed in life and that 'attractive' equals 'better' (and you have a 'better' chance of finding a husband!!). But what is even worse in all of this, is that, in some ways, it is true. What we class to be 'good looking' people are treated differently to those the media has deemed as less 'good looking'. And so people (mostly women) spend thousands to try an achieve the ideal - from make-up and gym memberships to cosmetic surgery, women believe they have to look a certain way to succeed and spend hours of their lives trying to achieve these unrealistic ideals.

I don't buy into it. I've never really been one to wear much make up but travel gives me the freedom to dispense with it all together (except mascara -- that's my one vice). I also don't really bother with my hair -- only getting it cut once or twice a year and washing it twice a week. I wear it up for work and only really 'style' it for special occasions like weddings! and I don't follow fashion and wear what I feel comfortable in. Travel has made me care less about what other people think about how I look -- and help me shed my insecurities over how I think I look. And I am so much happier for it.

So there you have it, 5 reasons why I think travel is the solution to (my problems) with 21st century society. I understand this post may not be well received by all, and I'm not saying I'm better than anyone else because I travel -- but I do think travel makes me a better version of myself and for me to make society better -- it would be to be more like travel me than working 9-5 me. And I promise to work on that every day.

Do you agree with Vicki? -- and even if you don't(!) -- Let her know in the comments below.. and if you do, can can follow her on her next adventure on safari in Africa on her Blog and on Instagram

Source: 5 Reasons Why Travel Is The Solution To 21st Century Society

New Crop of Companies Reaping Profits From Wasted Food

Take Cerplus, for instance, which raised a small amount from friends and family investors late last year and got $20,000 from Y Combinator in exchange for securities if Cerplus has a financing round or sells for more than $100 million. The company started in January as a sort of online go-between, linking farms and wholesalers with food on the verge of going to waste with restaurants and other businesses.

"We let people know what's available and offer a pretty good discount," said Zoe Wong, the co-founder and chief executive.

On a recent day, Cerplus was offering organic artichokes for $1.30 a pound and ripe bananas for 55 cents a pound, minimum order 40 pounds. The company started ser ving the Bay Area in January and now has shipped more than 13,000 pounds of food to more than 60 clients, Ms. Wong said.

"Plenty of these businesses need early-stage, venture capital type of investment," said Mr. Fink, who is a trustee of the Fink Family Foundation, which has focused on how to reduce food waste. But he said some other businesses related to food waste, like large-scale composting, require significant capital investment.

CB Insights found that Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm, and others have put a total of $248 million into Harvest Power, a company based in Waltham, Mass., that processes organic waste into mulch and fertilizer. And Liquid Environmental Solutions, which is based in Irving, Tex., and processes waste water and used cooking oil, has raised $51.6 million from investor s including ABS Capital Partners.

Even Beyoncé has gotten involved. She recently joined other ventures to buy a stake in Wtrmln Wtr, a company that makes cold-pressed watermelon juice from melons that cannot be sold in a grocery store.

Photo Nikhil Arora, left, and Alejandro Velez are co-founders of Back to the Roots, which is marketing a mushroom-growing kit that uses spent coffee grounds. Here they toss a handful of their growing medium in the air. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times

The company was started in late 2013 when Jody Levy and Harlan Berger decided to do something about the hundreds of millions of pounds of watermelon that are wasted every year. The company does not disclose its sales but said it expects revenue to increase 385 percent this year.

Its biggest challenge was creating a supply chain. Scuffed, sunburned or otherwise unwanted melons can be sold in a secondary market, but prices are volatile, so farmers may just plow them under because hauling them is expensive.

Now, Wtrmln Wtr wants them.

"It's definitely created a new opportunity for us," said Chandler Mack, whose family g rows potatoes and watermelons in Central Florida.

Retailers, wholesalers and food service companies may reject entire semitrailers of produce if they spot a single crushed box or carton, and then producers must scramble to figure out how to get rid of the produce to avoid extra transport costs.

"There are typically 22 pallets on a truck, which is what helps keep food costs low in this country," said Roger Gordon, a food waste entrepreneur. "But if no one is going to pay the bill for all that, the easiest place to deliver it is a Dumpster."

Mr. Gordon is a co-founder of Food Cowboy, which uses a mobile app to connect rejected truckloads of fresh foods to charities and other organizations. The company maintains a database with details about loading docks, refrigeration and other equipment to help it coordinate.

"We once had a situation early on where a church at the end of a one-lane road agreed to take a delivery from a 53-foot-plus tractor-trailer," Mr. Gordon said. "They thought the word truck meant something like an F-150."

Photo A Back to the Roots mushroom-growing kit. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Even old-school food companies are finding gold in food waste. Baldor Specialty Foods, which supplies restaurants and institutional kitchens, is developing a sort of flour made from things like cabbage cores and pepper shoulders. Other scraps go to Flying Pigs Farm, one of its pork suppliers, for animal feed. "We now know what pigs like and what they don't like," said Michael Muzyk, president of Baldor. (They refuse to eat onion skins, apparently.)

Chefs like Bill Telepan are experimenting with the flour — Baldor has not decided what to call it — and some large organic retailers have expressed interest. "I do think there's a positive revenue stream — eventually," Mr. Muzyk said.

Baldor had to reroute its conveyor belt system and figure out how to ensure that waste held in bins for processing did not violate city health regulations, examples of the unusual challenges food waste entrepreneurs routinely face.

Not every good idea for reducing waste pays off, though. Margaret Tung thought she had a great solution for the piles of day-old baked goods and almost-overripe produce she saw in trash bins and garbage cans in New York City.

What else? An app called PareUp that enables a retailer to post a list of products about to be thrown out, giving users a sort of menu to peruse.

But the system, which began a couple of years ago, never really took off. "I think there are certain times people are accustomed to eating things," Ms. Tung said. "They're not looking for a croissant at 5 p.m."

The app still exists, but PareUp is not actively maintaining it. Still, not too long after hanging up the phone after an interview, Ms. Tung called back.

"I just had a look," she said. "Five hundred transactions have taken place."

Continue reading the mai n story
Source: New Crop of Companies Reaping Profits From Wasted Food

Summer 2016 reads for food and wine lovers

I'm looking forward to grabbing a lounge chair in the shade at the pool this weekend, cracking open a book and traveling for a few hours to somewhere I've never been. That book will be "American Wino," the last one on this list of five books I think would make great summer reads for food and wine lovers.

These books aren't cookbooks or food policy books. All of my picks this year are food/travel memoirs, stories of others who have gone someplace new and immersed themselves in the culture. The first four are books I read over the past year that I can recommend, and the final, as I mentioned, is first on my personal list of books to read this summer.

"Hungry for Wine: Seeing the World Through the Lens of a Wine Glass" by Cathy Huyghe. Part memoir, part travelogue, part wine tasting journal (a perfect trifecta for my taste), Cathy Huyghe tells the stories of winemakers and their wines from her travels around the world. Some regions you may be familiar with like Rioja or Napa (but you probably won't be familiar with the winemakers), and some regions you may be astounded by like Syria and Lebanon. You'll learn some political history and some winemaking history in each story, ending with relatable tasting notes of one bottle from each winemaker. I loved the storytelling in this book.

"Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman" by Alice Steinbach. This travel memoir is less food and drink heavy than the others on this list, but it's so well written and inspirational that I had to include it. Steinbach, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, took time away from her job to spend a year living in Paris, London and several locations in Italy. In each location, she meets people whom she spends time with, often sharing meals with them. The book may inspire the solo traveler in you, and while you're living out your wanderlust, encourage you to find a few people to share a table and a bottle of wine with. It certainly inspired me.

"Fed, White and Blue: Finding America with my Fork" by Simon Manjumdar. Another book that will fuel your wanderlust, "Fed, White and Blue" is Manjumdar's story of determining whether he wanted to become an American citizen by looking for America's take on food. Manjumdar heads to some well-known food cities and some out-of-the-way small food destinations to make his decision, and gives readers some insight into an America they may not know.

You can read more of my thoughts about "Fed, White and Blue" in the review I wrote earlier this year.

"A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France" by Georgeanne Brennan. I soak up food and travel memoirs about Provence, and each one I read convinces me it has to be on the top of my live-there-for-a-while list. James Beard Award-winning author Brennan realized her dream of living in Provence with her family. The book is filled with story after story of how food brings together her family and her community. It's the tale of one meal after another, with recipes and inspiration for cooking simple foods for friends and family.

"American Wino: A Tale of Reds, Whites, and One Man's Blues" by Dan Dunn. This is the book I plan to pick up the first time I get the chance to grab a lounge chair at the pool and spend a couple hours reading. From the Amazon description: "Former Playboy magazine nightlife columnist Dan Dunn has a made a career out of drinking. Yet this man's man — a connoisseur of beer and whiskey — knew next to nothing about one of the major drinks enjoyed the world over: wine. When a fateful tasting experience coincided with a serious existential crisis, Dunn decided to hit the road on a journey of discovery. To quench his thirst for knowledge (and be able to throw down with the experts), he would educate himself about the industry glass by glass, from winery to winery, in nearly every region in the United States." I'm looking forward to living vicariously through Dunn and visiting wine regions throughout the U.S., perhaps with a glass of New Jersey wine in hand.

If you'd like some more suggestions for food and drink-related books to read this summer, check out my lists from previous years.

Source: Summer 2016 reads for food and wine lovers

TravelKhana’s mobile app will accept food orders without internet

TravelKhana, an online food delivery service for trains will now allow users to place orders on its mobile app without internet by forwarding order details as an SMS to the restaurant. A spokesperson told MediaNama that the new offline mode takes details of the passenger, trip details, followed by the order, and saves it as cached data.  This data is then sent as SMS to the TravelKhana server while the app tracks users' location in real-time.

The company's operations team at the restaurant's end will prepare the order and deliver it to the passenger as soon the particular train reaches the destination. In addition to accepting orders, TravelKhana's mobile app detects the forthcoming train trips to offer information related to the trip as well.

Advertisement

Currently the mobile app lists food from Veg, Non Veg & Jain Thali, Combos, Sandwiches, South Indian snacks, etc. The company claims to have completed more 1,38,227 orders through its mobile app across 160 locations in the country.

TravelKhana and IRCTC tie up

In January, TravelKhana had tied up with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), wherein passengers placed orders from a mobile app while traveling on trains. TravelKhana said that it would have a revenue sharing agreement with IRCTC, and offer its services starting with New Delhi & Hazrat Nizammudin railway stations. It had also expressed interest in starting its services on a total of 17 stations in the first phase.

Alleged copyright & trademark infringement: Earlier in December 2015, IRCTC served a legal notice on Travelkhana alleging copyright and trademark infringement by Travelkhana's mobile app IR Catering. The railway catering company  had claimed that IR Catering was deceptively similar in the name, colour scheme and design to the IRCTC's own mobile application – IRCTC Connect. Travelkhana did take IR Catering off Google Play surprisingly quick move after receiving the notice.

Other players offering food delivery on trains

ZoopIndia: In this month, IRCTC had tied up with ZoopIndia, an online food delivery aggregator, to let IRCTC passengers get food delivered from ZoopIndia to their train seats. Users can call for food or order through the website, but it requires a train PNR number or train name/number. ZoopIndia by default lets it's users order food to be delivered to train stations and passenger seats.

HelloCurry: In November last year, Hyderabad-based Hello Curry had tied up with IRCTC to provide meal options for railway passengers during their journeys, starting with the Secunderabad station. Hello Curry's menu will be available for passengers in Delhi, Bangalore, Vizag and Pune soon. Orders can be placed on from the IRCTC's catering website as well. While Hello Curry is listed as a food partner on the e-catering site.

Foodpanda: In the November 2015, online food delivery platform Foodpanda had tied up with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to let passengers order meals from the platform. The pilot for this service has been launched at the New Delhi railway station and will be extended to Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in the future.

Jubilant Foodworks:  In February 2015, IRCTC had tied up with Jubilant Foodworks to deliver Dominos' pizza to a passenger's seat if they travel across selected stations in India. Passengers of IRCTC can book their pizza online, through SMS or through calls currently, in addition to using the IRCTC's e-catering service which serves veg/non-veg thali and veg/non-veg biryani alongside.

Image Credit: Wikipedia user AbhiSuryawanshi under CC BY-SA 3.0

Source: TravelKhana's mobile app will accept food orders without internet

Get Ready For The Amazing New Disney Food Options

For those of us who grew up with a casual relationship to Disney parks, the biggest food associations are typically the Mickey Mouse-shaped ice cream treats and movie-themed restaurants where the big draw is pretending you're in Lady and the Tramp — not the food.

But the serious Disney fanatics have been following (and enjoying) the park's evolving offering of delicious foods for years — and its most recent move is the biggest upgrade yet. The newly rebranded and revamped Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) is the new number-one destination for foodies in the park. From fine dining to food carts, you could basically spend your entire vacation tasting different dishes.

Many of the new options have a global flair, like Morimoto Asia Street Food, where diners can try bao buns, sushi, and boba tea. A short walk away, YeSake offers more inventive takes on classic Asian fare, with burrito-sushi mash-ups and sake slushies. Another stall, The Daily Poutine, offers — what else — twists on the Canadian, French-fried classic. Other food-cart options include Indian, classic county fair, and the World Showcase of Flavors, offering everything from pierogi to potstickers.

You'll definitely want to save room for dessert — cupcake chain Sprinkles has a bakery, in addition to one of its iconic cupcake ATMs, meaning you can satisfy your sweet tooth late into the night.

You can also treat yourself to gelato, or try some of the beautiful French patisserie at Amorette's. And if that overview of the 44 (!!!) current options isn't enough, according to Travel + Leisure, this may be just the beginning. Plans to open more restaurants, like Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill and a steampunk cocktail bar called The Edison, are still being announced.

But don't worry, Disney traditionalists, you'll still be able to pick up a Mickey-shaped dessert.

Source: Get Ready For The Amazing New Disney Food Options

Two more travel-related Zika cases in Arizona

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that it is monitoring 279 pregnant women with likely Zika virus infections across USA states and territories. The turnaround time is usually around five days to a week but most times by the time we get the result, the persons are in fact asymptomatic.

While the majority of pregnant women the CDC is monitoring were infected with Zika while they traveled, the agency says some of these women were infected via sexual transmission.

The United States plans a major overhaul of the way packaged foods are labeled, the Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday.

US health officials have determined that the mosquito-borne virus, which can also be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected person, can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by unusually small head size, and can lead to severe brain abnormalities and developmental problems in babies.

That's why the agency is increasing its monitoring to include not just pregnant women with lab-confirmed Zika virus who have symptoms, but Zika-positive pregnant women with no symptoms.

Researchers say the new system will create a better understanding of the range of problems the virus inflicts in utero. To date, three people in Arizona have been infected with Zika.

Common symptoms of Zika virus include fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes), but not everyone experiences symptoms.

"Our goal is to track all Zika-affected pregnancies", said Honein.

"We want to be able to feel safe and secure, and families who are of child-bearing years want to feel as if they can have confidence that, when they travel, when they want to start a family, that this is not an issue".

Global health agencies have already been reporting Zika infections in women exclusively on the basis of lab tests. Up to 20 percent of the island's 3.5 million people are expected to contract the virus, health officials have said.

There have been around 1,300 confirmed cases of microcephaly - babies born with small brains - in Brazil, with thousands more under investigation.

President Obama has requested almost $2 billion from Congress to gird for an outbreak in late spring or summer, though GOP leaders balked at the figure.

The agency previously only reported numbers of pregnant women who had symptoms.

Garland officials do not believe there is any risk to others in the area because the women didn't return to Garland until after the phase of the disease when they were capable of transmitting the virus to mosquitoes.

So far there have been no cases of local transmission of Zika on the US mainland. One woman gave birth to an infant with serious birth defects, while two others delivered healthy infants.

Source: Two more travel-related Zika cases in Arizona

Slow food 2016 goes live

Published on Sunday, May 22, 2016

"Loving the Earth" themed website will showcase hundreds of events, stories and initiatives

The Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2016 website was unveiled this week in Milan.

5,000 delegates from 160 countries, over 800 exhibitors, 300 Slow Food Presidia and 500 Terra Madre food communities will take part in the most important international event ever dedicated to food culture.

Organized by Slow Food, the region of Piedmont and the city of Turin, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, this year in its 11th edition, will be held from September 22 to 26 in Turin (Italy). For the first time in its history, the event will be held in the streets, in the squares, in parks and in the most important buildings of the city center.

The latest news is now online at: http://www.salonedelgusto.com.

Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food said:

"Twenty years ago, wh en Salone del Gusto was born, food and agriculture had little space in communication, economy and politics. Since then, many things have changed, and despite the media spectacle not always helping the cause, awareness of the cultural, environmental and social importance of food systems has grown dramatically around the world, thanks in part to the work of Slow Food."

"This incredible heritage of energy and knowledge is manifesting itself in the Terra Madre network, made up of 2,400 food communities in 160 countries. They will show us the meaning of Loving the Earth, the chosen theme for this year's event."

"The most important battle for the future is the right to food for all, on the mitigation of climate change, protection of biodiversity, and man's relationship with food production and with the earth. All together, with our everyday choices, we have an extraordinary potential. We may contrast the grip of multinational firms with the power of social ties, freedom of cho ice, the defense of the commons and the common good. Millions of people, with their choices and their daily work, can build a better world. That's why we're stepping outside, to mobilize the greatest number of people, to tell them what we do and involve them in what we do, because it's time for concrete action."

There hundreds of activities at the event including:

Valentino Park, by the river Po, will host the Italian and international market.

The Medieval village will host educational activities for schools and families.

Valentino Castle and Torino Esposizioni will host Terra Madre Forums.

At the Royal Palace there will be the wine library with over 900 labels and Taste Workshops dedicated to wine.

The riverfront, known as the 'Murazzi' and Piazza Vittorio Veneto, will host a Street Food bonanza and a wide selection of artisanal Italian beers.

Eataly Turin Lingotto will host a number of Taste Workshops, Dinner Dates and Cooking Schools.

Valere Tjolle

 

Source: Slow food 2016 goes live

The people are friendly, the food delicious, in Rajasthan India

Darina Allen is delighted by the people, the sights and sounds — and of course the food — of Rajasthan.

"Children wave and cheer when they see us and ask 'take my photo'. Many women partially cover their faces with their saris."

I'm driving through rural Rajasthan, a world apart from the well-known Golden Triangle of Jodpur, Jaipur and Udaipur. 

The fields are a patchwork of crops — wheat, sesame, and mustard grown for both oil and seeds.

Here and there, we see bananas and tamarind trees and occasionally a huge banyan tree.

Shepherds, with long walking sticks, tend their flocks of sheep and goats, now and then a camel cart laden with anything from fodder to huge slabs of sandstone from the local quarries emerges.

Women in bright saris are working in the fields, pulling weeds or harvesting and occasionally by the roadside carrying broken rocks in tin bowls on their heads, men supervise.

There's virtually never a time when there aren't people in sight.

There are lots of little villages bustling with life, a ramshackle and mesmerising mix of stark new build cement cubes and crumbling traditional houses, often a mixture of both.

The electricity is a mélange of wiring that would put the heart 'cross wise' in a health and safety officer, yet it all seems to work.

Hindus wash away their sins at the Gau Ghat in Pushkar

There are lots of tiny shops, selling everything and anything.

Street carts are piled high with fruit and vegetables.

Others sit on the roadside with just a few little chillies, aubergines, maybe a few beans to sell.

There are little hardware shops selling all kinds of pots and pans, grinding stones, coconut graters, coir ropes, handmade brushes, rat traps, tin utensils.

We see open-fronted shops with dressmakers, cobblers and tailors, sewing on old-fashioned treadle machines, barbers and shavers who lather up people's chins with old-fashioned shaving brushes by the roadside.

Every service is provided — bicycle mending, woodwork, basket making, even ironing with huge heavy metal irons relegated to museums over here. 

In the tin area, craftsmen are turning out huge metal trunks for dowries.

Virtually all the signs are in Hindu, cows nonchalantly ramble through the streets confident that no one will harm them, the cow is sacred and revered in India.

In the little villages everywhere the children wave and cheer when they see us: 'take my photo', 'take my photo'.

I've never known an area where people were more welcoming or friendlier, no one asks for rupees or a peno.

Men sip tea in the Chai shops, katori, bright orange jalabas and samosas are piled high for sale in open air dhabas.

There are sweetmeat shops, Indians have an incredibly sweet tooth and also love their snacks.

So lots of shops sell just bags of crisps, namkeen and lotto tickets.

Hairy, scrawny pigs and chickens snuffle amid the garbage and there are lots of stray dogs.

Out in the countryside the birdlife is astonishing, white egrets and mina birds walk along the buffalo's back picking off ticks.

Cow pats dry on walls and rooftops, fuel for the little clay or outdoor stoves over which most people cook their food.

It's a totally holistic and sustainable system.

Here in rural Rajasthan many women partially cover their faces with their saris, older men still wear a colourful turban and sport an impressive moustache.

The houses are colour washed, blue, ochre, pink or plain.

There are a few jeeps gaily painted, colourful lorries, lots of richly decorated homemade tractors with no cab or cover on the engine (something to do with tax) and of course there are countless bikes and motorbikes with three and often four people riding on top including a sari-clad lady sitting side saddle.

We're on our way to Ramathra Fort in the Karauli district — it's a four-hour drive from Jaipur Airport along a mixture of roads, tiny bursts of motorway, an occasional dual carriageway but mostly potholed roads, dirt tracks with numerous ramps.

After 4½ hours we turn up a steep stony roadway and at last we are there.

This gives new meaning to the words 'off the beaten track'. 

It's an endurance test to get here but what an oasis.

A 17th-century fort still owned by descendants of the original Maharaja of Karauli who built the structure in the 1700s and the family have been here for over a 1,000 years.

Rajasthan was never conquered by the British.

It has now been restored and opened as a heritage hotel by the Thakur Brijendra Raj Pal family with just six suites and six luxury Rajasthani tents.

There's a 365 degree view over Rhajastan from the 80ft ramparts. 

Below us the Kalisil Lake and dam and the forts, organic gardens owned by Brijendra Rajpal who invested the hard earned profits from her carpet business in Jaipur into restoring the fort from an advanced state of dereliction.

The food is delicious here. Virtually everything is produced on the farm or in the local area. 

They grow and mill the wheat for the chapatti, paratha and poori. 

The mustard oil is made from mustard grown in their own fields, the yoghurt from the milk of the buffalos whose manure is used to activate the compost to enrich the soil for the organic gardens.

There's no swimming pool but there is an unheated jacuzzi on one of the turrets with a staggering view of the local country side, possibly the best in the whole of India.

The fort has been restored using traditional building techniques and local craftsmen.

We had a memorable boat trip on Kalisil Lake before sunset.

It's on the fly path to Bharapter, a rich feeding ground for ducks, storks, cormorants, kingfishers, sarus, cranes, stilts and herons.

The lake was formed over 50 years ago when the Kalisil river was damned for an irrigation scheme that now benefits local farmers in Rawathara and neighbouring villages along the canal. 

The lake is fed by monsoon rains and when full spreads over 17km, all the way to the Holy City of Kailaden.

A walk through the local village, Ramathra was quite simply enchanting, the villagers are so friendly and welcoming.

They welcomed us into their houses and invited me to dance with them to celebrate a wedding. 

In the school, the teachers were eager to show us around and one gave me an impromptu Hindu lesson.

The big bonus for me was the food. It was particularly delicious here and guests can learn how to prepare any of the dishes on the menu. 

I had two cooking classes with the owner Geetanguli and her shy and brilliant chef.

At Ramathra Fort they make all their own chutneys and pickles and the best lime pickle I have ever eaten. 

He showed me how to make this fascinating smoked Ramathra chicken curry and raita, home made paneer, several Indian flat breads, paratta and particular fascinating local bread called Batia (see https://instagram.com/timanddarina for a 15-second video of how to make it). 

Ovens are rare in Indian homes, even in the more affluent homes, so in villages all cooking is done over an open fire or in more affluent homes in the urban kitchens on gas rings.

For over 60% of people in India, the fuel of choice is still dried 'cow pats' and despite our understandable initial surprise it doesn't smell and is totally sustainable. 

Ramatha Fort is quite a find — particularly for the more adventurous traveller — I long to return…

GETTING THERE

Darina flew from Heathrow to Mumbai or Delhi with Jet Airways and from Mumbai or Delhi to Jaipur or Mumba in Rajasthan.

Ramatha Fort can provide contact details for a taxi service from the airport.

The return trip costs $200 (€175) approximately.

What to See

Ramatha Fort, although well off the beaten track, provides quite a different experience compared to the usual tourist trail.

It's just 80km from Ranthambhore Game Park, while the Bharatpur bird sanctuary is 175km away; and beautiful Jaipur is 180km.

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

Source: The people are friendly, the food delicious, in Rajasthan India