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Press Round Up Week of 6.18.12

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Atlanta Food News

The Food Scene in East Nashville. Christopher Berkey for The New York Times Top row: habanero guacamole, a chicken taco and fried avocado taco, and chicken tortilla soup at Mas Tacos Por Favor; the restaurant's food truck; Olive & Sinclair chocolate.

The Food Scene in East Nashville

Booze. The Marmalade Special Effects Studio Creates Mesmerizing Food Commercials. Ever wonder how food commercials capture that perfect shot of beer cascading into a glass, or perfectly moistened vegetables falling elegantly onto a plate?

The Marmalade Special Effects Studio Creates Mesmerizing Food Commercials

It's no chance happening. The folks at German special effects studio The Marmalade scrutinize every aspect of a film shoot before they call it a wrap. Their team of specialists is a dizzying roster of food stylists, directors, cinematographers, model-makers, mechanical engineers, pyrotechnicians, matte painters, fluids specialists, 3D-animators and compositing professionals "Our customers want the unseen," says CEO and founder Torsten Eichten in a mesmerizing video explaining his craft.

"They require a unique image for their brand that no one's created before. Bourdain And Crew Embark On Meat And Booze-Filled Bender On Vice 'Munchies' Dirty Dozen: EWG Reveals List Of Pesticide-Heavy Fruits And Veggies. What could be purer than a single ingredient?

Dirty Dozen: EWG Reveals List Of Pesticide-Heavy Fruits And Veggies

As health-minded consumers work to avoid processed meals and turn their focus to whole foods, we may find ourselves picking up fruits and veggies more often. The average American currently eats about 100 pounds of fresh produce per year, but that number could be a lot higher. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends adults eat two to three daily servings of fruits and veggies, only one-third of us meet that recommendation. Clearly, nothing should deter efforts to consume more fresh produce, the healthfulness of which is undeniable. What We're Reading. California Dairy Farmers Split Over Milk Payments In Farm Bill : The Salt. McDonald's Customer Satisfaction: Chain At Bottom Of Fast Food Rankings In New Survey. Data collected by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) reveals that McDonald's, despite being the top fast food company in revenue, ranks in last place in customer satisfaction.

McDonald's Customer Satisfaction: Chain At Bottom Of Fast Food Rankings In New Survey

The study, which looked at several limited-service restaurants, placed McDonald's at 73 percent satisfaction. Papa John's, in comparison, led the pack with 83 percent. On the whole, chains averaged at the 80 percent mark. 8 Tips For Buying Lobster (And What To Do Once You've Bought It) Health - Alexandra Jaffe - It's Settled: Dishwashers Beat the Lowly Hand, Almost Every Time. The secret is scalding water that's too hot for the human touch.

Health - Alexandra Jaffe - It's Settled: Dishwashers Beat the Lowly Hand, Almost Every Time

Camilo Torres/Shutterstock There comes a time in every person's life when the futility of it all hits home, full force. That time for me is every Friday, around mid-afternoon, when I set to tackling the piles of dishes that have accumulated in my sink throughout the week. I have a dozen plates and countless utensils to scrub and scrape. The Senate passed its version of the farm bill. Now what? It’s difficult to know what to say about a 1010-page bill that affects literally hundreds of programs, some big, some small, at such astronomical cost—an expected $97 billion per year.

The Senate passed its version of the farm bill. Now what?

The bill is so big and so complex that it is unreasonable to expect legislators to understand it well enough to vote on it intelligently. Think of it as a prime example of special interests in action. I’ve been collecting e-mailed responses from various groups. Watch McDonald's Make A Supermodel Out Of A Quarter Pounder : The Salt. If you think supermodels are the only ones who get gussied up and airbrushed during photo shoots, think again.

Watch McDonald's Make A Supermodel Out Of A Quarter Pounder : The Salt

Food companies use stylist magic that can cost big bucks, too, but mere mortals like us rarely get to see how that magic is made. In a novel marketing move, McDonald's Canada recently posted a You Tube video of Marketing Director Hope Bagozzi responding to a customer's question about why the famous burgers looks better in front of the lens. New Orleans restaurant Johnny V's earns three beans. It can be easy to forget that the restaurant game is, in fact, a team sport.

New Orleans restaurant Johnny V's earns three beans

This was true even before personality cults started sprouting around American restaurant chefs during the 1980s. Healthiest Meal Ever: Food Researchers Create World's Healthiest Meal. Put away the broccoli, tuck that quinoa in the pantry, and don't even look at those apples -- scientists have come up with the healthiest meal in the world, and the menu looks pretty darn tasty.

Healthiest Meal Ever: Food Researchers Create World's Healthiest Meal

Employees at UK-based Leatherhead Food Research, a marketing and research company for the food industry, were given a challenge by their boss: come up with a meal that incorporates the 222 health claims the company had determined were valid and scientifically based, from an original pool of 44,000. Originally intended as an airline meal, CEO Dr. Paul Berryman came up with the idea flying back from a food conference.

"I had spent three days talking about health claims and at a round table event I suggested that Leatherhead could make a product with all 222 claims, no problem! " he states in the company's press release. Robert F. Moss: The Pimento Cheese Trap. My article this week for the Charleston City Paper delves into the perilous world of the gourmet burger and calls for a reformation.

Robert F. Moss: The Pimento Cheese Trap

One of the problems I identify with "the Serious Burger" (as I've dubbed the gourmet variety) is with the cheese. I didn't have space to ponder the subject of cheese too much in the article, but it's a thing that I've come across again and again and deserves addressing. If you slap on a thin slice of American cheese on top of a burger, it gets soft right away and melts around the patty to form a smooth, soft coating. With fancier cheeses--like crumbles of bleu cheese or feta--you don't get that effect.