NEWS
July 20, 2009
Birth control pill takes longer to work in obese women Obese women starting to take the birth control pill should also use an alternative method of contraception for at least 10 days, and perhaps for as long as 20 days because it takes that long for effective levels of the drug to build up in the blood, Oregon researchers report. In women of normal weight, such a buildup only requires about five days, they found. Epidemiological research has suggested that the pill does not work as well in obese women - those with a body mass index, or BMI, higher than 30. Some experts had thought the problem was that the hormones in the pill were selectively deposited in fat cells and didn't get into the blood stream, but pharmacologist Ganesh Cherala of Oregon State University and his colleagues reported in the journal Contraception that it simply takes longer for the drug to build up in the blood stream.
NEWS
March 22, 2009
Make chicken firms pay for bay cleanup The Environmental Protection Agency is right to enforce federal pollution rules governing chicken manure, but it is wrong to place the burden on the state's poultry farmers ("Chicken growers face EPA crackdown," March 15). These farmers face a production system imposed upon them by the companies they contract with, the large chicken processing companies. The EPA should be careful not to make chicken farmers suffer because of industrial policies they didn't create but are contractually bound to abide by. Maryland and other jurisdictions have been subsidizing these large integrated chicken operations by allowing them to dump waste into the environment and let someone else deal with the cleanup and the consequences of excess nutrients flowing into the bay. The state and the EPA must impose stricter enforcement on unsustainable chicken operations while also encouraging and rewarding good stewardship.
NEWS
By Timothy B. Wheeler | December 12, 2008
In its final days, the Bush administration is poised to exempt poultry farms from reporting how much ammonia and other noxious pollutants they are releasing into the air from the millions of tons of manure their flocks generate. The Environmental Protection Agency has asked the federal Office of Management and Budget to give final approval to a rule that would exclude poultry farms from environmental reporting required of other industries. The budget office reviews all proposed federal regulations to see that their benefits justify their costs.
NEWS
By Timothy B. Wheeler | September 13, 2008
Maryland moved a step closer yesterday to policing pollution from the Eastern Shore's poultry industry, proposing to subject about 200 of the state's largest chicken farmers to scrutiny - and potential fines - for how they store and use the mountains of manure their birds produce. State officials say the rules, if given final approval, would govern handling of about 50 percent of the manure produced by Maryland chicken farms. Manure is a major source of Chesapeake Bay pollution, washing off fields where it is spread as fertilizer for crops.
NEWS
By Julie Rothman | May 7, 2008
John Klingkamer of Fife Lake, Mich., was looking for a recipe for a five-star white chili. Robert Massarelli of Forest Hill sent in one of his favorite recipes for white chili. He says it is extremely spicy but can be easily adjusted. I thought it actually had kind of an Indian flavor thanks to the healthy dose of cumin, and I didn't find it overly spicy. I liked the addition of the corn, and when it's in season, I might be tempted to use fresh instead of canned. This chili does have a good kick, but when topped with cheese and/or sour cream it was by no means too hot to handle.
NEWS
By Nancy Langer and Richard Marks | April 30, 2008
Jean Ziegler, the United Nations special rapporteur for the right to food, recently raised blood pressures by dubbing biofuels "a crime against humanity" because they divert grains from food to fuels. This summer, the Group of Eight summit in Japan will attempt to address the global food crisis. And just yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said he plans to establish a task force to tackle that crisis and avert "social unrest on an unprecedented scale." How to make sense of all of this?
NEWS
By ROB KASPER | April 9, 2008
Every once in a while, you cook a dish that captures the essence of the season. That happened to me recently when I made tarragon chicken breasts with leeks. The leeks turned an appetizing pale-green color. The chicken turned out plump and white. And the pan sauce, made with chicken stock and flavored with a shot of lemon juice and tarragon, was soft and delicate. This dish looked and tasted like spring. I was so taken with the dish that a few days later I picked up The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, the cookbook from which the recipe had come, and telephoned its author.
NEWS
By SANDRA PINCKNEY | April 6, 2008
No one could roast a chicken like my mother. No one. It was beautifully browned on the outside, moist on the inside, and had just the right amount of seasonings. Ask for her recipe? "Oh, Sandra, I don't know ... I just use a little onion and garlic powder, pepper and salt ... poultry needs lots of salt. Then just put it in the oven," she would say, her voice rising at the end, as if to say, `Come on, it's so simple, there's nothing to it!' " But there was a lot more to it, I would learn over the years.
NEWS
By Joe Gray | March 5, 2008
This pasta dish features Italian flavors, but I'm sure many would point out that Italians don't put chicken in their pasta dishes. Instead, they would serve it as a second course. But who has time to eat that way on busy weeknights? So this recipe incorporates quickly sauteed chicken, using easy-to-cut-up tenders. To save money, you can use whole chicken breasts and cut them up yourself. Buy good-quality pitted olives by-the-pound at the olive bars featured in many supermarkets. Joe Gray writes for the Chicago Tribune, which provided the recipe analysis.
NEWS
By Jill Wendholt Silva | February 6, 2008
A tagine (pronounced "tah-zheen") is a hallmark of Moroccan cooking. The slow-simmered stew mingles meats and vegetables with spices, such as cumin and cinnamon. This Moroccan Stew With Roasted Vegetables pairs chicken and prunes, an ancient combination that continues to offer good nutrition. Sometimes marketed as "dried plums," prunes are a quick source of energy and aid in the absorption of iron. A quarter cup of the fruit contains 317 milligrams of potassium, which promotes heart health.