Blog Posts by Sarah Fuss, Shine Staff

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When the economy isn't strong and the price of food inflates, as is the case right now, there's only one thing food manufacturers know how to do: Lie. Not verbally, not exactly, but according to a recent story in the New York Times businesses feel like they have no choice except to quietly reduce the amount of food in their cans, cartons, and bags.

Thomas J. Alexander, a finance professor at Northwood University, told the New York Times, "Companies only have pricing power when wages are also increasing, and we're not seeing that right now because of the high unemployment."

This prompts businesses to get tricky so that the consumer, not their own bottom line, is the one to be hit. One route businesses take is to introduce splashy new "travel-friendly" or "eco" packaging, which, oh, incidentally have less food it them. Sold at the same price, of course. Sometimes they skip the slight-of-hand flair. Sometimes a can of corn just becomes a wee bit smaller, and you don't know until you're

When we cannot in any way force ourselves to cook or defrost, how do we decide which restaurant we'll go to? Particularly if it's a group decision the process can seem convoluted and intricate, but a professor at NYU says there are just four reasons that determine where we decide to eat, according to his student and Good Magazine blogger, Megan Moore. She explains that in most cases just one of these four elements is enough to compel us to go:

1. The food: From the taste of the dishes themselves to the way each ingredient is sourced.

2. The service: For this one, I think about my favorite bartender, or the owner who brought me edamame hummus while I waited for a table.

3. The design: From David Rockwell-designed wall fountains to easily accessible parking.

4. The X-factor: This can be anything from shrimp-flipping hibachi cooks to sheer exclusivity. (From what I read in the comments, the X-factor may represent price.)

Moore finds support for the theory in her own

In the produce aisle there's been a few new electric, rockin', space-age packages with some old friends inside: baby carrots. Remember them? The recession caused many of us to ignore them, according to the article in Fast Company on the rise and fall and resurrection of baby carrots. When baby carrots first appeared in supermarkets no marketing was needed. Mike Yurosek, a farmer fueled by frustration over the many carrots thrown out for being an imperfect shape for consumers, peeled and cut these rejects into two-inch pieces, bagged them, and people bought them. A lot of them. So, farmers started planting actual baby carrot fields, too. The really unexpected thing according to Fast Company is that "In the decade after they were introduced, carrot consumption in the United States doubled." That meant baby carrots weren't just an alternative for larger carrots, they were their own product.

In the past two years, sales have dropped, so Jeff Dunn, head of Bolthouse Farms, one of the two

'Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution' is coming back for its second season, and this time Jamie's not trying to reform an unhealthy town somewhere else. This time he's in Los Angeles, a city which might contain the world's largest force of nutritionists and personal trainers, yet, as a woman in the preview says, "It's easier to get a gun, crack, or a prostitute in a lot of areas in Los Angeles before you can get a tomato." Citizens in these areas known as "food desserts" suffer a much higher rate of diabetes and heart disease, a situation that's front of mind for some members of City Council, residents of South L.A., and local activists. What's going to make this season of 'Food Revolution' juicy or dry as a bad chicken nugget is that Jamie was denied permission by the school district to work inside the schools. The district believes that their schools are already on a successful course with the help of nutrition experts and health advocates, and believe Jamie's efforts could best be

Castle cake made by the Welsh National Culinary Team, chosen to make Kate and Prince William's wedding cakePrince William and Kate will have several royal wedding cakes made in honor of their marriage, and one of the official bakers has been announced. The Welsh National Culinary Team has received the honor of baking the one that will be donated to Centrepoint, an organization that helps homeless young people, of which Prince William is a patron. Team manager, Graham Tinsley, was quoted in the press release saying, "I wrote to St. James's Palace on behalf of the team in December to congratulate Prince William and Kate Middleton and offered to bake a wedding cake when the wedding was announced. We are delighted and honored that our offer has been accepted." He thought it was fitting that the Welsh National team would be making the wedding cake since the couple will live in North Wales after the wedding. The bakers have not finalized a design, but they imagine that it will involve traditional Welsh themes, such as harps, dragons, and the Welsh flag.

The next best thing to seeing the final

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