site.openhandstore.org Blog

Wheat Prices on the Rise

It’s never fun to link to bad news but then no one ever accused us of being Pollyannas. The FT has some disappointing news from the wheat markets. This quote stood out:

Gavin Maguire, of Iowa Grain in Chicago, said consumers such as mills and bakers, who needed wheat, were “panicking”.

He said: “Historical references are useless. We are breaking all the rules.”

You can read the whole article here.

Biodiesel from Algae

Neccessity is the mother of invention. –Plato

A San Francisco-based start-up company called Solazyme is working with Chevron to develop a process for making biofuel from algae, you can read more about it here. As you might imagine, Open Hand’s focus on home-delivered meal service makes us acutely sensitive to rising fuel costs. And, as you might also imagine, we are always excited to learn about potential solutions to the problems presented by our reliance on a diminishing resource.

Interesting side note: Solazyme has also developed a process for converting algae to edible oils (think cooking oils).

Diet soda might not be so dietetic

A short and interesting article on “metabolic syndrome” and diet. The article highlights a study that seems to show a link between diet soda and poor health. You can read the article here. The study makes clear that the problem may not necessarily be related to the contents of the soda but may in fact be related to the behavior of the soda drinkers. Nevertheless, this seem like a good opportunity to plug the benefits of the humble glass of water.