Food for Thought

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'Tis the season, time for many of us to eat as much as we swore we wouldn't. But before you cozy up beside the fire with a pound of chocolates and a quart of egg nog, see if these articles won't sate your appetite. First, on Casaubon's Book, Sharon Astyk cites a recent statistic that America wastes 40% of its food supply, and offers practical ways for us to improve our eating efficiency. Then on The World's Fair, Benjamin Cohen says that for sustainable eating to really take off, we must "reduce costs by reconfiguring price structures based on local economies." On Tomorrow's Table, Pamela Ronald pans the poor excuse for fruitcake that's sold at the supermarket, and tells us how to make the real thing. And on Tetrapod Zoology, Darren Naish shows us the dire consequences of biting off more than you can chew—again, and again, and again. Finally, visit Ed Yong for your RDI of Not Exactly Rocket Science, where he suggests that the proper nutrient balance can promote both longevity and fecundity, characteristics which typically demonstrate an inverse relationship.

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