Tagged: WFAEats

Salt, sugar and fat. These are a few of Americans' favorite things and the "holy grail" for the processed-food industry according to our guest, investigative reporter of the New York Times, Michael Moss. These ingredients are added to packaged foods in such large quantities that we have become addicted to them and our tastes have changed to prefer foods with salt, sugar and fat in higher amounts. Americans no doubt struggle with this as evidenced by the growing obesity epidemic, but so does the processed foods industry. In his new book, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, Moss goes inside the industry to see how it's dealing with the issues of obesity and diabetes and says industry officials themselves are alarmed by the effects of their own products. What started as a market boon for food giants like Kraft and Nabisco, General Mills and Coca-Cola has created a monster - us. Dealing in salt, sugar and fat, when Charlotte Talks.

When I clean the refrigerator, I always find two things in the butter/cheese drawer - one is a tiny container of Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread. This particular sample expired July 5, 1996. It’s accompanied by a packet of Savora mustard from Argentina, vintage 2000.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I had my first boyfriend.  We had just started dating that January, and I was thrilled to have a Valentine.  As the big day approached, I pressed him for what we might be doing for Valentine’s Day.  Each time I asked, he was a bit vague.  I reminded him that Valentine’s Day was one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants, and that if we were going to dinner he might want to think about making a reservation. 

  Charlotte’s Eastside hosts an amazing diversity of cuisines from Somali to Syrian, and Serbian to Southern. Wondering what to order at the Bosnian café? Not sure how to navigate a Mexican panaderia (bakery)? Shy about visiting a business where you’re not sure your English will be understood? CharlotteEast.com can help.

Pat FitzGerald's story is a winner of our WFAEats Valentine's contest, where we asked for your best food-themed Valentine's story.

In 2002 I brought my 89-year-old mother home from a long illness in California. I placed her in a lovely retirement community where she was happy, made new friends.

Then, Valentine's Day emerged and she remembered her husband who had died last year.

"Gosh," said my husband, Fitz. "Grams seems sad without Don and his Valentine corsage. Why not have a dinner party for her? We could invite our friends who lost spouses."

Karen Grochowsky's story is a winner of our WFAEats Valentine's contest. We'll be posting all five winning entries over the next couple of weeks.