Category: Food

Snackification

For a long time, it used to be part of our routine to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The growing flexibility of our time is breaking this routine, which brings us to a new eating habit called “snackification“.

What does Snackification mean?

Snackification describes a trend that is moving away from the three-meal routine to more of a several snacks per day structure. A usual day of snackification could look like this: in the morning some berries with Greek yoghurt and an egg, later some highly nutritious nuts, for lunch a quinoa bowl with various fried or cooked vegetables, later a protein bar and, in the evening, some cut vegetables, crackers and guacamole. Especially the pandemic has caused this trend to get more and more popular because people needed to create their own structures when working remotely. On the one hand, people have more flexibility in a work setup at home and, on the other hand, they have enough time to prepare and enjoy their food or snacks.

Focus on Health

The name snackification might give the impression that it’s all about eating some crisps or a chocolate bar, but the trend focuses on eating healthy food. Many of the snacks are vegetarian or vegan. If there is meat, then the quality is important: instead of mass production, consumers preferably buy bio-products and use, whenever accessible, fresh, seasonal, and regional ingredients.

Tapas, Mezze and Bowls are some of the most popular snacks but Wraps, Sushi, Ramen and Pho are also well-known and beloved snacks.  

Are there any issues?

In order to not have any negative side effects from this trend, it is recommended to keep an eye on giving your body enough vitamins, proteins, and other essential nutrients. If on any given day that’s not possible for some reason, you should take advantage of so-called “functional foods”. These are foods with healthy additives. As in the case of every other food trend, you can’t clearly say how healthy or unhealthy snackification actually is.

Whether snackification is good for the body or not depends on the person. While some feel more energetic and healthier with this trend, others might just have to stick to the three-meal routine.

In general, it’s important to ensure that you don’t eat only carbs. Although they give you a quick burst of energy, you may feel agitated as soon as the blood sugar level drops.

If you are someone who tried to stick to the three-meal routine for eating healthy, you can take a step back and try snackification. Only you know what works best for you.

Author: Denise Göbel

 

Is veganism actually helping the environment?

afe to say that it’s more a lifestyle choice rather than a diet. It is a very controversial topic nowadays because many people don’t want to believe that meat and dairy production contribute to many problems we will have in our future if we don’t change something soon.

Veganism is a philosophy and way of life in which one does not use or eat any animal-derived products such as meat, fish, eggs, cheese or leather and it’s safe to say that it’s more a lifestyle choice rather than a diet. It is a very controversial topic nowadays because many people don’t want to believe that meat and dairy production contribute to many problems we will have in our future if we don’t change something soon.


© Marina Förster

There are many different reasons why meat and dairy are especially harmful for our environment. First of all, the grain feed used for livestock is the main cause of deforestation, which leads to the destruction of living space for animals and therefore resulting in habitat loss and species extinction. Furthermore, it comes with an extensive use of crops and water, which could be used differently and more efficiently to actually produce food for humans instead of livestock. On the whole, it is a big factor in the development of global warming because of the methane cattle produces, widespread pollution of groundwater, caused by runoff from agricultural areas and land degradation, which can be accelerated by deforestation. Food and land security are becoming a major issue because we won’t have enough food left in the future if we continue wasting our resources for meat and dairy production.

The question is, how does being or going vegan actually help the environment? It is safe to say that a plant-based lifestyle has a lot of other benefits but does it really change something for our environmental issues? The answer is definitely ‘YES’. By avoiding eating animal-derived products one can reduce their individual carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent. Moreover, the world could decrease its global farmland use by 75 per cent, which would lead to a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions and the recapture of wild land lost to agriculture, which has been the biggest cause for mass extinction. Water scarcity is another problem which could be tackled by consuming less meat, as growing vegetables and fruits require far less water than for example beef, which needs 15 tons per kilogram. By 2030 we will only have 60 percent of the water we would need left if we don’t rethink our food choices now.

It is important to mention that there are also environmental arguments against veganism but the ones for a vegan lifestyle predominate. Joseph Poore, a researcher at the University of Oxford said: “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use . . . It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car.”

Author: Marina Förster

Be Careful, Children! That’s a lot of Sodium!

Some facts about salt you may not know yet

A simple ingredient, salt is contained in most of the meals a person could have around the day. Sodium chloride is a rock, which makes it the only family of rocks regularly eaten by people. It could also be used as an effective cleaner in the kitchen or on bathroom appliances. With so many different applications, it’s not surprising that there are some things about salt that aren’t commonly known – so let’s have a look at some!

Salt, the answer to all suffering?

Kosher salt or kitchen salt can be used for cooking or cleaning. It is free of any additives, such as iodine. Iodised salt sounds chemical and dangerous but rather is a prophylaxis for serious health issues. Mixing a small amount of iodine in salt was a requirement in states like Switzerland, Austria, USA, and in the German Democratic Republic before the reunion. Today, in the reunited Germany the use of iodised salt is not legally required but many German households use iodised salt. Why is that? Due to the national iodine deficiency, which is no longer an issue, the WHO recommended only using iodised salt. Until today this type of edible salt helps a great deal in preventing serious iodine deficiencies and resulting health issues.

Be careful children, that’s a lot of sodium

What is often shouted out as a joke is not nearly as fun when it comes to health risks associated with a high sodium intake. According to the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India), the average Indian consumes around 10g of salt per day. The recommended amount would be only half of that. But reducing the salt intake is often easier said than done. Since the taste for salt is acquired, one should only consume very little amounts from an early age. Fast food items like burgers or pizza are higher in sodium due to their serving size. Adding extra salt to meals like salads could be dangerous. Processed foods like salad dressings, pickles or ketchup are also extremely high in sodium. One might think adding sea salt would be healthier, but you’re up for a surprise. Sea salt and table salt roughly contain a stunning 40 per cent amount of sodium. When you’re trying to go for healthy seasonings, try garlic, pepper, herbs like oregano, sage, rosemary, or a little bit of acid like lemon juice or vinegar, which boosts flavour without adding sodium.

Did you know?

In ancient Rome, salt was so valuable that soldiers were paid with it. The Latin word for salt, sal, is the etymological root of the word salary. If a soldier did not do his job right, he was not paid in full which is the birthplace of the expression “not worth his salt”.

Only 6 per cent of the salt used in the United States is added to food. 17 per cent of the salt is used to salt the streets, so they don’t freeze in the winters. The 10-cm Don Juan Pond is the saltiest pond, with a salinity level of 40 per cent which ensures that the water in it rarely to never freezes.

Aside from some fun trivia about salt, there’s something else we can take away from this: even the most innocuous-looking everyday items in our homes can have a rich history.

Author: Katerina Bompodakis

An insight in North Frisian customs

Since I was two years old, I have been to the North Sea at least once a year, therefore this area is like a second home to me. Almost everyone has been to the North Sea of Germany at some point in their life, but most people don’t know much about the actual lifestyle of this North Frisian area, probably also due to the fact that most traditions are celebrated outside the school holidays when most tourists are visiting the area. That’s why I invite you on a journey through a whole year of North Frisian customs.

North Frisia is the northernmost district of Germany. It is located within the German state Schleswig-Holstein and includes the mainland area from the town Hattstedt-Schobüll up to the German-Danish border and also the North Frisian Islands Föhr, Amrum, Sylt, Helgoland, Pellworm, Nordstrand and the Halligen.

We assume that the custom called Biikebrennen goes back to the Middle Age where it was used to drive away evil spirits in order to save the new seeds. Later, in the time of whaling, it served to send off the whalers. Biikebrennen is celebrated on the 21st of February. During the week beforeeach village builds up a huge stack of wood, mostly out of old Christmas trees and other garden waste, which is burnt down in a celebratory ceremony with singing, performances or poems presented in the North Frisian dialect. Traditionally, green cabbage is eaten afterwards.

At the end of April or the beginning of May, the Brent goose days take place. At this time of the year, about 80,000 brent gooses take a rest in the mud flats. It is mainly celebrated on the Halligen with guided tours, lecture series, boat trips, mudflat hiking tours and play activities for children.

The Cabbage days of Dithmarschen is a two-weeks celebration of the superfood cabbage which takes place at the end of September. Stationary elements of these days are the first cut of the cabbage harvest, city festivals, craft markets, cabbage workshops, festival marquees, the cabbage slice championship as well as the cabbage race in Marne.

Another custom is the setup of the “Jöölboom“, also called Frisian tree, which is a variety of Christmas tree. It consists of a small wooden frame with a circle of green branches. Inside the circle, the frame is decorated with figures out of salt paste that represent a pig, a cow, a sheep, a horse, a rooster, a sailing ship and a mill. At the bottom of the frame, we see Adam and Eve under an apple tree with a snake. Other decorations can be natural products such as apples, raisins or prunes. The Jöölboom is mostly placed at a window or on a table in the living room.

The last custom of a year is the one of the night of New Year’s Eve; on the Halligen it is called “Rummelpott-walk”, on Föhr “Kenkner”, “Hulken” on Amrum and “Masked walk of Omtaaceltics” on Sylt. Groups of friends who are dressed up, go from door to door, sing songs accompanied rhythmically of their “Rummelpott”, which is a type of drum that had its heyday in the 15th to 18th century. In return for their music and performance the group receives apples, baked products or other sweets. Groups of adults often get a glass of liquor instead of sweets.

These are the main North Frisian customs of a year. I hope I could give you a new view on this area and its culture; And who knows – maybe you will have the chance to experience one of these customs one day!

Author: Annika Domschat

An abundance of food squandered

How individuals can fight food waste with Foodsharing

It happens to all of us. Whether we bought too much stuff and can’t eat it all before it goes bad or trying out that new dish that turns out to taste awful. We all throw out an unnecessarily high amount of food.

Some data upfront

Worldwide, a third of all edible food products ends up in the trash, around 1.3 billion tons every year(1). Here in Germany, it’s 18 million tons a year(2). A study estimated that, on average, around 527 kcal per capita are wasted each day (3), which translates to an additional 2 billion people that could be fed. I know what you’re thinking, how on earth are we even able to squander this much?

Reasons for wasting edible food

A huge chunk of crops doesn’t even make its way to the stores because it is sorted out for not living up to the strict standards that supermarkets have. That means, a ton of food is left to rot because the average Joe isn’t buying that apple with some brown spots on it. On their way onto the shelves, food products suffer from exposure to weather and delivery conditions. And since Joe wants the cheap apples from Spain and not the locally grown ones that cost more, they have to be brought all the way here, so some are bound to get damaged in the process. And finally, supermarkets must throw out products that are past their expiry date, therefore Beverages, dairy products, canned goods and stuff like rice and pasta that are perfectly fine to eat land in the trash container. It goes without saying that one individual cannot stop this deep-rooted problem and save us from this food waste mess – but what can you actually do to help, besides the obvious don’t throw away so much?

Foodsharing as an option to save edible food

There is this awesome internet platform called Foodsharing that set itself the goal to end food waste in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 200,000 registered users contribute to the fight, and an estimated 7.8 million kilograms of food has been saved by the initiative already(4). So how does it work? Various supermarkets and bakeries that are part of the program give away edible goods to verified ‘Foodsavers’. To become one, you simply need to pass a test proving that you understand the dos and don’ts and you’re good to go. What’s making this whole thing even more attractive, especially to students or people in need, is that you save a lot of money in the process. You get to enjoy delicious food that you saved from landing in the trash and cut down your expenses on food, so that’s definitely a win-win in my book. I hope that I managed to generate some interest for this whole thing and maybe you will start saving food yourself. Together we can do something against this massive problem!

Author: Steven Degenkolbe

  • https://www.savefood.org/en/Projects/Studies/Global_food_losses_and_food_waste#:~:text=Roughly%20one%20third%20of%20the,Africa%20(230%20million%20tonnes).
  • https://www.wwf.de/themenprojekte/landwirtschaft/ernaehrungkonsum/lebensmittelverschwendung/dasgrossewegschmeissen#:~:text=Laut%20der%20WWF%20Studie%20%E2%80%9EDas,von%2054%2C5%20Millionen%20Tonnen.
  • https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/food-wine/twice-as-much-food-being-wasted-globally-as-thought-study-6272249/
  • https://foodsharing.de/ueber-uns

Festive season in January?

Celebrating orthodox Christmas in Germany

“Merry Christmas” is a phrase I would typically say in December as me and my family celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December, just like every other Christian families does, right? Well, at least I thought so until I got to know my best friend. She and her Macedonian orthodox Christian family celebrate Christmas on the 6th of January. With the help of her real life experiences, I want to illustrate some background information and traditions of a Macedonian orthodox Christmas celebration in Germany.

What is the orthodox church?

The orthodox church alongside roman catholic and protestant church form the three main Christian groups. Orthodox beliefs don’t differ in many ways from the other two, but it is divided geographically e.g. to Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Church. Those do have theological differences within because this belief forms partly from traditions which differ around the world, even though the main beliefs in Jesus Christ as the embodiment of God and his reincarnation, crucifixion and resurrection, stay the same. The Eastern Orthodox church is again subdivided geographically, rather than divided by nations and all churches are either autocephalous (have their own head) or autonomous (self-governing). They still go by the Julian calendar which explains the time differences to our Gregorian calendar.

The relatively small Republic of North Macedonia shares borders with Serbia in the north, Bulgaria in the east, Greece in the south and Albania in the west and is therefore landlocked in the eastern part of Europe. The Macedonian orthodox church is a belief which about two-thirds of the North Macedonian population professes, but it isn’t recognized autonomously by all of the other churches.

What does a typical Christmas look like?

The orthodox church puts a lot more emphasis on family and Jesus than the typical German Christian family. When I was a kid, Christmas was mainly about the presents and good food, but as my friend told me, her family doesn’t exchange gifts at all on Christmas. However, food is an important part in their traditions as well. In the time before Christmas, they fast, which means in this case following a vegan diet. Fish, however, is still allowed in this diet and the fasting lasts up until and including the 6th of January, so effectively their Christmas Eve.

Another important tradition is the coin in the bread. They put a coin in the bread dough and when it’s time for dinner the bread gets separated between the family members, including a piece for Jesus and Maria and other people or things that are important and loved by the family. All the bread must be eaten or else it allegedly means bad luck and whoever finds the coin in their piece is to have good luck during the next year. If, for example, the kid gets the coin, he or she also gets a little money from the parents and if the coin is for example in the piece for their house, the family is supposed to buy or do something for the house, like giving it a fresh paint or buy some sort of accessory for the house.

A very interesting aspect of their dinner is that once a person sat down at the table, they are not allowed to stand back up or if they do and then sit back down, they are not allowed to eat anymore. Because of that, the family gathers everything they might need during dinner on the table before sitting down, which always ends in an awfully full table, as my friend states.

What does it feel like to celebrate Christmas later than all of your friends?

In this section I can only speak for my friend who told me all of this and I know that it is probably different for everyone experiencing it. First of all, she states that celebrating later has pros and cons. She never has to argue about which family dinner to attend with her roman catholic boyfriend, as they have separate dates for celebrating Christmas and can subsequently simply do it twice. Generally, she says that when it comes to the 6th of January, she is usually not in a festive mood anymore because all of the people around her already throw out their Christmas trees and are done with the festive season. It sometimes feels weird to still celebrate Christmas. Also, because it is usually the last day of the holidays, her parents have to work the next day and she has to attend to university the next day, they only have one day to celebrate and almost no opportunity to visit relatives the following day like I have when I celebrate on the 24th.

After all, please don’t forget to wish your orthodox friends a Merry Christmas on the 6th of January, I know that they will appreciate your consciousness about their culture very much!

Author: Sandra Rieger

Popcorn flavors around the world – Thoughts of a popcorn addict who only goes to the movies to get fresh popcorn.

Who doesn´t love popcorn? It´s crunchy, chewy and puffy, it can be salty or sweet – all in all, it´s just incredibly tasty. Popcorn is one of the most popular snacks and has been enjoyed across the globe for centuries. But have you ever wondered how popcorn became such a popular snack?

A historical recap

Popcorn actually is a truly ancient dish! The oldest popcorn known to date was found in South America approximately 5,000 years ago. Native Americans not only ate it but also used it do decorate ceremonial embellishments, clothes and necklaces. As colonists arrived in the New World, they became fond of Native American food. Not only was popcorn enjoyed as a snack, but it was also eaten with milk and sugar like a breakfast cereal. The story of popcorn´s rise to prominence continued with vendors selling the snack near crowds, especially outside theaters, circuses and fairs in the 18th century. This gave birth to popcorn being sold as a classic movie snack later. During the Great Depression, the corn kernels gained even more popularity since it was the only snack many people were still able to afford.

Salty or sweet? – it is not that easy

Enjoying a bag of popcorn isn´t limited to just a few countries anymore. I´m a popcorn addict who got the chance to travel the world during the past few years. On my journey I experienced that each country enjoys its popcorn in very different ways, which honestly surprised me.

Let´s have a look at three places that stand out when it comes to the enjoyment of my beloved snack.

USA

Apparently, the Americans have really weird popcorn-eating habits. They mainly like to eat it salty, which is fine by me. But why do they drizzle butter on top making it all soggy? It is also very common to add cheddar cheese which makes them even more greasy. Mostly Americans either enjoy their popcorn at the movies or as a late-night snack at home cooked in the microwave. However, popcorn has been reinvented over the past few years in the US. If it´s dry popped in hot air without oils, fats, salt or sugar it´s actually low in calories, high in fiber and contains many nutritious antioxidants.

Singapore

This country´s love for the fluffy snack is exceptional – you can get any type anywhere at any time. Popcorn usually is part of the standard Singaporean diet and a common snack at work or served before dinner. The Malaysian brand Eureka is the most popular popcorn brand in South East Asia and sells common flavors like sea salt and caramel as well as fancy flavors like seaweed, curry or white coffee.

Australia

Unlike in Germany where flavor options are usually limited to sweet or salty, Australia has a huge selection of popcorn in movie theatres. The abundant flavor choices include French Vanilla, salty caramel or white raspberry. I found my first and foremost, all-time favorite flavor called Rocky Road Popcorn in Melbourne. The Popped kernels were mixed with salted cashews and melted Hershey´s chocolate. In the end they put mini marshmallows on top, which made them the unhealthiest but best popcorn I have ever had in my life.

To all the popcorn addicts: Popcorn is a delicious snack that came from America but is enjoyed all over the world in different ways. Whichever way you like it most, if you´re a real popcorn lover, you should open your heart to new adventures and tastes and just keep popping along.

author: Hannah Reichle