Take a seat in the classroom and earn
an MBA in food and wine. Photo
courtesy University of Bologna.

Start with an MBA in Food & Wine, given for the first time by the Alma Graduate School of Business at the University of Bologna, in Italy.

The one-year intensive program is taught in Engish.

Why Italy? According to the school’s website, the food and wine industries worldwide seek managers to capitalize on global market opportunities. Italy has developed a specific knowledge in this field.

The Food and Wine concentration focuses on the most successful Italian enterprises in the gastronomy and enology sectors, drawing upon Italy’s rich tradition, successful practices and quality of its products.

Ten full scholarships are available; the application deadline is July 15th and the program begins in September 2011. A minimum of two years of business experience is required.

Learn more at the Alma Graduate School website.

Beer-making kits, developed by the Brooklyn Brew Shop, make it easy for anyone to brew delicious beer at home.

It’s a gift any beer lover would like: the ability to experience first-hand what it takes to make a delicious brew.

The kit includes the finest barley, hops, yeast and spices, plus step-by-step instructions. You’ll see how easy it is to craft an all-natural home brew that’s as good as artisanal beers served at the best brew pubs.

Choose either fresh, light summer wheat beer or India Pale Ale (IPA), known for its bold, hops-intensive flavor. (Or why choose? Brew both!)

 
The craft brewing kit is available from Williams-Sonoma. One kit is $39.95.

The entire brewing process takes about 17 days. If you start now, you can brew Dad or Hubby his own batch as a Father’s Day gift.

Both of you might just turn into avid homebrewers. Check out the Home Brewing Association.

Brush up on your beer types in our Beer Glossary.

Asparagus: now in season, but not for long!
Photo courtesy California Asparagus Commission.

Like the idea of eating seasonal produce grown on local farms, but wonder what’s in season in your area?

Climates in the U.S. vary widely. What’s seasonal in California isn’t the same as what’s seasonal in New York or Indiana.

But there’s an easy search tool to find out exactly what’s in season in your locavore universe. Just head to SimpleSteps.org and select your state.

The website will also tell you where all your local farmers markets are, and even include directions by car, bike, walking and public transit.

SimpleSteps.org is a great resource that covers all smarter living topics, including household savings calculators and conservation tips for people who care about the planet. For example:

If a quarter of the households in the United States replaced one incandescent with one compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), it would save as much carbon dioxide (a major greenhouse gas that impacts climate change) as planting 257,215 acres of forest. (All plants absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis; forests absorb a large amount of it.)

Don’t like the light from CFLs? The site advises looking for bulbs with a Kelvin temperature between 3,000k and 3,500k. They give off the familiar warm glow of incandescent bulbs.

We’re off to pick up seasonal produce and CFLs.
  

With a bounty of strawberries and blueberries now entering the market, Wendy’s has introduced its new seasonal Berry Almond Chicken Salad.

The salad is freshly prepared in-store with fresh blueberries, fresh California strawberries, California almonds roasted with sea salt, shaved Asiago cheese and a sliced warm grilled chicken breast, all over a bed of 11 different types of freshly chopped field greens. Topping it off is the restaurant’s fat-free raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

You can enjoy the salad at Wendy’s for lunch or a light, healthy dinner, or create it at home simply by purchasing the ingredients You can expand to other types of berries, including blackberries and raspberries, as well.

Don’t worry about the 11 different field greens.

“Field greens” salad mixes can include arugula, baby spinach, dandelion greens, endive, frisée, green chard and red chard, green and red mustard greens, green and red romaine lettuce, lollo rossa lettuce, mizuna, perella, radicchio, red leaf lettuce, Russian kale, tango and tatsoi.

That’s a much more interesting palette than a plain bed of iceberg or romaine lettuce.

A bit of digression on fat-free dressings: You may want to avoid sugar rather than fat.

As we noted in our recent post on healthy fats, monounsaturated fats (“good fats”) are an important part of a healthy diet. While all fats average 100 calories a tablespoon, monounsaturated fats are calories well spent. The refined sugar and corn syrup found in salad dressing have little nutritional value, and comprise liabilities rather than benefits.

Avocado oil, canola oil, olive oil and peanut oil are rich in monounsaturated fat and deliver many health benefits, including:

 
Many people enjoy bottled dressings, but read the labels! You can enjoy a better dressing—and a less expensive one—by mixing three tablespoons of olive oil (or other monounsaturated oil) with a tablespoon of raspberry vinegar.

It takes the same amount of time to whisk oil and vinegar together as it does to open the fridge, remove the bottle of salad dressing and take off the cap.

Consume fewer pesticides: download the
pocket guide or app. Image courtesy
FoodNews.org.

We’ve previously written about the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean 15,” terms that refer to how much residual pesticide is left on produce, even after you wash and/or peel it.

With tempting seasonal produce entering the market, it’s time to revisit when it pays to buy organic produce.

Research has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the “Clean 15”—the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables—ingest fewer than two pesticides daily.

The Shopper’s Guide To Pesticides, from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), is a key resource for consumers aiming to eat healthier. It helps us make informed choices in order to lower our dietary pesticide load.

Download the guide or app.

The guide was developed based on data from nearly 89,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce examined between 2000 and 2008, collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can find a detailed description of the criteria EWG used to develop these rankings and the complete list of tested fruits and vegetables at Foodnews.org.

In order of the amount of pesticide residue:

 
You’ve been eating pesticides all your life. Why should you care about them now?
The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides.

What about washing and peeling the produce?
The data used by researchers is based on produce tested as it is typically eaten: washed, rinsed or peeled, depending on the type of produce. Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the skin. The best approach: eat a varied diet, rinse all produce and buy organic when possible.