Top 25 Rock Songs about Food

Sing for your supper with these classic songs that mention food.

There are hundreds of food themed songs out there: some reference food in the title, others mention an artist’s favorite snack in the lyrics. Music about food comes from all genres and time periods –from the traditional nursery rhyme “Hot Cross Buns” to the more contemporary electropop song, “Milkshake”- but rock and roll seems to take the cake when it comes to music that sings the praises of a good meal.

If you’d like to groove to some great music in the kitchen, look no further than this list of the best rock songs about food.

How to Curb Food Waste, Holiday Style

Originally posted on EcoCentric blog.

About 40 percent of the food produced in America is lost. Perfectly edible fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products either never make it off the farm, are tossed during their journey through the food chain, or are simply thrown away at the end of a meal. This callous consumption (or lack thereof) wastes about $165 billion worth of food annually.

During the holiday season, the mindset of overabundance and a house full of dinner guests can lead to even more waste. The average family of four already throws away over $2,000 worth of food each year, so having a party plan can reduce your environmental impact as well as your bottom line.

I asked Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland, why food waste in our country is so high and what we can do to help ourselves and others during the holiday season.

Healthcare Hardship at Red Lobster, Papa John’s

Companies caught complaining about employee healthcare suffer an expensive case of bad publicity.

Regardless of your views on Obamacare, the President’s plan to cut the number of uninsured Americans will impact millions of companies and employees across the country. Restaurants will face a unique set of challenges under the Affordable Care Act as they try to manage insurance options for both “skilled” and “unskilled” labor while maintaining their profit margins.

Free pizza? Yes… but no healthcare for you!

While some businesses are doing their best to strike a balance between employee needs and the bottom line, others are responding with layoffs, cuts in hours, and threatening e-mails to their staff. Thankfully, this behavior has not gone unnoticed: chain restaurants that engage in such activity have found themselves the target of social media outcry and large-scale boycotts, leading to more dramatic financial impacts than previously anticipated.

Chuck E Cheese Says Time for a Change of Character

Could the company’s mascot makeover irrevocably damage brand recognition?

If you grew up in the suburbs after 1977, you may remember birthday parties at a certain rat-infested restaurant. A magical place where a kid could be a kid, so long as they didn’t start a fight in the ball pit or try to climb on stage with the automatonic entertainment.

Seriously kid, get off the stage.

Chuck E Cheese has stayed pretty much the same for the past 35 years. Parents can now have a glass of wine or two -and be sure they’re taking the right kid home thanks to matching stamps you get on the way in- but the formula of pizza, games and giant rodents has served the company well.

Which is why many were surprised back in July, when CEC Entertainment decided to go in a new direction, ditching their classic character (and the actor who voiced him for 20 years) in favor of a new, computer generated Chuck E Cheese.

Mostly Meatless Chef Kim O’Donnel Talks Turkey without the Bird

Originally posted on EcoCentric blog.

You might call Kim O’Donnel a master of “mainly meatless” meals. Since her food and recipe column first appeared in the Washington Post in 2006, she has encouraged carnivores to take on Meatless Mondays and move produce to the center of the plate, at least once a week.

Having covered every season and culinary quandary, Kim has turned her attention to the meaty subject of holiday meals. Her latest cookbook, The Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations: Year-Round Vegetarian Feasts (You Can Really Sink Your Teeth Into), offers recipes that will satisfy the vegetarians, flexitarians die-hard meat eaters… really, anyone who graces your dining room this Thanksgiving.

I had the opportunity to discuss the book with Ms. O’Donnel, find out why she’s shifted to a more produce-focused diet and get her advice on everything from the secrets of umami to veggie dishes that pack enough punch to take center stage.