Articles written by

Modern therapy for the LOHAS set

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on June 28, 2009

Will Peak Soil counseling be next? Clinical psychologist Kathy McMahon has branched out from the usual counseling topics to writing an advice column called

No CommentsRead this story »

Grow for it: A message about food from the president

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on June 27, 2009

In 1945, during the fourth year of America’s direct involvement in World War II, President Harry Truman issued a

2 CommentsRead this story »

Nobu’s no-no: The rise and fall of the bluefin tuna

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on June 12, 2009

With the Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin stocks plummeting to shockingly low levels, chef and restaurateur Nobu Matsuhisa (24 prestigious restaurants

1 CommentRead this story »

Asia could teach U.S. some new corn tricks

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on May 22, 2009

Thanks to fertile Midwestern plains, commodity-focused agricultural policy, a foreign policy that makes cheap petroleum a high priority, and an innovative

1 CommentRead this story »

Koreans crack open a cool, frosty dose of fiber

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on May 18, 2009

As an observer of the American food scene, I see many instances of oddly supplemented foods and drinks, where everyday foods are dosed with antioxidants

4 CommentsRead this story »

Free-range Porky’s, now playing at one Bay Area cinema

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on April 1, 2009

San Francisco may have more vegetarians and health-obsessed eaters per capita than any other U.S. city, but it also has a fair number of pork lovers —

3 CommentsRead this story »

Fatal attraction: Humanity’s love affair with fish like the Chilean sea bass

By Marc R. aka Mental Masala • on March 17, 2009

Recently I was snared — or hooked, snagged, or netted (pick your favorite fishing pun) — by a book that shows  humanity’s enormous capacity

1 CommentRead this story »

More from this Author

Buzzkill: Can native bees do the job?

With the health of honey bee colonies in dramatic decline, can farmers rely on native bees to

4 CommentsRead this post »

Snapshot of the American diet

I find this juxtaposition of establishments at the Bayfair Mall in San Leandro, California, a good illustration of the

1 CommentRead this post »

Taxing cows to curb climate change

When you fill your car’s tank, you pay a gas tax. Someday, when you fill your belly with cheese, milk, or steak, you might have to pay another type of gas tax — one levied on the methane and nitrous

12 CommentsRead this post »

Political celebrations past and present

On election night in 1992* — the year that Bill Clinton won his first term and Barbara Boxer was first elected to

No CommentsRead this post »

Radiolab’s “Choice” episode: This is your brain on emotions

The public radio program Radiolab (one of the most interesting and thought-provoking

4 CommentsRead this post »

Gary Nabhan: Those who forget history are doomed to re-eat it

Above the din of the enthusiastic multitude of Green Festival

6 CommentsRead this post »

Playing ketchup: Tomato industry concentration

Tomato season is over for most of the United States, so it’s time to start shifting our tomato thoughts to canned,

9 CommentsRead this post »

Old snapshots document fish populations, curb “shifting baselines syndrome”

Most vacation snapshots spend their days languishing in photo

3 CommentsRead this post »