Peter Smith

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: Why Do We Shoplift Meat and Cheese? Meatlifting: The Economics of Shoplifting Meat and Cheese

Meat and cheese tops the charts of shoplifted items. Why do we purloin sirloin and cop Camembert?

Peter Smith

Nov 02, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: Candy O’Clock

Did daylight savings time change at the behest of the candy lobby?

Peter Smith

Oct 26, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: The Protest Food of Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street and the Protest Food of Our Generation

The history of countercultural movements can be told through their stomachs. When will this one find its signature protest dish?

Peter Smith

Oct 12, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: I Can't Believe That Anti-Margarine Law's Still on the Books Butter vs. Margarine: A Legal and Cultural History

Wisconsin is wrestling with a little law that's a last vestige of a former battle over butter. Here's what that means for fake food everywhere.

Peter Smith

Oct 05, 2011

Articles

Bit by Bit

Claude Shannon created the theory we use to communicate everything in the digital age. James Gleick is trying to quantify all that communication.

Sep 16, 2011

Watch Your Mouth: What Should Food Stamps Subsidize? Should Food Stamps Pay For Junk Food?

The federal food stamp program is about alleviating poverty, not discouraging obesity, so farmers' markets or fatty snacks are both fair game.

Peter Smith

Sep 14, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: When to Taste—or Toss—Your Leftovers

Federal officials warn you to toss food that's been unrefrigerated for more than four hours. The advice stems from a broth full of Listeria.

Peter Smith

Sep 08, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: Sea Bass, My Ass

How consumers fell for the dubious origins of the "certified-sustainable Chilean sea bass" hook, line, and sinker.

Peter Smith

Dylan C. Lathrop

Aug 31, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: The Sounds of Snacking Crunch Time: The Use of Sound in Marketing Foods

Chips crunch. Bags crinkle. Snapple pops. Here's how sound intersects with the branding of food.

Peter Smith

Aug 28, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: Four Loko and the Search for a Safe Caffeinated Booze Four Loko and the Search for a Safe Caffeinated Booze

What coca-infused wine and a hyper-charged drinking culture can tell us about today's booze-with-a buzz craze.

Peter Smith

Aug 18, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: Eat Lightly and Carry a Big Fork How Big Forks and Heavy Bowls Help You Eat Less

Bigger forks and heavier bowls might sound supersized, but they could actually cut down on portion sizes.

Peter Smith

Aug 10, 2011

Articles

Watch Your Mouth: Tapping the Source of Carbonated Water Where Does Carbonated Water Come From?

A refreshing look into the peculiar origins of the carbon dioxide bubbles in our drinks.

Peter Smith

Aug 07, 2011

Articles

Winners! Redesign the Food Label The Best Nutrition Label Ideas

Behold, four designs for a better food label. Who knows? You might actually read the label if they looked like this.

Peter Smith

Jul 31, 2011

Articles

Understanding the Chemicals In Your Hot Dog

In the upside-down world of labeling, hot dogs can be “all-natural” even if they contain nitrates.

Peter Smith

Jul 18, 2011

Articles

Should We Have Legal Protection Against Fat Discimination?

Two sociologists make a compelling case for eradicating fat stigma. Even with legal protection, it's going to be a formidable task.

Peter Smith

Jul 17, 2011

Articles

Should Burger King Do More Than Just Hint at Apple Fries?

Optimal defaults could change fast-food orders. Companies should go a step further and offer discounts for healthier choices.

Peter Smith

Jul 17, 2011

Articles

Why Your Parents' Love (of Vegetables) Matters

We start learning about the flavors of healthy food even before we're born. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we'll be able to afford them later on.

Peter Smith

Jul 16, 2011

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Meat and cheese tops the charts of shoplifted items. Why do we purloin sirloin and cop Camembert?

Did daylight savings time change at the behest of the candy lobby?

The history of countercultural movements can be told through their stomachs. When will this one find its signature protest dish?

Wisconsin is wrestling with a little law that's a last vestige of a former battle over butter. Here's what that means for fake food everywhere.

Claude Shannon created the theory we use to communicate everything in the digital age. James Gleick is trying to quantify all that communication.

The federal food stamp program is about alleviating poverty, not discouraging obesity, so farmers' markets or fatty snacks are both fair game.

Federal officials warn you to toss food that's been unrefrigerated for more than four hours. The advice stems from a broth full of Listeria.

How consumers fell for the dubious origins of the "certified-sustainable Chilean sea bass" hook, line, and sinker.

Chips crunch. Bags crinkle. Snapple pops. Here's how sound intersects with the branding of food.

What coca-infused wine and a hyper-charged drinking culture can tell us about today's booze-with-a buzz craze.

Bigger forks and heavier bowls might sound supersized, but they could actually cut down on portion sizes.

A refreshing look into the peculiar origins of the carbon dioxide bubbles in our drinks.

Behold, four designs for a better food label. Who knows? You might actually read the label if they looked like this.

In the upside-down world of labeling, hot dogs can be “all-natural” even if they contain nitrates.

Two sociologists make a compelling case for eradicating fat stigma. Even with legal protection, it's going to be a formidable task.

Optimal defaults could change fast-food orders. Companies should go a step further and offer discounts for healthier choices.

We start learning about the flavors of healthy food even before we're born. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we'll be able to afford them later on.