The Shale Ale label features artwork by Murray Coppold. Image courtesy of the Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the fossil-rich Burgess Shale in British Columbia by Charles Doolittle Walcott, the fourth secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The centennial is being celebrated many ways, from articles to conferences, but one tribute has caught more media attention than others.

The Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization, has partnered with Big Rock Brewery, in Alberta, Canada, to create Shale Ale. As Randle Robertson, executive director of BSGF, said in a press release:

This is the champagne of beers to celebrate the contribution geologists have made to science. Shale Ale kicks off our 1909-2009 centennial celebrations, which are designed to engage the public in geology, climate change and the history of exploration and discovery in the Rocky Mountains.

Combining beer and science, Shale Ale’s label features Walcott and recreations of animals whose fossils he found. The vast majority of fossils that Walcott recovered were of soft-bodied creatures that are normally not preserved, making the Burgess Shale discovery one of the most significant in paleontology. The time period in which the Burgess creatures lived also adds to their importance. The fossils date to 505 million years ago and give a glimpse into life in the Cambrian Period—a time described by some as evolution’s big bang.

Unfortunately, Shale Ale is available only through the Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation because of provincial liquor laws.

Even if you can’t enjoy a bottle of Shale Ale, you can still relax while watching this animated video of the Cambrian ocean from the Field Museum in Chicago with a glass of wine; it’s oddly soothing.

Recession stresses, like struggling to pay the bills, correlate with an increase in weight gain among adults. Image courtesy of Flickr user HnyBny1969 (Regina).

When some people are stressed, they eat “comfort foods” or increase the amount of food consumed, and as a result gain weight.

But what types of stress trigger weight gain? A new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology tackles that question.

John Ayanian of Harvard University and colleagues set out to look at the correlation of long-term weight gain with different types of stress related to work, personal relationships, life constraints and finances.

The study gathered data from 1,355 adults who completed an initial survey in 1995, when they were between the ages of 25 and 65, and completed a follow-up survey and exam nine years later. The researchers noted changes in the subjects’ body mass index between the initial and follow-up surveys.

The results? Greater stress was associated with greater weight gain, at least in people who were already overweight. As the study elaborates:

This effect was evident for financial stress (measured by difficulty paying bills) for both men and women, for all work-related stress variables (less skill discretion, less decision authority and higher job-related demands) for men, and for job-related demands, perceived constraints in life, and straining in relationships with family for women.

Other interesting findings:

1. Men and women 55-to 64-years-old experienced less weight gain compared with the youngest age group.
2. In women, quitting smoking was associated with more weight gain.
3. In men, generalized anxiety and an income between $25,000 and $44,999 were associated with more weight gain.

With people struggling to pay bills and paychecks decreasing, the recession is adding extra stress to the lives of millions—and with that extra stress, extra pounds might soon follow.

Slim Jim cans might be harder to find on store shelves in the coming weeks. Image courtesy of Flickr user Roadsidepictures.

If you were stocking a bomb shelter, what foods would you buy? I bet one of your nonperishable choices of protein would be the beef jerky snack, Slim Jim.

As it turns out, people are stockpiling Slim Jims, but for a different reason. ConAgra, the company that makes Slim Jim, stopped producing the dried meat strips after a factory explosion in early June that killed three people.

With the destruction of the only Slim Jim factory in the United States, the company won’t be able make new products for at least another month, according to media reports. If we dust off our economics book, that means there is a finite supply for something with a steady demand, which can lead to hoarding.

The New York Post reported that analysts predict a summer Slim Jim run:

“People who like [Slim Jim], when they find out that there’s a shortage, are going to grab onto them, I’m certain of it,” said Harry Balzer, a food industry analyst with NPD Group. “Maybe [Ben] Bernanke should step in with some TARP money because people can’t live without their Slim Jims.”

That’s true, according to food industry consultant Jim Degan.

“[Slim Jims] loyalty is very high,” Degan said. “If you eat Slim Jims, you aren’t going to find brand B or C to be an acceptable substitute.”

Until then ConAgra will use its existing supply to stock convenience stores, groceries and gas stations across the nation, but it doesn’t expect to be able to meet the full demand for Slim Jims until the fall.

If you do find yourself hungry with no beef jerky for comfort, you could always watch these Slim Jim commercials and feed your mind with this thought: Why are professional wrestlers usually hired to pitch Slim Jim?

Humans clearly have a sweet tooth, but now that high-calorie food is available to many people with little physical effort, obesity rates are skyrocketing.

Fast food isn't the only factor in rising obesity rates. Anthropologists are now studying why we eat certain things, rather than just what we eat. Image courtesy of Flickr user VirtualErn.

In a recent issue of AnthroNotes, produced by Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, anthropologists Peter J. Brown and Jennifer Sweeney use culture to explore the behaviors and beliefs in societies that influence weight.

They start out by reviewing why humans crave sweet and fatty foods. Calorically dense foods were rare in the pre-agricultural world, where prey animals often carried little extra fat and natural sugars (like honey or ripe fruit) were rare. We seem to be genetically predisposed to eat higher calorie foods to store energy.

When it comes to weight today, Brown and Sweeney note that there are fundamental flaws in the measures of obesity, like the body mass index (BMI), because food preferences and other shaped habits aren’t taken into account.

For example, a BMI greater than 30 is defined as obese. But the researchers note that muscular athletes tend to have high BMIs because muscle weighs more than fat. Also, BMI does not account for the distribution of fat on the body. Body fat in the central areas of the body is more likely to be associated with cardiovascular disease, whereas fat in the hips and limbs does not carry the same risk.

However, the most interesting part of this study (at least to me) was their discussion of the cultural perceptions of weight, particularly among women. Brown and Sweeney write:

An important recent ethnography of Azawagh Arabs of Niger entitled Feeding Desire (Popenoe, 2004) illustrates these cultural notions to an extreme degree. Here, fatness to the point of voluptuous immobility is encouraged by systematic over-eating in order to hasten puberty, enhance sexuality, and ripen girls for marriage. The people believe that women’s bodies should be fleshy and laced with stretch-marks in order to contrast with thin, male bodies.

Men, too, feel the need to gain weight in some cultures. The study cites names like “Notorious B.I.G., Heavy D and the Fat Boys” as examples of culturally accepted icons that are obese, promoting the idea that men need to be large to have power and respect.

All of this leads up to the study’s conclusion, which states emphatically that health officials must understand and take into account cultural causes of obesity if they want to effectively address the obesity problem. Otherwise, messages will be misinterpreted, like this obesity prevention ad in a Zulu community.

It featured one health education poster that depicted an obese woman and an overloaded truck with a flat tire, with a caption “Both carry too much weight.”… The intended message of these posters was misinterpreted by the community because of a cultural connection between obesity and social status. The woman in the first poster was perceived to be rich and happy, since she was not only fat but had a truck overflowing with her possessions. (Gampel 1962)

Lovin’ those Leftovers
In recent history, leftovers have joined peanut butter sandwiches as staples of lunch. This trend has its roots in a time when Americans used to eat breakfast, dinner and supper, says Lynne Olver, creator of the Food Timeline. Dinner was the main midday meal and supper was always leftovers from dinner.

Sushi, courtesy of Flickr user adactio.

1980s

The Times: The 1980s were called the “Me” decade, and billionaires and moguls were featured on the covers of magazines. President Ronald Reagan declared a war on drugs, and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, ending the Cold War. MTV launched in 1981 and movies like E.T. and Back to the Future were box office hits.

Lunch:
Sushi
Mud Pie
“New” Coke

Why it was popular: Even though sushi had available in the United States for a while, this was the decade when noodle houses and Japanese BBQ became very popular, as exotic foods went mainstream, Olver says. Mud pie typified the decade with its rich decadence. In 1985, Coca-Cola changed the formula of its regular cola, but kept its name, Coca-Cola, the same. When Americans overwhelmingly protested the switch, the company released Coca-Cola Classic, made from the original formula. New Coke, or Coca-Cola II, remained on shelves until 1992.

1990s

The Times: This was the decade of the Internet, DotCom market and cell phones. President Bill Clinton signed off on the North American Free Trade Agreement and reformed welfare. Fads of the time included boy bands, Beanie Babies and Furbies.

Lunch:
Hot Pockets
Snackwell brand cookies
Clearly Canadian

Why it was popular: Clearly Canadian was a fruit-flavored soda and was advertised for its health benefits, even though it was nutritionally comparable to drinking other sodas. By this point, virtually all employee lunchrooms had a microwave, which easily cooked frozen foods like Hot Pockets, Olver says.

2000s

The Times: The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, shocked the nation. The U.S. to sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq under the direction of President George W. Bush. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the first African-American to be sworn in as president. In pop culture, reality TV dominates the airwaves. Who knows what else will happen — there’s a year and a half left of this decade!

Lunch:

Chinese food, courtesy of Flickr user tm lv.

Chinese food, including fried rice
Bottled water

Why it is popular: Leftovers have always been the mainstay of the portable lunch, Olver says. Most people were, and still are, eating what they had the night before for dinner, whether it’s homecooked or take-out.

Now that I’ve explored lunches from the 20th century, I have to ask: What’s in your lunch box?

Led by Angela Gray, chefs at the Folklife Festival demonstrate how to make Welsh cakes. Photo by Ashley Luthern.

At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival last week, three chefs demonstrated their techniques for making Welsh cake.

I had never heard of Welsh cakes. At first mention, I pictured something like this video of the process of making a chocolate cake, but it turns out that baking a Welsh cake is quite different.

Angela Gray, a Welsh cook who has regularly appeared on BBC Wales and teaches at the Shires Cookery School, hosted the cake bake-off. She started off by asking the three participants to list their ingredients. The base consisted of flour, species, butter, egg, dried fruits and “secret spices,” which usually included nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, sugar and cloves, as the participants revealed after the demonstration.

While the cooks were mixing the ingredients by hand, Gray reminded the more than 100 people in the audience that the mixture should not be “over-handled.” The chefs rolled out the dough and used a circular cutout to make individual cakes about the size of an American cookie.

Then the circles of dough were arranged on a bakestone, which is traditionally a flat stone placed over a fire or stove. The bakestone helps to cook the Welsh cakes on a low, even heat, for two or three minutes on each side. If you don’t have a bakestone, a flat electric griddle or baking pan would work well, too.

Welsh cakes are usually a couple of inches in diameter. Image courtesy of Flickr user zingyyellow.

Within minutes of the cakes going on the bakestone, a sweet aroma filled the tent. As the chefs plated their creations, Gray said that even though the cakes looked like scones and cookies, they were different in their taste and texture.

The perfect Welsh cake, said Gray, should be “light with just enough spice to make it interesting.” Interested in making your own Welsh cakes? Check out this recipe or head over to the Folklife Festival this week for more cooking lessons.

Culinary Experimentation
The meals of the 1960s and 1970s had a wide variety of influences. The environmental movement increased the amount of granola and other whole foods consumed, says Lynne Olver, creator of the Food Timeline. Meanwhile, the Kennedys and Julia Childs popularized French cuisine. Even with the culinary experimentation, mainstay sandwiches like peanut butter or tuna were common in lunch boxes.

1960s

Iceberg wedge salad, courtesy Flickr user SauceSupreme.

The Times: The 1960s exploded with cultural changes. The Civil Rights Movement, women’s liberation and Vietnam War protests all flourished in this decade. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. Acid rock, psychedelic drugs and folk music were popular.

Lunch:
Iceberg wedge salad
Carrot sticks
Nutmeg date bars
Tang

Why it was popular: The wedge salad could be as simple as a chunk of iceberg lettuce with a dollop of mayonnaise and would have been easy to pack, Olver says. The orange-flavored drink Tang didn’t become popular until NASA used it on Gemini flights in 1965 and since then it has been associated with the space program.

1970s

Quiche Lorraine, courtesy Flickr user foéÖþoooey.

The Times: The 1970s were a continuation of the changes in the 1960s. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned from office because of charges of corruption in 1973 and the next year President Richard Nixon resigned, rather than face impeachment for his involvement in Watergate. The Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade and the first Gay Pride march was held in New York City, honoring the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Lunch:
Quiche Lorraine
Grasshopper pie (mint filling in an Oreo crust)

Why it was popular: Quiche was easily packaged in a lunch. Americans were intrigued by different flavors and textures; They weren’t satisfied with the same food that they had had since the 1950s, Olver says.

Don’t miss the last lunch box blog post coming Thursday!

Bottle of poison, courtesy of Flickr user -Cаvin-.

Testing food for poison goes back to the ancient Egyptians and the Roman Empire, wrote John Emsley, a professor of chemistry at the University of Cambridge, in an email.

For example, Halotus was the official taster for Roman Emperor Claudius. He’s famous because he failed at his job. Claudius was killed by poison in A.D. 54 (and Halotus was a suspect in the murder). But in all fairness, what chance did Halotus, or any taster, have to warn their employers?

Chemicals like arsenic trioxide, cyanide, strychnine and atropine have traditionally been used to poison people. Of those, only cyanide can kill within minutes, thus giving the tester enough time to fulfill his job description by notifying others of the tainted meal, Emsley said. If given in large doses, alkaloid poisons like strychnine and atropine can kill within 24 hours, while arsenic would make the victim vomit within a few hours and possibly die within a day.

Because noticing the effects of poison can take so long—I doubt royals, presidents or other dignitaries would wait an entire day to eat their food—I tend to think that the taster was like a placebo. The taster made the royal eater feel safer, but didn’t really protect him or her. Then again, if I were royal, I would take as many precautions as possible to avoid death and feel safe about enjoying my food.

Victory Garden poster, courtesy Smithsonian Photographic Services.

In these two decades, America bounced back from the Great Depression and solidified its position as a world leader. One particularly popular food item was a grilled cheese sandwich, says Lynne Olver, creator of the Food Timeline. For people today, it seems like a lunch staple, but in the 1940s and earlier, it was considered a “hardship meal” — eaten when meat wasn’t available.

1940s

The Times: On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. naval based at Pearl Harbor. Shortly after this, the U.S. joined the Allied forces in WWII. Germany surrendered in May of 1945, and the war in the Pacific theater came to a close in August of the same year after the U.S. detonated two atomic bombs in Japan.

Lunch:
Spamwich
Tomato soup and club crackers
Victory Garden Salad
Coffee

Why it was popular: During WWII, many goods were rationed. About 20 million Americans planted Victory Gardens, growing their own food to save war supplies for the troops. People cooked sauces, made salads or canned produce. Spam was introduced in 1937, but become very popular in the 1940s because it was an inexpensive meat product.

1950s

Meatloaf sandwich, courtesy of Flickr user rick.

The Times: Alaska and Hawaii became the forty-ninth and fiftieth states. The Civil Rights movement progressed with the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education and Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a public bus in Alabama. During this Baby Boom decade, many Americans moved from the city to the suburbs. With the extra yard space and the international tastes of returning GIs, the backyard BBQ became a staple of cooks around the country, Olver says.

Lunch:
Meatloaf sandwich
Potato salad
Cheez Whiz and crackers
Milk

Why it was popular: In the 1950s, Cheez Whiz and other new products filled shelves at local grocery stores. Household cooks did some “interesting things” in the 1950s, Olver says, including making personal pizzas with Kraft American cheese.

Be sure to check back for the last two lunch box blog posts!

From ‘cocktails’ to baked beans
Lunches have always varied depending on individual taste, family tradition and economic factors, says Lynne Olver, creator of the Food Timeline. The menus in this five-part series about lunches are meant to capture the spirit and culinary creations of their eras. Notice the stark contrast between the 1920s and 1930s.

Fruit cocktail was popular during the 1920s. Image courtesy of Flickr user ecastro.

1920s

The Times: The Roaring Twenties were in full swing — accompanied by jazz music — as Americans recovered from WWI. The 1920s saw the Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation in Paris. Prohibition had the most influence on what Americans did (or didn’t) consume.

Lunch:
Egg salad sandwich
Celery
Fruit cocktail
Milk

Why it was popular: During Prohibition, which began in 1920 and outlawed the sale of alcohol, anything that was named after an alcoholic drink was popular. Fruit and shrimp cocktails were usually served in traditional cocktail glasses — restaurants weren’t permitted to use those glasses for their original purpose.

1930s

The Times: The Great Depression gripped the country for most of the decade. Americans elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who immediately began pushing through his New Deal. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Baked Beans, courtesy of Flickr user Lee Coursey.

Lunch:
Baked beans on white bread
Coffee

Why it was popular: The baked bean sandwich was packed with protein and very economical. During the Great Depression, local food pantries often distributed free portions of bread, soup and baked beans. The first U.S. food stamp program, which allowed citizens to buy surplus foods at a discount, began in 1939 and lasted until 1943, when many people returned to work during WWII. Farmers who lost their property and source of food to the Dust Bowl were among the most likely to go hungry; one third of the population at the center of this natural disaster fled, usually to California.

More lunch box blog posts coming soon!

Whether you pack or buy, lunch is a favorite time for school children and workers alike. It breaks up the day and provides a boost of energy to finish work. After eating a peanut butter sandwich, Wheat Thins and a Sweet ‘n’ Salty snack bar to refuel, I started to wonder what Americans ate for lunch in the past.

I turned to Lynne Olver, contributor to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, and her Food Timeline to help me answer this question. Olver, chief librarian at the Morris County Library in New Jersey, compiled her timeline from old menus, cookbooks and newspaper ads. After poring over her lunch and decade-themed menu sections, I selected a few lunch foods from each decade and checked with Olver to confirm that I had chosen wisely.

The result is this five-part series featuring sample lunches from each decade in recent American history, beginning with 1900.

Animal crackers and banana, courtesy of Flickr user superhua.

1900s

The Times: At the turn of the century, the Progressive Movement still had steam, fashion was formal and ping-pong became a fad. Muckraking journalists like Frank Norris and Upton Sinclair exposed the practices of the railroad monopolies and the Chicago meat market, respectively. Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, would lead to federal food regulations.

Lunch:
Club sandwich
Barnum’s Animal Crackers
Apple
Milk

Why it was popular: Introduced in 1902, Barnum’s Animal Crackers were heavily marketed to kids and adults as a novelty item. With a package that was visually appealing and kept crackers fresh, the product was a hit.

1910s

The Times: In the 1910s, the labor movement continued to grow, women got the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th amendment, and World War I raged from 1914 to 1918. During this decade, the Titanic sank and Margaret Sanger began dispersing information about birth control.

Pea soup, courtesy of Flickr user Jodiepedia

Lunch:
Split pea soup
Corn pudding
Milk

Why it was popular: This decade started with opulent dining and leftovers from the Victorian era. By the middle, the Great War had begun and Americans experienced rationing for the first time, leading to more emphasis on vegetable-based dishes like pea soup.

Watch for more lunch box blog posts by Smithsonian intern Ashley Luthern in the coming weeks!