Jamie Oliver on ending obesity in America

Watch this video just posted on the TED website:

Jamie Oliver's TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food

(full-screen button is in the upper-right corner of the player)

What to do with a recalled Prius

by Larry Geller

Afraid to drive your once-cool Prius lest neighbors snicker about your bad luck getting recalled?

Never fear. The car has other uses, if you have lots of aluminum foil on hand and if you can open the hood and figure out which part of it is the gasoline engine.

Here is a recipe for Prius Pork, from the book, Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine. The recipe will be mentioned on tomorrow’s Splendid Table on Hawaii Public Radio, but you can get a head start if you borrow your spouse’s car or trek to the supermarket for the Hoisin Sauce and the rest of the ingredients.

If you can make it through the thick prose, the recipe is near the bottom of the article, including directions to locate the gas engine under your hood.

It looks like a Prius will cook about two servings. If your other car is a Toyota Camry, the book notes that the engine serves three “but sports a bun warmer, a feature seldom mentioned in Toyota ads.”

Next time, buy American (snicker, snicker). The Chevrolet Celebrity GL offers six servings, according to the book.

How credit cards or food stamps might be used at the Farmers Markets

by Larry Geller

Wouldn’t it be great if food stamp users could buy healthy, freshly picked produce at the Farmers Markets?

The technology is here now. A startup called Square is taking credit card payments already, with no startup fee and no hardware cost. At present, an iPhone is needed, but they promise more connectivity options in the future. Yes, it works through a cell phone.

Watch this video. The sound is poor at first, but it gets better when they demonstrate the unit. Basically, you’ll see a little gizmo that plugs into the iPhone. The card is swiped through the gizmo, then the user signs with a finger on the touch screen. The gizmo is free to the merchant. Cool!

The upstart startup is being treated quite seriously by the industry. Leader Verifone has come up with a version of its own, but there are startup and monthly costs. Still, this validates the new technology.

Anyone can take payments. A merchant account is not necessary with Square. Their website explains how it works.

Square has not replied to my inquiry on whether they process food stamp cards or not. I’ll keep after them.