Food and Drink

Has anybody ever gotten more out of brief moments at sporting events than milk producers through the Indianapolis 500? (Possible exception: the "I'm going to Disneyland" crap at the end of Super Bowls.) This year, Hooser Ag Today even trots out an "Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian" to tell us happened that one fateful year when an Indy winner balked and didn't drink his milk:

Are Wal-Mart shoppers low-income fatsos? You might be surprised:

. . . the two free-market economists have been intrigued by the Wal-Mart debate and wanted to test some of the more common criticisms of the store. Generally, they've found that the worst fears about Wal-Mart are unfounded, and that the stores have a mostly positive impact on their communities.

Firehouse Subs says it plans to open as many as 28 stores in the Indianapolis area in the next seven years, but it may find the market is too saturated already:

Connecticut-based Subway Restaurants has more than 80 area locations, and Denver-based Quiznos and Cincinnati-based Penn Station each have about 20. Champaign, Ill.-based Jimmy John's has 14 and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Blimpie has nine.

On restaurants, we get two:

After more than four months of renovations, two restaurants in downtown Fort Wayne are scheduled to reopen this week.

Both Don Hall's Old Gas House at 305 East Superior Street and Takaoka of Japan are scheduled to reopen Wednesday.

And lose one:

Better sit down for the latest startling news from those underworked and overpaid researchers:

"Poverty in America" update:

MUNCIE -- The sign near the door of Papa Murphy's Take 'n' Bake Pizza is subtle but noticeable.

Food stamps gladly accepted."

Food Network Magazine recently hit the road in search of the best 50 burgers in the nation -- one for every state. This is the one it picked in Indiana, the "Lugar Burger," of all things, from Bloomington:

I was shocked (still am a little) when Fort Wayne lost both its MCL cafeterias and the company apparently decided it didn't need to worry about a future location here. What, we don't have enough senior citizens in Fort Wayne looking for a good meal value? I still love the place and visit one in Indianapolis close to my sister's house occasionally.

This news is shocking in the same kind of way:

The shopping selection at Jefferson Pointe will soon be a little less sweet. The Krispy Kreme Doughnut store off Illinois Road will close on April 26.

Finally, what might really deserve being called the perfect food:

A new inhaler - dubbed Le Whif - has been developed by scientists, allowing chocoholics to enjoy all the treats they can handle for zero calories.

The revolutionary gadget means chocolate lovers can indulge their guilty pleasure without putting on weight.

Don't want to spoil your breakfast or anything, but:

It might make a larger omelette but a bigger egg isn't necessarily a better one — and it certainly doesn't make the hen that laid it very happy.

That is the view of the chairman of the British Free Range Producers' Association, who says that if you want to be kind to hens, you should eat medium, not large or very large, eggs.

“It can be painful to the hen to lay a larger egg,” Tom Vesey.