GOOD

5 Best Lunches In the World

Banish your sad desk salad for good

 Maxwell Williams
03.30.17

For the past few years, crafty food blogs have been pushing the Mason jar salad. You layer your salad with dressing on the bottom, followed by the denser vegetables, then greens or assorted foliage, and any more fragile ingredients at the top. Then you take it to work, shake and enjoy. It’s simple, and we don’t mind it once in awhile, but it got us thinking about the ways people carry food, and the tips and tricks we can steal from these international packs.

Photo courtesy Instagram user @sakuracafe001

BENTO BOX (JAPAN)

Pretty much a classic lunchbox, the bento dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), taking its name from an old Mandarin slang word meaning convenient. In Japan, it became popular during the Edo Period (1603-1867), and today, bento culture has spread far and wide. There are many different kinds of bento box, from a tray-like box with separated wells to a tiered box with fancy lacquered designs.

PRO TIP: Sprinkle furikake—a dry mix of dry fish, seaweed, sesame, sugar, and MSG (it’s fine, we promise)—over the rice to up your bento game.

DOSIRAKTANG (SOUTH KOREA)

South Koreans eat a lunch from something called a dosiraktang, which, like a bento box, is varied. Sometimes, it’s a tin can full of rice, shredded seaweed, egg, and kimchi. Like a mason jar salad, the dosirak can be shaken and then eaten as a mixed up meal—a bit like a shaken bibimbap. Nowadays, there are tiered lunchboxes to separate the banchan (side dishes) like kimchi and kombu (kelp).

PRO TIP: Most Korean tiered lunchboxes contain a thermos tier for soup. Soup is a necessity at nearly every home-cooked meal in South Korea, and it’s calming to have a nice warm drink for lunch.

TIFFIN CARRIER (THAILAND, INDIA, ET CETERA)

The tiffin carrier seems to be the most prevalent lunchbox in the world, used all over South Asia. They are commonly made from aluminum, have a convenient handle on top for easy transport, and are tiered to hold different parts of the meal. (Think rice on the bottom, pickles in the middle, and a meat dish on top.)

PRO TIP: If you get a four-tiered tiffin carrier, you can stash a dessert or something crunchy such as papadums (thin Indian crisps) in the top.

AGELGIL (ETHIOPIA)

Agelgil is a traditional Ethiopian food basket. Often the outside is covered in sheepskin, and it will have handy straps that allow it to be worn like a backpack. Inside, it is stuffed with injera bread (a spongy flatbread, usually made from teff) with a meat dish, such as tibs (a stir-fry meets stew), folded into the breads.

PRO TIP: As with the hardworking farmer of yore, meet your loved one with an agelgil and hand-feed them—an intimate act known as gursha.

Photo courtesy Instagram user @brightbrands.ph

BAON (PHILIPPINES)

The Filipino version of the bento is a bit simpler. Usually it has three spaces: one for rice, one for pickles, and one for a meat dish such as beef tapa (cured beef).

PRO TIP: Throw a fried egg on top of the rice for an extra bit of protein (and deliciousness).

Food

Greta Thunberg's Greatest Hits: 10 times the teen activist unflinchingly spoke truth to power

She sugarcoats nothing.

Screenshot via Sweden.se/Twitter (left) Wikimedia Commons (right)

Greta Thunberg has been dubbed the "Joan of Arc of climate change" for good reason. The 16-year-old activist embodies the courage and conviction of the unlikely underdog heroine, as well as the seemingly innate ability to lead a movement.

Thunberg has dedicated her young life to waking up the world to the climate crisis we face and cutting the crap that gets in the way of fixing it. Her speeches are a unique blend of calm rationality and no-holds-barred bluntness. She speaks truth to power, dispassionately and unflinchingly, and it is glorious.

Keep Reading Show less
climate crisis environment activism climate change greta thunberg
The Planet

The EPA announced it will begin to phase out animal testing

It will be cruelty-free by 2035.

Ottawa Humane Society / Flickr

The Trump Administration won't be remembered for being kind to animals.

In 2018, it launched a new effort to reinstate cruel hunting practices in Alaska that had been outlawed under Obama. Hunters will be able to shoot hibernating bear cubs, murder wolf and coyote cubs while in their dens, and use dogs to hunt black bears.

Efforts to end animal cruelty by the USDA have been curtailed as well. In 2016, under the Obama Administration, the USDA issued 4,944 animal welfare citations, in two years the numbers dropped to just 1,716.

Keep Reading Show less
enviornmental protection agency humane society andrew wheeler Humane Society PETA epa to end animal testing
Science

A 22-year-old missing person’s case was solved thanks to eagle-eyed neighbors and Google Earth

The disappearance of 40-year-old mortgage broker William Earl Moldt remained a mystery for 22 years because the technology used to find him hadn't been developed yet.

Moldt was reported missing on November 8, 1997. He had left a nightclub around 11 p.m. where he had been drinking. He wasn't known as a heavy drinker and witnesses at the bar said he didn't seem intoxicated when he left.

Keep Reading Show less
google earth missing person cold case
Communities

BIll Maher started a debate about fat-shaming and James Corden finished it beautifully

Who do you think is right?

via Real Time with Bill Maher / YouTube and The Late Late Show with James Corden / YouTube

A controversial editorial on America's obesity epidemic and healthcare by comedian Bill Maher on his HBO show "Real Time" inspired a thoughtful, and funny, response by James Cordon. It also made for a great debate about healthcare that Americans are avoiding.

At the end of the September 6th episode of "Real Time, " Maher turned to the camera for his usual editorial and discussed how obesity is a huge part of the healthcare debate that no one is having.

"At Next Thursday's debate, one of the candidates has to say, 'The problem with our healthcare system is Americans eat shit and too much of it.' All the candidates will mention their health plans but no one will bring up the key factor: the citizens don't lift a finger to help," Maher said sternly.

Keep Reading Show less
fat-shaming obesity and health care bosy positivity Bill Maher james corden bill maher fat-shaming
Politics

People with low emotional intelligence are more likely to vote Republican, new study claims

"The results of this study were univocal."

via Gage Skidmore

The common stereotypes about liberals and conservatives are that liberals are bleeding hearts and conservatives are cold-hearted.

It makes sense, conservatives want limited government and to cut social programs that help the more vulnerable members of society. Whereas liberals don't mind paying a few more dollars in taxes to help the unfortunate.

A recent study out of Belgium scientifically supports the notion that people who scored lower on emotional ability tests tend to have right-wing and racist views.

Keep Reading Show less
psychology of republicans trump supporters cold conservatives authoritarians authoritarianism Donald Trump psychology low emotional intelligence republicans
Politics