The holy grail of ice cream, wagyu for $45 per pound, Farmville takes over Facebook

• Facebook trends continue to follow those in the real world: first, there was the restaurant craze (known as Restaurant City on the ‘Book), and now there’s the back-to-the-farm craze. A new app called Farmville is storming the profiles of virtual locavores. Players can tend sheep and rabbits, as well as harvest strawberries, soybeans and eggplants. We predict a backlash app that involves pounding down virtual Big Macs and e-fries. [Globe and Mail]

• A group of gastronomy students from Italy have arrived in Ontario for a tour of the province’s agricultural bounty and food culture. The students, from a school founded by Slow Food Movement leader Carlo Petrini, will sample Canadian wines in Niagara, tour an organic food co-op in the Kawarthas, and even swing by Tim Hortons headquarters. [National Post]

• The Star investigates the phenomenon of wagyu, a very expensive ($135 per pound at Pusateri’s) type of Japanese beef. Topics covered: how Harbour Sixty can get away with charging $265 for a Kobe steak, and how Torontonians of modest means can score a Canadian version of the gourmet meat for a fraction of the cost. [Toronto Star]

• Not only is Gordon Ramsay under the threat of bankruptcy thanks to an over-quick expansion, but now Harden’s London Restaurants (a compilation of customer-sourced reviews similar to Zagat) is counting several of his new ventures among the capital’s 10 most disappointing restaurants. [Guardian]

• One of the world’s leading ice cream experts—the University of Guelph professor who invented double-churning—has set his sights on the holy grail of sweet treats. Doug Goff is conducting lab experiments to create a low-fat, low-sugar, high-fibre ice cream that tastes as good as the original. He is also working on a product that can be sold at room temperature and then turn into ice cream in the freezer. The king of cream’s flavour of choice? Vanilla. [Globe and Mail]