Frappuccinos may lead to cancer, North Korea’s black market fast food, local food returns to its roots
• Restaurants and bars might soon have to pay thousands more for the right to play music. The Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada wants to triple the royalty fee it collects for performers and sound engineers. Dance clubs would be hardest hit, with annual bills potentially as high as $30,000. Everyone better Footloose while they still can. [Canadian Press]
• An installation artist is taking the local food movement back to its roots (literally). California surfer/artist Jim Denevan is setting up a table for 80 in between the rows of organic carrots at Dingo Farms in Bradford, Ontario on August 11. Mark Cutrara of Cowbell will be preparing the $200 meal using ingredients from the farm. Guests are reminded to bring their own plates and cutlery—we advise against disposable. [Toronto Star]
• The first fast-food restaurant in North Korea has opened in Pyongyang, but despite the low prices (about 15 cents U.S. for a burger) only the wealthiest can afford the required admission tickets, which trade on the black market. [Donga]
• Frappuccinos make people fat and fat people are more likely to get cancer, warns the World Cancer Research Fund. A Starbuck’s Venti Dark Berry Mocha Frappuccino Blended Coffee with Whipped Cream is the worst culprit. With even more calories (561) than syllables in its name (13), it packs a heftier wallop than even a Big Mac (492). [The Guardian]
• Etiquette guides don’t specify whether or not photographing food is polite, so Guardian blogger Felicity Cloake decided to ask her readers. While one called the practice “bloody common,” the clear majority thinks it’s perfectly couth to snap a photo of an artfully presented meal (as long as the flash is off). [The Guardian]
