How much product information provided today to consumers is for educational purposes? And how much is merely the latest advertising hype filled with buzz words to grab our attention? We live in an age where the media mesmerizes us into buying a product. All too often the message is filled with misinformation.
We are forced to find out the facts for ourselves. There are often so many choices that it is dizzying. This is no accident. Millions of dollars are spent on product research. The goal of most food companies is not to produce what is best for us. It is to produce what makes the most money for them. But at least with eggs, now we can now be informed consumers. This is because of ‘The Egg Labels Infographic’.
In case you would like a translation of ‘The Egg Labels Infographic, read Jane Says: Here’s How to Unscramble Egg Carton Labels by Jane Lear also of Takepart.com. She goes into great detail to explain what all the terms mean. As consumers, we are entitled to know what the products we purchase contain. May this egg label post set an example for other areas in the food industry to become transparent. But more about that at another time.
This blog post is a reprint of an article by the same name, World-class architecture joins high-level sustainability at new Vienna university. It was written by Phyllis Richardson and appeared in Gizmag.com on February 19, 2014.
The new campus of the WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) is a like a smorgasbord of 21st century architecture, with signature buildings by Zaha Hadid Hitoshi Abe and Estudio Carme Pinós, among others. But the world-class campus has equally high standards for energy efficiency and sustainability.
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Vienna University of Economics and Business
Though the buildings of the 100,000 square-meter (1 million sq-ft) campus were created by a roster of international talent, the master plan was conceived by the Viennese office of BUSarchitektur in partnership with BOA (büro für offensive aleatorik, or “Studio for Offensive Randomness”). BUS also designed the Teaching Center.
The school opened in October 2013 to 25,000 students and 1,500 faculty, but its green energy ethos was in place well beforehand, as work was carried out according to Guidelines for Sustainable Construction. These include environmentally-friendly logistics and the reduction of traffic, dust and pollution during building.
Energy and Sustainability
Sustainability and a holistic approach were key factors in the designs, as were “green building” guidelines, which follow international certification requirements. Since it opened in October 2013, the school has been meeting between 60 and 70 percent of its energy needs for heating and cooling through geothermal systems (which uses the energy produced by the change in temperature from water pumped from below ground). Heat recovery units in all buildings have an efficiency rate of 75 percent. Heating, ventilation and cooling are carefully monitored and calibrated according to demand. Green roofs were installed wherever possible.
The campus plan for ecological urbanism also includes 9,900 sq m (106,000 sq ft) of bushes and plants as well as 1,600 sq m (17,000 sq ft) of lawn, and 1,000 secure bicycle spaces. Lighting sensors in the university buildings not only detect whether rooms are vacant or occupied, but in some cases they gauge how much natural light is available, reducing the amount of artificial illumination being used. Classrooms and meeting rooms receive natural light from external windows and from interior atrium spaces.
Communal spaces and interaction
According to the team from BUSarchitekten, the overarching aim of the concept was to create a campus that encouraged social interaction. This is why the new buildings are aligned along the central pedestrian boulevard, or “walk along the park.” Spaces between and around buildings have been designed with seating and planting, including several plazas and a light garden.
So determined was the team to ensure maximum personal contact that the underground parking was designed to expel people into the communal open spaces, rather than allow them to enter their own buildings, unnoticed, below ground. More than half of the whole area, about 55,000 sq m (540,000 sq ft), has been devoted to open or communal space.
The Learning Center, Zaha Hadid
The centerpiece of the campus is the Learning Center, designed by Zaha Hadid. The building is wrapped in Hadid’s signature sweeping curves with an upper volume projecting out toward the pedestrian path. In addition to holding the library, the building houses lounge spaces and various types of meeting rooms. These are contained in separate enclosed volumes that are similarly curved and transversed by angled walkways and lines of windows so that they resemble a group of cruise liners docking together around a towering center hall.
Striking white and pristine formwork concrete make this a bright, rather majestic space, and certainly one that draws some attention to the overall cost of the campus, said to be around €500 million (US$ 685 million). What is less obvious is the fact that, according to the engineers, the building is about ten times more energy-efficient than standard buildings of a similar size.
The Executive Academy, NO.MAD Arquitectos
The skewed geometries of the Executive Academy by NO.MAD arquitectos (Image: Campus WU/boa…
The distinctive black and silver Executive Academy building for researchers and mature students anchors the western end of the campus promenade. Designed by Madrid-based NO.MAD, the building appears as an irregular stack of blocks. The facade is covered in glass and aluminum, materials used to create degrees of transparency and reflection. Window patterns appear to follow the lines of a maze, or a circuit board, but were calculated according to an algorithm program.
Windows all have thermal protection and light-filtering systems. Inside, soaring window sections and pure concrete contrast with mirrored panels so that some rooms have a stark, cathedral-like atmosphere. The seven floors offer 18,000 sq m (194,000 sq ft) of teaching and learning spaces.
The Administration and Law building, CRAB studio
The Administration and Law building is a more lively and linear complex, designed by London’s CRAB (Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau) studio. However, this structure looks like it might have been conceived in the sunny climes of Santa Fe, New Mexico, rather than under the gray skies of northern Europe.
Administration and Law complex, by CRAB studio (Image: CRAB studio)
Painted vivid blood orange, which graduates to pale clementine, topped by lemon yellow and cream, the building wears a screen of rough timber planks. The planks are meant to act as sun screens and refer to the nearby Prater Woods. Sir Peter Cook, of CRAB, was a founding member of Archigram, the avant-garde British design group of the 1960s, and seems to have maintained his love of the visually provocative here.
The Departmental building by Estudio Carme Pinós (Image: Campus WU/boanet)
No less striking, though less colorful, the Departmental building by Estudio Carme Pinós plays with rigid geometries. Windows and casements in gray metal flow in a zig-zag pattern over white walls. These patterned volumes alternate with solid gray orthogonal sections, all joined by a curved central form. Stepped and circular cut-out shapes are used throughout the interior, demonstrating some of Pinós’ trademark attention to quirky details. To help maintain internal temperatures, window shutters open and close automatically according to solar conditions. Teaching Center and Auditorium building, BUS architektur
BUSarchitektur won the competition, with BOA, for the master plan of the site, so it is probably fitting that their building is one of two forming the main entrance of the campus. With a skin of weathered Cor-Ten steel, it resembles a cake dusted in cocoa powder. The monolithic structure is broken up into sections of steel with layers of recessed windows.
Interior of the auditorium within the Cor-Ten steel building by BUSarchitektur (Image: Cam…
The Center is home to the main auditorium, which is also clad in steel and sits within a large atrium space, making a feature of the Cor-Ten cladding. Stairs and ramps run up through the atrium, lead out of the building and up to the roof garden, continuing gestures of social interaction and open access.
The Student Center, by Hitoshi Abe (Image: Campus WU/boanet)
The elongated slender sections of the Student Center building were inspired by the layers of French millefeuille pastry, according to the architects, and are meant to give the impression of permeability. Ribbons of black and white sections (the darkened window glass alternating with thin bands of the facade) and the curved forms do give the building a delicate impact.
Designed by Japanese architect Hitoshi Abe, the duo-chrome complex serves multiple functions, with long segments joined by long slender atrium spaces. These spaces are meant to promote communal activity, as well as providing corridors of natural light.
Source: Vienna University of Economics and Business
It gives me great pride to invite you to join us for the “Women of the World” Art Exhibition on Wednesday February 26th at 6pm in the Theodore Roosevelt Executive & Legislative Building (located at 1550 Franklin Avenue in Mineola, New York). This FREE event will feature over 50 of Long Island’s most distinguished female artists and photographers in efforts to spread awareness for the arts.
During the event, entrants, selected by event curator Jill Rader Levine, will be judged by industry experts and academic professionals in two categories, fine arts and photography. Judges will include prominent members of the art community with winners in each category receiving prizes.
This event will serve as an opportunity for the community to enjoy the evening together as well as enjoy fine art and photography reflective of the great talent available here on Long Island.
Light fare and beverages will be served”.
Event logo designed by Elizabeth Cassidy – one of the exhibitors.
Music by Chuck Idol
Deciding what one believes in is much easier as an intellectual exercise. It takes on a whole new meaning when it is a matter of hunger. In the case of GMO foods, for those who believe that genetic modification is dangerous, of course one wants food labeled so it can be avoided. But what if non-GMO food is too expensive and beyond ones budget?
Deer, Photo credit: Sag Harbor Express
GMO Label Debate, photo credit: shutterstock
Image credit left: from the DEC, White-tailed deer – Odocoileus virginianus, Photo: Susan Shafer. Image credit right: truth-out.org, Photo: Shuttershtock.
We are part of both the new demographic and the old demographic of hungry people. We have had our food stamps slashed to 5% of our original monthly benefit. The immediate result of that was that we had to turn to the food pantries. I have never seen food pantry packaging indicating whether or not the contents contain genetically modified food. I suppose I am consuming GMO food. So I ‘bless it’ before I eat it. Not only that, it is actually already blessed. The mere fact that someone has donated it so that I can eat is a blessing.
What about the latest news about shooting some deer or culling the deer population as it is called? The East End of Long Island is overrun with deer. They eat vegetation on people’s property. They ignore the boundaries that man has set for what is his and what is theirs. They are also disease infested. But they are regal as bucks and does. They are adorable as fawns. How can we justify killing them? It is inhumane or is it more human than many realize? Nature keeps a balance when left to its own devices. When we take actions that ignore or destroy the balance, something has to be done to rebalance it. In this case, it is called ‘Deer Management’.
White-tailed deer – Odocoileus virginianus
Photo: Susan Shafer
Protest organizers, concert promoter Ron Delsener and East Hampton Group for Wildlife founder Bill Crain, adress the crowd at the “No Cull” rally in East Hampton Village Saturday, January 17. (Michael Heller photo).
They may be nice to look at, but for some they’re there to eat. The Sag Harbor Express
Here are the choices with the issue of deer population culling:
1. Kill off some of the deer population to trim down the herds.
2. Sterilize the males.
I see no point in sterilizing the males. Contrary to my liberal, formerly ‘New Age’ thinking, I am now a pragmatist. I believe there are two very good reasons for choosing deer population culling:
1. The food is needed by the growing number of hungry people including myself.
2. We need to trim down the deer over-population since other methods are not working or being introduced.
If things go as planned, sharpshooters will be brought in from the Department of Environmental Conservation to carry out the deer population culling. The deer meat will be donated to Island Harvest and if I am lucky enough, my food pantry will receive it. I will get to have some of it. I was introduced to elk earlier this year. It will be interesting to see how deer meat tastes now since I have not had it for about 25 years. ThoughtShaker | GMOs: Get To Know Your Food thoughtshaker.com
Have I compromised my beliefs? Do I think GMO food is as healthy as non-GMO food? Do I no longer care about wildlife protection? The answer to all these questions is NO. So what has happened to my optimistically liberal perspective? I became one of The Middle Class Poor, the hungry Middle Class Poor and I am grateful for the blessed food I receive. It may not be up to my ‘preferred standards’. But when one gets hungry, one is grateful to eat.
I spend a great deal of time curating very serious topics and issues. Sometimes it becomes very depressing. What is the anti-dote for this? I decided it is to make a joyful noise in the world, now.
So today’s blog post is about fun, whimsical, joyful things I like to do on social media. I did not even realize how much I needing this healing medicine to soothe the pain of life and the misery in the world. But a new facebook group, called Best World Music woke me up and got me smiling. Not everyone posts music I know or like. It doesn’t matter. I learn about new songs and groups from all over the world, thanks to Sasa Dobrijevic, it’s founder and contributing member, from Serbia.
Sasa Dobrijevic
I have also had the opportunity to focus on something that gives me enormous joy, music itself. I rarely listen to music. My wonderful Bose Radio/CD player is about 20 years old. It skips, the CDs often do not play and there is not a single radio station that I enjoy listening to for very long. Thanks to Best World Music, the famine is over. I can listen to other peoples suggested music, post my favorites and listen to them. In addition, I am making new friends from this group. We all share a happy common interest.
Best World Music Facebook group founded by Sasa Dobrijevic
Another of my passions is architectural history. One of my favorite periods is The Gilded Age and the stories of the people and Mansions of the Gilded Age.
Mansions of the Gilded Age facebook group
Thanks again to another existing facebook friend, Michael Carl Tanner, and several new friends I am having great fun walking down memory lane and discovering all kinds of new architectural and social wonders of the period.
Michael Carl Tanner facebook page and founder of Mansions of the Gilded Age
Then there is my piece de resistance, purple food. Yes it does exist and this specific kind is from a yam native to the Philipines. It is known as ube. I had discovered ube in powder form in an Asian Market. I love to explore and try things I have never seen before. The powder sat in my cabinet for sometime. But when I finally got around to concocting my own version of the package recipe, I devoured the entire thing. I sought an expert, Jun Belen on this magnificent purple food. Much to my delight he had an entire blog post with photos of my beloved ube desserts.
Various desserts made from ube, a purple yam indigenous to the Philipines
Bite-size ube puto or rice cakes topped with cheese and sprinkled with grated coconut.
The beloved ube, therefore, occupies a special spot in my heart. Ube ice cream with crispy, fragile barquillos or wafer rolls.
Ube with macapuno or sweetened young coconut. Ube with flan. Ube with halo-halo.
Ube with macapuno or sweetened young coconut. Ube with flan. Ube with halo-halo.
Indigenous crafts may ultimately be all that survive of many cultural traditions. As I discussed in my last blog post Can Indigenous Societies Survive?, Indigenous Societies are in peril. In researching the photos to use in this post, I was struck by the amazing beauty in the everyday lives of Indigenous peoples.
I did not see art as we know Art, the kind that hangs in museums that can’t be touched. I saw creativity and extraordinary beauty in things that related to their everyday lives in Indigenous Crafts. Since I did not focus on this in my other blog post, I would remiss not to emphasize it here.
It is apparent from these photos that the people take great pride in their creativity. They may not see art as we do but they clearly express talents that must be preserved. They appreciate and make things of beauty as part of their daily lives; such as a horse with blue eyes and the set up for making their cheese. Their crafts speak to their cultures, to what is important to them and what they treasure in their lives.
I realized this when I saw the picture of a horse’s saddle created by someone from the Mongolian Nomads. These photos are part of a photo essay about the Mongolian Nomads made by Taylor Weidman done for the Global Oneness Project.
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Nomads photographed by Taylor Weidman
The feature photo at the beginning of this post and the one at the end are from a story by Unnikrishnan Raveendranathan. They demonstrate the craft of basket weaving. It is a lost art that has been revived, in this case by Edward Willie, so that he could teach it to his daughter. He also said, “I teach weaving to others so that I can share the connection to the earth that it gives us.”
Indigenous cultures and their crafts are what connect all of us to the earth. This is why we treasure them even as our technology destroys their way of life. Noam Chomsky said it best in this quote, “It’s pretty ironic that the so-called ‘least advanced’ people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us, while the richest and most powerful among us are the ones who are trying to drive the society to destruction.”
The irony is that as we destroy the cultures of the Indigenous peoples, we grow to treasure their art. We stick it in museums or buy it at great cost at auction. Somehow that is how we ‘technologically advanced’ peoples know how to appreciate nature’s beauty. We put it in cages, we hang it on walls, we frame it in museums. We bemoan the loss of these Indigenous Societies but only know how to keep them alive through their Indigenous Crafts.Edward Willie Basket weaving photographed by Unnikrishnan Raveendranathan
I have done a fair amount of research on Indigenous Societies around the world. They fascinate me. Most Indigenous Societies that still exist seem to be in peril. I wonder, ‘how much longer can they survive’?
Many of the stories I have read are from The Global Oneness Project. Amazingly brave and talented artists, photographers and writers travel throughout the world to study Indigenous Peoples. Their stories and the photos taken may become the last tangible proof that Indigenous Societies still exist somewhere on the planet. It seems that only in the remotes places where nature fortifies its children against invasion do societies continue intact. This is the case with the Mustangs, monks living in an isolated corner of Nepal surrounded by high mountains which separate and protect them from the outside world. The Mustangs, monks of Nepal photographed by Taylor Weidman
Besides wondering if Indigenous Tribes can survive is the question, ‘Why Are They Disappearing’? This is what I would like to focus on. Indigenous people are intimate with their natural environment. As more of nature is usurped by ‘civilized’ men for other uses, thrown out of balance by ‘climate change’ or outright destroyed by technological advancements’, the people whose land is a physical extension of themselves die as a culture. They individually may survive as the ‘American Indians’ did. But they were confined to reservations, raped of their culture, their dignity, their identity, their land and their spiritual connection to the earth and their natural world.
Native American Tribe Policy from Victoriana.com
There are currently two cultures where survival is indeed in peril. They are The Kara Women from Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley, an amazing story told through the photographs of Jane Baldwin, and .
The Kara Women and the Omo River Valley photographed by Jane Baldwin
The Kara Women and the Omo River Valley photographed by Jane Baldwin
The Mongolian Nomads, studied and photographed by Taylor Weidman, co-founder of the Vanishing Cultures Project. In both cases either man’s interference, climate change, desertification and the lure of a modern world are eating away at not only their cultural integrity but also their very survival. The damming of the Omo River is destroying the livelihood of half a million Africans. Climate change, desertification and the awareness of a modern life are transforming the Mongolian landscape.
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
Mongolian Nomads by Taylor Weidman
But there is some hope on the horizon. It is unlikely that many or any of the Indigenous Societies will survive as they have historically or geographically. But there is a strong desire to keep their rich cultural heritages alive and if possible, their way of living alive as well. In the case of a Yup’ik Eskimo town on the Western coast of Alaska, families are struggling to maintain the subsistence lifestyle of their ancestors.
Emmonak photgraphed by Elias Koch
This story is one of destruction, devastation and at the same time an indominable spirit to keep some of the richest cultures on our planet alive. Whatever these people can do on their own or what others are doing to help, all of these Indigenous Societies will survive in our own hearts and minds as we connect to the Mother Earth Spirit that birthed us all.
About I month ago, I saw a video about the history of GMOs, based on the book Seeds of Deception. It made me so depressed I had to find a new focus for the Global Food rEvolution. I started to turn the corner when today I read about a new approach to crop production. It very much reaffirms my commitment to a future where Mother Nature triumphs over man made deadly GMOs.
The venture, named BioAg Alliance will “use microbes and fungi to enhance crop growth and yield, help with pest resistance, and reduce inputs like water. Monsanto paid Novozymes $300 million to partner in this ‘game changing’ venture. Monsanto will do marketing and field testing. Novozymes will do the manufacturing.” K. McDonald, Monsanto Going Green: Using Bacteria and Fungi to Increase Crop Yields and Lower Inputs
I am not naive enough to expect perfection. But like many people, I feel a sense of hope that at least we are not doomed to a death by consuming food consisting of nothing but genetically modified organisms. I do not know what dollars deal made Monsanto willing to change colors. But I do understand the sense of it. The Food rEvolution, a food journey from Personal to Political
Although Monsanto has received almost unanimous government support or lack of opposition due to lobbying and other enticements, there is tremendous opposition amongst the people. There have been huge public protests flooding the Internet. None were mentioned on the major TV networks due to collusion between corporate giants. But globally, there is a refusal to accept American exports due to GMO contamination. Apparently other countries have already realized what the US government and agricultural giants are just waking up to. GMOs are deadly.
The groundswell can no longer be held at bay. To see a change of heart, or at least wallet, to a greener approach restores hope and faith that Mother Nature triumphs to the good of all.
Back in 1929, when the stock market made its most precipitous crash, there were millionaires turned paupers who jumped from their office windows to their death. They could not bear the thought of a simpler life, one stripped of the glitz and glamour that accompanied the rarified air they were used to breathing.
Today, the economic see-saw is sending millions, not to their deaths, but rather to face the challenges of the 99% and The Middle Class Poor. For me, economic faith has led me to not only the acceptance of a simpler life but also the joyful discoveries that have accompanied it. This is not to say that it has not been a huge adjustment. But rather than plummet to my death, I have found my circumstance such that with the cultivation of economic faith and the acceptance of a simpler life, I seem to be keeping my head above water and enjoying it as well.
As the 1% continues to need to glut themselves on more and more, the ranks of the growing Middle Class Poor have increased and are tightening our belts. But, you know, it isn’t nearly as bad as I thought. Once you get an understanding of what financial assistance is available and just how to get it, you have a place to start. Here is an example.
Two years ago, we were granted food stamps, $367/month to be exact. Little did I know, this was considered a hefty sum. You see, I had a bit of the ticker tape millionaire attitude and was humiliated by the meager amount since it was a fraction of my monthly healthy food expenses. This past summer we had to file our SNAP (as food stamps is now called) recertification. To our mortification, our monthly allotment was reduced to 5%. That’s right TO 5% or $16 not by 5% as many other folks were. How the hell were we going to eat on $16/month. Short of dumpster diving or stealing, neither was an option, I had no idea.
Being one who perseveres rather than falls into self-pity, I knew this was my opportunity to make some new discoveries. These would be discoveries for my own salvation. My goal is that they could also provide information to support other souls who thought they would have only crumbs to pick at to survive.
There are so many things that I have learned to do simpler and even do without. My confidence in my ability to survive in challenging times has given me a sort of economic faith. I am resourceful. I know how to take little and make it into more. I know how to take things from the garbage and make them into treasures. I know how to accept a simpler life. In fact, I appreciate things more now than when I had more.
Future blog posts will focus on the specifics of making due, having more with less, and cultivating economic faith with acceptance of a simpler life. ‘Stay tuned’ for some fun projects, food recipes and ideas that will help you be a resourceful success as part of The Middle Class Poor.
OK, I admit it. It has been disgracefully long since I have ‘created’ and not just ‘curated’. I can’t tell you how many times and how many topics I have come up with. They are in the front of my mind, on the tip of my tongue, or my fingers. But then, nothing happens. So, enough is enough. Nothing heavy duty or earth shattering. But a simple, straight forward post summarizing one I saw from Takepart. It is so on target that its content bears repeating and in my own words.
The topic is Five Essential Superfoods to Eat Everyday. I will confess right up front, or at least in the second paragraph that I don’t have them daily. But I am very familiar with all of them. None is strange, nothing like the information about the ten weirdest foods I had ever read about. I had only even heard of one in terms of its being a food. I admit. It was gross and really required an cast iron stomach to even look at the pictures and consider them as food.
No this is an easy, pleasant, palatable and extremely healthy group. I actually enjoy them and you can easily find them, too. So without further delay, I would like to introduce them.
NUTS
Surprised? Well it won’t be the last time. Nuts are really good for you. So many people love them but don’t eat them because they think they are fattening. There are essential oils in nuts. Yes, I said that anti-diet word, oils. We need oil. People who diet by removing oil from what they consume are depriving their bodies of really important nutrients.
QUINOA
OK, this may be one you never heard of before. So get used to it. It is pronounced keen-wah. It is native to South America and has been voted the Food of the Year by a branch of the United Nations. It is super packed with nutrients. On its own it can be bland. But mixed with some veges, oil and spices make it quite tasty.
OLIVE OIL
This is one of my favorite foods of all times. I love olives in almost every form and a good, extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil is majestic and magical. It can bring a plate of steamed vegetables to life in ways that seem unimaginable. The quality and even country of origin can make a huge difference in the taste. Try different origins to see what you like best. But always get extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil. In addition, never refrigerate your oil. Keep it in a cool, dark place as labels often read. It often comes in a brown or green bottle to protect it from too much light.
KALE
Here’s the perfect food to try your olive oil out on. I like to steam greens or use them in juice. I prefer not to cook them in oil but add it after they are cooked. If you prefer it raw, you can soak the kale in a marinade that includes the oil, of course. It tastes amazing.
GOJI BERRIES
I like to think of these as Asian raisins. They are not as sweet but are super-nutritious. They go great in rice pudding with or without the raisings. In fact, they can replace any dish you might put raisins in. I prefer juicier berries. They are often dry and crunchy.
