Now I know how people can eat a whole raw onion! They are eating fancy citrus-onion hybrids!

Facebook isn’t the only company with eyes set on a public offering this week, looks like the fast food game is looking to get in on some of the action.

CKE Inc., the parent company that operates Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s chains, has just filed for an initial public offering of stock that could raise an estimated $100 million.

The registration statement filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission notes that the company has yet to determine the size of the offering or an estimated price range. This is also not the company’s first time in the public offering rodeo. In fact, the restaurant, started by Carl Karcher back in the 1940s, has had quite a roller coaster past.

In 1981, the company went public; in 1997 CKE acquired the Hardee’s chain and then in 2010 the entire company was taken private when it was bought by private equity firm Apollo Management for nearly $700 million.

There’s very little information out about why the move to go public is happening now. According to reports and recap by the LA Times, CKE’s last fiscal year suffered a $19.3-million net loss while revenue slipped 3.9% to $1.3 billion.

To CKE’s credit, before being bought by Apollo, they were a part of a series of declines when the recession hit.

According to rumors, the chain might be launching a new burger next week…possibly a Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger.

Let's start by taking a look at the root of the problem. Production agriculture today is one of man imposing his will on nature. Corn, soybeans, wheat and a myriad of other crops are all grown as monocultures lacking agronomic diversity with the heavy use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. In most cases the soil is "prepared" for planting by mechanically altering it, also known as tillage. Cattle, hogs and poultry are raised in unnatural environments and consume feed that often contains non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics. All of these practices not only deplete the health of and the life in the soil but they also make the soil unsustainable. This has led to a sharp decrease in the nutrient density of the food we consume.

Prior to Shelly and I purchasing the ranch in 1991, the native rangeland on our ranch was in poor health. It had minimal plant diversity due to many years of season long grazing, which allows the livestock the opportunity to bite the plants they prefer as soon as they regrow, thus weakening the plant and eventually killing it. For decades, the cropland had been conventionally farmed with tillage and the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. Tillage had lowered organic matter levels to less than 2 percent which decreases the water holding capacity of the soil making it more susceptible to drought. These common and unsustainable farming practices not only limit crop diversity but have a detrimental effect on soil quality. And it is soil quality that sustains life. We found we had to increase the use of fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides just to maintain production on the cropland.

In 1993 we purchased a no-till drill and converted 100 percent of our cropland to no-till. Although this helped to conserve moisture and fuel, our inputs continued to rise. We came to the conclusion that what we were really seeing was symptoms of a greater problem and that problem was poor soil health. Our soils had become nothing more than a median to hold the plants upright, and not only lacked structure and organic matter, it lacked LIFE!

So, we had to ask ourselves, how do we improve soil health? We found the answer in native rangeland. Healthy native range is not only sustainable, it is regenerative. That is what we needed to do to our soils; regenerate them. Well managed native range has a tremendous amount of diversity, warm and cool season, broadleaves and grasses. Healthy native range is also developed with and is maintained by grazing species. This meant we needed to integrate our cropping and livestock enterprises and manage synergistically so that no part of our ranch works in isolation. Strategic animal impact became an important tool in developing healthy soil.

We started by cross fencing our pastures so we could rotate our cattle and give the rangeland time to recover. Next, we began to diversify the cropping enterprise. We did this by adding peas and alfalfa to the crop rotation. In 1995 we started growing corn. The night before we were to begin harvesting our spring wheat, a hailstorm came and we lost 100 percent of our crop. With no crop insurance the losses were devastating. In 1996 we diversified even more by adding winter triticale and hairy vetch, along with barley and red clover. We started growing these crops in combination with each other so the legume would fix the nitrogen needed by the grass and the grass would help supply the legume with phosphorus thus allowing us to reduce our fertilizer needs. This strategy was working. However, another hailstorm destroyed our crops once again. Financially we were struggling so we had to look at further ways to reduce input costs. After the hailstorm, we seeded a cover crop of sudan grass and millet as forage to feed our cattle. This kept us from purchasing extra feed and it got the cattle out of the corrals and onto the cropland thus benefiting both.

Extreme weather hit yet again and a 1997 drought prevented us from harvesting any of our crops. Yet, something was happening through the regenerative nurturing of the soil. Residue now protected the soil surface, and visible improvements of soil structure and organic matter levels were increasing, thus allowing our soils to hold more water. Even in a drought our land produced enough feed for our livestock. However, the following year was not much better as we lost 80 percent of our crop to hail. We had nothing to lose and everything to gain at that point. Simply enough, the answer was the soil beneath us. Although those four years were extremely difficult financially, Shelly and I say they were the best thing that could have happened to us because they proved to us that we had to focus on regenerating the resource -- the richness of the earth.

Since those four years of hardship we have continued to grow our strategies to regenerate and diversify our landscapes, by practicing Holistic Management and focusing on solving problems, not treating symptoms. Cover crops have become an integral tool in this regeneration. Cover crops are plants that are grown for the purpose of feeding soil life. There are more organisms in a teaspoon full of healthy soil than there are people on earth. These organisms live off of secretions from plant roots known as root exudates. In turn, these organisms make nutrients available to the plant. They cannot live without each other. We now plant cover crops throughout the growing season. Some are planted before a cash crop, some after, and others are grown in companion with a cash crop. All of the cover crops are grown as poly cultures, never as a monoculture. You do not find monocultures in nature with the exception of where man put them. Growing species together is the way they have naturally evolved.

In 2011 we grew over 25 different crops. This plant diversity improves soil health in a number of ways. The first is by sequestering carbon. There is no better way to sequester carbon than a healthy, diverse ecosystem. Secondly, root exudates are the building blocks for soil particles and structure. Third, root exudates feed soil biology and it is this biology that provides all living things (plants, animals, and people) the nutrients they need. Finally, species diversity increases organic matter which allows more water holding capacity in the soil and feeds macro-organisms.

We have continued to integrate the livestock and cropping enterprises. We now graze livestock on the cover crops at various times of the year. For example, some of our spring seeded cover crops are grazed with high stock densities for a short period of time. This is vastly beneficial to soil health because the act of grazing stimulates the plants to release root exudates thus feeding soil biology. We have worked with microbiologist Dr. Jill Clapperton to document large increases in soil biology following this scenario. The grazing animals also return nutrients to the soil, increasing the lands fertility. We also graze summer and fall seeded cover crops during the late fall and winter. This is not only beneficial to the soil but it also works to keep livestock healthy and out of confinement.

The prairies of the northern plains were developed by large herds of bison and other ruminants, grazing an area for a brief time and then moving on. This allowed the rangeland to fully recover before the animals returned. Grazing our rangeland is an integral component to the health of our ecosystem. We are mimicking nature on our grazing lands, only we use cattle and poultry. We allow our cattle to mob graze a pasture for a brief time, usually less than two days, and then we move them to another pasture. This is usually the only time that pasture will be grazed the entire year. This allows all of the plants time to fully recover. It has also greatly enriched species diversity (not to mention the huge amount of carbon that is being sequestered during this timeframe). It is important to note that if we did not graze our rangeland the health of this ecosystem would actually deteriorate as grazing ruminants are an integral component of it.

The ecosystem transformation has brought about an exponential increase in the wildlife that now abounds in these rangelands. Large populations of white-tailed deer, coyotes, fox, weasels, mink, raccoons, sharptail grouse, hungarian partridge, many species of raptors, duck geese and too many songbirds to count. Even the population of insects has substantially increased as well. The recovered pastures provide cover and protection. The growth following grazing provides a high quality food source. Native species have proliferated and they all play an important role in the ecosystem.

So, what has been our results of focusing on regenerating our resources and managing for the whole? We have increased our organic matter levels from less than 2 percent to over 5 percent on some fields. This has been a tremendous benefit. It means that on one acre we now have over 100,000# of organic carbon in the top foot alone! That same foot of soil is now capable of holding over 108,000 gallons of water per acre! If all agricultural land could hold this abundance of water, just imagine the range of implications for the health of our water quality and supplies, from alleviating potential flooding impacts to keeping harmful fertilizers and pesticides out of our rivers, lakes and oceans.

The living biology in our soil has increased to the point that we no longer use synthetic fertilizer. This soil biology provides the plants with the nutrients they need. We do not use any fungicides or pesticides. A healthy ecosystem thrives on its own. Skeptics say we cannot feed the world with this return to natural based farming and ranching on large scales. That is simply not true. Our average corn yield is over 20 percent higher than the county average and we've seen strong net profits consistently for many years.

Too often people tend to categorize things as good or bad without understanding how they function for the health of the entire system. For instance, some people presume meat is unhealthy and that cattle destroy the environment. But if cattle are integrated into the productive work of the farm, raised on healthy soil and sustainably without antibiotics, we can achieve incredible environmental and food outcomes. Our cattle play an integral role in regenerating our resources by grazing. Our grass finished beef is nutrient dense and healthy with proteins, CLA, Omega 3's, Vitamin E, Iron and many other essential nutrients. Our pastured poultry and eggs are just as healthy. We believe that the grains we grow are also more nutrient dense because of our healthy soils. When these functions work in harmony with one another, it's a win-win.

It is our family's passion to show others just how vital, practical and possible it is to regenerate our landscapes through innovative farming and ranching practices. We have an open door policy on our ranch. If anyone wants to visit our operation we are going to try and take the time to show it to them. We host thousands of visitors each year and I am proud to say that we have had visitors from all 50 states and 15 foreign countries tour our ranch.

Winning a Growing Green Award from the Natural Resources Defense Council is instrumental in helping us elevate the importance of regenerating our landscapes to make our food systems stronger and more resilient. We need to holistically manage our resources and move towards a balance of biodiversity in our food producing systems. And we need to do it now. As Charles Kome once said, "We need to understand that the quality of our lives depends on the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. All of those things depend on the quality of our SOIL!"

Photo courtesy of PapaKaster Eatin’.

Orange, California

Yes, you're seeing things correctly: That's a fruit grown in the shape of a juice box.

We're stunned by Brazilian juice company Camp Nectar's new ad campaign, which took two years to develop. By placing plastic molds over the fruit, the company was able to produce box-shaped apples, guavas, lemons, oranges, papayas and passion fruit, all featuring Camp's logo. They even appear to have bent straws and folded top-edges, just like a normal box.

It's all, of course, to show customers that the company's juice is all natural. The idea was hatched by creative agency AGE Isobar.

Camp Nectar has a video detailing the process, which is pretty cool. We especially love the time lapse of a fruit growing in one of the molds. Check it out below.

This follows on the heels of an editorial published last month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition entitled "Coffee Consumption and Risk of Chronic Diseases: Changing Our Views," which reviewed the growing evidence that for most people, the benefits of drinking coffee likely outweigh the risks. Though the study published today found no significant relationship between coffee consumption and cancer, a recent analysis of the best studies published to date suggests coffee consumption may lead to a modest reduction in overall cancer incidence. Each daily cup o' joe was associated with about a 3% reduced risk of cancers, especially bladder, breast, mouth, colorectal, endometrial, esophageal, liver, leukemic, pancreatic, and prostate cancers.

One of the reasons it's so difficult to study the relationship between diet and disease is because many dietary behaviors are associated with non-dietary behaviors. For example, people who drink coffee may be more likely to have a cigarette in the other hand, which can lead to spurious conclusions. When these considerations are factored in, though, the best available evidence suggests that coffee consumption is generally health-promoting.

What about the caffeine though? Oh, you mean the substance that, as noted in the journal Nutrition:

1) increases energy availability, 2) increases daily energy expenditure, 3) decreases fatigue, 4) decreases the sense of effort associated with physical activity, 5) enhances physical performance, 6) enhances motor performance, 7) enhances cognitive performance, 8) increases alertness, wakefulness, and feelings of 'energy,' 9) decreases mental fatigue, 10) quickens reactions, 11) increases the accuracy of reactions, 12) increases the ability to concentrate and focus attention, 13) enhances short-term memory, 14) increases the ability to solve problems requiring reasoning, 15) increases the ability to make correct decisions, 16) enhances cognitive functioning capabilities and neuromuscular coordination, and 17) in otherwise healthy non-pregnant adults is safe.

That caffeine?

Up to a thousand milligrams of caffeine is considered safe for most people, which translates into about 10 cups of coffee a day. New advice suggests that pregnant women, however, should restrict their caffeine consumption to under just 200 mg a day.

There are a few other coffee caveats. Some health conditions may be worsened by coffee, such as insomnia, anxiety, gastroesophageal reflux (heartburn), high blood pressure, and certain heartbeat rhythm irregularities. There are also compounds in coffee that increase cholesterol levels, but are effectively removed when filtered through paper, so drip coffee is preferable to boiled, French press and espresso.

Despite the growing evidence of health benefits associated with coffee consumption, I still don't recommend my patients drink it -- not because it's not healthy, but because there are even healthier choices. In this way, coffee is like a banana, another common convenient plant product. Just as I encourage people to make healthier fruit choices (apples are better, berries are best), I encourage folks to choose an even healthier beverage, such as green tea or hibiscus.

One final note: not all routes of administering coffee are benign. Consider the title of a case reported last month in the medical literature: "Rectal Perforation... Caused by Rectal Burns Associated With Hot Coffee Enemas."

This is the drunkest macaroni I’ve ever seen and I’ve eaten mac n cheese in the bathtub at 3am.

This is the drunkest macaroni I’ve ever seen and I’ve eaten mac n cheese in the bathtub at 3am.

The show in its entirety is always fascinating, not only in the discovery of a people and a culture I am unfamiliar with, but each episode proves to me once again how alike we all are; each of these people visited, individuals, tribes, villages, no matter how far, how isolated or remote are basically all the same; we have more in common than not; we laugh at ourselves and each other, we joke and tease, love and care for our families, work, eat, celebrate and dream.

But what strikes me each time is the food. As the host and chosen celebrity sit down day after day, meal after meal to break bread, so to speak, with one group of individuals after the next, they are asked to share the traditional dishes, the home cooking, that their hosts eat day in and day out. Boiled goat gruel in Namibia, sheep head in Mongolia, raw reindeer meat or raw frozen fish in Siberia; or the lamb stew in which burning rocks are added to the pot to speed the cooking, again in Mongolia, hand-ground sorghum stewed with fish freshly caught from the river in Ethiopia or even larva in Papua, New Guinea. They watch as the Nyangatom and the Mongolian men drink fresh beef blood for strength or feed it to their children, who rarely see a fruit or vegetable, for the much-needed nutrients. These guests sit down at the table - or, more likely, on the ground - and partake, with only the slightest of hesitation, the food offered.

It is a sign of cultural awareness and acceptance that not all populations have the same traditions, customs or eating habits. If one wants to be totally immersed in, accepted into or understand a community, one must eat as they do; refusing to share a meal or turning down a specially prepared delicacy is often seen as the ultimate insult to one's hosts. Many Americans, or at least those that have little experience or understanding of the world, often make wide-sweeping assumptions about what is right or wrong, what is normal or abnormal, acceptable or unacceptable, and as the whole "our President ate dog" discussion recently highlighting the news pages proves, what others eat doesn't escape this scrutiny.

As I watched the last episode of this travel show, the recent to-do about President Obama dining on dog meat when a child in Indonesia, as if he had been gobbling down Fido the neighbor's pet, struck me as unenlightened and ludicrous. As soon as one travels the world, it becomes perfectly clear that, to put it crudely, one culture's pet is another culture's dinner - "quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum" (one man's meat is another man's poison). When I was visiting Nigeria many years ago, I knew of several expat families who had taken pet turtles in their gardens and were obliged to mark the shells with their family name or a large X in red paint or their pets risked being caught and ending up someone's dinner. I ate bush meat during my stay, an unknown animal hunted in the brush, killed and skinned by a group of men with less-than sterilized machetes and knives, as we waited in the car along the side of the road, something I would never have imagined eating before I travelled. My husband was offered a bowl of warm walnut oil by his hosts during a trip to Morocco, a sign of high respect, and expected to drink it as the others looked on.

As I listened to the utterly ignorant banter concerning dog eaten some thirty-odd years ago in a far-off country, I thought about my own early years living in France and the foods that were new to me, some of which, I had grown up learning, were not food at all. I found it rather disturbing and somewhat disgusting that the French dined on horsemeat. Mr. Ed, anyone? Rabbit is almost as common as chicken here, yet as an American the image of the poor little Easter bunny, bowtie and all, had long been ingrained in my brain. Blood sausage is well loved by the French, as are pig's feet and ears (yes, ears). (I once was an interpreter for a sausage-making class in a French cooking school; the professor told me that he normally begins the class with Blood Sausage, Boudin Noir, but never for the Americans who revolt at the sight of the blood.) In this most civilized country of gastronomic renown and pleasure, brains, kidneys, liver, pancreas, almost every part of the animal is a delicacy, not simply the steaks and ribs. Once fairly common fare, roosters crests are still occasionally eaten here in France and a friend recently told me that her grandfather had been served delicately poached rooster's testicles in a Michelin-starred restaurant. Personally, if given the choice, I'd rather have a good dog curry.

Depending upon where we live, even in America, just stepping outside our own front door will lead to new culinary discoveries; just venture into an adjacent neighborhood and you might very well find families sitting down to a meal of their own traditional dishes comprised of ingredients unknown or strange to you. Lutefisk--codfish preserved in lye - is a delicacy among Scandinavian-Americans and alligator is a favorite at most Florida seafood joints; everything from scrapple to tongue to tripe will be equally devoured or despised. Not so long ago, goat was considered nasty, indeed, something less-than-civilized cultures ate. Now it is the latest hot trend food. Wild boar and bison followed the same evolution. Should we really be judging people on what and how they eat in their own culture, at their own table? And this even in our own country, right in our own backyard...who's cringing now?

To the well-travelled and educated food lovers and adventurous eaters reading my words, this is no surprise and certainly nothing new. Food and what we eat, culturally and traditionally, should never label us, and should never be a reason to belittle or mock. It only shows the ignorance, bias or littleness of the one mocking. Or simply disrespect, which may trump the rest.

And the whole dog discussion, even now fading into political memory, makes one wonder how often Mitt Romney ate horsemeat during his lengthy stay in France.

Jamie Schler lives, eats and writes in France. To read more of her work visit Life's a Feast.