Haylley Johnson

There is finally a way to procrastinate that is both noble and useful.

Www.freerice.com, a way to sound smart and feel good about it, builds vocabulary intelligence while simultaneously feeding the world.

According to the Freerice homepage, people can play a vocabulary building game that consists of matching words to their synonyms. Each correct answer donates the money to buy 20 grains of rice to the World Food Program.

World Food Programme, a site that represents “the food aid arm of the UN,” according to their mission statement, has also gathered a lot of attention due to Freerice.com.

According to National Public Radio, Freerice.com has “driven the most Inter¬net traffic to the World Food Programme site.”

Jennifer Parmelee, a spokesperson for the World Food Program interviewed by NPR, said the site has provided “the gift of awareness about world hunger.”

Freerice.com, as well as its sister site, Poverty.com, was started by a computer programmer named John Breen who began the site from his residence in Indiana to help his son prepare for the SATs, stated “The Christian Science Monitor.”

According to “The Christian Science Monitor,” after Poverty.com launched in January of 2007, Freerice. com was created in October of that year, and is one of the various websites that Breen began with a humanitarian goal.

By January of 2008, Freerice.com players had donated “more than 15 billion grains of rice…enough to feed more than 700,000 people for one day,” said Jennifer Parmelee of the World Food Program.

The funding, totaling to enough money to cover 6,948,988,060 grains for the month of December 2007, gifted by freerice.com to the World Food Program, is generated through a system of internet advertising, stated Freerice.com.

The advertisements are placed at the bottom of the screen of each new vocabulary challenge. With each new question, the advertisers give freerice.com enough money for that one question’s rice winnings.

According to freerice. com’s FAQs section of the site, the advertisers can afford this because they earn money from the products that people buy after viewing their advertisements on the freerice website.

All of the money earned is donated to the World Food Program, as Freerice.com is a nonprofit website, stated Breen.

The rice distribution is not limited to only a few countries either. According to the World Food Pro¬gram Web site, ten different countries, such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Nepal, receive support from the efforts of Freerice.com.

According to their Web site, even the purchasing of the rice itself assists in the fight against poverty and hunger.

All of the rice is “bought in developing countries, keeping the cost of reaching the hungry to a minimum and boosting farmers’ efforts to grow their own food,” stated the site.

Beyond the rice provided by the World Food Program, the site states that their group provides school meals to the children of supported countries, providing “hungry children [incentive] to attend school and help them concentrate on their studies.”

According to their Web site, the World Food Program also gives food to workers, allowing them flexibility to try new innovative agricultural techniques without as much pressure to find the necessary sustenance.

With both the World Food Program and Freerice.com, everyone has the ability for to help solve world hunger.

Any amount of money can be donated through the World Food Program to actively promote their humanitarian cause, stated the World Food Program Web site.

Even without some extra change to donate, anyone can help end hunger through the creation of Freerice. com. Saving the world one grain of rice at a time is just a mouse click away.

Published by The Vermont Cynic on 04/08/2008. Read it here.

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The smell of freshly baked pizza and the sound of avidly talking diners surrounds customers as they walk past Junior’s.

Located at 167 Main Street, the restaurant was constructed in an old Dunkin Donuts store, yet now, one could not imagine a donut store there instead of this little pizza joint.

There are a few tables in the restaurant that are covered in classic red and white checked tablecloths, as well as a dining counter looking out at busy Main Street, which is perfect for people watching.

While in line to order, a customer can easily see pizza dough being tossed in the back of the kitchen, and they can look at the different varieties of individual pizza slices in the case next to the register.

Although the menu is located somewhat awkwardly at the front of the restaurant, with only one other copy on the wall next to the door, the staff at Junior’s and the superb food completely remedies any difficulties looking at the menu.

The two members of the staff interacting with the customers were exceedingly accommodating, quick and helpful. They took orders accurately and were prompt to bring extra cheese and plates.

Even though there were only two people working the counter, every customer’s need was thoroughly met.

The pizza came out just as quickly as the staff helped. The restaurant was packed, adding to the classic pizzeria atmosphere, yet there was no significant delay in waiting for one’s order.

A fountain drink stand made drink refills speedy, and the pizza came out promptly at the perfect temperature. The crust was crispy, while simultaneously being quite soft on the inside.

Covered in onions, peppers, mushrooms, sausage and pepperoni, the original specialty pizza lacked nothing in the way of toppings and the vegetables were not over-cooked or soggy.

The menu was full of a wide variety of toppings, and the specialty pizzas were easily suited for many people’s individual tastes.

There were slices of pizza of any kind available for sale as well, enabling anyone to still enjoy the company of a group while eating exactly what one wants.

While there are other delicious-sounding options on the menu apart from pizza, such as Panini sandwiches, calzones and pasta, Junior’s seems to be a primarily pizza-oriented restaurant. However, this does not allow the presence of their marvelous baked goods to go unnoticed.

There are many different Italian and classic baked goods available, whether one desires an individual sized éclair or a large chocolate cake.

The pastries are kept in a glass-faced refrigerator easily seen from the dining area to draw in those customers with a sweet tooth.

Apart from the delectable options available for immediate consumption in the restaurant, there are custom birthday cakes, wedding cakes and assorted cookie platters that need to be ordered in advance, according to Junior’s website, http://www.juniorsvt.com.

Despite its size, this little restaurant has a lot to offer, providing one with a delicious meal and the perfect dose of classic Italian pizzeria atmosphere. It is definitely a restaurant to keep on the pizza-lover’s list of places to revisit.

Published by The Vermont Cynic on 04/29/2008. Read it here.

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After being noticed nationally by the Food Network in Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Bove’s has soared into new levels of attention, while still keeping its classic family charm.

“[The Throwdown] certainly has had an impact on our sales,” chef and president of Bove’s restaurant Mark Bove said.

“We have lasagna everyday now because of the Throwdown,” Bove said. “People just requested it so much.”

Stephanie Mann, a UVM sophomore and frequenter of Bove’s, is one customer satisfied with the change. “Lasagna night used to be Wednesdays, but now it’s every night which is great because their lasagna is really good,” Mann said.

When asked whether Bove’s had gone through significant changes after the Throwdown, Bove said, “We still carry on our routines every day. It is just on a larger scale now because we have customers who are traveling from all over the country to have our lasagna here at the restaurant.”

“We had one person who came last summer all the way from Tanzania,” Bove said.

After seeing the Throwdown, “several Food Network producers have come in just to see if the lasagna was real, if we were real,” Bove said.

Mark Bove’s publicist, Nicole Ravlin, hired soon after the Food Network episode, said, “Bove’s products are distributed up and down the East Coast [and] a huge mail order business is going out to the West Coast.”

As Bove’s publicist, “our main goal is to get him national exposure” and to “get food bloggers to take notice and write about Bove’s on their blogs,” Ravlin said.

Concerning Mark Bove’s own personal blog – which can be found at http://www.boves.com Ravlin said “it’s a great way for people to tell the personality behind the brand.”

“It’s great to keep everyone connected and make them feel a part of what is happening,” Bove said. “My blog is the 21st century of getting to know your customers.”

Bove recently shot an episode of the Today Show which will be aired soon, Ravlin said.

When asked about how the Today Show became interested in Bove’s, Ravlin said, “We (her public relations group) are well connected with the Today Show” and that the Today Show “loved the sample footage” of Bove.

“Mark is a dream client,” said Ravlin. “People like him and he has great presence on camera because he is incredibly enthusiastic about his brand.”

“The cameramen were watering over the lasagna,” Bove said.

Bove recently created a lasagna that uses his famous vodka sauce instead of the marinara, and for the show, “I did [both] the vodka and the marinara sauce lasagnas,” Bove said.

“Simon Pierce even made me a couple custom dishes for the Today Show,” Bove said. “My publicist is talking to Simon Pierce now, and they are going to market a pan called ‘The Bove’s Lasagna Dish.'”

While Bove’s has gained great popularity, “this is as commercial as I want to get,” Bove said. “People have approached us to franchise Bove’s, [but] that’s too bizarre for us.”

Glenn Xiques, a sophomore at UVM and a Milton, Vt. resident, said he has been going to Bove’s with his family “probably since I was about six.”

“I used to go with family, but now I just take friends there,” Xiques said. “When anyone comes from out of town, Bove’s is a really good place to take them.”

“The food is phenomenal!” David Dyke, a fellow UVM student and Essex Junction, Vt. resident said.

“Bove’s has always treated our customers as family,” Bove said, and he has no plans to change that aspect of the restaurant.

Yet Bove has one other mission.

“My mission is to have a rematch with Bobby Flay,” Bove said, and “I’m going to use my vodka sauce in the lasagna.”

“So Bobby Flay, if you read this article, I want a rematch.”

Published by The Vermont Cynic on 01/27/2009. Read it here.

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In the new season of “The Next Food Network Star,” UVM alum Melissa Donovan d’Arabian reveals her cooking prowess and aims to past it on to women across the country.

From her sorority girlfriends at UVM to her French husband and four daughters, d’Arabian found ample support and mouths for her cooking, practice needed to potentially become a Food Network personality.

Now living in Keller, Texas, just outside Dallas/Fortworth, d’Arabian prepares for the first airing of the competition on June 7 and the nation’s response to her style of cooking.

If d’Arabian succeeds in the competition, she will win her own show on the Food Network, according to the Food Network Web site.

In an interview with The Vermont Cynic, d’Arabian discusses the competition, her inspiration and her goal to make cooking easy, fun and fruitful for women no matter where they are in life.

The Vermont Cynic: How did you get selected to be on “The Next Food Network Star?” Did you have to apply?

Melissa Donovan d’Arabian: You can either go through one of the casting calls or go through the Internet by uploading a video. I uploaded a video.

One of the things that I do is speak to women and moms around the Dallas area about making homemade baby food and yogurt.

I get many requests from people wanting to know how to make yogurt without a machine, so I made a video to e-mail out to people who wanted to know how to make my yogurt without any equipment.

That is the video I submitted to the Food Network, so I killed two birds with one stone.

VC: How was the application process?

MDD: The deadline for submissions was the last week of November and I was contacted pretty quickly after that telling me I had been accepted for the next round.

I submitted more applications with information about me, my family and my culinary interests. Soon after that, I was contacted to go the Semi-final contest.

I flew up to New York to do a live camera audition and found out that I was in the competition.

I applied a bit late, so the process only took about a month.

VC: What are you feeling going into this competition?

MDD: I’m feeling very excited because winning would be a fantastic extension of what my life is about — providing ideas and solutions to women not only all over Dallas but women all across America. And yea, I’m nervous.

[I] hope that things don’t go wrong, but I’m here to win it.

VC: What are you planning on making?

MDD: On June 7 when the show runs, I’m going to make one of my favorite recipes that my kids love: an apple tart.

I spent a semester abroad and spent a year over in France working for Euro Disney. That is were I met my husband who is French, and my French mother-in-law helped me perfect my apple tart.

On the June 7 airing, we are charged with catering the party for the 16th anniversary of the Food Network.

We [the contestants] have between 75 and 100 people to cook for.

You can imagine what it is going to be like. We are going to be cooking for all the big names: Bobby Flay, [Masaharu] Morimoto, Alton Brown, Giada and Alex Guarneschelli, the executive chef at Butter.

VC: Are you going to include some Texas-style cooking?

MDD: My mom was in the navy, so I grew up in a number of places.

I’ve actually only been in Texas for a couple of years because we moved up for my husband’s job, although I have learned a lot from cooks down there.
I know how to do a good barbeque.

VC: How has your family reacted to you involvement in this competition?

MDD: My husband is my number one fan.

He’s gotta be if he has to manage all four girls while I’m in New York.

My girls have started seeing the commercials. They get so excited when they see mommy on TV, but I don’t think they really know what it all means.

For now, they just see the commercial and know that’s why I’m in New York. That is enough of a reason for them.

VC: Did any of your experiences at UVM contribute to your entry on this show or your love of cooking?

MDD: UVM has played a role in my culinary development.
I was a big fan of my sorority, which is Alpha Chi.

When my mom died, I wound up moving back into my [sorority] house, and my girlfriends were my network and my rock. My mom taught me that cooking was the way of loving somebody.

UVM helped me in a sense that here I fell in love with having girlfriends and that is who I am as a human being and as a cook — I was raised by a woman, my mom, and since my mom’s death when I was 20, my family was my girlfriends.

That is where I learned as a cook: I cooked with my girlfriends and for my girlfriends.

I learned how to build my family with my girlfriends around me. We create our families, and that’s what I did.

They are a big part of who I am and a big part of me in loving and honoring the girlfriends in my life.

My connection to my girlfriends is also why I want to help women around Dallas.

Also, through UVM, I studied abroad and learned French which is why Disney sent me overseas where I met my husband and lived in France.

Living in France chanced the way I cooked all over again. They have such an emphasis on the best and freshest ingredients.

That is a big part of who I am as well.

VC: How much did you cook while you went to UVM? Did you ever live off campus?

MDD: My first year on campus in Hamilton Hall was the lost cost housing option. There was no janitorial service – the discounted housing. There was one kitchen down at the bottom of the dorm, and I did cook there for my girlfriends.

My second and third year, I lived in the sorority house, and in sororities there was a live in cook that had dinner on the table at a certain time every night, so I didn’t get a chance to cook as much during that time.

But my last year I lived off campus, and I would cook so many recipes. Then, I would drive around and deliver it to all my friends who lived off campus. I just wanted to cook.

Later, when I got my MBA at Georgetown, I leveraged my experience cooking [at UVM] to get a live-in position with a large family in Georgetown as their personal cook, since I had cooked for so many people before.

VC: If you win this competition and get your own show on the Food Network, what kind of cuisine will you focus on?

MDD: I absolutely represent home cooking at its finest.
Sometimes that is the quick meal on the table, food to feed my babies or the feast that every one sits down to, relaxing after a long day at work. But every day you still just have to get the meal on the table.

I only serve one meal in my house. I am not a short order chef and it would get too confusing making everyone a different meal.

In my show, certainly people could look to see meals that are healthy and tasty for the kids and yummy enough for the parents.

The definite thrust is to give people take home solutions so life in the kitchen can be for all different types of women.

I’ve been a career women working on how to get the dinner party on the table that you thought was good idea, I’ve been the mom with a bunch of kids trying to get food on the table, I’ve been the cook for the Thanksgiving meal.

All those events to me encompass home cooking.

VC: How would winning the show affect your life? Do you think it will affect the time you can spend with your family?

MDD: My kids and my family are always going to be the most important thing to me.
I’ve learned early on that family and relationships come before everything else. I wouldn’t be here if this didn’t make sense for my whole family.

Being able to share ideas and help families across America fits into my life.

Winning the show absolutely fits in with my family’s goals and mission, and if it didn’t fit with my family, I would not be here.

Will there be days were I don’t spend as much time with my kids as when I was a stay at home mom? Absolutely.

Will there be a span of four months were I don’t see my kids or know what is going on at their preschool? Never.

Published online by The Vermont Cynic on 05/03/2009. Read it here.

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