Eating Bugs Could Be A Trend, And More News

The Daily Meal's Weekly Media Mix rounds up the week's big food stories.

Industry
• TIME has released its list of nominees for the 2012 TIME 100 list, including David Chang, José Andrés, René Redzepi, and the Obamas, of course. [TIME]

Politics
• Looks like soda producers are taking a cue from the old-school big tobacco companies by promoting drinks that are marketed to be "less harmful." Those flavored water drinks are the equivalent of nicotine patches. [RT]

Scandal
• Virginia officials just recently learned that the personal chef of the state's governor was convicted of embezzlement. They had failed to conduct a criminal background check before the chef was employed. [Washington Post]

Food for Thought
• The unusually early warm weather followed by normal cold weather has freaked out a lot of plants. Apple trees and cranberry plants, which began blossoming early, are now being frozen to death. [HuffPo]

Trend
• Somebody somewhere saw the bugs in Starbucks smoothies story and thought, hey, Bay Area eaters have been chowing down on bugs all along. Trend alert? [Oakland North]

Video
• The Colbert Report takes on the unfortunately nonexistant TacoCopter. [Hulu]

Shame of the Week
A grocery store employee was caught stealing when police noticed pork chops hanging out of his left pant leg. Guys, putting stolen food in your pants is not the way to go. [Trib Local]

Health
• Green coffee bean extract could help weight loss, study says. This is very well-timed, since Starbucks just released their energy drinks made from that stuff. Hmm... [LA Times]