7 World's Most Expensive Foods

7 World's Most Expensive Foods - We all dread the moment when the bill comes and we've all had that moment of 'how much??' when we read it and find it not to our liking. However if you think that your last seafood meal was expensive (tip included...) then it might be somewhat comforting to know that there probably foods out there that are a whole lot more expensive. Here we'll look at some of the world's most expensive foods that might appear on the world's most expensive food bills...

1. Matsutake Mushrooms

Matsutake mushrooms cost in the realms of $1,000 per pound and this puts them at one of the world's most expensive foods. This is partly due to their rarity as the mushrooms are killed by an insect that kills the trees necessary for these mushrooms to grow. There is still currently no method of farming the Matsutake mushroom, so any entrepreneur looking for a good venture might want to look into it. The mushroom was once synonymous with Autumn in Japan.

2. Wagyu Steak

Wagyu steak is from Wagyu cattle raised in Japan. The most elite of all is Kobe beef which is raised on a diet of only beer and hand massaged in order to ensure tenderness and marbling. They are incredibly expensive (around $2,800 per steak) and unfortunately also incredibly fattening. But you only live once eh?

3. Almas Caviar

Almas Caviar We all associate caviar with expense and extravagance, but when that caviar comes from Iran this is even more the case. Very rare and so extremely expensive, Almas Caviar is sold by the kilo and comes in a solid 24 karat gold tin. It also comes from Belua that is over 100 years old. If you really want to pull out all the stops for your dinner party, then Almas Caviar is an absolute must. It will set you back around $25,000 per tin.

4. Chocopologie

Chocopologie For chocolate lovers who want to take their devotion to the extreme, the most expensive chocolate in the world is the $2,600 per-pound Chocopologie. It can only be ordered and is always handmade and purported to be the tastiest chocolate in the world. The name sounds eerily like 'apology' and this would certainly be a guaranteed way for any man to win some brownie points (unless the argument was about money...).

5. The $1,000 Frittata

The $1,000 Frittata The Le Parker Meridien hotel is a hotel in New York that now offers a $1,000 omelet. The egg itself is not what creates the expense however, but rather the mixture of lobster and caviar that goes into its creation (is that Alma caviar?).

6. Fleurburger

The Fleurburger could only have come from Vegas. With a price tag of $5,000 it has to be the most OTT burger in existence and can be purchased from the Mandalay Bay's 'Fleur de Lys'. This price tag is partly the result of the beef being Kobe beef and also containing foie de gras, a truffle source and served on a brioche bun. For your $5,000 thuogh you also get a bottle of Chateau Petrus served in a glass of Ichendorf Brunello stemware. It's not a burger... it's an experience (and one that would make Elvis proud). Bargain!

7. Poop Coffee

Poop Coffee Amazingly it is possible to pay $1,000 per kilogram for a beverage known as 'poop coffee'. And it's not just a clever name – this coffee is actually 'processed' in the digestive tract of various Luwak animals (distant relatives of the Mongoose) from the Sumatra jungles. Presumably it tastes better than the name suggests...

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40 Shocking Facts About Water

40 Shocking Facts About Water - This is the 40 shocking fact about water, check it out:

1. Over 1.5 billion people do not have access to clean, safe water.
2. Almost 4 million people die each year from water related diseases.
3. 43% of water related deaths are due to diarrhea.

4. 98% of water related deaths occur in the developing world.

5. Unsafe water is the biggest killer of children under five; around 90% of all diarrheal deaths are in this age group.

6. In Sub-Saharan Africa women spend on average 16 hours a week collecting water.
7. A typical individual in the United States uses 500 litres of water each day.

8. The recommended daily water requirement for sanitation, bathing, cooking and consumption is approximately 50 litres per person per day.
9. Over 1 billion people use less than 6 litres of water per day.
10. A typical individual in Gambia uses just 4.5 litres of water a day.

11. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation has claimed more lives through disease than any war through guns.
12. The average toilet uses 8 litres of clean water in a single flush.

13. At any one time, more than half the world’s poor are ill due to inadequate sanitation, water or hygiene.

14. It takes over 11,000 litres of water to produce a pound of coffee.
15. Half the world’s schools do not have access to clean water, nor adequate sanitation.

16. It takes about 300 litres of water to make the paper for just one Sunday newspaper.

17. Agriculture is responsible for about 70% of the world’s water usage. Industry uses a further 22%.

18. 443 million school days are lost each year due to water related illness.
19. On average, women in Africa and Asia have to walk 3.7 miles to collect water.
20. The average dishwasher uses over 100 litres per cycle.

21. It takes up to 5000 litres of water to produce 1kg of rice.
22. 80% of all illness in the developing world comes from water born diseases.
23. Drilling a fresh water well can cost anything from a few hundred dollars to over $40,000.

24. Over 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation.

25. 90% of wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers or streams without any treatment.
26. About 1.8 million child deaths a year are due to diarrhea.
27. An 18 litre can of water weighs 20 kilos.

28. About half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by someone with a water related illness.

29. A five minute shower in an American household will use more water than a person living in a developing world slum will use in a whole day.

30. A third of the people without access to clean water live on less than a dollar a day. More than two thirds live on less than two dollars a day.

31. Water consumption in a US household is eight times that of an Indian household.

32. In India alone, water born diseases cost the economy 73 million working days per year.

33. In sub-Saharan Africa a child’s chance of dying from diarrhea is over 500 times greater than in Europe.

34. Approximately 2.5 billion people lack access to appropriate sanitation facilities.

35. About 1.2 billion people have absolutely no access to a sanitation facility.
36. In a typical year in Africa 5–10 times the number of people die from diarrhea than from war.
37. Simply washing hands can decrease the chance of diarrhea by around 35%.

38. Global sales of bottled water account for over $60-$80 billion each year.

39. A child dies of water born diseases about every 15 seconds (that’s about 12 children just since you started reading this article). By this time tomorrow, another 2,500 will be dead.
40. As little as one dollar can provide clean water for a child in the developing world for an entire year.

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10 Surprising Facts About the Energy We Use

10 Surprising Facts About the Energy We Use - The days of cheap oil energy have come to an end. What once was simple and cheap (i.e. driving to vacation) has become difficult and expensive (i.e. …driving to vacation).

The skyrocketing cost (and limited supply) of energy has forced us to re-examine the energy we use in our daily lives. Below is a quick list of 10 facts about our energy usage that may surprise you.
The following has been adapted for the web from Energy: Use Less—Save More by Jon Clift and Amanda Cuthbert.


 
1.  Americans consume 26% of the world’s energy.
2. 18% of total emissions comes from operating our homes.
3. Heating and cooling account for about 56% of the energy use in a typical home.
4. We spend 10% of our electricity bills on lighting.
5. Our demand for energy grows by about 3% per year.
6. At any one time in most households an average of 8 appliances are left on stand-by. (Stand-by is an
    appliance’s “off” setting, but the appliance continues to use about 85% of the energy it uses while
    on—often so that it can listen for signals from remote controls.)
7. Energy-efficient washing machines use about 1/3 less electricity than older machines.
8. Washing clothes at 140 degrees (F) uses almost twice the energy as a 104 degree (F) wash.
9. 90% of the energy used by traditional bulbs is wasted in producing heat.
10.  About 25% of all the energy we use to heat our homes escapes through single-glazed windows.

A few of these facts may seem depressing, but the truth is that each one represents a great opportunity for reducing our energy usage, the greenhouse gases we create, and the cost of our electric bill.
See Energy: Use Less—Save More by Jon Clift and Amanda Cuthbert for great energy saving strategies.

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