More of us eating five a day says FSA

Fruit and vegetable consumption is increasing but many people still do not eat the recommended five portions a day, research for an official watchdog has found.

Fairtrade fails to tackle poverty, report says Some 58 per cent of people responding to a Food Standards Agency survey had eaten five or more portions of fruit and vegetables the day before, up from 55 per cent in a similar survey a year earlier.

The proportion claiming to have had their five a day was greater in the higher social groups, reaching 71 per cent in the "AB" social category. It fell to 45 per cent in the "DE" category.

It was also higher among women (63 per cent) than men (54 per cent).

In Northern Ireland, the figure fell to 45 per cent, against 59 per cent for England.

More than three-quarters of those answering (78 per cent) knew that they should be eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

The survey, for the FSA's Consumer Attitudes to Food Standards report, also found a rise in the proportion of people concerned about hygiene in supermarkets, from 11 per cent to 17 per cent.

Fewer people than in the previous survey were concerned about food safety issues such as additives, food poisoning and about the levels of fat, salt and sugar in foods.

The FSA's chief scientist, Andrew Wadge, said the findings were encouraging because the majority of people realised the importance of healthy eating.

He said: "However, what appears to be a drop in concern about how much fat and salt there is in our food shows how critical it is that the agency continues to raise awareness around a healthier diet and provides clear information and advice, backed up by scientific evidence."

The report was based on a survey of 2,627 people carried out between August and October 2007.

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GT-R Waiting Game About to End

HARDLY a model year goes by without the debut of at least one new car that sets off a frenzied run on dealers’ showrooms. In the last decade, introductions for vehicles as disparate as the Volkswagen New Beetle, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Mini Cooper and Ford GT each resulted in months-long waiting lists, accompanied by gigabytes of Internet speculation.

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Honored Ancestors on the Skyline Family Tree (February 24, 2008)

YouTube Video of the GT-R

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Nissan plans to import 2,500 GT-Rs this year and about 1,500 annually in the future.

Yoshikazu Tsuno/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

So far in 2008 that must-have car seems to be the Nissan GT-R, a 480-horsepower sports coupe with all-wheel drive and a full-time cheering section. It will be available in the United States in June, starting around $70,000. Nissan plans to import 2,500 GT-Rs this year and about 1,500 annually in the future.

Typically, the cars that set off these stampedes carry names steeped in history or, at the least, a design that gestures to a beloved icon of the past. Why, then, is a car whose predecessors Nissan has never sold in the United States proving such a phenomenon?

The 2009 GT-R may be the first car whose reputation was forged primarily in the virtual world, at least in the minds of young American enthusiasts. The GT-R is a mainstay of leading video games, notably the Gran Turismo series that Sony PlayStation fans devote hours to, and was a featured star of a promotion that linked the introduction of the actual GT-R at the 2007 Tokyo auto show with the release of a special prologue edition of Gran Turismo 5.

To a much smaller group of fans in the United States — those who follow international sports car racing series — the GT-R is a high-performance hero of long standing, a car closer to meeting the definition of a supercar than any earlier effort by a Japanese automaker.

While sports cars like the Toyota 2000GT and Acura NSX were memorable, they did not attain the same level of performance — or incite the same degree of lust — as European exotics. The GT-R could be different.

The GT-R comes by its reputation honestly, having matured from Skyline models that trace their roots back to the late 1960s. The first GT-R version of the Skyline made its debut in 1969, lasting only a few years before oil shocks put the whole idea on hiatus.

Though it was nearly two decades before the model name reappeared, the GT-R’s reputation went on to worldwide recognition, mainly on the strength of its racing successes in Japan and Australia. (Until now, the GT-R was sold only with right-hand drive.)

Driving a GT-R a few years ago (the fourth-generation R34 model produced in 1999-2002 that had a role in “The Fast and The Furious” films) I came to appreciate this special machine as the automotive equivalent of a samurai sword. It seemed to be something created with such intense focus and precision that it generated its own presence.

Nissan uses the sword metaphor to describe the latest GT-R, too, pointing to the “aero blade canopy” of the passenger cabin’s roofline and describing the curved form of the rear roof pillar as a sword edge.

William Scott Wilson, a Florida-based writer and teacher who lived in Japan and has translated classics like “The Book of Five Rings” by the 17th-century swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, helped put the Japanese design discipline into perspective for me. Mr. Wilson recalled living in a village of craftsmen in Japan and visiting an 80-year-old sword maker, where he learned the history of the curved samurai sword, or katana, developed in the 10th century by folding and tempering steel many times to create a razor-sharp edge on a flexible blade.

“When a man makes a sword, there’s kinetic energy in the steel — a spirit of deep respect for what the swordsman is doing that infuses his product,” Mr. Wilson said. “By the time it has been tempered and washed, the sword gets the spirit of the man.”

Part of what makes the new GT-R so special may be the spirit of the research and development team inside Nissan that developed the car’s technology.

The designers are a tight-knit group. Peter Bedrosian, Nissan’s North American product manager for the GT-R, said. “They all wear special badges and sign secondary nondisclosure forms.

“Everything has to be perfect on these cars,” he said. “They took great pains to keep this new car a secret. We’ve had V.P.’s go to Japan, request to see the model and be told they can’t.”

The association of the GT-R with the video game world turns out to be a two-way relationship.

Not only did Nissan give GT-R data to the Sony PlayStation designers and the software developers at Xanavi Information to make sure the cars in the Gran Turismo games would be accurate, the game producers returned the favor, helping to create the car’s 11 instrument panel display screens.

Mr. Bedrosian said this relationship provides a link between generations.

“If you’re over 30, you have to be a real car nut to know about the GT-R,” he explained. “If you’re under 25, Gran Turismo has exposed you to it already.”

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How To Tip Like A Gentleman

Proper tipping etiquette is still a trait rarely found in modern men yet, when perfected, it can actually become quite enjoyable. It’s a selfless act of giving to others based on the level of service you’ve received. A lot of these people get a pitiful wage and the tips they get go a long way to supplement their income. Make them happy and you’ll be looked after. Annoy them and you’d be best advised to eat your meal with caution!

Tipping like a Gentleman

you want to be as discrete and gentlemanly as possible.

Tipping really is an art form and when you’re giving your tip you want to be as discrete and gentlemanly as possible. Hand over the tip with your palm facing down and shake hands with the person you are tipping, simultaneously placing the money in their hand. What you want to avoid doing is waving the money around and making a big deal of it. You’ll look like an idiot for starts and if that isn’t enough, you’re going to make the person receiving the tip feel uncomfortable because, believe it or not, you’re coming across like a condescending jerk. You’re not throwing a treat for Fido here.

So how do you figure out how much to tip? Well the truth is there are no tipping rules per se, however there are guidelines which suggest how much is appropriate to give. Let’s investigate.

The restaurant waiter/waitress

This is the one that causes most debate because there is no hard and fast rule. It is also made even more difficult by waiting staff who have lost sight of the fact that a tip is a gratuity and is not actually required. As a guideline though, I’d say you can safely use the following without a disgruntled waiter spitting in your salad:

• Self-serve/Buffet restaurant - 10-12%. If the service was fantastic, you could up this to 15%.
• Local restaurant - 15%. Again, you could up this by a few percent if the server worked particularly hard or went out of their way to help you.
• A 4-star restaurant - You’ll want to tip the maitre d’ as you’re being seated, particularly if you’re a regular and he/she goes out of their way to reserve you a table or get a table when the restaurant is busy. The standard tip here is anywhere from $20-100. For the service of the meal itself I’d recommend a tip of around 20-22%. Don’t forget to tip the wine steward (a few dollars per bottle of wine) and/or the coat check attendant ($1 for a couple of coats).

Taxi driver

Unless you want to annoy the Travis Bickle-esque taxi driver by stiffing him on a tip you’d better go ahead and give 15% of the fare.

Hair salon

You want to make sure your hair looks as good as possible and tipping will ensure that your hair stylist gives a polished cut. They’ll also be more likely to look after you next time you visit too (I’ve been given a free colour before simply for tipping well). An acceptable amount is somewhere in the region of 10-15% of the cost.

Hotel staff

There are a number of staff members at the hotel that can make your stay very pleasant or a living nightmare depending on how you tip them. Here’s who you should tip and how much to give them:

• Chambermaid - $5 per night you stay. That is, if you want clean sheets, towels and plenty of toilet roll.
• Room service waiter - Again this is the standard 15%.
• Bellhop - If you let the bellhop carry your bags up to your room and show you around said room without giving them a tip then you’re going to hell. Tip them around $10-15 for their efforts.

The casino

If you’re going for a night out at the casino, you better be prepared to tip. Of course if you’re a professional gambler (or just extremely lucky) you’ll be able to tip from your winnings.

• Blackjack dealer - $5 chip (or more) per session. It’s also common place in casinos for the players to place a small side bet for the dealers. You can agree the amount with other players but a $1 chip is usually sufficient.
• Craps dealer - Those craps dealers love the action as much as you. It’s common to place up to a 10% side bet for the dealer.
• Poker dealer - $5 per session. Winners usually tip at least $10 and sometimes as much as 10% on bigger wins.
• Drink waitresses - $1 chip per drink.

Parking attendant

You don’t want some juvenile attendant ruining your prized Bentley Continental because you didn’t tip the lad, do you? On second thoughts, why would you let a juvenile attendant park your prized Bentley Continental unless you’re asking for trouble?

You should tip, at the very least $1 ($5 if they help with your luggage) but I would tip a little extra to get a better level of service. Perhaps $10-15 to make sure they don’t take it for a joy-ride á la Ferris Bueller. Oh, that reminds me, always check the mileage of the car before handing it over to a parking attendant!

But what if I don’t want to give a tip?

There are some occasions where you feel unjustified to give out a tip, but let me tell you why you should.

• The food was terrible. If the food was terrible, then complain to the manager (you might get a discount on the bill) but don’t take away the tip from the waiting staff because you’re punishing them for someone else’s mistake. Chances are they worked very hard for you and to not reward them would be unfavourable.
• The service was below par. If the service was below par then you should tip at a lower rate than normal. Usually, I’d speak to the waiter I’m tipping and politely explain the reasons for the lower tip. Just make sure you’ve eaten all your food before you tell them!
• You are a stingy and grumpy old man. So you don’t want to tip. Why not? You’re rewarding someone for doing good work. How would you feel if your boss decided to not give you the pay raise you’ve been asking for or taking your bonus away from you just because he felt like it? As the old saying goes, “Treat other people the way you expect to be treated yourself.”

Oh and for those of you wondering how to deal with people who flat out ask you for a tip. I like to go with the following:

Yeah, I’ve got a tip for you. Never eat yellow snow.

What’s your etiquette for tipping? Is it more or less than I’ve suggested? Also, if you’ve got a great tipping story from a restaurant for example, let us know in the comments.

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