Weekly Media Mix: Fried Foods Are OK; Chinese Food History; And An 'Office' Farm Spin-Off

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

Industry
• Quizno's avoided bankruptcy this week by shifting ownership to the private equity firm Avenue Capital, in return for erasing some debt. [NRN]

History
• A brief history of Chinese food, starting with the first trade with China, the invention of takeout, and all-you-can-eat buffets. [The Awl]

Politics
• McDonald's is set to open in Loma Linda, Calif., a legally smoke-free town without a liquor store, and the fast-food chain is dividing the town. [LA Times]

Entertainment
• NBC is working on an Office spin-off featuring Dwight Schrute on the Schrute family beet farm. [Deadline]

Health
• Researchers in Spain found that fried foods are not linked to heart disease as previously thought. But that's only based on foods fried in olive oil and sunflower oil; frying things in butter is still bad for you. [US News & World Report]

Travel
• JetBlue's PopCorners and Delta Airlines' Biscoff cookies can be bought outside of an airplane. Who knew? [Jaunted]

International
• The Wall Street Journal is claiming that restaurants in Japan are serving the finest French food and espresso in the world, citing training that requires baristas to work for two years before serving  espresso shots. [WSJ]

Environment
• In most places across the country, winters are getting warmer, which means gardening zones are moving north. [NPR]

The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns.