Ya know how we kvetched the other day about the lack of meals on planes? It's okay. We're good. We take it all back and we'll happily sit with a rumbling stomach if it lessens our chances of being confronted with a mess of maggots while taxiing down the runway.
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Hi. We're Eatocracy and we're here to make your grandma a rockstar. Sure, we're huge fans of food television and shmancy celeb chef cookbooks, but it's our mission to preserve our world's cuisine, family rituals, flavors and cultures by creating the world's largest database of hand-written heirloom recipes.

You can help.
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AdFreak points us to Domino's new "Show Us Your Pizza" campaign wherein amateur food porn enthusiasts are encouraged to snap pix of their pie for a possible $500 prize.

Hot on the heels of a self-imposed emperor's new clothes-ing kicked off by their recent series of "zOMG, our sauce really does suck!" TV spots, the company has pledged to "photograph only real, honest-to-goodness pizzas," minus the services of food stylists, in their ads from here on out.

Sound like small potatoes? Take a peek at the behind-the-scenes video above, featuring a professional cheese strand-puller, a crust nailer and the 148 other hardworking ad folks it takes to make 30 seconds worth of pizza prettiness.

Or so they say. You buying it?

Can you take a sassy slice snap with one hand tied behind your aperture? Is it that hard to get food ready for its close-up? We're asking, so please sound off and share food photo advice in the comments below. We'll share our favorite responses in an upcoming post.

5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

"Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside!"

Like a line out of the Green Acres theme song, couple Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge packed up their bags in New York City to become farmers in the small town of Sharon Springs in upstate New York.

Their new reality show on Planet Green, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, documents their ascent into farm life - including eighty goats, two pigs, twelve chickens and a sassy llama named Polka Spot.

Josh's new book, The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir, plows through what it really took to restore the 205-year-old farm house - so the Beekman Boys decided to offer up their other favorite farm-related reads.

5 All-time Greatest Books About Farming: The Fabulous Beekman Boys

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We're a bit Anderson Cooper-centric today, but he's going gung-ho in the Gulf. Here, he tours oyster beds, newly reopened after the oil spill.

See all Gulf Coast seafood coverage on Eatocracy and full coverage throughout CNN

Every weekday, we're highlighting a local or regional blogger we think you ought to know about. We can’t be everywhere at once, so we look to these passionate eaters, cooks and writers to keep us tapped into every facet of the food world. Consider this a way to get to know a blog’s taste buds, because, well, you should.

Meet today's featured bloggers and blog:
Who: Thomas Robinson, of Eat Local Memphis
Where: Memphis, Tennessee
Twitter: @eatlocalmemphis

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Coke vs Pepsi. Beatles vs Stones. Toilet paper over vs under. Some debates just never seem to flame out, so we're asking.

Feel free to rant, rave and state your case in the comments below. For the record, when we're in a hurry during the week, gas does the trick. On a weekend, when there's plenty of time to go low and slow, we opt for hardwood lump charcoal and mesquite, hickory or fruit wood chips for extra smoke flavor. Than again, we're a tab obsessed.

Speaking of - here are our top tips for grilling mastery. Got some? Speak up and we just might share them in an upcoming feature.

And have you been following our big ol' Picnic Poll?
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• Much to the dismay of Toucan Sam, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says food dyes can cause allergic reactions, hyperactivity, and even cancer. - Paging Dr. Gupta

• Students at New York Harbor School are harvesting their own oysters.  - New York Times

• Cheerwine, North Carolina's popular cherry-flavored soda, is now being infused into Krispy Kreme doughnuts. A Carolinian's dream come true. - Charlotte Observer

• Table for one? More than half of Japan’s restaurant patrons now eat alone. - Bloomberg

• Learn how to start your own compost pile. One man's trash is another man's compost. - Serious Eats

CNN Health writer Madison Park recently traveled to South Africa to watch the World Cup. She ate well.

What can $4 buy you in South Africa?

A heaping plate of chicken biryani, served with lentils enough to feed a small family, fried calamari strips, tender, light and perfectly flavored - and none of this is "fast food."

Finding a delicious, filling meal on a shoestring budget is not difficult in South Africa, thank goodness, because airfare, World Cup game tickets and accommodations can break the bank.

With English, Dutch, Indian influences, flavors possibilities seem unlimited. Here are some meals under $4 we found in Cape Town.
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