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From our parent-directed education list, I thought y'all might enjoy
this, since we've been talking about food, and experts, and whether/how the
future could ever measure the true value of unschooling:


So it seems the Smell and Taste Research Treatment Foundation in
Chicago is contributing to what Thinking Parents want to know --

According to Dr. Alan Hirsch, his researchers visited 50 Chicago-area
families, bringing them a free pasta dinner on two different occasions. One
dinner included garlic bread and the other did not. The researchers then stayed
to observe and record the family interactions during the evening.

The Garlic Bread Effect cannot be overstated!

When garlic bread was present, they recorded 8 percent more positive
family interactions and 22 percent fewer negative interactions. Astonishing!
How have the PTA and the NEA missed this connection?!

(Maybe Paul Vallas -- formerly Chicago superintendent so he OUGHT to
know about the Foundation's scientific findings, one might argue -- should
start sending out parent report cards grading the home use of garlic bread to
support the school curriculum.)

I first tumbled to this research in a piece by New York Daily News
columnist Lenore Skenaz. Then I found the Foundation's website at
www.smellandtaste.org where I read that the irresistible smells of daily life, like warm
chocolate, spicy peppermint and fresh bread baking, can make our brains and
memories work measurably better! Dr. Hirsch apparently has written a book about
this, titled "Life's a Smelling Success!"

p.s. the site offers a "snack food personality study" too, if you want
to have some fun with your family -- after all the garlic bread is gone
tonight. :) JJ



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