Lucky you.

You see, staying put can be surprisingly soothing compared to making a mad dash to cafe for a sandwich and running back to your office, all while worried that you’ll miss an important call.

If you feel chained to your desk, try viewing it instead as a powerful anchor that keeps you from drifting mindlessly.

Desk dining can be epitome of mindlessness—or a remarkable opportunity to slow down, reconnect, and enjoy a delicious moment or two. You can choose a chug-and-chew cubicle lunch or settle in for a session of mindful mastication.

Mom always told us to slow down and chew our food properly. She was more worried about choking, indigestion and bad manners than she was about possibility that we would grow up to be disconnected from our experience of dining.

As usual, Mom made good sense. New research indicates that becoming more mindful of every mouthful is a powerful way to reduce our food intake, increase our meal satisfaction, and savor more than just taste of our veggie on rye.

Jean L. Kristeller, Ph.D., is professor of psychology and director of Center for Study of Health, Religion and Spirituality at Indiana State University. Over last ten years, she has been working on ways to help overweight individuals develop greater awareness of their eating triggers using mindfulness meditation. Her program is being applied in a number of different settings, and results have been quite promising.

Food safety is usually taken for granted by buying public but everyone's attention was recently directed to food poisoning involving some meat that was undercooked. It was determined that problem never would have happened if meat had been cooked properly. E.Coli 0157.H7 is a potent virus, but it can be completely destroyed when meat is fully cooked.

It is important for consumers to take an all-around safety approach to purchasing, storing and preparing both traditional and new meat and poultry products. Ultimately, consumers and food handlers bear responsibility for keeping food safe once it leaves store.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 85 percent of foodborne illness cases could be avoided each year if consumers would handle food properly. The most common foodborne illnesses are caused by a combination of bacteria, naturally present in environment, and food handling mistakes. Ironically, these are also easiest types of foodborne illnesses to prevent. Proper cooking or processing of raw meat and poultry kills bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.