2/28/10
2/27/10
"100 Things To Do with Rotten Apples"
2/26/10
PLEASE HELP YOUR LOCAL FARMERS!
It takes about 15 minutes to send 3 emails. For those 15 minutes spent on the computer, what you gain is an enormous potential outcome. That of being able, one day, to buy real local Florida food! Fresh eggs, dairy, meat and produce from local farms that desperately need our support and money but, because of outdated laws, cannot sell their products to us. How messed up is this system?
Please email your state senator and house representative. Ask them to support the Florida Food Freedom Act. It is a bill being introduced in the FL Senate right now by Senator Baker. The bill number is S-1900. At this link you can look up who is your senator and representative:
Here is the email I sent to my senator and representative (don't forget to put your address at the end!):
Please support Senator Baker’s bill – currently bill S #1900 in the Florida Senate.
Family farms and farmland are decreasing in Florida. The average age of Florida farmers in 2007 was just over 58 years of age and only 44% of those farmers didn’t have off-farm jobs. Most farmers have off-farm jobs because their farming efforts don’t provide the income they need to live comfortably – 56% of farmers work two jobs – the farm and another one to generate income or benefits. 65.4% of farms earn less than $10,000 a year from their farming efforts.
The economic, environmental and community impact of dwindling Florida family farms affects every citizen. The Florida Food Freedom Act proposed by Senator Carey Baker helps alleviate excessive permitting requirements on family farms and will in turn grow jobs and strengthen local economies. The Florida Food Freedom Act will allow family farms to remain profitable and viable by defining a short food distribution chain and exempting it from burdensome regulatory oversight that a longer, multi-layered food distribution chain should be required to have.
When consumers are able to shop for food with local businesses and farmers, more of that dollar stays in the local community, providing what is known as the local multiplier effect of money. Buying local keeps money in the local community and helps farms and ranches remain economically viable. For every dollar spent with a local company (or farmer) 45 cents stays in the community. For every dollar spent with a corporate chain, only 15 cents is reinvested in the local community.
The biggest threats to food safety—and the USDA agrees—are centralized production, centralized processing, and long distance transportation. Small farms and local food processors are part of the solution to food safety. Raising meat, dairy, eggs, fruits, and vegetables as close as possible to the kitchens of the end-user increases our food security. Lessening the regulatory burden imposed by the State of Florida will enhance the economic condition of family farms, improve public health, decrease environmental degradation and build a sense of community. Local food systems are inherently safer and more traceable.
Thank you very much for your attention
Then, when you are done, you can write or call your city council member and ask them to support the FL Food Freedom Act by passing a City of Jacksonville Resolution in support of this bill! Here is another sample letter for the council member:
Dear Council Member,
I am writing to ask that you consider sponsoring a resolution in the City of Jacksonville in support of the Florida Food Freedom Act. The bill S-1900 is being introduced in the Florida Senate by Senator Baker.
Please support Senator Baker’s bill – currently S #1900. Here are a few reasons I think our support of this bill is so important:
Family farms and farmland are decreasing in Florida. The average age of Florida farmers in 2007 was just over 58 years of age and only 44% of those farmers didn’t have off-farm jobs. Most farmers have off-farm jobs because their farming efforts don’t provide the income they need to live comfortably – 56% of farmers work two jobs – the farm and another one to generate income or benefits. 65.4% of farms earn less than $10,000 a year from their farming efforts.
The economic, environmental and community impact of dwindling Florida family farms affects every citizen. The Florida Food Freedom Act proposed by Senator Carey Baker helps alleviate excessive permitting requirements on family farms and will in turn grow jobs and strengthen local economies.
The Florida Food Freedom Act will allow family farms to remain profitable and viable by defining a short food distribution chain and exempting it from burdensome regulatory oversight that a longer, multi-layered food distribution chain should be required to have.
When consumers are able to shop for food with local businesses and farmers, more of that dollar stays in the local community, providing what is known as the local multiplier effect of money. Buying local keeps money in the local community and helps farms and ranches remain economically viable. For every dollar spent with a local company (or farmer) 45 cents stays in the community. For every dollar spent with a corporate chain, only 15 cents is reinvested in the local community.
The biggest threats to food safety—and the USDA agrees—are centralized production, centralized processing, and long distance transportation. Small farms and local food processors are part of the solution to food safety. Raising meat, dairy, eggs, fruits, and vegetables as close as possible to the kitchens of the end-user increases our food security. Lessening the regulatory burden imposed by the State of Florida will enhance the economic condition of family farms, improve public health, decrease environmental degradation and build a sense of community. Local food systems are inherently safer and more traceable.
Thank you very much for your time and attention
For more info on this, write to http://www.info@cognitofarm.com/
2/23/10
Jamie Oliver's TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food | Video on TED.com
Jamie Oliver's TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food | Video on TED.com
This is such an inspiring video. If you are a parent, or an aunt or uncle, or even just a friend of a little one, please watch this.
Getting the Dirt on Household Cleaners
Historic litigation may shine light on toxic ingredients
by trip Van Noppen- from Earthjustice; 17 FEBRUARY 2010, 3:30 PM
Do household cleaners contain ingredients linked to asthma, nerve damage and other health effects? Manufacturers aren't telling, but Earthjustice attorney Keri Powell may have uncovered the key to their pursed lips.
While investigating a potential legal strategy, Keri found buried in the pages of a book of New York State statutes a long-forgotten law authorizing the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to require household cleaning product manufacturers to disclose their chemical ingredients and information about the health risks they pose. In other words, pay dirt.
State regulations issued in 1976 made these disclosures mandatory. Such laws are practically nonexistent in the United States, and the New York law has been altogether overlooked.
Until now.
Earlier this month, Keri led a group of clients into the New York State Supreme Court for historic arguments over chemical disclosure, a case that could have national ramifications. Consumers and their advocates may finally get a satisfactory answer to that critical opening question, which has vexed them for years.
Some disclosures have already been made as a result of the case. After Keri discovered the law and realized companies had for decades been escaping a legal obligation, several household cleaner manufacturers doing business in New York State were put on notice. Letters we sent to the companies in Sept. 2008 requested that they begin obeying the law within 30 days or risk possible legal action. The letters prompted some companies, including the manufacturer of Simple Green products, to file disclosure reports for the first time.
Even though the law Keri unearthed is state-specific, the household cleaners it regulates are not. Simple Green products sold to consumers in the Empire State are no different from Simple Green products sold anywhere else in the country, so consumers across the United States benefit equally from these disclosures and any further information gained as a result of our litigation.
In Mar. 2009, SC Johnson announced that it too would disclose chemical ingredients rather than face Earthjustice attorneys in court. Concurrently, the company launched a candid website that "offers a detailed look at the ingredients in [SC Johnson's] products so you can make the right decisions for your home."
But four companies—Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Church and Dwight, and Reckitt-Benckiser—stonewalled, and thus found themselves a few weeks ago across from Keri and her colleagues in a Manhattan courtroom as defendants in this first-of-its-kind lawsuit. They made it clear that their lips are sealed until authorities pry them open. As Health Campaigner Kathleen Sutcliffe wrily remarked last week, Mr. Clean went to court and pled the fifth.
While this unprecedented legal work unfolds, efforts are being staged on other fronts to change the way toxic chemicals are treated in the United States. A few months ago,I wrote about the urgent need to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act, the major U.S. law concerned with keeping the public safe from toxic chemicals in commercial products. We are awaiting introduction of new federal legislation to fix the current broken system. The household cleaners case helps push the national reform effort forward by showing that disclosure of ingredients and health effects is good for consumers and good for business.
But our New York case also demonstrates that much can be done while we wait for federal reform. After all, figuring out what's in a household cleaner shouldn't be as hard as finding a decades-old, neglected statute in a book of New York laws. Our hope is that all a consumer will have to do in the future to uncover the ingredients in their spray bottle is look at the label.
2/22/10
A note on chicken...
Vegetables: Part 1.
This is an excerpt from Aveline Kushi's "Macrobiotic Cooking":
"Ground vegetables can be divided into 3 major categories: round vegetables, stem and climbing vegetables, an tropical vegetables.
ROUND VEGETABLES: the family of round vegetables includes onions, cabbage, fall and winter squashes, cauliflower, and broccoli. These plants grow very near the ground, and their taste is usually sweeter that root vegetables, which grow beneath the ground, or green and white leafy vegetables, which grow above the ground. Medicinally, round vegetables are beneficial to the stomach, spleen and pancreas."
Also beneficial to the stomach/spleen/pancreas is Millet, a grain that is traditionally eaten across the northern regions of China, Korea and Japan.
I am sure that, if I were to travel to Ireland, Poland, Ukraine, Moldava, Russia, Brazil... in each country they would tell me a specific regional or family recipe to soothe stomach ailments. Which one to use? I have discovered that for me, what works is always to stick with the foods that I truly love. I am not talking about dessert foods, which of course are great but are for dessert only, really... I am talking about real foods here. In this case, I stick with traditional Brazilian. But the knowledge of other traditions never hurts and, sometimes, can come in quite handy.
Introduction to Vegetables
Some cultures have advanced and refined those principles, through thousands of years, to such degree, that they have discovered and pinpointed the properties that each food and vegetable have on the body. I am not talking about nutritionists that have sprung up in the 20th century to promote calorie counting, low-fat diets, high-fat diets, or just "diets" in general. I am talking about ancient eastern traditions such as macrobiotic, ayurveda...
I am not familiar with ayurvedic principles and never took any courses on it. But I did learn quite a lot from macrobiotics, just by virtue of my mother being deeply involved in it, and later on by taking courses myself. I don't pretend to be an authority or doctor, but I did learn a few principles for life and for keeping a healthy family.
One interesting fact is how they relate all the foods that they eat to every organ and part of the body. A case for learning to cook and eating all kinds of vegetables and grains? Absolutely.
Here is a list for vegetables and how they beneficially affect us, one post at the time-
Food.
Part of that sacredness is how it interacts with our body as a whole. The whole act of preparing, sitting down and eating a whole meal.
This sacredness does not include the foods that the media and the "latest research" say is "good for you". Follow that mantra, and you are doomed to eat badly for life.
Follow the mantra, and you will follow it straight to the processed food industry. They will give you exactly the processed foods that they say it's good for you- at that moment, that is. One day butter is bad for you and margarine (margarine!!!) is in- processed food. Then all fats are bad, and carbs are good- more loads of processed food (cereals, processed bread, snacks, snack bars, cereal bars...) Then carbs are bad, and protein is in- more processed food (Go-gurt, cheese sticks, smoothies to go, cheese to go, canned tuna, hot dogs, you name it). Then fat-free protein... (all of a sudden you can't even think of buying milk from the farm, becasue your milk must be fat-free- only the dairy industry can help, then, which means... more processed food: fat-free milk, 1% milk, 2% milk, chocolate milk... think about it, it is really just nuts how many kinds of milk they have "invented"). Berries are good, or carrots, or pomegranate- more processed stuff (pomegranate juice, blueberry extract, blueberry cereal, pomegranate shampoos)... not to mention all the supplements and vitamins made from all this "good for you" stuff.
In truth, ALL of food is good for you, all of it. When you eat it how you were made to eat it- in its natural state, and in its traditional way of cooking. The way that our parents and grandparents, our ancestors, ate. Unprocessed food, real food. Whatever tradition you decide to follow, if you do a little research, you will find the same common grounds. You cook your own food, you sit down for meals, and your entire family together partake of the same foods. That means the kids too. There is no such thing as "kid food"- that is POISON, just pure processed food that the industry somehow has made people believe is the only thing that the poor little kids will eat. God forbid you make them eat real food. Or worse yet, let them go hungry for a meal or 2 until they truly are hungry enough to appreciate something other than chicken nuggets, burgers, pizza, or... snacks, which seems to be all that kids eat these days- loads and loads of completely processed, ready to go, snacks.
So, back to real food. That would be anything that is not messed with, in its real state, and not produced artificially. Vegetables grown without pesticides (organic vegetables), found FRESH-not frozen, not canned, not in a packaged soup can or container- FRESH.
Milk that is not boiled beyond recognition (pasteurized), then separated (fat-free etc), then put in a bunch of synthetics (vitamin D etc)- that is not milk, and should not be drunk- if you wish to drink it for health, that is. It's just dead matter, dead milk.
Fresh eggs from chickens that really do roam the farm grounds (not just the factory "free-roaming" enclosure). Fresh local, truly farm roaming meat and poultry that really eat the stuff from the ground (pasture, bugs in the case of chickens etc). Not stuff made in factory farms with hormones, pesticides, fungicides, antibiotics. That is not food that our ancestors would recognize.
And grains and beans, of course. Not carbs, but whole grains, and stone-ground, whole-wheat products such as fresh bread and/or pasta... (NOT pulverized and factory super-heated stuff like cereals and cereal bars, not pop-tarts, not sandwich breads that contain more ingredients than the label can accommodate, not Gold Fish "now with whole wheat!", not high-protein bars, not "calcium-rich" chocolates...)
All that stuff is "made". And this is the key word here: the only one making any food should be us- folk at home, the people eating it. Not factories! Remember that, and cook to your health and that of your family. Whole meals made at home that nourish the body and spirit.
Turn off the TV, and you will never again see commercials for the food that is "good for you". Instead, take that TV time, and go to the farmer's market to support local, small businesses and food that you will never see advertised as "good for you", but downright scary- like "raw" milk or cheese, full of bacteria that our bodies so desperately need, and all that "dirty" produce full of unsanitary bugs. If the bugs and bacteria are in it, that means it is still alive, and it will nourish and make you healthy throughout your life.
Plastic-filled ocean
Plastic-filled ocean - a 100% human-caused disaster
The disposable plastic bottle symbolizes waste and litter around the world. But it is not just plastic bottles and careless littering that threaten to turn the oceans from life sustaining to life threatening.
Bottles and bags. Discarded toys, product packaging and cheap holiday decorations. Household and industrial waste of a thousand kinds.
Littered, dropped, dumped. Used despite safer alternatives. Carelessly disposed, improperly managed. Not reduced, not reused and not recycled.
Rolling, blowing, floating and flowing into the world's oceans.
Plastic-free ocean - a 100% human-accomplishable goal
2/18/10
Eating Well April/10 issue
Check out this month's issue of Eating Well- it talks about fresh farm chicken and eggs! great pics too... http://www.eatingwell.com
2/17/10
Not all water bottles are created equal.
- NO PLASTIC: when you buy water (or any other liquid) in a plastic bottle, you have no idea how long that water sat in there, how hot the bottle sat in the sun or a heated truck or whatever place it may have been before it got to you. When plastic heats up, it leaches its, shall we say, "good stuff" into the food or liquids that it holds. Plus, when you are done with the bottle, even if you recycle it, you still have to throw out the cap into the trash or somewhere. And recycling DOES consume energy and fuel as well. Yes, recycling a bottle is better than trashing it, but better still is to be able to use something that you can keep and re-use.
- STAINLESS STEEL: talking about reusing, this is a bottle you can use and reuse "forever". It is the safest choice out there.
- GLASS: another one to use, and reuse, forever. Until breakage do us part.
- BPA-FREE EXERCISE BOTTLES: sometimes you do need or want a plastic bottle. There are plastic bottles out there that say "BPA-free", like the ones that you find in bike/running shops or these days, in most stores. Camel has some good ones, and I have purchased one of those, but I must admit I don't know at this point what "else" these bottles may contain. I guess the safest is always stainless.
- CARTONS: you know why they cannot be recycled? They are lined with plastic...
- SIGG BOTTLES: stay away from their aluminum bottles. The older ones, which you can still buy by mistake (stores trying to get rid of inventory), have BPA in them. The new ones have a coating that chips away at the neck of the bottle, where the cap screws in. It happened to a bottle I got for my daughter, and when I researched on the net, I found that it was happening to other people as well. I called Sigg and complained about it, and they did not respond. They refused to issue a refund for my old (BPA lined) bottles as well, since they say that there is nothing wrong with them, and that they were never "recalled". Of course they were not recalled, but every single person that bought them 2 years ago, bought them because they were worried about BPA in their plastic and believed that Sigg was a good alternative. Sigg knew that they contained BPA, but chose not to tell its customers. I call that, excuse my English, really shitty business, and deceiving at best. I know stores that refuse to carry any Sigg, even their stainless steel bottles, because of the way that Sigg has conducted itself towards its customers. Nice going, Sigg. Still waiting for an answer on my old bottles.
Amazon and shipping in general.
Just received a package from Amazon. It came wrapped in this stuff called Fill-Air- plastic with air inside. I was looking at it, and it looks like you actually can send it back to Fill-Air for recycling. The only other choice, otherwise, would be to throw it in the trash... I guess that, after I deflate it and stuff it into an envelope (as they direct you to do when you go in their website), it should cost less than a dollar to get rid of it. It's annoying that, given the existence of better, bio-degradable materials, they still choose to use all this plastic. I guess next time I'll call and ask for biodegradable material? I'll try. The elusive Amazon # is: (800) 201-7575. The website for Fill-Air is: http://www.sealedair.com/products/recycle/recycle_inflate.html. There is a phone # in there, but I could not reach a person. It does have the address where you can send your plastic, though. They should pay for the shipment and our time, since they are creating the trash.
How to store what you brought home in the cloth bags!
Now that you got home with all this stuff you bought using your spanking new not-shinny cloth bags... how do you store it? A few tips for the most common items:
- Apples: if you are not going to eat them in few days, place them in a paper box inside the fridge. I took a running shoe box and placed a kitchen cloth inside it, put the apples in, and into the fridge. It's very funny to open the fridge and see a running shoe box in there, the kids like it a lot
- All vegetables: I put a wet towel on the bottom of the (plastic) vegetable bin, place the veggies on it, and cover them with another wet towel. This keeps the moisture in so the veggies don't dry up.
- Bread: wrap it in a cloth, then into a tin can (like those you use for cookies during the holidays).
- Grains, flours, sugar, beans, nuts, seeds, pasta, cookies: store them in glassware or glass jars. Don't discriminate against your "older" jars, use all the jars from jams, honey, mustard, spices and pasta sauce as well. I have the kids make labels for them so they know what is in where and don't confuse their ingredients. If the flour came in a paper bag, I leave it in there cause frankly, I ran out of jars...
- Milk: the farm where I buy milk from gives it to me in a plastic jug. So when I get home I transfer it to a glass milk jar that I saved when I bought milk in the store. I also use the glass jars from the apple juice that comes in the gallon glass jars. The milk lasts longer in them than in plastic, and you don't have to worry about plastic leaching into your milk- remember that fatty foods such as milk/cheese/meats tend to absorb more of that stuff than produce.
- Meat: I go to the butcher counter in the store and ask them to wrap the meat just in paper. Then I place it in the fridge in a plate or bowl. That is a must if you don't want to open your fridge to a bloody mess, literally (cleaning blood out of the fridge is not very fun)
- Onions, potatoes, garlic, ginger: not in the fridge. Leave it in a paper bag (like the ones they give you at the check out, they are sturdy); fold the top over so they stay in the dark- very important to keep them in the dark.
- Citrus: again, not in the fridge. Place it in a paper bag as well, they stay nicely and don't dry up like they do in the fridge.
Cloth bags for produce and bulk shopping.
2/16/10
2/15/10
EWG's Guide to Infant Formula and Baby Bottles
Summary & Findings
Published December 5, 2007
Liquid infant formula from the top manufacturers is sold in cans lined with a toxic chemical linked to reproductive disorders and neurobehavioral problems in laboratory animals, according to an investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG). The chemical is almost as common in the packaging of powdered formula, with 4 of the top 5 companies acknowledging its use.
In October and November 2007, Environmental Working Group surveyed the 5 leading makers of baby formula sold in the U.S. to determine whether they use BPA in their packaging. We found:
- The makers of Nestlé [0], Similac [0], Enfamil [0] and PBM [0] (who make store-brand formulas sold at WalMart, Target, Kroger and dozens of other retailers) all said that they use BPA in the linings of metal cans holding liquid formula.
- BPA is widely used in powdered formula containers as well. Every manufacturer except Nestlé said it uses a BPA-based lining on the metal portions of their powdered formula cans. Nestlé failed to provide EWG with reliable documentation of their alternative packaging, and thus is not a clear improvement over other types.
- Powdered formulas are a better choice. Our calculations indicate that babies fed reconstituted powdered formula likely receive 8 to 20 times less BPA than those fed liquid formula from a metal can.
Liquid formula is of greatest concern, and its use could lead to high BPA exposures for babies. Recent studies documenting that BPA leaches out of plastic baby bottles prompted a run on glass bottles by concerned parents. But testing by EWG and by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicates that under normal use, liquid formula itself could expose an infant to substantially more BPA than a plastic bottle. <See the graphic [0]> An August 2007 investigation by EWG estimated that at BPA levels found in ready-to-eat liquid formula, 1 of every 16 infants fed the formula would be exposed to the chemical at doses exceeding those that caused harm in laboratory studies.
The safest choice is clear: Breastfeed your baby whenever possible.
Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for babies. It contains essential fatty acids that help bolster babies’ bodies against the impacts of toxic chemicals. However, there are many reasons why families rely on formula for some or all of their baby’s diet. Seventy percent of babies in the U.S. receive some formula by the time they are 3 months old. These babies need a safe and healthy source of food, and formula should be manufactured in a way that avoids contamination with harmful chemicals.
If your child is fed infant formula, you can reduce BPA exposure by choosing powdered formula.
Nestlé, makers of Good Start and Mam brands, repeatedly told EWG researchers that its powdered formula cans contain no BPA. Nestlé's emails to parents repeat this claim, but the company has failed to document this in writing or provide information on their alternative to EWG, despite our numerous requests to the company. In any case, EWG cannot recommend Nestlé baby formula due to the company's long history of ethically suspect infant formula marketing practices in the developing world. Nestlé's claim that it uses BPA-free packaging, if true, would be welcome news, because it suggests that other manufacturers could switch to safer packaging materials and reduce babies' BPA exposures.
Powdered formula sold by Enfamil and Similac are reduced-risk choices, because only the metal tops and bottoms of their packages – not the cardboard sides – are metal and lined with BPA-based plastic. Earth's Best Organic and PBM (which make dozens of store brands) are more of a concern: they are sold in an entirely metal can, which means the formula has more contact with a BPA-coated surface.
If you must choose liquid formula, look for types sold in plastic containers or purchase concentrated – not ready-to-eat – types.
If you buy liquid formulas, look for those sold in plastic containers. If you must use liquid formula sold in metal cans, choose concentrated rather than ready-to-eat formula. Both FDA and EWG have tested samples of liquid formula sold in cans and found BPA in every company’s formula. Choosing a formula that requires dilution with water reduces the amount of BPA in your baby’s diet.
If you don’t know whether your brand is packaged with BPA, ask – and demand a straight answer.
During our initial calls to formula manufacturers, we asked company representatives if their packaging contains BPA, if they test for BPA levels in their products, and if they would disclose their test results to EWG. Many of the companies had a prepared response – “We comply with all FDA regulations regarding BPA and formula” – so it was clear that concerned parents are asking about BPA in formula. We later sent an email, without mentioning EWG, to see whether the information they gave to parents was consistent with what they told us.
PBM, the manufacturer of store brands, told EWG researchers their containers have a BPA lining. However, PBM later sent an EWG staff member an email stating that their packaging contains no BPA. These conflicting claims raise serious doubts about the credibility of PBM’s consumer information on BPA.
Nestlé tells parents on the phone and by email that their powdered formulas have no contact with BPA. They repeatedly told EWG researchers the same thing over the phone, but failed to put their claims in writing, making it difficult to determine if Nestlé is really a better option for babies.
Ross-Abbot, the makers of Similac, is the only company that told us they tested for BPA in their products, and that they detected none. However, both EWG and the Food and Drug Administration have found BPA in Similac cans, raising questions about either Ross-Abbot’s candor or the sensitivity of their testing methods.
2/14/10
Food And Convenience.
Spend a day in a real, small farm, and watch how hard farmers work to tend to their animals that produce dairy and eggs; the process of killing the animals so we can have our meat, poultry and pork. Or the work in the fields tending to organic produce and fruit. Small farms don't receive government subsidies, and there is no safety net to protect them if they lose crops or animals- subsidies only go to the huge, mostly GMO corn farms that belong to/produce for the giant corporations.
You realize how precious real food really is. And how lucky we are to be able to potentially have it, when so many are starving. Potentially, yes. Because most of the stuff that you find nowadays in the supermarkets cannot really be called real food. Most of it is processed. That is not food. That is stuff that they made with what used to be fresh food, plus a bunch of synthetic chemicals that were never meant for human consumption. Think about it. Take regular supermarket non-organic milk: if it's not organic, that means the cows were given antibiotics, they were fed genetically modified (GMO) corn, they probably never ate grass in their lives, and were fed a bunch of hormones to produce as much milk as possible. If we drink that milk, that means we are feeding ourselves nothing but hormones, antibiotics, and corn invented by chemists at a giant corporation (a specific one comes to mind). Antibiotics were not created to be eaten, they are a very special medicine for treating stuff that used to kills us by the millions. And now we eat it? Same goes for meat, poultry, pork... take mass-produced vegetables: they spray them with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides. Is that food? No! And yet, we eat it, and give it to our kids. Of course regulatory agencies tell us they are safe. But they used to tell us that DDT was safe before it was banned from the US. They still use it south of the border- and there is a whole lot of veggies that come from there.
Real food is food that is produced organically- without chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, or whatever else gets put into it. It is grains, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, cheese... it is not diet protein shakes, cereals, sliced white bread, deli meat and cheese, potato chips, veggie chips, granola bars, soda, orange juice that comes from 3 different countries, ground beef from 3 different continents (just look at the label if you don't believe me, or do a little research), canned vegetables, bake mixes, chocolate milk, juice mixes, juice boxes, yogurt to go, lunchables, candy, fruit roll-ups, pop-tarts, frozen pizza, mini-cakes, twinkies, gum, chicken nuggets etc. That is convenience food. You can take it anywhere, eat it any time, so easy. And so dead, full of stuff with unpronounceable names, and so empty of any nourishment.
And yet, small farms are all around us. All you have to do is look a bit, and you will see that they do exist. And you can buy fresh vegetables from them. Fresh milk from cows and goats that eat nothing but grass (think how lucky we are to be in Florida, where they can graze all year round). Fresh meat, poultry, eggs, pork... all of that without any stuff added to it. So simple. And so delicious, which of course means that is also so very nourishing. Food, like so many children believe these days, does not come from the supermarket. It comes from the farm.
Storing bread without plastic.
2/12/10
Why choose real vanilla.
Most candies, cheap chocolates and cookies, baking mixes, and even Toll House Chocolate Chips contain vanillin, or "artificial/imitation vanilla flavor":
Artificial vanilla flavoring is a solution of pure vanillin, usually of synthetic origin.
Synthetic vanillin became significantly more available in the 1930s, when production from clove oil was supplanted by production from the lignin-containing waste produced by the Sulfite pulping process for preparing wood pulp for the paper industry. By 1981, a single pulp and paper mill in Ontario supplied 60% of the world market for synthetic vanillin. However, subsequent developments in the wood pulp industry have made its lignin wastes less attractive as a raw material for vanillin synthesis. While some vanillin is still made from lignin wastes, most synthetic vanillin is today synthesized in a two-step process from the petrochemical precursors guaiacol and glyoxylic acid. (from Wikipedia)
On a quest to get rid of Teflon.
I did not think that one could find stainless steel bake ware when I was buying all the stuff years ago. But I was surprised to find it all over the internet, and again at Amazon with free shipping. I have purchased a few to try and see how they work- I have no idea what their quality is like, but I will write about it once I try them. Of course, through all these years, my wonderful baking stone has and will always be the best ever baking investment- together with my stove top investments: my old stainless steel All-Clad pots and, iron griddle and (stainless) pressure cooker. Also, a new addition that works great for baking nice crusty breads is the Le Creuset dutch-oven (the 5.5 qt round one), since it works like an oven-within an oven.
2/11/10
Cheese Crazy (Plastic-free!)
How to Store Cheese Successfully at Home
- Before buying, make sure the package is properly wrapped and sealed, and that the cheese inside looks appealing. Avoid any cheese that looks dry or discolored, as the seal may be broken or buy from a service counter from people who know their cheese. Check the freshness date on the package for fresh cheeses. When you get them home:
- Fresh cheeses should be kept cold, in their original containers, and consumed quickly.
- Unwrap all other cheeses immediately. Plastic wrap suffocates cheese.
- Rub the surface of all but White, Grey, Blue, and Washed Rind cheeses with olive, canola or other cooking oil. Rub only the cut faces of the White, Grey and Washed rinds. Blue will protect itself.
- Keep cheese in a covered container in your refrigerator on a clean, dry, lightly crumpled paper towel or two, leaving a little breathing room. Similar cheeses can be stored together, as long as they don’t touch. You can use plastic webbing, or the mats they use to roll up sushi, to stack in layers and still allow airspace.
- When mold starts to form, it will consume the oil and not the cheese; simply wipe it off, or rinse in tepid water. Dry, rub with fresh oil and store as above in a clean container with clean towels.
- Keep washed rind, blue, flavored and white rind cheeses in separate containers to prevent mingling.
- If it's for just a few days, an oversized resealable bag with a crumpled towel will do. Be sure to minimize contact so it can breathe.
- If stored as above and rubbed with oil, larger chunks of semi-hard and hard natural cheeses can keep for months. Wipe off any mold every couple of weeks as it forms. After a few treatments, mold will slow or cease to grow if your container has enough towels to soak up excess moisture. Change the towels and wash container often.
TIPS:
- Always serve all but fresh cheeses at room temperature: take them out of refrigeration for a couple of hours before serving. You can cover with a clean damp cloth to hold for longer, the condensation acts as a kind of coolant.
- Keep all surfaces clean and avoid contaminating your cheese with other raw foods on cutting surfaces or by spills. If so, simply wash in tepid water, dry and store as above.
- Keeping cheese well means tending to it, catching mold early, refreshing the air regularly, cleaning the container and changing the towel, and turning the cheese from time to time to counter gravity. But the results can be tasted within a few days of proper storage!
2/9/10
2010-Feb-06
WHOLE FOODS PROMOTES MILITANT VEGETARIAN AGENDA
Has the Upscale Market Outlived Its Usefulness?
WASHINGTON, DC. February 3, 2010: Whole Foods Markets has launched a nationwide “Health Starts Here” marketing scheme that endorses a lowfat, vegetarian diet, with promises that the diet will “improve health easily and naturally.” The plan promotes the books and private business ventures of Joel Fuhrman, MD, and Rip Esselstyn, both of whom worked with Whole Foods to formulate the new guidelines. Customers now receive a pamphlet urging them to adopt a lowfat, plant-based diet and to cut back or completely eliminate animal foods. Many Whole Foods stores no longer sell books advocating consumption of meat, eggs and dairy products.
The plan will feature new Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) labels for foods in the store; the index is designed to make plant foods to appear “nutrient dense” by favoring various phytonutrients in plants and ignoring many vitamins and minerals essential to health. “Whole Foods has stacked the deck against animal foods by choosing ANDI parameters that do not include a host of key nutrients, such as vitamins A, D and K, DHA, EPA arachidonic acid, taurine, iodine, biotin, pantothenic acid, and vital minerals like sodium, chloride, potassium, sulfur, phosphorus, copper, manganese, boron, molybdenum and chromium,” says Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. “Many of the phytochemicals that Fuhrman includes in the index he developed for Whole Foods play no essential role in the body and may even be harmful.”
“Animal foods like meat, liver, butter, whole milk and eggs contain ten to one hundred times more vitamins and minerals than plant foods,” says Fallon Morell. “Plant foods add variety and interest to the human diet but in most circumstances do not qualify as ‘nutrient-dense’ foods.”
“For years before becoming deathly ill, I followed the dietary suggestions in the Whole Foods plan,” said Kathryne Pirtle, author of Performance without Pain. “I ate large amounts of organic salads, vegetables and fruits, lots of whole grains, only a little meat and no animal fat. I had chronic pain for twenty-five years on this diet, then acid reflux, then a serious inflammation in my spine followed by chronic diarrhea. Without switching to nutrient-dense animal foods, including eggs, butter and whole dairy products, not only would I have lost my national career as a performing artist, I would have died at forty-five years old! I am not alone in this story of ill health from a lowfat, plant-based diet, which does not supply a person with enough nutrients to be healthy and can be very damaging to the intestinal tract.”
“Consumers can send a message about Whole Foods’ misinformed scheme by voting with their feet,” says Fallon Morell. “Most major grocery store chains now carry basic organic staples and a larger array of organic fruits and vegetables than Whole Foods markets. And citizens should purchase seasonal produce and their meat, eggs and dairy products directly from farmers engaged in non-toxic and grass-based farming. It’s not appropriate for Whole Foods to promote a scheme that has no scientific basis and that bulldozes their customers towards the higher profit items in their stores.” The local chapters of the Weston A. Price Foundation help consumers connect with farmers raising animal foods in humane, healthy and ecologically friendly fashion.
"The growing emphasis on plant-based diets deficient in animal protein also serves to promote soy foods as both meat and dairy substitutes," says Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food. "Soy is not only one of the top eight allergens but has been linked in more than sixty years of studies to malnutrition, digestive distress, thyroid dysfunction, reproductive disorders including infertility, and even cancer, especially breast cancer."
“Low fat patients are my most unhealthy patients,” says John P. Salerno, MD, a board certified family physician from New York City. “The reason we are spiraling into diabetes and obesity is because of the lowfat concept developed by the U.S government decades ago. Lowfat diets have a low nutrient base, and phytonutrients in vegetables cannot be properly absorbed without fat.”
Fallon Morell cites recent studies from Europe showing that lowfat diets promote weight gain in both children and adults, and also contribute to infertility. A meta-analysis published January, 2010 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found no significant evidence that saturated fat consumption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
“Whole Foods CEO John Mackey has stated that eating animal fats amounts to an addiction. But in fact, animal fats are essential for good health,” says Fallon Morell. “The nutrients in animal fats, such as vitamins A, D and K, arachidonic acid, DHA, choline, cholesterol and saturated fat, are critical for brain function. In the misguided war against cholesterol and saturated fat, we have created an epidemic of learning disorders in the young and mental decline in the elderly.”
“Perhaps the vegetarian diet has affected the thinking powers of Whole Foods management,” says Fallon Morell. “It’s time for the stockholders to insist on leadership devoted to increasing customer base, not promoting a personal vegetarian agenda.”
The Weston A. Price Foundation is a 501C3 nutrition education foundation with the mission of disseminating accurate, science-based information on diet and health. Named after nutrition pioneer Weston A. Price, DDS, author of the book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, the Washington, DC-based Foundation publishes a quarterly journal for over 12,000 members, supports 400 local chapters worldwide and hosts a yearly conference. The Foundation headquarters phone number is (202) 363-4394, westonaprice.org,info@westonaprice.org .
Comments about the Whole Foods Health Starts Here scheme can be emailed to customer.questions@wholefoods.com .
CONTACT
Kimberly Hartke, Publicist, the Weston A. Price Foundation
703-860-2711, 703-675-5557 press@westonaprice.org
2/8/10
Patagonia and BPAa
Patagonia and BPAaThank you for your concern about clothing made from recycled bottles. The fabric for the puff ball is made from recycled bottles. We have tried to completely understand the recycling process and so we have visited the mills that make the yarns and fabrics, the factory that melts the bottle chips into fiber, and even the facility where they sort the bottles. The fabrics made from this recycling process do not pose any unique toxicity risks compared to regular "virgin" polyester. The bottles used are only 100% PET polyester and do not contain BPA (bisphenol-A). BPA is commonly found in polycarbonate bottles, and polyester can be used as a BPA-free alternative.
I also want to mention that the mill that makes this puff ball fabric is a "bluesign" system partner, which means they are certified to make fabrics that exceed the strictest global regulations for toxic chemicals. In addition to ensuring a safe product, the bluesign system manages the environmental, health, and safety concerns of the whole manufacturing system from the inputs and processes to the wastewater and air emissions. More information is available at www.bluesign.com
I'm glad to hear that you are aware of and concerned about these issues! If you have any other concerns about this jacket or any other product, please let us know.
Thank you,
Todd Copeland
Patagonia, Inc.
805-667-4579
Todd_Copeland@patagonia.com
Strategic Environmental Materials Developer
2/7/10
Toxic lunch boxes?
Ok, switch to plastic. I didn't want to use sandwich bags because, since there is no recycling for plastic bags in Jacksonville other than supermarket shopping bags, I knew that they would, and will still, end up in the dump. A complete waste. So I decided to use tupperware, because at least I could/can wash and re-use them. Then came the whole BPA debacle with baby bottles etc, and here I am trying to figure out which numbers on the back of the containers are the right ones, which are not, did I buy the right one or not, is this number really safe or not... and also was the plastic going to get heated or not (plastic leaches chemicals when it is heated), and would it leach as it got older?... and how do I know if this is BPA-free if it doesn't say anything on it (BPA was banned only from certain plastics after all- can anyone tell exactly which ones?).
Looking around in health food stores, I found wax paper sandwich bags, but not only I still could not pack any snacks on those, they ended up in the trash as well (at least they do break down).
I finally ended up getting a tiffin for my daughter, which she really enjoys to this day. It doesn't disintegrate like the regular lunch boxes, and because it is made of stainless-steel, it is safe for both cold and hot foods. But my son was mortally embarrassed by it, so we continued with the plastic until I was able to find on the internet (on Amazon, of all places, with free shipping) stainless-steel little containers in which we can pack his snacks and sandwiches, which he can then put into his regular lunch box.
I tried different brands, and ended up settling on "togoware" ( http://www.to-goware.com/). I like their sizes. looks and quality. That is also the brand of the tiffin that I bought 2 years ago- again, size, looks, quality. I hope this helps other moms and just anyone trying to find a good way to carry their food to work/school. More on this at http://slowdeathbyrubberduck.com/
2/4/10
Shady Business
I heard on the radio today that the Riverside Arts Market sells local produce. Actually, ONE vendor there sells local produce. Their name is Down To Earth Farm. Sometimes Magnolia Farms is there as well, and both of these farms are organic and local. There is a hydroponic dude there, but I don't know where he's from. The rest of the produce vendors are not really local. If you ask them, you'll learn that their stuff is from all over the place, just like the guys from Beaver Street "Farmers'' Market. And then there is that one stand that doesn't even have a name- they claim to be a ''organic'' farm from Callahan, but if you look under the table, you can see their bags are from Georgia etc. The good news is, the directors of the market are looking into this and hopefully, for the spring, will have some of this monkey business out of there.
Not all paper is created equal
I'm looking at all the junk in my mail. Ok, some of it, there is no way to get rid of, it's that stuff in the cheap paper about Food Lion, Walmart, or whatever supermarket . At least that can go in the recycle bin and turn into some recycled product that those same stores can sell and proclaim how eco-conscious they are (by sending out all that junk mail in the first place).
Next up, catalogs. Here is a solution: www.catalogchoice.org. You can enter the name of the unwanted catalog in there, and they'll stop it for you. Choice #2: just call the company and bitch.
Credit card offers: www.junkmailstopper.com
Other annoying white paper mail: rip the plastic window off (unfortunately, that goes in the trash), and recycle the white paper. In Duval County, you might have noticed that hey started putting bins around the city for paper recycling. You can throw all the white paper in there. If you put it in your recycling bin, they will NOT recycle it (they will throw it in the trash).
Yes, corrugated paper (the boxes) you can put in the recycling bin, but... you can NOT recycle milk, OJ cartons or juice boxes! Why? Because they are coated inside with plastic... sorry, yes, BPA-loaded plastic. Solution? Get milk, OJ etc in glass or, if you miss your plastic, get the real plastic- at least you can recycle that.
2/2/10
Bye bye plastic!
Finally managed to find enough info about how to store vegetables without plastic bags, and was able to finally get rid of them! Those vegetable bags had been bothering me for a while, cause once they rip, they are useless. Here in Jacksonville you can't recycle them, so they end up in the landfill. Needless to say, that plastic contains BPA that leaches into the food, so it is just NOT good for you, no matter in what form it comes, hard plastic, soft plastic, colored, white, colorless, or the ones that say "organic" (!!!). Switch to glass, metal, paper and cloth. These days it is actually pretty easy to find all of this, and even though you may wonder if people consider you nuts and "weird" for being "different" and "picky", just know that there are people doing this all over the country and the world. Not only that, that is what people used to do not very long ago, before the "plastic invasion".
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