American Feast's Sustainable Food Blog
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January 18, 2012
Exercise Does Wonders & You Can Make Progress Without Pain
Family Stroll (photo by Kenn W. Kiser, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
The chilly and shortened days of winter make it easy to put off acting on a New Year’s resolution to get out and about more often for a little physical activity. So, getting an email from the Harvard Medical School that “watching TV, surfing the Internet, or playing computer and video games” were poor substitutes for health-inducing exercise was timely if redundant.
A One Mile Walk Burns 100 Calories
Heady plans for a magnificent new body developed through fiercely determined workouts at a fitness club are fine, but a much more modest regimen can dramatically improve your overall health and have you looking and feeling better. A doctor I admired for his medical knowledge once told me he’d be happy if he could get each of his patients to exercise moderately for 20 minutes a day. A daily stroll would do the nicely, as one mile of walking burns 100 calories.
The Harvard Medical School missive says the minimum threshold for good health is burning at least 700 to 1,000 calories a week through physical pursuits and, “Nearly all of the research regarding the disease-fighting benefits of exercise revolves around cardiovascular activity, which includes walking, jogging, swimming, and cycling.” Thirty minutes of moderate exercise is considered safe for nearly everyone.
Exercise for a Better Sex Life
If you need further incentives to get yourself moving, our friends at HMS offer plenty:
…decades of solid science confirm that exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and several types of cancer, particularly breast and colon cancers. Regular exercise can also help you sleep better, reduce stress, control your weight, brighten your mood, sharpen your mental functioning, and improve your sex life.
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Over the holidays, the United States Department of Agriculture announced its approval of a novel strain of genetically engineered corn, developed by Monsanto, purportedly being “drought tolerant.”
Despite receiving nearly 45,000 public comments in opposition to this particular genetically engineered (GE) corn variety (and only 23 comments in favor), the Obama administration gave Monsanto the green light to release its newest GE corn variety freely into the environment and American food supply, without any governmental oversight or safety tracking.
“President Obama and Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack just sent a clear message to the American public that they do not care about our concerns with genetically engineered food and their questionable safety, adverse environmental impacts, and detrimental effects on farmers, especially organic farmers,” says Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst with The Cornucopia Institute.
Change We Can Believe In?
“This is just the latest in a string of approvals of genetically engineered crops, and it is clear that despite campaign promises of change from Obama, he has not had the courage to stand strong against the powerful agribusiness and biotechnology lobbies,” Kastel added.
In addition to its announcement approving Monsanto’s newest GE corn variety, the USDA also opened a 60-day public comment period for two additional petitions – one for Monsanto’s GE soybean containing higher levels of an omega-3 fatty acid, that does not naturally occur in soybeans, and the other from Dow AgroSciences for corn that has been genetically engineered to better resist the poisonous herbicide 2,4-D.
While the USDA attempts to assure the public that 2,4-D is safe, scientists have raised serious concerns about the safety of this herbicide, which was used as a key ingredient in “Agent Orange,” used to defoliate forests and croplands in the Vietnam War.
2,4-D is a chlorophenoxy herbicide, and scientists around the world have reported increased cancer risks in association with its use, especially for soft tissue sarcoma and malignant lymphoma. Four separate studies in the United States reported an association with chlorophenoxy herbicide use and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
"The concern is that, just like Monsanto's genetically engineered corn that is resistant to RoundUp™ (glyphosate) herbicide, the approval of a cultivar resistant to 2,4-D will cause an exponential increase in the use of this toxic agrichemical," Kastel stated.
Research by the EPA found that babies born in counties with high rates of 2,4-D application to farm fields were significantly more likely to be born with birth defects of the respiratory and circulatory systems, as well as defects of the musculoskeletal system like clubfoot, fused digits and extra digits. These birth defects were 60% to 90% more likely in counties with higher 2,4-D application rates.
The results also showed a higher likelihood of birth defects in babies conceived in the spring, when herbicide application rates peak.
In its petition, Dow AgroSciences states that 2,4-D is increasingly important for chemical farmers because of the presence of weeds that have developed resistance to glyphosate, as a result of the widespread use of Monsanto’s genetically engineered glyphosate-resistant crops.
When Monsanto introduced glyphosate, it was touted as a safer and less toxic alternative to herbicides like 2,4-D. Now, an emerging body of scientific literature is raising serious concerns about the safety of glyphosate as well.
“The concern that the use of GE crops, which are resistant to particular herbicides, leads to the creation of 'superweeds' is now shown to be valid and serious, as even the chemical companies now recognize and admit this is a problem,” says Kastel.
“In 2012 the USDA is proposing approving a new GE corn variety that is resistant to a different toxic herbicide, escalating the toxic treadmill in chemical-dependent agriculture,” said Jay Feldman, Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides. “This is nothing more than a band-aid solution to a serious problem, and will only give rise to more superweeds, more herbicide pollution in our environment, more herbicide poisoning, while likely leading to the need for even more toxic herbicides a couple of years down the line. This foolish circle has to end,” Feldman said.
A Very Real Threat to Organic Farmers
Farm research groups like The Cornucopia Institute are also concerned with the impact of genetically engineered crops on organic farmers, whose organic crops are already at risk of contamination with Monsanto’s unnatural DNA, from pollen drift.
In its Environmental Assessment of the “drought tolerant” Monsanto corn, the USDA conceded that gene flow of corn pollen is likely to occur. It is well-established that corn pollen travels, and pollen from genetically engineered plants will contaminate natural corn plants.
“The irony, of course, is that organic fields and crops are much more drought tolerant, because common sense and field trials show healthy and biologically active organic soil retains moisture much better than tired and depleted soil on conventional monoculture farms, and organic crops are healthier and more robust than conventional crops,” said Charlotte Vallaeys, a researcher at Cornucopia.
“But Monsanto cannot profit from healthy soil and healthy organic crops, while they can profit from genetically engineering, patenting, and owning new life forms,” Vallaeys continued. “It’s unfortunate that the Obama administration is equally misguided by supporting Monsanto and Dow’s petitions and ignoring citizens' demand for an immediate end to approving these genetically engineered crops in our food supply.”
About The Cornucopia Institute
The Cornucopia Institute is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy and economic development our goal is to empower farmers both politically and through marketplace initiatives. Its Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit. We will actively resist regulatory rollbacks and the weakening of organic standards to protect and maintain consumer confidence in the organic food label.
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Many a person will have made a New Year's resolution to eat healthier this year after putting on a few extra "holiday pounds".
Eating healthy tends to start with eating at home, but since so many have schedules that make nightly home-cooking difficult, here are a few tips from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for eating well when eating out:
• As a beverage choice, ask for water or order fat-free or low-fat milk, unsweetened tea, or other drinks without added sugars.
• Ask for whole wheat bread for sandwiches.
• In a restaurant, start your meal with a salad packed with veggies, to help control hunger and feel satisfied sooner.
• Ask for salad dressing to be served on the side. Then use only as much as you want.
• Choose main dishes that include vegetables, such as stir fries, kebobs, or pasta with a tomato sauce.
• Order steamed, grilled, or broiled dishes instead of those that are fried or sautéed.
• Choose a “small” or “medium” portion. This includes main dishes, side dishes, and beverages.
• Order an item from the menu instead heading for the “all-you-can-eat” buffet.
If main portions at a restaurant are larger than you want, try one of these strategies to keep from overeating:
• Order an appetizer or side dish instead of an entrée.
• Share a main dish with a friend.
• If you can chill the extra food right away, take leftovers home in a “doggy bag.”
• When your food is delivered, set aside or pack half of it to go immediately.
• Resign from the “clean your plate club” – when you’ve eaten enough, leave the rest.
To keep your meal moderate in calories, fat, and sugars:
• Ask for salad dressing to be served “on the side” so you can add only as much as you want.
• Order foods that do not have creamy sauces or gravies.
• Add little or no butter to your food.
• Choose fruits for dessert most often.
On long commutes or shopping trips, pack some fresh fruit, cut-up vegetables, low-fat string cheese sticks, or a handful of unsalted nuts to help you avoid stopping for sweet or fatty snacks.
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Seasonal Kale with Shitake Mushrooms & Garlic Recipe from Chef Melanie
Fresh Kale (photo by MissyRedBoots, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
“The Food Shed: Cooking Local and Seasonal” was a class we attended at Manhattan’s Institute of Culinary Education, a terrific evening of cooking with fresh ingredients from local farms. The class was presented by Chef-Instructor Melanie Underwood. She’s been cooking with farm fresh ingredients since her days growing up on a farm in Virginia. One local and seasonal ingredient the Chef selected for the class was kale. The George Mateljan Foundation’s web site says of kale:
The beautiful leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy flavor and more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food around. Although it can be found in markets throughout the year, it is in season from the middle of winter through the beginning of spring when it has a sweeter taste and is more widely available.
Kale belongs to the Brassica family, a group of vegetables that includes broccoli, cabbage, collards and Brussels sprouts. Researchers have noted the group for its superb cancer-fighting properties. Look for organic kale to avoid pesticide residues, or get it from a local farmer who you know and trust not to use pesticides.
A tip from Chef Melanie: Use fresh garlic from your local farmers market, you’ll taste the difference.
Ingredients for 4 Servings
• 2 Tablespoons Stella Cadente L’Autunno Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 8 Ounces shitake mushrooms
• 4 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Large bunch of kale, trimmed & cleaned
Preparation
1. In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook until softened, about 5-6 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook another minute. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and heat over medium heat, add kale and toss, cooking about 5 minutes, add in shitake and garlic mixture to reheat.
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We have already allowed the spread of genetically modified crops into our agriculture at great cost to our economy and with unknown effects on our bodies
Only 26% of Americans believe their food contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs), according to the nonprofit Organic Consumers Association. But 80% of non-organic, processed foods (basically every product containing soy, corn, canola, cottonseed oil, sugar beet derivatives or ingredients from animals fed soy or corn) are contaminated with genetically modified organisms.
A statement from OCA says, “People don't think they're eating genetically modified foods because they have no way of knowing whether they are or not. Genetically modified foods aren't labeled.”
No one really knows with certainty what the effects of eating GMO foods will be on human beings, but GMOs have been linked to organ disruption in 19 animal studies. And, when Monsanto's engineered genes were found in the blood of pregnant women and their babies, scientists concluded it must have gotten there through eating GMO-fed animals, says OCA..
Feeding GMOs to Infants
Even some baby foods that are certified USDA Organic foods contain GMOs, as do some infant formulas, children's vitamins, and dairy products. They are produced for our children with the Martek corporation's "Life'sDHA" and "Life'sARA," which are artificial nutraceuticals that mimic essential fatty acids found in eggs and fish.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich has introduced legislation that would prohibit open-air cultivation of Genetically Engineered (GE) pharmaceutical and industrial crops, preventing biological contamination of our food supply. The bill would also establish a tracking system to regulate and ensure the safety of GE pharmaceutical and industrial crops.
“We must take steps to prevent genetically engineered organisms from being grown in a way that could do irreversible damage to our food supply. Under pressure from profit-minded industry, we have already allowed the spread of genetically modified crops into our agriculture at great cost to our economy and with unknown effects on our bodies,” said Kucinich.
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A staple of Southern American cuisine and soul food, collard greens are traditionally served on New Year's Day with black-eyed peas and cornbread to ensure prosperity in the coming year. But since they’re also a wonderfully healthy source of vitamin C, soluble fiber and multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, it would be a shame to limit them to just one day a year.
Our friend June Jacobs has published a fine recipe for the slightly bitter and nutritious greens in her book, “Feastivals, Cooks at Home.” In the intro to her recipe she writes:
Dark leafy greans are SO good for you I hope you’ll learn to love them! This dish is designed to serve as either a main course with rice, or as a side with anything you please. It’s a traditional Southern “go-with” for beans and rice. You may make it with or without meat, but the flavors are so assertive these green don’t need it.
June says that if you’re making these greens the center of your plate, pair it with a dry, full-bodied Riesling.
Ingredients for 6 Servings
• 6 Pounds collard greens
• 3 Tablespoons canola oil
• 1 Cup finely chopped onions
• 1 Cup finely chopped celery
• 1 Cup finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1 or 2 Small fresh hot peppers, seeded, de-ribbed & finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 3 Bay leaves
• 1½ Cups cold water
• 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1½ Tablespoons fresh oregano or 1½ teaspoons dried
• 2 Teaspoons *Creole seasoning mix
• Hot pepper sauce to taste
• 3 Pounds meaty ham hocks or shanks (optional, but delicious!)
Preparation
1. Pull the coarse stems all the way out of the collards, and wash the leaves very well in several changes of cold water
2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Add mirepoix (chopped vegetables) and meat (if you are using meat) and sauté the vegetables until the onion is translucent.
3. Tear the greens into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan. Stir to coat greens with the vegetable mixture and oil. Add seasonings and water. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for approximately 1 hour.
4. Allow the greens to sit in their liquor while you remove the hocks and cut them into bite-size pieces. (If there is a lot of liquor in the pan, you may wish to reduce it by ½.)
Be sure to discard all the bone, skin and gristle. Stir the meat back into the pot. Serve hot.
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Measure helped spur watershed year in curbing junk food marketing to kids
San Francisco’s groundbreaking Healthy Meals Incentive law has taken effect. The law sets basic nutritional standards for kids’ meals that are accompanied by toy giveaways. Its passage last November garnered international media attention, helping spur a cascade of developments in curbing junk food marketing to kids.
“This law is an important achievement not only for the health of San Francisco’s children, but for children nationwide,” said San Francisco City Supervisor Eric Mar, the sponsor of the measure. “We are ensuring parents and children have real choice when they eat out – especially in communities saturated with McDonald’s-style junk food. It’s common sense for a healthier America that I’d encourage the food industry to act on immediately.”
Healthy Food for Kids a National Issue
Shortly after the policy’s passage, the Los Angeles City Council declared a moratorium on new fast food establishments in South Los Angeles, an area where fast food predominates and diet-related disease is disproportionately high.
New York City introduced a measure similar to San Francisco’s, proposing nutritional standards for kid’s meals served with toys. Other local and state governments have since tested the waters or are currently considering advancing related polices.
Nationally, a federal interagency working group also proposed new recommendations for marketing junk food to kids after 30 years of industry intimidation to remain on the sidelines.
Fast Food Giants Respond to SF Law
Perhaps most telling of San Francisco’s Healthy Meals Incentive’s impact was the industry response.
Jack in the Box, the country’s fifth largest hamburger chain, announced it was discontinuing toy giveaways at its 2,200 stores nationwide. KFC Australia not only dropped the toys but offered, “we think the idea of toys being given away with meals has had its day…we hope this decision today will support parents in making dietary decisions on behalf of their children which aren't influenced in any way by pressure to choose the meal that has a toy."
“The San Francisco Healthy Meals Initiative and the public support for it put the fast food industry on notice,” said Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International. “Some corporations responded in good faith. Others responded with half measures and PR. Still others dug in their heels. All were forced to respond and reckon with a practice that makes children sick.”
Corporate Accountability International partnered with a broad coalition of health professionals, local parents, and small businesses to secure passage of the Healthy Meal Incentive Ordinance despite the dedicated opposition of McDonald’s and its trade association.
Top-Dollar Lobbyists, Public Relations Firms & Lawyers Lose Battle
The burger giant enlisted top-dollar lobbyists, public relations firms and lawyers to oppose the law. Failing to overcome grassroots support, McDonald’s executives threatened to sue the city upon the measure’s implementation. Its trade association even went so far as to work under the radar to persuade state lawmakers in Florida and Arizona to pass a state law preventing local governments from enacting similar measures.
But such threats and backroom deals only solidified the resolve of health advocates. In May, Corporate Accountability International launched a partnership with a still-growing network of some of the country’s leading cardiologists, children’s psychologists, pediatricians and other health professionals to call on McDonald’s directly to cut the junk food promotions to kids. In July, the American Academy of Pediatrics took a further step, based on a growing body of science, suggesting a total ban on junk food marketing.
"Bad Food is Bad Medicine"
"Food is medicine. Which means bad food is bad medicine,” said Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. “Kids cannot choose to refrain from taking bad medicine when prescribed. Coercing children to consume food with questionable nutritive value is not all that different from medical malpractice. And the results of this bad medicine, in terms of childhood obesity, are there for all to see. I applaud San Francisco's fortitude in taking steps to spare the health of a generation.”
As pressure grew on McDonald’s and other chains, a host of McDonald’s competitors voluntarily committed to reduce the amount of fat, salt, sugar, and calories in kids’ meals over the next decade. Never mind the commitments were unenforceable, lax and self-imposed, McDonald’s refused to join the club.
Instead the burger giant took its own significant step to avoid further regulation, adding apple slices to all Happy Meals and reducing the portion size of its kids’ fries. The action was a sure sign McDonald’s is responding to a public increasingly disenchanted with its predatory marketing, if only a baby step. The temporary positive PR belies the failure of these “new and improved” meals to meet San Francisco’s proposed nutritional recommendations for kids’ meals. Most concerning, McDonald’s actions has made no move to reduce its annual $400 million plus global budget for marketing its exceedingly unhealthy brand to children.
Parent Views Corporation as "Abusive"
For San Francisco parents like Caroline Grannan, McDonald’s calculations only reinforce the bad taste the corporation left in the mouths of city residents last year.
"McDonald’s and its spin doctors couldn’t have been more condescending to parents here,” said Caroline Grannan, mother of two. “First they told us they had the right to promote whatever they want at any expense to our children. Then they told us that if our children got sick as a result, it was wholly our fault. San Francisco’s new law has challenged the industry’s blame-shifting in a profound way – calling an abusive industry to account for its devastating role in today’s health crisis."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, right now, one in three children are at risk for developing type-2 diabetes in their lifetime as a result of diets high in McDonald’s-style junk food. This generation may be the first in U.S. history to live shorter lives than their parents.
About Corporate Accountability
Corporate Accountability International (formerly Infact) is a membership organization that has, for the last 35 years, successfully advanced campaigns protecting health, the environment and human rights. Value [the] Meal is Corporate Accountability International’s campaign dedicated to reversing the global epidemic of diet-related disease by challenging the fast food industry to curb a range of its practices.
To view some of the previous posts on the topic, go to:
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The Delaware River basin is one of Nature’s great gifts, providing clean drinking water to 16 million people. For years it has been under threat of being polluted by deep drilling for methane gas, commonly called “natural gas”. But for today at least, it is safe.
The Delaware River Basin Commission just canceled a vote to allow fracking in the basin that was scheduled for November 28. It appears they wouldn't have the votes they needed to allow it. The delay is a testament to the power of people coming together to do what's right for their communities. Thousands stood up against corporate lobbying and a pricey ad campaign and won a round in a critical fight.
Courtesy of Halliburton
Hydraulic fracturing (also called "fracking"), is a method for extracting oil and gas lying deep below the layer of shale that below the surface of the basin. The process of fracking comes to us courtesy of Halliburton, the giant energy corporation headed by Dick Cheney before he became the Vice President of the United States.
Fracking accesses the gas beneath the shale by injecting millions of gallons water, toxic chemicals and sand under high pressure, cracking the shale and tight rocks to allow gas to flow more freely from the well. It is a poisonous mixture and believed to be the prime culprit in the pollution of groundwater in areas surrounding drilling sites. Even drinking water hundreds of miles from a well can be contaminated. Some scientists have speculated that fracking may trigger earthquakes.
Fracking in Gasland
Director Josh Fox made the Sundance award-winning documentary “Gasland” after he was asked to lease his land for gas drilling. That led him to embark on a cross-country odyssey. His journey led to a film accusing fracking of causing chronic illness, producing toxic waste deadly to farm animals, dangerous explosions, and an abominal record of government agencies failing to protect public safety. The most famous scene in “Gasland” shows tap water being set ablaze.
Residents who get their drinking water from the Delaware river Basin are not alone in facing a threat to the safety of their drinking water. According to an article published by ProPublica in December of 2009:
In the next 10 years, the United States will use the fracturing technology to drill hundreds of thousands of new wells astride cities, rivers and watersheds. Cash-strapped state governments are pining for the revenue and the much-needed jobs that drilling is expected to bring to poor, rural areas.
The Struggle Ahead
A battle to keep water safe for drinking has been won, but the struggle is far from over. Big energy companies are expected to continue to pour corporate cash into the fight across the United States. In many parts of the country they have already won and ordinary people have paid a terrible price. Besides being able to set their kitchen tap water ablaze, American families have been told that taking a shower at home could lead to an explosion that will kill them. Their children have been made sick by the pollutants unleashed and many have seen their homes become virtually impossible to sell.
Incredibly, a loophole exempts natural gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Drilling companies don’t even have to disclose the almost 600 chemicals that might be used in fracking and find their way into drinking water.
To see a trailer for the documentary film cited above, go to: Gasland the Movie
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
French National Assembly Passes a Tax on Sugary Soft Drinks
Soda Cans (photo by Jane M. Sawyer, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
In a move that began as a response to rising rates of obesity, the French National Assembly passed a tax on all soft drinks with added sugar or artificial sweeteners to raise $380 million a year.
Beverages such as natural fruit juices and those containing alcohol will be exempt from the tax. The tax will be paid by manufacturers, processors and French importers. Most of the money, about $215 million, will be used to lower social taxes on farm labor. The measure will now be considered by the French Senate.
Much of the tax revenue to be collected would come from American soft drink companies. Coca Cola is expected to contribute $136 million annually. The company lobbied unsuccessfully to keep artificially sweetened drinks from being included. Coca Cola France had threatened to cancel a $23 million investment in a bottling operation in Marseille, but later recanted.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Farmers Market Pumpkins (photo by Mary K. Baird, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
The Fall Harvest is in full swing across the northern states with seasonal produce on display at markets and farm stands. This recipe is the creation of Vermont Organic Valley dairy farmer Amy Forgues and makes a classic seasonal soup. With cooler winds beginning to blow a bowl of her hearty pumpkin soup is just the thing to keep you warm and healthy.
Organic Valley is a farmer-owned coop that says, “We think it's a simple truth. The earth's most delicious, most healthful foods are made when farmers work in harmony with nature.” The organization started with seven farmers forming an organic cooperative in 1988. Today, more than 1,600 family farms are members and their high standards shine through in their delicious, award-winning, certified organic foods.
As always, try and get the freshest veggies you can find at your local farm stand or farmers market!
Seasonal Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
• 2 Tablespoons Organic Valley Salted Butter
• 1/4 Cup green bell pepper (diced)
• 1 Small onion (peeled and chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 Teaspoon sea salt
• 2 Cups canned pumpkin* (see below)
• 2 Cups Organic Valley Whole Milk
• 2 Cups chicken stock (or substitute vegetable stock)
• Dash thyme (crumbled)
• Dash nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon parsley (chopped)
Preparation
1. In a large kettle, over medium low heat, melt butter, then add: green pepper and onion, saute until soft. Sprinkle flour and sea salt over the top to thicken.
2. Then add pumpkin, milk, chicken stock, herbs and spices to taste. Cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.
3. Enjoy! For thanksgiving this soup is nice served in baked jack-be-little pumpkins
*There's some question as to whether fresh pumpkin or canned pumpkin is better. Many say that either choice will produce a very different tasting soup. If you substitute fresh pumpkins for canned make sure the fresh is well drained & pureed Smaller pumpkins tend to be sweeter than the big ones. To do a little online research on this, copy & paste "canned pumpkin vs fresh pumpkin" into a search box and you'll find lots of advice.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
The beloved American tradition of milk and cookies is a crime for some mothers, according to the Farm Food Freedom Coalition, organizers of a planned civil disobedience on November 1.
A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation makes the transport of raw milk intended for human consumption across state lines illegal, even for individuals purchasing it legally in one state and carrying it into the states where they live.
On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, a group of moms will challenge the FDA’s ban on interstate transport of raw milk by picking up fresh milk in Pennsylvania, transporting it to Maryland, then distributing it, along with cookies, in front of FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland at a rally from 12:00-3:00pm.
After numerous armed federal assaults and undercover investigations on farmers, coops and buying groups that supply their raw milk, mothers across the country are disgusted with the FDA’s aggression and ready to take action to protect their families’ food.
“By criminalizing me for the food choices I make for my family, the FDA is effectively saying that I have no right to feed my family what I, as the parent, know is best for them,” says Suzy Provine, one of the “raw milk freedom riders” who chooses fresh milk for her family. “It is one thing to inform me about my choices, but the FDA goes too far by forcing what they think is best on my family.”
The FDA is disrupting thousands of families’ food supplies by pressuring states to restrict access to raw dairy. States like Wisconsin and California are shutting down family farms by threatening penalties and jail for farmers.
(This article was previously published on Everybody Eats News.)
Linda West Eckhardt
About the Author
Linda West Eckhardt, is an award winning journalist, food writer, and nutritionist. Her more than 20 cookbooks have garnered prizes including the James Beard prize for the best cookbook for a text she wrote with her daughter, Katherine West DeFoyd, entitled Entertaining 101, Doubleday. Their follow-up book, Stylish One Dish Dinners, Doubleday, was also nominated for a James Beard prize. Their next book, The High Protein Cookbook, Clarkson Potter, remains a best seller after 12 years.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Intensive Study Links Lack of Access to Healthy Food to Chronic Disease
About one-third of U.S. adults are obese, as are 12.5 million children and adolescents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leading to chronic illness, spiraling health care costs, and premature deaths. A new study has found a correlation across the nation between areas with limited access to healthy food, sometimes referred to as food deserts, and areas of obesity and chronic disease prevalence in both rural and urban populations.
Specifically, data examined from New York City and Chicago showed that neighborhoods with limited access to healthy food options (defined for this project as fresh fruits and vegetables and minimally processed foods) saw significantly higher obesity rates than areas just a few miles away that enjoy greater access to healthy food products. Additionally, the rural counties where the bulk of our agricultural commodities are produced are, paradoxically, often areas with limited access to healthy foods, and see similar obesity rates.
Broad Range of Topics Studied
The study was a three-year investigation recently completed by MIT Collaborative Initiatives (MIT-CI) and the Urban Design Lab at the Earth Institute, Columbia University (UDL) to detect drivers of and potential solutions for the current crises in obesity and diet-related disease faced by the United States. The researchers studied the latest data on a broad range of topics related to obesity and researched and visited current intervention programs nationwide. The team considered the interrelation of broad social issues, including market trends, lifestyle changes in recent decades, policy impacts, socioeconomic factors, and the built environment as well as current literature on pharmacological, hormonal and epigenetic factors contributing to obesity.
Emphasis on Quantity over Quality Cited as Problematic
MIT-CI and UDL's design-based look at the obesity crisis identified the current structure of the national food system as a primary culprit. The way food is produced, processed, and distributed directly impacts the incidence of obesity and chronic disease. The current food system was developed with an emphasis on quantity over quality, actively promoting a reduction in crop variety. The unintended outcome of these policies was a rise in low-cost processed foods, which tend to cost much less per calorie than healthy foods. Low cost and long shelf life make highly processed foods particularly attractive to families with limited food budgets.
According to Professor Michael Conard of the Urban Design Lab, "Most global food crises have been infrastructural, involving breakdowns in regional distribution systems. Bigger systems are clearly no longer the better systems for the long term. Strengthening our regional systems can be a key contributor to many of our most challenging environmental and health problems."
Major Restructuring of Food System Needed
Solutions to this problem will involve changes to food production techniques, the development of a region-based processing and distribution infrastructure, and new models for healthy food retail. A restructuring of the food supply infrastructure from its current processing and transport emphasis—in which food is often transported vast distances for processing, and then redelivered back to where it started—to a more regional approach is critical in order to improve food delivery efficiency. Improved efficiency is the first step toward improved affordability, which the study indicates will lead to better access, and eventually, better long-term health.
MIT-CI and UDL concluded that the development of a strong integrated regional food system based on access, affordability, quality, and health is a critical step needed to support community interventions across the country and enable long-term change.
Dr. Tenley Albright, Director and Cofounder of the MIT Collaborative Initiatives, says, "Our goal is to refocus the food system to be a positive driver for health. Our methods are design-based, synthesizing multiple objectives into a collective approach. Having identified a clear target our next step is to use these same methods to unify stakeholder objectives and define a realistic roadmap for change."
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A new survey of 566 moms across the U.S. from Nature's Path reveals there's something that has many moms re-thinking the food they feed their families: 90% would want Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) clearly labeled, and that might make them change the way they shop.
The survey found that most moms (80%) feel confident they know what's in the food they're putting on the table each day, and for seven in ten that's due to the detailed ingredient labeling on products. However, the reality is that not every aspect of a food's ingredients is shared – namely, GMOs, also called genetically engineered ingredients.
According to the survey, close to half (45%) of mothers have never heard of genetically engineered ingredients. Obviously, these moms wouldn't know to seek out GMO labeling; however, once they learned what GMOs are, an overwhelming majority – 9 out of 10 moms – think it's important for brands to indicate whether such ingredients are used in their foods.
Law Requiring Labeling of GMOs Badly Needed
GMOs are made from crops that have had their DNA modified with genes from other plants, animals, viruses or bacteria in a laboratory. They may be in up to 80% of the packaged food we eat, but there is presently no law requiring that they be labeled.
"We're not sure how GMOs will affect our health because there haven't been any long term studies to date. That said, in 30 countries around the world there are significant restrictions or outright bans on GMO foods, because they're not considered proven safe," says Arjan Stephens, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Nature's Path. "This is cause for concern for many consumers, and why more and more are demanding labeling in the U.S."
If brands were required to indicate whether genetically engineered ingredients were used to make their food, the survey found:
• Many moms (59%) would want to learn more about these ingredients
• 46% would be left feeling worried about the effect they would have on their health and that of their family
• Some (38%) might even consider switching to a brand that doesn't include genetically engineered ingredients
• 33% might not feed that food to their family at all
After learning more about genetically engineered ingredients, more than half (52%) of moms surveyed think that one of the three most important things products should show on their labeling is an indication that a food is free of such ingredients. This is far greater than the less than one third (31%) of moms who felt the same before receiving information on genetically engineered ingredients. This is not surprising since more than half (52%) of moms think genetically engineered ingredients would have a negative impact on their health and that of their families.
"We believe everyone has the right to know what's in their food, and this survey shows that moms want information," continued Stephens. "We are committed to not only providing products that are the best choice for avoiding genetically engineered ingredients, but to educating consumers and working to make mandatory labeling a reality."
The Non-GMO Project
Nature's Path is a founding member of the Non-GMO Project, and voluntarily submits all products to rigorous, independent testing so they that can bear the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal, letting consumers know they are the best choice to avoid GMOs.
About Nature's Path
Founded in 1985, Nature's Path Organic Foods is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia and employs more than 350 people at its four facilities in Canada and the United States. The privately held, family-owned company produces breakfast foods and snacks sold in specialty foods stores and retailers in 40 countries around the world. The company's innovative brands include Nature's Path®, Flax Plus, EnviroKidz®, and Optimum®.
To learn more about the company, go to: Nature's Path
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Genetically engineered Monsanto sweet corn has been approved by the USDA and could be on your plate next year.
Monsanto’s genetically engneered Bt corn is already the dominant corn grown on America’s farms. Most of the high fructose corn syrup found in highly processed foods is manufactured from Bt corn. It is not the sweet corn you might buy from a trusted local farmer as it is not suitable for eating off the cob, a point made crystal clear in the award-winning documentary film, “King Corn.”
Our friend Sarah Alexander of the nonprofit Food & Water Watch tells us, “Monsanto's new genetically engineered sweet corn, is the first GE crop designed to be eaten directly by people. This sweet corn will not be labeled, has not been tested for food safety, and has been genetically engineered to produce a pesticide and withstand herbicide applications.”
American Feast has been calling for the labeling of genetically engineered foods in the U.S. for some time now. Many countries around the world already requiring labeling, as scientists have raised serious concerns about their safety and consumers have made clear they do not want to eat them.
To tell grocery stores you do not want to buy the new GE sweet corn, go to: Food & Water Watch
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Hey General Mills, How About Some Truth in Labeling?
"There is absolutely no mention of either blueberries or pomegranates in the ingredients panel of General Mill's Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal." - Citizens for Health
Citizens for Health also tells us that demand for high fructose corn syrup, which is manufactured almost entirely from genetically engineered Bt corn, has hit a 20 year low. In reaction the corporations selling high fructose corn syrup want to change the name on food labels to "corn sugar".
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
We’ve just received some exciting news from our friends at the Organic Consumers Fund. They have undertaken a campaign to make it the law to label genetically modified organis (GMOs).
For years American families have been unwittingly consuming GMO foods because unlike many countries around the globe, no labeling is required, even though there is scientific evidence that GMOs pose a threat to the health of people and the environment. Contamination of farm fields by by gmo seeds blowing in the wind may be the greatest threat to organic farming in the U.S. today.
Here’s what we’ve learned from our friends at Organic Consuners Fund:
• California is poised to be the first state with mandatory GMO labeling laws through the 2012 California Ballot Initiative process.
• Polls show support to get this initiative on the ballot & voted in. Over 80% of those polled supported mandatory labeling.
• A win for the California Initiative would be a huge blow to biotech and a huge victory for food activists.
• Monsanto and their minions have billions invested in GMOs and they are willing to spend millions to defeat this initiative.
• California is the 8th largest economy in the world. Labeling laws in CA will effect packaging and ingredient decisions nation-wide.
• The bill has been carefully written to ensure that it will not increase costs to consumers or producers.
Have you heard the saying, "As California goes, so goes the nation?" California has the biggest economy in the country and a win in CA would be a huge blow to biotech and a huge victory for food activists everywhere.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
The Non-GMO contest that drew more than 40,000 votes on 139 designs has a winner!
The winner was selected by Threadless Tees, a company working in cooperation with the Institute for Responsible Technology, one of the world's leading sources of information about genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
There's an amazing $10 sale price (regular price $24) that ends today, October 11th for this organic shirt, in guys or girls styles: Wear it for GMO rallies! Buy them as holiday gifts! Give one to your favorite teacher!
IRT FACEBOOK T-SHIRT CONTEST PHOTO GALLERY: Take a picture of yourself in this winning design and upload it to our Facebook page! http://facebook.com/responsibletechnology
OUR GRATITUDE AND THANKS: So many talented designers entered, we can't thank you enough for your energy and passion!
OUR WORK: Threadless donates 25% of each sale to the Non-GMO Campaign of The Institute for Responsible Technology.
Thanks for your support!
The Staff of the Institute for Responsible Technology
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice, MU Extension program implements grant to encourage better nutrition, physical activity
It is no secret that Americans are facing an obesity epidemic, exacerbated by high consumption of unhealthy foods and too little physical activity. Nearly two thirds of Americans are now overweight, and half of those are obese. Childhood obesity and diabetes are at epidemic levels and according to the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. does not produce or import enough fruits and vegetables for Americans to consume the recommended daily amount.
October is National Farm to School Month. Enacted last year by the U.S. Congress, National Farm to School Month recognizes the strong role that Farm to School programs play in promoting good health and strong economies. More than 2,300 Farm to School programs exist across the nation. In Missouri, 78 school districts are using locally grown produce. Now, a national grant has allowed University of Missouri Extension to expand two projects that promote healthy diets and physical activity for Missourians.
“We are trying to change policies and environments to make healthy choices easier for Missourians,” said Donna Mehrle, extension associate in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “The goal is to give citizens access to nutritious foods and safe environments that promote physical activity.”
Donna Mehrle
Missouri Farm to School/Farm to Institution Project
The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds the Missouri Farm to Institution Project, designed to provide tools and support to schools, hospitals and other institutions that use locally grown produce in their cafeterias. The grant also funds Livable Streets, a program aimed at educating citizens to advocate for “livable or complete streets” or those that are safe for all modes of transportation, including pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.
The Missouri Farm to School/Farm to Institution Project connects schools and institutions with local farmers and distributors and supports the institutions as they implement programs for purchasing and serving locally grown produce. The support includes a food service guide that provides information about buying produce in season to get the best price and advice on storing and preparing fresh produce.
Missouri Green Beans!
“Along with the added nutritional bonus of eating fresh foods, Missouri Farm to School is a way to educate students about how food is grown and where it comes from, along with putting a face to the food they are eating on a regular basis,” said Lorin Fahrmeier, Farm to Institution project coordinator. “When students try new foods at school that they like, they are more likely to ask their parents for the same foods at home. This encourages healthier eating habits for families too.”
Lorin Fahrmeier
Livable Streets
The purpose of Livable Streets is to give citizens access to streets that are safe for a variety of transportation modes. Program directors provide training for advocacy groups throughout the state. The groups share the training with citizens who encourage locally elected officials, transportation planners and engineers to consistently design streets and sidewalks for users of all ages and abilities.
During October, school success stories will be featured on Missouri Farm to School’s website and families are encouraged to share photos of their own locally grown, home-cooked meals.
“Farm to School month is a great way to highlight the different programs and schools that are supporting the movement state wide,” Fahrmeier said. “The key to success is to start small and tailor a program that fits into your school and community.”
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
The Wild Blueberry holds a special place in Maine's history, one that goes back centuries to the state's Native Americans. They were the first to use the tiny blue berries, both fresh and dried, for their flavor, their nutrition, and their healing qualities.
Unlike the larger cultivated blueberries usually sold in supermarkets, Wild Blueberries are tiny and really are wild; having crept over Maine's rocky land naturally, creating hundreds of thousands of bushes. Indigenous Wild Blueberries now grow in fields and barrens that stretch from Downeast to the state's Southwest corner.
Adapted to Maine's naturally acid, low fertility soils and challenging winters, Wild Blueberries are a low input crop requiring minimal management. The berries are grown on a two-year cycle — each year, half of a grower's land is managed to encourage vegetative growth and the other half is prepared for a Wild Blueberry harvest in August.
Rich in Antioxidants
All it takes is a half-cup of Wild Blueberries to deliciously satisfy one of the recommended "five-a-day" servings of colorful fruits and vegetables. Some of the most powerful antioxidants are highly concentrated in the deep blue pigments of Wild Blueberries. What's more, Wild Blueberries contain more antioxidants than their cultivated cousins. Antioxidants are the "natural zappers" of free radicals; the unstable oxygen molecules associated with cancer, heart disease, and the effects of aging. USDA studies have measured the antioxidant activity of more than 40 fruits and vegetables and ranked blueberries #1.
Bar Harbor Jam Company
The Bar Harbor Jam Company was started in 1989, as a winter project at the Cottage Street Bakery in Bar Harbor, Maine. Since then the company has become famous for the way it’s been crafting its Maine Wild Blueberry Jam and preparing its Wild Blueberry Pies. Today, the company's kitchen is located on beautiful Mount Desert Island, Home of Acadia National Park and near the center of Wild Blueberry barrens.
The Bar Harbor Jam Company uses only the finest selection of 100% natural native berries to ensure the best possible taste. When you eat Bar Harbor Jam you come to know why Maine’s Wild Blueberries are so special. To these delicious indigenous berries, they add only the highest quality ingredients and mix them in small, hand-made batches to ensure their quality and to enhance their taste. There are no preservatives added.
The owners; Bob, Greg, Mike and Pat, along with Robin and the rest of the fine staff, are committed to delivering superior quality by continuing a great tradition of hand-making products from the finest ingredients. It’s all home-made right on Mount Desert Island!
To purchase some splendid products from the Bar Harbor Jam Company go to any of the following:
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Two national surveys indicate that most Americans "constantly" think about food production, yet have little connection to farming or ranching.
Yesterday, the findings of two national surveys about food and how it is grown and raised were released by the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). The surveys focused separately on the opinions, attitudes and questions consumers and farmers/ranchers have about the current and future state of how food is grown and raised in the U.S. Results reveal that lack of access to information, as well as no interest or passion for the topic, have divided consumer opinion on the direction of agriculture.
"Americans have a lot of questions about where their food comes from, how it is raised and if it is good for their health long-term," said Bob Stallman, chairman of USFRA and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. "The findings of both surveys indicate there is an opportunity for more dialogue between farmers, ranchers and the American public about how food is grown and raised in the U.S."
• While nearly all Americans agree that food production is important to the success of the country, they are split over whether it is going in the right or wrong direction
• Consumers think about food production constantly, yet know very little about how food is brought to the dinner table
• Overwhelmingly, farmers and ranchers share the same values as consumers on issues related to environmental stewardship and animal care
Additional Consumer Survey Highlights
The purpose of the consumer survey was to ask Americans what additional information they want to learn more about related to how food is grown and raised in the U.S. The survey revealed that consumers have become disconnected from their food, yet think about the subject regularly. According to the survey findings:
• 72% of consumers know nothing or very little about farming or ranching
• 69% of consumers think about food production at least somewhat often
• 70% say purchase decisions are affected by how food is grown and raised, with three-quarters (72%) of Americans saying they think about this topic while purchasing groceries
• 42% or two-in-five Americans say the way that food is grown and raised has improved in the last 10 years, while a slightly smaller group say it has worsened (37%)
• Those who say the way that food is grown and raised has improved cite food safety (22%) and food quality (17%), whereas respondents who said the way food is grown and raised has worsened also cite food safety (21%) and food quality (21%)
• Of all the aspects of how food is grown and raised, Americans are most satisfied with the availability of healthy foods (73%) and food safety standards (66%)
• One in five consumers who say food production has worsened in the last 10 years cite environmental impact as the top area of demise
• 79% of consumers say producing healthy choices for all consumers is very important for farmers and ranchers to consider when planning farming and ranching practices
Consumers also were asked to identify the Top 5 topics they want more information about; responses included:
1. How chemicals are used in farming/ranching
2. How pesticides are used in farming/ranching
3. Food safety standards
4. Effect of government regulations on farming/ranching
5. How antibiotics are used and genetic engineering in crops
Additional Farmer/Rancher Survey Highlights
The goal of the farmer/rancher survey was to identify topics that farmers and ranchers wished Americans had more information about when it comes to food and how it is grown and raised in the U.S. According to the survey, farmers and ranchers said the top misconception they need to overcome as an industry is that a few "bad actors" are representative of the entire industry. Additionally, farmers and ranchers identified the effect of pesticides, antibiotics and fertilizers on food as the most important priorities they should address when communicating with consumers. Additional findings included:
• 86% of farmers/ranchers responded that the average consumer has little to no knowledge about modern farming/ranching
• 58% of respondents in this survey felt consumers have a completely inaccurate perception of farming and ranching
• Nearly all farmers and ranchers say that protecting the environment (99%) and practicing humane animal care (96%) are very or somewhat important goals or practices related to their business
• 80% of farmers/ranchers say that consumers have little to no knowledge about proper care of livestock or poultry
• 83% of farmers/ranchers responded that new ways of improving yields with fewer environmental inputs will have a major impact on farming/ranching in the future
When asked which Top 5 topics were most important to educate consumers about, farmers and ranchers responded:
1. The effect of pesticides, fertilizers and antibiotics on food
2. Where food comes from in general
3. Proper care of livestock and poultry
4. Effect of government regulations on farming/ranching
5. Economic value of agriculture
"We want all Americans to join us to ask questions and regularly get information from farmers and ranchers who are growing and raising their food,” added Stallman.
About the Surveys
The 2011 USFRA Farmer/Rancher Survey was fielded by phone for USFRA by Ketchum Global Research Network and Braun Research between August 6-18, 2011, reaching 1,002 farmers and ranchers nationwide. The base sample has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. The 2011 USFRA Consumer Survey was fielded by phone for USFRA by Ketchum Global Research Network and Braun Research between August 24-31, 2011, reaching 2,417 consumers nationwide. The base sample has a margin of error of +/- 2.0%.
About U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance
U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), established in 2010 and headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo., currently represents more than 50 of the top farmer- and rancher-led organizations and agricultural partners. The Alliance includes prominent agricultural groups at the national, regional and state levels that have collaborated to lead the dialogue about their commitment to continuous improvement and best production practices. For more information on the Alliance, affiliates and partners and the movement to lead the conversation with Americans about today's agriculture, visit: http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Farmers-Ranchers-Alliance/103189669746931
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
In a previous post, we gave you a link to a shopper’s guide from Oceans Alive which helps you choose fish with the lowest amount of pollutants.
Now the Environmental Working Group has come out with a similar guide for produce buyers. This list will guide you to the fruits and vegetables that contain the lowest levels of pesticides and which ones you should buy organic.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Ever meet a serious person of science who didn’t believe that all the toxicity in our environment wasn’t directly related to our soaring cancer rates? Absolute causal links are hard to come by, but regular reports of toxic chemicals in the air, food, beverages, household and bodycare products should be enough to give pause about the dangers to the health of our families and loved ones.
If you’re worried, you’re far from alone. The Keep A Breast Foundation is conducting the Non Toxic Revolution campaign to inform and educate young people about the dangers of toxic chemicals in our environment and food supply and the link to breast cancer. The program focuses on prevention as a means to maintain long-term health and well-being by providing alternatives so that young people everywhere can make educated decisions.
Keep A Breast executive director Shaney jo Darden stated, “We are launching NTR because we care about people and their health. We want to provide people with information to empower their own lives, as well as to inspire them to empower their friends and family to do the same. We all have the right to safe products, healthy food and to live in a toxic free society.”
Keep A Breast has partnered with the design firm Studio Number One founded by artist Shepard Fairey, known for his widely recognizable and iconic Barack Obama “Hope” poster, to create a campaign that will encourage youth to embrace prevention as a deterrent to breast cancer and other diseases. NTR strives to enlighten youth about some of the common toxins that scientists and informed health advocates are advising the public to avoid. Keep A Breast believes the more this generation understands, the better choices they will make to stay healthy and cancer-free.
"I have been a supporter of The Keep A Breast Foundation for over 10 years,” stated Fairey. He went on to say:
When they asked me to be a part of their Non Toxic Revolution initiative, I jumped on the chance to help create images. Social causes and issues related to art is what drives the Obey Awareness projects, so a graphic program for Keep A Breast to raise awareness about toxic chemicals was a perfect fit. Breast cancer prevention is personal for me because I have lost two Aunts to breast cancer, and my Mother is a breast cancer survivor. I feel privileged to work with KAB and hope that the work my studio, Studio Number One, and I created can be helpful to this important cause.
The campaign includes information on how to make your environment non toxic by following ten simple rules for different aspects of your life including: Your House, Your Mouth, Your Body, Plastic Sucks, Heart and Soul and Your Pet. NTR breaks down scientific journals into easy to read and comprehend tips, as well as educate people on how they can get involved and petition for safer products and better legislation.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Vegetarian cooking is growing in popularity among people who are not purely vegetarian. Many Americans are looking to reap health benefits by cutting down on meats, while still enjoying delicious dishes. Below is a fun recipe for quesadillas prepared on the grill we got from our friends at the California Avocado Commission. It's a wonderfully healthy creation that delivers a terrific blend of flavors. We’ve found this dish goes beautifully with a good California Pinot Grigio.
Ingredients for 12 Servings
• 12 California avocados, halved
• Fresh lime or lemon juice (as needed)
• Olive oil (as needed)
• Salt (as needed)
• 1 ½ Cups manchego cheese, shredded finely
• 1 Cup panela cheese, grated
• ½ Cup cotija cheese, shredded finely
• Freshly ground black pepper (as needed)
• 12 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, cut into thin strips
• 12 Home-made flour tortillas, about 10 inches in diameter
• Unsalted butter (as needed)
• Salsa fresca (as needed)
Preparation
1. An hour or two before service: Cut each avocado half into 5 or 6 slices about 3/8-inch thick. Brush each slice on both sides with juice and oil; lightly sprinkle with salt. Grill, turning once, until lightly browned with grill marks; reserve.
2. Thoroughly mix cheeses; reserve. Per Serving:
1. Lay 1 tortilla on a work surface. Put ¼ cup cheese mixture on half the tortilla. On top of cheese evenly distribute ½ ounce poblano strips (about 8).
2. Top with 4 or 5 grilled avocado slices. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon salsa (optional); top with ¼ cup cheese mixture.
3. Brown quesadilla on medium heat in hot butter on both sides. Cover pan for a minute or so to finish melting cheese. Cut into 4 pieces.
4. Serve with ¼ cup salsa on the side.
Copyright Courtesy of California Avocado Commission
To purchase the manchego cheese that was the Gold Medalist at the 2005 World Cheese Awards in London and the First Place winner at the American Cheese Society in 2004 & 2005, go to: Solé GranQueso
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
With the news that 1,000 farmers markets have just been added to the USDA’s list we have to assume that there are many thousands of folks who will now have easy access to a local farmers matket for the first time.
Farmers markets are fun places to explore and it seems that every time we speak to a farmer we learn something new about our food. Some of the offerings at our local market have become must buys on each visitt, with those funny looking, but oh-so-delicious heirloom tomatoes taking center stage for us this time of year.
We want everyone to have as much fun as we do at our local farmers market, especially people new to the scene. We were very pleased when our friend Amelia Winslow sent us her tips for beginners. Here’s some of her advice for newcomers:
1. Stick with what you know. If you’re new to the market or to cooking, skip the exotic fruits & veggies and go for produce you’re familiar with. You’ll be much less overwhelmed if you focus on carrots and tomatoes rather than kholrabi & ramps (yes, those are real vegetables).
2. Limit the number of items you buy. It’s easy to go nuts when you see all this beautiful produce, but overbuying will lead to wasted food, wasted time thinking about what to do with the food, and of course wasted money. Instead, stick to 2-3 veggies and 2-3 fruits per week, plus one kind of fresh herb and one kind of citrus fruit to use for dressings and sauces.
3. Do some meal planning before you go. This isn’t always possible, but when you remember or have time, plan a couple of meals before you shop, so you can buy the specific produce you need to make those meals. I usually buy a few veggies I can use for salads and hot meals, plus a few veggies and fruits for snacking.
4. Prep produce when you get home. If you can’t do it right when you get home, plan a time within a day or so when you can wash and chop lettuce (here’s how I do it), wash and cut veggies for snacking, and wash some fruit (most fruits are better prepped right before eating, but you can always wash cherries & grapes, wash and slice strawberries, melons, & oranges). Having a fridge full of ready-to-go veggies and fruits makes it much more likely that you’ll reach for these healthy items when you’re hungry for a snack or ready to make a meal.
5. Keep it simple. No need to reach into the depths of your recipe collection or biggest cookbook to figure out what to make for dinner. During summer especially, produce is so good that it’s best eaten in it’s simplest form. Salads can simply be a platter of tomato chunks drizzled with olive oil or a bowl of sliced cucumbers with salt, lime juice, and hot sauce. Snacks can be melon wedges, snap peas with hummus, or berries topped with yogurt. For a main dish, toss pasta with fresh basil and cherry tomatoes (like in this recipe), or lightly saute greens to serve with fried eggs (like this). The great thing about summer is that good food is plentiful, and the time and effort needed to make something tasty is minimal.
Simple preparation of fresh, seasonal foods, who can argue with that?
Amelia Winslow
Amelia has a website that’s full of great info and recipes for thoughtful home cooks. To have a look, go to: Eating Made Easy
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
If more evidence was needed about the dangers of industrialized agriculture, with its densely packed animals and toxic waste, this week’s recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey by agribiusiness giant Cargill should satisfy the remaining skeptics. Ironically, for years many Americans, including yours truly, have purchased turkey burgers as a healthy choice for their families.
In light of the massive recall Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, released this statement:
Last night’s announcement by Cargill of a recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey products is just the latest example of why we need strong regulatory and public health programs in place to protect consumers.
People have been getting sick with Salmonella for several months, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments struggled to identify a likely source of the contamination. Budget cuts have hampered the ability of federal and state health agencies to effectively protect public health, and this outbreak and recall offer compelling proof that there are human costs to budget cuts to critical public health programs.
The illnesses that triggered this recall were caused by an antibiotic-resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg, which makes the illnesses more serious and harder to treat. This once again points to the public health crisis that is being caused by the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production.
Unfortunately, it’s not the first time that meat and poultry have been recalled because of contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and it’s not even the first time a Cargill meat plant has had this problem. Until the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production stops, consumers will be faced with the additional threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Because it covers several months of production at a very large plant, this recall covers a huge amount of product sold across the country, just the latest example of the tremendous impact that just one large plant can have on national public safety when something goes wrong.
As Congress gets ready to debate funding for federal agencies, this recall is a timely reminder of how vital public health programs like meat and poultry inspection and foodborne illness surveillance are to all of us.
To protect our families from the dangers of over centralized farmer we can make choices that make a difference. We can support local farmers by buying from them directly through community supported agriculture (CSAs) and at farmers markets, raise protein-rich beans in our gardens, and all the while spread the word that purchasing food from industrial farms comes at a price, one that can prove fatal.
About Food & Water Watch
The nonprofit organization works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, it helps people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Though millions of Americans find themselves in belt-tightening times, a new poll has found that most still buy organic foods whenever possible.
In a new survey conducted by Thomson Reuters and National Public Radio, 58% percent of Americans say they choose organic over conventional when they have the opportunity. In a sign that the preference for organics is a trend that is here to stay, 63% of respondents under the age of 35 prefer organic foods, as do 64% of those with a bachelor's degree or more.
Avoiding Toxins & Supporting Local Farms
Among those who prefer organic foods, 36% said they do so to support local farmer's markets and 34% said they wanted to avoid exposure to toxins in non-organic foods. Complete survey results are available here: http://www.factsforhealthcare.com/pressroom/NPR_report_OrganicFoods.pdf
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there were 6,132 farmers markets as of 2010, up from 1,755 in 1994.
"There appears to be a generational difference in preference for organic foods," said Raymond Fabius, M.D., chief medical officer at the healthcare business of Thomson Reuters. "The strong, positive sentiment among young people indicates they are more concerned with exposure to toxins and place a higher premium on supporting local markets. It stands to reason that, by expanding the network of farmer's markets, we could see a further groundswell around the support for organic foods."
Unique & Conscious Food Choice
"This month's poll gives us some insight into what is going through consumers' minds when they're making the choice of what they will feed themselves and their families," said Scott Hensley, NPR health correspondent and blogger. "We find it especially intriguing that a very small percentage of respondents are choosing organic foods based on taste. This makes organic vs. conventional a really unique case where food decisions are being made consciously by consumers."
The figures in the poll are based on 3,014 participants interviewed from May 2-13, 2011. The margin of error is 1.8%.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Wild Salmon Leaping Upstream (photo by Matthew G. Hull, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
As we know, there is tremendous pressure coming from Big Biotech to get genetically engineered (GE) salmon into America’s food supply. The industry may have millions to spend on public relations and campaign contributions, but science and a wary public are not on their side.
Right now there is legislation in the works that would prohibit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from spending funds to approve the controversial fish. Last month, the House of Congress passed such an amendment and members of the Senate have informed the FDA that they are moving forward with similar legislation.
The Senate stated in a letter that, "Given the strong and growing Congressional opposition to the approval of GE fish in both chambers, spending time on further review of genetically engineered fish would be a waste of taxpayer dollars".
Wenonah Hauter, executive director of consumer watchdog Food & Water Watch, has this to say:
"We're in the middle of an intense budget debate and we have to make some difficult decisions about where to spend federal dollars. The last thing the federal government should be doing is frivolously throwing taxpayer money at a corporate science experiment that could devastate both the public's health and the health of the environment."
New Study Cites GE Threat to Wild Atlantic Salmon
If genetically modified Atlantic salmon were to escape, they could succeed in breeding and passing their genes into the wild, researchers at Canada’s Memorial University of Newfoundland have found. Their research, just published in the journal Evolutionary Applications, explores the potential reproductive implications of genetically modified salmon as they are considered for commercial farming.
“The use of growth-enhancing, transgenic technologies has long been of interest to the aquaculture industry and now genetically modified Atlantic salmon is one of the first species to be considered for commercial farming,” said lead author Darek Moreau, a graduate student who co-wrote the paper along with Corinne Conway, a research assistant, and Dr. Ian Fleming, a professor, all with the Ocean Sciences Centre.
“Yet, little is known about the potential impact on wild salmon populations if the genetically modified species were to escape captivity.”
Trojan Gene Could Lead to Eventual Extinction
One of the key concerns about a transgene escape is the “Trojan gene effect,” caused when a genetically modified fish outcompetes or reproduces equally against wild rivals. If the resulting offspring are genetically inferior this could lead a species towards eventual extinction. Until now there has been no empirical research to demonstrate the ability of transgenic salmon to breed naturally and infiltrate the gene pool of wild Atlantic salmon.
To measure the ability of GE salmon to breed with Atlantic salmon in the wild, the team of researchers from Memorial University’s Ocean Sciences Centre monitored breeding behaviour in a naturalized laboratory setting and used genetic analysis to determine the success of competing individuals at producing offspring.
Wild Males are More Potent Breeders
The scientists found that migratory wild males outperformed their captivity-reared transgenic counterparts in terms of a variety of spawning behaviours, and despite being less aggressive, wild males also achieved higher overall fertilization success, but the threat from GE salmon remains.
“While the transgenic males displayed reduced breeding performance relative to their non-transgenic rivals they still demonstrated the ability to successfully participate in natural spawning events and thus have the potential to contribute modified genes to wild populations,” said Mr. Moreau.
Very Real Threat to Wild Gene Pool
While the study provides an estimate of breeding performance under only a single set of physical and demographic environmental conditions, it does mimic a likely invasion scenario where the genetic background of the transgenic population differs from that of the wild population.
“Our study provides the first empirical observations on the natural reproductive capacities of growth hormone transgenic Atlantic salmon,” concluded Mr. Moreau. “While the resulting ecological and genetic effects of a transgene escape remain uncertain, these data highlight the importance of preventing reproductively-viable genetically modified salmon from entering natural systems.”
To tell your elected representatives to prohibit funding for GE salmon, go to: Food & Water Watch
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Call for GMO-Free Labeling of Foods Whenever We Shop
Organic Farm (photo by Tana Butler, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
“If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.” – a Biotech Executive
For years American Feast has called for the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods because we believe consumers should be allowed a clear choice on the consumption of food we believe to be dangerous to human health and the environment.
The most prominent, nonprofit food safety organizations agree with us, as do many socially responsible businesses. We are not alone. Most Americans would like to know whether they are eating food from genetically modified organisms (GMO). A poll by CBS said that 87% of Americans want labeling and that 57% would not buy foods with GMO. More than 30 countries have mandatory labeling of GMO's, including all the European Union countries, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Of course, the Big Biotech industry, with many millions of dollars available for advertising, public relations, lobbying and campaign contributions, is fiercely opposed. As a president of a Monsanto subsidiary put it, “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.”
The Revolving Door
According to Andrew Kimbrell, director of the Center for Food Safety, there has been a revolving door between the biotech companies producing GMO food and the FDA, which approves these foods. In Kimbrell's book, “Your Right to Know, Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food”, he writes about how Michael Taylor went directly from working as an attorney on Monsanto's behalf to becoming the FDA's deputy commissioner for food policy. Under his watch, rBGH (a GMO growth hormone for cows) was approved and studies indicating that rBGH posed health risks were virtually ignored. Eventually, large companies, including Walmart, banned it from their own brands of milk.
There are dozens of other individuals like Taylor, that alternate working for biotech companies and holding high positions in the FDA and other federal agencies pushing through GMO products without thoroughly evaluating their health risks. These officials regularly ignore warnings from scientists within the FDA that caution about placing GMO foods in our food chain without more testing.
Has Big Biotech Made a Single Credible Claim for GMO Foods?
Over the years we have published articles supported by research from independent scientists around the world that have refuted virtually every claim Big Biotech has made about the benefits of genetically engineered crops and animals. GE crops do not increase farm yields and have been shown to decrease them. They are not known to be safe to eat. They have caused severe consequences to the health of animals tested. Yet the industry continues running a grand experiment on human beings, mostly unaware they are consuming GE foods.
Here's Our Solution
There is a short term alternative. Companies, especially food producers and food retailers, can make “GMO-Free” labels on products and store shelves pervasive in the marketplace. A similar strategy has already enjoyed success with “Hormone Free” labels on dairy products. It did take a costly legal battle pitted against Big Biotech for companies like Ben & Jerry’s to establish their right to labels their products as such. (Note: The hormone in question was recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone or rBGH, now easily avoided!)
It is way past time that consumers were given a clear choice on what they purchase to feed their families.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
As a lifetime New Yorker it’s always been a great comfort (and a tasty treat) to have some of the world’s cleanest and most flavorful water available straight from the tap. So it is absolutely mindboggling that a precious water supply could be fouled with toxic chemicals from deep drilling for gas, despite dire signs of the potential consequences.
For years there have been media reports from Pennsylvania to Texas of drinking water so tainted by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that folks are able to light the water from their kitchen tap on fire. There have been more than 300 instances of contaminated water in Colorado since 2003, and more than 700 instances in New Mexico, according to Bruce Baizel, senior staff attorney with Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project. In West Virginia a once lushly forested area has been transformed into a dead zone.
Fracking in Gasland
Film Director Josh Fox made the Sundance award-winning documentary “Gasland” after he was asked to lease his land for gas drilling. That led him to embark on a cross-country odyssey. As the show “Now” on PBS explained, his journey led to a film that “alleges chronic illness, animal-killing toxic waste, disastrous explosions, and regulatory missteps.” It will be broadcast on HBO through 2012. The DVD went on sale in December of 2010.
“Gasland” shows tap water being set ablaze and explores fracking, a technology developed by Halliburton. Millions of gallons water, chemicals and sand are injected into the ground under high pressure, cracking shale and tight rocks to allow gas to flow more freely from the well. It is a toxic mixture and believed to be the prime culprit in the pollution of groundwater in areas surrounding drilling sites. Even drinking water hundreds of miles from a well can be contaminated.
Hundreds of Thousands of New Wells Coming?
Residents of New York State are not alone in facing a future threat to the safety of their drinking water. According to an article published by ProPublica in December of 2009:
In the next 10 years, the United States will use the fracturing technology to drill hundreds of thousands of new wells astride cities, rivers and watersheds. Cash-strapped state governments are pining for the revenue and the much-needed jobs that drilling is expected to bring to poor, rural areas.
Rejection of Fracking Goes International
France became the first nation to ban the use of fracking on June 30th when French senators voted to ban the practice and revoke the fracking permits issued to oil and gas companies. French Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said hydraulic fracturing will be illegal and parliament would have to vote for a new law to allow research using the technique.
Back in the States, the New Jersey State Senate voted to ban the practice and North Carolina’s Governor Bev Perdue vetoed a state senate bill that would have allowed fracking in the state.
Jane Preyer, North Carolina’s director of the Environmental Defense Fund said, “The veto sends a clear signal to legislators that rolling back regulations that protect the state’s environment is not a viable business plan for economic recovery or the well being of North Carolina’s families.”
Think Global, Act Local
Though it is hard to believe that risking the health of millions in order to extract natural gas would even be considered, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo may lift a ban on fracking that took a great, popular effort to establish. The new guidelines will prohibit fracking in N.Y.S. parks and in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, but allow it in other communities!
New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, an opponent of fracking, said, “If hydrofracking is not safe in the New York City watershed it’s not safe in any watershed…There’s a tacit admission on the part of the Department of Environmental Conservation that it is not safe and yet it is being allowed.”
Keep Drinking Water Safe
Incredibly, a loophole exempts natural gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Drilling companies don’t even have to disclose the almost 600 chemicals that might be used in fracking and find their way into drinking water. Thankfully, our friends at Food & Water Watch have provided a way for concerned citizens to make their voices heard by contacting elected representatives.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Like a lot of Moms, mine had to live with a very finicky child when it came to food. Actually, “finicky” doesn’t begin to describe how fussy I was when it came to even trying something she had cooked for our family. Sorry about that Mom. If it’s any consolation your efforts were not in vain. I now enjoy cuisines from around the world.
Though it’s too late to spare my Mom the frustration I caused, I’d like to offer a little advice in her honor for all those Moms going through the same torment. It seems there are several known means for broadening the palates of pint-sized, picky eaters.
The Science Says It’s So
Getting school-age children to eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables is a daunting challenge for many American families. Having kids participate in the preparation of healthy dishes is often suggested as a way of getting them to eat more nutritious meals, and scientists with the Agricultural Research Service Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas have produced a study offering evidence that having kids participate in cooking really works.
"The researchers observed an average increase in consumption of one serving per day of fruit, 100-percent fruit juice, or vegetables, compared to the beginning of the study," according to an article published by the USDA.
The co-author of a study on the effects of cooking on children’s eating habits kids, Isobel Contento, professor of nutrition education at Columbia University’s Teachers College has come to the same conclusion. The New York Times cited this observation from her, “Kids don’t usually like radishes, but we found that if kids cut up radishes and put them in the salad, they love the radishes.”
Cook at Home for Good Health
Cooking shouldn’t be just another chore, like mopping floors. Preparing meals at home can be a fun way to bring family and friends together. One very nice thing about having friends and family gather for dinner is that you can socialize after the meal without having to leave a restaurant and make your way somewhere else.
Family at Dinner, ca. 1942 (photo by John Collier, courtesy of Library of Congress)
Then there are the health aspects. Cooking at home lets you choose ingredients that are full of nutrients and free of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones. Families who dine together suffer less obesity. But, eating isn’t only about getting the calories and nutrients you need to stay alive. Sharing an enjoyable meal together is a bonding experience that draws families and friends closer together. Serving great food to people you care about is a terrific way to lift your own spirits.
Gardening Together
Teaching middle school can be a real test of wills, but the Edible Schoolyard has been passing that test for years. It’s a cooking and gardening program wholly integrated into the school’s daily life. The organic garden is flourishing and the kitchen is filled with delicious smells, music, and enthusiastic young chefs.
Students work together to shape and plant beds, amend soil, turn compost, and harvest flowers, fruits, and vegetables. In the kitchen classroom, students prepare and eat delicious seasonal dishes from produce they have grown in the garden.
If your child’s school doesn’t have an Edible Garden perhaps it’s time for some parents to get together and lobby for one. (See below for more info on how to do just that.) In the meantime, a backyard garden at home or a community garden in close proximity will do nicely. If those are not possibilities, try finding a local farm with a pick-your-own program for a family outing.
Experiment with Recipes
You don’t have to be a gourmet chef to serve meals that will wow your guests, just keep it simple. Use fresh ingredients from a farmers market when you can’t grow your own. Good quality oils and vinegars will make those already flavorful veggies really sing. Look up some recipes and view them as guidelines rather than rigid commands to follow. Play around with the ingredients and spices. Eliminate or add some to create a dish that you find delicious and doesn’t devour a lot of time and money.
You can use tapenades as side dishes to add to the variety of flavors in a meal with little effort. Pick up a good chutney to make a plate of fresh bread and cheese more memorable. Smoked meats and game are full of flavor and can be simply warmed or served at room temperature. You’ll find that creating and plating a dish at least as satisfying as your last restaurant meal is no great challenge.
And cooking classes are not only a good place to pick up culinary tips, but it’s a lot of fun to mix with fellow home cooks.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
New Web Series Asks the Question: Is the Seafood Safe?
The Food Channel® (foodchannel.com) is releasing a WebTV video that takes a look at the future of seafood following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill which occurred a year ago, April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico. The crew shot in New Orleans, La., over a ten day period to catch up with what is happening.
“One of the goals of The Food Channel is to document what is happening in food,” said Kay Logsdon, editor of The Food Channel. “Obviously the story that has been unfolding over the past year in the Gulf has impact on the future of our seafood. We found out that the oyster is one of the most impacted products of the Gulf, and we wanted to bring that story to life.”
The program series, titled “Beneath the Surface: Gulf Seafood’s Fight for Survival,” is hosted by The Food Channel ’s Andy Ford, who spent time on the oyster boats, at the shucking house, and cooking with some of New Orleans’ finest chefs while researching the short-form series. “We uncovered a story of resiliency, combined with some of the creativity that is bringing the seafood back to the table,” said Ford. “We think it will give a different picture than a lot of the media coverage that focuses purely on the negative impact of the spill, and open people’s eyes to what the real impact is.”
The teaser is currently playing on foodchannel.com, with several segments set to air during the month of May. Additionally, features on some of the New Orleans’ restaurants, including recipes, will be available on the site.
About The Food Channel®
The Food Channel is a place for great food inspiration, the latest trends, the most compelling stories, and original perspective. This website offers insightful original content that is distributed to everywhere foodies interact with culinary creativity by influencing, contributing to, learning from, gaining inspiration through, and being a part of the experience around great food. For more information, visit foodchannel.com . Follow The Food Channel on Twitter at twitter.com/foodchannel or twitter.com/aford, or on Facebook at facebook.com/FoodChannel .
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
U.S. Government Poster from World War II (courtesy of Library of Congress)
Could a quick history lesson lead to a better future?
During World War II Americans lived with rations of such necessities as tires, gasoline, sugar, and other foodstuffs. The US government encouraged ordinary people to create Victory Gardens; small plots of fruits and vegetables to stave off food shortages so more mass-produced food could be sent to feed the troops.
The people responded. Two million Americans created Victory Gardens in their backyards or communities. According to author Michael Pollan, "...during World War II, Victory Gardens supplied as much as 40% of the produce Americans ate."
A Social Phenomenon
Victory Gardens were more than a war time activity, they were a social phenomenon. Schools and families planted Victory Gardens together, often on communal land. Families caught up on news as they planted and harvested. Nutrition information was widely disseminated to help home cooks create balanced meals for their families. Our current obesity epidemic must have been unimaginable to those gardeners.
Today there are many gardens that are very much like the Victory Gardens of old. In backyards across America folks are growing their own produce, spices and herbs. They harvest fruits and vegetables that have been raised without pesticides and enjoy them when they are at the peak of their freshness and nutritional value. Adding home-grown fare to the fresh produce from a local farm stand or a farmers market gives gardeners the best of both worlds.
Community Gardens
If you’d like to try your hand at growing some food of your own but don’t have your own backyard, you can join a community garden. In 2004, the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) estimated that there were already 18,000 community gardens across the USA and Canada. Urban community gardens can be found from South Central Los Angeles to the Bronx in New York City. If there’s no community garden near your home, think about organizing your neighbors to get one started.
Funded by federal grants, GreenThumb has been a program of the NYC Parks Department since 1995. The nonprofit organization has over 600 member gardens serving 20,000 city residents. New York University released a study of the effect of community gardens on nearby property values. The study of 636 community gardens in NYC showed a positive effect on sales prices of residential properties within a 1,000-foot radius of a community garden when compared to properties outside the 1,000-foot ring, but still in the same neighborhood. The effect was significant and increasing over time. The tax benefit to the city over a 20-year period was estimated at $647 million dollars or $1 million per garden. Who knows how much might be saved on medical costs by the healthier diet the gardens make possible.
Not all benefits are measured in dollars. Here’s what Karen Washington from the Garden of Hope in the Bronx had to say about her experience:
To grow your own food gives you a sort of power and it gives people dignity. You know exactly what you’re eating because you grew it. It’s good, it’s nourishing and you did this for yourself, your family and your community.
Victory Gardens could bring down the cost of food for American families and make organic poroduce more widely available. We could reduce America’s reliance on oil simply by keeping vegetable gardens and cutting down on the amount of food that has to be transported by truck. Victory Gardens would reduce the need for petroleum-based fertilizers on giant corporate farms. If you’re unhappy about where all the money Americans spend on oil and gasoline is going, then spread the word: Bring Back the Victory Gardens!
If you'd like to start a garden in your community or your backyard here's some info that should help:
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
"We believe all food can be produced safely, including raw milk." - Tim Wrightman
A state assembly panel recently approved a measure sponsored by Assemblywoman Connie Wagner to aid New Jersey farmers by allowing them to sell raw milk. The neighboring states of Pennsylvania and New York already allow the sale of raw milk.
Many medical professionals and nutritionists have concluded that raw milk from grass-fed cows is more nutrient dense than conventionally produced milk, while foodies around the world have long appreciated the rich flavor of artisanal cheeses crafted with raw milk.
Family Farms Face Unhealthy Competition
A previous post on American Feast's Sustainable Food Blog explained further about what is at stake:
Family-scale dairy farms feeding free-roaming cows on healthy grass face tough competition from concentrated animal feeding operations. The densely penned cows at CAFOs are sickened from being fed the abundance of corn grown with massive government subsidies, posing a very real threat to human health. Cow droppings make good fertilizer on small farms, but at CAFOs the immense amount of waste is a toxic threat to the health of people and the environment.
Of course, people around the globe have been safely consuming raw milk and handcrafted cheeses for thousands of years.
According to the nonprofit Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund:
The bill (A-743) would create a permit program through the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to allow for the sale of raw milk in New Jersey. The legislation would require the testing of cows intended to be used for the production of raw milk, with ongoing testing as necessary. The permit holder would also be required to conduct tests to measure the levels of certain bacteria and pathogens in the raw milk produced. The bill also stipulates that no growth hormones can be used in the process of producing raw milk.
Safe & Nutritious
Food safety and optimal nutrition aren’t mutually exclusive goals according to organic farming legend, Tim Wightman. A farming expert of 35 years, Wightman teaches dairy farmers to reach well beyond conventional food safety goals. He mentors farmers in low-tech yet high quality approaches to production of intrinsically safe and optimally nutritious raw milk.
A modern pioneer of the cowshare/herdshare concept, Mr. Wightman now serves as president of the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation. The educational nonprofit aims to equip farmers and consumers with safety advice on raw dairy products via conferences, tele-seminars and printed materials.
Free Handbook & DVD Now Available Online
The Foundation now provides two of Mr. Wightman's educational tools to the public free of charge. These free resources include online copies of Raw Milk Production Handbook and a micro dairy farm educational DVD, Chore Time. Both are available at: Farm to Consumer Foundation
"We believe all food can be produced safely, including raw milk," says Mr. Wightman.
"These materials are the starting point for a collaborative effort to develop 'best practices' to guide dairy farms working to meet the rising demand for raw milk from pasture-raised cows, whether the legal framework is loose (as with voluntary farm-to-consumer standards for cow shares) or more formal (as with larger scale retail sales)."
Steve Bemis, attorney and Farm-to-Consumer Foundation board member, asserts that these free resources are an important step in building a working relationship on raw dairy safety issues.
Mr. Bemis explains, "In many cases, academic and government entities will not (for policy and ethical reasons) link to resources that are for sale; so, by providing these 'freeware' resources, we hope to encourage links from others' websites, and thereby engage a broader audience.”
There are currently 15 states that allow farmers to sell raw milk directly to consumers, while 10 states allow the sale of raw milk in retail stores.
About Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is a 501 (c) (4) non-profit organization made up of farmers and consumers joining together and pooling resources to:
• Protect the constitutional right of the nation’s family farms to provide processed and unprocessed farm foods directly to consumers through any legal means.
• Protect the constitutional right of consumers to obtain unprocessed and processed farm foods directly from family farms.
• Protect the nation’s family farms from harassment by federal, state, and local government interference with food production and on-farm food processing.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
It is Time to Retire Ronald McDonald for the Sake of Kids
Beach Fun (photo by Nesstor4u2, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
“For nearly 50 years, McDonald’s has pumped billions into marketing campaigns targeting our kids – with devastating effects on children’s health.”
Save for Santa Claus, no icon is more recognized by our children than Ronald McDonald. This wouldn’t be so bad if he were bringing them gifts – but in reality he’s hooking them on unhealthy food for a lifetime.
As Judy Grant of Corporate Accountability International once put it, “Just as Joe Camel lured a generation of kids to cigarettes, Ronald McDonald is luring the next to meals that are unhappily high in salt, sugar, and fat.”
Local Action
Last week, local parents and health professionals took concerns about increasing rates of childhood diet related disease and junk food marketing to kids directly to James Lewis, owner of 14 McDonald’s franchises in the New York area.
Area residents delivered over 300 petition signatures at a local McDonald’s, calling on Lewis, given his influence within the corporation, to bring local concerns to McDonald’s executives.
“For nearly 50 years, McDonald’s has pumped billions into marketing campaigns targeting our kids – with devastating effects on children’s health,” said Organizer Jeff Gang of Corporate Accountability International.
“Franchise owners like James Lewis have a critical role to play in compelling the burger giant to stop the predatory marketing of junk food to our kids. Ronald deserves a break...and so do we!”
National in Scope
Similar events are occurring in Portland, OR, Burlington, VT, and Portsmouth, NH, directed at other franchise owners. The events come on the heels of the 2010 launch of Corporate Accountability International’s national Retire Ronald initiative that has helped reduce the hamburger-happy clown’s prominence in McDonald’s advertising campaigns.
Recent grassroots efforts have also helped set nutritional standards for toy giveaways in kids’ meals in San Francisco.
Junk Food Marketing is Hurting Our Kids
But McDonald’s and its competitors are continuing to find new and innovative means of hooking kids on unhealthy food, like tobacco marketers before them. The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity recently found that preschoolers and children viewed more McDonald’s television junk food marketing in 2009 than in 2007.
“As an expert, I have no doubt: aggressive junk food marketing to children should be stopped,” said Dr. Dyan Hes of Park Slope Pediatrics. She continued:
The industry knows that this marketing works. Health professionals like myself deal with the consequences of the marketing every day. Children are getting sick with diet-related conditions like diabetes at younger and younger ages. It breaks your heart and it's time for the industry leader to do its part.
Updated USDA guidelines, released this week, call the obesity epidemic "the greatest threat to public health in this century" and link fast food consumption with increased risk of obesity. Studies from a wide range of authorities including the Institutes of Medicine and the National Bureau of Economic Research have found that reducing junk food marketing to kids can have profound impacts on children’s health.
McDonald’s own voluntary marketing code, while ineffectual, also acknowledges the correlation between junk food marketing and children’s health and the need to change course.
What remains is for McDonald’s executives to act.
“As an owner of local stores, James Lewis interacts with parents and children in this community. He sees and understands the consequences of ad campaigns directed at children in ways McDonald’s executives don’t always,” said Nadine Hajjar, a local mother of two. “Today we’re encouraging James Lewis to work with us to be an advocate for local children by taking our concerns to Oak Brook.”
About Corporate Accountability International
For more than 30 years, Corporate Accountability International (formerly INFACT) has run hard-hitting and highly effective campaigns to save lives, protect public health, and preserve the environment. Its campaigns have compelled dramatic changes in corporate conduct, from curbing the life-threatening marketing of infant formula in the developing world to securing strong new global protections against the marketing of tobacco products to children.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
There’s ample evidence that the food with the best flavor and greatest nutritional value is that which is sustainably produced, as great chefs and dedicated foodies alike can attest. Heirloom tomatoes provide a good illustration, as anyone who has had the pleasure of enjoying them well knows. By comparison, their conventionally-produced, red cousins offer little to please the palate.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have come up with evidence that the tangerine tomato, a sweet-flavored heirloom variety, might be a better source of a powerful antioxidant called lycopene. So says chemist Betty J. Burri, based at the Agricultural Research Service Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California.
The study conducted by Ms. Burri and her colleagues supports the findings of an earlier study conducted by scientists in Ohio who found the tangerine tomato's tetra-cis-lycopene is more efficiently absorbed by the body than is the trans-lycopene of red tomatoes. The trans-lycopene form makes up most of the lycopene in common red tomatoes, while most of the lycopene in tangerine tomatoes is tetra-cis-lycopene.
As for flavor, the Sustainable Seed Company website says, “Tangerine is a bright orange beefsteak tomato that makes an excellent slicer. Its sweet, complex flavor is highly sought after in farmers markets.”
The 1932 Burpee Seed Company says, “The flavor is delightful-rich and tasty, of a sub-acid piquancy that stimulates the appetite. The (indeterminate) vines make abundant growth."
If you’d like to add tangerine tomatoes to your garden’s mix, you can purchase seeds from the Sustainable Seed Company, just go to: Tangerine Tomato Seeds
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
It’s easy to think of farmers markets as a warm weather experience, especially in frigid winter climes, but change is clearly afoot. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Farmers Market Directory now lists 898 winter farmers markets across the country - more than 14% of the nation’s farmers markets – offering consumers more opportunity than ever to access locally grown food.
“Fresh, local, and healthful food isn’t just a good weather offering,” said David Shipman, Acting Administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. “Clearly in many places, winter markets are hot despite the cold weather. Even in states where the traditional growing season is short, the market season is long. This allows more small and local farmers to continue bringing in income for their families and their businesses, while also providing great, nutritious food to communities year round.”
Farmers markets are considered winter farmers markets if they operate between November and March. The top 11 states for these markets are: New York (153), California (140), North Carolina (53), Florida (45), Pennsylvania (42), Ohio (34), Massachusetts (32), Kentucky (30), New Jersey (24), Connecticut (20), and Michigan (20).
Since 2009, winter markets have grown 17%. Farmers markets operating more than seven months per year have higher monthly sales than their strictly seasonal counterparts.
In August of 2010, the USDA’s National Farmers Market Directory listed 6,132 operating farmers markets overall, a 16% rise from 2009. The National Farmers Market Directory has been collecting self-reported information about farmers markets since 1994.
Winter farmers markets feature local products, including seasonal produce, honey, herbs and baked goods. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other federal nutrition benefit programs are often accepted.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
"The herbicide doesn’t destroy plants directly. It rather cooks up a unique perfect storm of conditions that revs up disease-causing organisms in the soil, and at the same time wipes out plant defenses against those diseases."
While visiting a seed corn dealer’s demonstration plots in Iowa last fall, Dr. Don Huber walked passed a soybean field and noticed a distinct line separating severely diseased yellowing soybeans on the right from healthy green plants on the left (see photo below). The yellow section was suffering from Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a serious plant disease that ravaged the Midwest in 2009 and ’10, driving down yields and profits. Something had caused that area of soybeans to be highly susceptible and Don had a good idea what it was.
The diseased field on the right had glyphosate
applied the previous season. Photo by Don Huber
Don Huber spent 35 years as a plant pathologist at Purdue University and knows a lot about what causes green plants to turn yellow and die prematurely. He asked the seed dealer why the SDS was so severe in the one area of the field and not the other. “Did you plant something there last year that wasn’t planted in the rest of the field?” he asked. Sure enough, precisely where the severe SDS was, the dealer had grown alfalfa, which he later killed off at the end of the season by spraying a glyphosate-based herbicide (such as Roundup). The healthy part of the field, on the other hand, had been planted to sweet corn and hadn’t received glyphosate.
This was yet another confirmation that Roundup was triggering SDS. In many fields, the evidence is even more obvious. The disease was most severe at the ends of rows where the herbicide applicator looped back to make another pass (see photo below). That’s where extra Roundup was applied.
Sudden Death Syndrome is more severe at
the ends of rows, where Roundup dose
is strongest. Photo by Amy Bandy.
Don’s a scientist; it takes more than a few photos for him to draw conclusions. But Don’s got more—lots more. For over 20 years, Don studied Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate. He’s one of the world’s experts. And he can rattle off study after study that eliminate any doubt that glyphosate is contributing not only to the huge increase in SDS, but to the outbreak of numerous other diseases. (See selected reading list.)
Roundup: The Perfect Storm for Plant Disease
More than 30% of all herbicides sprayed anywhere contain glyphosate—the world’s bestselling weed killer. It was patented by Monsanto for use in their Roundup brand, which became more popular when they introduced “Roundup Ready” crops starting in 1996. These genetically modified (GM) plants, which now include soy, corn, cotton, canola, and sugar beets, have inserted genetic material from viruses and bacteria that allows the crops to withstand applications of normally deadly Roundup.
(Monsanto requires farmers who buy Roundup Ready seeds to only use the company’s Roundup brand of glyphosate. This has extended the company’s grip on the glyphosate market, even after its patent expired in 2000.)
The herbicide doesn’t destroy plants directly. It rather cooks up a unique perfect storm of conditions that revs up disease-causing organisms in the soil, and at the same time wipes out plant defenses against those diseases. The mechanisms are well-documented but rarely cited.
The glyphosate molecule grabs vital nutrients and doesn’t let them go. This process is called chelation and was actually the original property for which glyphosate was patented in 1964. It was only 10 years later that it was patented as an herbicide. When applied to crops, it deprives them of vital minerals necessary for healthy plant function—especially for resisting serious soilborne diseases. The importance of minerals for protecting against disease is well established. In fact, mineral availability was the single most important measurement used by several famous plant breeders to identify disease-resistant varieties.
Glyphosate annihilates beneficial soil organisms, such as Pseudomonas and Bacillus bacteria that live around the roots. Since they facilitate the uptake of plant nutrients and suppress disease-causing organisms, their untimely deaths means the plant gets even weaker and the pathogens even stronger.
The herbicide can interfere with photosynthesis, reduce water use efficiency, lower lignin, damage and shorten root systems, cause plants to release important sugars, and change soil pH—all of which can negatively affect crop health.
Glyphosate itself is slightly toxic to plants. It also breaks down slowly in soil to form another chemical called AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid) which is also toxic. But even the combined toxic effects of glyphosate and AMPA are not sufficient on their own to kill plants. It has been demonstrated numerous times since 1984 that when glyphosate is applied in sterile soil, the plant may be slightly stunted, but it isn’t killed (see photo below).
Glyphosate with sterile soil (A) only stunts plant growth.
In normal soil (B), pathogens kill the plant. Control (C)
shows normal growth.
The actual plant assassins, according to Purdue weed scientists and others, are severe disease-causing organisms present in almost all soils. Glyphosate dramatically promotes these, which in turn overrun the weakened crops with deadly infections.
“This is the herbicidal mode of action of glyphosate,” says Don. “It increases susceptibility to disease, suppresses natural disease controls such as beneficial organisms, and promotes virulence of soilborne pathogens at the same time.” In fact, he points out that “If you apply certain fungicides to weeds, it destroys the herbicidal activity of glyphosate!”
By weakening plants and promoting disease, glyphosate opens the door for lots of problems in the field. According to Don, “There are more than 40 diseases of crop plants that are reported to increase with the use of glyphosate, and that number keeps growing as people recognize the association between glyphosate and disease.”
Roundup Promotes Human & Animal Toxins
Some of the fungi promoted by glyphosate produce dangerous toxins that can end up in food and feed. Sudden Death Syndrome, for example, is caused by the Fusarium fungus. USDA scientist Robert Kremer found a 500% increase in Fusarium root infection of Roundup Ready soybeans when glyphosate is applied. Corn, wheat, and many other plants can also suffer from serious Fusarium-based diseases.
But Fusarium’s wrath is not limited to plants. According to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, toxins from Fusarium on various types of food crops have been associated with disease outbreaks throughout history. They’ve “been linked to the plague epidemics” of medieval Europe, “large-scale human toxicosis in Eastern Europe,” oesophageal cancer in southern Africa and parts of China, joint diseases in Asia and southern Africa, and a blood disorder in Russia. Fusarium toxins have also been shown to cause animal diseases and induce infertility.
As Roundup Use Rises, Plant Disease Skyrockets
When Roundup Ready crops were introduced in 1996, Monsanto boldly claimed that herbicide use would drop as a result. It did—slightly—for three years. But over the next 10 years, it grew considerably. Total herbicide use in the US jumped by a whopping 383 million pounds in the 13 years after GMOs came on the scene. The greatest contributor is Roundup.
Over time, many types of weeds that would once keel over with just a tiny dose of Roundup now require heavier and heavier applications. Some are nearly invincible. In reality, these super-weeds are resistant not to the glyphosate itself, but to the soilborne pathogens that normally do the killing in Roundup sprayed fields.
Having hundreds of thousands of acres infested with weeds that resist plant disease and weed killer has been devastating to many US farmers, whose first response is to pour on more and more Roundup. Its use is now accelerating. Nearly half of the huge 13-year increase in herbicide use took place in just the last 2 years. This has serious implications.
As US farmers drench more than 135 million acres of Roundup Ready crops with Roundup, plant diseases are enjoying an unprecedented explosion across America’s most productive crop lands. Don rattles off a lengthy list of diseases that were once under effective management and control, but are now creating severe hardship. (The list includes SDS and Corynespora root rot of soybeans, citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), Fusarium wilt of cotton, Verticillium wilt of potato, take-all root, crown, and stem blight of cereals, Fusarium root and crown rot, Fusarium head blight, Pythium root rot and damping off, Goss’ wilt of corn, and many more.)
In Brazil, the new “Mad Soy Disease” is ravaging huge tracts of soybean acreage. Although scientists have not yet determined its cause, Don points out that various symptoms resemble a rice disease (bakanae) which is caused by Fusarium.
Corn Dies Young
In recent years, corn plants and entire fields in the Midwest have been dying earlier and earlier due to various diseases. Seasoned and observant farmers say they’re never seen anything like it.
“A decade ago, corn plants remained green and healthy well into September,” says Bob Streit, an agronomist in Iowa. “But over the last three years, diseases have turned the plants yellow, then brown, about 8 to 10 days earlier each season. In 2010, yellowing started around July 7th and yield losses were devastating for many growers.”
Bob and other crop experts believe that the increased use of glyphosate is the primary contributor to this disease trend. It has already reduced corn yields significantly. “If the corn dies much earlier,” says Bob, “it might collapse the corn harvest in the US, and threaten the food chain that it supports.”
A Question of Bugs
In addition to promoting plant diseases, which is well-established, spraying Roundup might also promote insects. That’s because many bugs seek sick plants. Scientists point out that healthy plants produce nutrients in a form that many insects cannot assimilate. Thus, farmers around the world report less insect problems among high quality, nutrient-dense crops. Weaker plants, on the other hand, create insect smorgasbords. This suggests that plants ravaged with diseases promoted by glyphosate may also attract more insects, which in turn will increase the use of toxic pesticides. More study is needed to confirm this.
Roundup Persists in the Environment
Monsanto used to boast that Roundup is biodegradable, claiming that it breaks down quickly in the soil. But courts in the US and Europe disagreed and found them guilty of false advertising. In fact, Monsanto’s own test data revealed that only 2% of the product broke down after 28 days.
Whether glyphosate degrades in weeks, months, or years varies widely due to factors in the soil, including pH, clay , types of minerals, residues from Roundup Ready crops, and the presence of the specialized enzymes needed to break down the herbicide molecule. In some conditions, glyphosate can grab hold of soil nutrients and remain stable for long periods. One study showed that it took up to 22 years for glyphosate to degrade only half its volume! So much for trusting Monsanto’s product claims.
Glyphosate can attack from above and below. It can drift over from a neighbors farm and wreak havoc. And it can even be released from dying weeds, travel through the soil, and then be taken up by healthy crops.
The amount of glyphosate that can cause damage is tiny. European scientists demonstrated that less than half an ounce per acre inhibits the ability of plants to take up and transport essential micronutrients.
As a result, more and more farmers are finding that crops planted in years after Roundup is applied suffer from weakened defenses and increased soilborne diseases. The situation is getting worse for many reasons.
• The glyphosate concentration in the soil builds up season after season with each subsequent application.
• Glyphosate can also accumulate for 6-8 years inside perennial plants like alfalfa, which get sprayed over and over.
• Glyphosate residues in the soil that become bound and immobilized can be reactivated by the application of phosphate fertilizers or through other methods. Potato growers in the West and Midwest, for example, have experienced severe losses from glyphosate that has been reactivated.
• Glyphosate can find its way onto farmland accidentally, through drifting spray, in contaminated water, and even through chicken manure!
Imagine the shock of farmers who spread chicken manure in their fields to add nutrients, but instead found that the glyphosate in the manure tied up nutrients in the soil, promoted plant disease, and killed off weeds or crops. Test results of the manure showed glyphosate/AMPA concentrations at a whopping 0.36-0.75 parts per million (ppm). The normal herbicidal rate of glyphosate is about 0.5 ppm/acre.
Manure from other animals may also be spreading the herbicide, since US livestock consume copious amounts of glyphosate—which accumulates in corn kernels and soybeans. If it isn’t found in livestock manure (or urine), that may be even worse. If glyphosate is not exiting the animal, it must be accumulating with every meal, ending up in our meat and possibly milk.
Add this threat to the already high glyphosate residues inside our own diets due to corn and soybeans, and we have yet another serious problem threatening our health. Glyphosate has been linked to sterility, hormone disruption, abnormal and lower sperm counts, miscarriages, placental cell death, birth defects, and cancer, to name a few. (See resource list on glyphosate health effects.)
Nutrient Loss in Humans & Animals
The same nutrients that glyphosate chelates and deprives plants are also vital for human and animal health. These include iron, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium, calcium, boron, and others. Deficiencies of these elements in our diets, alone or in combination, are known to interfere with vital enzyme systems and cause a long list of disorders and diseases.
Alzheimer’s, for example, is linked with reduced copper and magnesium. Don Huber points out that this disease has jumped 9000% since 1990.
Manganese, zinc, and copper are also vital for proper functioning of the SOD (superoxide dismustase) cycle. This is key for stemming inflammation and is an important component in detoxifying unwanted chemical compounds in humans and animals.
Glyphosate-induced mineral deficiencies can easily go unidentified and untreated. Even when laboratory tests are done, they can sometimes detect adequate mineral levels, but miss the fact that glyphosate has already rendered them unusable.
Glyphosate can tie up minerals for years and years, essentially removing them from the pool of nutrients available for plants, animals, and humans. If we combine the more than 135 million pounds of glyphosate-based herbicides applied in the US in 2010 with total applications over the past 30 years, we may have already eliminated millions of pounds of nutrients from our food supply.
This loss is something we simply can’t afford. We’re already suffering from progressive nutrient deprivation even without Roundup. In a UK study, for example, they found between 16-76% less nutrients in 1991, compared to levels in the same foods in 1940.
Livestock Disease & Mineral Deficiency
Roundup Ready crops dominate US livestock feed. Soy and corn are most prevalent—93% of US soy and nearly 70% of corn are Roundup Ready. Animals are also fed derivatives of the other three Roundup Ready crops: canola, sugar beets, and cottonseed. Nutrient loss from glyphosate can therefore be severe.
This is especially true for manganese (Mn), which is not only chelated by glyphosate, but also reduced in Roundup Ready plants . One veterinarian finds low manganese in every livestock liver he measures. Another vet sent the liver of a stillborn calf out for testing. The lab report stated: No Detectible Levels of Manganese—in spite of the fact that the mineral was in adequate concentrations in his region. When that vet started adding manganese to the feed of a herd, disease rates dropped from a staggering 20% to less than ½%.
Veterinarians who started their practice after GMOs were introduced in 1996 might assume that many chronic or acute animal disorders are common and to be expected. But several older vets have stated flat out that animals have gotten much sicker since GMOs came on the scene. And when they switch livestock from GMO to non-GMO feed, the improvement in health is dramatic. Unfortunately, no one is tracking this, nor is anyone looking at the impacts of consuming milk and meat from GM-fed animals.
Alfalfa Madness, Brought to You by Monsanto and the USDA
As we continue to drench our fields with Roundup, the perfect storm gets bigger and bigger. Don asks the sobering question: “How much of the hundreds of millions of pounds of glyphosate that have been applied to our most productive farm soils over the past 30 years is still available to damage subsequent crops through its effects on nutrient availability, increased disease, or reduced nutrient of our food and feed?”
Instead of taking urgent steps to protect our land and food, the USDA just made plans to make things worse. In December they released their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Roundup Ready alfalfa, which Monsanto hopes to reintroduce to the market.
Alfalfa is the fourth largest crop in the US, grown on 22 million acres. It is used primarily as a high protein source to feed dairy cattle and other ruminant animals. At present, weeds are not a big deal for alfalfa. Only 7% of alfalfa acreage is ever sprayed with an herbicide of any kind. If Roundup Ready alfalfa is approved, however, herbicide use would jump to unprecedented levels, and the weed killer of choice would of course be Roundup.
Even without the application of glyphosate, the nutritional quality of Roundup Ready alfalfa will be less, since Roundup Ready crops, by their nature, have reduced mineral . When glyphosate is applied, nutrient quality suffers even more.
The chance that Roundup would increase soilborne diseases in alfalfa fields is a near certainty. In fact, Alfalfa may suffer more than other Roundup Ready crops. As a perennial, it can accumulate Roundup year after year. It is a deep-rooted plant, and glyphosate leaches into sub soils. And “Fusarium is a very serious pathogen of alfalfa,” says Don. “So too are Phytophthora and Pythium,” both of which are promoted by glyphosate. “Why would you even consider jeopardizing the productivity and nutrient quality of the third most valuable crop in the US?” he asks in frustration, “especially since we have no way of removing the gene once it is spread throughout the alfalfa gene pool.”
It’s already spreading. Monsanto had marketed Roundup Ready alfalfa for a year, until a federal court declared its approval to be illegal in 2007. They demanded that the USDA produce an EIS in order to account for possible environmental damage. But even with the seeds taken off the market, the RR alfalfa that had already been planted has been contaminating non-GMO varieties. Cal/West Seeds, for example, discovered that more than 12% of their seed lots tested positive for contamination in 2009, up from 3% in 2008.
In their EIS, the USDA does acknowledge that genetically modified alfalfa can contaminate organic and non-GMO alfalfa, and that this could create economic hardship. They are even considering the unprecedented step of placing restrictions on RR alfalfa seed fields, requiring isolation distances. Experience suggests that this will slow down, but not eliminate GMO contamination. Furthermore, studies confirm that genes do transfer from GM crops into soil and soil organisms, and can jump into fungus through cuts on the surface of GM plants. But the EIS does not adequately address these threats and their implications.
Instead, the USDA largely marches lock-step with the biotech industry and turns a blind eye to the widespread harm that Roundup is already inflicting. If they decide to approve Monsanto’s alfalfa, the USDA may ultimately be blamed for a catastrophe of epic proportions.
Please send a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, urging him not to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, and to fully investigate the damage that Roundup and GMOs are already inflicting: Stop Roundup Ready Alfalfa
International bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey Smith is the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods. His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the world’s bestselling and #1 rated book on the topic. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, provides overwhelming evidence that GMOs are unsafe and should never have been introduced. Mr. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, whose Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to create the tipping point of consumer rejection of GMOs, forcing them out of our food supply.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Grazing with Mom (photo by Emily Roesly, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
“Burrowing out of the recession, hungry consumers will be exploring more exotic territory in the quest for unique flavors and nourishing foods in 2011.” So writes the Center for Culinary Development (CCD), which will be profiling food and beverage trends it expects to be buzz-generating in its 2011 issues of the bi-monthly Culinary Trend Mapping Report.
CCD employs a signature 5-stage Trend Mapping® technique -- where Stage 1 trends are emerging from independent restaurants and Stage 5's have landed in the mainstream. We couldn’t help but notice that among the spotted trends, Grass-fed Dairy was designated Stage 3, indicating to us that huge numbers of consumers are well ahead of government regulators on the health and flavor benefits of products made from raw milk, free of artificial hormones and containing higher levels of healthful fatty acids.
According to CCD, “…products made from grass-fed dairy appeal to both health-focused consumers and those seeking more natural, traditional and authentic foodstuffs.” That observation is certainly in line with the enthusiastic response we have seen to America’s artisanal cheeses crafted from raw milk produced by grass-fed cows.
A previous post on American Feast's Sustainable Food Blog explained further about what is at stake:
Family-scale dairy farms feeding free-roaming cows on healthy grass face tough competition from concentrated animal feeding operations. The densely penned cows at CAFOs are sickened from being fed the abundance of corn grown with massive government subsidies, posing a very real threat to human health. Cow droppings make good fertilizer on small farms, but at CAFOs the immense amount of waste is a toxic threat to the health of people and the environment.
Of course, people around the globe have been safely consuming raw milk and cheeses for thousands of years.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Determined to keep your New Year's resolution to eat healthy in 2011? We hope you do, but we know it's not going to be easy. We're told that only 71% of people who make New Year’s resolutions maintain them past two weeks. And coming off the holiday season when many of us indulged in an abundance of finger foods and delicious desserts certainly adds to the challenge.
To help, we are passing on some advice from Oz Garcia, PhD, a nutritionist with a stellar client list that includes Hilary Swank, Kim Cattrall, Heidi Klum, Naomi Campbell, Winona Ryder and Veronica Webb. He offers these easy-to-attain resolutions for 2011:
• Purchase a new healthy cookbook: Tired of whipping up the same old recipes week after week? Buy a new healthy cookbook and pick a different dish to try each week. You’ll be cooking up new favorites in no time.
• Keep fresh food in your refrigerator: Next time you go grocery shopping, keep a minimum of 75% of your purchases to the perimeters of the store - where you find all the fresh produce and proteins. You’ll be more likely to reach for these healthy staples every time you open your refrigerator and you won’t have that guilty conscious later!
• Find a work out buddy: Team up with a friend, co-worker or even a neighbor and set achievable, weekly goals. Whether it’s to walk three times a week or attend that new workout class you’ve had your eye on at the gym, make sure they’re tasks you can accomplish.
• Participate in The Green Nut Challenge: Consume 1.5 oz of pistachios every day and reap the health benefits. Results from recent studies suggest that U.S. adults who consume nuts, such as pistachios, versus those who do not may have lower body weight measures and obesity, a lower prevalence of health risks and better diets.
• Make your lunch the night before: Dismiss those vending machine cravings and turn to your brown paper bag. By packing your lunch the night before you’ll be less apt to turn to unhealthy items that will only leave you with regret later. Make sure to bring plenty of nutritious snacks that will curb afternoon snacking.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Millions of American Families Struggle with Hunger
A Healthy Walk with Dad (photo by Phaedra Wilkinson, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
The U.S. is the world’s wealthiest nation with obesity rates that are the highest in the world, yet millions of American families are struggling to get enough to eat. Besides getting help from government, people are turning in record numbers to emergency pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters to ward off hunger.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the vast majority of American families, more than 85%, have “access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.” Still, in a country of more than 300 million people, that means millions of families are experiencing a lack of food “at least some time during the year.”
Recent recessionary times have increased the number of Americans in households lacking consistent access to adequate food by 13 million people, for a total of nearly 50 million. The rates of food insecurity and very low food security are now the highest recorded since the federal government’s first national food security survey in 1995.
Government Assistance
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal program formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, along with helps put healthy food on the table for over 35 million people each month. Benefits are provided on an electronic card that is accepted at most grocery stores. The program now includes nutrition education partners to help clients learn to make healthy eating and active lifestyle choices.
Nonprofit Organizations
More than 12 million children are threatened with the risk of inadequate food and hunger in the U.S., according to a report from Feeding America, a nonprofit organization. The organization provides emergency food assistance to an estimated 25 million low-income people annually by supporting a network of 206 food banks in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The organization says that every dollar donated provides seven meals for hungry people and just five dollars provides 20 bags of groceries.
Millions of backyard gardeners grow far more produce than they can possibly use. Ample Harvest is a nonprofit enabling America's backyard gardeners to find local food pantries and then share their garden bounty with them. The campaign has rolled out nationwide and over 800 food pantries and food banks across America have registered. The campaign's goal is to diminish hunger in America by facilitating the donation of extra backyard garden produce that might otherwise spoil.
To visit the web sites of the nonprofit organizations’ cited above, identify local pantries where food can be donated, and get more information on how to help those in need, go to:
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Vegetarian Delights Crafted at Aaron Baum's Hand To Mouth Edibles
Artichoke in Flower (photo by Dani Simmonds, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Have you ever made a wonderful gourmet dish and then have someone say, "Hey, this tastes great! You could sell that...people would love to buy your food!"
Well, that's pretty much how Hand To Mouth Edibles Gourmet Foods was founded. Aaron Baum, a communications consultant and self-described "guy who loves to cook" listened to the suggestions of friends and family. He took their advice and changed careers to start his own specialty food company crafting delicious and healthy vegetarian alternatives.
Healthy Aaron at the Beach
Aaron knew from the beginning that the key to making his gourmet foods taste so great was using the finest, all natural ingredients. Aaron also realized that high quality spreads and tapenades were not so easily available. In 1997, Hand To Mouth Edibles was brought to the market with all natural, gourmet tapenades and spreads. Ambrosias and tapenades are delicious, versatile products that the professional and the home cook alike can appreciate. They're an appetizer in a jar, a distinctive condiment to spice up a meal, or a special addition to a gift or picnic basket.
Aaron and his team at Hand To Mouth Edibles believe in giving something back to the community. They donate a portion of their profits to Share Our Strength, a national non-profit organization working to alleviate hunger and poverty. Day-by-day, Hand To Mouth Edibles is making delicious and healthy food while making a difference in the world!
If you’d like to purchase some veggie delights from Hand To Mouth Edibles click on any of the following:
Millions of U.S. Kids to Get a Chance for a Better School Lunch
Winter Fun (photo by Phaedra Wilkinson, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Good news recently for those who want more sustainability when it comes to food and water. For the first time a judge has ordered the destruction of illegally planted genetically modified crops and the N.Y.S. legislature just passed a moratorium on “fracking” for natural gas.
On the heels of those victories, the U.S. Congress has passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Our friend Kate Walsh at Slow Food USA writes, “Over 31 million children in American schools will have a chance of a better school lunch.”
The act’s passage comes at a critical time. For the first time, a generation of American kids is expected to have a shorter life span than their parents.
A Broken System
"Cheetos with cheese does not have a place in a school lunch program," said Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA. "It is about time we gave children the school lunch they deserve."
"We know that our food system is broken when the food we feed our children will cause one in three to develop diabetes, and when obesity levels are at an all-time high. This Bill is far from perfect, and has involved large compromises, but is a great achievement towards our end goal of making kids healthier," he continued.
Slow Food USA members have been campaigning for the past two years with over 160,000 Slow Food members joining the ‘Time for Lunch’ Campaign. Thousands signed petitions, emailed or called legislators or attended one of over 300 ‘Eat Ins’ that were held in all 50 states.
"The bill will also help support local family farmers who supply the produce for school lunch through Farm to School programs."
Our Most Valuable Resource
After sending her child to school and seeing the quality of the food schools are forced to serve, Slow Food member and child nutrition advocate for the past 16 years, Dr. Susan Rubin decided to take action.
"What a people don’t realize is that there are a lot of children who rely on school lunch as their main meal of the day. The health of our children is one of the most important investments we can make," she said.
Imperfect progress, but progress nonetheless, and it came because concerned citizens made their voices heard so loudly that they couldn’t be ignored.
To learn more about the Slow Food movement and find a local chapter, go to: Slow Food USA
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may soon approve the sale of genetically engineered (GE) salmon to American consumers. Incredibly, the FDA may do so without requiring that the fish be labeled as geneticall engineered.
Marion Nestle, a professor in the Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health Department at New York University has said, “The public wants to know and the public has a right to know. I think the agency has discretion, but it's under enormous political pressure to approve [the salmon] without labeling.”
Misleading Shoppers as a Sales Strategy?
Wild salmon delivers tremendous nutritional benefits, but the possible action by the FDA could lead shoppers seeking healthy food for their families tp unknowingly buy a GE substitute. Scientists have cautioned that there has been insufficient study of its impact on human health and the environment.
The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists states on its web site:
So far, scientists have identified a number of ways in which genetically engineered organisms could potentially adversely impact both human health and the environment…In addition to posing risks of harm that we can envision and attempt to assess, genetic engineering may also pose risks that we simply do not know enough to identify.
Frightening New Revelations on Environmental Impact
After submitting a Freedom of Information Act request, the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch received numerous recent internal documents and emails from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) exposing startling concerns about the GE salmon for which the company AquaBounty is seeking approval.
“Nice work Greg,” Denise Hawkins, PhD, FWS Regional Geneticist wrote to a coworker in September. “Especially pointing out that there is no data to support the claims of low survival in the event of escape, which I agree with you all is a big concern. I also agree…that using triploid fish [which AquaBounty claim have undergone a sterilization process] is not foolproof. Maybe they [the FDA] should watch Jurassic Park.”
A Very Real Threat to Wild Salmon
The FDA is required by law to conduct an environmental impact statement for any regulatory action that could negatively affect the human environment. The agency has not done so yet. Despite AquaBounty’s claim to produce only sterile salmon, the company admitted that up to 5% of their GE salmon eggs could be fertile, prompting the FDA to label the company's claims “potentially misleading”.
According to FWS internal emails, contrary to AquaBounty’s claims that GE salmon would be grown in closed systems (and therefore unable to escape), FWS employees received news of a proposal to grow the fish in a facility that would discharge into the ocean off the coast of Maine.
“No matter what precautions you take, fish escape and once they do, there is no closing that door. So, that being said, I think it is very bad precedent to set,” said one FWS program supervisor.
The FDA is closing a public comment period on November 22nd and could approve the product as soon as November 23rd.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Wild Sockeye Salmon (photo by Kayak Lady, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Wild seafood from the frigid waters of Alaska is distinctively delicious, coming from a naturally evolved ecosystem that can be found no where else on earth. While delivering a uniquely rich flavor to please the palates of seafood lovers, the wild salmon offers nutritional benefits to keep you young-of-mind and heart healthy over an active lifetime.
And there is another reason to love the bounty brought in by Alaska’s hearty fishing fleet. Under the Alaska State Constitution, all seafood from the state’s abundant waters must be harvested in a sustainable manner. So we can enjoy those delightful delicacies for years to come, without guilt, knowing that future generations will be enjoying the same for many years to come.
Be Very Wary of Farmed & GE Salmon
In contrast, there have been alarming reports regarding the safety of farm-raised salmon. One sample of farmed salmon studied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found levels of PCB's so high that it advised eating it no more than once every two months. PCBs have long been known to cause cancer.
Unethical sellers have been detected passing off farm-raised salmon as wild-caught, and now there is the dreaded prospect that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration may soon approve a genetically engineered (GE) salmon. It would be the first GE animal ever approved for human consumption. When GE salmon inevitably escape into the wild, they will forever alter what Nature created.
Vital Choices Need to Be Made
Distressed by the knowledge that farmed salmon threatened to replace wild salmon in the marketplace and destroy their livelihood in the process, Alaskan fisherman Randy Hartnell and his wife Carla started Vital Choice® in 2001.
Carla explained during a recent visit to Norma Kamali’s Wellness Café in midtown Manhattan:
Our goal was to let people know that when you choose sustainably harvested wild salmon, you are choosing more than just a fine meal. You are promoting your health, the health of coastal fishing communities, the environment, and the precious wild salmon it sustains. You really are making a vital choice.
Safe & Healthy Is Fashionable
When asked how someone from an industry so often associated with hardly eating at all, iconic fashion designer Norma Kamali mused on the thought of a drink from “a plastic water bottle with a cigarette chaser” for a moment, then commented on the absurdity of using harmful, chemical products to enhance one’s beauty. She said she couldn’t help but be distressed by the “toxicity” that surrounds us in so many aspects of our daily lives.
A tour of the great olive growing regions of Europe led Norma to networking with people who shared her concerns. Being a businesswoman extraodinaire, she shows a special affinity for people who meet daunting challenges with an entrepreneurial spirit, folks like Randy and Carla Hartnell. Having established her Wellness Café as a forum for educating people about alternatives for a healthier life, on Wednesday she had the dynamic couple and their daughter come by to illustrate their important work with appetizing samples.
Over the years the Vital Source product line has grown to include wild-caught halibut, cod, albacore, sardines, mackerel, smoked King salmon, organic wild blueberries, trail mix, and much more. Among the “much more” is some really savory dark chocolate, always crafted from Fair Trade cocoa.
A Down Side to Wild Salmon?
Is there a down side to wild salmon? Well, there is the cost. A recent trip to a specialty food store found fresh wild salmon beautifully displayed on a bed of crushed ice. It was $40.00 a pound, quite an extravagance for an American family on a grocery budget.
Randy and Carla Hartnell’s answer is to offer wild-caught seafood, flash frozen and sealed in a preservation packet within hours of its harvest, ready for direct sale to consumers online. Real wild flavors made affordable, but still naturally brimming with the antioxidants, vitamin D, and omega-3s essential to heart, skin, brain, and eye health, not to mention a vibrant mood.
To learn more about Randy and Carla Hartnell’s company, go to: Vital Choice®
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Paint the Town Slow, a Slow Food NYC Benefit for Urban Harvests
Seasonal Squash (photo by Mary K. Baird, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Paint the Town Slow will feature cocktails made by New York's "Slowest" mixologists, local food from some Snail of Approval restaurants and "Slow friendly" celebrities who will auction themselves off during the event. Only 100 tickets are available so buy your tickets today.
Paint the Town Slow will be held at 53 Wyckoff Street, Brooklyn, from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm on December 8th, running simultaneously with the last hours of the Slow Food NYC Experience Auction which begins online on November 28th. At the party, bidders can participate via smart-phones or an on–site computer to compete with off-site bidders for the one-of-a-kind experiences.
Slow Food NYC Online Experience Auction
Would you love to learn the secret of making a perfect biscuit from one of the top bakers in the city? Or, do you ever wish you had a tutor to help you navigate the nuances and subtleties of high end Scotch? How about just relaxing at home with friends while a renowned NYC chef whips up a three course meal in your own kitchen?
Just in time for "Cyber-Monday" and the holiday shopping season, The Slow Food NYC online Experience Auction will auction off eating, drinking and farming experiences that are not available anywhere else. With everything from celebrity mixologist cocktail parties to tours of the farms that supply some of New York's "slowest" restaurants, these experiences make excellent holiday gifts (or gifts to yourself).
100% of the auction proceeds will support the Urban Harvest Program.
Harvest Time in Urban Schools
This past spring, Slow Food NYC built their first Neighborhood Farm in Brownsville, Brooklyn. During the summer, 60 children living in neighborhoods with very limited access to fresh food, learned to plant, tend, harvest their home-grown produce and prepare healthy lunches, which they enjoyed communally.
Their Neighborhood Farm joins Harvest Time in Schools as part of Slow Food NYC’s new Urban Harvest Program.
Through Harvest Time in Schools, Slow Food NYC financially and logistically supports good food education in 10 schools. Harvest Time in Schools includes: edible gardens; good food and nutrition education, including hands-on cooking; and student-run farm stands, offering fresh, seasonal food grown by the kids or from local farms.
This year, they hope to raise $20,000 so they can continue their programming on the farm and in the schools.
You can get more info on the Slow Food NYC online auction & view the growing list of available experiences at: Slow Food NYC Events & Auction
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
On a golden, dappled-sun Sunday afternoon in October, Slow Food’s founder Carlo Petrini spoke to an amphitheater full of foodies. By foodies, I mean old hippies, professors, farmers, restaurant operators, and journalists. That was about half the crowd, the other half, whom Petrini had come to see were Princeton students.
One Man’s Quest
Petrini began his quest for good food in the mid eighties when McDonald’s attempted to put a McDonald’s hamburger joint in his hometown in Italy.
Now, I ask you. What was McDonald’s thinking? Not only are Italians bound to tradition, and ceremony, and strict values, they are as stubborn as army mules. The very idea that they thought they could plop down one of their slimy faux food places in his little piece of Italian heaven, the Spanish Steps in Rome, did not go down well.
And, as we have seen, the power of an idea, the quest of one man, the fire and passion of a movement, has changed the way the world sees food and promises to save our world from itself. As well as from the McDonald’s of the world.
How did Petrini do this? In 1977, he began contributing culinary articles to communist daily newspapers il manifesto and l’Unità.
Today, he is an editor of multiple publications at the publishing house Slow Food Editore and writes several weekly columns for La Stampa. He was one of Time Magazine’s heroes of 2004. In 2004, he founded the University of Gastronomic Sciences, a school intended to bridge the gap between agriculture and gastronomy.
No Farmers, No Food
So what did he have to say at Princeton? He exhorted the students to become farmers, pointing out that fewer than 1% of Americans are engaged in farming now, as opposed to a number approaching 30%, 50 years ago. When he asked for a show of hands, two went up.
Petrini pointed out that eating is an agricultural act. And it is his firm belief that unless people get reconnected to their food, to the earth, and to the process of making food, the entire universe is doomed.
He understood, he said, that students today have a deeper understanding and sense of responsibility to culinary and biodiversity than they did 20 years ago.
The Food System Has Caused a Food Crisis
He went on to say, that Michelle Obama (who has just been named one of the top 100 game changers in America this year by Huffington Post, for her work in food) got her start when she was a student at Princeton which has had a large organic garden for years.
Petrini believes (and we certainly agree) that the current food system is responsible for the current food crisis. And that we must change the system on a global level to effect any meaningful change.
Factory Farming & the Loss of Biodiversity
Not only has factory farming depleted the soil, and ruined the quality of food grown there, it has caused us to lose biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity is the result of a loss of variety in both animal breeds and plant varieties based on market demand. In our current system, only price matters. But we have lost the perspective to understand the difference in value and price.
Petrini concluded that we must change and we must change quickly. He pointed out that Rome fell, their empire collapsed, and all was lost because they couldn’t grasp a vision for the future.
Carlo Petrini believes Slow Food is that vision. We agree.
You will be energized as we are here at The Silver Cloud Diet. It’s nice to see someone who agrees with us and carries the flag. Thank you Mr. Petrini.
To learn more about the Slow Food Movement and find a local chapter, go to: Slow Food USA
Linda West Eckhardt
Linda West Eckhardt is a James Beard Award winning cookbook author and Co-founder of The Silver Cloud Diet.
To learn more about Linda West Eckhardt’s most recent work on healthy weight control, go to: The Silver Cloud Diet
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Wild Salmon Leaping Upstream (photo by Matthew G. Hull, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Concerned about the prospect of genetically modified (GM) animals making it into America’s food supply? We are, and we're very disturbed that GM salmon may soon be approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) with no labeling required.
The GM salmon would be the first genetically modified animal ever approved for consumption by American families. The freakish salmon produced by engineering grows to fives times the size of Atlantic salmon in the wild. Its approval would set a terrible precedent, certain to smooth the way for all manner of genetically modified animals making it into the food supply and untraceable.
The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists states on its web site:
So far, scientists have identified a number of ways in which genetically engineered organisms could potentially adversely impact both human health and the environment…In addition to posing risks of harm that we can envision and attempt to assess, genetic engineering may also pose risks that we simply do not know enough to identify.
Health and environmental concerns have led many countries and regions around the world to ban various GM foods and crops.
GM Foods Are Not the Answer to World Hunger
As for the claim that GM foods are needed to feed a hungry world, Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists Food and Environment Program has concluded "...that GE (genetic engineering) has done little to increase overall crop yields." And a major study conducted at the University of Kansas has found that the controversial technology actually reduces crop yields.
In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks."
Labeling GM Foods
We have long called for the labeling of GM foods. We believe giant biotech corporations resist labeling because they know consumers do not want to purchase GM foods. There doesn’t seem to be a single company that has voluntarily labeled its products as genetically engineered.
Marion Nestle, a professor in the Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health Department at New York University, has been quoted by the Washington Post, “The public wants to know and the public has a right to know. I think the agency has discretion, but it's under enormous political pressure to approve [the salmon] without labeling.”
Many people are unaware that they are regularly consuming GE foods because they are not labeled. As Elise Pearlstein, producer of the Oscar-nominated film Food Inc. has said, "It's outrageous that genetically modified foods don't need to be labeled...Whatever your position, you should have the right to make informed choices, and we don't."
Tell Congress to Protect Our Families
Now, Katy Kiefer of the nonprofit Food & Water Watch tells us a bill has been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives that would ban genetically engineered fish from reaching our food system. Our elected representatives need to hear directly from every concerned citizen who supports such a ban.
Food & Water Watch is looking for volunteers to help collect postcards to support legislation that would ban GE fish. To learn more about how you might help, go to: Food & Water Watch – Take Action
To view tips from the Organic Consumers Association on avoiding GM foods, go to: Non-GMO Shopping Guide
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
This is the second great recipe our friend Evelyn Kimber of the Boston Vegetarian Society and the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival helped us get permission to pass on to you. This year the Festival will take place on Saturday, October 30, 2010, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Sunday, October 31, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
If you missed it last year, try and get there this time around. It’s a lot of healthy fun for the whole family and definitely worth the trip. This soup recipe was demonstrated at the Festival by Chef Cathi di Cocco, Owner of Café di Cocoa.
“Café Di Cocoa-Food for the Soul” opened in Bethel, Maine in 1996. It’s a charming 28-seat vegetarian restaurant located on Main Street in a Victorian farmhouse. Since then they’ve added a retail Market and Bakery next door. Chef/Owner Cathi di Cocco feeds & educates crowds of people through her in-house cooking classes, food tasting, community soup kitchen, and Summer Cooking Camp for Kids. Vegetarian eating must be providing Chef Cathi with plenty of energy!
Ingredients for 6 Quarts
• 2 Pounds fresh shelled cannellini beans OR 1 pound dried beans, soaked overnight & drained OR three 17-ounce cans of beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 Whole garlic bulb, cut in half horizontally
• 3 Bay leaves
• ¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
• 8 Sticks of celery, chopped
• 16 Medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 8 Leeks, white part only, OR 3 med. onions, peeled & chopped
• 4 Medium ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded & crushed OR 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 4 Tablespoons chopped fresh garlic (1 average bulb)
• 8 Sprigs of fresh herb, leaves removed; rosemary, sage OR thyme
• 3 Bunches fresh greens, chopped, (Swiss chard, escarole, collards, etc.)
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper, to taste
Preparation
1. Cover beans with water.
2. Add bay leaves and halved garlic bulb.
3. Bring to boil and simmer till slightly soft.
4. Cover and let sit 1 hour.
5. Strain through colander, reserving “broth”. Remove garlic and bay leaves. If using canned beans simply drain and rinse.
6. Blend ¾ of the beans into a puree w with broth or water.
7. Reserve ¼ of the beans to add to soup near the end of cooking time
8. In large stockpot saute celery, carrots and onions in olive oil until soft.
9. Add tomatoes, chopped garlic, and herbs.
10. After 5 minutes add chopped greens, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
11. Cook 10 more minutes.
12. Add bean puree and enough broth or water to make a thick soup.
13. Cook slowly for about an hour.
14. Add water or broth as needed to thin.
15. Ten minutes before serving stir in whole beans to heat through.
16. Ladle into bowls and top with rustic herb croutons.
17. Drizzle with the finest extra virgin olive oil you can find.
Submitted by Cathi DiCocco, Chef/Owner of Café DiCocoa in Bethel, Maine.
If you'd like to purchase a special balsamic vinegar that is both unique and our favorite go to: White Balsamic Vinegar
To make a reservation to dine at Café DiCocoa & try more of Chef Cathi’s delicious creations give a call to (207) 824-5282, or go to the Cafe's web site: Café di Cocoa
For information related to the purchase of advertising space on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
After two years of wrangling in the courts, a federal court has ruled that Ohio’s ban on the labeling of dairy products as hormone-free is unconstitutional. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a major setback for corporations selling dairy products from cows treated with synthetic bovine hormones to an unwitting public.
It was the court’s decision that Ohio's absolute ban on voluntary, hormone-free labeling violated the First Amendment rights of dairy processors and was "more extensive than necessary to serve the state's interest in preventing consumer deception."
The landmark case was brought to court by the Organic Trade Association (OTA). OTA and its members, including Horizon Organic®, Organic Valley®, and Stonyfield Farm®, filed the appeal in conjunction with the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA).
“OTA believes consumers have a right to know how their food was produced, and organic farmers and manufacturers should be allowed to tell them,” said Christine Bushway, CEO of OTA, a leading trade group for the $26.6 billion organic industry in North America. “We are pleased the court agrees,” added Bushway.
Broader Implications
According to an NPR report, the ruling calls into question a 17-year-old U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finding that there's "no significant difference" between the milk of cows given growth hormone and those that aren't, something many in the scientific community have been challenging for years.
The court cited studies indicating that milk from cows treated with growth hormones was of lower nutritional quality and will turn sour more quickly. That raises the possibility that genetically-engineered salmon could face similar legal action if the FDA rules that it is not significantly different from other farm-raised Atlantic salmon.
Consumers Want Hormone-Free Labeling
The legal victory can be expected to be met with approval by the vast majority of American consumers. The Consumer Reports National Research Center polled more than 1,000 people nationwide on various food labeling issues; some 76% of those polled were concerned with “dairy cows given synthetic growth hormones” and 88% agreed that “milk from cows raised without synthetic bovine growth hormone should be allowed to be labeled as such.”
The U.S. is in the minority among industrialized nations by allowing the use of synthetic growth hormones to artificially stimulate milk production in dairy herds. The practice is already prohibited in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and in the 27 countries of the European Union.
To learn more about OTA and its work on behalf of the organic movement, go to: Organic Trade Association
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Family Farmers Face Unfair Competition from 'Organic' Factory Farms
Brown Eggs (photo by Derek Lilly, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Factory farms, some confining hundreds of thousands of chickens in industrial facilities, sell their eggs to consumers as "organic."
Last week’s hearings before a Congressional Committee investigating the recent nationwide outbreak of salmonella poisoning only exacerbated worries about the food safety practices of some of the nation’s largest egg producers. Assertions by Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son of their commitment to food safety were particularly ludicrous in light of a government inspection done after the egg recall.
The report that resulted from the inspection detailed the filthy conditions at the DeCoster’s egg facilities and vivid photos were presented that made their disgraceful and dangerous irresponsibility all too clear. It was also made clear that the DeCoster’s operations have a history of flouting food safety guidelines and environmental laws that dates back more than 30 years, and once led to their eggs being banned in New York State and Maryland.
Disturbing Research Findings from The Cornucopia Institute
Now an independent report has been released that focuses on widespread abuses in organic egg production, primarily by large industrial agribusinesses. The study profiles the exemplary management practices employed by many family-scale organic farmers engaged in egg production, while spotlighting abuses at so-called factory farms, some confining hundreds of thousands of chickens in industrial facilities, and representing these eggs to consumers as "organic."
The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group, developed the report, Scrambled Eggs: Separating Factory Farm Egg Production from Authentic Organic Agriculture, following nearly two years of research into organic egg production. The report also contains a scorecard rating various egg brands on how their eggs are produced in accordance with federal organic standards and consumer expectations.
"After visiting over 15% of the certified egg farms in the United States, and surveying all name-brand and private-label industry marketers, it's obvious that a high percentage of the eggs on the market should be labeled ‘produced with organic feed’ rather than bearing the USDA-certified organic logo," said Mark A. Kastel, The Cornucopia Institute’s co-director and senior farm policy analyst.
According to the United Egg Producers (UEP), the industry lobby group, 80% of all organic eggs are produced by just a handful of its largest members. Most of these operations own hundreds of thousands, or even millions of birds, and have diversified into "specialty eggs," which include organic. At least one UEP member, Hillandale Farms, has been implicated in the recent nationwide salmonella outbreak affecting conventional eggs. At last week’s Congessional hearings the CEO of Hillandale Farms, Orland Bethel, cited his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and did not answer questions.
Cornucopia’s report focuses not on the size of some of these mammoth agribusinesses but rather on their organic livestock management practices. It says that most of these giant henhouses, some holding 85,000 birds or more, provide no legitimate access to the outdoors, as required in the federal organic regulations.
USDA Debates New Regulations for Poultry & Other Livestock
The new report comes at a critical juncture for the organic poultry industry. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the expert citizen advisory panel set up by Congress to advise the USDA on organic policy, has been debating a set of proposed new regulations for poultry and other livestock that would establish housing-density standards and a clearer understanding of what the requirement for outdoor access truly means. The industry’s largest operators, along with their lobbyists, have been loudly voicing their opposition to requirements for outdoor space.
"Many of these operators are gaming the system by providing minute enclosed porches, with roofs and concrete or wood flooring, and calling these structures ‘the outdoors,’" stated Charlotte Vallaeys, a farm policy analyst with Cornucopia and lead author of the report. "Many of the porches represent just 3% to 5% of the square footage of the main building housing the birds. That means 95% or more of the birds have absolutely no access whatsoever."
“If one animal has the legal right to be outdoors, then all animals have the same right, whether they choose to take turns or if they all choose to be outside at the same time," said Jim Riddle, organic outreach coordinator with the University of Minnesota and former chairman of the NOSB.
Industry Lobby Group Opposes Stronger Regulations
At previous meetings of the NOSB, United Egg Producers represented industrial-scale producers and publicly opposed proposals to strengthen regulations requiring outdoor access.
“We are strongly opposed to any requirement for hens to have access to the soil,” said Kurt Kreher of Kreher’s Sunrise Farms in Clarence, N.Y. And Bart Slaugh, director of quality assurance at Eggland’s Best, a marketer of both conventional and organic eggs based in Jeffersonville, Pa., noted that, “The push for continually expanding outdoor access … needs to stop.”
Family-scale organic egg farmers, and their allies, intend to challenge corporate agribusiness lobbyists and make their voices heard at the October 25th meeting of the National Organic Standards Board.
The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit farm policy research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit.
To learn more about the research from the Institute cited above, go to: The Cornucopia Institute
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Will the FDA Protect Consumers or the Profits of a Few Corporations?
Spawning Wild Sockeye Salmon (photo by kayaklady, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
“The FDA has a flawed process for approving these GE salmon and unfortunately for us, the process isn't focused on what happens to people who eat genetically engineered animals.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent enforcement letters warning food makers that they cannot label their products as free of genetically modified or genetically engineered ingredients.
The letters were sent as a heated debate is taking place over whether the agency should approve a genetically engineered (GE) salmon that grows at twice the rate of salmon in the wild.
Sarah Alexander of the nonprofit Food & Water Watch says, “The FDA has a flawed process for approving these GE salmon and unfortunately for us, the process isn't focused on what happens to people who eat genetically engineered animals. If the FDA moves forward, these salmon would be the first GE animals approved for human consumption.”
An article in the Washington Post quotes Marion Nestle, a professor in the Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health Department at New York University. She said, “The public wants to know and the public has a right to know. I think the agency has discretion, but it's under enormous political pressure to approve [the salmon] without labeling.”
The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists states on its web site:
So far, scientists have identified a number of ways in which genetically engineered organisms could potentially adversely impact both human health and the environment…In addition to posing risks of harm that we can envision and attempt to assess, genetic engineering may also pose risks that we simply do not know enough to identify.
Shades of the rBGH Milk Controversy
The FDA previously warned companies that they could not label products as hormone free. Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., one of the first companies to label its ice cream as free of the synthetic hormone rBGH, joined a national campaign that included Stonyfield Farm and Organic Valley to block that effort.
According to the ice cream maker’s web site, “We’re still working to oppose the use of rBGH, a genetically engineered hormone given to cows to increase their milk production. We believe rBGH is an unnecessary technology that causes increased health risks to cows.”
The Concern About rBGH Dangers is International
Many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and the European Union have banned rBGH due to health risks. According to Jeffrey M. Smith, the author of “Seeds of Deception” and “Genetic Roulette”, milk from cows given rBGH have much higher levels of IGF-1, a hormone considered to be a high risk factor for breast, prostate, colon, lung, and other cancers. The milk also has a lower nutritional value, leads to increased use of antibiotics, and more pus from infected udders.
Mr. Smith cites a statement from Fredrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, former Vice President of the Agriculture Committee of the European Commission, “We feel fairly confident in being able to demonstrate that the safety of European citizens who consume [rBGH] products cannot be guaranteed.”
GE Labeled Food Unlikely to Appeal to Consumers
Many believe the biotechnology industry does not want genetically engineered food labeled as such because consumers do not want to buy it. There doesn’t seem to be a single company that has voluntarily labeled its products as genetically engineered.
Among the recent enforcement letters, one company was told a label that included a red circle with a line through it and the words "GMO," implied that there was something wrong with genetically engineered food and could not be used.
Many people are unaware that they are regularly consuming GE foods because they are not labeled. As Elise Pearlstein, producer of the Oscar nominated film Food Inc. has said, "It's outrageous that genetically modified foods don't need to be labeled...Whatever your position, you should have the right to make informed choices, and we don't."
GE Foods Are Not the Answer to World Hunger
As for the claim that GM foods are needed to feed a hungry world, Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists Food and Environment Program has concluded "...that GE (genetic engineering) has done little to increase overall crop yields." And a major study conducted at the University of Kansas has found that the controversial technology actually reduces crop yields.
In May of 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks."
To view tips from the Organic Consumers Association on avoiding GM foods, go to: Non-GMO Shopping Guide
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
FDA & USDA Scientists Say Corporate Influence Harms Public Health
Healthy Jersey Cows (photo by Emily Roesly, courtesy of morgueFile.com
“Hundreds of scientists and inspectors responsible for food safety have personally experienced political interference in their work, and that’s bad for public health.”
Hundreds of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees who work with food safety said public health has been harmed by their agencies deferring to business interests, according to a survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“Hundreds of scientists and inspectors responsible for food safety have personally experienced political interference in their work, and that’s bad for public health,” said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS’s Scientific Integrity Program. “Both the administration and Congress need to act.”
Just last month, two Iowa farms recalled more than a half-billion eggs linked to about 1,400 cases of salmonella poisoning. Last year, about 700 Americans were sickened and nine died from a salmonella outbreak traced to contaminated Peanut Corporation of America plants.
Undue Corporate Influence is a Major Problem
More than 1,700 respondents took part in the survey, which was conducted for UCS by the Iowa State University Center for Survey Statistics. Most of the respondents had worked at their agency for more than ten years.
Hundreds of survey respondents identified undue corporate influence as a major problem. More than 620 respondents (38%) agreed or strongly agreed that “public health has been harmed by agency practices that defer to business interests.” Three-hundred-and-thirty respondents (27 %) said they had personally experienced “instances where public health has been harmed by businesses withholding food safety information from agency investigators” in the past year. And more than 300 respondents (25 %) said they personally experienced corporate interests forcing their agency to withdraw or significantly modify a policy or action designed to protect consumers in the past year.
Outright Obstruction, Retaliation & Abuse of Power
Dean Wyatt, a USDA veterinarian who oversees federal slaughter house inspectors, said his agency regularly punishes inspectors for writing up legitimate safety violations. “Upper level management does not adequately support field inspectors and the actions they take to protect the food supply,” said Wyatt. “Not only is there lack of support, but there's outright obstruction, retaliation and abuse of power.”
More than 100 respondents said that their agencies had asked them to exclude or alter scientific information. For example, 190 respondents (16 %) said they witnessed officials selectively or incompletely using data to justify a specific regulatory outcome. One-hundred-and-five respondents (10 %) said agency decision makers inappropriately asked them to exclude or alter information or conclusions in an agency scientific document. Ninety-eight respondents (9 %) said agency managers asked them to provide incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information to the public, regulated industry, media or government officials.
Some Recent Improvement
The results were not all bad. Respondents said that interference had decreased under the Obama administration, compared to the Bush years. However, the improvement was very small.
“A majority said specific reforms would make the nation’s food safer,” said Grifo. “Respondents overwhelmingly said establishing stronger whistleblower protections for inspectors and regulators would improve food safety.”
Respondents supported other reforms, including:
• 71 % agreed that “requiring each food production facility to conduct a science-based hazard analysis and implement preventive controls” would improve safety.
• 73 % said that “establishing a comprehensive electronic system to trace food products through the production and distribution system” would improve safety.
• 75 % said that the FDA should increase the frequency of food safety inspections.
A Revealing & Frightening First-Hand Account
Kenneth Kendrick, a former Peanut Corp assistant plant manager in Plainview, Texas, has first-hand experience with this lack of regulation.
He said he tried to anonymously alert the Texas Department of Health to problems at his plant, but couldn't get anyone's attention. After salmonella was discovered at Peanut Corp's plant in Blakely, Georgia, he helped FDA inspectors locate the source of salmonella contamination at his plant.
“It’s unbelievable that FDA does not routinely inspect processing plants,” said Kendrick. “The plant I worked at was infested with rodents and its ceilings were leaking water from a roof covered with bird feces. No one even looked at this plant until the nation was hit with a massive salmonella outbreak linked to another Peanut Corp plant.”
New Legislation is Under Consideration
The Senate is currently considering bipartisan food safety legislation that includes many of the reforms supported by respondents. The bill would grant the FDA the authority to test widely for pathogens, and bolster the agency’s ability to trace outbreaks back to their source. Most important, it would give the agency the power to recall contaminated foods and fine companies that knowingly sell them. Currently, the agency only has the power to request that companies conduct recalls.
Respondents were particularly worried about the safety of imported food, also overseen by FDA. Only 35% were completely or mostly confident in the safety of imported foods; 32% were only somewhat confident; and 21% were not at all confident. The remaining respondents said they didn’t know. The Senate bill would hold foods from overseas to the same standards as domestic products.
The U.S. Food Safety System is Badly Out of Date
The current system is based on a law enacted in 1906, when the major problems were parasites that inspectors could actually see. “Our biggest threats now are microbial, which are much more difficult to detect,” said Grifo.
Grifo said the FDA is starved for resources. The agency is responsible for the safety of 80% of the country’s food supply, yet it has half the number of inspectors as the USDA. In part because of this lack of staff, the FDA inspects food production facilities only once every 10 years.
“Food safety legislation is sorely needed, but the administration also could address some of the problems the survey identified by releasing the scientific integrity directive the president said he would release more than a year ago,” said Grifo. “A directive that provided better protection for whistleblowers, ensured scientists and inspectors the right to speak publicly about their work, and ordered agencies to release visitors logs documenting with whom management met would help improve food safety.”
About the Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading U.S. science-based nonprofit organization working for a healthy environment and a safer world. Founded in 1969, UCS is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also has offices in Berkeley, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
The Art of Healthy School Food Gala is Coming Up Soon
Working to help kids make healthier food choices at school, the motto of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods is "Healthy Foods + Exercise = Better Health, Better Grades, Better Behavior.”
On Thursday, October 14th the nonprofit group will present a special fundraising event, “The Art of Healthy School Food at the Peter Max Art Studio” at 37 West 65th Street on the 7th Floor, in Manhattan. The event will run from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.
Food for the fundraising event will be provided by some of Manhattan’s healthiest caterers and restaurants:
• Angelica Kitchen
• Ayurveda Cafe
• Candle 79 & Candle Cafe
• Luxurious Vegan Desserts
• Fran Costigan
• Chef Laura Dardi
• EcoChef Love Catering
• Green Bean Cafe
• Franchia
• Henry’s Rama Sushi
• Stago
• Vegan Divas
• Chef Yoli (Catering Director
Beverages will be provided by:
• Marble Hill Cellars
• Pure Food and Wine
There will be Gift Bags For All!
Proceeds from the event will support work that is of vital importance to today's kids and provides busy parents with a helping hand to keep their children healthy.
NYCHSF cites research indicating "...that with proper education, children will select healthy options at a much higher rate than those who do not have such education."
With that in mind, the non-profit organization is improving the health and well-being of New York's students by advocating for healthy plant-based foods, including local and organic where possible, farm to school programs, school gardens, the elimination of junk foods from all areas of the school, comprehensive nutrition policy, and education to create food- and health-literate students.
Dangerous Food? (photo by Alimann, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
The relatively new phenomena of nationwide pathogenic outbreaks are intimately tied to the fecal contamination of our food supply and the intermingling of millions of unhealthy animals.
What isn't being discussed in Congress, during the ongoing debate on the broken federal food safety system, is the root cause of the most serious pathogenic outbreaks in our food—the elephant (poop) in the room.
The relatively new phenomena of nationwide pathogenic outbreaks, be they from salmonella or E. coli variants, are intimately tied to the fecal contamination of our food supply and the intermingling of millions of unhealthy animals. It’s one of the best kept secrets in the modern livestock industry.
Mountains of manure are piling up at our nation’s mammoth industrial-scale "factory farms." Thousands of dairy cows and tens of thousands of beef cattle are concentrated on feedlots; hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of chickens are confined in henhouses at one location for the production of eggs and meat.
A Recipe for Disaster
Livestock producing manure is nothing new. But the epic scale of animal numbers at single locations and the incredible volumes of animal waste is a recipe for disaster. It eclipses anything that was happening on old McDonald's farm.
Feces carrying infectious bacteria transfer to the environment and into our food supply. Feeding heavily subsidized corn and soybeans to cattle, instead of grazing the ruminants on grass, as they were genetically designed to do, changes the pH in their digestive tracts, creating a hospitable environment for pathogenic E. coli to breed. The new phenomenon of feeding "distillers grains" (a byproduct of the ethanol refining industry) is making this risk even more grave.
To Much Food in Too Few Hands
The current near-nationwide contamination in the egg supply can be directly linked to industrial producers that confine millions of birds, a product of massive, centralized breeding, in manure-rich henhouses, and feeding the birds a ration spiked with antibiotics. These are chickens that the McDonald family would likely have slaughtered on the farm because they were "sickly."
Thirteen corporations each have more than 5 million laying hens, and 192 companies have flocks of more than 75,000 birds. According to the industry lobby group, United Egg Producers (UEP), this represents 95% of all the laying hens in the United States. UEP also says that “eggs on commercial egg-laying farms are never touched until they are handled by the food service operator or consumer.” Obviously, their approach been ineffective and their smokescreen is not the straight poop.
In addition to our national dependence on factory farms, the meatpacking industry, like egg production, has consolidated as well to more easily service the vast numbers of animals sent to slaughter from fewer locations. Just four companies now control over 80% of the country’s beef slaughter. Production line speed-ups have made it even harder to keep intestinal contents from landing in hamburger and meat on cutting tables.
All of these problems are further amplified by the scope of the industrial-scale food system. Now, a single contamination problem at a single national processing facility, be it meat, eggs, spinach or peanut butter, can virtually infect the entire country through their national distribution model.
More Consumers Turn to Alternatives
As an antidote, consumers are voting with their pocketbooks by purchasing food they can trust. They are encouraging a shift back towards a more decentralized, local and organic livestock production model. Witnessing the exponential growth of farmers markets, community supported farms, direct marketing and supermarket organics, a percentage of our population is not waiting for government regulation to protect their families.
The irony of the current debate on improving our federal food safety regulatory infrastructure, now centered in the Senate, is that at the same time the erosion of FDA/USDA oversight justifies aggressive legislation, the safest farmers in this country, local and organic, might be snared in the dragnet—the proposed rules could disproportionately escalate their costs and drive some out of business.
While many in the good food movement have voiced strong concerns about the pending legislation—it's sorely needed—corporate agribusiness, in pursuit of profit, is poisoning our children!
Government Needs to Act
When Congress returns to Washington, we have no doubt that food safety legislation, which has languished for months, will get fast-tracked. In an election-year our politicians don't want to be left with egg on their face.
We only hope that Senators will seriously consider not just passing comprehensive reform but incorporating an amendment sponsored by John Tester (D-MT), a certified organic farmer himself, that will exempt the safest farms in our country—small, local direct marketers. We need to allocate our scarce, limited resources based on greatest risk.
Farmers and ranchers milking 60 cows, raising a few hundred head of beef, or free ranging laying hens (many times these animals have names not numbers), offer the only true competition to corporate agribusinesses that dominate our food production system.
Mark Kastel and Will Fantle are codirectors of The Cornucopia Institute, a farm policy research group based in Cornucopia, Wisconsin.
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The law of unintended consequences has created a society that is likely to suffer a shorter lifespan than its predecessor, compounded by obesity, ill health, and confusion.
How did this happen in the most efficient food delivery system the world has ever known?
Fifty years ago, America was dotted with family farms that produced foodstuffs in great variety, and for markets that were most often what we would call today “local”.
• Then, the economies of the industrial revolution caught up with the farmers and things began to change. Who remembers the ‘50’s movie with James Dean as the ne’er do well son of a California lettuce grower in a film from John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden. In the film, a key scene shows a train car full of lettuce from their Salinas valley farm sitting on a sideline with the lettuce rotting and dripping out the bottom.
This symbol of America’s changing agricultural scene presaged enormous changes in the food production and delivery system that has resulted today, in enormous agriculture operations, as big and cumbersome as factories.
Except these factories produce eggs, and meat, and grains and fruits and vegetables.
Because the economies of scale have a dark side, that is risk of infection and disease among plants and animals crammed into small spaces. Because these so-called improvements – including genetically modified seed which poisons the very earth in which these crops are grown, because these new methods force farmers to grow genetically modified corn, and soy beans, and sugar beets in huge monoculture crops that risk famine in much the same way the Irish faced famine in the middle of the nineteenth century when all they grew was potatoes. Because these new draconian methods, designed to fatten animals quicker by cramming them into feed lots and forcing them to stand in their own excrement and eat corn in an eerie, always lighted, often flooded with music to keep them going at the trough.
Because all of these changes have taken place, the unintended consequence has been that mankind has grown fat and sick alongside the animals, with nearly two thirds of Americans now being overweight, and half of those obese.
Linda West Eckhardt
What is the answer? Should we all become vegans?
No. Mankind is meant to be an omnivore. We should simply reject factory farmed foods. Period. The consumer drives this train, and if we demand better foods we’ll get it. I order grass fed beef from a Texas cattle operation (www.texasgrassfedbeef.com). I grow vegetables in the back yard. I only buy organic eggs and milk and dairy products at the store. I select raw milk cheeses whenever possible.
If you expect to live and to be healthy, you have to take charge of your health and your life and it begins with every bite of food you put into your mouth.
Just say NO to factory farmed foods, for yourself, for your children, for your friends and Family. Be rigorous. You will be rewarded.
There is a crack in the door and light is flooding in now. Just take charge of your own health by making better decisions and you’ll be rewarded with better health and normal weight.
Linda West Eckhardt is a James Beard award winning cookbook author and Co-founder The Silver Cloud Diet.
To learn more about Linda West Eckhardt’s most recent work on healthy weight control, go to: The Silver Cloud Diet
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Food & Water Watch Releases 2010 Smart Seafood Guide
In the Pan (photo by Beglib, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
The new guide considers the socio-economic impact of consuming seafood and warns against turning to imported fish post-Gulf spill.
The national consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch has just released its 2010 Smart Seafood Guide to direct consumers in making safer, more sustainable seafood decisions. This year, researchers analyzed over 100 types of seafood (60% more than in 2009) to create the only guide assessing not only the human health and environmental impacts of eating certain seafood, but also the socio-economic impacts on coastal and fishing communities.
In their 2010 guide, Food & Water Watch highlighted what they refer to as the "Dirty Dozen" -- species that fail to meet two or more of their criteria for safe and sustainable seafood. This year, the worst offender was imported coastal-farmed shrimp. According to the guide, the shrimp mostly come from countries where health, safety, labor and environmental standards are much weaker than in the U.S. This often means the shrimp were raised in crowded, dirty farms, and doused with assorted chemicals, antibiotics and pesticides, some of which are illegal to use in the U.S.
Gulf Oil Spill Raises Food Safety Concerns
"The guide comes at a critical time. We've been fielding countless questions from consumers on seafood safety after the Gulf oil spill," said Marianne Cufone, Food & Water Watch's Fish Program Director. "Unfortunately, because of the spill, many people are considering imported seafood as a safer alternative to domestic. Often, it's not.
The guide not only educates consumers on seafood selection, but also offers information on U.S. seafood production and regulation. For instance:
• Less than 2% of imported seafood is inspected.
• Over 70% of domestic shrimp and about 60% of domestic oysters came from the Gulf of Mexico prior to the spill.
• The average consumer eats around 16 pounds of seafood annually, about 4 pounds of which is shrimp.
Guiding Consumers Away from Unhealthy Choices
The guide steers consumers away from certain types of seafood like fish raised in factory farm conditions that pose threats to both the marine ecosystem and public health; unregulated imports; depleted fish (like bluefin tuna); and fish more likely to contain harmful contaminants like mercury and PCB (like swordfish).
The guide is offered as an online tool for consumers searching for seafood based on taste or U.S. region of origin. In addition, Food & Water Watch has developed a smaller, printed version for consumers to reference before making a purchase at markets or restaurants.
"It's really the most consumer friendly guide out there," Cufone said. "We're not telling you what to eat. We're providing you with important information so that you can make safer, more sustainable seafood choices based on your own personal tastes and priorities."
About Food & Water Watch
The nonprofit organization works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, it helps people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.
To learn more about the nonprofit organization’s new guide to sustainable seafood, go to: Food & Water Watch
For more information on the Gulf spill's impact on the availability of certain seafood items listed on the 2010 Smart Seafood Guide, check the latest government updates at:
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Thistle Hill's John & Janine Putnam (Images courtesy of Thistle Hill Farm)
Ever discovered an artisanal cheese at your local farmers market that you couldn’t stop raving about to fellow foodies? Well, there is an excellent chance that splendid cheese was made from raw milk, giving it the rich flavor that processed cheeses just can’t deliver.
Many medical professionals and nutritionists have indicated that raw milk from grass-fed cows is more nutrient dense than conventionally produced milk. They support the family farms feeding free-roaming cows on healthy grass that want to sell raw milk to folks who want to purchase it. Unfortunately, the U.S. Food and Drug administration prohibits raw milk for human consumption in interstate commerce.
The FDA Faces a Challenge in Court
The FDA’s prohibition has led the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund and eight other plaintiffs to mount a legal challenge arguing that the federal regulations are unconstitutional. The FDA filed a motion to dismiss, but last week federal Judge Mark W. Bennett denied the motion. It is a small, but important victory for small dairy farmers, the health of consumers, and the environment.
As part of his ruling, the judge ordered proceedings in the case to be stayed 60 days to allow plaintiffs time to decide whether to file a ‘citizen petition’ with FDA. The petition would ask FDA to clarify its interpretation of the statutes and regulations giving it the power to ban raw milk for human consumption in interstate commerce.
Having survived the first round in the case, the plaintiffs have until October 18th to determine what their next course of action will be.
Yes to Small Dairy Farms, No to CAFOs
A previous post on American Feast's Sustainable Food Blog explained some of what is at stake:
Family-scale dairy farms feeding free-roaming cows on healthy grass face tough competition from concentrated animal feeding operations. The densely penned cows at CAFOs are sickened from being fed the abundance of corn grown with massive government subsidies, posing a very real threat to human health. Cow droppings make good fertilizer on small farms, but at CAFOs the immense amount of waste is a toxic threat to the health of people and the environment.
Of course, people around the globe have been safely consuming raw milk and cheeses for thousands of years. Allowing the interstate sale of raw milk is an important step toward making family-scale dairy farms part of a healthier and more sustainable future.
The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is a nonprofit defending the rights and freedoms of family farms by protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Americans are Buying More Natural Foods Despite Weak Economy
Organic Oranges (photo by Darnok, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Four Out of Five Baby Boomers More Concerned About Foods They Eat
Organic foods are making a larger impact on consumers' shopping choices in 2010, according to a new survey. About three out of four adults continue to purchase natural and organic foods, but 27% of adults say that natural and organic foods comprise more than a quarter of their total food purchases this year, up from just 20% a year ago.
More than four-fifths of adults say they are now more concerned with what foods they eat (84%), they read nutrition labels more closely today (84%) and have a better understanding of how their food is produced (83%) than they did in 1980.
The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive® within the United States on behalf of Whole Foods Market® for the grocery company’s annual Food Shopping Trends Tracker report. Whole Foods Market also surveyed Baby Boomers in June via Harris Interactive about food attitudes and purchasing habits today compared to three decades ago.
A ‘Sea Change’ in Shopper Attitudes
"There has been a sea change these past 30 years in shopper attitudes toward food with a growing appetite for information on how and where food is produced to what's in the food and how it impacts health," says Michael Besancon, Senior Global Vice President of Purchasing, Distribution & Marketing for Whole Foods Market.
For a snapshot of how food buying habits have changed, Whole Foods Market asked Boomers to rank the top items nearly always in the pantry/refrigerator in 1980 compared to today.
In 1980, the top five items were:
• Milk (89%)
• Canned or frozen vegetables (83%)
• White bread (74%)
• Soda/pop (74%)
• Iceberg lettuce (66%)
In 2010, the top five items are:
• Fresh fruit (83%)
• Milk (82%)
• Fresh vegetables (79%)
• Wheat or whole-grain bread (77%)
• Canned or frozen vegetables (69%)
Comparing the two time periods, spring or mixed lettuces show the highest increase in popularity today among Boomers (59% currently vs. 14% 30 years ago), followed by wheat or whole-grain bread (77% currently vs. 34% thirty years ago), and whole grain cereal with little or no sugar (66% today vs. 26% thirty years ago).
Rounding out the top 10 list of food items that grew in popularity among Boomers over the past 30 years are food supplements, fresh fruit, specialty beverages like gourmet coffees and flavored teas, fresh vegetables, fresh-prepared entrees, salads and/or sides, ethnic foods and/or ingredients, and store brands.
Conversely, sugary cereal shows the largest decline in popularity among Boomers (63% 30 years ago vs. just 19% today), closely followed by white bread (74% 30 years ago vs. 31% today).
Most Boomers report they are now more concerned about fat (74%), cholesterol (74%) and added growth hormones and antibiotics in meat and dairy products (70%) than in 1980.
Impact of Weak Economy on Food Shopping
More than half (54%) of Boomers say they buy more organic and/or natural foods today. This finding is in line with findings from the Whole Foods Market Food Shopping Trends Tracker survey that show an increase in adults who say if prices are comparable they prefer to buy natural and/or organic foods over conventional foods (73%), and they would like to find ways to be able to buy natural and/or organic foods within their budget (72%), both experiencing a significant 7-point increase from last year's findings.
Most adults say current food prices continue to impact how they shop for groceries (84%), and the economy has impacted their cooking and eating habits (77%). Specifically, they are eating dinner at home more often and eating out less (59%) and are budgeting food shopping trips more strictly (42%). Of those adults who indicated that current food prices have affected their grocery shopping 46% say they go out of their way to look for lower-cost items, 56% say they prepare more meals at home, and 26% plan meals for the week and buy only what they need for that week.
"While the economic downturn has brought renewed attention to getting more value for less money, it is encouraging to see that shoppers don't want to cut corners on healthy, high quality food," says Besancon. The survey found, regardless of current food prices, the majority (72%) of adults say they don't want to compromise on the quality of the food they buy.
Report Blasts the FDA for Failure to Ensure Food Safety
Wheat Field at Sunset (photo by diggerdanno, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
"As recent illnesses traced to produce underscore, foodborne diseases cause significant suffering..."
In light of the seemingly endless deluge of frightening media coverage of foodborne illnesses and food recalls, it comes as little surprise that a recent report has slammed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its ineffectiveness at ensuring food safety.
The report was prepared by Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. It says the FDA’s ability “to discover potential threats to food safety and prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness are hampered by impediments to efficient use of its limited resources and a piecemeal approach to gathering and using information on risks.”
The FDA’s Approach is Too Reactive
"As recent illnesses traced to produce underscore, foodborne diseases cause significant suffering, so it's imperative that our food safety system functions effectively at all levels," said committee chair Robert Wallace, professor, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Professor Wallace went on to say, "FDA uses some risk assessment and management tactics, but the agency's approach is too often reactive and lacks a systematic focus on prevention. Our report's recommendations aim to help FDA achieve a comprehensive vision for proactively protecting against threats to the nation's food supply."
FDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of approximately 80% of the nation's food supply, including seafood, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables. It is not the sole organization overseeing food safety, the U.S. Department of Agriculture handles meat, poultry, and egg products, and state and local agencies share in conducting food production facility inspections, surveillance, and investigations of outbreaks.
About the Report
Recent outbreaks of foodborne illness led the U.S. Congress to request a review of gaps in the FDA's food safety system. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter.
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The Valley Meat Company of Modesto, California is recalling approximately 1 million pounds of frozen ground-beef patties and bulk ground-beef products that may be contaminated with a rare strain of toxic E. coli . The recall was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on August 6th.
Concern exists that some contaminated meat may be frozen and in consumers' freezers. FSIS strongly encourages consumers to check their freezers and immediately discard any product that is the subject of this recall.
Products subject to recall bear the establishment number "EST. 8268" inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as a production code of 25709 through 01210. These products were produced between October 2, 2009 through January 12, 2010. The ground beef was distributed to retail outlets and institutional foodservice providers in California, Texas, Oregon, Arizona and internationally. Thus far, seven people are believed to have become ill from the contaminated beef.
9,000 Deaths from Fodborne Illnesses Anually
In the United States, foodborne diseases have been estimated to cause 6 million to an astonishing 81 million illnesses and up to 9,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Escherichia coli (E. coli) are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Some kinds of E. coli are harmless, while others can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses. The major source for human illnesses is cattle.
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“More than 93% of the general population has some BPA in their bodies.”
Bad news for folks drinking water from plastic bottles in pursuit of safety and good health, leading them to pay 1,000 times as much for their drinking water. They need to know that the water they are drinking is likely to be contaminated with highly toxic BPA.
BPA stands for Bisphenol A, a synthetic chemical that interferes with the body’s natural hormonal messaging system. According to the Environment California Research & Policy Center, which reviewed 130 studies on the topic, BPA has been linked to altered development of the brain and behavioral changes, a predisposition to prostate and breast cancer, reproductive harm, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. BPA can wreak havoc on children’s developing systems.
NRDC Files Lawsuit to Ban BPA
The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration for its failure to act on a petition to ban the use of BPA in food packaging, food containers, and other materials likely to come into contact with food. NRDC filed the lawsuit in U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In October 2008, NRDC petitioned the FDA to prohibit the use of BPA in food packaging to prevent the toxic chemical from contaminating food. The FDA has failed to take action in response to the petition for more than 18 months, although the agency expressed concern about the effects of early life exposure to BPA on brain development and the prostate gland of fetuses, infants, and children.
BPA Is Ubiquitois in Food & Water Packages
BPA is found in wide variety of products, including the lining of liquid infant formula cans, soda or beer cans, fruit or vegetable cans, and pizza boxes as well as consumer products made from polycarbonate plastics, including baby bottles, sippy cups, and reusable water bottles. Much of that packing ends up in landfills, posing a severe threat to the health of the environment.
The re-use of plastic bottles leads to normal wear and tear and increases the chance that chemicals will leak out of the tiny cracks and crevices that develop over time. By law, tap water is subjected to more testing than bottled water and almost certain to be a safer alternative. More than 93% of the general population has some BPA in their bodies, primarily from exposure through food and water contamination and other preventable exposures.
Alternatives to BPA are Available
“BPA-free alternatives are already available and on the market. The FDA has no good reason to drag their feet on banning it,” said Dr. Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist in the Environment and Public Health program at NRDC. “It’s upsetting that food is most people’s primary source of exposure to BPA. The FDA should act now to eliminate this unnecessary risk.”
“The FDA has failed to safeguard the food supply and protect the public from harm,” said
Aaron Colangelo, an attorney with NRDC. “The FDA’s failure to regulate this chemical in food packaging in unjustified, and so we are forced to ask the court to intervene and order the agency to take action.”
About NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.3 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.
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Scientists Claim High-Carb Diets Cause Obesity, Heart Disease & Diabetes
On the Scale (photo by Clara Natoli, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
The USDA Dietary Guidelines are a leading cause of the American health and obesity crisis, according to some of the scientists, nutritionists and consumers who testified last Thursday at a USDA public hearing on the report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). Dissenters argued that the proposed 2010 revisions to the Dietary Guidelines are worse, and will not prevent obesity and will only increase degenerative disease in the U.S.
Those testifying against the Guidelines said the Committee misused of scientific data to justify a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. Dr. Jeff Volek, scientist and academic researcher at the University of Connecticut, noted that the DGAC report ignored scientific studies showing the effectiveness of low carbohydrate diets for weight loss. “Americans deserve to have official support for the low-carb dietary option,” he said.
"I have followed the work of the DGAC all the way through this process as an academic project. I have dug into their nutrition evidence library,” said Adele Hite, a graduate student in nutrition and public health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. “Time after time, the scientific evidence the DGAC cited to oppose low-carb diets actually says the exact opposite of the Committee’s conclusions." Hite testified to losing sixty pounds on a low-carbohydrate diet.
Morton Satin of the Salt Institute sharply criticized the Committee’s recommendation to reduce sodium consumption to 1500 mg per day. "The Committee is suggesting that Americans consume less than 4 grams of salt per day. No modern society consumes so little salt, making this proposal nothing less than a call for an uncontrolled experiment on more than 300 million Americans.” Satin provided references showing the critical role of salt in digestion, blood pressure regulation and brain development.
Advocates for a Low-Carbohydrate Diet
Four of the dissenters presented the views of the Nutrition and Metabolism Society, a group of nutrition researchers and medical professionals who have studied the benefits of a low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss, insulin regulation and protection against chronic disease. “We expected the new guidelines to recognize current research that vindicates saturated fats as a cause of heart disease and weight gain, and to acknowledge the demonstrated benefits of lower carbohydrate diets,” said Dr. Richard Feinman of Downstate University, New York.
In response to the DGAC report, the Nutrition and Metabolism Society recently launched the Committee for a Healthy Nation (CHN). "The CHN is a working coalition of professionals who oppose the low-fat, plant-based thrust of the DGAC report. We feel strongly that the scientific evidence omitted from or misrepresented by their report must be considered in the final outcome," said Feinman.
"Five years ago, I was the lone voice testifying against the guidelines,” said Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation and member of the CHN. “This year I was happy to be joined by members of the medical and research community in opposition to USDA’s unscientific prescription." Fallon Morell’s testimony focused on nutrient deficiencies common in those following low-fat diets.
Dr. Feinman challenged the DGAC panel to an open public debate on the scientific evidence underpinning the Guidelines. "Our nation's citizens need a range of dietary options to choose from, not a one-size-fits-all approach. We must allow for lifestyle, activity levels and metabolism as factors in choosing an optimal diet for each individual.”
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Farm Field (photo by diggerdanno, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Kudos to those who have let their views be known when it comes to the advertising of unhealthy foods on television programs aimed at children. It appears to be having a positive effect.
A new study says there have been “substantial decreases in exposure to ads for the most heavily advertised sugar-sweetened beverages” and exposure to sweets ads fell as well. On the down side, the researchers report that exposure to fast food ads has actually increased.
An article on the study was published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. It was authored by researchers affiliated with the Institute for Health Research and Policy and the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The Unhealthy Consequences
What comes of selling food loaded with empty calories to children? According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16% of children ages 6 to 19 years old are overweight or obese, a number that has tripled to 9 million kids since 1980. Type 2 diabetes is an illness linked to obesity, and was once almost unknown in children. But for those born in the U.S. in 2000, the risk of being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives is estimated to be about 30% for boys and 40% for girls.
A Direct & Powerful Link Between Ads & Eating Habits
Experiments conducted by researchers at Yale University found “a direct and powerful link between television food advertising and calories consumed by adults and children.” The research appeared in the July 2009 issue of the journal Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.
The lead author of the study, Jennifer Harris, PhD, at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale said, “Food advertising triggers automatic eating, regardless of hunger, and is a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. Reducing unhealthy food advertising to children is critical.”
The Power of Pester
Corporate Accountability International, a nonprofit watchdog group, has published a research paper on the topic of food advertising aimed at children, “Clowning With Kids’ Health, The Case for Ronald McDonald’s Retirement.”
CAI’s report offers some interesting insights on the practice of advertising to children so they will pester parents to buy products:
Advertisers understand that it takes a lot of fortitude for a parent to continue to say no, when saying yes is the path of least resistance. They also understand that even health-conscious parents are inclined to give-in after a long day at work or after busily shuttling kids from school to soccer practice to piano lessons and beyond. Not only have they classified nagging tactics into seven major categories from pleading nags to pity nags, they’ve even gone so far as to categorize parents according to identified stress factors and conditions (such as income, marital status, and guilt) that make a parent more vulnerable to the nagging of their children.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Scientists Say Chemical Food Dyes Pose Health Risks to Children
Beach Fun (photo by Nesstor4u2, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
“Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.” -Michael Pollan, 'Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual'
Chemists at major food companies have been coming up with colorings to help market foods for generations, products often targeted at kids. Concerns about the safety of the chemical dyes additives go back as far as 1960, and a recent study suggests those fears have been well founded.
A recent report from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest says:
…studies of the nine dyes currently approved by the FDA suggest, if not prove, that most of the dyes cause health problems, including cancer, hypersensitivity, or neurotoxicity (including hyperactivity). And that’s the case even though most of the research was commissioned, conducted, and interpreted by the chemical industry itself and its testing labs and academic consultants.
That is particularly troubling because food dyes are tested for safety individually, even though food marketers add them in various combinations, likely heightening the risk. Adding to the threat are impurities that might be “upwards of 10 percent…Yellow 5, the second-most widely used dye, may contain up to 13 percent of a witch’s brew of organic and inorganic chemicals,” says the report.
CSPI says it “has urged several major multinational companies that do not use dyes in Europe to do the same in the United States.” Most of those companies said European government has urged them not to use dyes, but they would continue adding dyes in the U.S. until they were ordered to stop or consumers demanded such foods.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
An astonishing 90 percent of American adults consume an unhealthy amount of salt each day, causing widespread high blood pressure and placing millions at risk of heart attack and stroke. But only 11 percent of the sodium in Americans’ diets comes from their own saltshakers; nearly 80 percent is added to foods before they are sold.
Most Sodium Comes from Commonly Eaten Foods
According to a new report, "Sodium Intake in Adults – United States, 2005-2006," published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, less than 10 percent of U.S. adults limit their daily sodium intake to recommended levels. The report also finds that most sodium in the American diet comes from processed grains such as pizza and cookies, and meats, including poultry and luncheon meats.
The new report says U.S. adults consume an average of 3,466 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day, more than twice the current recommended limit for most Americans. Grains provide 36.9 percent of this total, followed by dishes containing meat, poultry, and fish (27.9 percent). These two categories combined account for almost two-thirds of the daily sodium intake for Americans.
Pervasiveness of Sodium Makes Limiting Intake Difficult
An estimated 77 percent of dietary sodium comes from processed and restaurant foods. Many of these foods, such as breads and cookies, may not even taste salty.
"Sodium has become so pervasive in our food supply that it's difficult for the vast majority of Americans to stay within recommended limits," said Janelle Peralez Gunn, public health analyst with CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention and lead author of the report. "Public health professionals, together with food manufacturers, retailers and health care providers, must take action now to help support people's efforts to reduce their sodium consumption."
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that people consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. Specific groups, including persons with high blood pressure, all middle-aged and older adults and all blacks, should limit intake to 1500 mg per day. These specific groups comprise nearly 70 percent of the U.S. adult population.
This study found that only 9.6 percent of all participants met their applicable dietary recommendation, including 5.5 percent of the group limited to 1,500 mg per day and 18.8 percent of the 2,300 mg per day group.
Reduce Salt to Prevent Heart Disease & Stroke
The findings add to a growing body of observational research studies on Americans' excessive sodium consumption. Over-consumption of sodium can have negative health effects, including increasing average levels of blood pressure. One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, and an estimated 90 percent of U.S. adults will develop the disease in their lifetime. Blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death among adults in the United States.
The National Salt Reduction Initiative
The National Salt Reduction Initiative is a New York City-led partnership of cities, states and national health organizations. It has set specific targets to help companies reduce the salt levels in 61 categories of packaged food and 25 classes of restaurant food. Some popular products already meet these targets, a clear indication that food companies can substantially lower sodium levels while still offering foods that consumers enjoy. Some major food companies are alreaqdy quietly reducing the sodium in their products.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Keep Genetically Modified Sugar out of the Food Supply
Sugar (photo by Stuart Whitmore, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Last year American Feast joined over 70 food companies and retailers on vowing not to use or sell food that contained genetically modified (GM) beet sugar. They share the belief that there has been insufficient study of the long term effects of genetically modified crops on human health and the environment.
The 70 companies signed the Non-GM Beet Sugar Registry, sponsored by a dozen food safety and environmental organizations. Now the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group, is calling for food giants Hershey and Mars to sign the registry.
Labeling GM Foods
One reason for establishing the registry is the absence of mandatory labeling for genetically modified foods. The sponsoring organizations believe consumers should be given a choice as to whether or not they want to eat genetically modified food.
Food Navigator has quoted Jeffrey Smith, director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, “We need to avoid the all-too-common situation of finding out a product is harmful after it has been approved and widely distributed. Requiring that GM foods be labeled is the only protection consumers have if they want to avoid eating GM foods.”
The sugar beets were genetically modified to be resistant to a herbicide, making it easier to kill weeds without destroying the sugar beet plants. Opponents fear the genetically modified plants will cross-pollinate with related crops such as chard and table beets, needlessly affecting non-GM foods and food ingredients.
Tom Stearns, president of High Mowing Organic Seeds, told Food Navigator, “Overseas markets have already rejected other GM products, so the economic future of many of our nation’s farmers is being needlessly risked.”
GM Foods Lower Crop Yields
In May of 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called on "Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks."
As for the claim that GM foods are needed to feed a hungry world, Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists Food and Environment Program has concluded "...that GE (genetic engineering) has done little to increase overall crop yields." And a major study conducted at the University of Kansas has found that the controversial technology actually reduces crop yields.
For information related to the purchase of advertising space and editorial coverage on the American Feast web site call Jeff Deasy toll free at 877-332-7875 or email him at jdeasy@americanfeast.com
Farm-to-table dining has been a growing trend for some time and there is no sign it will slow anytime soon. The movement to serve fresh, local, sustainably harvested food is offering truly distinctive dining experiences and helping raise awareness of the delicious alternative to heavily processed foods shipped from factories.
One meal at a good farm-to-table restaurant should convince anyone that foods are at their most flavorful and nutritious when served at their freshest. Eating seasonal foods produced without chemicals, whether grown at home or in a community garden, or purchased from a trusted local farmer, makes for better health and a cleaner environment.
The Bounty of California’s Napa Valley
The Napa Valley in California is one of America’s most rare and precious agricultural preserves. Home to the founders of America's fine wine industry, its towns and villages also present a bounty of crops for an authentic farm-to-table dining experience regularly enjoyed by visitors and locals alike. The very word Napa stands for ‘Land of Plenty’, the original meaning given to the region by its first inhabitants, the Wappo Indians.
Many Napa Valley restaurant chefs cultivate their own orchards, vineyards and gardens teeming with rows of basil, eggplant, squash, pomegranates, figs, tomatoes and of course grapes. The freshness makes a huge taste difference, as is regularly noted by restaurant patrons and those culinary institutions dishing up annual accolades. Even those who do not have gardens of their own largely rely on the bounty of area farms and local farmers markets.
The Napa Valley Destination Council has prepared a short list of those Napa Valley restaurants with gardens of particular note:
• Ad Hoc, Chef Thomas Keller’s casual restaurant located in Yountville, features American comfort classics in a relaxed setting reminiscent of home. The restaurant’s 4-course prix-fixe menu is crafted daily, featuring the finest, in-season ingredients sourced from its own culinary garden.
• Bouchon bistro, also in Yountville, and another of Thomas Keller’s restaurants, features traditional bistro inspired cuisine in a vibrant atmosphere reminiscent of classic Lyonese café dining. Fruits and vegetables, as expected, come from the restaurant group’s culinary garden, located across from The French Laundry.
• Again hailing from Yountville, the farm-fresh restaurant menu at the Bardessono Inn is based on locally sourced organic ingredients, with much of the produce coming from the hotel's organic gardens and an orchard on the old Bardessono estate. Inspired by the abundance of the Napa Valley, executive chef O’Toole’s menu draws from local growers, farmers’ markets and the restaurant’s own on- and off-site culinary gardens. Bardessono has earned LEED Platinum certification.
• Brix Restaurant and Gardens draws on the bounty of their vineyard, orchard, vegetable and flower gardens. Comprised of raised boxed beds and in-ground beds, Brix grows crops year-round including tiny salad greens, fava beans and strawberries in the spring; French beans, eggplant, tomatoes, berries and melons in the summer; apples and pears, hard squash, potatoes and fresh onions in the fall; and Meyer lemons and sweet limes, sweet peas, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower Romenesco and butter lettuce in the winter. It¹s not unusual to see the restaurant¹s chefs out in the garden gathering fruits, vegetables and herbs for the day¹s specials.
• Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen and Go Fish of St. Helena, along with Mustard’s Grill in Napa are owned and operated by Cindy Pawlcyn, one of the first female chefs to champion fresh, local, seasonal food. Along with cultivating a 1½-acre organic garden at her home, her Mustards Grill and Go Fish eateries feature organic gardens that supplement the other locally sourced produce used in her dishes. This culinary pioneer of Napa regional cuisine has made a solid commitment to seasonal inspiration and the use of the region’s bountiful harvests as the fresh ingredients for brilliantly delectable creations.
• The French Laundry in Yountville is known for being a perennial finisher in Restaurant Magazine’s list of Top 50 Restaurants of the World and since 2006 the sole Michelin 3-star recipient in the region. Lesser-known, but directly across the street from this esteem
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