Greening - Various Tools to Help You Shop and Live Wisely

Dear Folks,

If you have been following me, you are probably already trying to shop at your local farmers markets, do more cooking at home to control your menu ingredients, enhance your family quality time, and experiment with all those cool recipes you see on cooking shows.

To add to your tools and information sources, I tripped across a couple of sites I found helpful.

http://www.sustainabletable.org/spread/kits

The Sustainable Table site has a variety of kits (in PDF file form) which can be used as teaching or display tools and for your own family information use.

They also have a kit for the Sustainable Dinner Party which can give you some ideas for Supper Groups.
(I have been thinking off and on of potentially setting up 'secret suppers' -- it would require quite a bit of planning, but is fun to contemplate.  I will let you all know if I get serious!)

Another site to visit for information is the Animal Welfare Institute, which certifies humanely raised livestock farms.  They are dedicated to supporting the small-scale and family farm. http://www.awionline.org/


The troubling issues with factory farming continue to, finally, get more and more attention. Even when a farmer wants to do things right if they make the mistake of getting into contracts with large processors -- the real manufacturers when you come down to what you are buying -- they are trapped in unconscionably egregious contracts which leaves them captive to corporate whims or in bankruptcy.


Read what some chicken farmers are up against.
http://www.sustainabletable.org/2010/05/chicken-farmers-describe-a-system-of-extortion-and-economic-slavery/


How can you get more control over what you buy?  I have noticed more and more food manufacturers are getting the message.  I just saw an ad for Hunts Ketchup which loudly proclaimed on the label 'no high fructose corn syrup' -- good start!

They are listening. The real challenge to getting healthier and better quality foods is to make sure you are clear about what you want them to offer to you.

I participate in online consumer surveys.  I am troubled when the elimination questions (I don't have the ability to complain about the questions) are frequently aimed at getting the survey participant to use emotions to explain how they purchase something.  That is not to say there are no questions about what do you purchase - recently I had a survey on dairy and cheese and how much was organic, or natural, or other - that was a good one.

One good thing I noticed about the surveys in the last 6 months are the options in prepared goods or shelf-stable foods which offer more environmental, natural, local, family farm options for selections in answering the survey.

So why might that be a problem?  Because those buzz words can be grabbed by food processors to label something which amounts to bait and switch - "So and so's family farm produces only naturally prepared..."

Back in January, 2010 "Tyson Foods Inc. has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the poultry giant of falsely claiming its chickens were "raised without antibiotics."


"In 2007, Tyson began advertising and labeling its poultry products as having been "raised without antibiotics." The following year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered Tyson to remove the labels when it found that the company had injected its chickens with antibiotics before they hatched. Tyson argued the labels were accurate because chickens aren't "raised" until after they're born."


So how do you like that corporate logic?

Isn't that enough to make you want to scream at them!  The quote attributed to Voltaire goes something like "If you wish to converse with me, define your terms."  Don't you wish we could tell corporate food producers they need to define their terms so we know what they are really saying?

What is a consumer to do?  You need to know your suppliers like your grandparents did, your local farmers, meat producers, egg sellers, and cheese makers.

Some of the material on the sustainable table site are sheets of questions to ask sellers of food.

Oh, and on the subject of organic - organic picked green and shipped hundreds or thousands of miles is not a whole lot better for you than "somewhat" regional and non-organic.

Organic and natural are two words used at your local farmers market.  Here is what THEY mean:

Organic means it was grown locally in a USDA certified program, picked local and sold local.

Natural for most of our local small-scale farmers means they grew the foods or produced the foods in much the same way as organic producers but without going through the expense of official certification.

Our farmers market vendors and farmers are happy to tell you all about their foods and origins - they are proud of their products.  Ask them questions.

There is now a "Certified Naturally Grown" label for small-scale farmers and food producers. Check them out at:  http://www.naturallygrown.org/

What is a natural flavor or anything proclaimed natural?

The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or flavoring rather than nutritional...”

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=101.22

When a company says it is selling you something based on what they KNOW you want, but if it is in-fact selling you a substitute or inferior product isn’t that bait and switch?

The manufacturers of Splenda were sued for claiming their product is sugar.  It is not and they had to concede that or face losing the lawsuit.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18618557/

When the high fructose corn syrup producers revved up their protectionist marketing campaign to tell us that it was our own over-eating that was the problem and not their product, they left out the science which shows that consuming foods containing HFCS does not trigger the “you are full” chemical leptin.  And their throw-away tag line “in moderation” is a slap in the face when you look at the sheer volume of foods manufactured with HFCS -- how do you moderate eating something that is in almost every processed or manufactured food and which has no eating cut off command?

Oh, and the FDA does not object to the corn syrup producers calling HFCS ‘natural’ - natural hmm, - HFCS has been found to be toxic to honey bees fed it.  (In cold winter areas bee keepers feed their bees sugar water or even honey to help sustain them through the cold time.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup

See my blog on sweeteners:

http://edibleherbsandflowers.blogspot.com/2008/09/homemade-sodas-sorbets-and-what-about.html

I have also been concerned about the very useful plant-based Stevia being ‘hijacked’ by the corporate giants.

In looking at labels on packages of some of the newest offerings purporting to be Stevia, most are a combination of stevia and sugar alcohols -- the sugar alcohols being used to add baking capabilities and additional taste.  Not necessarily a bad thing although some people are allergic to some sugar alcohols like sorbitol (I for one am).

What bothers me is when one of the big giants (or two) get into the act and make some part of it proprietary with the disclaimer "trade secret."  Truvia is a partnership of Cargill and Coca Cola, and they have stevia and sugar alcohol listed on their ingredients.  And then they say “natural flavors” but won’t tell you what they are - it is a trade secret.

Remember HFCS can call itself natural. Splenda tried to call itself something it wasn’t.

Bottom line - if you can’t tell what the ingredients really are and you don’t know enough about the company's history in truthful advertising, back away.

AND don't forget about growing some of your own food, raising a couple of chickens for eggs, or even consider having a dairy goat or two (you need to know your areas zoning limitations).

You may wish to join the Phoenix Permaculture Guild forum  - they have groups on different subjects. I am a member of the micro-livestock group and soil culture group.  Nice people, made up of newbies, getting there, experts - who still learn - and all are very helpful with answering questions.

http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/

If you have an interest in my books, the publishing site is still offering free shipping on orders totaling 19.95 shipped to USA addresses.

www.lulu.com/herbs2u

And for you Mac iPad, iPod and iPhone users my Edible Landscaping in the Desert Southwest is now available through iBook.

Have a great weekend,

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

Green Shopping - What Do Advertisers Focus On

Howdy folks,

Every so often I really sit up and take notice of an advertisement that rings a warning bell in my brain. Recently I wrote about the whole issue of 'food grade white distilled vinegar' being made from petroleum.( Click here to read that post if you don't see it on this front page.) I learned about that from an ad for Heinz vinegar touting their made from real food vinegar and of course did some research.

Here is another one of those ads that got me checking. Total cereal was comparing itself to Kashi Go Lean, as having 100% of a bunch of vitamins, and that Kashi had virtually none. WELL, since I like Kashi as one of my cereal choices, and since Total is a long time favorite of many folks (not me, but that is just taste preference) I went researching and what did I find?

It is true that Total has more 100% of certain vitamins and minerals, HOWEVER, there is little else to redeem it when compared to Kashi (with one exception, and I will discuss that).

First a little nutrient math.

Calorie intake recommendations for a woman (2000 calories) or a man (2500 Calories) require a certain amount of protein and fiber each day to maintain optimal health (brain function, tissue maintenance and digestive tract health, among other things), plus of course many other elements like vitamins and minerals. For the sake of this post I'm dealing only with the protein and fiber, since without them vitamins and minerals would be useless. A person consuming 2000 calories a day needs 60 grams of protein and a 2500 a day calorie diet requires 65 grams of protein a day. Each needs about 25 grams of fiber a day. If you have not caught all the discussions about fiber, it is a two-fold requirement of our bodies -- it keeps the digestive tract working properly without laxatives and it also keeps cholesterol and blood sugar at good levels.

Since most folks give a decent breakfast only a nodding acknowledgment, cereal is the choice of many people.

Adela Davis, one of the early promoters of better eating (she had her detractors - but over all her recommendations were very sound) said to, "breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a pauper." Farmers and ranchers tend to follow this regime with huge breakfasts followed by lighter lunch and dinners.

If you take the protein and fiber requirements of each meal - simply dividing 3 into the protein and fiber gram recommendations) you come up with each of our typical 3 meals a day should have 20-22 grams of protein and 8-9 grams of fiber, give or take.

In looking at Total's nutrient chart - the side of the box label - what you are really consuming with a bowl of total cereal - aside from the milk - is a multi-vitamin pill - in fact one buyer of Total through Amazon.com grocery section suggests that is why they choose Total -- they don't have to take a pill!

Well how about the math? Good Apple in Apache Junction (an independent health food/supplement store) sells a high quality 1-a-day multi-vitamin/mineral called "Little Super 1 Daily) and each pill costs about 7 cents - a day. Total cereal is about 27-35 cents per bowl. If you want to take a multi-vitamin I think the pill (as long as it is a superior quality) is the better economy.

Here is how the numbers work out.

Kashi Go Lean - Honey Almond Flax

Calories 200 (1 cup)
Protein 9 Grams
Fiber 8 Grams
0 cholesterol

Total Cereal

Calories 100 (3/4 cup)
Protein 2 grams
Fiber 3 Grams
0 cholesterol

Add 1/2 cup of milk to each cereal for 4 grams of protein, and you can see that where a meal that is supposed to get you going for the day and keep you satisfied until lunch, will be way under-performing if you rely on Total.

What is the one exception of Kashi superiority over Total? Sugar - but wait there is more. First the stats. A bowl of Kashi (before milk) has 12 grams of sugar, and a bowl of Total (before milk) has 4 grams of sugar. The USDA recommendations for both carbohydrates and sugar are that total carbs should be approximately 50% (250 grams) to 60% (300 grams) of your total calorie intake and of that sugar should not exceed 40 grams per day.

Keep in mind real sources of fat and sugar are not enemies unless you over indulge and I don't have to explain that to you -- we all know what over indulging is - when we know what we are eating.

Not all sugars are equal - no pun intended. Tops on my favorite mis-leading advertisers and claims are all the mis-direction about corn syrups, particularly high fructose corn syrup as opposed to cane sugar.

The research keeps piling up about the serious down-side of the consumption of high fructose corn syrup. The latest is from the Journal of Clinical Investigation read here . Lot of techno-stuff which probably appears like babble but here is the gist of it -- HFCS is a super processed 'sugar' which does not have the shut off signal (leptin) which cane sugar (or real fruit sugars) has, in fact it actually has a signal (ghrelin) which tells the body eat more, the more HFCS you eat the more your body craves it. This new study has some additional findings which go to heart-disease increased risk - not just obesity, but that is a big factor. It is about where the body tends to deposit that extra fat, in the abdomen, which research is showing has a direct correlation to heart disease.

The grossly-misleading ads by the corn syrup producers that 'when consumed in moderation' completely ignore the research showing someone consistently taking in these products CAN'T stop consuming because their bodies won't let them. (Will-power and self-control aside - if your body is telling you eat, busy people tend to follow that directive.)

The challenge becomes one of 'what are we eating' that we don't either know about or don't understand.

Kashi Go-Lean Honey Almond Flax is made with evaporated cane sugar, brown rice syrup and honey and contains 11 different grains, seeds and nuts. Kashi is owned by Kellogg Company.

Total Whole Grain Cereal is made with sugar (not specified as source) and corn syrup and 1 grain - whole wheat. Total is owned by General Mills.

Large corporations tend to give customers what they ask for, so we as consumers have to be careful what we want and how we define the need. Are you like the reviewer of Total Cereal on Amazon's grocery site who said that what s/he really wants is a substitute for a pill -- oh my goodness! Or do you want real food, with real benefits and less mis-directing hype?

Don't take either my thoughts or my suggestion of Kash cereals as the only way to go. Go out and do some 'marketing / benefit' research yourself.

One last note and reference. In November 2008 I posted a blog on nutrient density and an easy formula to use to compare processed/manufactured foods. Read it here - I showed you how to use a simple math formula totaling fiber and protein grams and dividing that into calories for an optimal target 'factor' of 20, the lower the factor the more nutrient dense the food item.

Using that formula here is how Kashi and Total compare.

Kashi 9 protein and 8 fiber total 17 divided into 200 = just under 12.

Total 2 protein, 3 fiber total 5 divided into 100 = 20.

Now my target maximum factor is 20, the lower the factor the better the nutrient density. While Total squeaks by with a factor of 20, if you were doing comparisons which would you choose?

Have a great day,


-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

Bringing My Blog Back Up

Dear Folks,

When I first put the blog up several years ago I thought I would be able to keep it going on a regular basis. But with life being what it is and was, I found some of the things I wanted to do with the Blog too time consuming versus putting out some internet newsletters and writing for local papers.

Now that posting to the blog is easier (for me anyway) and I have re-structured some of my writing I want to use this blog for my frequent thoughts, concepts and opinions on all things edible from the garden to the table, and greening up your life suggestions with an emphasis on helping you become a locavore.

A little bit about being a locavore and bringing buying decisions nearer to your home -- makes even more sense now that so many folks are having to adjust to a less-far-ranging errand running and lifestyle use of vehicles.

A locavore is both a person and a life-choice option. Being a locavore in essence means buying choices which are not only physically closer to you, but which also focus on where the 'thing' is made or grown.

If family and community are important parts of your life, then supporting local farmers, crafters, and the good old fashioned (now in again) mom-and-pop (M&Ps-for reference) stores -- you know, the ones owned and operated by your friends and neighbors -- is now more important than ever.

Does shopping locally guarantee you will always be happy with what you have? No, of course not.

But, for example, if you purchase locally grown, "seasonally available" fruits and vegetables, you are purchasing food which is picked at its prime, the most nutritious it will ever be, minimizing use of fuels, and supporting a local farmer.

If you shop at a M&P store, more money goes back into the local (your community) economy.

This is not about putting chain retailer or chain grocers out of business. This is about taking back control over not only your buying options, but also making choices which will result in benefits to you, your family and your community.

If your city or town prefers to deal with chain retailers and not the the M&Ps, think about whether your city or town is a cookie-cutter-found-anywhere type of town or does it stand out as a place to call "home town."

You know who has the power to support M&Ps and make chain stores really competitive? YOU!

If you always choose price over quality, are you producing your own self-inflicted injury, i.e., if all the chains take over all the cities and towns, where will your buying choices be?

There will always be a need for chain retailers and grocers, unless you want to create your own mini-self-sustaining life in your own back yard.

But like customers of mine at the farmers market who buy my fresh herbs -- many of them do not have the skills, time, or space to grow what I do. Likewise, I have not decided to grow my own cotton and weave my own cloth, etc. so I buy clothing from some chain stores and some M&Ps.

Here's a short to-do suggestion for you: Use the internet and find suppliers in your neighborhood. Go to http://www.localharvest.org to find food producers near you (all the USA and many countries). In Arizona you can find M&P stores offering many types of goods at http://www.localfirstaz.com.

Find a local farmers market by zip code or state at the USDA site at: http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

And finally an important 'greening' tip for you and the health of your family. Do whatever it takes to ditch any food product containing 'high fructose corn syrup' HFCS from your and your family's meals including school food programs. The science about the health consequences and addictive nature of HFCS is still rolling in and overwhelming. It is about how our bodies react to this artificially manipulated sugar product. You and your family are far better off using cane sugar, honey, molasses and agave nectar.

And if the kids are addicted to sodas and you have a challenge getting them off the commercial sodas - make homemade sodas using unsweetened concentrated frozen juices (they are naturally sweet). Easy, they will like them and you get to control the ingredients: 1/4 cup of thawed juice concentrate to 3/4 sparkling water, seltzer or club soda (check the sodium contents of those 'fizzies' for choosing the right ones for your family). It is easy to teach even small children to make their own orange, pineapple, cranberry or raspberry soda using a marked measuring cup handy. Fill the cup to the 2 ounce level (1/4 cup) and add chilled fizzy water to near the top, transfer to a drinking glass, add ice if desired and enjoy.

Commercial options are out there - check out Hansens Natural Sodas, now available in most stores.

Have a wonderful day,

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady