Senate passes food-safety legislation -

Senate passes food-safety legislation - latimes.com

Get more information here 

UPDATE: The bill, with language that is substantially different from its original version, passed the Senate on Tuesday morning by a vote of 73 to 25. 

See how  senate members voted
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00257
The legislation—the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)—was intended to get the FDA to crack down on unsafe foods before they harm people rather than after outbreaks occur. This was especially controversial because of a number of provisions that would have created a litany of unintended regulatory consequences for small organic farms and supplement manufacturers. The bill is better now than its earlier version despite push back from anti-health-supplement proponents and the processed food industry. 

The work of a diverse and dedicated coalition and a few members of Congress helped change the bill for the better.

Here are some of the changes that grass roots ans organizational allies have made to the Food Safety bill:

• Excluded excessive punishment.

S. 510 will not include the obscene ten-year jail sentences for food and supplement manufacturers who violate complicated FDA rules. That language was specifically designed to target supplement manufacturers while leaving pharmaceutical drug and medical device companies untouched.

• Resisted international harmonization of food and health supplement policy.

Language in the bill was modified to prevent the US from harmonizing to  international food and supplement rules as in Europe, where attempts are being made to regulate away natural health.

• Excluded small farmers from burdensome regulation.

Some small-farm and organic food advocates warned that the legislation would destroy their industry under a mountain of paperwork. An amendment from Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), which exempts producers with less than $500,000 a year in sales who sell most of their food locally was included in the Senate version. Many organizations fought tirelessly to protect the burgeoning local healthy food movement from unwarranted federal regulation, and from the processed food companies that are increasingly nervous about competition. Thirty processed food organizations like the American Frozen Food Institute and the Corn Refiners Association sent a letter to the Senate arguing that a local produce stand should face the same regulatory hurdles as their industrial-scale processed food operations.

The House of Representatives agreed to adopt this Senate version of the bill instead of the 2009 House version. 
The bill now continues to have a lot wrong with it. 
There will be opportunities to change more through the rule making process as the FDA adds more regulation.

Information supplied by ANH may be included in this update.

You Took Your Kids to Morocco for the Week of Thanksgiving?

Seriously, have I lost my mind? Yeah, I totally did drag my kids to Africa for a week during the Thanksgiving Holiday. And actually, the good far outweighed the bad. There was some serious bad. But when you haul a three year old and a one year old 5000 miles away from home and across an ocean, what can you possibly expect?

Last February, pre-blog, some dear dear friends and their children relocated from New York to Morocco. It was a devastating blow to lose such a good friend, and even more difficult because their Things are the same age as my Things. In fact, Thing 1 is all but carrying on a torrid love affair with their three year old daughter. They play, they fight, they share, they kiss, they make up, they hold hands everywhere they go. I cannot think of anyone that Thing 1 plays so well with. So, needless to say we were very sad when they left New York. Yet we all must make lemonade out of lemons. And our lemonade came in the form of a trip to Morocco, a mysterious place that has always been on my top 5 places to go before I die.

We left New York the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We were booked on a direct flight from JFK to Casablanca. The flight was overnight and the Things both slept the whole way. What a relief. They even both got enough sleep that they were in decent enough moods all day Sunday. Mommy did NOT sleep on the plane, nor did Daddy. Daddy took a nap when we arrived at our friends' home, but Mommy stayed up. I was good and loopy by the time we went to bed Sunday evening.

Monday morning we all drove to Fez to stay for two nights. Fez is an absolute must see if you travel to Morocco. Fez is known as the spiritual heart of Morocco. And I can see why. Winding streets, the best artisans in the country, and all around you the juxtaposition of modern living amongst centuries old cultural traditions. We stayed in a lovely Riad on the outskirts of the Medina. A small short door on a slim quiet cobblestone street opened up into a towering three story home/ hotel surrounding a central "garden".Though the garden is all inside and there is no dirt, it is mostly like a beautifully tiled living room whose ceiling extends all the way to the roof of the building while the guest rooms form the outside of the home. It was exquisite.

The food in Morocco was also lovely. A third world country because of it's lack of development, farming and agricultural are the main work of the country. Though there are modern grocery stores, most Moroccans shop in the much cheaper local medinas, or city centers, where local farmers or traders sell fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, grains, nuts and dried fruits. In Fez I saw a man selling raw milk fresh from urns on the side of the street. No joke. Interestingly enough, organics abound, but maybe not for the reasons you might think. The average farmer living in the countryside is too poor to use fertilizers and pesticides on their produce. They are too poor to buy their cattle grain feed. So most meat is organic and grass fed by default. Processed foods do not hold a place in the basic Moroccan diet, except for the more wealthy modern people who are eager to westernize. It was very different to be in a country where the poor ate healthful unprocessed organics while the wealthy ate more prepackaged, low nutrient foods. Very different from home! Though one thing is the same as the west, sugar reigns supreme. Sugar is added to yogurts, mint tea, tagines, b'stillas, honey soaked cookies, you name it. I felt like everything was tasted slightly sweet.

Another thing I was kind of amazed with is that the concept of convenience foods are almost unheard of in Morocco. To go coffee or take out dinners do not exist in your average restaurant in Morocco. I did not see one Starbuck's anywhere I went. And while I am sure that in the more modern wealthier areas such things do exist, such as in the more upscale areas in Casablanca, the only takeout we found in Fez was one restaurant who wrapped up some of their items loosely in tin foil. But hummus wrapped in tin foil is a challenge to even the most organized eater. But it is still easier than having 2 three year olds and 2 one year olds, a couple of whom were overtired and jet lagged, sitting in a restaurant. Even in the other cities I visited, sitting down to a meal with others was the preferred custom, not grabbing a sandwich on the go. Street food was really the one exception. But I did not see every corner covered in hot dog carts like you do here in New York. I only saw inexpensive street fare in the medina, and they are concentrated in certain areas. I definitely found that I could not get what I wanted everytime I wanted it. I wouldn't even have noticed that I had so many silly food cravings until I wasn't able to act on them. By the end of the week, we fell into a groove. We started to relax and take things they came. If we came across a snack, that was our good fortune. If we didn't, then we just waited. OMG, we were unable to have everything we wanted. And we survived. It might have taken some getting used to, but it was worth it to expand our viewpoint.

The amazing side effect of no convenience or to go food is way less garbage. When you are not constantly eating food on the go, there are few wrappers to throw away, no to go boxes, no disposable napkins, no individually sized plastic bottles. We did find a place that would give us to go coffee, espresso with a little steamed milk. It was amazing, and we got it in an Afriquia gas station. But their to-go cups consisted of two double stacked solo cups. Not exactly what I am used to. We had very little to throw away. In fact everywhere you went, you saw that poverty forced recycling. Homes were reinforced with tin sheeting, coke bottles were reused to contain everything from milk to argan oil, as in the picture below. I saw reused coke bottles all over.

Recycling in the US means comforting sterility. Melting down plastic and then remaking an exactly similar bottle. I think the conventional wisdom here is that empty bottles (aka-garbage) hold deadly germs that put us at great risk of disease. But a strong hot wash with soapy water most likely kills everything that could be present. Moroccans, I found, had a very different definition of what it is to be dirty. In fact, most of what I saw, from cities to people, was very clean.

Our friends also took us to their local grain market where one can purchase all manner of bulk flours ground at different levels of coarseness. There dried beans, seeds, dried fruits and oils can also be procured. Whoa. This place rocked my world. For such little money, one can get all local goods. It was brilliant, I got teary eyed. There must have been 6 or 7 different vendors at this market, all selling much the same items. But in Morocco, it is all about who your know, getting to know the person selling your food, you know, personal relationships.

On Thursday, we had a truly typical American Thanksgiving (more on that tomorrow), but since everyone had to work and go to school, and no one else in the country was celebrating, it was anything but typical! And our last few days were really about staying local and relaxing with friends.

Unfortunately, the kids struggled a bit with all the changes. Sleep happened, but bedtime involved alot of screaming and fighting. While everyone ate reasonably well in the first part of the week, by the end of the week, we were down to bananas, toast and milk. Thing 1 was occasionally eating ground beef, and Thing 2 still accepted eggs. While I am thrilled to say that Thing 2 started really talking on this trip, I was irritated that what he learned to say was "No, No, No!" as he shook his head and pushed a fork full of food away. I am not sure if it was the big changes, the unfamiliarity or the stomach virus that eventually all the boys succumbed to (including DH once we got home). Thankfully after we returned to New York, eating recommenced.

This Thanksgiving I felt particularly thankful for dear dear friends, the kind that even an ocean and several months between visits can't turn into strangers. I am also particularly thankful that these same dear dear friends can put my whole crazy family up for a week, even when Thing 1 threw up on one couch cushion, had an accident on another, and I spilled a glass of wine on a third. I mean, what are we some kind of pack of wild animals? Although we are a handful, we do offer fun stories you can tell your friends.

This trip was an unbelievable opportunity to immerse ourselves in a different culture. The times I have been to Europe, I have always noticed a certain simpatico. American ideals of high culture are based upon the European model. Yet while Morocco is very European in feeling, much of their culture and architecture is very Arab influenced. And I think just about everyone here in the States could use a lesson what it means to be Muslim. I found the whole experience delicious, intoxicating, thought provoking and beautiful. The entire trip was a huge paradigm shift. It might be a while before we take another international trip with our kids. The trip home involved several hours of screaming from Thing 2 and a very rude woman who turned to me only halfway through our flight to say "You know, the next time you make travel plans, you should really consider other people." Really? Like I enjoy being trapped on a plane with a screaming one year old? I only wish that Thing 2 had thrown up on her after she was so rude that she made me cry on the plane, instead of waiting until after we got home. But hey, there ain't nothing like the view from the high road folks.

Scientific Foundation for Homeopathy Discovered

A NOBEL laureate who discovered the link between HIV and AIDS has suggested there could be a firm scientific foundation for homeopathy.

French virologist Luc Montagnier stunned his colleagues at a prestigious international conference when he presented a new method for detecting viral infections that bore close parallels to the basic tenets of homeopathy.
http://college-of-practical-homeopathy.com/scientific-basis-of-homeopathy.html

S 510 Status Report - Food Safety Bill

UPDATE:  This bill has now passed in both the house and senate.  Let Obama know you don't want it signed.

Nov. 29, 2010, from Weston A Price Foundation

The final vote on S.510, the Food safety Modernization Act, is scheduled for this evening (Monday, November 29). The first step will be a cloture vote to allow the Managers Package version of the bill to proceed, which will require 60 votes. Four amendments will then be debated, followed by a final vote on the bill.

As it currently stands, the Managers Package of the bill includes the Tester-Hagan amendment. For many months, we have been pushing for this amendment to be included in the bill to carve out a sphere of protection for small-scale, direct marketing producers. The version of the Tester-Hagan amendment that is included in the bill exempts producers grossing under $500,000 (adjusted for inflation) and selling more than half of their products directly to qualified end users from the HACCP-type requirements and the produce safety standards. Qualified end users means individual consumers (with no geographic limitation), or restaurants and retail food establishments that are EITHER located in the same state OR within 275 miles of the producer. While complex, this amendment effectively carves out small-scale producers who are selling in-state or to local foodsheds from two of the most burdensome provisions of the bill.

At the same time, we dont think S.510 is a good bill even with the amendment. It increases FDAs power, which will undoubtedly lead to even more battles between FDA and local food producers and consumers. FDA has abused the powers it already has, and that will almost certainly continue, with or without this bill.

We also know that Big Agribusiness is NOT happy with the inclusion of the Tester-Hagan amendment in the bill. Groups such as the Produce Marketing Association and the Western Growers Association are busy lobbying the Senate to try to have the amendment pulled back out.

As bad as the bill is now, it would be even worse without the amendment!

Different people and organizations have different views, so you may get conflicting advice. Our belief is that the bill will most likely pass the Senate, and that it is critical to ensure that the protections of the Tester-Hagan amendment are not lost in last-minute backroom deals.

WHATS NEXT?

If S510 passes the Senate this week, there is still more to come. First, the bill will go to the House of Representatives. Rather than try to reconcile the bill with the House version (HR 2749), the House leadership has agreed to put S510 to a vote on the floor of the House. Because time is running out for this Congress, any changes by the House would almost certainly kill the bill. If the House passes S510, it then goes to the President.

Second, next year, Congress will face the question of appropriating money to implement the new laws and regulations. S510 authorizes, but does not appropriate, monies for the FDA-expanded regulation of domestic and imported conventional food producers, distributors, and retailers, and the hiring of more FDA bureaucrats. To carry out all of the new rules and FDA authorities, Congress will have to approve $1.4 billion of new spending or cut other programs accordingly, based on the CBO estimates. This gives us a chance to affect the level of funding and how the money can be spent.

Third, FDA will start the rulemaking process. The agency will almost certainly try to marginalize the role of local foods producers and consumers in the process. We will have to take action to ensure that our concerns are on the record and that elected officials in Congress are also involved to try to rein in the agency from overstepping its bounds.

ACTION TO TAKE:

Call your Senators and ask to speak to the staffer who handles food safety issues. Urge them to, at a minimum, stand firm on including the Tester-Hagan amendment in the bill. Explain to them that local food producers and consumers already face problems because of FDA, and we are worried about what FDA will do with expanded powers. And then look beyond the bill, and ask them to take action to protect local food producers through the appropriations process and through oversight of the agency. Tell them that you will hold your Senators accountable for what FDA does, and that their job does not end with this bill.

If you get their voice mail, leave a message: My name is ____, and I am a constituent who is concerned about the expanded authority that FDA would have under S510, the food safety bill. I urge Senator _____ to, at a minimum, ensure that the Tester-Hagan amendment stays in the bill. The FDA has a track record of abusing its authority to go after small-scale producers, while turning a blind eye to the many problems caused by large industrial producers. With or without S510, I urge my Senator to take steps to rein in the FDAs abuses. I would like to talk with you more about this, please call me back at ________.

CONTACT INFO:

You can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators offices. You can also find your Senators contact information online at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm If their phone line is busy, you can use their web form to contact them or fax a short note.

OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST

During the last several months, we have also asked you to call on two other amendments to the bill: to support an amendment to ban BPA and to oppose an amendment to add criminal penalties. Senator Feinstein chose to withdraw her amendment to ban BPA in the face of industry opposition. Senator Leahy's amendment to add criminal penalties appears to be dead, although we will continue to watch for it.

Winter Twigs

The bare twigs of woody plants are quite mysterious to many people.  Without the benefit of leaves or flowers, they can be at a loss to figure out what plant stands bare before them.   But when you really look at the winter twigs of woody plants, you can see a lot more differences than you might have thought.  Here, buds swollen with the promise of spring growth already, is Aesculus pavia, the red buckeye that hummingbirds love so much:

Aesculus pavia

And here is a shrub that looks all but dead in the wintertime, no sign whatsoever of next year’s growth.  This is Calycanthus floridus, the marvelously aromatic sweetshrub or Carolina allspice.

Calycanthus floridus

 

 

If you’re interested in identifying plants in the winter, there are some basic clues that can help narrow the possibilities of what the plant might be.  I’ll cover a few of them just to help take some of the mystery out of the process.

• Leaf arrangement: even when the leaves are gone, you can see the leaf scars of where they were. Are they opposite one another along the stem or arranged in an alternate pattern?  If you can’t see the leaf scars, remember that branches themselves were once leaves - how are the branches arranged? Focus if possible on the “twigs” – the most recent year’s woody growth.  Be careful to check in multiple places because one twig might have fallen off, making the arrangement appear to be alternate.  Both the buckeye and the sweetshrub have opposite leaves (see above pictures), and here is a Viburnum
  branch, showing off perfectly opposite twig arrangement:

Viburnum acerifolium

• Leaves on the ground can sometimes provide a clue: this is not the most reliable approach, especially if there are a lot of different plants around, but it might give you a few things to start looking at if you recognize the leaves.  For example, you might find maple leaves, oak leaves and sassafras leaves on the ground.  But when you look at the plant in question, you notice it has opposite twig arrangement.  Of those 3 choices, maple is the only one that has oppositely arranged leaves and twigs. 

• Leaf and bloom buds already formed can be familiar: for some people, memory is all they need to recognize a plant without leaves. Here is a picture of one of my favorite bare twig plants, American beech (Fagus grandifolia):  

Fagus grandifolia

I love the beech's distinctive cigar-shaped leaf buds with tips so pointed they look like they could stab you and draw blood.  There are other trees with pointy leaf buds, however, that could confuse you. 

Amelanchier sp.

For example, Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) has them, but the buds are not as long,  not uniform in shape and they have the tiniest bit of “fluff” at the tip of the bud.  If you have a good memory, you can learn to recognize what you’ve seen and identified before.

• Leaf scars and bundle scars: some plants have very noticeable and unique leaf scars.  Leaf scars are the spots left behind when the leaf fell off.  Bundle scars can be found inside the leaf scar – they reflect where vascular bundles connected to the leaf and they can be very unique in number and in the shape of them.  You can find a great picture of a leaf scar that contains 3 bundle scars at this website (the plant is Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica).

• Bark characteristics: some bark is very distinctive and you can learn to recognize some trees by their bark.  You can then verify your identification with another characteristic as I mentioned before.  For example, Cornus florida (Flowering dogwood) has rather unique bark and it also has twigs that are opposite one another.  Recognize the bark and then verify it with the twigs.  While Cornus florida also has very distinctive bloom buds, not all trees are in a position to form bloom buds (for example, the tree may be in deep shade):

Cornus florida

• Remaining fruits/seeds left clinging to the twigs: sometimes you can find fruit or seeds clinging to the branches.  Some fruit is in the form of a capsule that may open to release seed, leaving the capsule behind.  Here is a picture of the capsule on an azalea (Rhododendron sp.), you can see both open (ripe) capsules and those which are not yet ripe.  Knowing the form of the fruit might help you distinguish one plant from another.

Rhododendron sp. (Azalea)

Here is another example of two plants that look very similar if you are just examining the buds on the most recent growth.  On the left is the twig of an Oak (Quercus) and on the right is a twig of an azalea (Rhododendron).  By further examining other features (the slightly flakey bark on the azalea is often enough to distinguish the two), you can get a little closer to the right identification or at least eliminate a possibility or two.

Quercus sp.

Rhododendron sp. (Azalea)

 

I’ve only scratched the surface of a very deep topic.  For those of you that would really like the tools to identify winter twigs, I suggest you get a 10x hand lens and a good key.  If you’re in the Southeastern US, I recommend “Woody Plants of the Southeastern United States: A Winter Guide” by Ron Lance.  In addition to very detailed keys, the book has descriptions of each plant according to winter characteristics and most plants have detailed drawings of the twigs themselves (and a good glossary too).

So don’t be intimidated by those bare branches – get out there and figure it out.  I suggest starting with a tree that you already know and examining the twigs and winter features.  Good luck!

 

Low Dose Electromagnetic Radiation Depletes Key Nutrients

For years I have been alerting skeptics to the fact that non-ionizing radiation indeed has a negative impact, and it can take many forms.

This report is enlightening because it looks at important nutrients and the impact on health.

If you're a consumer of EMF in its many forms, you might wish to look too.

Researchers found these key nutrients to be affected -

Calcium is essential for proper bone formation and teeth, as well as certain hormones and muscle contraction. A deficiency of calcium leads to muscle cramps, eye twitching, sleep disorders, and bone disorders like osteoporosis.

Magnesium deficiency has been linked to heart arrhythmias, visual deficiency, anxiety, confusion. agitation, restless leg syndrome (RLS), sleep disorders, irritability, nausea and vomiting, low blood pressure, muscle spasms, and seizures.

Zinc is required for normal immune function, fertility, and protein synthesis. Insufficient zinc can lead to sleep disorders, behavioral problems, diarrhea, skin rashes, hair loss, hyperactivity, allergies, bowel disease, and reduced fertility.

Ulku R, Akdag MZ, Erdogan S, Akkus Z, Dasdag S.  Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Decreased Calcium, Zinc and Magnesium Levels in Costa of Rat. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2010 Sep 25. [Epub ahead of print]

SOURCE

Maybe its not really "green" afterall

I'm not referring to Kermit, and in that sense, it might not be so easy to be green if you market fragranced consumer products.

About 20 or so years ago when I was just starting to teach and write about Green Living around the Puget Sound area I made a point, as I have since then, about home care products.  One in particular, with the word 'green' in the product name, really wasn't so.

Lately, since corporate America is on the 'green' bandwagon for profit sake, it isn't so.

Not much has changed.

Learn More Here and find one original green product here.

In the abstract of an interesting 2008 project report a group of University of Washington investigators found -

Fragranced consumer products are pervasive in society. Relatively little is known about the composition of these products, due to lack of prior study, complexity of formulations, and limitations and protections on ingredient disclosure in the U.S. We investigated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from 25 common fragranced consumer products—laundry products, personal care products, cleaning supplies, and air fresheners—using headspace analysis with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Our analysis found 133 different VOCs emitted from the 25 products, with an average of 17 VOCs per product. Of these 133 VOCs, 24 are classified as toxic or hazardous under U.S. federal laws, and each product emitted at least one of these compounds. For “green” products, emissions of these compounds were not significantly different from the other products. Of all VOCs identified across the products, only 1 was listed on any product label, and only 2 were listed on any material safety data sheet (MSDS). While virtually none of the chemicals identified were listed, this nonetheless accords with U.S. regulations, which do not require disclosure of all ingredients in a consumer product, or of any ingredients in a mixture called “fragrance.” Because the analysis focused on compounds emitted and listed, rather than exposures and effects, it makes no claims regarding possible risks from product use. Results of this study contribute to understanding emissions from common products, and their links with labeling and legislation.

To me, their finding about 'green' products is no surprise.

You may be interested in reading the complete article here.
http://mcs-america.org/december2010.pdf
Journal article
http://www.ce.washington.edu/people/faculty/bios/documents/Steinemann2008.pdf
from Natural Health News

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/02/time-to-come-clean-whats-in-toxic.html

from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

This book is one of the seven I worked on with Rodale Press.  Read the excerpt in italics below.

The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II: Over 1,200 New Doctor-Tested Tips and Techniques Anyone Can Use to Heal Hundreds of Everyday Health Problems
the Editors of PREVENTION

" Increasing the amount of healthy oils you consume, such as flaxseed, which is rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, has been shown to help many skin conditions, including oily skin, says Dr. Brett. Taking flaxseed oil every day helps normalize sebum production. Shop for fresh, cold-pressed, refrigerated flaxseed oil packaged in a dark, opaque bottle. The oil turns rancid quickly when exposed to light or heat, so you can't cook with it. Instead, stir it into a glass of juice in the morning or drizzle it on salad or vegetables. It should have a pleasant, nutty flavor, says Alan M. Dattner, M.D.

Mix equal parts of the following four dried herbs: nettle, for its astringent properties; horsetail, for its high silica content, thought to regenerate and strengthen connective tissue (it has traditionally been used in baths to treat eczema and other skin conditions); Johnny jump-up, also known as heart's ease, for its saponoid content, which is known to heal skin and is frequently used for eczema; and lavender, for its soothing aromatherapeutic scent as well as antiseptic, scalp-healing oils.

Certain kinds of oil, like flaxseed, that are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids have been shown to help many skin conditions, including dryness, says Alan M. Dattner, M.D., a holistic dermatologist in New Rochelle, New York. Your skin is a reflection of your diet. To keep it healthy, you need to eat the proper balance of essential fatty acids—fats that your body needs but cannot make. The typical American diet is often lacking in these crucial fats. Buy fresh, cold-pressed, refrigerated flaxseed oil packaged in an opaque dark bottle.

Traditionally, dandelion tea has been used internally to treat skin conditions, but the milky sap from the fresh root can also be directly applied to a wart, says Dr. Eversole. (Make sure that the dandelion you harvest hasn't been treated with chemical herbicides for at least 3 years.) Be patient. It may take weeks or months to erase the fleshy evidence of the virus. Of course, if you're snowed in for the winter, you may have to wait until spring to try this remedy. This same technique also works with sap from milkweed, says Dr. Eversole.

Witch hazel extract has a long history of use for skin conditions, says Dr. Snowman. It is an astringent and a mild antibiotic and gives the area a nice cooling feeling. Most extracts have an alcohol base, though, so they can sting sensitive skin. If you experience stinging, stop using it. You can do double duty with witch hazel if you dampen a wad of toilet paper and gently use it to clean yourself. Cause: Rectal itch can have many causes or none."

The Table of Promise Retrospective: Big Sugar

I have written alot about sugar. But perhaps you haven't read this post. I might have done more research for this post than any other. Please also check out all in this series: Sugar vs HFCS, Sugar and School Lunch, Sugar Addiction and Honey Ice Cream

This week at The Table of Promise I will relate the findings of my recent Internet digging surrounding sugar. There is a lot more to the story of sugar and sucrose/ fructose as it relates to our diet and health than you might think.

For me it all started as a simple question, "There is a sugar lobby in Washington?" Yes, in fact there is. There are a group of lobbyists in Washington DC whose job it is to promote sugar and it's use, both to the general public and to lawmakers. Meet the key players to US Sugar Policy: The Sugar Association: they are who we know as the Sugar Lobby. The Sugar Association was formed by growers and refiners in the US sugar industry. They began in 1934 under the name of The Sugar Research Foundation, dedicated to the scientific study of sugar's role in food and the communication of that role to the public. In 1947, the foundation changed their name it's current name. On their website, they state "The Sugar Association continues with its mission of educating health professionals, media, government officials and the public about sugar's goodness."

Florida Sugar Growers (among other states): Florida contributes the largest amount of domestic sugar to the US sugar supply each year. Cane grown in Florida account for 24% of all the refined sugar in the US. The single company US Sugar alone contributes 10% of the domestic supply. Sugar Cane and sugar beets grown in cooler northern climes each account for about 50% of the domestic US sugar supply. Many of the cane and beet farms are connected as different branches of the same conglomerate company. But the Florida contribution to the total is more significant that any other.

The World Health Organization (WHO): This international organization conducts research and make statements to the international community on health issues as wide ranging as diet to childbirth. Their current statement on sugar, as made in 2003, is that sugar should not exceed more than 10% of a person's total caloric intake.

The USDA and the USDA Food Pyramid: The USDA and their food pyramid have been taking a lot of heat in recent years for the new and relatively unpublicized discovery that suggesting that we root our diet in grain products actually worked against it's intention to guide the country into better health. Rates of obesity and diabetes have soared in the last 30 years creating the greatest health crisis in modern history. For the first time in US history, our children's generation has a shorter life expectancy than their parents. The USDA has revamped the food pyramid to suggest that we eat more fruits and veggies than anything else, 5cups of veg versus 3 cups of grains. But the way the pyramid is designed breaks up fruits and veggies into their own categories. This makes it look like grains are still the most important, or at the base of the pyramid. This is a great creative way to not have to come out and say "we screwed up, you really should make plant based food the most important part of your diet". I don't have many issues with what is in the pyramid, but at least come clean to the American Public. The public has proven over the last 30-40 to be listening to what the government says about nutrition.

Now that we know the players we can look at their interaction. In 2003, the WHO published it's latest report regarding diet. They stated that sugar should make up no more than 10% of a person's total daily calories. The Sugar Association fought back hard stating that they had evidence that said that a person's daily intake of sugar could safely be 25% of a person's calories. WHO subsequently reworded their recommendation on sugar stating that no one should eat sugar more than four times a day. But of course they don't say how much you can eat in any of those times, so draw your own conclusions. The head of the expert team that wrote the Association's scientific evidence saying that sugar could comprise 25% of your calorie intake per day and still be safe, is Harvey Fineberg. Amongst all the highly publicized fighting, Fineberg called the US Health Secretary at the time, Tommy Thompson, to say that his report was being misinterpreted by the Sugar Association. Even he did not want to be associated with the fallout.

The Sugar Association was so outraged by the WHO's report that they contacted our legislature to suggest a law that all future WHO funding should be predicated on an agreement from WHO to base it's reports on science. (Huh? Really?)

The Sugar Association has also successfully fought to eliminate the USDA's ability to mention sugar in it's dietary suggestions. If you click on the link to the new food pyramid I provided you will see that the top part of the pyramid that was up there for years, the "use added fats, oils and sweets sparingly" is now missing. Their recommendations regard only food. This has a couple of effects. It eliminates the sugar dialogue from the consumers mindset, and it levels the playing field among food products. If it is good to eat 6 servings of grains per week, the USDA has made no recommendation that you should limit breads that have added HFCS (Hi Fructose Corn Syrup). And furthermore I bet that a packet of instant flavored oatmeal with 16g of sugar added to the flavoring counts as a serving of whole grain.

The fact is that the government is hush hush about even discussing the issue of sugar. Thousands of products have added sugar. They lurk in the obvious places like cookies and soda. But they also are in less obvious places like breads and yogurts, flavored milk (I kinda think milk tastes pretty good the way God gave it to us), pre-made pizza crusts, rolls and hamburger buns, ketchup, dried fruit, juices marketed as real fruit juice, the list goes on an on.

The average consumption of added sugars has reached record highs! In 1996 each American consumed a record average of 152 pounds of caloric sweeteners!! That is about two fifths of a pound PER DAY. By contrast, total meat consumption in 1996 was 192 pounds. That includes all red meat, poultry and fish. Food for thought.

Notes--
Virata, Gillian. The Effects of the U.S. Sugar Policy. internationalecon.com. 9 June, 2010.
Bosley, Sarah. Sugar industry threatens to scupper WHO. The Guardian. guardian.co.uk.com 21 April, 2003.
Big Sugar. The Washington Post. washingtonpost.com 16 April, 2005.
US Agriculture--Linking Consumers and Producers. United States Department of Agriculture. usda.gov 9 June 2010.
An Overview of Florida Sugarcane. University of Florida IFAS Extension. eds.ifas.ufl.edu 11 June 2010.

I Won't Play for Food

With so many articles posted on Natural Health News about food, Big AG, and disease promotion with altered and over processed food production, money mongering of Congressional members, and so much more, here's a reader who sends a little music to (en)lighten your mind....

I saw your website, and I really like what you're doing.  I thought you might appreciate this song I wrote, about the horrors of GMO foods, called, 'Smells Like Genocide...'  It is both humorous and cynical, as well as hard-hitting.  Enjoy. Please feel absolutely free pass it along to anyone, or to use this song in any way that will help save our human race from destroying itself.  (I'm also currently trying to make a video for this tune, if you hear of anyone wishing to collaborate.) Here's a link to where I have it posted: http://soundcloud.com/cmor/smells-like-genocide Peace, Craig 'CMOR' Morrison

Flu Vaccine Ineffective

This is certainly not new news or is it any surprise. Best make every effort you can to keep your immune system healthy with good nutrition, adequate hydration, moderate exercise, enough sleep, and good hand washing.

WARNING:This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding. Read More

Today's TOP POSTS from Natural Health News on flu jabs, and there are 30+ more FYI

Natural Health News: Get a Flu Shot, Get Cancer

Oct 01, 2010

Clinical trials will be short – less than three weeks – and the potential for the addition of toxic oil-in-water adjuvants to be added at the last minute to stretch the vaccine supply is disconcerting. However, the problems with flu ...

Breaking FLU NEWS

Sep 10, 2010

This upcoming 2010/11 flu vaccine contains the same elements that are implicated in the killing of these fetuses, the H1N1 viral component and the neurotoxin mercury (Thimerosal). Additionally, it contains 2 other viral strains- a 3 in ...

Safe From What? Vaccine Info To Review

Sep 08, 2010

Does virus vaccine increase the risk of cancer? The swine flu vaccine has been hit by new cancer fears after a German health expert gave a shock warning about its safety. Lung specialist Wolfgang Wodarg has said that there are many . ...

Be Prepared to Avoid Coming Vaccine Propaganda

Aug 06, 2010

ATLANTA – A government panel is recommending doctors steer clear of giving one brand of flu vaccine to young children this year because of convulsions and fever in kids who got the shot in Australia and New Zealand. ...

The Table of Promise Retrospective: www.localharvest.org

I get questions from people all the time about about how and when to join a CSA. Here is some good CSA info and some info about how to find one.

The weather here in the northeast has been so warm this spring, that it seems that everything has begun to grow early. One of the surefire signs that summer is here is the opening day of my CSA, or community supported agriculture.

CSAs are becoming more and more mainstream, and I have started to hear of CSAs available all over the city, in Long Island and Connecticut. Those are just some of my friends who have started to join. CSAs are available across the country these days.

But what is a CSA? A Community Supported Agriculture is a group of people who come together as a group and essentially buy shares of a local farm. For a seasonal fee paid in the early spring, shareholders will receive a weekly delivery of seasonal produce or fruit or even eggs. The produce is made up of what's available and in season. This ensures that you have the very best at the peak of it's life.

But isn't it a bummer to fork over a few hundred dollars for vegetables in late March? While the cost of joining a CSA may be pricey at the time of payment (prices vary widely), paying for the season in entirety helps the farmer pay for necessary upfront expenses like seeds and equipment and labor costs. The influx of capital in spring means that farm won't have to resort to bank loans or dept in order to bring it's produce to market. And if the CSA's member roster is full, it also ensures that everything will be sold. This is a much better scenario than the go into debt in March and hope to pay it back in July scenario that many family farms face each year. So many of us work on salary, or own a business whose doors are open every day of the year, that we don't always understand the income/ outgo that farmers face on a seasonal basis.

But, doesn't joining a CSA mean that I can't choose my own vegetables? Yes, that is what it means. You won't see carrots in a CSA share in early June here in the Northeast, because the carrot plant needs more time to grow and mature than say kale or bok choy. But what I have grown to appreciate about my CSA is that I eat seasonally. I have my fill of different dishes at different times of the season. Kale and Sausage soup or Stir Fried Bok Choy and Noodles in June, Tomato and Eggplant Casserole or Corn Pudding in August, and Roasted Acorn Squash or the most amazing Mashed Potatoes ever in October. You do have to be more creative sometimes in combinations throughout the season. But the pay off is well worth it. My family looks forward to the CSA each year because it gets us out of our food rut. The variety and surpise of the contents of the share each week keeps us interested. I still have to buy onions or carrots grown out of state most weeks from the supermarket just to flesh out what my picky kid eats. But during the summer we have developed a different list of favorite recipes, all because that first year we committed to trying new things.

How do I find a CSA? I found my CSA through word of mouth. But I live in a neighborhood where you are outside a lot in community places like playgrounds and parks. In the suburbs it can be a lot harder to hear what's going on in your neighborhood. A great resource for finding CSAs, farmer's markets and other things farm related is http://www.localharvest.org/ This website is comprehensive and easy to use. You can find thousands of farmer's markets across the country and CSAs also. So many people I speak to would love to eat more veggies, but the organic ones at the grocery stores go bad so fast. With so much time being committed to jobs and life commitments. Who has time to shop every day? We aren't going to change that problem without overhauling the whole American way of life and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Buying local means that items stay fresh longer because you buy them just after they've been picked. When you buy produce picked in California, it takes them at least a day to process it into packaging and then 5 days to truck it to New York. And who says you are buying it the day it's off loaded from the truck? Those carrots might have been sitting there for 4 days before you got them. No wonder they go bad.

I highly recommend buying more from farmer's markets and joining a CSA. http://www.localharvest.org/ makes it much easier to connect to local options. But one of the unexpected benefits of joining my local CSA was making friends in my neighborhood who shared my passion to local, organic and seasonal eating. It has been a community experience in the truest sense.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I sincerely hope that your day is filled with family and love and lots and lots of delicious real food! Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Energizer

Here's an easy exercise to use during the holidays to keep your energy level up and stress low. It's especially helpful for those of you living in urban locations.

This super effective tiredness remedy is amazingly simple and takes just a few minutes to do. It's a classic breathing exercise that floods your system with energy-enhancing oxygen, while at the same time expelling energy-depleting stale air and impurities from your lungs. Called the Cleansing Breath or Bellows Breath, it's a natural energy booster that can be done virtually anywhere well ventilated and anytime you feel tired, run down and in need of some real energy. While this breathing exercise/tiredness remedy is safe, you should check with your health professional before trying it for the first time. Keep reading...

Going Gluten Free? Watch Out for Bugs!

Victoria Yeh writes in her article about "Life After Wheat" that "Gluten-free has almost become the new “fad” diet of today, with various celebrities and fitness gurus touting its benefits. But for those of us who have a true dietary sensitivity, a gluten-free diet is more than a fad – it’s a necessity. According to the Canadian Celiac Association, approximately 1% of the population suffers from celiac disease, characterized by inflammation and damage to the intestinal wall. This can lead to a range of issues from poor nutrient absorption to unexplained neurological symptoms and even infertility. While the incidence of celiac disease is relatively low, it is estimated that yet another 10-15% of the population has some form of non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Since the symptoms of food sensitivities can be so varied and easily ignored, many people go years without a proper diagnosis and simply normalize or adapt to a life of sub-optimal health."

Having had to discover that I too have the issue of gluten and gliaden sensitivity a couple of years ago I seem to wander around the internet looking for related information because so many others also live with this concern.

Just in the last week or so I learned something new.  It was timely to me because my organization just distributed a very large donation of probiotics to several groups in need of this product for those they serve.

I am fairly sure that few know that if you do move to a gluten free diet you risk losing some of the beneficial protective mechanisms found in the gut because of the higher risk of bacterial overgrowth.

So if you too are gluten free by choice or by need, then make sure you are taking your daily supplement of high quality probiotics** to keep the health flora growing.

You health will love you for it.

(**I do not consider the highly advertised and costly grocery store products to be high quality: Look for a well respected supplement brand.)

Homeopathy for Hypertension

The pharmaceutical assault on hypertension can be good or not. Longterm side effects of the drugs are often a cause for people to stop the medication.  Of course some in mainstream medicine and government controlled health programs do not want you to have access to anything not pharmaceutical to help you regain your health.  NHN hopes you take the high road and make the best choices for your good health.  And do not forget, nutrition does matter!

Excerpt from an article by Mahnaz Shahrzad Asr, a Homeopathic Doctor in Toronto

Hypertension, or abnormally high blood pressure, is often referred to as the “silent killer.” This is because it does not usually manifest any symptoms while causing damage to the heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes.

According to the World Health Organization, “Hypertension affects 600 million people worldwide. Yet many are unaware that they have the disease and are at risk of developing a stroke, heart disease, blindness and kidney failure. Hypertension causes five million premature deaths per year, yet there is no proper solution for curing hypertension.”

There are two types of hypertension – primary and secondary. Primary hypertension does not have any specific identifiable causes, whereas secondary hypertension results from identifiable and often correctable causes. Only about five to ten percent of hypertension cases are thought to result from secondary causes, the most common of which are kidney disease, adrenal gland disease, narrowing of the aorta, and sleep apnea, among others.

Homeopathy, a branch of alternative medicine based on the Law of Similars, is one of the most effective hypertension treatments, in my opinion. Homeopathic theory views disease as a dynamic disturbance that affects the whole, as opposed to a specific part of the body. Homeopathy believes in holistic, totality, and individualized approaches. A holistic approach means that every manifested symptom in a body relates to a mental or emotional state. In a totality approach, homeopathy does not aim to treat a specific organ, but the body in its entirety. Many factors affect an individual’s life, including the environment and inherited diseases. Consequently, every individual experiences and manifests the same disease differently, and must be treated individually as a result. 

Cause of Hypertension

Doctors are often unable to pinpoint the exact cause of hypertension. However, it is a known fact that many prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs such as corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs can cause or exacerbate hypertension. Medication taken for pain and inflammation, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors may also raise blood pressure, because their anti-prostaglandin properties affect the kidneys. As well, tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco) contain nicotine, which temporarily increases blood pressure (for about 30 min. or less). Chronic overuse of alcohol is a potentially irreversible cause of hypertension. In fact, 30 to 60% of alcoholics suffer from hypertension. Alcohol-induced hypertension is more likely to occur in women than men. Caffeine intake may also cause an acute (rapid but brief) increase in blood pressure.

Research indicates that about 62% of strokes and 49% of heart attacks are caused by hypertension. Homeopathy can help high blood pressure, determining its cause through a holistic approach that looks to cure the individual as a whole. Homeopaths simply use symptoms, and the sensation of experiencing those symptoms, to determine which homeopathic remedy will most effectively trigger the body’s healing response. 

Homeopathic treatment is recommended because it not only can lower and stabilize blood pressure, it also has a positive effect on overall health.

Here are some acute hypertension remedies, along with their symptom pictures. Please keep in mind that these remedies may be used for immediate situations in a palliative manner. They won’t necessarily cure hypertension unless the remedy appropriately matches the individual’s personality.

Arg-n: If blood pressure rises with anxiety and nervousness, this remedy may be indicated. “Stage fright” or anticipation of a stressful event can bring on dizziness, headache, diarrhea, and a pounding pulse. People who need this remedy are typically warm-blooded, imaginative, impulsive, claustrophobic, and have cravings for sweets and salt.

Calc-c: This remedy is often helpful to people with high blood pressure who easily tire and have poor stamina. They are typically responsible types who feel overwhelmed when ill and fear a breakdown. Palpitations and breathing problems can be worse from walking up a slope or stairs, and also when lying down. A general chilliness with clammy hands and feet (the feet may heat up in bed at night) and sweat on the head during sleep are other indicators. The person may have cravings for sweets and eggs, and tend toward weight problems.

Glonoinum: A flushed face with a pounding headache and visible throbbing in the blood vessels of the neck may indicate a need for this remedy. The chest can feel congested or hot, with a pounding or irregular heartbeat. The person is worse after moving around, heat and sun exposure, and drinking alcohol. A feeling of “being lost in a familiar place” is a strong indicator for this remedy.

Nat-mur: A person who needs this remedy seems reserved and responsible, but may have strong feelings (of grief, disappointment, anger, grudges, a fear of misfortune) inside. Headaches and palpitations are common, as well as a feeling of tension (even coldness) in the chest. The person feels worse after sun exposure, worse around mid-morning, and better when alone in a quiet place. A craving for salt and strong thirst can help to confirm this remedy choice.

Phos: A person who needs this remedy is usually sensitive, suggestible, and sympathetic, with a tendency toward weakness, dizziness, a “spaced-out” feeling, and fearfulness. Nosebleeds, facial flushing, palpitations, feelings of heaviness or pain in the chest, and left-sided problems are often seen. A strong desire for cold drinks and refreshing things, and a marked improvement after eating and sleeping are other indicators for Phosphorus.

More about hypertension here and here

The Table of Promise Retrospective: It Made Out of Food, But It Is Really Food?

Writing this post got me so fired up. I hope it gets you angry too.

On a recent quiet Wednesday morning. Some co-workers and I nibbled on some organic cheese flavored corn/ rice puffs as we discussed that we shouldn't be hungry for lunch at 11:15am.

I shoveled my fair share of the puffs into my mouth with cheese dust covered fingers and sighed. 'It's too bad this isn't real food.' I quipped.

My colleagues were quick to correct me. 'These are organic, and look, there's no weird ingredients listed on the back!' I turned over the package to see what was listed.

They were right. No mono- or tetra- anything. No TBHQ or other acronyms. The ingredients listed among others, potato flour, rice flour, cheddar cheese powder, probably a whey of some kind given the presence of dairy, canola oil, and probably natural flavorings, but maybe not I can't remember. After reading the ingredients I didn't have a snappy comeback. I never have the snappy comeback, they always come to me when I am, say, typing blog entries on the train. This packaged dusty cheesy invention was absolutely made from food. There were no smoke and mirrors. Still I stubbornly fought that this was not food. My colleagues went back to their desks.

The bag contained 4 servings of puffs each containing 130 calories, 5 grams of fat and no fiber. Those of you who have ever been a part of the heavily copyrighted diet I have mentioned before will quickly pull out your slide rules and notice, the bag contains 12 food units. When I have a big lunch of a sandwich, chips and a side salad, it usually adds up to 10-12 food units. It is a tremendous amount of food! I usually don't want to eat for a long while after a 12 food unit meal. So if that is the case, how could I easily put away that entire bag of puffs between meals and still belly up to the table the next time the dinner bell rang?

My poor cube mate is a gracious woman who handles all of my passionate monologues with grace. She never interrupts, and always smiles when I am done. She was the only one left in our cube to listen when the it finally came to me. Yes, the puffs are made from food, but they are not food. Why not? It's because all these food based ingredients have been taken out of their original food context. When you eat a baked potato, you get the carbs yes, but you also get the fiber and vitamins of the potato. And if you eat the skin like I do (love it) you get lots more nutrition. The potato's carbs will raise your blood sugar levels, but the fiber makes it harder to digest, so your body has to work harder and longer to get those carbs. You don't feel the raise in your blood sugar because the carbohydrates are absorbed gradually and the effects are spread out over time. But when you take a potato and make potato flour or potato starch, you remove the fiber and some (or all-i am not a nutritionist, so I am not certain) of the vitamins and minerals. These puffs are nothing more than reconstituted flours covered in cheese powders. All that flour is easily and quickly absorbed by the body, your blood sugar spikes because it is processed all at once and then you crash when it is all done, leaving you hungry again. Part of why you can eat so many of them is because in the processing they remove all the food parts that help you feel full and help your body signal you to stop eating. This is not just the case with potato flour, white bread flour is no better. There is some bit of magic in that wheat germ. That magic keeps us full. Have you ever tried to eat 4 baked potatoes? That's tough, you'd be stuffed. But that is also 12 food units. There will never be a cheese puff that is a whole food. And 'whole food' does not just refer to a pricey grocery store chain. It is a term that means a food that is left as it was given to us by God. Not deconstructed by us only to be put back together again.

I want to scream this from the top of the George Washington Bridge: EAT FOOD! Make your kids eat food! Real food! Not just stuff that's made from food. You deserve better, your kids deserve better!! Forward this post to people if you like it! Please! Share this with your friends on Facebook if you agree. We need to stop kidding ourselves about what we are eating. At the same time we need to be realistic and kind to ourselves. We live in the modern world, no one is going to live a completely cheese puff free existence. I ate them myself the other day and I will again, I have no doubt. But if you are mostly eating whole foods, whole grains, veggies, fruits, meats, yogurts, nuts, etc you will be well on your way to health and well being. This post represents the heart of why I have taken on this project. I have passion about my family's health and well being. And our food.

The Table of Promise Retrospective: Watermelon Sorbet

Today, one of my most favoritest posts. This post crystalizes how parents and other caretakers must work together to offer their children a better diet.

Let me start off by saying that I cleared this post with DH before even starting it. My blog is not an opportunity to bash my hubs in any way, he is such a great guy and a great father. So before you get the impression that I am just pointing fingers or being judgemental, I did make sure he was cool with this before I put it out on the internet. In fact, one could say he did a good thing by sparking my interest in the right direction!

The other day I asked DH to pick up some tortillas on the way home (mmmm, that was a good taco night). He texted me 'did you buy ice cream this week' and I said no. I think my husband is made of about 50% ice cream. I wasn't shocked by his text, he loves ice cream. I figured he would bring home some Breyer's. When I got home he was talking to Thing 1 about the awesome treat he got at the store: watermelon italian ice!! Whoa, that is a super special treat for Thing 1. After dinner he usually gets fruit, because who wants a two year old bouncing off the wall on a sugar high at bedtime. I am way more down with ice cream or sugar at 3pm than 8pm.

So after a somewhat pleasant dinner, DH got out the individually packaged watermelon ice and gave it to Thing 1. Of course Thing 1 loved it. My hubby has many fond memories of eating italian ice in the summertime on Long Island and wants to have our children to share the same great memories.

Then he asked me to try it.

It was seriously gross. And I am not just channeling my mother here, whose hatred of watermelon bubble gum was legendary. It was pure sugar, I didn't even hardly taste the watermelon flavor. And it had this syrupy consistency like something you couldn't quite get off the roof of your mouth. Then it hit me, it was grainy at the end and finished with an overwhelming freezer burn flavor. These things had probably been sitting in the store's freezer unit for 6 months or more. I looked at the ingredients, water, sugar, corn syrup, cellulose gum, soy protein, red food coloring, etc. If there ever was an imitation food, here it was. There was nothing that was at all real about this food. I told DH that this was exactly the kind of garbage I was trying to keep out of our kitchen by writing this blog. He tasted it and agreed it was pretty bad, but then laughed and said he had done me favor because he created a situation for me to write about.

Now cellulose gum sounds like a normal food additive to me. There are gums everywhere, guar gum, locust bean gum, etc. Cellulose gum is slightly different in that it is in no way or shape a food item. I repeat: some gums, like guar gum, are made from food, cellulose gum is not made from food. From Wikipedia I found the following: "CMC [cellulose gum] is used in food science as a viscosity modifier or thickener, and to stabilize emulsions in various products including ice cream....It is used primarily because it has high viscosity, is non-toxic, and is non-allergenic." Wikipedia also mentions that cellulose gum is used in everything from KY jelly to toothpaste, laxatives and diet pills to water based paints. This stuff is not food. I couldn't find a lot of sites that said what it was made from, though Yahoo 'Answers' had some guy saying that it was made from wood pulp and cotton. I find that Yahoo 'Answers' does not always have the most reliable information though so I am not going to stand here and tell you that that is a fact. But I have a strong feeling that this stuff is not derived from a food source. Undoubtedly though, this cellulose gum was responsible for giving the ice that sticky feeling on the roof of my mouth. That, and the corn syrup I am sure. I told DH to come home with some real fresh watermelon the next night and we'd see if we couldn't make something better.

Watermelon Ice or Watermelon Sorbet
4 cups chunked, de-seeded watermelon (I didn't really measure, I just took a quarter of a watermelon and cut as much as would fit into the blender)
1/4 cup sugar (or more if you really want it sweet or none if you like it the way it is)

Place your de-seeded fruit in a blender. Puree a little bit to get it going and then add your sugar. Blend until mixed. Pour the mix into a ready frozen ice cream maker and follow your machine's directions. I have a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that is worth every penny. A lot of websites are selling the same one now for $50 so go out and get it! It is a kitchen gadget that can't be substituted by anything else.

So we made the 'watermelon ice cream' and it was a huge hit. I asked Thing 1 which one he liked better, the ice he had the night before? Or the one I had just made, and he said "this one". Now he is not yet three, so I am sure he would always prefer the real one on his spoon to the one in his memory. But even still, I'll take it.

Notes: Carboxymethyl Cellulose. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2 June, 2010.

'Climate-Ready' Crop Patents Threaten Biodiversity

'Climate-Ready' Crop Patents Threaten Biodiversity - Healthy People, Healthy Planet

By Anna Archibald
 The ETC Group has identified over 1,663 patent documents that have been filed by some of the leading seed and agrochemical corporations, claiming “climate-ready” crops as the future of the world’s food supply — what some are calling “biopiracy.”
These patents, which are in violation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Seed Treaty, have raised concern from the Convention on Biological Diversity and FAO that these corporations may be attempting to monopolize the world’s plant biomass. It also raises concern about the future of the world’s food supply.
These patents claim environmental stress tolerance in plants — which includes drought, heat, flood, cold and salt tolerance — through climate-ready crop genes. If corporations are allowed to claim ownership, not only would major crops contain engineered gene sequences owned by one major corporation, so would the processed food and feed products that come from that crop.
The group at the United Nations’ Convention on Biodiversity in Nagoya, Japan, said the patents could become one of the “broadest and most dangerous patent claims in history.”
Over two-thirds of these patents have been filed by only three companies: DuPont, BASF and Monsanto. And only 10 percent of the total patents are from public sector researchers. Many of the companies involved have placed pressures on governments to facilitate the use of these untested crop genes.
In an attempt to deter a negative outlook on genetically modified crops and to convince governments of their “legitimacy,” these corporations have donated a few of these crop genes to farmers in South Africa.
“In exchange for untested technologies, South governments are being pressured to surrender national sovereignty over intellectual property, biomass, and food,” Silvia Ribeiro of ETC Group said in the report.
Photo by Tony Atkin/Creative Commons

The Table of Promise Retrospective: Day One

This week I will be going back to my archives to bring up some of may favorite posts. Here is the VERY first post that I ever wrote. Enjoy!

May 4th, 2010
Why Today?
Why start this blog today?

I have been pondering a project like this for some time. I am a full time working Mommy of two boys, Thing 1 and Thing 2. I am the devoted wife of Daddy or Darling Husband (DH). We live in Northern Manhattan and have a right lovely life up here. A little more than 2 years ago I really needed to lose 15 pounds after the birth of my first son. I had never been so heavy in my life and felt very overwhelmed by the thought of having to lose so much weight. And furthermore I wasn't doing anything to make that goal a reality. A colleague at work told me that several co-workers were creating a group and signing up for a popular diet plan where you track your food intake and share you feelings about your experiences as a way to reinforce your weight loss. I am pretty sure that they are copyrighted and it is not my wish to piss them off, so they shall remain nameless. Needless to say I joined. I had had friends who had participated in the past and had enjoyed the experience so I said 'What the hey". My company even reimbursed me the cost of the program! Seriously what did I have to lose?

I started the program in January of 2008 and I inhaled all the information they could throw at me. Whole food options were recommended and there were also all kinds of modified processed foods too that seemed like healthy choices. I love to cook so I mostly looked for ingredients from the whole foods list for the most part. I started out with the goal of losing 15 pounds. By April, I had lost almost 25 pounds and felt better than I had in years. The program was eye opening. And I realized that although I was nursing my baby, and everyone tells you can eat whatever you want and the pounds will just melt off, I had been eating so much junk that my weight hadn't budged. I was eating all manner of pizza and tater tots and take out food. And if I was eating it, that is all I was feeding my baby. I had a real come-to-Jesus moment because I didn't want to be feeding my baby this food. And I didn't want to admit to him that I was eating it. And I certainly did not want him growing up thinking it was okay to eat garbage all day and night.

Around the time I lost all the weight, I was in an airport. I passed by a bookstore and saw a book on the shelf that I remembered reading about in a magazine. It was 'Animal, Vegetable Miracle!' by Barbara Kingsolver. I am never one to buy just one book, so I looked down the table and picked up a copy of Michael Pollan's amazing 'The Omnivore's Delimma'. And just like that, I was started down a path I could only imagine where it would lead. A friend recommeneded that I join the neighborhood CSA, and it sounded like something fun. It was relatively cheap and seemed like a great experiment. As I waited for that first delivery in June I read Kingsolver's lucious words teaching me about seasons, the balance of nature and even turkeys. I could practically see the dew hanging on the leaves of the tomato plants. I could feel the heat of the warm water she used to make cheese. Reading her book was an awakening. And reading her husband's commentary peppered throughout her prose taught me all kinds of information about chemical fertilizer (did you know it was made from petroleum?) and government regulations regarding tap water versus bottled water(did you know that the regulations for the cleanliness of tap water are stricter than that of bottled? And that they aren't even regulated by the same government agency??). All the information flooded over me. Then I started Pollan's tome. I devoured his book. I read it in a matter of days. I learned more about the politics of food than I ever thought possible. And what was once a simple topic of eat what tastes good and try not to eat too much, became this mission towards whole foods in their natural state, preferably local and organic. My son was getting bigger and eating real food, so it was fun to include him too! The veggies from the CSA were pouring in. I made a big veggie soup for him every week with anything from carrots to corn to cerlaric and turnips. My cravings for junk just vanished. We stopped going to the grocery store except for once a month and started shopping at our local farmer's market. We got to know the growers and excentric personalities at the stands. We started keeping cream in the house. I stopped tracking what I ate. I never gained back a pound. Even when the weather turned colder we kept going to the farmer's market. My son would only drink the milk from Ghent, NY and devoured the apples from Kinderhook. We made Christmas dinner almost entirely from items procured from the farmer's makert.

Then, I got pregnant again. We were thrilled and over joyed at the prospect of a second Thing. But it all became too much. The stress of cooking, the exhaustion, it was all too much. Fall turned into winter. The stands at the farmer's market dwindled down to the turkey guy and the milk lady and the stand that sells apples. They are the die-hards, they will sell their foods in the driving snow. I also took on more projects at work, and that only compounded everything. I had no time for cooking. I couldn't wake up at 5am anymore to bake muffins or shuck corn. I could barely stay awake to eat the dinner that Daddy had prepared. And that kind of brings me to where I am today. I still ate healthy while I was pregnant, alot healthier than my first time around. But my hunger was tough to manage and of course Pringles filled the void on several occasions.

Thing 2 weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 3 ozs at birth. A full pound and three quarters bigger than Thing 1. I believe that because I ate better I had a bigger baby. And he is still my good eater!!! I went back on the heavily copyrighted diet about 3 months after Thing 2 was born. I am proud to say that he has only ever had breastmilk, no formula, so I purposely lost the weight slowly, a pound or so a week, not super fast like the first time. I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight when Thing 2 was about 6 months old. I was THRILLED! But it wasn't quite the same. I was fighting cravings left and right. I swear croissants would actually talk to me as I walked down the street. Every 16 oz lost was a triumph.

I am not sure what made me buy two more Michael Pollan books 'In Defense of Food' and 'Food Rules'. Maybe I just felt spring coming on again. Maybe I just got curious about nutrition. Maybe I remembered the inspiration he lent me two years ago. Whatever the reason I can't put him down again. And his words on nutritionism have me on the move again. We even went back to the farmer's market last week, all four of us. So here I am on May 4th, 2010. And starting a blog about my life in food in the coming year seems so right. Now that Thing 2 is starting to eat real food, and Thing1 is firmly lodged in the land of hot dogs it seems like the time to get back to food that is right.

Evergreens

Thank goodness the leaves are almost off the trees!  The last few weeks of color are always a dangerous time for me to be driving – I’m so busy looking at the leaves that I can hardly focus on the road!  However, the absence of deciduous leaves now reveals some “views” that are not so pleasant.  Now is the time to evaluate areas of your garden that might benefit from the screening that native evergreens can provide.

The definition of “evergreen” is of course that the plant does not drop all of its leaves come winter.  Instead these plants shed a portion of their leaves during the year while retaining others.  In our area, evergreens can be “needled” or “broadleaf”.  Needled evergreens are those like Pines, Junipers, Hemlock and our single false cypress, Chamaecyparis thyoides (Atlantic White Cedar).  Broadleaf evergreens include Hollies, Rhododendrons, Mountain Laurel and others.

As with any plants, it is important to choose site-appropriate plants to ensure that your choices thrive and that you don’t have to prune them unnecessarily to make them fit the space.  If you’re considering a hedge of plants to screen off a large view, I’d like to recommend that you create a “mixed” hedge.  A mixed hedge has several benefits: you avoid destruction by a single disease if you stay away from a monoculture; it looks more natural to have different plants; and you don’t have to limit your choice to a single plant (because there are so many good ones to choose from!).

Here are some ideas simply based on light exposure: full sun and partial shade.  Be sure to research mature size – some dwarf cultivars are available for smaller spaces. 

Full Sun:

Wax myrtle (Morella cerifera or Myrica cerifera) – Shrub to tree sized evergreen with medium green leaves, fragrant foliage and small blue-grey berries that are popular with birds.  Dwarf cultivars can be found in nurseries.

 

Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) – A soft needled tree that is technically a Juniper, it is often grown for Christmas trees. This plant is commonly found along fence lines in pastures.  The wood is very fragrant and coincidentally makes great fence posts.  Birds like to nest in these.

 

Hollies (Ilex spp.) – The evergreen hollies (there are deciduous ones too) come in all sizes from the large American holly (Ilex opaca) to the shrub-like and wet-tolerant Inkberry (Ilex glabra) to the very variably formed Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) which can be a weeping tree form or a small foundation shrub.  You may be surprised to know that not all of them have spines.  If you want berries, remember to look into getting male and female forms.

Evergreen magnolias – Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is native to coastal Georgia primarily but is available in nurseries everywhere. While many cultivars are now available, be aware that in the Piedmont region of Georgia, this plant is a bit of a pest.  Birds have dispersed seeds into natural areas where it can outcompete some of the regionally native trees.  Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is another evergreen magnolia native to Georgia; it happens to tolerate wet conditions.  Here is a bloom on M. virginiana:

Pines – Pines are much maligned as desirable trees for a variety of reasons.  I think the two most common reasons are that ice storms bring out the worst in pines, and that they are very common trees. However, I think they should be considered for screening for 3 reasons: they can be very inexpensive, they grow fast and they are easy to remove when you don’t need the screen.  Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) seedlings can be reasonably priced as seedlings from the Georgia Forestry Commission’s seedling program.  A less common but very attractive pine for North Georgia is White Pine (Pinus strobus); hands down, white pine has the prettiest cone of all pines that I’ve seen in Georgia and the blue-green needles make very soft pine straw.

Check out the Georgia Forestry Commission’s seedling program.  You can get seedlings of Wax Myrtle, Eastern Redcedar and several different pines:  Georgia Forestry Commission

Partial Shade:

Hemlock – A stately tree of mountainsides and trout streams, the Hemlock is under active attack from an invasive insect pest, the wooly adelgid.  However, I think we should keep planting them, you never know if yours might be the one with resistant genes!  Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is the most commonly available one for purchase.  Beautiful foliage and shade tolerance make this a very desirable choice for partial shade areas.

 

Florida Anise – I love this tree (Illicium floridanum) for not only shade tolerance but also handsome foliage that is fragrant when you brush up against it.  Flower fragrance, however, can be a little “off” depending on your individual sense of smell so site it carefully.  Many people mistake this for evergreen Rhododendron when they first see it.

 

Rhododendron – In the same family as Azaleas, the evergreen Rhododendron catawbiense is the one I find most often in stores.  If you can find it, Rhododendron maximum is very handsome but a much larger plant at maturity.  Both of these prefer to grow in North Georgia (for a similar look in the rest of Georgia, see the Florida anise description above).  This is R. maximum:

 

Mountain Laurel – few plants are more dazzling in full bloom than Kalmia latifolia.  Another mountainside plant, this one can still do quite well as a garden plant in North Georgia.  I have used it as a foundation plant, and you can fit a variety of cultivars in better nurseries.  ‘Elf’ and ‘Minuet’ are two dwarf forms.  Similar to Rhododendrons, plant them a little “high” to achieve the good drainage that they need.

 

Carolina Cherry Laurel - Prunus caroliniana is good for screening and the berries are enjoyed by wildlife.  The cultivar ‘Compacta’ offers a nice dense form.  Some people find this plant a bit “weedy” because of the seedlings, similar to the issues with Southern magnolia seedlings.   

If you need help finding these plants, check out the Native Nurseries page on the Georgia Native Plant Society's website: Sources for Native Plants