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Sep
5
1

Smear Campaign Against Organic Foods Hits Fever Pitch

By Steve | Filed in Essays, News

Eat up, NPR correspondents Allison Aubrey and Dan Charles.

Well, they’re at it again — every few months it seems a new raft of articles comes out demonizing organic food and implying those who choose it over “conventional” foods are some sort of delusional health nuts.

This time around, the focus is on a just-published review study (analysis of previous studies) out of Stanford U., and it’s the same old story — organic foods are no more nutritious than conventional foods, because they do not contain significantly higher levels of vitamins and minerals.

First of all, I do not accept this as fact. After all, previous reviews such as this one published in 2008, say otherwise. After looking at 97 different studies and 11 key nutrients including vitamins A, C, E, potassium and phosphorus, these researchers found organic foods to be “more nutrient dense” in 61% of the cases, versus 37% for conventional foods. In 2% of the cases there was found to be no significant difference in nutritional content.

But this time around some of the media, namely NPR, are going one step further in their wanton extrapolation of the data. It’s not enough for them to say organics are no more nutritious — oh no. These yellow journalists — Allison Aubrey and Dan Charles — are running the headline: Why Organic Food May Not Be Healthier For You.

The operative word of course being “healthier.”

Here’s the conclusion of the study in question, quoted verbatim from the abstract:

“The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

Now you tell me. If you are presented with two foods, nutritionally identical, one containing substantial amounts of POISON and antibiotic-resistant bacteria — and the other containing much less or zero POISON and antibiotic-resistant bacteria — would you say one is “healthier” than the other?

I would. And I am: Cleaner food is healthier food, period.

By the way, here’s the other little shiatsu massage these Stanford researchers put on their results:  They reason that, because conventional foods contain “safe” levels of poison (according to the FDA, EPA, etc.) — and organic foods also fall in the safe category — that the two are no different.

Now, I’m trying hard to restrain myself from delving into the politics of all this … but please be aware, while the conventional food industry (aka, Big Agra), may not have directly funded this recent hogwash — I mean study — you can bet the farm on the fact that their legions of PR stooges are responsible for the associated publicity splash. It would be naive to think that hundreds or perhaps thousands of news outlets around the world would simultaneously pick up this story — which, if reported accurately and honestly, is not all that sensational. After all, I’d venture to say that a vast majority of those who buy organic — myself included — do so not because of what’s in the organic food but because of what’s NOT in there.

Giving credit where credit is due — The Atlantic is one mainstream media source that gets it mostly right in their article on the subject.

And one more thing! You may notice that this latest study — and the many articles about it — make no mention of GMOs, which are not only engineered to withstand massive doses of herbicides and pesticides (or produce them in the plant itself), but also have many well-documented, inherent health risks.

So don’t be duped by all this organic bashing. The fact is that more and more savvy consumers are choosing organic foods, and a tipping point is drawing ever-nearer in which many conventional producers will be forced to change their business model. The gravy train of cheap, processed garbage may never stop for Big Agra, but it’s slowing down …

And make no mistake — less gravy is always going to be healthier for you.

      
Aug
16
0

Chuck a few things in the ‘ole food processor and PRESTO! You’ve got PESTO!

By Steve | Filed in Recipes

What ingredient is missing? Hint: I’m nuts for leaving it out.

With the summer garden all but kaput — my beautiful and delectable tomatoes having succumbed to blight weeks ago — one of the last remaining stalwarts is basil. And man, did it take the opportunity to stretch its stalky limbs once those pesky nightshades were no longer hindering their solar gain — just four plants, but each taller than the average Chinese gymnast (female) and just green as all get-out …

So what to do with this vitamin K and A laden bounty? Well, the only option that comes to mind, in terms of utilizing mass quantities of basil, is the now-trendy green paste known as pesto. Like many things green, with the possible exception of Kermit the Frog, pesto has it’s share of haters — but one always wonders how many have tried the good stuff. Homemade. Raw. With the freshest ingredients. I’m talking about basil cut just minutes before! Anyway, I’m on board with pesto, bigtime. Which, again, is convenient because I’ve got basil coming out my ears.

That being said, if you don’t have your own garden-fresh basil, or a neighbor willing to share, I’m not sure homemade pesto is a viable project, given the market price of the basil — let alone the other ingredients, as I’ll touch on shortly. You may be able to get a cheap bunch at your local farmer’s market. Worth a try. Otherwise, you’re pretty much SOL.

Moral of the story: Next year, grow some basil. In the ground, in a pot, doesn’t matter. It will grow. My only real advice is to nip it in the bud(s), literally, because in hot climates basil will quickly go to seed if left to its own devices.

Right, so let’s assume you’ve got your hands on some fresh basil, one way or the other, and you want to give this pesto thing a whirl. The next barrier to entry is a food processor, such as Cuisinart, etc. Yes, of course pesto was made by hand back in the “olden days,” but geez, that seems like a lot of work. A food processor is not necessarily mission-critical equipment, but well worth the small investment in my opinion. Many applications, from making fresh salsa to pizza dough and pie crusts.

Basil, check. Food processor, check. What else do you need?

  • Parmesan or Romano cheese (I use Romano because it’s very tasty and about half the price of authentic Parmigiano Reggiano) — and don’t, for the love of God, use the stuff that comes in the green can! I don’t care if it says 100% cheese!
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil — takes quite a bit, maybe a cup or so. Here’s a tip on buying — those big metal cans (gallon?) can be very economical, but often contain oil from multiple sources/countries. Look for one that comes from a single country, Italy and Greece typically being the best. Although California, USA produces some darned fine EVOO as well — my top choice being the stuff sourced by Chef Keith Snow at Harvest Eating.
  • Garlic, fresh, to taste. I typically use about a half dozen cloves per batch.
  • Nuts. This is what I neglected to include in the spread, above. Pine nuts are traditional, but holy guacamole are they expensive. From what I understand nobody has developed an automated way to extract the nuts from the pine cone and/or the hard outer shell, so it has to be done manually. My solution is to use a mixture of pine nuts, walnuts and almonds. Overall, you want about a half cup to three quarters of a cup of nuts per batch.
  • Salt and pepper, to taste. I use lots of pepper — perhaps a teaspoon or two — and a few pinches of kosher or sea salt.
  • Optional additives — other herbs you might be growing, such as oregano or lemon balm. Lemon juice. (I used the latter two ingredients in my most recent batch). And really anything else you want to experiment with.

What I do first is put the cheese grater attachment on my Cuisinart, then grate my block of Romano — about 5-6 oz. worth. Then put the regular blade back on. Add the rest of the ingredients in any order, the only constant being that the basil is added last. This is because I tear the leaves off the plant and stuff the container to the very top — probably 3-4 packed cups worth. Then you close ‘er up and pulse, pulse, pulse, pulse, about a dozen times until the basil gets all worked down in there and the mixture is kind of chunky. Then I take the lid off, scrape the sides down with a spatula, re-close and hit the gas, letting it run for about 20 seconds. At this point you should have a nice, thick, not-quite-paste consistency. Not dripping off the spatula but not sticking to it either.

Taste. Add more ingredients as desired. Mix and taste again. Repeat as necessary to get just the flavor you like.

Three ideas for using the pesto, aside from the obvious (pizza and pasta):

  1. Pesto-Yogurt Sauce, one part pesto, two parts plain Greek-style yogurt. A good raw veggie dip, or use to coat chicken or fish prior to baking. Usually 400 degrees for about 20 minutes does the trick for fish fillets and boneless chicken. Add another 5-10 minutes for bone-in chicken legs.
  2. Marinated white beans. Pre-soak dry white beans overnight, then boil for an hour or so, until tender. Drain and combine with pesto. Refrigerate for at least a few hours, then eat warm or cold, use on salads or pizza, lots of things you can do with them.
  3. Pesto meatballs or burgers. Simply add some pesto to your raw ground beef and then make your balls or patties, as usual.

Finally, a note about the nutritiousness of pesto. I already mentioned how basil is rich in vitamins K and A — then you add healthy, monounsaturated fat and omega-3s from the olive oil and nuts, plus some calcium from the cheese and many naturopathic benefits of garlic, not to mention the lemon juice to ward off scurvy  – and you’ve got a real winner here, in my book.

I know I said “finally” before — but one more thing. If you make a sizable batch of pesto as I’ve outlined,  you’ll probably want to put some up in long-term storage, as the fresh pesto is going to lose character rather quickly in the refrigerator. I don’t know, maybe a few weeks. And pesto typically isn’t something you want to eat every day, or even a few times a week. One option is to pressure can, but I don’t have the equipment and have had great success with freezing. Either in ziploc bags or jars, in the latter case leaving at least a half inch of headspace. The great thing about freezing in the ziploc bag, if you press the filled bag down, so it’s kind of flat, then you can pull out of the freezer and break off a little bit here and there if necessary.

Now go go go! And make the pesto!

      
Jul
19
0

Nutrition Tip of the Day: EAT THESE FOODS

By Steve | Filed in Essays, Nutrition Tip of the Day

Sorry Super Tomato, you didn’t make the list.

In my most recent product review I talked about “Super Foods,” and it seems like every self-proclaimed nutrition expert out there has their own list of them — so heck, might as well jump on the bandwagon. After all, there’s nothing wrong with a bandwagon, as long as it’s headed in the right direction, eh?

Originally I was going to do the traditional Top 10, but once I started listing there were just so many … and Lord knows, if I overlooked someone like Kiwi there would be a strongly worded letter forthcoming from her publicist, if not a lawsuit. Also, my initial thought was to provide a brief statement of justification for each of these, but I decided that was difficult to do without getting into a lot of technical jargon about isofavones, anthocyanins, conjugated linolenic acid and whatnot, so I opted for the streamlined approach instead. So here we go, in no particular order mind you:

  1. Blueberries
  2. Flax
  3. Fish (not fried)
  4. Broccoli
  5. Kale
  6. Swiss Chard
  7. Avocado
  8. Kiwi
  9. Yogurt (no/low sugar)
  10. Sauerkraut (non-pasteurized)
  11. Eggs
  12. Walnuts
  13. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  14. Sprouts (broccoli, bean, etc.)
  15. Garlic
  16. Cinnamon
  17. Turmeric
  18. Oregano
  19. Grass-fed beef
  20. Sesame Seeds

Breakdown by category:

Fruits (2) – Blueberries, Kiwi

Vegetables (6) – Broccoli, Kale, Swiss Chard, Avocado, Garlic, Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage)

Meat, Eggs & Dairy (4) – Fish, Grass-fed Beef, Yogurt, Eggs

Nuts & Seeds (3) – Flax, Walnuts, Sesame Seeds

Herbs & Spices (3) – Cinnamon, Turmeric, Oregano

Other (2) – Olive Oil, Sprouts

Additional commentary:

EAT THEM!!!

      
Jul
18
0

Product Review #16

By Steve | Filed in Product Reviews

Steve Dupont reviews the Boku Bar, Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor.

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Approximate cost: $3.50

Where I purchased: Item provided free by Boku corporation

Why I would buy this product again:

Good macro-nutrient balance at roughly 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat means this bar is a viable candidate for “meal replacement.” Relatively simple and wholesome ingredient list. Most of protein from almonds and brown rice, not soy. Robust iron content at 40% of RDA as well as decent levels of magnesium. Nice taste dominated by raw cacao, raisins and almonds. Not too sweet.

Why I would not buy this product again:

Well, technically I didn’t buy this item in the first place … but I would certainly be deterred from buying it in the future due to the high price. Granted, if you consider it a meal replacement it’s not very expensive at all, but I rarely if ever “replace” meals with such a product.

Am I likely to buy this product again?

Probably.

Ratings (out of 5)

Nutrition: 5

Taste: 4

Other notes:

The Boku “Super Food” blend contains: Organic Young Barley Grass Juice, Organic Spirulina, Organic Kelp, Organic Nopal Cactus, Organic Nettle Leaf, Organic Chlorella, Organic Klamath Lake Blue-Green Algae, Organic Broccoli, Organic Kale, Organic Spinach, Organic Cabbage, Organic Parsley, Organic Sprouted Flax, Boku Super Enzymes, Himalayan Pink Crytal Salt, Organic Maca Root Juice, Organic Boku Super Tákes, Organic Sweet Mesquite Pod, Organic Cacao, Organic Lucûma Fruit, Organic Goji Berry Juice, Organic Hawthorn Berry, Organic Strawberry, Organic Fine Vanilla Bean.

      
Jun
28
2

How to avoid sickening or killing your BBQ guests (with the meat, at least)

By Steve | Filed in Essays, Recipes

Uh … might need a couple more minutes.

So there you are, maybe it’s this weekend in fact, or the good ‘ole 4th of July, and you’re sitting around with group of friends celebrating your independence from feudal serfdom (technically speaking, that is) and these are people whose company you really enjoy, so needless to say you don’t want to inflict them with some nasty creature like, I don’t know …

Trichinosis, a parasitic worm sometimes found in pork, which can spread to your heart and even your brain and cause death …

or perhaps Campylobacter, a bacteria known to inhabit undercooked meat and poultry, which can cause Montezuma’s revenge-style diarrhea for 7-10 days.

Right-o!

Good to hear you’re not a complete psychopath, but you also don’t want to be a wanton grill master. You need two things, one of which you may already have, and another which I will now provide you — that is, some friendly knowledge and advice.

Please do ensure that you cook your meats to an adequate (i.e., safe) temperature, which varies based on the meat you’re cooking as follows:

  • “Whole muscle” meats including pork and beef roasts, steaks, chops and ribs – 145 degrees F
  • Ground meats, namely hamburgers – 155 degrees F
  • Poultry – 165 degrees F

Of course, the other thing you need is a meat thermometer. We’re talking 10 bucks for a cheap one, which is fine. If you don’t have one, get one. Period. Note however, that many analog thermometers will also advise you, wrongly, of proper cooking temps. For example, I have one that advises cooking poultry to 185 degrees — which ensures safety, yes, but also virtually assures dry, overcooked chicken, which nobody likes.

Now that we’ve got all that settled, how about a nice recipe you can use to test your skills and impress your guests: Grilled Rosemary Chicken

Just note that the recipe is for TWO (2) chickens, so you might have to halve it.

You also need to halve your chicken(s), then halve them again to produce quarters. That is, two legs and two breasts, which makes the grilling go a bit quicker.

If you don’t know how to quarter a chicken, you really must learn. It’s economical and even quite fun, assuming you’re not squeamish in that way — or accident prone with a large, sharp knife — a prerequisite for the job.

Now go enjoy your meat … and your independence.

      
Apr
3
0

Nutrition Tip of the Day: Cook food as little as necessary, with one caveat

By Steve | Filed in Nutrition Tip of the Day

What kind of Goose? Aspara-goose!

I decided to begin this Tip of the Day series with a really simple one. You might say this concept is self-intuitive, blatantly obvious or even understandable to the average waterfowl. A Canadian Aspara-goose for example …

To be clear, mainly what I’m talking about is vegetables. Generally speaking, I prefer cooked vegetables to raw vegetables, but you know those obnoxious people with ridiculous tans and veins bulging from the sides of their neck who drill us ad nauseam with the fact that raw, alive veggies are more nutritious that cooked, dead veggies? Well, they’re right. At least on that central point. I would disagree that lightly and skillfully cooked vegetables are “dead,” but LESS nutritious, sure, that’s a fact.

You see, it’s not so much the vitamin and mineral content that’s destroyed by the cooking process — the main exception being vitamin C, which has very low heat tolerance — but other substances called phytochemicals or phytonutrients, under which there are many subcategories. You may have heard some of these terms bandied about: polyphenols, sterols, flavones, catechins … the list goes on. The bottom line is that we (vis a vis SCIENCE) are just beginning to grasp the myriad benefits of these plant-derived compounds to the human species. For a good overview of the major categories of such compounds and where they occur, read this.

If you’re planning to sautee multiple veggies for example, say garlic, onions, yellow (summer) squash, swiss chard and cherry tomatoes — don’t throw them in the pan all at once. Think about the nature of each ingredient and how you prefer them cooked. Personally, I would go in the following order, with maybe a minute or so in between:

1. Tomatoes
2. Garlic and onions
3. Squash
4. Chard

Why the tomatoes first? Well, that brings us to one noteable caveat to this advice — again, with the exception of vitamin C content, cooked tomatoes are more nutritious than raw ones. Specifically, a phytochemical called lycopene (also found in watermelon, grapefruit and even asparagus!) can be significantly increased by cooking tomatoes — and this is no small matter, considering that lycopene is the most devestatingly effective singlet oxygen (free radical) quencher known to mankind. Which is to say, it’s one of the best antioxidants available. Which is to say, it can help you become healthier and live longer. Some recent studies even show potent anti-cancer benefits from lycopene.

So the next time you wolf down half a pizza, at least you can rest assured knowing your singlet oxygen free radicals are well quenched.

      
Dec
20
1

Product Review #15 – Part One

By Steve | Filed in Product Reviews

Steve Dupont reviews the Champion Juicer Commercial Series.

Approximate cost: $250

Where I purchased: Don’t remember

Why I would buy this product again:
Solid craftsmanship, relatively easy to clean, variety of uses.

Why I would not buy this product again:
Juicing is a very time-consuming process, from cleaning and chopping your produce to cleanup of the equipment, countertops, etc.

Am I likely to buy this product again?
No. Hopefully this one will last my lifetime.

      
Dec
20
2

Product Review #15 – Part Two

By Steve | Filed in Product Reviews

Steve Dupont completes his review of the Champion Juicer.

      
Aug
22
0

Gotta love the “Johnny” Cakes (a.k.a. corn pancakes)

By Steve | Filed in Recipes

Thanks to Chef Keith Snow and HarvestEating.com.

      
Aug
10
0

Product Review #14

By Steve | Filed in Product Reviews

Steve Dupont reviews organic vine-ripened tomatoes, grown from his own front yard garden.

Approximate cost: Virtually zero, not including overall maintenance of the garden … and sweat equity, of course.

Where I purchased: N/A. Picked from my own garden.

Why I would buy this product again:
In the future, I will only buy tomatoes (out of season) at the grocery store once in a blue moon, and most likely they will be organic cherry/grape tomatoes for salad. In terms of why I will continue to eat tomatoes, from my own garden and/or farmer’s markets – 1) they are an excellent source (perhaps the best) of lycopene, a carotenoid with demonstrated anti-cancer properties, namely prostate and stomach cancers. Lycopene is also a powerful antioxidant, specifically against singlet oxygen free radicals. Tomatoes also contain lutein, an essential compound for eye health, which has been shown to offset macular degeneration. Finally, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, which of course always helps in the battle against scurvy!

Why I would not buy this product again:
In terms of buying tomatoes from a grocery store, I will avoid doing this because they are relatively tasteless. Any non-vine-ripened tomatoes have likely been picked green and artificially ripened/reddened with ethylene gas. Yuck.

Am I likely to buy this product again?
Again, depends how you interpret that question … I love good tomatoes, period.

Ratings (out of 5)
Nutrition: 4
Taste: 5

Other notes:
The two varieties from my garden reviewed here are Peacevine Cherry and Yellow Perfection (heirloom). Both were started from seed under grow lights in late January 2011 and planted the last week in March 2011 here in Birmingham, AL. It was a very warm late winter this year so I took a chance on the frost and got them in the ground early. The gamble paid off, as I began harvesting vine-ripened tomatoes from these plants in mid May.

      
Jul
26
0

Product Review #13

By Steve | Filed in Product Reviews

Steve Dupont reviews the product: Barbara’s Shredded Oat Cereal – Original Flavor

Approximate cost: $4

Where I purchased: Whole Foods

Why I would buy this product again:
Short, all-natural ingredient list. Good assortment of vitamins and minerals. Heart-healthy oats. Very crunchy and quite tasty, as well.

Why I would not buy this product again:
Sugar a bit high at 12 g per serving.

Am I likely to buy this product again?
Perhaps. Would not hesitate to buy on sale, but probably won’t become a regularly stocked item in the pantry.

Ratings (out of 5)
Nutrition: 3
Taste: 4

Other notes:
I consumed this cereal with skim milk, however, since the recording of this episode I have switched to 2% milk. Incidentally, whole milk is not 100% by comparison but in fact 3.25%, this number indicating the total percentage of butterfat in the milk (butter actually being 80% butterfat). At any rate, my opinion based on the latest science is that fats (yes, even saturated fats such as butterfat) from quality animal sources such as organic cow’s milk are indeed very healthy in reasonable quantities – and, given this context, you’re getting ripped off for skim milk, which is generally the same price as reduced fat or even whole milk.

      
Jul
25
0

This bread is delicious. You really must try this bread.

By Steve | Filed in Recipes

Whole Wheat, No-Knead, Sourdough Bread.

Thanks to Chef Keith Snow and HarvestEating.com.

Starter Mix:
Add 1 cup bread flour to 1 cup warm water in mixing bowl.
Mix together by hand and let sit at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Add to another bowl in this order:
2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp dry yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1 cup warm water
2 eggs, beaten
Starter mix (from above)

Thoroughly mix/moisten without kneading.

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in warm area (warmed oven, etc.) for about 2 hours.

Prepare pot for baking bread with cooking spray all around.
Put circle of parchment paper on bottom and top with cooking spray.

Turn dough onto well-floured surface.
Fold over and press out air bubbles 6-8 times, adding flour on top each time.
Fold under to make round loaf and transfer to pot.

Let rise in warm area for another 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400.

Bake bread for 30 minutes.
Cover with lid (or foil) and bake another 30 minutes.

      
Jul
22
0

There’s a new CSA in town!

By Steve | Filed in News

This is where food comes from.

Just a quick note for those in and around Birmingham … there is a new community supported agriculture (CSA) outfit serving our area — Moore Farms and Friends — and having tried them out for a couple weeks now I can recommend it. The big plus is that a one-year membership only costs $30, then you can order what you want from week to week (or order nothing). I’ve found the vegetables to be of high quality and the meats and dairy products also to be particularly delicious. And almost everything is organic, grass-fed, etc. Finally, they have multiple delivery locations around the city including the Summit, Homewood and downtown.

The website is MooreFarmsandFriends.com.

I believe local farmers are vital to the cultural and economic fabric of our nation, so I hope you will consider supporting them in one way or another … and getting yourself some highly nutritious food in the process!

      
Jul
11
0

Product Review #12

By Steve | Filed in Product Reviews

Steve Dupont reviews the product: Back to Nature Poppy Thyme Crackers

Approximate cost: $3.50

Where I purchased: Publix Grocery Store

Why I would buy this product again:
No hydrogenated oils, no artificial anything, catchy name.

Why I would not buy this product again:
Lackluster taste, fairly expensive (around $4).

Am I likely to buy this product again?
No.

Ratings (out of 5)
Nutrition: 4
Taste: 2

Other notes:
Again, not to beat a dead fatty acid here, but hydrogenated oils should be avoided, due to their tendency to cause inflammation and become oxidized once incorporated into LDL cholesterol. Of course regular vegetable oils like sunflower or safflower (which is in this product) can also be problematic in both of these regards, just not quite as much.

      
Jun
21
1

American Food Culture: A Celebration of Death?

By Steve | Filed in Essays

Free diabetic supply kit with every jumbo cake purchase.

Steve Dupont here, and let’s just get one thing straight from the getgo — I am not indicting the American food culture as a whole, which I believe has many praiseworthy traditions, regional curiosities and, yes, even nutritional benefits. More on that later, including some of the promising new trends I’m seeing out there, but first …

I want to talk about what I would call American “celebration culture” or perhaps even more precisely, “perfunctory celebration culture” — holiday parties, office parties, daycare/school parties and the mother of all culinary and nutritional abominations, children’s birthday parties. The last two, of course, being very personal to me not only because I have children two children myself, and have agonized through many such functions, but because I honestly care about the health of all children, not just my own.

In the case of our daycare center, in particular, I think part of the problem may be quite simply too many parties. After all, just by virtue of having a dozen kids in the class, plus two teachers, ensures that you have an average of one party a month. Then you add in holidays — Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, plus Mardi Gras, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day … and probably a few more obscure ones I’m forgetting. Then you have beginning of the year parties, end of the year parties and random parties in between like going away parties or new baby brother/sister parties. When it’s all said and done, we’re talking about a party every other week or so. Many parents attend all of these. I do not. Moreover, whenever possible, I’ll admit I try to pick up the kids early or keep them home on party days to spare them the chemical assault …

Which brings us to the food fare typical of such events, which has actually become so consistent as to have more or less a template. In fact, many times a teacher or parent will post a sign-up sheet for an upcoming party, which may look like this:

Cheese puffs ___________________________
Potato chips _________________________
Chicken nuggets _______________________
Cookies ____________________________
Donuts ____________________________
Juice ________________________________
Soft Drinks ___________________________

So let’s just take these items one by one, with my nutritional concerns (many of which should be quite obvious):

Cheese puffs: Partially hydrogenated oils, GMOs (corn, canola), artificial colors, MSG

Potato chips: Same deal, minus the artificial colors (but I fear it’s only a matter of time before we see “party colors” chips on the market)

Chicken nuggets: By far the nutritional powerhouse of the group — at least they contain protein — but you can bet it’s going to be the lowest-grade factory farmed chicken full of antibiotics, fillers and preservatives, in addition to the hydrogenated oils, MSG and God knows what else.

Cookies: Sugar (probably from GMO sugar beets or GMO corn syrup), hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors and/or colors.

Donuts: Ditto.

Juice: Sugar, pesticides, whatever’s in the municipal water the juice factory uses to reconstitute the concentrate (i.e. chlorine, fluoride). Even most brands that say 100% juice are nothing of the sort. If so, the ingredient list should read: Apple juice. But instead, a product like Capri Sun 100% Apple Juice lists: APPLE JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE (WATER, APPLE JUICE CONCENTRATE), CITRIC ACID (FOR TARTNESS), NATURAL FLAVOR. I’m sorry, people, that’s not 100% juice, not even close! Moreover, one little pouch (177 mL) contains a whopping 20 g of sugar with none of the fiber or phenolic compounds found in real, fresh apples.

Soft drinks: GMO high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, fluoride (I once read that Coke filters their water and Pepsi uses unfiltered municipal (tap) water, but have not independently verified this). Okay, so in most cases young kids at least are not drinking this swill, but my jaw dropped the other day at a Father’s Day party when one of the dads requested a cup of Diet Coke for his son. To the teacher’s credit, she thought he was joking, but no. “Mommy drinks it all the time at home and he actually likes it,” dad said. This was a three-year-old child!

Right, so that’s quite a recipe for expedited disease and, yes, death. Indeed, a proverbial celebration of obesity, early onset type 2 diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, heart disease … go down the list.

Again, I think it’s a product of too many celebrations, but also we’ve allowed ourselves to become lazy, to get into a rut, to feel the peer pressure to conform, and to place frugality above good nutrition (or even less-bad nutrition). I am guilty of this myself on occasion. Of course, another inherent problem is that most schools and daycares nowadays, for reasons of liability I suppose, prohibit serving anything to children that was prepared at home. Everything must be store-bought. Which just seals the deal on the “corporatization” of our children. By the age of five, many will refuse to eat just about anything that doesn’t come from a bag or box or can with a familiar label, which is truly sad.

There are the rays of hope out there, like I said at the top — the increasing popularity of farmer’s markets and locally produced food in general, the raw and slow food movements, guys like Jamie Oliver and Keith Snow who rail against the system … so I believe a viable and sustainable counterculture, if you will, is on the rise.

It does take courage though, oftentimes, to go against the grain and even risk insulting those who dogmatically adhere to this junk food, fast food, whatever’s cheapest food way of life. And I must constantly remind myself that many of these people — especially the children — simply don’t know any better. Therefore we must not judge them, or scorn them, but lead by example and show them there’s another way.

Not just for better health, but better enjoyment of life through the food we eat.

      
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