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The Bad Eggs and Good Grocery Stores

In Good News, Salute to You, Take Action,

Posted on September 9, 2010
Author: Linda,
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In light of the 1/2 billion egg recall due the 1,300 salmonella cases (article in: The Huffington Post) , Trader Joe’s and Fareway Stores have committed to stop selling the supplier Jack DeCoster’s eggs in their stores for good. What’s the reason why these grocery stores have committed to this? It’s because of the 32,000 Food Democracy Now! members who campaigned against the bad eggs and their production.

We want to salute those members and encourage you in the fight against DeCoster’s facilities and their bad eggs distribution at other grocery stores! There are two things you can do to participate:

1. Sign the petition to tell other groceries to stop selling bad eggs and spread the word for others to do so as well.

2. Help fund Food Democracy Now!’s Bad Egg campaign to help pay for travel and signature deliveries at Costco, Walmart, and others’ big corporate headquarters.

The Healthy (and Limber) Gardener

In Uncategorized,

Posted on August 24, 2010
Author: Linda,
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More and more people are literally fed up with industrial food, and taking matters into their own hands by growing their own food. They may do it on their own or as part of an urban farming collective.

But be aware — growing vegetables and fruit oneself is not a dainty exercise in plucking perfect beans and strawberries after an effortless season. If you are starting from scratch, you have to dig up a foot or more of soil that may be hard and clayey, then amend it (with organic compost, of course, and possibly other materials). Unless you order a truckload of the stuff and pay others to install it, you’ll be hauling forty-pound bags from driveway to garden plot. If your area is blessed with a multitude of gophers, you’ll also need to lay down hardware cloth (which is actually wire fencing with a very tight weave) and put the soil back down on top of it. Then there’s the small matter of creating a barrier to encourage deer in your neighborhood to dine elsewhere. Planting and weeding are less onerous, but you still might work up a sweat on warm days.

Not to mention a backache.

But that’s optional. At a class a few years ago, I learned from a young student of John Jeavons (author of How to Grow More Vegetables and a pioneer in biointensive farming to make small plots produce copious amounts of food) how to make smooth, stress-free movements WHILE gardening. Digging with a spade, for instance, can be done using balance and a rocking motion to minimize back strain.

But regular yoga can help if you do end up sore after a hard afternoon’s gardening. There are free yoga classes that can be found all over the Bay Area. For example, Lululemon Athletica in Walnut Creek offers a free yoga class in Civic Park every Sunday.

Article found on the Examiner.com.

Fresh Fruits & Vegetables to the Rescue — biodiversity on your plate

In Food, Food to Avoid, Food to Try,

Posted on August 18, 2010
Author: Linda,
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The latest report on obesity from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that obesity in the US is increasing constantly, with some states much more obese than others. (If anyone tells you it’s genetic, ask them why the obesity rate has gone up within our own generation).

In 2001, the US Surgeon General called for action on obesity, yet things have just gotten worse – as of 2009, not a single state has an obesity rate lower than 15%. That means one person in seven is not just pudgy, not just overweight, but seriously, dangerously fat. There are many causes of obesity, but with respect to food, our understanding is growing that WHAT you eat, not just how much, is key. You could reduce your calorie intake, but if your calories are full of fats and salt and additives, and prepared by frying, you haven’t made as much progress as you might.

You’ve read it before, and here it is again: eating more fresh fruits and vegetables can help. Luckily, this is part of the weight loss or maintenance plan that can be pleasurable. You don’t have to shovel down mounds of those same old green beans, when the earth has given us such a spectacular variety of foods to choose from.

In Berkeley, Monterey Market and Berkeley Bowl offer cornucopias of amazing colorful delicious fresh fruits and vegetables. Even your regular grocery store probably has more food diversity than you’ve realized. When in the produce aisles, look at the higher shelves or corners of the cooler that you ordinarily walk past without noticing. Jerusalem artichokes! Jicama! Tomatillos!

Tomatillos

I personally suspect that the chemical drenching inflicted by industrial agriculture on its crops may contribute to obesity, and I can’t wait for scientific studies on the matter. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and eat food with less processing, i.e., fresh.

Tragic Images of the Oil Hemorrhage

In Oil Hemorrhage, Take Action,

Posted on August 12, 2010
Author: Linda,
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Created by the Environmental Defense Fund, check out this heartbreaking video on the images from the oil hemorrhage. There are ways that you can help whether or not you live close or not. Please check out what you can do to restore the Gulf Coast.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPjJPVdR4g&feature=player_embedded]

Organic Farmer Tells His Side of “Getting Married to Walmart”

In Food, In the News,

Posted on August 11, 2010
Author: Linda,
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David Mas Masumoto is a farmer who raises peaches and grapes. His land has been organic since the 1980s. In a recent article in The Atlantic (humorously entitled, “Married to Walmart: What Was I Thinking?”), he describes his mixed feelings about selling his products to the mega-box-store chain. (This venture originated within the last ten years). He wondered, “Were our sweet, innocent organic raisins being courted by Walmart, and vice versa? Was Walmart, the slick city suitor, trying to sweep us naive country folks off our feet then suck the life out of us? Or was I an idealistic organic farmer, believing I could help hundreds of acres transition to organic, reduce pesticide use and protect the health of farmers and farm workers?”

This debate has probably gone on in the minds of countless farmers – and consumers. How do we know when good changes by a not-good corporation can be trusted? We’ve all heard that some corporations indulge in “greenwash,” which (like whitewash) covers a multitude of sins, with cheery slogans, furry animals, and green colors on the packages. And we each must decide where to situate ourselves along the spectrum of food purist to unconscious eater.

Masumoto concludes his essay with cautious optimism, saying that he hears more talk and intentions about going organic among farmers than he did formerly.

Let’s encourage them! Organic is not perfect (like cigarette smoke drifting in the wind, pesticides can drift even onto organic fields), and it’s not affordable for everyone, but it’s a start. We can help our own bodies and the planet we live on if we choose our food wisely.

The Opposite of Fast Food–Slow Food

In Food, Recommended Company, Take Action,

Posted on August 5, 2010
Author: Linda,
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Like the weather, we all deplore fast food – but one organization is doing something about it! Slow Food was founded in Italy over 20 years ago in conscious revolt against America’s fast food intrusion into a nation that prides itself, justifiably, on its culinary artistry.

So in a concerted effort to restore the leisurely family meal, the rare breed of a crop, and lovingly made artisanal foods, this organization (with 100,000 members worldwide in 132 countries) gets people together to rescue their cultural heritages. Not to mention helping the environment by getting away from pesticide-drenched crops!

Something you may not have realized is that, like wildlife, biodiversity in food is threatened – the group Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) has found that over 1,000 American food species or varieties are endangered! So one thing you can do every time you go shopping is to buy a fruit or vegetable you’ve never tried before – that encourages the farmers to keep growing them. Slow Food’s diversity project is called the Ark of Taste. They help preserve endangered vegetables, wines (and the vines grapes grow on), fruits, and the minimally processed foods such as olive oil, cheese, and preserves.

And plenty of Americans agree that fast food is a sign of more than junky, manufactured meals – it’s also a sign of haste, uniformity, and family fragmentation. Slow Food USA has over 200 chapters nationwide . One local chapter (Berkeley) hosts monthly mixers every second Sunday. This month, it will be on Sunday, August 15, 3pm-6pm at Lake Chalet in Oakland (near Lake Merritt BART).

Try Dragon Fruit

Also found on the Examiner.com/san_francisco