What the Hell can I Eat?

I don’t want to step on any toes over here but I need to be honest.
Over the past few years, the Raw Foods fad has been closely aligned with the Whole Foods trend, the Local Foods wisdom, and even the Organic Foods movement.

Know what? In reality, they aren’t necessarily connected, or even similar.

Want my opinion?
I love raw milk. Even raw eggs. I LOVE salads. Eat a huge one every day for lunch and put a bunch of things in it; nuts, some veggies, some cheese, beans or eggs. It varies in exact content but for the most part, it’s raw. Having said that, and happily admitting to generally being a veg-a-holic, I have a little problem with making the leap between “many” and “all”.
For a perfect example take the tomato. I adore raw tomatos, freshly sliced, a pinch of salt, perhaps with a leaf of fresh basil ummmmmm. salsa, pico de gallo, oh don’t get me started.
I also love cooked tomatoes: sauces, tagines, ragus. yum.

On the other hand, broccoli? Not so much with the raw there. Same goes for beets, cauliflower and certain other foods. To me some foods raw are just too, well, RAW, you know?
The flavor seems locked inside, somehow. And let’s not even talk about the gas.
Yup, I gotta say that, for me, some things just need a bit of heat, a touch of the grill, a little cooking.

Finally, a little vindication after so many tut-tutts from all my Raw Foods pals!

The following is from the New York Times

…“There is a misperception that raw foods are always going to be better,” says Steven K. Clinton, a nutrition researcher and professor of internal medicine in the medical oncology division at Ohio State University. “For fruits and vegetables, a lot of times a little bit of cooking and a little bit of processing actually can be helpful.”

The amount and type of nutrients that eventually end up in the vegetables are affected by a number of factors before they reach the plate, including where and how they were grown, processed and stored before being bought. Then, it’s up to you.

No single cooking or preparation method is best. Water-soluble nutrients like vitamins C and B and a group of nutrients called polyphenolics are often lost in processing. For instance, studies show that after six months, frozen cherries have lost as much as 50 percent of anthocyanins, the healthful compounds found in the pigment of red and blue fruits and vegetables. Fresh spinach loses 64 percent of its vitamin C after cooking. Canned peas and carrots lose 85 percent to 95 percent of their vitamin C, according to data compiled by the University of California, Davis.

Fat-soluble compounds like vitamins A, D, E and K and the antioxidant compounds called carotenoids are less likely to leach out in water. Cooking also breaks down the thick cell walls of plants, releasing the contents for the body to use. That is why processed tomato products have higher lycopene content than fresh tomatoes…

TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/nutrition/20well.html?ref=health

Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, concerns about Salmonella tomatoes and E. coli beef go and ruin it all…My favorite part is where they say be careful about possible other sources of Salmonella but don’t even hint at what the hell ELSE they think might be tainted!

Yeah, better to let people get sick before warning them and getting those big suppliers all pissed off…

From Today’s NYT:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adding to tomato confusion, the government is about to start testing numerous other types of fresh produce in the hunt for the source of the nation’s record salmonella outbreak — even as it insists tomatoes remain the leading suspect.

Investigators are mum on exactly what other vegetables are getting tracked.

Items commonly served with fresh tomatoes is the only hint Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson would give, calling it “irresponsible” to point a finger until he has more evidence that some other food really deserves the extra scrutiny.
“Tomatoes aren’t off the hook,” he stressed. “It’s just that there is clearly a need to think beyond tomatoes.”

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Tomatoes-Salmonella.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

ALSO FROM TODAY’S NYT:

Supermarkets across the country are pulling from their shelves more than 530,000 pounds of beef that may be contaminated with E. coli in the wake of an Agriculture Department warning that the beef supplied by a Nebraska company may be responsible for at least 40 illnesses.

The company, Nebraska Beef Ltd. of Omaha, recalled the beef produced since May after some of its products, sold by the Kroger Company with sell-by dates of May 21 to July 5, was linked to reports of illnesses in Ohio and Michigan, the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said on Tuesday.

In addition to Michigan, Nebraska Beef reported some of the contaminated products were distributed in Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania. Other beef products were reportedly sent to Colorado and Texas for further processing, although it was not immediately clear whether any contaminated beef was sold in the other states.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/us/03recallcnd.html

Yeah, I’m as bad as the next woman about this, vain cow that I am. Not that I have time to do much more than try to pat away the dark circles while hopping on one foot, trying to find my other shoe while simultaneously disentangling my legs from two clinging little rug rats as I desperately try to get out the door for work… But hey, can’t a girl wear a little concealer and lip gloss without suffering toxic poisoning??

The following is from those wonderful people at the Environmental Working Group:

Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry

When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found unusually high levels of hormone-disrupting phthalates in women eight years ago, no one had any idea how ugly the beauty industry really was.

In this episode of EWG’s Mixed Greens podcast, Enviroblog’s Amanda speaks with Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face. This revealing book recounts the formative years of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, including a chapter on Environmental Working Group’s Jane Houlihan and the development of Skin Deep, our cosmetics safety database.

Listen to the podcast HERE: http://www.enviroblog.org/2008/06/mixed-greens-011-unpretty.htm

Ok, a few people emailed me with questions about the numbers on the underside of plastic items.

To be honest, I have to do a little refresher myself from time to time. Hey, it’s not like we don’t all have other numbers to think about, like the skyrocketing cost of fuel, groceries and housing. Or the number of people wrongly rotting in prison due to archaic Rockefeller sentencing guidelines…but I digress.

Here again is a rundown of what the number mean:

A quick plastic primer

Number 1: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a lightweight plastic, is used to make a slew of beverage bottles, from soft drinks to water. PET bottles are intended for a single use as PET breaks down with use and cannot be properly cleaned. The concern with PET products is not toxins, but the buildup of bacteria due to infrequent or insufficient cleaning. Scratches and imperfections in the plastic may host germs. These plastic bottles are the most viable for recycling.

Number 2: A high-density polyethylene (HDPE) made from petroleum, this plastic is pliable, opaque and versatile. Its many uses include sport bottles, cloudy milk jugs, cereal box liners, trash and shopping bags, and shampoo and cleaning supply bottles. There’s low risk of leaching, and it’s also curbside recyclable.

Number 3: Along with Number 7, polyvinyl chloride (PVC or V) is one of the most controversial plastics. These containers should probably be set aside for non-food usage. Use them to store crayons or beads rather than leftovers. Number 3 has been nicknamed the “toxic plastic” due to the softeners (DEHA) that with long-term exposure may cause cancer and other health issues. PVC is sometimes found in food containers, and often it is used in making plastic wrap.

Number 4: Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is used in making bread bags, frozen food bags and squeezable bottles. It transmits no known chemicals into food. It is recyclable.

Number 5: PP (polypropylene) is not as recyclable as numbers 1 and 2, but this plastic is another good option when choosing safe, toxin-free food and beverage containers. This omnipresent plastic is used in yogurt containers, syrup bottles, straws and medicine bottles.

Number 6: Polystyrene (PS) is used in making Styrofoam, plastic tableware and takeout containers. This plastic may leach styrene compounds — a possible carcinogen — and may disrupt hormonal functioning.

Number 7: A clear, hard, shatterproof plastic made with polycarbonate, specifically bisphenol-A. It may pose serious health risks. The popular and colorful Nalgene water bottles were a good example of this reusable plastic. The Nalgene company has replaced these water bottles with a bisphenol-A-free version. Studies conducted on laboratory animals revealed that even small amounts of bisphenol-A, a synthetic hormone, may be linked to breast, uterine and prostate cancers, premature developmental problems, obesity and diabetes.

Hi all,

Sorry to bring up that scary subject of toxic plastics leaching into our children and our bodies but I just found out that the New York legislature is deciding on Monday on chemical policy reform that will impact the health of our children.

Your state legislators will be deciding the fate of phthalate and bisphenol A exposure for infants and children.
Phthalates and bisphenol A, found in many toys and childcare products, including the infamous “rubber duckies” and baby bottles, as well as many adult consumer products like some water and sports drink bottles are chemicals linked to cancer, impaired fetal development, early onset of puberty in girls, male infertility and other health effects.

Please find out, if you don’t already know, who your legislator is and write, call or email to let them know how seriously you take this issue. You can make a big difference by making just a few calls today! Call the Assembly Switchboard at 518- 455-4100 and ask for your own Assembly Member’s office and the Senate Switchboard at 518- 455-2800 and ask for your Senator’s office.
To look up your state legislator go to www.assembly.state.ny.us/ and www.senate.state.ny.us/

-Ask your assembly member to vote in favor of A. 333 and A. 11277 when they reach the floor and speak out in support of the bill during debate.

-Ask your state senator to tell Senator Bruno that they want S.8367 to move out of rules and to the senate floor, and then vote in favor of it.

-Call Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver at 518-455-3791 to assure that the bill comes to the floor for debate and passage.

-Call Senator Majority Leader Joe Bruno at 518-455-3191 TODAY and ask him to move S.8367 out of Senate Rules and to the Senate Floor for passage.

According to the JustGreen Partnership, environmental, social justice, children’s advocacy and public health groups across the state are calling on legislators to pass legislation to protect children from high profile toxic chemicals common in everyday products, homes and schools. The bills would prevent children from exposure to chemicals that are linked to serious health problems - including cancer, aggressive behavior, learning disabilities, reproductive dysfunction and genital malformations.

Two bills have already passed the Assembly (lead prevention and decaBDE). Two have rapidly advanced to the Assembly Rules committee (phthalates and bisphenol-A) and are expected to pass that house. All four of the bills are in need of urgent action in the Senate. Groups also called for the passage of an e-recycling bill to require companies to take back old computers and televisions at the end of their useful life.

Prompted by growing scientific consensus about potential health impacts, these chemicals have been the subject of legislation in other states, regulatory action and voluntary market shifts, including recent federal CPSC recalls of leaded products, commitments by Wal-Mart, Target and Sears to phase out or limit products containing phthalates, Nalgene’s move away from bisphenol-A/polycarbonate sports bottles, and numerous electronics manufacturers’ switch from decaBDE to safer flame retardants.

The bills for which the Partnership seeks swift action include:

• 11277 (Englebright) - eliminates bisphenol A in childcare products and toys for children under fourteen.
• S. 8367. (Alesi)/A. 333-B (Fields) - limits phthalates in childcare products and toys for children under four.
• S. 5244 (Marcellino)/A. 7977-B (Sweeney) - phases out decaBDE, a toxic chemical used as a flame retardant, from electronics and furnishings.
• S. 6350 (Robach)/A. 6399-C (Gantt) - requires DOH to create a primary prevention plan for 30 communities outside of NYC hardest hit by lead poisoning, lowers blood-lead level action threshold, provides a tax credit to owners who make homes lead safe, and creates training programs to ensure effective lead abatement to achieve federal goal of ending lead poisoning by 2010.
• S. 7563 (Marcellino)/A. 8444-B (Sweeney) - creates an electronics take-back program to ensure a free, convenient method for recycling of TVs and computers paid for by manufacturers.

WANT MORE INFO?

What Are Phthalates?

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NEWSCIENCE/oncompounds/phthalates/phthalates.htm

Clean New York http://www.clean-ny.org

Fact Sheet: is there a way to tell if a toy contains phthalates? Healthy Child, Healthy World
http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/special_feature_faq_1_are_there_tell_tale_signs_that_a_toy_might_contain_ph/

How to avoid phthalates in personal care products Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
http://www.safecosmetics.org/your_health/avoid_phthalates.cfm

Bisphenol A Is Your Baby’s Bottle Harmful? Center for Health, Environment and Justice
http://www.chej.org/BPA_Website.htm

Wish I could take credit for that headline but I must give it where it’s due; Today’s New York Times.

Click to read a truly fascinating history of the banana in the U.S. as well as some prophecy about it’s future…

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18koeppel.html?em&ex=1214020800&en=acf4d20d4c12e559&ei=5087%0A

This link was sent to me by Kimberly Hartke, a very helpful and well-informed woman who also happens to be the publicist for Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Kimberly told me that the video was done by Crema, a brand new raw dairy consumer group in CA with 3500 members. A former NBC news producer did the video for them to help get concerned citizens involved in trying to pass SB 201 a new Fresh Raw Milk Act to secure safe, legal raw milk in their state.
Christine Chessen, the newscaster in the video below, is the founder of Crema. She’s also a mom of 3 and is studying to be a nutrition educator at Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition in Berkley, CA.

As you all know, my family (our 2 yr old and 9 month old kiddies included) drink Raw Milk and eggs as well on a regular basis. Of course, we know exactly where the milk and eggs come from normally but even when I’ve bought organic eggs from the store in a pinch (from a high-quality organic free range egg farm), none of my family has ever had even a single problem and none of us has had a sniffle all year, including my baby who was started on these at 4 months old.

Check it out. cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FoFoFNeCk&feature=email

And here’s more on both Raw Milk and Eggs as well from Mercola.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo5QAxXHQOQ&feature=related

After a nice long break from civilization (ahh the peace and quiet; no phone, no cable, no TV, and no computers) I’m back from the Old Wreck, catching up on all the hideously terrifying things going on in the world that I was perfectly happy not knowing about.

Ok, of all the headlines grabbing the day, Tomatos are not really hideously terrifying, and of course the answer to the above title question is quite obviously no, but it does help to underscore a point I’m continually trying to make:

More people over the years have gotten Salmonella and E Coli from nibbling raw veggies than from drinking Fresh Raw Milk!

The latest strike is from the lovely Tomato, that round red globe of tangy summer delight (Big Sad Sigh).

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES TODAY:

6 New Tainted Tomato Cases in City

By Jennifer 8. Lee
Six new cases of an unusual form of salmonella linked to eating raw tomatoes have been confirmed in New York City, in addition to a previously known case, the city’s Health Department. According to the Food and Drug Administration, there have been 277 reported cases of salmonellosis nationwide caused by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon form of salmonella. At least 43 hospitalizations have been reported.

READ MORE HERE

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/6-new-tainted-tomato-cases-in-new-york/index.html?hp

Meanwhile, a new report from the CDC still has poor old milk on the “Wanted” posters. Remember the saga of Organic Pastures Dairy that I wrote about a while back?


CDC REPORT ON CALIFORNIA ILLNESS
SHOWS CONTINUED GOVERNMENT BIAS AGAINST RAW MILK
Numerous Errors and Misstatements Demonstrate Agency’s Rush to Judgment Against Nature’s Perfect Food

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2008–Washington, DC– A Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5723a2.htm

issued June 13, 2008 has been carefully crafted to implicate raw milk from Organic Pastures Dairy in California (“Dairy A,” OPDC) with six cases of E. coli O157:H7 illness. The illnesses occurred at the height of the California E. coli outbreak associated with contaminated Dole brand baby spinach, which resulted in over 200 cases and three deaths.

According to the CDC report, raw dairy products from the dairy were allegedly associated with two hospitalizations and four additional illnesses yet the report itself contradicts this conclusion. To begin, the report noted that the alleged outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 that was found in the children was not found in any of OPDC’s samples. Also, the report admits that no E. coli was found in any of the environmental samples collected at the milk plant. Moreover, the report states that samples from three heifers yielded a different strain of E.coli O157:H7 yet the report fails to state that those three heifers were not even producing milk at the time. Nevertheless, the CDC sought to place blame on the dairy products because some of the product samples contained somewhat elevated counts of beneficial bacteria, which are destroyed by pasteurization..

“This is another in a long line of examples of raw milk serving as the whipping boy for other foods known to cause disease,” says Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit nutrition education foundation that promotes the consumption of raw milk from pasture-fed cows. “There is no credible proof that raw milk caused illness in these children. Government officials should be focusing on the known vectors of the rare form of virulent E. coli, such as leafy greens and hamburger from cows kept in filthy confinement operations.”

READ FULL PRESS RELEASE:

biased-cdc-report

Look, all I know is that we spent a couple of weeks in the mountains, beset by deer, a roaming black bear cub and even some escaped Peacocks from accross the mountain. We drank raw milk every day (as well as many other less healthy but delightful beverages) and let the kids eat about as much dirt as they wore.
The worst thing that any of the nearly 15 people in and out of that house became ill with was a hangover. And it was well worth it!

Short of going to the farm in person to see and buy our food, all we can do is read labels, so it’s an infuriating violation of trust when company greed skates around the facts to cash in on the big $$ of the latest food/health movement in this country.

The upside of Greed? Competitors are outing each other in the hopes of getting an edge. See below from the New York Times:

Tyson Told to End an Antibiotic Claim

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
Published: April 23, 2008
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering Tyson Foods to withdraw advertisements claiming its chickens are ”raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans.”

Tyson said it would appeal the decision.

The ruling was made by Judge Richard D. Bennett in the United States District Court in Baltimore.

Two competitors, Sanderson Farms and Perdue Farms, had objected to the ads by Tyson and said Tyson had injected its eggs with antibiotics and used antibiotic molecules in its feed.

READ THE FULL TEXT HERE
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E3DC153CF930A15757C0A96E9C8B63&scp=2&sq=tyson+foods&st=nyt

Sorry I’ve been dragging my feet a bit in posting. My usually over-spinning mind has been somewhat distracted by 8 month-olds trying to walk already and 2 year old big sisters doing all they can to push said 8 month-olds back down (and steal their Binky’s, drink their bottles and eat their baby food).

Also it’s been crunch-time at work.

And then there’s The Old Wreck, our place in the Catskills that brings to mind Green Acres and The Money Pit with just a hint of Deliverance underneath.
Makes you want to visit, dunn’it??

Anyhoo, on the Raw Milk front (which my mom insists on calling “country milk”, saying that the other name gives her the willies and the creeps), we are once again flush.
This past weekend we met up at The Old Wreck to shiver a bit amidst un-heated construction debris, grill fresh grass fed beef and buffalo out back, and cull giant deadly tree limbs from the ancient dying willow in the side yard.

Mom hooked us up big-time with the milk and the meat, which had all come fresh from the farm the day before. She took pictures for me to post with her handy-dandy digital camera but alas, they were all weird MySpace angles of cow-heads from inside the car as I think she’s kinda scared of large moving creatures off a leash.
Ok, she’ll be mad about that one and say it’s not true, but the pix were blurry at any rate so we’ll try again next time!

It was a great time, actually, even with trying to keep the kiddies away from the portable space heaters all Saturday night and the cool breeze that chased the heat off the sun on Mother’s Day.

And once again, the kids and I and the husband are all fine and dandy and the baby is sucking the fresh milk down faster (literally) than I can keep the Weston Price recipe made! And did I say he was, like, cruising already at 8 months? (No, not as in the Al Pacino movie but as in nearly WALKING). He’s also incredibly strong, like a person kind of strong. And smart? He tries to color with crayons and push the elevator buttons and even has his own little baby versions of practical jokes.
Both kids are happy, healthy and waaaay too precocious for their own good. And mine!

The freshly “processed” meat was a stunning color, bright and red, grilling up juicy and moist with a really great beef flavor, almost like steak. I’m definitely going to get a big freezer and buy a bit more at a time.