What's on your 10?

Ryan & I were having fun the other night thinking of the ten "grocery store" processed foods we just can't live without- and if we were moving to fresh-food-only island (serviced by fresh direct, of course), would just have to pack in our bags. What's your 10? Our goal is to try and phase out all other processed foods- yup, hopefully soon we will make our own dressings, breads, pastas, marinades, etc, but these 10 are forever in our hearts (and bellies!)


1. Aunt Jemima's Maple Syrup
AKA pure High Fructose Corn Syrup!! We both agree that we've been spoiled by the fake stuff, and find the real stuff just not sweet enough- and a little medicine-y. Call us low-class pancake eaters if you will, but Aunt J isn't going anywhere.




2. Ryan & I split on the one soda we would bring- He went for classic coke, and I opted for Mr. Pibb. Although both of us prefer fountain soda to cans and bottles anyway, We'd just have to make do...



3. Candy



Again, we couldn't quite agree, so I went with Reese's and Ry chose snickers.



4. Peanut Butter!
Despite trying several other nut butters and the stuff that tastes like peanut cardboard, we still stick by skippy. Though we now like and buy their "All Natural" brand, I still suspect there is some chemical goodness at work in this jar....



5. Pillsbury Cinnamon Buns
Requires almost no description, though I was tempted to go with pillsbury frosting- but since I'm not bringing the cupcake mix, seemed silly. Buns it is.



6. Heinz
Yup, I like my ketchup with sugar in it too, and just can't seem to get a taste for homemade styles.



7. Donuts
These bad boys are our all-time favs, Call us Homer.... Should be banned from the state, quite frankly.



8. Fluff
How can anyone drink hot cocoa without it? Fluff 'n nutters are just soooo good, couldn't leave this total non-food behind.



9. Oreo's
So what if there are no identifiable ingredients? These cookies just feel good, and taste great. I like to dip them in my tea....



10. So far, all other items we both consume, but perhaps share a stronger preference for one brand over the other. But for our tenth items- there is no overlap. We're both pretty grossed out by the other's choice...

Sugary Cereal (All Ryan)


Coconut candies (allllll me)




And last but not least, a shout out to Instant Mashed Potatoes, which makes shepherd's pie taste oh-so-good, but just didn't quite make the boat. Alas, like unicorns, Hungry Jack must be left behind to drown in the sea of processed foods...

What do we tell our daughters?

An interesting article in this week's times magazine (one of many- the entire issue is devoted to health & wellness, with food and exercise featured) asked how we handle the paradox of telling our daughters both that they are beautiful the way they are, and that they need to "watch their size" for their health?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/magazine/18fob-wwln-t.html?ref=magazine

I don't have a daughter of my own, but as a teacher (and wellness.... advocate?) I have thought about this a lot in regards to my female students. 40% of our girls in grades 1-5 report being on some type of diet- these are girls between the ages of 6 and 10- and they are dieting, and this trend continues right into adulthood, when today, 50% of American women are on a diet at all times.

As disturbing as this is, it is perhaps even more so to realize that depending on race, between 30-40% of our girls under 19 are overweight. 17% are obese.

To say our food habits with our children- and ourselves-are disordered is an understatement.

I don't have easy answers- but I think it might start by telling our girls the following messages:

1. You don't need a thinner body, you need a healthier, stronger body. And we can ALL, forever, work toward that goal, regardless of where we begin.

2. You do not need to go on a diet, you need to change your diet, and be aware of what you eat and how it makes you feel.

These are the new rules I've been living by, and these are rules that I do not feel conflict. When I eat well, I feel good about myself. When I work out, I feel healthy and strong. I might always have some wobbly bits- that's just who I am. I am never going to be 5'11 and weigh 117 lbs (the average model height and weight)- but then again, neither will the other 98% of all women. Short of being stretched on a rack, those extra 7 inches in height just aren't coming my way. But I can do pushups, I can run for about 10 minutes straight- and I can twist myself into one sexy little pretzel. I'd like to do more. I want our daughters and students to see role models living in a new reality, where healthy is beautiful. I want moms, and friends, and aunties- to sell a new message of womanhood.

CSA: Community Supported Agriculture

We joined the Williamsburg-Greenpoint CSA!! What is so exciting about this? We will now get farm-fresh, picked-that-morning vegetables, fruit, eggs, and flowers every other week for the next 6 months! Beginning in mid-june and going all the way to Thanksgiving, we will be feasting on fresh foods. And all for only $22 a week. I am sooo excited! I am dreaming of produce :)

Check ours out at:
http://www.greenpoint williamsburgcsa.org/newsignup.php

No Impact Man

So it's been almost a month of being a vegetarian, 3 since I vowed to "change my diet instead of go on a diet", and about 4 since I watched Food, Inc, which started it all. So far? The changes have all felt pretty easy- I'm actually not missing meat very much at all (Although hot wings I have missed, dearly). It has been great to see what I've truly missed (italian imported Speck, YES) and what I've probably been eating just because I didn't know any better (chicken breast, breast, breast). I can't say more than I'm signing up for another month. I feel really good about the fuel I've been putting in my body, and that is all that matters to me.

It has been really interesting, on the other hand, to see and hear friends and family member's reactions to the news. I kinda tried not to make a big deal out of it, but when it eventually came up- most seemed intrigued, and then wanted to know if it was politics, health, or some other reason. Well folks, as I've said before, it is both- though I still stand by my belief that meat is an ok and natural part of the diet, as long as the animals are treated humanely during their stay here on earth. I have no doubt there will be times in the future when I am going to treat myself to some meat- but that is exactly what I think it should be- a very special treat.

The past few weeks have led down some interesting paths. Can you really be aware of how your food consumption impacts the environment and your health without starting to question every other thing you do? The answer is no. Cleaning products? Make-up? It all becomes suspect. And as I look around me, I start to question our collective consumption- and my individual, too- and wonder about my impact on the environment. Right now, I take and take and take- and I'm leaving a footprint. Yeah, I comfort myself with my use of mass transit, our new reusable grocery sacks, and that we recycle our plastics and paper products. But we still produce more trash than we should, and we fly on an awful lot of airplanes, and eat food from far away. In the long run, we'll have to do more.

Which brings me to No Impact Man. A film and book about a NYC family that spends an entire year reducing their carbon footprint to zero, No Impact Man goes to the limits- riding their bikes EVERYWHERE for a year, shopping only in local farmer's markets, reducing their trash to nothing (including not using disposable TP!), and turning off their electricity.

Understandably, the author does not expect most to got to the extremes he did- and following the experiment, some things in their lives have gone back to "normal". But just like my food experiment, by pushing the limits- this family realized what they really needed and what was excess. I hope to live like that- in the balance, taking just what we need- and giving some back.


Check out No Impact Man's blog @:
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

I'm turning vegetarian....!

Dear Michael Pollan,

You tell me to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly vegetables."

Ok, I'm willing to go "whole hog" on the vegetable thing. I thought this would be a good time of year- After all, March IS the "Greenest" month, and I have my boston kitchen to attempt some of the more adventurous recipes. I've spent most of February prepping, and I've already started cutting back and supplementing out the meat in my diet. So I'm ready to go. I've already decided that I am a fish, milk & egg-eating vegetarian, so those items remain on the menu. But chicken, beef, pork- I'll see you in April.

Why? Some of you may ask. Just because Michael Pollan and every nutritionist ever has shown that the less meat one eats, the healthier one lives? Well, that is part of it. But, as it is also the lenten season, I thought this was an appropriate time of year to also take a moral stand. Without getting too preachy, or gory, I want to try and call attention to the way we treat animals in this country. Now, I am not against killing and eating animals. I've grappled with this one, and I still believe that we are predators, and meat is a part of our natural diet, as much as it is a part of the puma's. We have the teeth for it. We need the protein. We have developed fire to cook it. It is a good and rightful thing.

What is NOT good is the way we have turned something natural into a cruel factory line. The chickens, cattle, and pigs that are processed in the US by major companies are never allowed to be animals- not for a day of their very short and unfortunate lives. We feed THEM unnatural diets- corn for the cows, who cannot digest it. Animal fats for the chickens who are by nature not meat eaters. We force them to live in too-small spaces, knee-deep in feces, and often without any daylight. We cut off the beaks of the chickens so they don't peck each other in frustration, and the tails of the pigs for the same reason. We have created chickens that grow too large too fast, and cannot stand up during their lives. I'm not offended by the way the factories slaughter the animals. I'm disgusted by how they are treated while they live.

So, 1 soap-box paragraph later, My month-long protest has begun.




The problem is that I have a hungry man at home who wants some meat on his plate. I need help finding vegetarian entrees that will fill up a growing man's belly and satisfy a slightly suspicious vegetarian eater. Or, at the least, food that can easily be made in both veg/non-veg versions, or supplemented with meat on the side for the Ry guy. Thing's currently on Ryan's "absolutely not" list include tofu, tempeh, and any funny-sounding, hard to pronounce grains (Quinoa, couscous, farro...). If I can get him to try any of those things by the end of the month, I will be really impressed.

So far, I have the following list of potential vegetarian entrees that might just satisfy my meat-eating man. Help me out, and send some of your favorites my way-

My vegetarian TO cook list:
-Pasta: veggie lasagna, pasta primavera, etc etc etc (I have a feeling this is going to be the back bone of meals....)
- Bean Burritos / beef & bean burritos
- vegetarian omelets/frittatas/quiche
- veggie burgers
-vegetarian chili
-thai vegetable curry
-stir-fry
-stuffed peppers with rice
-grilled veggie wraps
-fish: tilapia, tuna, etc

Who ya gonna call?? FOOD-busters!

After learning more about the "military-industrial" food complex in the US, I feel like every trip to the grocery store is just inviting dilemmas and stress. My average time from door to checkout has almost doubled, thanks to the extensive reading I now do. It's not just the nutrition label, but the ingredients, too, and if available, information on the producer. Then there is all the lingo- "organic", "all-natural", "humane", "local", "no artificial flavors", "low-fat", "non-fat", "better for you".... It's a nightmare. I need both a dictionary of terms and a spy cam to see what is actually going on. After reading that some "organic" producers of chicken basically use the same awful and inhumane methods as the non-organic, but merely swipe the regular grains for organic grain- I was disheartened. I mean, "organic" just doesn't mean much these days. So, I need FOOD busters. And I figured this blog was a good place to start. I have done some research on the following companies, and can, with some certainty, recommend them as better than the rest. This is not a complete list, but a start. As I find more, I'll update!!

Milk Products:
Ronnybrook Dairy-http://www.ronnybrook.com/farm.html
These folks get the gold star. They let their cows out to pasture every day, feed them grass, and strive for "beyond organic".
They'll even let you visit. Call to set up a day at the farm, and see where your milk comes from firsthand. Any other NY'ers interested in a field trip???

Stonyfield Farms http://www.stonyfield.com/farm_cam/index.jsp
These folks are so confident you'll like their farms, they have a "farm cam" video diary blog where you can see for yourself what life is like on one of the small farms they contract with!



Pork:
Hatfield Meats- http://www.hatfieldqualitymeats.com/about/sustainability.aspx
This PA based pork company is based in Amish country. They work with local, traditional farmers and are committed to humane handling and animal welfare, as well as environmental sustainability. Check out their report.



Chicken:
Epicurean Farms- http://www.epicureanfarms.com/ourstory/philosophy.shtml
Another PA based company that works with small local farmers and strives to go beyond current USDA standards. We have had a bird from these folks, and I can vouch for the flavor!

Bell & Evans- http://www.bellandevans.com/index.cfm?act=minimal_stress
In a world where sometimes you have to know the "lesser evils", you could do A LOT worse than these folks. No, the chickens are not allowed out on the farm, but they are kept in hi-tech houses that have more room, and WINDOWS. Again, like hatfield, this company works with local PA family farms, and goes beyond current USDA standards.

Eggs:
Nature's Yolk: www.naturesyoke.com/
These folks, also out of PA (YAY my home state leading the charge....) Are cage free AND have outdoor pastures. They also carry fertilized eggs, if you want your laying hen to have a sex life, too. I give them my top nod.

Nellie's Cage Free http://www.nellienest.com/cagefree.php
Again, we need to abandon the fantasy of roaming free on the farm, but they DO provide free roam in the shed, and space. They are certified humane, and they post some pictures of the hens.

Pete & Gerry's Cage free http://www.peteandgerrys.com/family_farmers.php
These eggs come from three New England family farms. Hens are free to roam in the barns, photos on the site, children are allowed in the laying barns, clearly not scary.

Dilemmas: "Brunch"

As I've been spending some time thinking about the food I eat, I figured it would be fun to deconstruct a meal and really try to trace it back to the earth. It seemed like a good idea to start simple, so I picked todays "brunch": Eggs, salad, and toast.

Now I would rate this as a fairly healthy meal: I scramble the egg whites in a little Pam or butter, and dress the salad with a tsp of olive oil and splash of vinegar. According to weight watchers, this is only 3 points worth of food. Also, thanks to the protein-veg-carb combo, it feels nice and balanced. That's always my favorite way to eat, and meals just feel better when I have one of each on my plate.

I started my deconstruction with the salad. The lettuce is earthbound farms, so organic, but not so eco-friendly, as it is shipped from the west coast, just like the tomatoes I put in as well. Roasted red peppers from a jar, a little salt and pepper, pinch of italian seasoning, a tsp of organic olive oil I brought back from italy, and a little balsamic vinegar rounded it out. So far, its been relatively easy to trace my food to its source. And all these foods, upon label inspection, contain only recognizable ingredients (For example, vinegar in the roast red pepper jar). I can handle that.

Then, a little water with a piece of that california lemon- so far, I'm a real gas guzzler, but nutritionally, this is headed in the right direction. And NYC water... well, god only knows that ingredient list.

I'm now thinking I need some protein, so I reach for nellie's eggs, the cage-free range-roamin' brown hens. Nellie is from new hampshire, so a little better than her west coast produce friends. I have to admit, her eggs really are different. I notice that the yolks are a really nice bright yellow, and they are somehow stiffer than a regular egg- I'm guessing its the omega 3 and vitamins in her healthy diet? And the whites fluffed up like nobody's business in my scrambled eggs. So I am digging nellie. And nellie is again, easily traced back to her corn, grain, and grass diet, on a real farm, run by a real family. Cool.

This is the end of the good news. I love hot sauce on my eggs, so a little pinch of red devil, which when I read the label- I am shocked to find contains corn, under the disguise of xanthan gum (the yellow devil?). Now why in gods name do I need some chemical corn in my hot sauce?That's lame. So in attempting to trace my hot sauce to the earth..I have to work my way backwards through a food processing plant that turns corn into xanthan gum. yuck.

An even worse offender was the bread. My husband looooves white bread. His brand of choice? SUNBEAM. So the other night I thought I'd treat him to his favorite. Now, I knew that this was a bleached flour heathen- but I DIDN'T know there is a disturbing 15 ingredients in my "bread", including High Fructose Corn Syrup as the third on the list... so, my bread needs a little sugar now??? Worse, I can only recognize 3 ingredients as real FOODS: flour, water, and yeast. The rest is a list of chemicals. Most of which are corn-derivatives and preservatives. I think. Ew. Bread with a bonus? Indeed.

I put a little butter on my toast and some blackberry jam from smuckers, which low and behold, has MORE high fructose corn syrup (#2), corn syrup #3, and two preservatives. Yeesh. That's a no. There apparently are actual blackberries in it... and a lot of refined corn....

Now my husband is convinced I have been kidnapped by the food police and brainwashed, but this seemingly simple, straightforward meal is riddled with corn! No wonder obesity and type II diabetes is such a huge issue. We're sneaking carbs and sugars into our hot sauce, bread, and jam. Just doesn't make sense to me.

It's not easy being green...

So my latest read forces the question: How much can you know about the state of practices in our food industry and still blindly buy their products? The omnivore's dilemma- choosing what to eat- effects everyone, everyday. It used to be debating if a mushroom in the forest would be tasty or deadly, now it's deciding if a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch has any nutritional value whatsoever, or if the meat being sold to me is clean, and has been produced in a way that respects the rights not only of the animals, but of the workers. Knowing that the answer to both is no, moving forward becomes tricky, especially with my rather carnivorous husband, who feels that meat is a food that should be present at almost every meal.

For me, these concerns even color my choices from organic markets: organic and sustainable are not the same words, and though the chemical-free lettuce I'm buying shipped from California is better for me, its still at a cost to our environment.

Worse, there are organic farms that still cage up their birds, but feed them "organic" corn- no better than their non-organic peers.

Thus, I find myself a budding "locavore"- an eater of local, sustainably-produced foods from small farms. We certainly have enough of them in upstate NY- why should I be buying produce from 3 or 4 states over, when we are capable of growing the same food right here??

I went shopping today at the Union Square Farmers Market. I wasn't sure what I could find there in winter, but there was a nice selection of apples from NY state orchards, not to mention some mushrooms- baby bella, portobello- and a ton of root vegetables. Fingerling potatoes, red onions and shallots, butternut squash, beets- all still covered in dirt. Definitely plenty of fruit and veg to be had, and all fresh, and compared to what fresh direct or whole foods is whacking me, quite cheap. Two gala apples, not sprayed with fake wax to make them shine, two butternut squash, a handful of mushrooms, and a red onion for $5.70. Cost to the earth? Can't say exactly, but relatively small. No pesticides, no fertilizers, and the distance travelled was within the state, and in most cases, less than 50 miles.

I was thrilled to find cage-free organic eggs in my grocery store last night, but on the other hand, I caved and bought a lemon from california. I love lemons...and even though I've sworn off tomatoes, I bought some organic santa sweet grape tomatoes too, also flown from the southern states. Cost to the earth? Well It's not easy being green....

Food, Inc.

So, as this blog is devoted to our culinary delights, both homemade and found out and about, I felt I had to talk about the movie I watched today, Food, Inc. If you haven't seen it, please do. Not because it's amazing (which it is) but because it is essential. Ryan and I are your typical food consumers- we buy what we see in the store, and we trust that our food is safe, regulated by the FDA- but it's not. Exposing the corruption and deregulation, the mass industrialized production of food- and the dehumanizing work practices- I think we're going local, and I think I'm ready to make some long-lasting changes. Between what I've learned about climate change of late- and food production- I think it's time to make a commitment to long-standing sacrifice and change for sustainable eating.

1. I'm willing to eat meats less frequently, pay a little bit more when I do, and KNOW that the product is high quality, from a REAL farm and not a factory, and produced by workers who are treated with respect.

2. I'm willing to go local, and eat seasonally.

It's not gonna be easy. I like bananas. I LOVE tomatoes. But I think it might be time to admit that the winter tomatoes I get- from halfway around the world, grown in hothouses, not in soil, and ripened chemically. They never taste like a good ol' jersey tomato anyway.

3. Farmer's markets RULE.

So how come I don't shop them more often? I want to support the ma's and pa's, sustainable agriculture, and the local economy. And they are SO fun.

4. I haven't been feeling good lately about what I've been putting into my body.

Weight watchers? Lean cuisine? All these companies are marketing "healthy" food- but let's read the labels. It's all chemicals. Blech. I'm done with those! I want to make my "vote" count- and use my power as a customer to show the food industry the type of food I want!

See Food, Inc.