Category: Interesting Information

Information I want to share in a non-essay form

Interesting Information: The Corporate “Organic” Label is a Rip-Off

Interesting Information:  August 23, 2011

The Corporate “Organic” Label is a Rip-Off

About a week ago, my sister and I had a Facebook interchange about some “organic” yogurt purchased at a local grocery store in order to help her sick grandson–who had been running a high fever.  My sister hoped the probiotics in the yogurt would help build up her grandson’s immune system.

“That’s unlikely if it came from a commercial grocery store,” I said.  “It’s a fake food.”

What I didn’t say is that most of the probiotics listed on a label of commercial yogurt are probably no longer alive.  They get killed during the process of making the fake food.  (Look for a claim of “live” cultures.)  And I didn’t say that anything made from pasteurized milk is not a health food.  Or, that it should be avoided since it’s pretty much wasted calories in your body.   I’ve already said these things to myk sister many times, and she’s been very patient with me and my food ideas over the past few years.  The good news is that she’s talking about buying a cow share and about working with a local, organic farm in her area that sells milk, meat, eggs, and produce.

Pretty much all of the small “organic” companies have now been purchased by BIG CORPORATIONS.  And, in the name of both bigness and profit, they’ve corrupted almost everything that the term “organic” used to mean.

Stonyfield was the yogurt brand in question.  The carton pictures warm and fuzzy images of cows grazing on green fields.  Or, a pretty woman eating yogurt in a background of green fields and a red barn.

But, Stonyfield sold out to Group Danone, which also owns the “organic” brand, Brown Cow.  Group Danone also owns Dannon dairy products.

 Assuming the type of yogurt in question for my grand-nephew is whole milk plain yogurt, and not any of the fat-free or low-fat options–you need fat to process protein–AND assuming it was not one of the whole milk fruit-filled options (like white chocolate raspberry) which are full of sugars so that they are a dessert, not a health food for a sick child, the label shows that in addition to the probiotic cultures, the yogurt contains added pectin (a hidden source of fiber to thicken the yogurt–too much fiber can cause damage to your digestive system) and what has to be synthetic vitamin D3, which never operates in human bodies like the real D3 present in real foods.

What the label does NOT SHOW is that Stonyfield also adds powdered milk to its yogurt to thicken it up.  Powdered milk is highly processed so that the chemical strands are broken up, which creates all kinds of toxins.  (Don’t drink powdered ANYTHING.)

And, I’d want to have an objective third party to witness the pasturing of these Stonyfield cows because most commercial dairies, organic included, supplement with grains and god knows what else.  (One site I read today had a commenter telling how local “organic” cows on a farm on her road were being fed “organic” doughnuts.)  That’s just what happens when BIG BUSINESS exerts profit pressures and when dairy farms are being driven out of business in droves.

Back in 2006, BUSINESS WEEK used Stonyfield to illustrate what a tawdry thing the term “organic” has become in the hands of large corporations:  “The Organic Myth:  pastoral ideals are getting trampled as organic food goes mass market.”  It’s an article well worth reading since nothing has changed for the better since 2006:   http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005001.htm.

The article almost immediately points out that Stonyfield’s organic farm is “long gone.”  Instead, “its main facility is a state-of-the-art industrial plant just off the airport strip in Londonderry, NH, where it handles milk from other farms.”  And, it blows the whistle on Stonyfield’s use of powdered milk and its attempts to have said powdered milk shipped to the US from New Zealand which is 9,000 miles away.

Dr. Joseph Mercola made a video after the article came out, and it’s worth viewing:   http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/10/12/you-are-being-ripped-off-by-much-of-the-organic-food-you-are-buying.aspx.   Mercola called it “You Are Being Ripped Off By Much Of The ‘Organic’ Food You Are Buying.”

Obviously, I agree with Dr. Mercola’s assessment.  Real organic food can’t be found in your local grocery store if it comes in a package.  And, that “organic” produce that you can sometimes find is being shipped here from places like Holland, Peru, Israel, Mexico, and China.  Besides the fact that this produce is tired out and lifeless, who knows how it has been grown.  Take a look at the German film OUR DAILY BREAD to see what I mean.  Most of this produce is being grown in hoop houses in peat packs stuffed with synthetic nutrients–all tended by technological equipment and lone, lonely people.  It’s not real food grown in nutrient-dense soil.  It hasn’t been harvested with joy by groups of people who will eat it together.  And you’re being charged premium prices for it.

You have to go out and find local, organic farmers in your own community and work out ways to get their food into your kitchen and into your body.  And, you have to eat seasonally as much as possible.  You can do it; there’s all kinds of help now to locate real farmers and organic food that will sustain your health and the health of those you love.  Start with the lists on the Weston A. Price Foundation and/or the ads in their quarterly journal, WISE TRADITIONS.  And, there’s all kinds of help to learn how to preserve some food from summer for the winter.

The CEO of Stonyfield sent Dr. Mercola a letter that attempts to explain Stonyfield’s “organic practices.”  You can find that letter on the same Mercola site as the video.  It’s really sad to read such a letter from someone who used to have an organic farm.   The denial and greed is shameful.  But that is what happens when corporations and capitalism are not tied to a set of values and ethics that support human rather than short-term profit.

Here’s a partial list of the once organic small businesses that are now “organic”:  Burt’s Bees, Tom’s of Maine, Odwalla, Naked Juice, Horizon Organic Dairy, The Organic Cow of Vermont, After the Fall, R.W. Knukdsen, Kashi, GardenBurger, Bear Naked, Back to Nature, Boca, Cascadian Farms, Health Valley, Arrowhead Mills, Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate, Dagoba Chocolate, Seeds of Change, Muir Glen, Alta Dena, White Wave/Silk, Westbrae, and Westsoy.

Buyer Beware!

Finally, make your own yogurt.  It’s dead easy–unless you’re working with ultra-pasteurized milk, which might not culture.  And, even yogurt made from pasteurized milk is better than the expensive fake stuff.  Heat your oven to 200 degrees.  Pour a half-gallon of whole milk into a large glass bowl.  Mix in two packages of Yogumet starter.  Put a plate over your bowl.  Turn the oven off, and put the bowl into the oven.  Let it sit over night.  In the morning you will have lovely yogurt.  Save about 1/4 cup for your next batch.  Sometimes it can take yogurt a bit longer.  Give it time; it won’t spoil.  Keep it in a warm place until it jells.

Interesting Information: My Cuisinart Rant

Interesting Information:  august 20, 2011

My Cuisinart Rant

Last summer, in the middle of making food processor ice cream–you just dump in heavy cream, frozen fruit, some arrowroot, and a bit of maple syrup or local UNHEATED honey–my Cuisinart food processor died.

My Cuisinart food processor was probably 30 years old.  It was heavy as lead, as solid as stacked bricks.  The motor didn’t go.  The plastic safety feature that slid into place to form the electrical connection broke.  There were no replacement parts to be found, which several internet searches showed.  And, John, who can miraculously fix things, could not figure out how to make the electrical connection work.

I use my food processor A LOT.  So, I ordered a new one, and I paid $252.73 for it.  I didn’t really think twice since I figured that the last one had lasted over 30 years, so I’d gotten my money’s worth.

The new one came.  It’s all bright and shiny black and chrome.  It only has two blades though.  My old one had more.  And, it’s got multiple-sized bowls, but I never use the little ones.  I cook BIG when I’m using the Cuisinart.  It has a retractable cord.

It’s a total piece of junk!  It’s got “bells and whistles,” but it has no power at all.

It lifts up like a feather as there’s no weight to it at all.

What my old one could do in seconds, this one can’t do at all.  Ever.  And something simple like the ice cream takes forever and there are always large pieces of frozen fruit left in the mix.

I’m writing this because I’m old enough to have had a really good food processor.   Many of you are a generation younger than me, and you don’t know what’s happened to too many American products.  Manufacturers have dumbed them down, but by bit, saving pennies and half-pennies along the way until what we have are expensive pieces of junk.  Like this Cuisinart food processor.

What has occurred is entirely logical.  It’s the inexorable process of Capitalism when it isn’t controlled by values and ethics.  Or, when a generation has passed, and people have forgotten how an appliance is supposed to work, so they buy what the market offers.

I still have my wedding-present (1966) hand-held mixer.  My daughter-in-law Tami’s melted down in less than 10 years.  It wasn’t an appliance she used often, so the usage time is even shorter actually.  My current GE refrigerator is also big and shiny and a total piece of junk.  It isn’t ten years old, but pieces of plastic inside of it are breaking off in chunks.

This process of degradation is present in many industries today.  Many of you don’t know what a real strawberry should taste like.  Or, a peach.  Or real food that isn’t so highly processed that it’s, now, totally fake.  Many of you don’t remember what it was like to go to a doctor who was actually interested in your health, had time for you, KNEW WHO YOU WERE,and didn’t just attempt to push a lot of drugs and invasive tests on you–drugs meant to deal with the fact that your food is no longer nourishing your health.

All of this degradation has just crept up on us until what we have now is a total mess.  The only thing I know to do is to try to create local community once more where you know where your food comes from.  And, maybe, to try to find appliances from Europe, where they apparently still make quality products that last.  Meanwhile, I’m stuck with the Cuisinart as I can’t justify spending any more $$$ on a food processor.

DON’T BUY THIS STUFF.  DON’T BY A CUISINART FOOD PROCESSOR.  DON’T BUY FAKE FOOD IN THE GROCERY STORE.

PS:  My Cuisinart toaster–bought recently–is also a piece of junk.

Interesting Information: Pantry Intervention

Interesting Information:  Sarah Pope’s Pantry Intervention Video

Sarah Pope’s videos are available on the video tab of the Weston A. Price Foundation’s web site (www.westonapricefoundation.org)  AND on her own web site at http://thehealthyhomeeconomist.com.  But, here’s a quick link to her video on what should and should NOT be in your pantry:

http://www.westonaprice.org/beginner-videos/pantry-intervention-video-by-sarah-pope.

Sarah Pope’s videos are interesting both for beginners and for those of us who have been learning how to think about and cook nutrient dense foods for ourselves and for our families.  I’ve watched two of them now (the pantry intervention and on appropriate cookware), and I’m looking forward to viewing the rest and to spending some time on her web site, which looks excellent.

So, take a peek and let me know what you think.

Interesting Information: Real Milk: What is Safe? What is Legal?

Interesting Information:  August 11, 2011

Real Milk:  What is Safe?  What is Legal?

On his July 27, 2011, radio show, Kojo Nnamdi explores what is safe and what is legal when it comes to our consumption of milk.

Recent raids by the FDA have some communities up in arms about whether raw milk is safe to consume. But supporters of unpasteurized milk are rallying a movement that would make it easier to obtain. Kojo explores where food safety, the law and milk collide.

Guests:

Sally Fallon Morell, President, Weston A. Price Foundation, author ” Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats”

Bill Marler, Attorney, Marler Clark (Seattle, Wash.)

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2011-07-27/raw-milk-wars

Interesting Information: An Unlikely Crusader For Food Safety

Robyn O’Brien, a former Wall Street analyst, watched in horror while her youngest child (of 4 children) experienced a food allergy attack one morning- -while eating a breakfast of waffles, eggs, and tube yogurt.  The experience set O’Brien off on a journey to understand why and what she could do about it in order to protect her family.

The video is 18 FAST minutes (because it’s so interesting and informative)–and ends with the suggestion that we can all begin to make small, incremental steps toward insuring that our food supply is once again made safe.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=2343

O’Brien also has a web site that seeks to help and to inform:  http://allergykidsfoundation.org.

PS:  O’Brien surfaces the information that the United States has higher cancer rates than anywhere else on the planet–due mostly to our use of untested chemicals in and on our foods.

Interesting Information: Healthy 4 Life and Please Don’t Eat the Wallpaper.

When someone asks me how to start changing their food consumption habits, I usually recommend NOURISHING TRADITIONS, Sally Fallon Morrell and Dr. Mary Enig, both of the Weston A. Price Foundation–which also has a really good web site.

But, this past year, the WAPF came out with a very short little book–their answer to the travesty of the USDA’S food guide, whose formation is driven by the market–not science–and which is guaranteed to make you sick.  I really like this little book.  It’s an excellent and easy guide to changing your life.  NOURISHING TRADITIONS is an amazing book and is chock full of information, so that would be the next place to go in your journey.

WAPF will send you HEALTHY 4 LIFE for about $12.   They also have a great shopping guide and lots of informative pamphlets on soy (really bad), raw milk, and so forth.

In addition, Dr. Nancy Irven, after working with high school students, published PLEASE DON’T EAT THE WALLPAPER, available at amazon.com at least for about $14 as I recall.  Irven’s goal is to get students to own their own health and diet by first understanding why high fructose corn syrup, white flour, and trans fats are really bad sugar, glue, and plastic.  Get those three out of the diet, she explains, and the other bad additives, etc., drop out with them.  Irven has a light touch and funny sense of humor, and the high school program she’s been working with on diet has been highly successful.

In short, there’s so much really bad information out there that teenagers, who are often adrift on their own in terms of food anyway, don’t know what to eat.  Since this same condition is true for many Americans, Irven’s little book is useful for all ages.

Interesting Information: “Why Go Organic” video

This little video, done by a child after an experiment, speaks to why you do not want to eat commercial potatoes in any form.

Do take a look?

http://www.geekmom.com/2011/06/a-sweet-potato-experiment-why-go-organic/

 

Here’s a site discussing the video and chlorpropham, the chemical at issue.  According to PAN (Pesticide Action Network), it is toxic to bees and retards growth in animals–and can kill them.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/girl-discovers-the-importance-of-eating-organic-video.html

 

 

Interesting Information: GMO Foods Have Not Been Tested Properly

Interesting Information:  July 9, 2011

GMO Foods Have Not Been Tested Properly

Philip Bereano, PhD, is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington and an engaged activist concerning genetically modified (GM) foods.  I saw this quote from him in the July/August 2011 issue of Well Being Journal and tracked down the whole interview, which is on Dr. Joseph Mercola’s web site:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/02/dr-philip-bereano-on-gmos.aspx.

Bereano said the following:

The problem with calling genetically engineered organisms safe is that there are no valid risk assessments being done on them. There is no research, really, being done into the health or environmental effects of a genetically engineered organism. Certainly no work that is published in the open peer-reviewed literature, or  that isn’t proprietary. Corporations promoting these things claim that they have done research, but you can’t get any information on it because it’s all claimed to be proprietary.

The whole interview is worth a scan because Bereano is arguing that what is coming clear is that there is a deliberate corporate strategy being carried out with government help to corner the markets on seeds and to drive organic farmers out of the market by the simple process of contamination.

Don’t scream “conspiracy theory” because while there may be some conspiracy going on here, what’s really occuring is the normal working of the logic of unfettered capitalism–which seeks to control all markets, to drive out all competitors, and to colonize any part of the economy so that it functions as a profit center.

Bereano addressed the claims that GMO foods can “feed the world” and that they are cheaper and shows that neither claim is true.

In May 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called for a ban on the use of GMO foods:  http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopressrelease.html.  Members are seeing increasing levels of serious health problems they believe to be connected to GMO foods.

What’s really disturbing is that GM foods don’t have to be labeled–which is another argument for buying local from people you trust.  Be especially careful with corn–especially corn chips.  Be sure to choose organic corn chips.   And do take  a moment to read about this issue so that you understand what is at stake for you and your beloveds.

Interesting Information: Vanilla Ice Cream

Interesting Information:  July 9, 2011

Vanilla Ice Cream

COOKS ILLUSTRATED, May/June 2010, investigated vanilla ice cream.  Nationwide, there are nearly 40 brands of vanilla ice cream.  CI chose the eight top-selling brands and taste-tested those.  The winner was Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla.  Next came Haagen-Dazs, Wells blue Bunny, Breyers, Friendly’s, Blue Bell, and Turkey Hill.  Edy’s Grand Vanilla was not recommended.

The criteria included what kind of vanilla was used (natural or synthetic); the tricky business of using stabilizers like carob gum, guar gum, tara gum, and carrageenan (the winner uses two); how much air is pumped into the ice cream to expand volume; and what kind of sweetener is used.

Edy’s, for instance, is a big package with lots of air, while Ben & Jerry’s is a small package with lots of ice cream.  Between the two, Ben & Jerry’s is a POUND heavier than Edy’s, even in the smaller package.

And ice creams using corn syrup tasted “`unnaturally sweet,’ ”  no matter the sugar levels.

Testers discovered that “keeping it simple” produced the best vanilla ice cream:  cream, milk, sugar, eggs, real vanilla, and a minimum of emulsifiers made the best ice cream.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

You can keep it even simpler:  get a pint of some real/raw heavy cream, add 2 or 3 egg yolks (keep the whites for macaroons or meringues) , some real vanilla extract, a tablespoon of healthy arrowroot for creaminess, some maple syrup or honey for sweetness, put it into one of those quart ice cream makers you keep frozen in the freezer, and you have delicious and healthy ice cream in about 20 minutes!

You can also make food processor ice cream out of cream or yogurt and frozen fruit.  That recipe is on the blog in July 2010.

Interesting Information: Greek Yogurt

Interesting Information:  July 9, 2011

Greek Yogurt

A friend gives me her COOKS ILLUSTRATED magazines when she finishes them.  The May/June issue had an article on Greek yogurt I found interesting.

I knew that Greek yogurt was just yogurt with a lot of the whey drained out of it.  Anyone can make it, and the leftover whey is an amazing substance that is full of enzymes that help digestion.   A tablespoon of whey in a bit of water before a meal can really help digestion and can begin restoring probiotics in the gut.  You can also freeze it and use the ice cubes in smoothies, put it in soups, and so forth.  And, of course, there is a whole foodway of lacto-fermented foods made with whey that are chock full of enzymes.  Sauerkraut is an example, and there is a recipe for it in the recipe section of this blog.

I always thought that whey had a lot of protein, so I was skeptical about draining off the whey.  However, COOKS ILLUSTRATED says that whey does not have that high a protein content, so what’s being lost by draining some off to make a thicker yogurt is “only” the enzyme and mineral content of the whey.  (What remains is high in protein.)  If one uses the whey in other ways, no substantial harm is done–unless you are buying the yogurt and are never getting the whey.  (I’m guessing the whey is used to make that dried whey protein powder which, like all dried liquids, has been harmed by the drying process.)  Anyway, do note that you are now dealing with a whole product that has been splintered into parts–which is not a good thing to do as the whole contains all that you need to digest and use the product most effectively.

The market has “caught on” to Greek yogurt and is busily trying to make a buck on it.  So, buyer beware.  Read the labels to see what’s been added to what should just be yogurt with the whey drained off.  Many manufacturers are getting the creamy thickness of Greek yogurt (as they are with regular yogurt) by using thickeners like pectin, gelatin, seaweed, and milk protein concentrate.  These yogurts (Yoplait and The Greek Gods are examples) also have considerably higher levels of carbohydrates than other brands, and we are learning, together I hope, that carbohydrates are the root cause of many chronic diseases in America.

Unfortunately, COOKS ILLUSTRATED bought into the belief system that fat is not good, so they tested nonfat yogurts.  (One needs fat to digest protein.)  CI liked Olympus Nonfat Greek Yogurt the best.  It is imported from Greece.  they recommend Voskos, Brown Cow, Dannon, Oikos, and Fage.  Chobani was recommended with reservations.  And Athenos, Yoplait, and The Greek Gods were not recommended at all.

For me, the best bet is to make your own yogurt from whole real/raw milk.  If you want to make Greek yogurt or, even, some yogurt cheese, drain off some or all of the whey.  But, be sure to use the whey in some other ways in your diet.

If you must buy yogurt, which would be made with pasteurized milk, seek out a whole milk, cream-line one with no additives.  There are still a few left out there.