The News in Food

A few things caught my eye this week, and I thought I’d share them:

Vegetables and Fruit Stickers Actually Helpful (Ideal Bite) I had no idea that those stickers you find on fruit and vegetables were anything but annoying. They actually tell you if your produce is conventional, organic… and the big one- Genetically Modified! You can tell by the amount of numbers and what the code starts with. I’ve already looked at the produce in my house and found a conventional pear.

Harmful Pesticides in Conventional Food Products (SeattlePI.com) This study has been testing kids from 3- 11 who are eating conventional food. The tests are showing signs of “organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II.” They are also testing the same kids after eating organic produce and noticing a rapid flush of the harmful pesticides, the tests not even detecting the pesticides after 8- 36 hours. Granted this is a small sampling, it’s good enough to convince me!

Eat Like Grandma Does (Cincinnati Locavore) “Retrovore” has been flying around quite a bit these days… locavores must be getting tired of no salt, caffeine and chocolate. The Cincinnati Locavore likes the word and understands “unlike the term ‘locavore’ it doesn’t reject the inclusion of trade-goods, such as tea, coffee, chocolate, spices, olive oil, citrus.” Micheal Pollan suggests “eating like Grandma does” in his new book, In Defense of Food, I wonder if this is what he meant?

A Dainty Carbon Footprint (Star Tribune) I just wanted to share this great review of Common Roots Cafe where we had a very exciting meeting while in Minneapolis this summer on our Eat Well Guided Tour of America. The Star Tribune gives them a great review, and from what I tasted while I was there, I totally agree. Local, seasonal and reasonably priced in Minneapolis seems like a pretty big challenge to me!