What Popcorn Can Teach Us About Eating Right

This post comes just in time for Super Bowl popcorn eating from our friend Julie Negrin’s blog, My Kitchen Nutrition – see recipe too:

Food. Healthy. Diets. Eating. Cooking. Sustainable. Local. All big buzz words for 2010. I have dozens of blog posts ruminating in my head that cover all of these topics – attempts to clarify all of this Food Confusion and help people get back on track. But today, I am going to talk about popcorn.

Twice yesterday, I encountered the tell-tale smell of microwave popcorn. And it got me thinking about how people are trying to eat healthier – but struggle with finding the time to prepare food from scratch. I’m particularly passionate about popcorn – love the stuff. When I make it, I prepare it on the stove in a pot with some oil – “old-fashioned” style. It takes me approximately 5-6 minutes. The only ingredients I use are: popcorn kernels, oil, and kosher salt.

Microwave popcorn, on the other hand, takes roughly 3 minutes to “cook.” It contains all kinds of processed ingredients including: Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Natural Flavors, Annatto For Coloring, Soy Lecithin and/or Palm Oil and Freshness Preserved With Tbhq and Citric Acid. (It’s pretty cool that you can read the nutrition labels on packages via Amazon.com). In 2007, they discovered a chemical in microwave popcorn that causes lung problems.

We certainly like things to be instantaneous! Even if it means saving us just a few minutes. It never ceases to make me laugh when I take pictures of my nieces and nephews on my digital camera and they immediately say, “Let me see it!” We are so spoiled by technology now that we often forget that it’s the things that take a little time that we usually savor the most in life.

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Sustainable Dish

You’re trying to avoid E.coli tainted beef, so instead of having a hamburger for dinner, you opt for a salad. I’m afraid you may be out of luck again however if you’re buying pre-washed greens. The Huffington Post reports on high amounts fecal matter in packaged salad.

Reuters reports on a recent University of Liverpool study which claims that 400,000 Americans will die from heart disease in 2010. A proper diet and exercise can save at least 200,000 of these lives. Come on America, turn it around.

Are you sick of those old-fashioned snack vending machines? I mean, its 2010, where’s the touch screen? Not to fear my fellow junk-loving Americans! The Washington Post reports that soon, many vending machines will be as cool as your Iphone!

Massachusetts recently passed a bill banning sugary soda, cookies and candy bars and encouraging fruit, veggies, whole grains and healthy beverages. While most would support this forward thinking bill, check out the comments on the bottom of this Boston Herald report. It seems many don’t want “the man” butting in and advocating for healthier children.

I feel like I can’t even eat at a sushi restaurant these days, too much tuna on the menus and I’d rather not see that fish disappear from the wild. Some restaurants, on the other hand, are working hard to serve sustainable seafood. The New York Times reports on one South Carolina fisherman who has revamped his whole business to support eco-friendly fishing. Grist also reports on a Seattle sushi joint dedicated to sustainability and the food way better than any second-rate Philadelphia role served in this town.

Hogwash ! Illinois Factory Farm Opponents Lose Fight on Appeal, Being Sued for Legal Costs

Healthy Monday: Raj Patel Talks Truth

From our friends at Healthy Monday…

Stuffed and Starved author Raj Patel is back with his new book The Value of Nothing. It’s slim but it’s brimming with ideas challenging our market system and the consumer passivity that brought us to economic collapse. The Value of Nothing shows how the environment and the economy come together on your plate.

You talk about cheap food, or “cheat food” as you call it. What is the $200 hamburger?

A regular hamburger is full of hidden costs – the long-term cost to our health, the cost of environmental destruction, the cost of unfair labor practices. It’s all been hidden from us.

What would happen if hamburgers really cost $200?

We would eat differently. One of the things modern capitalism has brought about is to boot out the consequences of our actions. The problem is that markets don’t work if the full cost of things doesn’t cover the full cost – and consequences – of the way we behave.

What role does Meatless Monday have to play?

It’s important. Absolutely. The first step. If the whole world were to go more vegetarian, it would have a tremendous positive effect!

The Value of Nothing is largely about the hidden cost of consumerism, but it’s also about the value – and risk – of doing nothing.

We have a very narrow idea of what personal responsibility means. We’re not geared to be good citizens – we’re geared to be consumers. But people need to feel they can be involved in an engaging, fulfilling way. It’s not, Yes I can, I voted for this dude, everything will be fine…it must be: there are community groups in my neighborhood that I’m interested in. I’m going to be an engaged citizen.

You’re advocating activism on a very basic level.

Right. It needn’t be an impoverishment. It’s thinking about ways of living that are sustainable, and joyful. How do we build up community? How do we transform? Food is exactly the way to do this, by sharing meals, by bringing people together for an exchange. The real promise of things like Slow Food is a radical commitment to democratizing pleasure. Everyone deserves the right to joy!

Rebuilding Haiti’s Food System

This post comes from Diane Hatz, originally posted on CSRwire Talkback:

What’s the best way to feed Haiti’s starving masses?

The earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12th shocked the world. Immediate relief efforts must continue for as long as necessary and need to focus on providing food, shelter and medical care for the millions of Haitians affected. But, at the same time, experts must start looking at ways to rebuild the country, and a strong focus needs to be put on agriculture and the country’s food system.

The United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for $23 million for agriculture to support farms, backyard gardens, urban agriculture and rural development. And to be most effective, a sustainable system of agriculture needs to be introduced, where many farmers work small plots of land to yield many types of crops, and minimal to no pesticides or fertilizers are used.

In addition, the government needs to rebuild infrastructure such as roads and canals, provide subsidies for Haitian farmers, reforest destroyed land and increase tariffs on imported foods. Efforts must be made to help Haitians become self-sufficient so food riots like in April 2008 do not happen again.

This is vital to the rebuilding of Haiti. According to the United Nation’s World Food Programme, 76% of Haitians live on less than $2 day and 56% on less than $1 a day. The FAO reports that around 80% of Haitians are involved with agriculture, but they do not have the necessary expertise or equipment. Haitians need to be given the tools – training, seeds, hand tools, livestock such as pigs and chickens – in order to rebuild their food system.

In a developing country such as Haiti, expensive inputs such as chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides need to be replaced with natural ways to grow food – compost, beneficial insects, crop rotation, diversified crops. These types of inputs are low to no cost and are more practical for the type of farming that needs to be done in the country. Because of the rugged mountainsides, large machinery is not feasible which saves on costs for parts and oil.

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Sustainable Dish

Taco Bell is touting its new “Fresco” menu options as a legitimate path to weight loss yet somehow, I don’t think it’s the best diet plan.  I’m not even really sure where to begin wailing on this one – the factory farmed meat, the sodium, the processed food, the chemicals. All I’m going to say is that you must have a pretty poor diet to begin with if you belive Taco Bell is your weight loss salvation. Read more in the New York Times.

I recently found a Forbes op-ed entitled “America’s Agricultural Angst”, but instead of being angsty about Big Ag taking over the world, the author was angsty in the opposite direction. “The liberals are threatening to kill the American agriculture business! How will we feed the world?” Ok, I made that quote up, but you get the idea.

The Chinese government is kind of scary, and if they told me to stop putting melamine in my dairy products, I would probably follow their orders. According to the New York Times however, even after the melamine crackdown of 2008 after six children were killed and thousands sickened, companies are still tainting products with the dubious substance.

Mainstream mag Time gives props to grass-fed, even going so far as to say it might save the world. Perhaps this claim is a little strong, but the article makes a good argument for carbon sequestration in all that healthy land those cows tread upon.

James McWilliams, locavore-basher extraordinaire, contributed an entry on grass-fed beef  to the Freakonomics blog on the NYTimes. Not so much a legitimate argument, it seems to be more of a dig at terminology on corn-fed vs. grass-fed. Come on James, you can do better than that.

As you probably already know, First Lady Michelle Obama is on a crusade to lower the rates of childhood obesity. The blog Fooducate believes that she will fail, arguing that it is much simpler and more profitable for many industries to “fix” obesity than to “prevent” it. It’s a good point; how will the weight loss, pharmaceutical and junk food industries make any money if we’re all thin and happy – it would be a travesty!

Catch “What’s on Your Plate” Super Bowl Sunday!

Catch “What’s on Your Plate?,” the documentary about kids and food politics (and a favorite of the Sustainable Table staff), on national TV this Sunday – February 7th!

Join families across the country for a Family Cook-In! on Sunday, February 7th and spend an afternoon learning with your kids about food – what it’s made of, where it come from and how to enjoy every bite. It shows on Sunday at 2pm, perfect timing to watch the movie and make some fun nutritious snacks for the Super Bowl! If you can’t fit it in on Sunday, Discovery’s Planet Green is playing it throughout the week, see below for additional times.

HOW TO JOIN IN THE “FAMILY COOK-IN!”

First, download our Screening Toolkit.

It has all the stuff you need to have a fun and delicious Family Cook-In!

Second, watch What’s on Your Plate? at 2:00 p.m. on Discovery’s Planet Green. Click here to find your local channel.

Third, check out the games and activities in our Screening Toolkit.

Fourth, cook and eat together! Get everyone in the kitchen chopping, stirring, pouring and baking. Then sit down together for some fresh and yummy home-cooked food.

Think food justice is too tricky for kids? Think again. What’s On Your Plate? proves that not only can kids understand the issues, they can actually teach other kids about how they are what they eat.

The film follows two eleven-year-old multi-racial city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas. With the camera as their companion, the girl guides talk to each other, food activists, farmers, new friends, storekeepers, their families, and the viewer, in their quest to understand what’s on all of our plates.

According to Michael Pollan: “‘What’s On Your Plate?’ is exactly the film we need now.”

And Alice Waters says: “It was an amazing experience to hear kids talking about these issues. This movie can have a real impact on the way we think about what we’re eating.”

Visit the website for more information on the film and how you can get involved.

Can’t make the Family Cook-In! broadcast? No problem. The film will be showing throughout the week, with additional broadcasts on:

Saturday February 6th, 2010 at 10 pm

Thursday February 11th at 11 pm

Friday February 12th at 7 am

Friday February 12th at 3 pm

Healthy Monday: Embrace Broccoli Bouquets

From our friends at Healthy Monday…

Next time you look at a bunch of broccoli, think of those stalks and florets as a bouquet bursting with beneficial compounds.  Açai and goji berries may be the darlings of the superfood set, but there’s a reason why the Romans revered broccoli.  Ounce for ounce, this offspring of a wild European cabbage packs an incredible array of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Better still, it’s loaded with antioxidants that have been shown to fight cancer and heart disease, boost your immune system, and protect your vision. If that’s not enough to make you see broccoli in a whole new light, consider this: broccoli’s phytonutrients even have a detoxing effect, stimulating your body’s production of cleansing enzymes.

Happily, this medicinal marvel actually tastes good, too. In fact, broccoli’s one of the best selling vegetables in the United States. It even has some feline fans; witness YouTube phenomenon “Broccoli Kitten,” whose Internet success has spawned at least one cruciferous-crunching copycat.

Broccoli is at its best when it’s picked young. Avoid older broccoli that runs the risk of being woody and may give off an unpleasant sulphurous smell. The stems and leaves, which so many of us unthinkingly discard, are perfectly fine to eat and in fact quite nutritious. But florets are thought to have the highest concentrations of nutrients, and the darker the floret, the more beta-carotene and Vitamin C. So select a bunch whose tops are tinged purple or bluish- green.

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Not So Fast, Purveyors of Junk Science: Factory Farms Are Not “Green”

Sustainable Dish

The first installation of Alice Waters Edible Schoolyards program will be hitting the East Coast soon. The NYTimes reports a price tag of $1.6 million making it an easily replicable project for cash-strapped New York schools.

New York City: Home of Wall Street, the Yankees, townhouses and haute cuisine. Also home to 3.3 million people struggling to put food on the table. The Economist reports on The Big Apple’s battle with hunger.

In a different city far across the country, an uplifting story about Latino families planting urban gardens in otherwise desolate neighborhoods. Not only do these gardens bring healthy food to the underserved, but monetary savings and a sense of accomplishment. Read the story at the New York Times.

Back in my day, a snack meant a banana or celery after school, not a 100 calorie snack pack for every 40 minute period. No wonder American children are among the most obese in the world, it’s constant grazing. Read it in the Times.

“FDA on BPA: Our Hands Are Tied”, reports Grist. Well, at least they’ve admitted it’s bad for you. Unfortunately, the FDA isn’t planning to do much about it.

<Sigh> I feel like I write this every other “dish”. Another massive meat recall has hit California; they don’t seem to be learning from past mistakes. NYTimes reports.