Sustainable and Delicious Food Find February 4, 2010

I am a new convert to Saint Benoit Yogurts. I always admired the hearty ceramic containers, the promise of whole milk cultures, and just enough organic local fruit to give it some zing without the sugar blast. Alas, I thought at $2.50 a container it was one product where I could not afford to walk my talk. This past week though I had finally had it with all of the yogurt-related plastic containers in my kitchen. I try to reuse them before I recycle them, but after a year of this an entire utility drawer overflows with unruly lids and cups that seem to never have a fitted match.

Having been to France, the promise of French-style yogurt in a 100% sustainable container got the better of me in this weakened state, and it turns out I am no worse the wear for it. What I didn’t realize is that I can keep the cute containers as juice cups, or I can return them to the store for a whole $1.25 deposit refund. This brings the actual price down to $1.25 per container, which is as much as $0.50 LESS than it’s plastic laden competitors.

Why does reducing the number of plastic containers in my house mater so much? Well, with foods like yogurt where there is some heat exposure, the chemical byproducts of the plastic have an increased chance of seeping into the food. This matters especially for a whole milk product, where they can convert to xenoestrogens and get stored in human fat tissue. Will xenoestrogen exposure from yogurt containers give me breast cancer? Probably not in and of themselves, but in today’s world we need to factor in two points when we talk about sustainable food choices:

1. We cannot identify all of the points of exposure and chemical variables we come into contact with on a regular basis, so teasing out risk factors for environmental illness is very difficult. The best we can do is minimize all points of exposure to the best of our ability.

2. The full product life cycle of plastic containers is relevant when you consider the chemical by-products and water and soil contamination which result in both manufacturing and recycling plastics. Being able to recycle  household plastic has a feel-good affect for consumers, but recycling is controversial because of the environmental health impact of breaking down plastics and releasing free chemicals into the air, water and soil around us. Thus adding to the exposure variables of modern life.

So now you know how I talked myself through the sticker shock, but you have to taste it to believe it when you actually experience Saint Benoit Yogurt. Holy free pasture Jersey Cow! It was like eating fresh air after a spring rain, and with all the satisfaction I thought only ice cream could offer. To call it a culinary delight is a gross understatement, and when I read about all of the sustainability practices on their farm I nearly swooned.

If you live in California be sure to ask your grocer about Saint Benoit Yogurt. It’s a small operation in Sonoma County, but they have a link on their website about where you can buy their yogurts. Here in Santa Barbara we can only find it at Lazy Acres. If you live outside of California Diamond Organics has partnered with The Straus Family Creamery (a very close second to Benoit and with a larger product line), to deliver organic foods from smaller family farms across the United States. You can order directly form their website, or talk to your local grocer about trying out some of their products. Here is a link to Diamond Organics so you can research further:

Diamond Organics

If you live in other regions of the U.S. chances are that with a little research you can find a small farm closer to home that has equally amazing organic and sustainably grown foods. Sometimes the farmers need a little help finding new market opportunities, so start talking it up and let them know you’re out there!

Eat Well and Live Well,

Sacred Harvest

Healthy Pet, Healthy Planet November 12, 2009

We have been shopping at Healthy Pet on upper State Street since we moved to Santa Barbara, and yesterday I was reminded of why. We don’t even live in the San Roque neighborhood anymore, but it feels good to shop at an independently owned family business – especially one that takes pride in knowing all the facts about their distributors, manufacturers and products. In short, it’s important for us to shop with vendors we can trust. Remember the dog food recall a few years ago? Healthy Pet doesn’t even sell any of the products that were recalled.

While on an extended road trip over the summer, we ran out of dry dog food. We’ve been feeding the dogs Canidae since they were puppies – the result of a week long taste testing experiment that would make Cesar Millan roll his eyes. In any case, we found ourselves in the middle of what a friend refers to as “Food Deserts.” These are parts of the country where whole grains, organic food and sustainably raised meats are honestly not available within hundreds of miles. Apparently, the same designation applies to pet food. So we found ourselves in one of those giant warehouse stores. You know – the ones you have nightmares about being stuck in during an earth quake – fifty vertical feet of product  and 20 aisles to wander.

We finally found the dry food area, and no surprise,  Canidae was not available. For over 30 minutes we compared ingredient labels to price points. For example, one brand might be the cheapest, but there were no food products in it. Now, before you get ready to go off about my arugula-loving elitism, keep in mind that we had about 5,000 miles and 4 more weeks in an enclosed vehicle and tent with these dogs, so messing around too much with their digestive system was not an option. We opted for a well respected, medium-high priced, mediocre product. I say mediocre because only a few of the ingredients were at loosely derived from actual food products. When I say the product is “well respected,” I mean that it is available at most veterinary offices – though I have to say I have no idea why.

The dogs loved the new food. I mean loved it – in almost a creepy way. At first we thought it was cute, but then it seemed not quite right once we started seeing overt behavioral changes. Truman, who never begs, and used to go back to bed after eating, became monster-like famished before and after a meal. He would eat ravenously, and then frantically lick his bowl for sometimes 20 minutes after the food was gone. Then he would come in the house and surf the counters, beg at the table, whine at the refrigerator, even steal raw vegetable scraps from the trash! When daylight savings came around this year we planned our schedules around being home early – afraid of what starving doggie-disaster we’d come home to if his dinner what an hour late. It was positively unnerving, and it seemed we were being cruel in some accidental way.

So one night I said to my partner, “Remember the David Kessler book that got a lot of press last summer? What if the dog food industry manufactures dry food to be chemically designed to cause insatiability? What if we are doing the brain-chemistry equivalent of feeding him just 3 corn chips a day or something?”

The more we thought about it, the more plausible it sounded. After all, there’s no actual food in the product, and Truman used to be such a food snob he would skip a meal before eating something questionable, so how do they get dogs like him to eat it? Further, if we are to try our best to walk the talk of the Sacred Harvest manifesto, doesn’t that also apply to pet food? Why should it be acceptable that the pet food industry be exempt from humane and sustainable practices? Don’t the same environmental impacts merit accountability?

With these questions on my mind I went to Healthy Pet for a dry food refill – not sure of which one to buy. Thanks to one of the most informative and unbiased customer service experiences I’ve ever had, I bought the Canidae. It turns out that in a way we were not far off in our food conspiracy theories. Canidae is a full 10% higher in protein than the crack food, while being slightly lower in fat. Sodium and carbohydrates apparently aren’t required to be listed, but based upon the carbohydrate-derived ingredients in the crack food, I think we can safely deduce it’s a pretty high carb food.

Then I asked the big question, “So which of the high end dog foods are really the best?” If you’ve shopped around, you know it possible to spend hundreds of dollars a month on dog food – so how do you get the best quality for the best price? It turns out that they are all pretty comparable. Some manufacturers are bigger companies so they can afford better wholesale prices, but for the most part if you assess the points listed below you are getting a good product. More importantly, if you have questions, your best bet is to shop at a store like Healthy Pet where they have the answers.

Dry Dog Food Assessment:

1. Is the food manufactured in the United States?

2. Are the top 1-3 ingredients meat (not by-product or flavor)

3. What is the protein to fat ratio

4. Avoid grain fillers like corn, soy and wheat (these are high allergy reactive foods for dogs, and empty calories)

5. Look for whole grains like barley, brown rice, millet, oatmeal

6. Look to see that the entire ingredient list is mostly comprised of food products, not chemically derived components

Top Ten Ingredients in Canidae:

1. Chicken Meal

2. Turkey Meal

3. Lamb Meal

4. Brown Rice

5. White Rice

6. Rice bran

7. Peas

8. Potatoes

9. Oatmeal

10. Cracker Pearled Barley

Top Ten Ingredient Listed in “Crack Food”

1. Ground whole grain corn

2. Chicken by-product meal

3. Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid)

4. Soybean Mill Run

5. Flaxseed

6. Chicken Liver Flavor

7. Corn Gluten Meal

8. Dried Egg Product

9. Potassium Chloride

10. Vitamins (followed by a list of enriched vitamin products, components, etc)

What is dried egg product, how is corn a whole grain or a gluten meal, and what is chicken by-product and liver flavor made of? I’ll have to save that research project for another day, but for now I’ll just get it out of my house.

Fight Cancer With Curry October 29, 2009

The headline in Yahoo News yesterday read “Scientists Say Curry Compound Kills Cancer Cells.” A pretty compelling attention grabber, but the content left me longing. When I first saw it I thought – “hey now, we’ve come a long way in making healing foods headliners.” I thought interested readers, however, might like a few more details before they run off and turn their skin yellow by eating buckets of Indian food.

“Curry Compound” is incredibly vague, and the word curry itself is as ambiguous as “chai,” so I’ll start there. “Curry” is a blend of spices, most commonly consisting of the following:

Coriander Seeds

Cumin Seeds

Fenugreek Seeds

Turmeric

Cloves

Garlic

Ginger

Salt

Black Pepper

Cardamom

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Onion

Mustard

All of these spices have medicinal qualities, so what exactly is the “curry compound”? The article specifically refers to the curcumin, which indicates they are referring to turmeric (curcumin is the primary bio-active agent in turmeric). Turmeric is a member of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), and has a long history in Ayurvedic Medicine. Turmeric has been known far and wide for thousands of years as an anti-inflammatory herb, and has been used to treat everything from arthritis, IBS, and psoriasis to bacterial infections, and even anxiety. Turmeric is a known free radical scavenger, and is thought to enhance neurological nerve production – making it a modern experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease.

 

The use of turmeric in cancer research is not new. It has been known for decades as a tumor inhibitor, and has been used in numerous treatment studies on colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and the prevention of cervical cancer. The excitement around this Yahoo News/Reuters release is specific to new findings with research on esophageal cancer, and the findings are remarkably promising for patients suffering from a disease with an incredibly low chance of survival.

 

So the question is, should we all add curry to our food repertoire? How much? Maybe we should just eat turmeric? And this got me thinking about cancer prevention, as opposed to cancer treatment. It is not fair, nor is it my intention, to imply that individuals are responsible for developing cancer, so I do want to be clear at the outset on that point.  Having said that, there are preventative practices that we can employ in our lifestyles to reduce risk – especially where other risk factors such as environment, genetics, or just being dealt a lousy hand may be present. This is where I think foods such as curry can be helpful.

 

When I look at the nutritional profile of the average curry dish I basically see a bowl of disease-fighting militia. Not only that, I see more servings of fresh whole foods and vegetables than the average American consumes in a week. Add to that a cocktail of herbs and spices that are known medicinals, and you have just taken a step towards a lifestyle of cancer prevention, not to mention cold and flu prevention, digestive balancing and cardiovascular support. The main point is that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables that minimizes processed foods is how you can fight cancer and stay well overall.

 

When you see articles about a certain food or a particular spice being used in medical treatment research you need to know that they are using therapeutic doses, and this does not at all look and taste like what you get for dinner at your favorite ethnic restaurant. For example, the therapeutic dose of turmeric can be as high as 3- 9 grams [Michael Tierra; The Way of Herbs]. That is an enormous amount of any kind of supplement, and it should not be used without the guidance of a trained medical professional. Further, when mainstream articles like this are published they don’t always make it clear if the studies are being done on animals or humans, and they rarely tell you details about the study group (for example, additional medications or side effects).

 

In sum, I hate to be a buzz kill, but the real news is not glamorous and isn’t new, but I like the haiku Michael Pollan wrote to describe it in “In Defense of Food:”

“Eat Food

Not too much

Mostly Plants”

Eat Well and Live Well,

Sacred Harvest

October Snack Attack – Figs! October 12, 2009

It was tough to pick one thing in season to promote this week since October kicks of harvest season, but in my opinion dates don’t get nearly enough publicity. Their season is short, and when they are ripe enough to eat they must be handled with care since they squish so easily.

Many people know what a wonder food dates are, so I’ve seen people choke them down in an obligatory way that is usually reserved for fish oil wheat grass, but there is something about figs that stands out as an epicurean hallmark when someone prepares and serves them for you.

People who would never otherwise bother with the fig hoover conspicuously over the platter when they are served in small bite-sized wedges along side pear and apple slices and some sharp cheddar. Curiosity gets the better of them, and as they experience the celebration of seasonal flavor meeting a kaleidoscope of texture, you can see in their eyes that they will buy figs at the next trip to market.

Alas, as the best intentions go, it turns out to be too much work on a dark, rainy night after a long day at work. What seemed magical in the cocktail party environment suddenly takes on an aire of extravagance in your own kitchen, and the poor raindrop-shaped powerhouses languish in the fridge until they meet their demise.

It doesn’t need to be so!!! Figs are easy, versatile and one of the most flavor flexible foods around. This snack attack serves as a mid-meal pick-me-up, a pre-dinner appetizer, a hearty lunch sandwich or even an exotic dessert with a little dressing up. In every instance it takes no more than 5 minutes to prepare and serve.

Ingredients:

Fresh bread

Fresh figs

Brie Cheese or Goat Cheese

Directions:

1. Slice bread of choice (I like multi-grain)

2. With a fork, Squish fig into bread

3. Place cheese on top of squished fig

4. Place in toaster oven until cheese is melted

Here are some pictures in case you can’t believe it’s this easy

The New Tobacco Bill June 12, 2009

Yesterday Congress introduced a new bill legislating more restrictions on the tobacco industry. It was cute to see our legislatures share a warm-fuzzy, but I am waiting for someone to mention that two of the major food manufactures in the US are owned by Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds.

Isn’t it also noteworthy that nearly as many people die each year from diet-related illnesses as from tobacco use? So when the Associate Press reported that smoking is the largest cause of preventable deaths in the US, too bad they didn’t think it was worth mentioning that the difference is only 35,000 people (In 2004 there were approximately 435,000 tobacco related deaths and 400,000 diet related deaths).

About 20% of Americans smoke.

63% of Americans are overweight.

31% of Americans are obese.

Since 1965 smoking in the US has gone down 40%.

Since 1962 obesity has increased 31%

Health costs related to smoking – $100 Billion

Health costs related to obesity – $99.2 Billions

So tell me again which is killing us – Kraft Macaroni and Cheese or Marlboro Reds? Oh wait, it’s the same company! As well as Miller Beer, General Foods (i.e. Jell-O, Kellogg cereals), Nabisco,(aka RJ Reynolds, i.e. Fig Newtons, Chips Ahoy, Triscuts, Oreos).

Even Coca-Cola has Miller doing most of its bottling for them. Since Miller is owned by Phillip Morris, you could argue that when you buy a Coke you are supporting the tobacco industry.

So thanks Congress, for imposing more stringent marketing regulations on the tobacco industry. America will know you are serious when you declare a cease and desist of little cookie baking elves and talking chocolate chips selling us diabetes.

Sticks and Carrots for Santa Barbara Businesses June 9, 2009

I have declared a war on styrofoam, so as of late I’ve been  giving local business who use it the business.

Sticks to the following pro-styrofoam businesses:

1. Blenders

2. Jack’s Bagels

3. Los Arroyos

4. Joe’s

Carrots to these planet friendly businesses:

1. Crush Cakes

2. Fresco

3. Hummingbird Cafe - also a fair trade business

4. The Burger Bus – These guys get a carrot and a pomegranate for using only local, organic, and/or sustainably raised food

There are more of both, I am sure, but these are the businesses I have noticed in the past few days. After taking my Fresco left-overs home in a cozy, unbleached compost-friendly container made of post-consumer waste, I found the gigantic styrofoam box for a tiny piece of chicken at Joe’s outright offensive. Then, to add insult to injury the waiter   put the styrofoam in a plastic bag!!!!

I’ll tell you one place I will absolutely never go back to, and that’s Jack’s Bagels. I knew in advance that my bagel sandwich was going to get stuffed into styrofoam, so I explicitly asked them to not do that, and please just wrap it in a piece of foil. This was no high maintence order for custom ingredients or sauces on the side, it was a very simple request that probably even would have saved them a few cents. Whether it was spite or benign apathy I will never know, but when my oder came in styrofoam I decided they will not get another dollar of my hard earned money until they change their ways.

For such a fashionable city, I find Santa Barbara’s excessive use of styrafoam suprising since it is so passe. Even McDonald’s got rid of styrafoam nearly two decades ago!

Locavorism Goes Corporate May 14, 2009

Yesterday the New York Times published an article about how Lays Chips (re PepsiCo) is a local food. The reasoning is that there is a chip manufacturing facility in Florida, and they buy their potatoes from farmers in Florida.

It’s a clever marketing concept. Too bad it doesn’t change the fact that 1 oz. of Lays chips still contain 10 grams of fat with 90% of its 150 calories from fat, 180 mg of sodium, and have no significant nutritional value.

I would also be curious about how much money the farmers share in the profits from each bag of chips sold. Do you think it’s a 50/50? You know, because there would be no Lays Chips if there were no potato farmers. And what is the true cost of a bag of chips when you factor in the production of them?

When the marketing campaign kicks off in a few weeks, as citizens we might be curious to know if Frito-Lay PepsiCo will be able to answer the following questions for us:

1. What sustainability practices are employed to mass produce such vast quantities of potatoes?

2. If the farms are not organic, what measures are taken to prevent chemical run-off into ground water or water-ways that lead to the ocean?

3. How many gallons of water are used to produce a bag of chips?

4. Where are the chip bags manufactured and what are they made of?

5. How many gallons of oil are used per year to distribute the chips to retailers?

6. Where does the corn oil the potatoes are fried in come from, and what are the production costs/impacts of that?

7. What is the carbon footprint of the chip manufacturing plants?

8. Are the chip makers and farmers well paid with generous retirement and health care policies?

I also found the timing of the NYT article to be interesting because yesterday Terry Gross of Fresh Air happened to interview David Kessler about the neurological response to highly salty, fatty processed foods. It turns out that the brain actually compels a person to overeat when exposed to these foods, and satiation mechanisms are actually over ridden. It gives weighty meaning to a past marketing slogan used by Lays, “Betcha You Can’t Eat Just One.”

How True! Because if we could eat just one Lay’s Potato Chip they would not be millionaires and we would not have an obesity crisis.

Stuffed Squash for Multi-Taskers May 7, 2009

While I am a true subscriber to the concept that slow is beautiful, my life doesn’t always seem to go that way. Likewise, I work with families that want to eat local fresh foods, but simply don’t have 90 minutes to savor the cooking process.

Here is a meal you can count on for nutrient density without compromising flavor or your schedule. It takes about 30 minutes, but the interactive time is low since the squash just bakes in the oven so you can multi-task while you make this meal.

Stuffed Acorn Squash with quinoa, goat cheese, chopped walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Roasted bell peppers and sauteed kale on the side:

The Squash and Bell Pepper:
Set oven to 450

Slice and seed the squash. Place flesh side down on a bake pan with about 1/4 inch of water. Place in oven for about 20 minutes, or until flesh is easily punctured by a fork.

Place bell peppers right on the rack for 10-15 minutes or until flesh can be punctured with a fork.

Stuffing:
Cook quinoa on the stove-top 2 parts water to 1 part grain (takes about 10 minutes and you can cook this ahead of time).

Toss quinoa with walnuts and pumpkin seeds. (You can really use any nuts, seeds, or diced/sauteed veggies you like).

Remove squash from the oven. Place goat cheese in the cup of the squash, then add quinoa blend.

Turn Oven Off:
Place stuffed squash back in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the peppers and kale.

Kale:
Warm about a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil (or water for a low-fat steam).
Add diced onion – warm until lightly translucent
Add chopped kale – saute for about 3-5 minutes

Serving the Bell Peppers:

Peel if you like, slice in strips if you prefer, or just serve up whole peppers. Left-overs keep for several days in the fridge and make flavorful additions to sandwiches or salads.

In Praise Of… March 13, 2009

When the drums sing like this it’s like being found.

When the drums sing like this it’s like you can show the world your heartbeat,
And you can see theirs;
And all of our differences don’t matter.

We are the stars,
We are the drum skin,
We are the soil we stomp upon in praise.

In praise of who we are,
In praise of who we can be,
In praise of the journey in between.

Food of the Week March 11, 2009

Asparagus is my pick for this week. I look forward to asparagus season every year, and so far 2009 has not disappointed. The key to really enjoying asparagus of course, is buying it as fresh as possible. Ideally asparagus is eaten within 2-3 days of harvesting, which means that I buy it either at Farmer’s Market, or at Mesa Produce.

Asparagus is a member of the lily family, and its fame dates back to the third century. It’s grown world wide, and is believed to originate from the Mediterranean. The top exporter of asparagus is Peru and the U.S. the largest importer. This surprises me to the extent that asparagus is said to be easy to grow and pretty adaptable to climates. It also implies that few people have enjoyed the pleasure or truly fresh asparagus.

Medicinally asparagus is a know diuretic, and has been used to treat urinary tract infections and kidney stones.

Nutritionally asparagus is rich in folate, vitamins K, A, C and most B vitamins. It also contains iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium and calcium. Overall it’s a well balanced food with no fat, and little sodium. It contains inulin, which promotes healthy gut flora, and it’s a recommended pre-natal food due to its high levels of folate and B vitamins. Folate is a heart tonic, and B vitamins are necessary for healthy nervous system development.

My favorite way to prepare asparagus is to lightly stir fry it with grated ginger and garlic. It’s also delicious steamed, and can be served warm or cold. If you’re not watching your sodium intake, marinating it with ginger and soy is a great way to enjoy asparagus.

I personally like the stand-out flavor of asparagus, so I tend to cook it alone rather than mix it into a stir fry. Try this for a nutritious and affordable vegan dinner:

Quinoa with toasted almonds and parsley
Asparagus pan fried with garlic and ginger
Baked yams

A serving of this heart healthy dinner will give you the following nutritional intake:
461 Calories
147 Carbs
11.5 g Fat
16 g Fiber
20 g Protein
970 mg Vitamin A
32 mg Vitamin B (all Bs combined)
32.5 IU Vitamin E
318 mg Folate
92 mg Vitamin K
16 mg Vitamin C
172.5 mg Calcium
230.5 mg Magnesium
846 mg Potassium
80 mg Sodium
575 mg Beta Carotene

Notice the electrolyte ratios, and how low naturally occurring sodium is in relation to calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Some health professionals claim that high blood pressure is caused not necessarily by sodium sensitivity, but by an electrolyte imbalance.

If going vegan is not your thing, a 4 ounce roasted chicken breast will add the following nutritional data:

225 Calories
34 g Protein
9 g Fat
95 mg Cholesterol
165 IU Vitamin A
36.5 Vitamin B (All Bs combined)
13.5 IU Vitamin D
4.5 mcg Folate
16 mg Calcium
30.5 mg Magnesium
278 mg Potassium
80.5 mg Sodium (This is natuarally occurring sodium, so take note that highly processed meats are often injected with sodium to prolong shelf life).

Eat Well and Live Well!
Namaste,
Sacred Harvest