Our family does not eat cereal very much for several reasons. One is the cost. The price is so much more expensive than oatmeal, which my husband and daughters in particular, really love. Then awhile back I read about a study where they fed rats cereal, rat food and the third group was fed the box that the cereal came in. The rats that ate the cereal died first. The rats eating the cardboard box the cereal came in lived longer! That was eye opening. We never did eat all the sugary and colored cereals, but even some of the plain cereals are not that great for you.
The one cereal I have occasionally enjoyed when in a no cook or speedy situation is Nature's Path. They are a good company from what I've read and are based in Blaine, WA, which is just up the highway from my parents.
The Cornucopia Institute released its survey of cereal brands and companies, paying attention to details such as organic certification, use of GMO foods and use of hexane and petrochemicals. You can see the scorecard HERE. I was happy to see Nature's Path received their highest score! Since a lot of families use cereal, I thought you might like having this information.
Showing posts with label Organic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organic. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Friday, November 5, 2010
Organic Eggs
Eggs are a controversial subject in healthy eating circles. Some people don't eat them because they are vegan and I do respect that. Others don't eat them because of cholesterol issues. In today's market there are more reasons to not eat them than cholesterol. The type of chicken farming that happens today has significantly decreased the quality and the taste of eggs.
If you have chickens in your back yard, you are extremely blessed. Home raised chickens produce eggs of higher nutrient quality and just looking at one broken open you can see the difference in color and texture. But wait until you taste it, yummy! Eggs happen to be one of my favorite foods in the entire world... I'd rather eat them than ice cream. But eggs don't like me so well and when I can, I adapt a lot of my recipes for vegan.
But today on Facebook I ran across a post that Nutiva had shared and thought it was interesting. Those of us who do buy eggs that we think are healthy... well, maybe they are not!
I hadn't heard of the Cornucopia Institute before but they have this video that talks about egg farming and quality as well as an egg score card that scores various national and regional egg farmers on their care of and provision for chickens. Many of the places where I have purchased "organic eggs" receive a 1 egg score (which is the lowest). Many producers in my home state (Washington) receive high scores, 4-5 eggs, but very few where I live in California. For locals, it appears that Clover Organic Eggs (Clover Stonetta) and Wilcox Organic Eggs (they are west coast) and Organic Valley (Wisconsin - so they are trucked a long way) are the best choices at 3 eggs which is still considered "very good" on the scale. The big surprise for me was the 1 egg score for Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Safeway's brands! I have purchased all of these eggs in the past.
Lately I have been purchasing from our local farmer's market, but I believe they are still a large producing ranch and I want to look into it further. They are called Haney's Egg Ranch in Ceres, CA. The eggs definitely do not look and taste like farm eggs but they are better and less expensive than many in the stores. Well, doing a little research while I'm writing this up, it doesn't look good. I found a website called California Factory Farms whose purpose is to give information on farms in the state of California known for confining animals. Haney's is on their list. Sad... I think there is the perception that if someone is at a farmer's market they are "healthy".
Some of you might not care about how the chicken is treated. I do, but aside from that, when the animal is not treated well, it effects the quality and nutrition of the food.
I sure would like to have chickens in our backyard but it is required to have 10k square feet or more and we are just under 8K.
If you have chickens in your back yard, you are extremely blessed. Home raised chickens produce eggs of higher nutrient quality and just looking at one broken open you can see the difference in color and texture. But wait until you taste it, yummy! Eggs happen to be one of my favorite foods in the entire world... I'd rather eat them than ice cream. But eggs don't like me so well and when I can, I adapt a lot of my recipes for vegan.
But today on Facebook I ran across a post that Nutiva had shared and thought it was interesting. Those of us who do buy eggs that we think are healthy... well, maybe they are not!
I hadn't heard of the Cornucopia Institute before but they have this video that talks about egg farming and quality as well as an egg score card that scores various national and regional egg farmers on their care of and provision for chickens. Many of the places where I have purchased "organic eggs" receive a 1 egg score (which is the lowest). Many producers in my home state (Washington) receive high scores, 4-5 eggs, but very few where I live in California. For locals, it appears that Clover Organic Eggs (Clover Stonetta) and Wilcox Organic Eggs (they are west coast) and Organic Valley (Wisconsin - so they are trucked a long way) are the best choices at 3 eggs which is still considered "very good" on the scale. The big surprise for me was the 1 egg score for Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Safeway's brands! I have purchased all of these eggs in the past.
Lately I have been purchasing from our local farmer's market, but I believe they are still a large producing ranch and I want to look into it further. They are called Haney's Egg Ranch in Ceres, CA. The eggs definitely do not look and taste like farm eggs but they are better and less expensive than many in the stores. Well, doing a little research while I'm writing this up, it doesn't look good. I found a website called California Factory Farms whose purpose is to give information on farms in the state of California known for confining animals. Haney's is on their list. Sad... I think there is the perception that if someone is at a farmer's market they are "healthy".
Some of you might not care about how the chicken is treated. I do, but aside from that, when the animal is not treated well, it effects the quality and nutrition of the food.
I sure would like to have chickens in our backyard but it is required to have 10k square feet or more and we are just under 8K.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Where Does Your Organic Food Come From?
This pdf is eye opening! I've always wondered if organics really are organics or the same food as the regular, just with a different package. I suppose this is only natural in the industry world, but it drives home the point of eating the least amount of packaged foods is best!
Monday, January 28, 2008
What You Need To Know About The Beef You Eat
If you think buying organic dairy products is expensive, try the beef! We have been trying to switch over but it's not easy. Reducing how much meat we eat has helped as well as the fact that Costco has been carrying an organic ground beef. I read this article at Mother Earth News and EWWWW YUCK! I know there is a lot of anti this and that information out there, so sometimes it is hard to know who is telling the truth. However, this is a well documented and researched article and falls in line with other things I have been reading.
The article is long but at the end there is a great summary that I am going to print out and put in my Kitchen binder in the shopping section so that I can have a handy reference.
They also recommend that you look for local sources and link to Eat Wild, which is a new resource to me and Local Harvest, a great resource I have referred to in the past.
Another article at Mother Earth News speaks about the process of injecting meat with fluids and gasses to prolong its life and/or mask negative qualities.
I have to laugh. I grew up thinking that Mother Earth News was for Godless Heathen Hippies! LOL Now I'm reading it myself and learning. It is still not a Christian resources but it is a good resource for certain things.
The article is long but at the end there is a great summary that I am going to print out and put in my Kitchen binder in the shopping section so that I can have a handy reference.
They also recommend that you look for local sources and link to Eat Wild, which is a new resource to me and Local Harvest, a great resource I have referred to in the past.
Another article at Mother Earth News speaks about the process of injecting meat with fluids and gasses to prolong its life and/or mask negative qualities.
I have to laugh. I grew up thinking that Mother Earth News was for Godless Heathen Hippies! LOL Now I'm reading it myself and learning. It is still not a Christian resources but it is a good resource for certain things.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Review #3
As I promised, I am back to share my thoughts and the advice I've received on how to implement the ideas from this book in practical every day ways.
The main thing that I have read, heard from several of you and my gut tells me is true, is to take "baby steps".
On the right you will see a list of the steps my family has taken. This has been a process of about two years and we are moving forward still. I would love to get to the point where we could grow almost all of our fruits and vegetables ourselves. We hope to move back to Washington State and find a place to live where we can garden organically. We will be renting at first, so that may take awhile. Not all landlords want their backyard cultivated! lol In the meantime I am beginning to learn about what it takes to garden organically. In the meantime, some Costco's carry organic produce and I also frequent our food co-op, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's. (links at right)
Now according to Kingsolver's book, these are probably not the best options because in general they are not local produce and have been shipped long distances. I do live at the north end of the valley in California where much of the produce is grown, so sometimes it is locally grown, but still usually it has been shipped somewhere else and then transported back to the store. So in terms of thinking globally and ecologically, this wastes a lot of oil. A better alternative would be the local farmer's market. You might be surprised where you find one. Our HMO, Kaiser Permanente, has one every Friday at their hospital to promote health for employees and patients. Again, on the right, I have a section of links for finding local foods and farmer's markets. There are actually some groups that you can join up with where you can get a certain amount of produce each time with differing kinds of fruits and vegetables in season.
A third issues in the book, is eating seasonally. This makes good sense, but I feel like I have been "conditioned" and in some ways have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of not eating a salad and tomatoes in the winter. After all, eating salad is a good thing, right? When we eat foods out of season, we are eating foods transported long distances from foreign lands or they are grown by some alternative means which produces relatively bland fruits or vegetables. In this day and age, especially if you have never gardened or lived in farming community, sometimes it is difficult to tell when the seasons are. In Review #2 I did cover that briefly.
So, I see 3 Issues for healthy eating:
1. Eat Locally
2. Eat Organic
3. Eat in Season
Is it realistic to tackle all three at once? For me it is not possible. I am starting first with eating organically. On the side bar at the right, I listed the "dirty dozen", a list of 12 foods, which if you eat those organically will eliminate about 90% of your pesticide ingestion. That's what we have started with and we are working from there. Without exception we have found the organic foods to taste better. They are picked when ready instead of gassing them when they are green. A lot of organic food in the stores tends to come in season only, except for tomatoes and greens.
When it's possible I do purchase locally grown produce. There are usually signs at Whole Foods saying where they are grown, especially for local produce. I purchase locally gathered raw honey. But, I have not found a local dairy source.
Now, I am trying to be aware of what things are in season and enjoying what I can, when it is available. One alternative is to purchase items in season and can, freeze or dry them. I already do a lot of freezing but I am hoping also to start canning this next year too. I have put that off since living in northern California where the temps could be 105* or more during canning season! While, I would prefer to eat everything fresh and make it now, realistically there are times when you have to grab something quick. I would like to have things I have made instead of purchased packages laden with chemicals!
One resource I recently found that has helped me is The Organic Cook's Bible by Jeff Cox. This is especially helpful if you are a newbie to eating veggies and fresh food. It covers just about everything and discusses what constitutes good and bad for each food covered, when it is in season and there are usually one or more recipes for each food, along with a discussion of traditional preparation methods. It's a big book and if you are fairly knowledgeable about this in the first place, may be unnecessary for you. But, it is helpful for people like me who are learning!
My friends Charlotte and Deborah also gave great advice...you don't have to go out and by specialty cookbooks. Most things can be adapted from your standard Betty Crocker's, Better Homes and Gardens etc. My favorite basic cookbook is The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. I like it better than my others because it is well illustrated with photographs and explains *why* you do things certain ways as well as how to do it. For a questioner like me, this is helpful. They also evaluate cooking implements. If you have ever seen the show on PBS or Cook's Illustrated Magazine, you will know what I mean. If you are a bibliophile, like me, I will be reviewing other cookbooks in future posts as I have several ordered from my local library.
In summary, I believe it would be difficult for the average family to jump right into an experiment like Barbara Kingsolver's. However, I think the ideas are wonderful and can be implemented in small steps. I think a good indicator is that if you are feeling extremely overwhelmed, you might be doing too much at once. I find that if I am overwhelmed by something, I am more likely to quit or fail. Take baby steps. Your baby steps may be different than mine because we each have a unique set of circumstances. The ideas in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle are not only healthy for our own bodies, but teach good stewardship of what God has given us on this earth. They are an ideal to work towards. Big steps make big changes, but small steps contribute positively and are a good start!
The main thing that I have read, heard from several of you and my gut tells me is true, is to take "baby steps".
On the right you will see a list of the steps my family has taken. This has been a process of about two years and we are moving forward still. I would love to get to the point where we could grow almost all of our fruits and vegetables ourselves. We hope to move back to Washington State and find a place to live where we can garden organically. We will be renting at first, so that may take awhile. Not all landlords want their backyard cultivated! lol In the meantime I am beginning to learn about what it takes to garden organically. In the meantime, some Costco's carry organic produce and I also frequent our food co-op, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's. (links at right)
Now according to Kingsolver's book, these are probably not the best options because in general they are not local produce and have been shipped long distances. I do live at the north end of the valley in California where much of the produce is grown, so sometimes it is locally grown, but still usually it has been shipped somewhere else and then transported back to the store. So in terms of thinking globally and ecologically, this wastes a lot of oil. A better alternative would be the local farmer's market. You might be surprised where you find one. Our HMO, Kaiser Permanente, has one every Friday at their hospital to promote health for employees and patients. Again, on the right, I have a section of links for finding local foods and farmer's markets. There are actually some groups that you can join up with where you can get a certain amount of produce each time with differing kinds of fruits and vegetables in season.
A third issues in the book, is eating seasonally. This makes good sense, but I feel like I have been "conditioned" and in some ways have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of not eating a salad and tomatoes in the winter. After all, eating salad is a good thing, right? When we eat foods out of season, we are eating foods transported long distances from foreign lands or they are grown by some alternative means which produces relatively bland fruits or vegetables. In this day and age, especially if you have never gardened or lived in farming community, sometimes it is difficult to tell when the seasons are. In Review #2 I did cover that briefly.
So, I see 3 Issues for healthy eating:
1. Eat Locally
2. Eat Organic
3. Eat in Season
Is it realistic to tackle all three at once? For me it is not possible. I am starting first with eating organically. On the side bar at the right, I listed the "dirty dozen", a list of 12 foods, which if you eat those organically will eliminate about 90% of your pesticide ingestion. That's what we have started with and we are working from there. Without exception we have found the organic foods to taste better. They are picked when ready instead of gassing them when they are green. A lot of organic food in the stores tends to come in season only, except for tomatoes and greens.
When it's possible I do purchase locally grown produce. There are usually signs at Whole Foods saying where they are grown, especially for local produce. I purchase locally gathered raw honey. But, I have not found a local dairy source.
Now, I am trying to be aware of what things are in season and enjoying what I can, when it is available. One alternative is to purchase items in season and can, freeze or dry them. I already do a lot of freezing but I am hoping also to start canning this next year too. I have put that off since living in northern California where the temps could be 105* or more during canning season! While, I would prefer to eat everything fresh and make it now, realistically there are times when you have to grab something quick. I would like to have things I have made instead of purchased packages laden with chemicals!
One resource I recently found that has helped me is The Organic Cook's Bible by Jeff Cox. This is especially helpful if you are a newbie to eating veggies and fresh food. It covers just about everything and discusses what constitutes good and bad for each food covered, when it is in season and there are usually one or more recipes for each food, along with a discussion of traditional preparation methods. It's a big book and if you are fairly knowledgeable about this in the first place, may be unnecessary for you. But, it is helpful for people like me who are learning!
My friends Charlotte and Deborah also gave great advice...you don't have to go out and by specialty cookbooks. Most things can be adapted from your standard Betty Crocker's, Better Homes and Gardens etc. My favorite basic cookbook is The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. I like it better than my others because it is well illustrated with photographs and explains *why* you do things certain ways as well as how to do it. For a questioner like me, this is helpful. They also evaluate cooking implements. If you have ever seen the show on PBS or Cook's Illustrated Magazine, you will know what I mean. If you are a bibliophile, like me, I will be reviewing other cookbooks in future posts as I have several ordered from my local library.
In summary, I believe it would be difficult for the average family to jump right into an experiment like Barbara Kingsolver's. However, I think the ideas are wonderful and can be implemented in small steps. I think a good indicator is that if you are feeling extremely overwhelmed, you might be doing too much at once. I find that if I am overwhelmed by something, I am more likely to quit or fail. Take baby steps. Your baby steps may be different than mine because we each have a unique set of circumstances. The ideas in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle are not only healthy for our own bodies, but teach good stewardship of what God has given us on this earth. They are an ideal to work towards. Big steps make big changes, but small steps contribute positively and are a good start!
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