You Are What I Eat

Primal Pets

2009-06-28T13:28:00.015-04:00

I've been called the "crazy cat lady" many times in my life, and I'm okay with that. My cats live like little kings in my home. I love my animals in the same way I love children. My love and respect for animals is part of the reason I was a vegetarian for so many years (that, and the belief that it was the healthiest diet) and now that I have returned to an omnivorous lifestyle, I am still a little conflicted about the idea of eating animals. So in addition to sourcing my meat locally from farms where I know these animals lived a happy and healthy life, what also helps me is understanding that eating other species is part of a natural cycle.

Nothing teaches me this more than observing my cats. We all know that felines in the wild are indisputably carnivorous. I have witnessed firsthand both the brutality and the symmetry in which lions prey, attack, and feed on other animals. In this case, it was a zebra - such a glorious animal. The image of its tragic defeat haunted me for many weeks after returning from southern Africa. Many years later, it continued to stay with me and I can honestly say that I have never fully understood the harsh reality of nature. But I accept it and respect it. My little felines are no different. They want meat. They crave it. As soon as they smell it in the house they instinctively begin to behave just like those lions - tails extended, ears twitching, abruptly sprinting from one room to the next, pausing in the shadows with their front bodies crouched down, hind legs high in the air, waiting to pounce on their imaginary kill...

One only has to try feeding their pets a vegetarian diet (which I do not recommend) and will immediately notice not only their disinterest, but the plethora of health problems that will quickly ensue. Cats especially need animal sources of vitamin A, arachidonic acid, and taurine for proper nutrition and survival. A deficiency of these nutrients often leads to some of the most common problems found in cats: blindness, cancers, and heart and kidney failure.

Cats that are able to go outdoors have the advantage of being able to hunt birds, rodents, and other small animals and eat what comes naturally to them: raw meat, bones, cartilage, and organs. But I live in a city and that is not possible. I, like many of my fellow urban pet owners, adopted my cats from a shelter just so they wouldn't end up on the street and like most alley cats - dead at a very young age. So what do we feed our urban pets? Kitty chow and canned fish dinner, right?

Well, yes, if you learned about pet health the way I did - through advertising.

When I first got my two little kittens (Nelson and Reggie), I got their shots, had their ears cleaned of mites, had them neutered, bought all their nice supplies with good quality clumping litter, and a fairly expensive brand of food called IAMS for kittens. I wanted only the best for my cats.

I started them out on the little cans, and then, as suggested by the Vet, switched them to a good quality dry food (IAMS, as well). They ate nothing but those little kibbles for about 4 years, until Nelson developed a urinary tract infection (UTI). Apparently, UTIs are quite common with cats (both male and female) because of poor diet. Ash, found in dry foods and in fish, causes cats to develop crystals in their urinary tracts which build up and become inflamed. Another cause is alkaline urine. Acidic urine will dissolve crystals, but most cats become alkaline for two reasons: Leaving food out all day and allowing cats to smell it stimulates the alkaline in their system. The other cause is cooked food. When protein is cooked, amino acids like taurine and methionine that are vital to acidification cannot be assimilated by cats, and get passed off as waste.

No one told me this. After administering antibiotics, the vet gave me a "prescription food" that basically had the same bad ingredients in it as regular food, with the addition of some amino acids, minerals, and anti-inflammatories. This only worked temporarily. It wasn't long before my cat had another infection. This time it was so bad that I had to take him to the emergency room at the animal medical center and have him catheterized. Then my other cat got a UTI several months later. They were suffering both physical pain and emotional trauma of having to be treated over and over at the hospital (catheters, anesthesia, shots, rehydrations, etc...).

After hundreds of dollars of treatments, medication, and prescription food, I finally decided to seek some alternative advice. I bought a book at my local pet store called, Dr. Pitcairne's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. This book talks about the importance of proper diet for our pets and the dangers of commercially produced pet food. It contains recipes for homemade food so I decided to try making their food for a while. It was complicated, costly, and labor intensive, plus they never really liked it. It contained a lot of grains which I later found out is not natural to a feline diet. Cats cannot metabolize carbohydrates very well (I'm beginning to believe that humans can't either). The other problem was that they were addicted to the taste and the crunch of their kibbles. Sound familiar? It's sort of like if you fed your kids breakfast cereal or Doritos all day - forever. It would be addictive, fattening, nutritionally deficient, and a very hard habit to break.

So I decided a good compromise was to look for the best quality canned food I could find. I found one called "Wellness." It was expensive but they liked it. It had good ingredients like human grade chicken, brown rice, flax, fish oil, blueberries, carrots, etc... Sounds healthy, right? They ate this for about 4 more years. Then one day I noticed that Nelson had diarrhea. I waited a day to see if it would clear up on his own but it didn't. I brought him to the vet and, again, they put him on an antibiotic and prescription food. He threw up the medication and his diarrhea got worse. He was losing weight. He ended up having chronic diarrhea for two months. He had every blood test, ultrasound, x-ray known to kittykind. It was determined that he had irritable bowel syndrome but no one could tell me why. No treatments worked. No prescription food worked. He was dying and I was distraught.

One day while walking home from work, I came across this "holistic" pet shop called "Whiskers." There was a whole section of herbal remedies and supplements that I had never seen before. The man who was working in this section asked me if I needed help. I told him that my cat was dying of diarrhea and wondered if he had any remedy for it. He said "yes." He told me not to buy anything in the store (I immediately trusted him!) and to go to the supermarket, buy some chicken breast and sweet potato, cook them well, and blend them in equal parts into a mushy food. He told me to give this and nothing else to my cat for three days (my other cat could eat it too). He said that this would bind his stool and give him his appetite back. I had nothing to lose so I did it. At first, the cats sniffed this mysterious orange stuff and walked away. But they came back later, hungry and curious. They ate it. They ate it for three days. And lo and behold, my cat's diarrhea disappeared. I ran back to that store and hugged that man. "What should I do now?" I asked him.

He then instructed me to start changing them over to a raw diet and to simply stay away from canned food. That's right. Raw meat. No grains, no fillers, no salt, no by-products or parts, no broth, no gelatin, no fish, no flaxseed... just meat - as they were meant to eat (a few veggies too, but they aren't necessary). There were some commercial brands of raw food that were quite good or I could give them my own. I decided to try the frozen stuff first to see if they could tolerate it. (Tolerate it? They're felines! This is what their bodies have evolved to digest!).

Okay, okay... so there is a happy ending. My cats have been eating raw meat ever since. That was about 5 years ago. Since then my cats have both gained weight. Their coats are shiny and silky. They are more energetic today than they were 10 years ago. Neither of them has had a UTI or diarrhea or anything. They go to the vet once a year for check-ups and my Vet marvels at how Nelson has recovered and how beautiful they both look.

The best part is that they behave like hunters - little lions that they are.

PRIMAL PET TIPS:

1) Do not feed your cats dry food. Just don't. Think "breakfast cereal, forever."

2) Only feed your cats once or twice a day. After they eat, take their dishes away and wash them. Cats are hunters. Their digestive systems are designed to fast and then gorge. Do not leave food out all day. Constant "grazing" will lead to lethargy, obesity, diabetes, UTIs that can result in bladder infections, kidney failure, and heart failure.

3) Do not feed your cat fish. This is not natural to a feline diet. When was the last time you saw a cat jump into the water for its food?

4) Try to get your animals off of commercial canned food. Remember the recent pet food recall because of all the melamine? Hundreds of cats died of kidney failure. This is just one reason. The other reasons are discussed above.

You will have to transition your cats slowly. If they are still eating dry food, remember, they are probably addicted to the taste of their crunchies. Try just a half teaspoon of wet food a day mixed with some dry food. Then slowly add more wet food and just sprinkle some crumbled dry food on top until you slowly phase it out for good. Do the same mixing with canned food if you're transitioning from canned to raw.

5) Making your own homemade food for your pets is easy and doesn't have to be expensive. I get ground scraps and bones from the farmer from whom I get my own meat. His animals are raised on a pasture and eat grass. If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for my cats. Here's a basic cat or dog food recipe:

- 2 lbs. of raw ground chuck or ground chicken or ground turkey and/or scraps (you must try to find a good source of quality meat - either a local butcher, farmer, or somewhere the meat turns over quickly. You do not want to poison your animal with salmonella. Most dogs and cats have better antibodies against bacteria than we do, but care should still be taken).
- Two or three of tablespoons of raw ground carrots, broccoli, sweet potato, or whatever fresh vegetables you have bought for yourself.

That's it. Mix it all up and put into 3 or 4 pint sized containers or glass jars. Use one right away and freeze the rest. Defrost as necessary.

I also give my cats bones, skin, and any other leftovers from my chickens, beef fat, pork skin, etc... Cats don't have a hard time with bones. Their teeth are designed to tear, shred, and crush them. Sometimes I'll even throw them a raw chicken leg and watch them go to town on it. Very primal!

6) You can also find primal recipes in the following books:
- The New Natural Cat by Anita Frazier
- Give Your Dog a Bone by Dr. Ian Billinghurst
- The Ultimate Diet: Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy R. Schultze, AHI

Or check out these websites:
- Dr. Pitcairn.com
- barfaustralia.com
- Whiskers Holistic Pet Products
- Dr. Lisa Pierson

7) If you can't make your own food, try one of the frozen raw foods like: Abady, Primal, Stella and Chewy's, and Raw Advantage. Many pet stores now have a frozen section and carry these. If they don't, ask them. I'm sure they will special order it for you.

Do you have primal pets?

If anyone feeds their dogs raw food, I would love to know what you feed them.

Eating on the Road

2009-06-04T15:58:00.003-04:00

Because I travel a lot for work, it is always a continuous challenge to try to stay healthy while on the road. Since I normally do most of my own cooking at home with fresh ingredients I purchase directly from farmers, it always feels like a bit of an assault on my body when I am forced to eat in restaurants for a week at a time. I find it more and more difficult to find reasonably priced restaurants that serve anything remotely healthy. The choices are always the same in every American city - Chili's, Fridays, Applebees, Chipotle, Ruby Tuesday, Mimi's, etc... And those are the healthier ones. Even when I find the nearest Whole Foods, I find that most of the salad bar and prepared foods are brought in pre-cooked, are not seasonal, not organic, and contain all kinds of sweeteners and terrible oils that I normally would not eat. When did we become a nation of nothing but chains that serve industrial prefabricated foodstuff, and when did we become so accustomed to it that we treat these restaurants as if they are part of a normal diet?

Well, I still refuse to see them as "normal," even if they are ubiquitous and convenient. If I look hard enough and do a little research before traveling, I can still find local, family owned eateries that take pride in their cooking and serve up their food with love. Here are some other strategies I have devised which help me remain in balance and keep me from getting sick while traveling across this great country.

1) I always stay at Bed and Breakfasts instead of hotels.

B&Bs are affordable, cozy, comfortable, cleaner than most hotels, have tons of character, and you can almost be certain that you will be served a home-cooked, healthy, and generous breakfast that is included with the price of your room.

Now the social aspect of B&Bs is not for everyone. I myself prefer to dine with people, especially when I am traveling alone for business. It's a nice relaxed way to start my work day and a much better option for me than sitting in a lonely diner and gobbling down a greasy spoon breakfast, or stopping at a Starbucks for a grande cappuccino and a sugary muffin.

The last B&B I stayed at in Asheville, North Carolina, was the Blake House Inn. It was supremely comfortable and breakfast consisted of fresh berries, a mushroom quiche (I didn't eat the crust), and fresh brewed coffee with cream. I skipped the home fries and scones and doubled up on the crustless quiche. That filled me up until late afternoon.

2) If I have time, I always look for a farmer's market.

This is always the best bet for me. There I can buy local fruit, maybe some cheese, some yogurt, a little organic cream for my daily coffee, and perhaps some salad veggies. Most B&Bs will allow you to store food in their fridge so it usually works out pretty well.

3) The next best thing - Whole Foods or a local health food store.

I'm not one to believe that everything you find in a Whole Foods is "healthy," in fact the same rules that I employ in a regular supermarket apply to Whole Foods: "Stick to the perimeter!" One can find just as many sugary breakfast cereals and unhealthy fried snacks in a "health food" store as in a Walmart (Note to self: "Dehydrated organic cane juice" is still SUGAR!).

But what you can find in health food stores that is great to have while traveling is healthy food that is portable like apples, berries, raw nuts and seeds, and of course there is the salad bar that once must judiciously navigate. Watch out for those pre-prepared salads that contain tons of soybean oil. Try to stick to the raw ingredients and add your own olive oil and vinegar or lemon.

A cheaper route can be to buy one of those rotisserie chickens, a few tomatoes, and a nice head of romaine lettuce. This could be dinner for two to three nights if you stretch it. You can usually purchase a small container of olive oil and vinegar from the salad bar that can dress a few salads.

4) I either do a little research or ask a local and try to find some local specialties.

While I was in North Carolina, one of my colleagues, a Durham native, brought me to one of the best barbecue joints. It was definitely food that I cannot get back in New York and well worth the diversion. The nice thing about North Carolina barbecue is that it isn't as sugary as Texas barbecue. It has more of a savory, vinegar flavor that really compliments the tender meat very well. I had the brisket and it was deeelicious. It came with 2 sides so I ordered the collard greens and okra. I skipped the bread and sweet sauce and just used a little of "his sauce" which seemed to have little to no sugar at all. Fabulous.

5) If I can't find any food to eat, I would rather skip a meal.

I have no problem skipping meals and doing a little intermittent fasting if I can't find anything worth eating. I usually have fruit and nuts on hand so I may just snack on those until I find some decent food.

6) If I see a farm stand on the side of the road, I stop!

I never pass up the chance to sample fresh, seasonal, and locally grown food - whether it's organic or not. Of course, I prefer organic, but small farmers rarely use the same chemicals in their soil that commercial farmers use so I know it's still going to be relatively healthy and delicious.

7) If I'm being taken out to dinner to a restaurant that I don't really like, I try to make the smartest choices when I order.

I don't have to tell you that I stay away from the bread, pasta, potatoes, and all grain dishes. I try to always order an entree salad with a healthy protein like salmon, chicken, or lean meat.

Asian restaurants can be particularly difficult since almost everything comes in a sweet syrupy sauce. If I'm in a Japanese restaurant I may order sashimi, some steamed spinach (oshitashi) and skip the rice, which is always infused with sugar and vinegar. Many Japanese restaurants also have grilled meats like teriyaki (very often sweet though), sukiyaki, and shabu-shabu. Chinese restaurants will usually offer some kind of steamed fish without sauce and sometimes steamed vegetables like chinese broccoli and bok choy, also without sauce. Thai and Indonesian food will almost certainly have sugar in all of it, especially those peanut sauces. Indian food is pretty much a safe bet for me - minus the rice. Italian is fine too. Most good Italian menus have wonderful caprese salads, a good selection of antipasti vegetables, and some delicious fish, chicken and meat. I just skip the pasta course. French restaurants - my favorite.

8) When dining at someone's home - I try to be polite, but I don't have to eat everything on my plate.

I think it's perfectly acceptable to leave a little food over. If it's food I really don't want to eat (lasagna and bread, for example), I'll take very little to begin with, push it around on my plate a bit, and eat a small amount. I don't mind if people say, "she eats like a bird." No one is ever unhappy that they have more leftovers. Later on, however, I may go out for a burger (without bun, of course).

It's good to be back home.

Testicle Festival

2009-06-01T12:22:00.002-04:00

For the last six or seven years in Woodruff, Utah, we have enjoyed an annual celebration of the mighty Rocky Mountain Oyster, the bovine testicle. I had my first experience with the "oyster" last year, and went back again this year to share the experience with my neighbors and folks from outside the area drawn by our new tradition.

This meal, with a few deviations from my ordinary diet of meats, healthy fats, nuts & berries, lower-carbohydrate vegetables and fruits, and no processed sugars/carbs, was all about "community." That is a good enough reason for it to show up today in our blog as a bit of a guilty pleasure.

An Eggselent Meal

2009-05-24T11:34:00.008-04:00

I love eggs. I eat them most days. I've recently become aware that my love for them is the sort of love that sometimes steps over some of the marvelous qualities of familiar things.

Not too long ago I visited my neighbors' personal chicken ranch for this blog. At the time, the hens were still largely feeding on winter mash. Now, the spring grasses with their nutritious seeds have arisen and the bugs that chickens love to hunt are in full, late spring industry.

The chickens are ranging.

My neighbors have no roosters, so all of us on our short rural street are spared the noise and attitude that come with those obnoxious males. Since I live only two houses away, I am occasionally blessed with the light music of hens communicating with each other as they go about their daily foraging.

Stephanie is visiting and had hoped to try some of the eggs produced by my neighbors' chickens. She'd planned a meal surrounding those eggs which included chorizo sausages from the Tamarack Hollow Farm in Vermont and Utah-raised tomatoes purchased after her arrival. She also brought asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, Romaine lettuce, and wild morel mushrooms from the New York area, which she plans on using for a wild mushroom sauce that will smother some of my local sirloin steaks we will be having for dinner tomorrow. [Long pause] Where am I?

I called my neighbor, Tracy, to ask her if I might score four or so eggs.

"Only four?" she asked.

"Well, six would be perfect."

The next morning she dropped by with a full dozen, and told me that she had plenty if I needed more. The eggs represented the colors of the chicken rainbow, light chocolate, tan, light green/turquoise. In addition to their beauty, it has been well-documented that these genuine free-range eggs contain much more of vitamins D, E, A, beta-carotene, and Omega 3 fatty acids than commercially raised eggs. (What the USDA means by "free-range" and what ordinary people think are two different things.)

Steph prepared the tomato for roasting by quartering it and seasoning it with salt, fresh ground pepper, oregano, and freshly chopped parsley.

The eggs were beautiful with rich, orange yolks begging to be left soft. We complied.

The smell of the roasting spicy chorizo and sweet tomatoes quickly filled the kitchen and eventually drew Asher from The Computer Dungeon (basement), his nostrils twitching. The sausage would later confirm my growing suspicion that former vegetarians - such as the pig farmers at Tamarack - have a unique and sensitive way of producing meat.

It's quite a thing when you're able to leave foods with opposing natures together in a roasting pan and have them get along so nicely. We plated the meal and Stephanie, inspired, topped the eggs with some of the fats and juices from the chorizo-tomato together time.

I'm a simple guy who ordinarily throws a couple of eggs into my dedicated egg pan, turns them after 90 seconds or so, tops them with salt and pepper, and calls it finished. The egg solo is a standard during my solitary times. The genius in Stephanie's meal was in demonstrating the power of the mighty, work-a-day egg to serve as a mediator between the fiery, combative chorizo sausage and the sweet, tender tomato. All were honored in this excellent, nutritious, and tasty meal.

And thus the egg stood between, and with, both.

Culinary Alchemy

2009-05-05T18:03:00.012-04:00

When I was a little boy my grandmother taught me about alchemy although she might have gently whapped me with her ever-present handtowel for using such an uppity way of talking about what she did. Grandma simply took two wonderful things, her husband's honey and fresh butter, and made something new: Honeybutter. This new synthesis of the old theses of cow and bee became the morning spread used around her place. A small, bright bowl of it generally sat on her sunstruck kitchen table, parked in the middle as a centerpiece on the red and white checkered table cloth, a jolly sentinel.

I was recently exposed to another alchemical experience while travelling in the U.K. with Stephanie. She wanted to visit the Borough Market in London off Borough High St., and so we went.

The market was a festival of visual and olfactory stimuli. The aromas of cooking sausages, fish, and cheeses were like persistent, skilled barkers, drawing wanderers-by into nearby home stands and booths. I could write a separate post about the market itself. Toward the southwest area of the Stoney St. perimeter near Park St. we smelled the glorious fusion of onion and cheese, cooking.

I've never processed anything quite like the aroma that eventually helped sell us the sandwich. The owner of Kappacasein Toasted Cheese Sandwiches & Raclette, Bill Oglethorpe, was happy to share his recipe: Gorgeous dark French sourdough made especially for their sandwiches, a local hardish cheddar made by the Montomerys of Somerset, a chopped combination of onions, leeks, mustard greens, garlic, all of this finished off with a good pressing.

Bill went into some of the nuances of his particular components, the particular acidity of the bread, the extra maturing of the cheese he purchased, the local acquisition of the vegetables, etc. He directed us the hundred or so yards down Park St. to the manufacturer of his cheese. Taking one of his sandwiches, off we went.

The informed and friendly man selling the cheese we were eating in the sandwich told us that his cheddar is aged for two years. He gave us samples and ended up making a sale as Stephanie picked up a substantial wedge. We picked up some nice apples to go with at least a portion of the cheese later.

Stephanie and I finished our sandwiches and talked about the experience off and on for the next several days as we nibbled at the Montgomery cheese, polishing off the apples in Freefolk, Hampshire. It was simply, at the risk of sounding trite and too romantic, the best cheese sandwich I've ever had. The combination of the cheese, bread, and vegetables was fused by the pressing process into a New Thing, and it was glorious. We later learned that Ruth Reichl had crowned Oglethorpe's product the "Platonic ideal" of a cheese sandwich.

Was this a complex interaction of acids, bases, savory cheese, and vegetable sugars, or was it something more simple? Maybe the miracle in this new thesis, the epitome of "cheese sandwich," was in its simplicity. Stephanie and I talked about trying to duplicate the sandwich someday. By the time we finished our trip we still had a little cheese and decided to see if we could get home with it.

A long plane trip, short bus ride, and minor subway adventure later, we were back in Lower Manhattan. As I completed my final packing at Stephanie's house, she did something quite marvelous. She was very tired, but went out, purchased some ingredients, took the last of our Montgomery cheddar, chopped up some aromatic and appropriate vegetables, added a dose or two of love, and made us a meal of sausages and pressed cheese sandwiches. I don't have any photos to share here. I did take some with my mind.

That was twenty-four hours ago. I've since wandered back to Utah from where I am typing this. But the effects of the last ingredient persist. This is particularly interesting, because my first experience with culinary alchemy took that ingredient for granted. I shall try not to make that mistake again.

My Healthy Approach to Weight Loss - Part 2

2009-04-26T12:07:00.010-04:00

The second part of this post on weight loss has to do with other strategies that can make eating less, taking in fewer calories, and dropping the pounds a little easier.

EXERCISE

Exercise is certainly important to good health and a sense of well being, but it is not everything, and one shouldn't depend on exercise alone if you are trying to lose weight or lose body fat. One thing I learned from Mark Sisson is that 80% of your results come from what you eat, therefore a healthy, low-carb diet is imperative. If you were to continue your normal diet and decided to ramp up your exercise, you would have to be a marathon runner or one of those chronic cardio people that spends an hour or more a day on a machine to make a big enough difference where you would actually be shedding pounds and fat. I don't really recommend this (being a former marathon runner) since long stretches of cardio demand a high carbohydrate diet for stamina, which sort of defeats the whole purpose. These long stretches of cardio also release free radicals in your body, lowering your immune system and creating an environment that is ripe for disease.

When I was a long distance runner, I was constantly dealing with back, knee, hip, and ankle injuries. I lived on rice, pasta, bagels, and hot chocolate for my training and recovery foods. Yes I was thin, but my glucose levels were through the roof and I can only imagine how much oxidative stress and inflammation I had in my body. Well, it must have been a lot because then I had a heart attack. I've witnessed 3 sudden deaths from heart attacks during my racing days and I've read about many more, so I consider myself extremely lucky. I'm not saying that long distance running = heart disease. But I am saying that great care in diet, supplementation, and proper recovery have to be taken when making that commitment.

There are easier ways to stay fit. Running, biking, walking, hiking, dancing, etc... are all great, but don't have to be taken to extremes to get positive results. Studies show that short sprints or bursts of anaerobic exercise burn more fat than monotonous hours on the treadmill. Exercise should be fun! A round of tennis or a game of softball is a great way of getting the body moving and exhibiting short bursts of anaerobic activity. Grab your ipod and go for a long walk. Add 4 or 5 sprints to your walk and you'll be getting a great workout.

STRENGTH TRAINING

In addition to some light cardio, strength training should be part of any weight loss or fitness plan. Strength training through weightlifting, yoga, pilates, or just simple calisthenics you do at home keep the body supple, burn fat, prevent bone loss, and keep the body strong, thus preventing injuries. 3 days a week is plenty. This combined with a healthy, low-carb diet and you are on your way to a healthy, strong, and happy body.

INTERMITTENT FASTING

There's a lot on the internet about fasting and it can also be confusing. Again, I can only tell you what has worked for me.

Fasting is practiced by different cultures all around the world - some for spiritual purposes and some for health purposes. Let's face it, there are times where we all feel like we need a re-charge, a cleansing of a sort. I think it's a good thing, as long as it's not abused. I used to fast obsessively (yes, that can also be called anorexia), but I was convinced that since it was an established practice, albeit alternative, it was healthy. I was wrong. I was juice fasting on what is called the "lemonade diet" or the "master cleanse." This is nothing more than fresh squeezed lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. SUGAR WATER! And I would do it for weeks at a time (as recommended by the author of the book, The Master Cleanse).* Again, my glucose levels had skyrocketed. My electrolytes were completely out of whack. My cardiologist advised against it but I did it anyway thinking that it would cleanse my liver of all the horrible medications I was on (which is what it claims to do).* I had my second heart attack shortly after a 14-day master cleanse.

Fasting, if done properly, actually has the opposite effect. It lowers insulin levels, thus releasing fat cells into the bloodstream and allowing your muscles to burn them off as energy. One 24-hour fast can reduce insulin levels by 70%! You can undo a lot of damage during the week with one fast on the weekend. I can't think of a better way to help those who have trouble dieting than to encourage one 24 hour fast a week to lower insulin, reduce the appetite, and put one back in touch with the way the body feels without food - giving a better and more conscious sense of what it feels like to nurture the body with food.

A few guidelines:

- Drink water! Don't let yourself get dehydrated.

- Don't drink juice. It's liquid food, and has calories that prevent your insulin levels from dropping adequately.

- You can drink coffee, tea, mineral water or any non-caloric drink. I don't advise drinking diet beverages since part of the reason you are fasting is to cleanse the body of toxins. It's also probably a good opportunity to cut back on caffeinated beverages so try different herbal teas for a more cleansing effect. But if you're a coffee or diet soda junkie and really need it to avoid the misery of a caffeine withdrawal headache, I would say it's okay since it won't undo the other benefits of the fast. Try to wean yourself off slowly so perhaps after a few fasts, you can get through it caffeine free.

You can start your fast after dinner (around 6pm) and then go until dinner then next evening. It's easy if you start at night because your first 8-12 hours are spent sleeping. If I start my fast on a Saturday night after dinner, sleep in on Sunday, by the time I wake up, enjoy a cup of tea, do my Sunday yoga, and shop at the farmers market, I'm ready to come home, do a few chores, and prepare dinner (for 6pm). It's not as difficult as it sounds.

Fasting once in a while will help you achieve quick but safe weight loss (don't do more than 24 hours consecutively!). I have come to understand this through my many years of having to fast before having diagnostic procedures, such as angiographies, colonoscopies, and endoscopies. There are so many times that I have been put on "NPO" or "nothing by mouth" in the hospital for 8-12, sometimes even 24 hours. Once I am allowed to eat normally again, I find that I have lost weight and that it stays off for quite some time (unless I go off and binge on sugary foods again).

You can learn more about Intermittent Fasting or "IM" here:

Intermittent Fasting 101

Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy?

Brad Pilon's Blog

Let's just recap here and remember some safe and healthy ways to lose weight:

- Give up sugar. It's good for nothing at all.

- Give up processed and refined carbs - they're just like sugar.

- Eat real food - forget processed and packaged foods and opt for organic, seasonal vegetables and fruits; pastured chickens and eggs; grass fed beef; wild fish; organic nuts and seeds; and organic dairy products from grass-fed animals (preferably raw).

- Exercise moderately and have fun! - walk, run, bike, swim, play tennis, softball

- Do some strength training 3 times a week. - weightlifting, yoga, pilates, calisthenics.

- Fast once in a while. - lower your insulin and decrease your appetite.

Good luck and be kind to yourself.

* There is no scientific evidence behind any of the claims made by Stanley Burroughs - author of the Master Cleanse.

My Healthy Approach to Weight Loss - Part 1

2009-04-25T15:36:00.009-04:00

I was listening to this NPR podcast the other day called "Are all Calories Created Equal" and the gist of the study was that the only true way of losing weight is to reduce the amount of calories you take in, regardless of what kind of diet you go on. Although the study that was conducted had its limitations; in the end, the conclusion is really non-debatable. Yes, it is true. The only real way to lose weight is to take in fewer calories, or burn more calories than you are taking in.

I don't think this is anything new or illuminating. The real question is, "How?" How do we get to the place where we can eat less, exercise more, take in the proper nutrition for good health, stop craving food, and feel satisfied and energized?

There is a myriad of diets, strategies, plans, tips, and methods to choose from, and of course it all gets very confusing. I can only share what has worked for me and what has brought me to a place of conscious and joyful eating, balance, and self-forgiveness and love. I went through a lifetime of unhealthy behaviors like yo-yo dieting, obsessive exercising, bingeing and purging, and other anorexic tendencies. The day I was diagnosed with heart disease is the day all of that came to an end. My life depended on it.

I'll save the aspects of my psychological journey for another post, but I do want to share some very practical tips that have helped me get to where I need to be.

The word "moderation" is a loaded term for many. It means something different to everyone, and for myself and many others, this concept just doesn't exist. So I will refrain from using the old cliche, "everything in moderation." I prefer to think about balance and a sense of well-being. We know that deprivation doesn't work either and just makes us feel sad, depressed, unloved, perhaps angry, and most of all, ravenous! And at the same time we can't "have our cake and eat it too." All that said, let me get to my first and most important tip of all on our journey to losing some pounds.

1) Stop eating sugar. NOW! That means everything with sugar in it: breakfast cereal, muffins, breads, protein bars, soy milk, fruit juice, soft drinks, ketchup, salad dressings, mayonnaise, peanut butter, jam, and most processed foods. Sugar is addictive. It makes you want more sugar. It makes you want to eat more in general. It spikes your insulin levels and can cause insulin resistance (this makes you fat) and metabolic syndrome (this causes diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases).

To get rid of sugar cravings, just stop eating all sweet food for 1-2 weeks - this means maple syrup, honey, and artificial sweeteners as well. You can feel the difference even after 3 days. The craving for sweet food disappears. I promise you.

2) Stop eating processed carbs for two weeks. Processed carbs turn to sugar and do the same thing. They are addictive and leave you feeling hungry for more. This means bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, grains (yes, brown rice too!!). We have been taught that they are filling and since they are low in fat - good for us. Not really true. Brown rice, spelt pasta, and whole grain bread turn to sugar and convert to fat the same way white bread does. Give it up for a few weeks and see how you feel.

(I would also add potatoes and corn to this list - they are plants, yes, but problematic ones for several reasons. For the purpose of this post, let's just say that they also behave like sugar in the system).

So what to eat...

Once you have discovered that most processed and packaged foods have loads of sugar and unsavory ingredients that are designed to keep you wanting more, it's time to discover nature's gifts.

EGGS

Try to get organic, free range, or preferably pastured eggs (meaning that the chickens not only run free but eat a natural diet of insects, plants, and grasses). Vegetarian feed usually means corn and soy. Corn and soy are used to fatten the chicken up, and guess what? They'll fatten you up too. Don't be afraid of the yolk either. Egg yolks from pasture eggs are one of the richest sources of heart healthy omega 3's. I like my eggs boiled because their transportable, but I also love making beautiful omelettes with wild mushrooms and fresh herbs, eggs benedict with smoked salmon (minus the english muffin), goat cheese and tomato frittatas, crustless quiches, and other eggy, yummy foods.

VEGETABLES

Eat what's in season and what looks beautiful. Make yourself beautiful salads, stirfries, and soups. There are fabulous greens in season right now - spinach, kale, collards, mustard, and an array of wild greens like dandelion, chickweed, shallot greens, and onion and garlic sprouts. Asparagus are on their way. Steam, grill, or roast them. Drizzle olive oil or butter on them. Steam or roast spring root vegetables and mash them or bake them au gratin.

GRASS FED MEATS, PASTURED CHICKENS, AND WILD FISH

Try to find meats from animals that have been raised naturally. Most of us are deficient in vitamin D and one of the healthiest sources is animal fat from animals that have been raised outside in sunlight. This is certainly different from feed-lot animals that have been artificially fattened with hormones, corn, soy, and other grains that cows and pasture animals are not meant to digest. These are the meats that are making us sick. Same goes with commercially raised chickens and with farmed fish.

Spring is a wonderful time for slow-cooked lamb stews with sweet root vegetables like carrots and parsnips. A good roast chick is good for any occasion. And meatballs slow cooked in home-made tomato sauce (canned from last summer's tomatoes) is so satisfying with fresh oregano and some shaved parmegiano cheese.

For a snack, my friend Emily taught me how to make salmon jerky. If you have a dehydrator, it's as simple as marinating strips of salmon in your favorite marinade (no sugar), and dehydrating overnight.

FRUITS

I'm a big fruit eater, but try to stick to the lower glycemic fruits like berries, apples, pears, and stone fruits. If you're trying to lose your sweet tooth, I would hold off on fruits for a week or two. I indulge in tropical fruits like bananas, mangoes, and papayas once in a while, but mostly when I'm in places where they grow. I also have to be careful with the high sugar content because of my heart disease. Dried fruits are out of the question for me and should also not be eaten the first few weeks of coming off sugar.

NUTS AND SEEDS

If you feel the urge to satisfy a snack craving, eat nuts. Raw nuts are preferable but I would encourage eating any nuts over something sweet. Be careful with packaged nuts, however. They can be filled with all kinds of sweeteners, MSG, and other weird chemicals. Try to find raw, organic almonds, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, and pecans. These are all high in healthy fats and protein. Cashews and pistachios are a little higher in carbs so easy does it with them. Pumpkin seeds are also a great snack. I roast them with italian herbs and sea salt. Yum.

DAIRY

There seems to be a lot of debate as to whether dairy products should be consumed by humans or not. The fact is that there are many traditional cultures around the world that have always consumed dairy products and have very high life expectancies. So while it may not be the most natural thing in the world for humans to consume the milk of a different species, it's not the most particularly harmful food either - that is, if you're consuming dairy products that come from naturally raised animals.

Cheese is one of the most satisfying foods for me to eat when I'm trying to get off sugar. It helps me satisfy my snacking urge, and again, once I'm past the sugar cravings, it's home free. I like raw-milk, hard - cow, goat, and sheep cheeses the best like swiss, cheddar, reggiano, manchego, raclette, feta, and gouda. The soft or fresh cheeses are a little higher in carbs and should probably be avoided in the beginning of your sugar busting journey. Sometimes if I'm at a work function or party and the only thing that's being served is pizza, I will just eat the topping off and toss the crust. The cheese and sauce are the best parts anyway.

I'm also a big fan of full-fat milk, cream, sour cream, and yogurt. Non-fat dairy has been chemically processed and tastes terrible. It's also higher in carbs and lactose (milk sugar) than the full fat versions. I've been eating full fat dairy for years now and it doesn't put weight on me, nor has it raised my cholesterol levels. Try to find organic or milk from grass-fed cows. A lot of commercial cream and sour cream also have weird chemicals in them so read your labels. The best choice is if you have access to a dairy farm, see if you can buy raw milk that hasn't been pasteurized or homogenized. Raw milk contains all of the enzymes (lactase) that are necessary to digest lactose, so is especially good for those who may be intolerant. Goat milk is also a good choice for those who have trouble digesting dairy.

FATS

I've written plenty about fats in the past so I won't go into great detail here. Basically, I believe that fats from animals (and fish) that have been raised naturally are healthy. Our bodies were built to digest and synthesize animal fats. I cook with chicken fat, lard, coconut oil, palm oil, and butter (and my cholesterol is low). Most vegetable oils have been highly processed and are not meant for human consumption - these are the trans fats and polyunsaturated fats like corn, safflower, soybean, and all margarines - even Smart Balance!! They increase inflammation in the body and I am convinced that they are one of the biggest culprits of the increasing rates of heart disease in this country. The exceptions are olive oil, canola, and most nut and seed oils. Those oils should only be used for dressings, however, and should not be used for frying or sauteeing. They are not stable enough to stand up to high temperatures. For that, stick to coconut oil, palm oil, and animal fats.

So there you have it -a jump start into losing weight. Remember, the eventual goal here is to eat less. Once you have eliminated a lot of the sweet and carby foods, you will notice that your appetite will naturally decrease. It's a beautiful thing, really.

The truth is that we don't need that much food to live. A few balanced meals during the day should suffice. We are a culture that is encouraged to be obsessed with consumption. And I myself know that it is not easy to get out of this overeating cycle. But after a few weeks of nourishing the body with healthy and tasty foods, you become more in tuned to how your body feels and what it really wants. You learn how to eat only when your hungry and not out of boredom or emotional triggers and cravings. Once you find that equilibrium, you can start to reincorporate a lot of the foods you initially gave up - like occasional grains, bread, pasta, maybe even sweets. Chances are, you probably won't really want to go back to that kind of eating since you will be feeling so much better.

In my next post, I'll talk about the significance of exercise and fasting when it comes to weight loss. For now, just know that most of your weight loss will come from diet.

I'll leave you with this wonderful article from Dr. Mercola's blog:

Words of Wisdom From a 97-Year-Old Physician

Questions? suggestions? criticisms?

Tell me.

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T15:17:00.005-04:00

Earth Day is almost over but it's not to late to join the No GMO Challenge.

Let's not give Monsanto any more of our hard-earned cash!

(The True Food Network has also published a guide to non-GMO shopping).

The Sunshine State

2009-04-06T07:19:00.011-04:00

On a recent business trip to Florida, I noticed that the service stations on the interstates offer some of Florida's best treasures: oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes, strawberries, and pecans. I'm sure they are all grown by large commercial farms that do not employ the best standards, but I was happy to see people lining up to buy fresh squeezed juice and big bags of grapefruits while choosing to forgo the usual fast food options that were being offered inside.

My trip took me from Palm Beach, to Orlando, to Gainesville, and then ending in Sarasota.

I can always find a Farmers Market.

What surprised me about the Sarasota Farmers Market was the amount of vendors that were not farmers at all. In fact, a large amount of the produce there was shipped in from elsewhere. I guess the requirements don’t include having to have locally grown food. That is really a shame since that’s what farmers markets are for. It was also conveniently located across the street from the Whole Foods. I didn’t see much difference in shopping at one over the other.

I did, however, manage to find some local food.

Although commercially grown, Florida strawberries were a popular choice.

There was a nice selection of fresh seafood from the Gulf and some interesting sandwich choices.

Every farmers market has to have some local entertainment,

along with some local activism

(this woman was trying to get a petition against gerrymandering signed).

Some native flora

And finally some locally and organically grown produce.

It's out there if you look hard enough.

Backyard Chicken Ranching

2009-03-31T01:29:00.005-04:00

I live in rural northeastern Utah where people love to live and let live. Many of my neighbors are involved in some aspect of raising their own food. Chad and Tracy, two houses away, keep chickens and other animals.

I thought you might like to see what their family egg operation looks like.

Chad, for the observant viewer of my other videos, showed up serving burgers in the Woodruff "Testicle Festival." In a small community, everyone shows up everywhere, all the time.

Making a Case for Women and Dietary Fat

2009-03-15T16:56:00.022-04:00

I’ve been an advocate and spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign for nearly seven years now, and most recently spoke at their annual fund-raising luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria.

(Above) Dr. Nieca Goldberg, me, and Jane Chesnutt from Woman's Day Magazine
(Right) Me and Joy Behar

My overall message was that there are still troubling gender differences in the way that heart disease is researched, diagnosed, and treated; and that although more women today have a better awareness that they are candidates for heart disease and must be vigilant in recognizing the risk factors and symptoms, they are still not being taken seriously by doctors and practitioners in the same way that men are. My message was received well. I only hope it will resonate throughout the New York medical community and that fewer women will be sent home from emergency rooms like I was when I nearly died from a heart attack in 2006.

The general messaging from the AHA, however, still largely focuses on the individual.

For many reasons, I have a hard time with this, mainly because it places the sole responsibility of heart health care, and even blame, on the individual woman - a layperson. In fact, if you listen to Andie McDowell’s speech on the home page of the Go Red for Women website, you will hear her say that this campaign “helps women make smart choices,” as if to imply the reason they have heart disease and go undiagnosed is because they make foolish choices.

We rely on doctors - experts in the field - to guide us, give us medical advice, and be able to accurately diagnose and treat our diseases to their best capacity. What kind of message does it send to the public, to tell women that they cannot rely on doctors to do this, that they must do it for them? Where is the responsibility for medical professionals? And the problem is that even when patients arm themselves with information, doctors rarely take them seriously, in fact, they are usually annoyed by the “overly controlling” patient.

The other part of this campaign I have a hard time with its insistence that dietary fat and cholesterol are the major causes of heart disease.

I’ve been re-reading Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories, and revisiting the research-based evidence he provides to challenge the fat-cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease (which is still, by the way, nothing more than a hypothesis and has never been proven). The fact is that while high cholesterol may be associated with atherosclerosis, there is still no explanation as to why so many people have heart attacks despite having low cholesterol (including myself), and why a tremendous amount of people with high cholesterol never get heart disease.

Even though there is ample evidence (see studies below) which suggests that populations who follow a hunter/gatherer diet have longer life expectancies than those who follow a western, grain-based diet; and that high protein, yes- high fat, and low carbohydrate diets are much more effective for weight loss, reducing insulin levels, triglycerides, and raising good cholesterol; pop nutritionists and journalist are still trying to tout the low fat, high carb diet as being the healthy one, even though Americans are getting fatter on this diet every day.

Many researchers will readily admit that the evidence on the cholesterol/heart disease correlation is dubious at best. Taubes points out that one reason the medical community holds on to the cholesterol hypothesis is simply because cholesterol is measurable. Even though there are numerous other factors that are correlated with heart disease, such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and inflammation, there is no other measurable indicator that can be so easily remedied with a drug. And although statins have proven to lower cholesterol and lessen mortality in patients with heart disease, it has yet to be determined if it is statins’ cholesterol lowering properties that save lives. Statins also reduce inflammation. I am not suggesting that people with heart disease go off of their medication. I am on statins and plan on remaining on them for life. But do all people with high cholesterol (who are otherwise healthy) need to be put on statins (which have terrible side effects, by the way)? Couldn’t inflammation be controlled, let’s say, through a healthy diet? But what causes inflammation?

• Sugar
• Polyunsaturated vegetable oils like safflower, sunflower, corn, peanut and soy.
• Refined carbohydrates including flours made from wheat, corn, and soy.
• High glutinous foods like wheat, rice (even brown), and other grains.

It’s disturbing to see so many of my health conscious friends and associates follow this unsubstantiated advice that includes eating processed carbohydrates, high sugar, and soy-based vegetarian diets which have proven to raise insulin levels and cause inflammation. And people like Oprah keep wondering why they can’t take the weight off. Surely if someone like Oprah who can afford the most expensive nutrition and fitness gurus in the world can’t keep the weight off, something is wrong with the guidelines we are being told to follow.

Studies mentioned above:
A Palaeolithic diet improves glucose tolerance more than a Mediterranean-like diet in individuals with ischaemic heart disease.

Cardiovascular risk factors in a Melanesian population apparently free from stroke and ischaemic heart disease: the Kitava study.

Weight Loss with a Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet

Dietary fats, carbohydrate, and progression of coronary atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women.

And coincidentally, my friend, Emily, just sent me this article from the Montreal Gazette:

In Praise of Fat

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Making Goat Cheese

2009-03-09T08:28:00.009-04:00

Last week, I received an extra large shipment of raw goat's milk in my weekly order from the raw dairy club I belong to. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to drink it all on my own so I thought I might make yogurt out of it, and then I remembered that I've been meaning to try to make chèvre/goat cheese. I found a simple cheating recipe on eHow.com. It came out really well, in fact delicious, so I'm wondering how much different it might taste if I used the more complex recipe.

Deb, from Food is Love, posted a proper recipe on her site a while back and hers looks much more fancy and I'm guessing, flavorful, but here's mine nonetheless.

I started with 1/2 gallon of raw goat's milk. The more fresh and untreated your milk is, the healthier and more flavorful your cheese will be. Heat it to about 180 degrees F (you can use a candy thermometer or your finger - just don't boil the milk!).

Once it's hot enough, set it aside to cool for a few minutes. Then add about 1 Tbsp of raw, untreated apple cider vinegar. As you pour the vinegar into the hot milk you should immediately see the milk curdle and separate.

Once it has completely separated into curds and whey, ladle the curds into a colander that is lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. I put the colander over a bowl to catch the whey.

The whey, which is packed with protein, can be used later for smoothies.

Allow the curds to drain for several hours in the refrigerator. I then removed the cheese from the cheese cloth, mixed them with some salt and pepper, rolled it into a log, and wrapped it with parchment paper. You should then allow the cheese to age in the refrigerator for at least 2 days before tasting.

After two days, I tasted mine - and wouldn't you know, it tasted just like the chèvre I buy in specialty cheese shops. Who knew it would be this easy? and considerably cheaper then buying from any market.

Today for lunch I had locally grown mache (or sometimes called lamb's lettuce) with homemade goat cheese, local pears, and toasted hazelnuts. I dressed it in just a tiny bit of walnut oil and red wine vinegar. You must try this!!

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Beef Tale

2009-02-28T10:21:00.012-05:00

I now have a small freezer chest with a bunch of locally grown beef in my basement. It didn't just happen. The story may interest you.

The primary influence in my new assortment of frozen bovine protein is my partner Stephanie. Regular readers know why. If you don't, read the sidebar and some of the older posts. I was also influenced by a class I took last fall about Environmental History. Some of the weekly readings included material authored by Michael Pollan, and I started listening to a number of his podcasts including an older one in which he participated in the commercial beef process as an animal owner and consumer.^*

I don't subscribe to the notion that commercial beef is "poison,"^† but I do recognize that we have yet to fully understand the effects of hormon^‡ and antibiotic-laden meat which has been hyperfattened for commercial purposes. I also believe that the CAFO system of finishing commercially lucrative beef is an exercise in poor animal stewardship.

I live in cattle country. I'm surrounded by ranchers, some sheep, but mostly cattle. The ranchers in my part of the country are those who raise calves for part of a year then sell them to the commercial lots in the Plains States where they're fattened and sold commercially. The cattle in my part of the country have good lives, but many people here buy commercial meat because it's less expensive than local. This is the perverse and interesting part of modern, efficient, cheap meat production.

Nearly all locally sold meat comes from somewhere else.

In any event because of my conversations with Stephanie and my exposure to Pollan and other eco-thinkers including my professor (Dr. Bret Weber), last December I finally and seriously set about attempting to find a source of local, less risky, ethically handled beef. I contacted one ranch not too far away that advertized "organic" beef, but they never returned my call or email. I didn't know the people anyway and went looking elsewhere.

Over the years, I've written about my friend Sim. He's a local rancher, a fellow volunteer EMT, and the Mormon version of the Marlboro man; a real live, good-looking, non-smoking cowboy. I called him last month and told him that I was looking for a local source of beef in an effort to avoid CAFO/Factory Farm-finished commercial meat. I was just hoping for a lead. His response, however, was, "boy, do I have a deal for you!"

He told me that he was just getting ready to have an animal butchered. Local ranchers sometimes select first year cows that fail the "mommy test" through calf rejection or failure to nurture, and harvest them as beef. These animals are not part of the commercial beef outflow of young animals injected with growth hormones and sold to the large lots for commercial corn-soy finishing. Sim's personal cattle are fattened^** for a shorter period on alfalfa (grass), rolled barley, and limited corn. I told him that I was interested in 1/4 beef (25% of the processed animal). Sim said that his animal was going to be slaughtered shortly, would cure for a couple of weeks, and then would be butchered and frozen.

Where my beef cow lived. From one freezer to another. The moral? Be a good mommy.

A couple of weeks later I received a phone call from the butcher asking me how I wanted my animal processed. Did I want single or double wrapping? (Meat eaten within the year can be single wrapped, but they recommend double-wrapping for long-term storage.) Did I want a large prime rib or should they convert that cut into steaks? (Steaks, please.) How thick would I like my steaks? (One inch sounds nice, but the 3/4" standard cut yields more steaks.) Hamburger in one or two pound bags? (One, please.) Would I like any of the organs? (Yes, heart please.) Soup bones? (Again, yes.) And so on.

I didn't have a place to put the meat, so I priced small (5 or so cubic feet) chest freezers from a couple of local appliance dealerships. I found one that looked decent, and Asher and I picked it up in Evanston, Wyoming.

American Minivan Gothic, or Two Dudes and a Freezer

Late last week Sim called and told me it was time to pick up the meat. We scheduled a day to make the four or five hour round trip. I took part of a day off, changed my shirt in the parking lot, Sim came by to get me, and we and hit the road. Boys' day out.

The drive from our home in Rich County, Utah to beautiful Thayne, Wyoming isn't very far, and the strip of western Wyoming through which we were able to pass is alpine and not like the sagebrushy landscape that most people envision when they hear "Wyoming."

Near Afton, Wyoming

Dana Cold Storage in Thayne Wyoming combines butchering and frozen products storage. During the weeks prior to our arrival the animal was killed, initially prepped (skinned and gutted), weighed, and hung for curing. My expense included the weight of my 1/4 beef and the butchering costs based on my specifications.

The guy in the background in left photo was Facebooking.

Some of the beef was for Sim, some for family members, and one bag for me. Since it was cold outside, we were in no rush to get home, so stopped in Afton for a leisurely early dinner at a (surprise!) cowboy themed family restaurant. I enjoy that man's company.

By the time I got home, Asher was chomping at the bit to help me get the meat inside and into our pristine freezer. We now have a beautiful collection of steaks, roasts, stew meats, hamburger, soup bones, and so on. I know where it came from, and I'm on Sim's short list the next time I need beef.

The next day, seared steak strips and eggs for breakfast, with excellent Hawaiian coffee.

Thanks, Steph. We're saving some of the best stuff for you.

----------------------------------------------------------

Notes

^* The podcast is gone, but the transcript remains.
^† Overstatement of ills is a problem the conscientious consumer of information runs into among the well-intentioned as well as the evil. Persons promoting an agenda as a social problem tend, either consciously or not, to simplify and exaggerate the "villain." Caveat lector!
^‡ The European Union doesn't ban growth hormones because they're poisonous. Their conservative and sensible approach is based on the thinking that we just don't know enough about the ramifications of the biotechnology.
^** Agriculturalists have fattened animals prior to slaughter for millenia. The problem with modern agribusiness fattening comes in the overreliance upon foods such as corn and soy that ruminants like cattle have a hard time digesting. Their stomachs ulcerate, they get sick, and in a twisted practice the cattle have to have medications included in their feed to combat the effects of that very same feed. Agribusiness defends itself by saying that space prohibits the storage of the vast amounts of grasses needed to sufficiently fatten the animals, and corn is cheap.

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The Ongoing Fight for International Food Aid

2009-02-20T16:27:00.018-05:00

© Laurent Chamussy / Sipa Press

Jocelyn Zuckerman recently wrote a great article in Gourmet magazine about the inadequate quality of international food aid, entitled, "Into the Mouths of Babes." She reports on the highly underreported crisis of global nutrition and the efforts of humanitarian action to address it. And you thought Gourmet magazine was just good for recipes?

Currently, 178 million children worldwide are malnourished and this inadequate nutrition contributes to the deaths of as many as 5 million children younger than 5 years annually.

For the last 20 years or so, international food aid for children under 5 has largely consisted of cereal-based meals made of a corn-soy blend containing no animal-source food. When the price of milk sharply rose in the 80s it was removed from the list of ingredients, and the US subsidies of corn and soy became the primary sources of food aid.

But this response has been failing young children and we have seen a sharp incline of malnutrition related deaths, wasting, and severe stunting, developmental delays and lasting cognitive deficiencies, and vulnerability to infectious illnesses.

The organization I work for, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has been lobbying hard for the last few years for international aid groups to adopt an approach we have had great success with in the field - that is, the use of ready-to-use foods like Plumpy Nut and Plumpy Doz. They consist of simple pastes of milk powder, sugar, peanut paste, oil, and different vitamin and mineral contents depending on the level of malnutrition (moderate to severe). They contain the kind of protein, calories, and nutrients necessary for the development and survival of children under 5. These findings based on our pilot program in Niger were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

As a result of some of our advocacy efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently agreed that animal source foods such as dairy products are the first and most effective choice to treat moderately malnourished children; however, new initiatives and the funding of these programs have yet to be implemented.

We are hoping that our presence at the recent UN Madrid Food Summit will coalesce into some more aggressive action on the part of the international food aid community, particularly in the US (USAID and the WFP), now that we have a change of hands, attitudes, and policies in Washington.

How Sweet It Is

2009-02-08T15:24:00.007-05:00

"It's crawling up my leg, Grandpa."

"Then you'd better slap it."

I was twelve or thirteen, helping my grandpa collect beehives in northern Wyoming for extraction. Bees were swarming us, and one had gotten past my taped pant cuffs and the protective clothing I was wearing.

"But it'll sting me!"

"Yup. [Short pause while he continued working] Which way is it going?"

"Up! Toward my... you know!"

"Then you'd better slap it."

He was right, of course. His second question about the bee's direction wasn't because he didn't know. He was trying to help me to help myself get ready for something difficult. If I just waited for the bee to get to The Promised Land, I'd be in a whole new level of trouble. So I slapped it just above the knee. It stung me, and I survived.

Grandpa got stung all the time. It didn't even bother him. Bees knew this and so most left him alone, and just swarmed me. I was wearing full head screening. Grandpa wore nothing.

Sterling Johnson

My mother's father was one of the best men I've ever known. He was a tireless worker, and moral to the core. He took over his father's honey business and built his own extraction and processing building on the back of his lot in Lovell, Wyoming. Like many men of his generation, there was practically nothing within his world that he could not fix, and he planned on reaping no more than he sowed.

Grandpa cutting a buddy's hair

Grandpa loved honey, and believed it had medicinal properties. Honey country was filled with tales of honey as a cure-all for illnesses and injuries. Arm chopped off? No problem. Slather a little honey on the stump and grow yourself a new one!

Interestingly, there are folks who even today are researching some longstanding claims that honey, particularly untreated honey, has antimicrobial and healing properties as a topical dressing. While we at YAWIE don't recommend it as an alternative to a hospital visit in the event of an amputation, it might be worth checking out some of the 'net chatter about honey as a topical in certain situations, such as some burns.

I have a lifelong love affair with honey, particularly untreated (unheated and unfiltered) "bee milk" from the clover fields of northern Wyoming. It is unparalleled as a sweetener with medicinal teas, and I feel good just having it around. Untreated honey with a low moisture content stores for many years in cool, dry places.

And if you ever find a bee working its busy little way up your pant leg, slap it sooner rather than later.

Another Reason to Love Coffee

2009-01-27T13:43:00.002-05:00

Mark, this should make you happy. Maybe we won't be changing each other's diapers after all...

Coffee Linked to Lower Dementia Risk

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR - New York Times

January 23, 2009

Drinking coffee may do more than just keep you awake. A new study suggests an intriguing potential link to mental health later in life, as well.

A team of Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee consumption in a group of 1,409 middle-age men and women for an average of 21 years. During that time, 61 participants developed dementia, 48 with Alzheimer’s disease.

After controlling for numerous socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less. People who drank more than five cups a day also were at reduced risk of dementia, the researchers said, but there were not enough people in this group to draw statistically significant conclusions.

Dr. Miia Kivipelto, an associate professor of neurology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and lead author of the study, does not as yet advocate drinking coffee as a preventive health measure. “This is an observational study,” she said. “We have no evidence that for people who are not drinking coffee, taking up drinking will have a protective effect.”

Dr. Kivipelto and her colleagues suggest several possibilities for why coffee might reduce the risk of dementia later in life. First, earlier studies have linked coffee consumption with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, which in turn has been associated with a greater risk of dementia. In animal studies, caffeine has been shown to reduce the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Finally, coffee may have an antioxidant effect in the bloodstream, reducing vascular risk factors for dementia.

Dr. Kivipelto noted that previous studies have shown that coffee drinking may also be linked to a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease.

The new study, published this month in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, is unusual in that more than 70 percent of the original group of 2,000 people randomly selected for tracking were available for re-examination 21 years later. The dietary information had been collected at the beginning of the study, which reduced the possibility of errors introduced by people inaccurately recalling their consumption. Still, the authors acknowledge that any self-reported data is subject to inaccuracies.

Eating Locally in Winter

2009-01-10T09:12:00.022-05:00

I live in the Northeast US, so as you can imagine, eating seasonally in the winter can definitely pose a challenge. For those in the south and the west coast, I am extremely envious that you can purchase fresh local fruits and vegetables year round. We have to be a little more conscious here of the seasons and plan them accordingly. For example, this summer I froze bags and bags of fresh berries, peaches, apricots, and tomatoes until my freezer was stuffed – knowing that I would be grateful to be able to enjoy them in the winter months. I also recently stocked up on root vegetables that store well in the fridge like carrots, turnips, onions, shallots, and garlic, since they too may be scarce in the coming months.

So what if you didn’t have room in your freezer or you simply did not plan ahead? What’s to eat?

Well, fortunately many farmers’ markets stay open year round and some CSAs offer “winter shares.” They may dwindle in size and offer much less on the produce end, but they still offer grass fed meats, wild game, chicken, eggs, fish, cheeses, as well as winter squash, root vegetables, apples and pears, and from some of the farmers that have greenhouses – green vegetables, hydroponic tomatoes (which aren’t always so great), and cultivated mushrooms. According to traditional Chinese medicine, winter is the time when the body needs to store up energy, rest, and meditation and therefore needs strengthening, warming foods like soups and stews. It’s a perfect time to experiment with heartier meats like lamb, bison, or venison; hearty heirloom beans; exotic roots like burdock, celery root, and sunchokes; and baked eggy things like quiche, Spanish tortilla, or frittatas.

This was the tortilla de patatas I made for Rosh Hashana dinner.

Many farmers also pickle and preserve their own vegetables and fruits. So in addition to all the fresh stuff, it may be a fun time to taste those pickled French beans, some raw sauerkraut, pesto sauce, canned tomatoes with herbs, or delicious fruit preserves sweetened with local honey.

There are still local offerings in some supermarkets too. I have found wild greens and onions from Massachusetts at my nearest Whole Foods (well… that’s kind of local). And at my neighborhood health food store, they sell grass fed beef from New Jersey, local raw cheeses from upstate New York, as well as winter squashes from local farms.

A sample winter's dinner:

Grass-fed lamb short ribs braised in hard cider
Parsnip and celery root mash
Steamed brussel sprouts
Christmas lima beans

________________________________

Any resolutions to eat healthier this year and more sustainably?

Mark Bittman, whose column I love, wrote this article published in last Tuesday's NY Times. It’s full of terrific ideas (and it’s not too late to start).

Happy New Year, everyone!

Fresh Start for a New Year? Let’s Begin in the Kitchen
Mark Bittman

PERHAPS, like me, you have this romantic notion of shopping daily — maybe even a mental vision of yourself making the rounds, wicker basket in hand, of your little Shropshire or Provençal or Tuscan village. The reality, of course, is that few of us provision our kitchens or cook exclusively with ultra-fresh ingredients, especially in winter, when there simply are no ultra-fresh ingredients.

But if your goal is to cook and cook quickly, to get a satisfying and enjoyable variety of real food on the table as often as possible, a well-stocked pantry and fridge can sustain you. Replenished weekly or even less frequently, with an occasional stop for fresh vegetables, meat, fish and dairy, they are the core supply houses for the home cook.

While you’re stocking up, you might clear out a bit of the detritus that’s cluttering your shelves. Some of these things take up more space than they’re worth, while others are so much better in their real forms that the difference is laughable. Sadly, some remain in common usage even among good cooks. My point here is not to criminalize their use, but to point out how easily and successfully we can substitute for them, in every case with better results.

Here, then, is my little list of items you might spurn, along with some essential pantry and long-keeping refrigerator items you might consider. Note that I’m not including the ultra-obvious, things that are more or less ubiquitous in the contemporary American pantry, like potatoes, eggs and honey.

Read the rest of this article...

Chicken at 400 MPH (into a Headwind)

2009-01-02T16:39:00.005-05:00

The rhythm of life in Manhattan with Stephanie involves regular trips to the farmers' markets near her home. I've commented before in previous posts that it is a pleasure for me to watch her and many other shoppers involved in the full-sense selection of food items. They're a savvy bunch, those regulars. And the people-watching is first-rate.

The polished red skins of commercial apples, bred for durability and showiness, are forsaken for the irregular, blemished, and much better-tasting fruits of the so-called "heirloom" variety. Carnivores study the fish, poultry, and meat vendor offerings, poking with expert fingers at not just chicken and beef, but pheasant, duck, and goat as well.

Steph bought a nice-sized organic chicken during one such visit. She had previously purchased leeks, a variety of carrots (orange, red, purple), Jerusalem artichokes (also known as "sunchokes"), black salsify, and a bunch of rosemary. We went home and she brined the bird overnight (3/4 cup salt, in our case kosher, per gallon of water).

The next day we patted the carcass down and I took my spot in the corner of the kitchen. As the oven warmed up to 450 degrees, Steph cut the leeks into 6"-8" sections and stuffed them into the carcass along with a few cloves of garlic and a nice bunch of rosemary. She seasoned the bird with fresh ground pepper and paprika. Since the chicken was brined, it didn't need salt. The other vegetables went into the pan under the chicken which was placed on a cradle type rack. She salted and peppered those veggies and added a bit of schmaltz as an initial coating. The chicken would rain a little more fat upon them during the cooking process.

Carrot: What was that?

Sunchoke: What was what?

Carrot: That! Something just fell on my root tip!

Sunchoke: It's a light schmaltzing. Didn't you read the weather report? There's a bird up there!

Carrot: Oh.

Sunchoke: Just sit back and enjoy the warmth.

Cook the chicken at 450 for 20 minutes, then reduce to 375 for another 20 to 40+ minutes, depending upon the size of the bird. The skin will crisp up nicely and form a great barrier to escaping moisture. When the thick part of the thigh reads 170 degrees, your bird should be done. If you don't have a thermometer, piercing the same area should yield a flow of clear fluid. If it's bloody, the bird isn't quite ready yet.

I had to leave shortly after the bird was done. Stephanie prepared me a marvelous meal to go of light and dark meats, veggies, and less than three ounces of drippings/sauce. I carried the bag with the precious meal carefully to the airport. The TSA allowed me to take it through security.

The only problem came when, midflight, I actually opened my little bit of heaven and started eating it. The cabin of the Airbus A320 filled with the aroma of chicken, rosemary, and roast vegetables. There were a few murmers. Someone a couple of seats behind me asked the flight attendant about it. I didn't hear the response. I was prepared to run to the back of the aircraft and barricade myself if necessary and finish my meal.

As it turned out, the food provided later material for conversation with a rowmate about this very blog, my lovely partner, and the importance of food in general.

McManifest Destiny

2008-12-17T15:59:00.015-05:00

I recently left a comment on one of my favorite food blogs, The Jew and the Carrot. The post is called Primae Noctis Burgeris and the (Burger) King and it is a critique of the "docu-commercial" on the making of the new Burger King advertising campaign, "Whopper Virgins," in which people from isolated ethnic communities who supposedly never tasted hamburgers before are used to demonstrate the ultimate taste test. The author, Daniel Bloom, does a good job of articulating his discomfort with the entire premise of the campaign. In my comment I agree with him wholeheartedly and am perhaps a little more scathing in my remarks.

Anyway, Mark thought it was good enough to re-post on our blog. I should warn you about the video though. It is disturbing and may not be suitable for a general audience. It features marginalized people in remote areas of the world in desperate need for humanitarian fast food aid. These people have not been able to experience the joys of corporate industrialized processed food like we privileged westerners have been doing for so long (just look at how thin they are, oy!). Therefore it is Burger King's g-d given duty to deliver the gospel and the greasy goods. And get a free focus group while they're at it!

But there is a happy ending. Once these people are deflowered they can now feel fulfilled, satiated, confident, and most of all, liberated. I know I felt that way after my first whopper. Didn't you?

Obesity Tax?

2008-12-16T07:06:00.009-05:00

Mark and I were just having this discussion the other day about government regulation v. individual responsibility. I asked, "Why can't the government tax 'luxury foods' like sweets and soft drinks - the culprits of unhealthy diets that are leading to so many of our children's health problems, just like we tax cigarettes and alcohol? Isn't the main problem that healthy foods are just more expensive than unhealthy foods?"

Well now it seems that Governor Paterson of New York has just proposed an "obesity tax" on soft drinks, NON-DIET soft drinks, that is. That basically means that a can of coke will cost about $1.15 where a diet coke will still cost $1.

Even though I think this is a step in the right direction, it's not exactly the kind of regulation I had in mind. Should diet sodas be encouraged? They are clearly not healthier and I don't think there is any evidence out there associating diet soda consumption with less caloric intake or weight reduction. In fact, I remember reading this study not too long ago that linked artificial sweeteners to weight gain. Besides, we still know very little about the long-term effects of aspartame and it's hidden dangers.

The results remain to be seen. Perhaps if this campaign is successful in reducing soft drink consumption and we see a significant weight reduction in kids, this will lead to additional taxing of unhealthy foods and will encourage more "real" real food consumption.

I would love to know people's thoughts on this.

Honoring the Food

2008-12-06T13:42:00.004-05:00

I'm a simple man, and haven't had much fanciness in my life. In fact, I have at times been Mr. Antifancy, a lone, crusading, misunderstood knight templar in a nearly lifelong battle against what I have believed to be superficiality and empty form.* My uniform has been t-shirt and jeans. But that's another story.

"Simple" for me was "authentic," the antithesis of the useless fakery and (worse) vain complexity. Paper plates and boxed wine for me please, thank you very much. If it was good enough for the pioneers, it is good enough for me.**

Then Stephanie came along.

My collection of coffee mugs consisted of exactly three: My favorite stained, generic white mug and two Folgers mugs that came with some corporate gift a few years ago. Basically, the sorts of mugs one might find on the unclaimed dishes shelf in any office. It pained me to watch Steph, a beautiful woman, gingerly sip her drink, the gaudy Folders logo peeking out from between her fingers. Although I winced, I knew it was good for her. The simple life! Ah. The wind sang in the sagebrush outside. I was happy. She made herself at home right away.

"Don't you have any dishes?" she asked while poking around my man-kitchen. I stuttered something about some maybe being up in the recesses of a cupboard. She reached over my stack of paper plates, excavated a bit, and pulled out some plates I had ended up getting from some family member some time ago. I think they were my mom's.

"These are nice," she commented, satisfied.

I've been eating on them ever since, even when Steph's not around.

Of course it wasn't just the dishes that changed. If you're a regular reader, you know what we eat here. And I understand that good food isn't diminished by sitting on a paper plate. But it does deserve a decent place to be, if it's available, as the diner enjoys it.

It wasn't long before a set of new coffee mugs showed up at my house, courtesy of you know who. It was a thoughtful, beautiful gift. This was incidentally (or not) about the same time I was developing more of an interest in my coffee, rejecting the pre-ground stuff I had been drinking and enjoying beans that Stephanie introduced me to or new ones I had discovered in my wanderings.

I am beginning to understand why some people might feel strongly that good food and drink are honored in their consumption by a thoughtful presentation. I remain a simple man. But now I'm a regular guy who eats good food on nice plates and drinks his home-ground, more expensive, lovingly prepared coffee in mugs that are worthy of the drink. In fact, I'm using one right now. And I love it.

But I still like my old jeans and t-shirts.

* One must be wary of those who define themselves by solely or principally being against something. I should know. I was caught up in the intoxication of it for decades.

** Don't try arguing that the pioneers had neither paper plates nor boxed wine. You don't know that.

Apple of Your Eyes

2008-12-06T09:21:00.010-05:00

Apples are my favorite food. Yes, they are most indeed natures perfect gift. Nothing satisfies my urge for something sweet, crunchy, and filling, like a ripe, juicy apple.

Most of us grew up eating one or two varieties like the Macintosh, Delicious, or the Granny Smith, but there were once over two thousand varieties of apples being grown in North America. Apple seeds were brought over from England by the pilgrims (the only apple that is indigenous to the Americas is the Crabapple), but because apples seeds possess unique genes, thousands of varieties thrived and the apple soon became an ubiquitous part of the American diet. Unfortunately, over the last century, the mass marketing of apples has resulted in growers limiting their varieties and breeding apples to have a longer shelf life and remain unblemished after having withstood long distances of shipping and packing.

Today however, we are starting to see a resurgence of these "antique" or heirloom varieties being sold at orchards and farmers markets. They may not look as shiny and symmetrical as the ones you find in the grocery store, but they are unbelievably delicious - each possessing their own unique flavors and textures.

Look for names like Kandil Sinap, Jonathan, Asmead's Kernal, Newtown Pippin, Smokehouse, Cox Orange Pippin, Golden Russet, York Imperial, and Maiden Blush. Most of these varieties are only available in the fall but the season can extend well into December and January depending on your climate.

These Honey Crisp are so crunchy and dense, they are like a portable meal.

This was the first time I ever tried Keepsake apples. They are both incredibly sweet and tart and taste like raspberries. They are my new favorites.

Some Thanksgiving Thoughts:

2008-11-24T13:30:00.009-05:00

In today's issue of the New Yorker, James Surowiecki writes about the highly unstable global food market and agricultural system in his article, The Perils of Efficiency. While food commodity prices have come down in the past few months due to the global recession, food insecurity is still a major threat in developing countries. Our global dependency on a mono-crop agriculture that is market driven and deregulated by government agencies has left populations vulnerable to these changes in the market, as well as in the weather. One bad drought or a spike in the market can send entire regions into a food crisis. Food shortages in many of these places translate into acute malnutrition - affecting children under 5 the most. We see the effects of these crises every year in vulnerable places like Niger, Somalia, Ethiopia, and in Haiti.

The good news is that the UN World Food Program recently issued an article stating that they are adopting a strategy to treat malnutrition with "ready-to -use foods" like Plumpy Nut in place of the commidified soy/corn blends that used to be standard food aid. This strategy is similar to one that Doctors Without Borders has been advocating for and spoke to members of the food aid community at their recent nutrition symposium at Columbia University.

Back here at home, the New York Times published a story today on the cost of eating an organic Thanksgiving dinner. Tara Parker Pope estimates that eating an organic meal could cost families $100 more than if they eat non-organic. She uses this list of sample foods and compares the two prices of foods bought at a regular grocery store and at a Whole Foods:

Turkey (20 pounds) $99.80 vs. $23.80
Vanilla ice cream (3 quarts) $21.87 vs. $15.98
Yams (5 lbs.) $9.95 vs. $3.95
Broccoli (2 lbs.) $5.98 vs. $3.98
Heavy whipping cream (2 pints) $5.58 vs. $4.00
2 cans of pumpkin filling $5.00 vs. $3.19
1 bag cranberries $4.99 vs. $2.49

Pope offers some strategies on prioritizing which foods should be organic and which don't have to be. I have a better idea. Why not try to bypass the supermarkets altogether and go directly to the farmers? A 20 lb. pasture-raised Turkey at a game farm in upstate New York goes for about $60. Make sure you make some gravy with the pan drippings, and save the organs and the carcass for soup. You will never have to buy canned chicken broth again if you boil your bird leftovers and freeze the broth. I also like to skim the fat off the top and use that as a cooking fat. It's a grandma thing and of course isn't for everyone (although Grandma and Grandpa lived to their mid-90s so I'm convinced that schmaltz was the key to their good health).

Skip the ice cream and just go for the heavy cream that comes from local grass-fed cows (about $3.00 a pint) and sweeten it with some local honey (unless you keep kosher, skip the cream altogether). Grass-fed dairy is high in vitamins A, D, and especially the essential fatty acid, CLA, a powerful anti-oxidant. You can use that freshly whipped cream to top your home baked pumpkin pie that you made with real pumpkin filling. Forget the "organic" cans. A large pumpkin will cost you about $2.00 and is enough for 2 pies. Cranberries bought loose are cheaper than those in the bag and most other vegetables are cheaper at the farmers market than they are at Whole Foods.

And if they aren't, is the extra cost worth it? Yes!!! You can save money in other ways, but why cut costs with your health? Seth Pollins at Foodvibe makes a case for it here. I would also add that buying local is probably the single most productive way we as individuals can support a more sustainable agricultural system.

Here are some better ways to save your cash this Thanksgiving:

Cut back on paper products and use cloth napkins and real plates and glasses instead.
Skip the soda this year and buy flavoured seltzer instead (a real tradition in my family). You can usually find liter bottles at 3 for a $1.00. They taste great, are more hydrating than soda, and who needs all that sugar and aspartame anyway??
Make homemade egg nog. Mark has a great recipe. I hope he'll be posting it soon (nudge, nudge)!
Cut back on a dish or two. There's always too much food anyway and you don't want it to be wasted. Stick to 3 or 4 really good wholesome, home-made side dishes that knock everyone's socks off (my favorite: roasted brussel sprouts and chestnuts)!

Does anyone have other healthy, money-saving ideas they would like to share?

Wishing everyone a joyous, healthy, and sustainable Thanksgiving!!

What does an Obama win mean for the U.S. food supply?

2008-11-06T16:12:00.005-05:00

Hey, in the spirit of this momentous election, I thought it might be nice to consider what this will mean for our diets, the food crisis, and food policy in general. This came from Ali over at The Ethicurean:

What does an Obama win mean for the U.S. food supply?

We heard plenty of talk about Wall Street and Main Street. We heard about $150,000 wardrobes, Joe the Plumber, Bill Ayers, socialism, and cynicism. But one thing we didn’t hear much about in this election season was food and farms.

According to Speech Wars, between April and October, John McCain uttered the word “agriculture” only twice, and “nutrition” just once. Barack Obama did slightly better, referring to “agriculture” twelve times and “nutrition” four times. He gave farms a passing mention in his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. But let’s face it: for the most part, food was a quiet issue, sacrificed to our discussions about race and religion, gender and sexism, oil and bailouts.

Meanwhile, food prices continued to rise. Our nation continued to lose farms daily. We continued to spend billions of dollars treating lifestyle diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Rural towns continued to wither. Fertilizer runoff continued to damage our drinking water.

There’s no way around it: the Obama administration will need to address food issues head-on.
Last month, Michael Pollan published a sweeping letter to the next president, Farmer in Chief, in the New York Times. After Pollan’s article was published, the American Farmland Trust noted that “there is no topic of greater importance than the issues [Pollan] raises…it is time to elevate these issues to their rightful place on our national agenda.”

Turns out Obama might agree; Obama read Pollan’s article and even worked it into discussions of energy policy.

So what might we expect from an Obama administration when it comes to food policy? Maybe quite a bit. In his plan for rural America, he lays out a number of policy positions that are a departure from the status quo. Obama:

Supports subsidies as a safety net, but calls for a $250,000 payment limitation and closing of loopholes, so that the program supports family farmers, not corporate agribusiness.

Supports regulation of CAFOs (factory livestock operations).

Wants to enforce anti-trust laws that so that smaller farmers can compete against large-scale meatpackers.

Wants to cap the size of agricultural businesses that can receive government funds for environmental cleanup so that taxpayers don’t subsidize cleanup for large, polluting corporations.

Supports Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for meat, a critical issue as we learn how widespread melamine contamination of animal feed is in countries like China.

Wants to increase support for organic agriculture and local food systems by helping farmers with organic certification/compliance costs.

Wants to provide incentives to encourage and support new farmers, land conservation, renewable energy on the farm, and microenterprise for farmers and other rural Americans.

Calls for greater food safety surveillance and communications.

Plans to encourage local foods in schools.

Supports providing farmers with incentives that will prevent agricultural runoff.

What about pesky ethanol, the energy source that is great for the Corn Belt, but that many say leads to higher food prices and ultimately uses more energy than it creates? (Note: Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman called ethanol “a terrible mistake”, and Jeff Goodell, writing in Rolling Stone, called ethanol “dangerous, delusional bullshit”). To the disappointment of many environmentalists (like, say, me), Obama has supported ethanol from the start. In recent days, he has referred to corn ethanol as a necessary path to more eco-friendly cellulose ethanol. Some folks, however, have said the corn-to-cellulose dialogue is not realistic, and is merely intended to prop up corn companies like ADM that have a lot invested in the system.

Given his Farm Belt connections and the importance of his win in the Iowa caucus to his legitimacy as a presidential contender, it’s unlikely he could have taken any other position on ethanol. Still, we should call upon him to fulfill his election-night promise to always be honest about the challenges we face. In the coming months, let’s talk, openly, about the challenges of ethanol.

It’s worth reading the plan of our next president. You can find it in PDF here.

Obama’s plan calls for profound changes to our food and farm policy. These changes could lead to a healthier, safer food supply, stronger local economies, and the return to common-sense agricultural systems that are good for our children, our bodies, our planet, our national future, and our world.

Yet Obama will take the helm of an imperfect nation, one where stunningly powerful forces conspire to resist change. To transform his vision into reality — to defeat these forces — he will need our help: our voices, our commitment, our passion, and our strength. If we want better policy, we must recognize that change didn’t come on November 4, that the real work lies ahead, for all of us — not only those of us who supported Obama, but also those who did not. We must get involved not merely by meeting online, but also by getting out in our own communities to reshape this country, as he said, block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

On the night of his historic victory, President-Elect Obama reminded us that the true genius of America is simply this: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

It won’t be easy. But more important, it won’t be done without us.

Weyu Le and Herbed Cashew Spreads

2008-10-31T16:54:00.007-04:00

Earlier this week when I was in the Los Angeles area with Steph we dropped by the Erewhon Market for some goodies. We sampled some cashew dip on a display table near the refrigerated products. The "herbed cashew spreads" included Garlic, Sun-Dried Tomato (yum!), and Habañero. The man stocking the shelves with the product was charming, very well informed about the product, and pleased that we enjoyed it. We learned as we continued talking that he was Nelson Chipman, owner of the company, Weyu Le, that made the spreads.

We ended up purchasing the habañero version and enjoyed it very much. Next time I think I'll try the Sun-Dried Tomato. Although there is not yet a way to purchase these products online, Nelson told me during a phone conversation that they're working on that for 2009. As soon as we hear about that here at YAWIE, we'll pass it along to our readers.

Those of you in the L.A. area ought to check out the Weyu Le products. If you don't know where Erewhon is just click on this map link, and enter your address as the starting location. Enjoy and report!

If you're into conventional directions, here's where you can find the Weyu Le spreads, including two other stores in the Los Angeles area:

Erewhon Natural Food Market
7600-B Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-937-0777

Pacific Coast Greens
22601 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, California 90265
310-456-0353

Nature Mart
2080 Hillhurst Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90027
323-660-0052