The Goodness Tree

If you have been noticing the random fruit giveaway the past couple of weeks, it might have been from the new student business called The Goodness Tree. I thought I’d give them some publicity (one of them happens to be a new friend from my Ethiopia trip).

The Goodness Tree was created by two friends who wanted to create a way for students without cars to be able to get fresh fruit. Their primary goal is to find the best tasting fruit and make it available for U of M students. Their second goal is to deliver fruit that is as sustainably grown as possible. They will primarily buy from Michigan farmers, but if the quality isn’t ideal, they look elsewhere.

Another great thing about this new student-run business is connection. These guys really make an effort to tell you everything they know about the fruit and to make it a fun experience. This is something that is so lacking in the American food system: connection to your food! These days we see food as objects not having any sort of origin—we see it is just an apple that we want to buy.

Visit The Goodness Tree website for ordering information or other info!

Posted by Ally at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)

More Photos on Facebook!

I have created an album on my Facebook page that includes more of the photos taken for this project! And there will be more to come.

Posted by Ally at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

Don't Be Misled by Marketing!

There are lots of articles online about consumers being misled by marketing—and unfortunately this can still occur even if you are an informed consumer. Large-scale companies and even the USDA have been known to mislead even the most informed consumers. (Scary!) Here are a few examples:

• Consumers Outraged by Bogus Organic Labels
• Assault on Organic Standards

USDA Organic

This is the government’s label for a product containing at least 95% organic ingredients (stands for U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Over 70% organic

This label may read as “made with organic tomatoes and spices� on the front

Under 70% organic

This label may read as Organic tomatoes and spices but contain a larger amount of non-organic ingredients.

Organic, not certified

This label is made for producers who receive less than $5,000 for their products. They still follow USDA guidelines but do not get the privilege of the seal.

Natural

Natural products do not contain artificial flavors or preservatives. This definition has often been blurred—the word “natural� seems to be stuck on anything these days!

Free-Range

Livestock are raised with direct access to outdoors

Grass-Fed

Livestock are raised in a “managed pasture� where they eat grass instead of the corn & grain, which is harmful to their digestive systems. Sometimes “grass-fed� means that the cows are given grass to eat only a couple of weeks before being milked.

Biodynamic

Completely organic but certified by Stellar*

*There are more certifiers to trust than just the USDA label. To learn which ones to trust, look at the web resources below!

Perry, Luddene, and Schultz, Dan. A Field Guide to Buying Organic. Bantam Dell, New York, NY, 2005, p. 16-21

Label Resources:

http://www.eco-labels.org/home.cfm If you are ever unsure about a label, this is a great website to find your information. You can type in the label, the type of food, or the certifier that will take you to the label you weren’t sure about (the category list helps). The label Report Card is also really great—it will tell you how meaningful it is, if it’s publicly available, etc. The site also contains the latest stories about food standards.

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2004/07-20/food-labels-article.htm This website has an article about the large variety of food labels—most of them I had never seen before! It shows you the large varieties of food today.

http://www.innvista.com/health/foods/organics/labeling.htm I’m not sure how reliable this website is, but it offers interesting ways to double-check your food. An example would be by looking at the number of your organic produce. It also details the difference between “100% organic�, “certified organic�, and “made with organic ingredients�.

http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html This is a great ranking of organic dairy companies. Dairy is a very tricky industry to rely on because definitions are often blurred to benefit the companies’ interests rather than the consumers.

Posted by Ally at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

Honest Ade: My New Fave!

I tried a new drink today! Honest Ade, a variety of drinks from the company Honest Tea, is the newest drink to hit the shelves of the retail dining store in my residence hall. Although it’s completely new to me, the company has been around for almost ten years, emphasizing their “honesty� in business and their organic, fair trade, and other quality standards. The drink itself was Pomegranate Blue, a 10% juice blend of pomegranate and blueberry. It was super refreshing—lightly sweet and cold.

I decided to research this company’s “honest� tea. Everything on the web about the company is positive. Reading through the company website, I was pleasantly shocked to find that Honest Tea has a flavor called “First Nation Peppermint�. Wow, two topics I am always interested to hear about: Native American culture and herbs. Apparently Honest Tea works with a small herbal business called I'tchik Herb that is run out of the Crow reservation in Montana. There, Honest Tea has created more jobs (thus improving an unemployment rate of 67%) by developing the land to grow more of the peppermint plants that are indigenous to that area. How cool! Drinking peppermint tea is a tradition in the Crow community, and Honest Tea uses both the peppermint and the tea recipe from their community for its product.

If you decide to try one of Honest Tea’s drinks (and I hope you do), try the First Nation Peppermint! Honest Tea also works with other economically underprivileged communities—visit the Honest Tea website for more information.

Posted by Ally at 10:26 PM | Comments (1)

Beware the Inconspicuous Food Additive

Eating local and organic is one way you can avoid something most American consumers never think about: food additives. Food additives are ingredients added to food to make the food last longer, taste better, or make the appearance more appealing. The majority of food additives are created with artificial ingredients. If you read Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser offers some interesting insight to the flavor industry. This book is probably where I became interested in food additives—why do we need our food to last for months? Why is food so off-color when it's made that we have to add coloring agents to it?

One food additive that has recently hit home is wheat, as a thickening agent. My boyfriend Zachariah is has celiac disease, which means his body wreaks havoc when he eats gluten, the protein found in wheat. You would not believe the things that contain wheat. Eating in the residence halls has become a huge bother—they put wheat in everything! Stew, gravy, soup, and salad dressing are just the beginning. Recently, to Zach’s dismay, we have found that soy sauce and mustard (cheaper varieties) contain wheat as well. (Sadly, but to my benefit, he put soy sauce on his sushi one day.) He basically lives off of the random Mexican food offerings and occasional smatterings of turkey in the dining hall. ☹

Packaged and processed foods will also contain wheat—even if the product is not obviously made with flour (like pizza). Watch out for packaged mashed potatoes and sprinkles made for ice cream! Zach has learned that anything could potentially be made with wheat. However, in local and organic food, there most often won’t be the crazy additives that are present in conventional food. In fact, this is part of the Wikipedia definition for organic food: made without additives. There are some foods with additives, however—of the healthier variety.

Posted by Ally at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

Local Honey and Allergies

Yesterday we visited Dale Lesser, a friend of Julie’s who operates his farm in Dexter. His farm is fabulous, and he was an excellent tour guide. He raises pigs and cows and grows apples, alfalfa, and corn. He also manages many beehives and sells the honey and wax at places like the People’s Co-op in Kerrytown. While Dale’s whole farm was interesting to me, I was most interested in the honey-making process. It seems to be a big endeavor—but so rewarding! Dale showed us the hives in action. There were only a few active ones because the mites killed a lot of bees this year.

I realized that I didn’t know any of the health properties of honey, so, being the health geek that I am, I hit the web. There are tons of websites concerning the health properties of honey but few solid ones. One thing I found is a claim that local honey helps a person become immune to allergies. This is because the bees collect pollen from some plants that cause allergic reactions.

I have found both sides to this argument. The theory is oral tolerance, which is the idea that humans become accustomed to the things they consume. After searching the library and online, I found several older references of a hopeful but unfinished study by a Dr. T.V. Rajan. He had found success alleviating allergies from his daughter and was studying larger groups. I found one (no doubt newer) source claiming that this study proved the theory wrong. Hopefully more studies will follow!

Whether or not local honey relieves allergies, it is still great to benefit local beekeepers like Dale--not to mention local honey is another food that just tastes better from local sources. Try the allergy test yourself by consuming a couple of tablespoons of local honey a day!

Posted by Ally at 11:16 PM | Comments (2)

Organic vs. Local

A lovely (just lovely!) article appeared in Time magazine a week ago. In it, journalist John Cloud described the dilemma between buying organic or local food. This is a recent issue since Whole Foods has begun to sell more local food, and Wal-Mart is now selling organic food. Which is the way to go? Let’s weigh the pros and cons:

• free of pesticides, benefiting the earth’s soil, plants, and animals
• more vitamins in some foods

• big companies are taking control
• food is still being shipped far distances = pollution and use of fossil fuels

• often better tasting because its not shipped so far
• not using fossil fuels and polluting the earth
• Supports the community rather than big corporations
• Connection to where your food comes from

• contains pesticides

According to Cloud, more chefs and restaurants are choosing local food—restricting themselves to 150-mile diets to get the freshest and best tasting produce possible while benefiting the earth (awesome). There's actually a blog site about eating local--check out The Eat Local Challenge! Cloud’s personal decision was to go local because of community supported agriculture (CSA). The main reason was the newfound connection to his food--knowing exactly where it came from and who produced it. I think I would choose local, too—nothing is better than a fresh, locally-grown tomato warm from the sun. My dad grows them in his backyard.

CSA farms are wonderful collaborative farms that are usually year-round. To be a member, you pay a certain amount to get fresh local produce each month. For more info about independent farms, go to Local Harvest! We are planning to visit the Community Farm of Ann Arbor in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

Posted by Ally at 04:49 PM | Comments (1)

Local Food Panel on MLK Day

Julie and I attended a food talk and tasting for MLK Day at the School of Social Work called “Building the Beloved Food Community�. It was really nice to see a variety of local foods being produced so nearby. There was a woman from Calder Dairy, a cheesemaker from Zingerman’s, the head farmer from the Community Farm of Ann Arbor, and the director of the Garden Resource Program Collaborative (a Detriot agricultural program). I learned a very important lesson: local food producers take special care in their products that many large companies ignore—and you can definitely taste the difference. The Calder Dairy and Zingerman’s products were phenomenal! After hearing the special treatment they give to the cows at Calder Dairy, its no wonder the dairy tastes so good. (I'm still stuck on dairy!) They do not use artificial hormones to make their cows produce more and they use glass bottles and deliver to your door. Zingerman’s uses Calder Dairy milk for their cheeses. What a great partnership!

A question was asked, “Have you considered selling your food through the university?� This was a great question, because I know I’d love to have Zingerman’s cream cheese for breakfast in the dorm. There are two reasons why it is not a possibility for these local foods right now:

~Not enough food to meet the gigantic demand of the cafeteria
~Tuition increase!!! (Eek!)

Even organic food would lead to a tuition increase—it’s still just more expensive than processed and preserved food. Although these local foods aren’t necessarily organic, they are still valuable food resources for this area because they're fresh. But here’s a question you can ask yourself if you aren’t sure where to buy your milk: Who would I rather support? A family who has been producing great hormone-free milk for over 50 years or a large corporation that calls their cows “producers� and pumps them full of hormones?

Posted by Ally at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)

Alternatives to Soy and Cow Milk

I have found alternatives to soy and cow milk: goat, almond, oat, and rice milk. I decided to give these a try, excluding goat milk (yuck). I checked out the local Kroger and was surprised to find all three. I chose the original flavors in each:

Almond Milk: I tried Blue Diamond “Almond Breeze� milk ($2.79 for 32 oz.) It was very nutty smelling and tasting—definitely made from almonds! It has a lighter taste to it than soy milk, but it was also kind of watery. Not organic (boo), but “natural�.

Oat Milk: The Pacific Organic Oat milk ($2.69 for 32 oz.) was good! Thicker and sweeter than almond but not as thick or sweet as original soy milk. Has a great oat-y (kind of chalky) aftertaste! This one was my favorite (even over soy!)

Rice Milk: The first taste Rice Dream Organic rice milk ($2.79 for 24 oz.) was watery, but the aftertaste was good. They used organic brown rice for this rice milk, so the aftertaste has a great brown rice (also kind of chalky) flavor. This one had a sweetness similar to the almond—very subtle.

Nutritionally speaking-

If you’re going for the most protein, soy has the most per 8 fl. oz. Least protein: almond and rice.
Soy, rice, and oat have slightly more calcium than almond milk (which has 20% calcium per 8 fl. oz.)
Goat milk has about 12% more calcium than cow’s milk.
Plain soy has more fat than plain rice, oat or almond. (4g per 8 fl. oz.)
Most carbs and calories: oat milk. (rice is close runner-up)

Posted by Ally at 11:05 PM | Comments (2)

Dinner at the Co-op

Julie and I were taking stock photos the other day at the People’s Food Co-op in Kerrytown. This place is ideal for our organic and local investigation. They sell all kinds of organic items—everything from produce to dish soap. They have a nice local food selection as well, the most variety you will see of any grocery store around town. I was also amazed at their bulk food selection and their giant selection of organic herbs (yessss…I love herbs)

I decided to eat dinner there at their food bar. They have a hot food bar there everyday, and brunch on Sundays from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. On this particular night, they were serving macaroni and cheese, free-range and hormone-free BBQ chicken, all kinds of vegetables, tofu, lentils, and soup. Everything I had was delicious! Some of the food definitely tasted different from what I was used to, like the mac and cheese, but it was a good kind of different. The price was pretty decent, too—for this plate I paid almost $7.

I also gave in to my sweet tooth and tried their locally made organic white chocolate (in the bulk food section) as well—and it was the best white chocolate I have ever eaten. No preservatives or anything! The chocolate alone is worth coming back for, but I’ll definitely be back for their other organic items as well!

The People’s Food Co-op was founded on a vision to reconnect people to local food sources by managing the store cooperatively. This means that members who pay a certain amount can add input regarding the co-ops decisions. Click here for more info about the People's Food Co-op!

Posted by Ally at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)

Why I Drink Soy Milk

I drink soy milk. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a good decision. I have several reasons, mostly because of the things in conventional milk, but also because soy is really healthy, particularly for women.

My reasons for avoiding regular cow’s milk:

1. rBGH = recombinant bovine growth hormone produced by Monsanto. It is given to cows so that they produce 5-15% more milk than normal. All of Europe has banned it, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. When the hormone is injected, it elevates levels of IGF-1, which is the hormone found in several cancers. Basically higher levels of IGF-1 lead to higher risks of cancer.


2. rBGH harms the cows’ bodies. It gives them painful infections like mastitis (on the udders) in addition to birth disorders, increased pus in milk, and organ disorders.


3. Dairy cows live in large shed-like structures with floors of concrete piled with manure. They are fed rich grains, which can disturb their digestive systems. Barely any of these cows have seen the happy green pastures displayed on ads all over the country.


4. Because of the living conditions and rBGH, the cows become sick. So, unnaturally, they are given antibiotics. According to the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), the bacteria resistant to the drugs are given to humans through the milk. This makes humans more resistant to antibiotics.


5. Regular milk tastes watery to me. I grew up on Oberweis milk, which is a lot thicker and has more taste. Oberweis is local to me (I grew up in St. Louis) and although I didn’t know it at the time, they do not use rBGH for the cows. They also use glass bottles to contain the milk. Calder Dairy is a close Michigan dairy farm and has delicious products as well. Other than local and hormone-free milk, nothing else comes quite close.


6. Soy contains isoflavone, a chemical similar to estrogen. This is why soy is great for women. These isoflavones have been known to decrease risk in cancer, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Info here. Studies have shown a 58% decreased risk of breast cancer for girls who ate a lot of soy between ages 5 and 11. This also goes for later age groups, but for each group was a significantly lower decrease (Weil, Andrew. “How Foods Can Affect Cancer�. Time. Nov.27, 2006).

While soy milk contains more protein and fiber than cow’s milk, it has a little more fat than 2%. But with this does not come the cholesterol like ordinary milk. Soy milk also contains about 75% less calcium than cow’s milk. Food is tricky—you really have to pick your battles. It seems than when you win some, you also lose some. But I feel like I am winning a lot more with soy.

(Info for 1, 2, and 4 from Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Campaign for Safe Food)

For more info, check out these websites:
www.hfa.org/campaigns/dairy.html
www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.cfm

Posted by Ally at 09:36 PM | Comments (3)

The No-No's of Produce

For our conceptual art class we took a field trip to Kerrytown to participate in a cooking demonstration. Our project had a focus on apples, and my prof thought it would be good to see “apples in action�, so to speak. The chef mentioned that she uses organic fruits and vegetables. I asked her if she uses only organic foods, to which she replied, “As many as I can get my hands on!� She told me that when she can’t afford to cook an entire organic meal, she looks at the “bad� food list. There is an article online about the 12 foods that contain the highest levels of pesticides:

Apples
Bell peppers
Celery
Cherries
Imported grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Potatoes
Raspberries
Spinach
Strawberries

I thought this was really interesting—most of these are fruits! And here’s the “good� list of fruits and vegetables with the lowest levels of chemicals:

Asparagus
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kiwi
Mangoes
Onions
Papaya
Pineapples
Sweet corn
Sweet peas

A little more than half of these are vegetables! Go here for more information on these lists!

Posted by Ally at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)

My Goals!

Recently I was flipping through a gardening magazine and found a special Organic section in it. It described how to get the best out of your garden using natural methods and products. Are we in the middle of an organic revolution? Kroger has had an organic section, and with Wal-Mart’s new interest in organic food, it will become the industry’s biggest buyer and seller. Natural food stores like Whole Foods and Wild Oats are cropping up all over the place—and are wildly successful because of the upper-middle class. People go to these stores because they want the freshest and healthiest products they can find. And I don’t blame them—after reading the food horrors in Fast Food Nation, I think it’s about time people looked more closely into what they put into their bodies. I know I do now!

My personal goal for this project is to investigate this new organic phenomenon in regards to health. More specifically, I am interested in the reasons organic food is better for you. I plan to evaluate the taste, nutritional information, and long term effects (if any) of food products through my own consumer choices and written resources. I also hope to do some investigation of the problems with the packaged food we get at the grocery store. I’m looking forward to it!

Posted by Ally at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)