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)

Odwalla Carrot and Raisin Bar

Odwalla is a company that started out in the early 80’s and has amassed quite a following. They make juices, smoothies, soymilk, and bars. I’ve tried the juices before and they were pretty decent, so I figured I’d give the bars a try. Because I had heard good things about it, I picked up a Carrot Raisin Bar for my test. Specifically, a friend related this bar to carrot cake. My expectations are probably pretty high because I do enjoy a slice of carrot cake from time to time.

First off, the packaging – very bright, and fun to look at. The bar is at the very bottom right of the packaging obscured by everything else. Seems a little bit sketchy, but I’ll move on. Looking at the back of the package, this bar is made of 34% organic. Not too bad, but could be better.

Opening the package, I get an interesting smell, mostly of raisin, though I can smell the carrot and cinnamon as well. Reminiscent slightly of the carrot cake I’m used to. Honestly though, the bar doesn’t look very good. I can see the raisins and grains that are advertised on the package, but it looks bit like poo. Not the most inviting bar in the world, but nonetheless I’ll give it a go.

The taste is not quite like carrot cake, but it isn’t too bad. It tastes a little bit vitaminy to me. The raisin definitely comes through as the biggest flavor in the bar, but I can also taste the carrot and other spices.

As for texture, the cereal grains are slightly soggy, there is a crunch but it’s a soggy crunch. It is a very interesting texture, as the bar is moist, yet when I get done eating a bite I feel that I need to drink something. This might just be a personal thing. There are raisins everywhere in this bar, which is what saves the bar. Without the raisins this bar would be very bland, but the raisins add a nice bit of fruit burst.

Overall I don’t know if I would pay this much for the bar when there are multiple other bars that are better tasting. I would be happier with just a simple banana or apple. So the final verdict is:

Eat This Rating: 4/10
Price: $1-2

Posted by Earl at 02:50 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)

Corporate Sweet Dreams?

Here I sit at People’s food Co-op on a Saturday, enjoying my Brewing Hope coffee “for here” (to avoid the paper cup) and taking advantage of the best public wireless connection in town.

My friend Celeste in Denver has just posted new picks to Ringo! A sure bet to be fun and revealing of her latest adventures, I click the link, and am prompted to sign up for a great offer to get the latest news on fashion and such, sponsored by Old Navy. Well, I find the “pass” button and move to the next page, which I hope will be a photo album. Alas, here is my next complementary offer from the Nestle family of products (i.e. Toll House cookies, Stouffers family style meals, the many candy offerings, Nesquick and Juicy Juice). “Good food, Good life” claims the logo, with the listserv offer for the “Very Best Kids” newsletter, “filled with creative ideas, crafts, activities and health information from nationally known experts to help parents and kids grow together.” Ugh.

It’s no surprise to most folks that I’m not a big supporter of Nestle products. Based in Switzerland, Nestle is the largest food conglomerate in the world, with around 7.9 billion in net income for 2005. You’re probably most familiar with Nestle from the various chocolate products that they started producing in 1920. In 2004 Forbes wrote an article on the use of forced labor, especially child labor, in the cocoa bean production operations of Nestle in Africa. It seems that no meaningful actions have been taken on this issue since this the publication of the article. Makes me wonder about that newsletter offering “Good life” to the “Very Best Kids”. They must define this a bit differently than I do.

I’m going to take this opportunity to talk a bout a couple of things. First, to serve as an example, I’ll share a bit about the Nestle corporation, their past actions, and their motivations for providing so much positive spin to the public. Secondly, I’ll explain a bit about the current structure of the food system, including the organic food portion of the market. Both the organic production lines and the food system as a whole have become increasingly consolidated, and I think it’s important that we take this into consideration when thinking about our food choices.

Posted by Julie at 12:47 PM | Comments (1)