| First, I'd like to know if it's healthy. If so, it's none of my damn business. If not, it's still probably not my business. Unless my vegan roommate wants to switch out my dogs' or cats' food.
There are some provocative parts of the ABC article..
Although he doesn't yet have the data to prove it, Jason Clay, a senior vice president for the World Wildlife Fund, said he suspects that, in its lifetime, the average cat in the United States and Europe has a larger environmental footprint than the average African.
And here's one that makes me think twice about feeding Lenny his 'Oceanfish'
"Overall, what I would say is when we turn wild animals into forage, I think it's an overall disrespectful thing to do. It's one thing to kill an animal for human consumption. It's another to grind it up and turn it into feed," said Paul Greenberg, an author of a forthcoming book on the future of fish who recently wrote a New York Times op-ed about the impact of the pet food industry on the world's fish stocks.
The use of wild fish in animal food causes significant problems for the world's food systems, he said.
But Greenberg does not support turning a carnivorous pet into a vegetarian pet.
"A carnivore is a carnivore," he said.
If anything, he favors looking down the food chain in considering a pet.
"A carnivore, be it a cat, a dog or a salmon, is a heavy burden for the environment and should not be brought under human care lightly," he wrote in his Times op-ed. "To me, a vegetarian substitute is seeming more and more appealing. Lately, I've had my eye on a guinea pig."
I think there are more unhealthy diets for pooties (no offense to the owners, and in their defense maybe it is all hair. Though, I doubt these two were eating steamed bok choy, falafels, whole grain bread and kiwis (note to self; that's what I want for lunch))
I'd rather have my Lenny eating vegan than eating people.
COTTONWOOD, Ariz. - A bobcat has attacked three people in the central Arizona community of Cottonwood, including two men who were bitten by the animal after it wandered inside a bar...
Cottonwood police say the animal attacked Monday when it scratched a woman who thought she had hit it with her car. Then police got a report of a bobcat acting aggressively toward a woman outside a Pizza Hut.
About 11 p.m. came the call from the bar that a bobcat was inside as patrons climbed atop bar stools to get away.
Bobcat walks into a bar... bartender says...
I can't understand a word you're saying
Food prices fell for the first time in almost 3 years.
Last month, the consumer price index food-and-beverages component fell 0.1 percent from January, and Leibtag said he expects further month-to-month declines.
"The decline we saw last month is what we have been expecting, given the decline the global economy and the decline of commodity prices," he said.
Have you noticed any decreases in food prices? That would be some good news coming out of this recession. Sadly, there's much worse news.
Owners looking to food banks for pet chow
Peggy Cole of Charlotte, N.C., went to the Pet Food Bank last week because she couldn't afford to buy food for her two dogs and a cat.
"They were out of pet food, because the demand was so great," Cox said.
She's among the growing number of pet-owners being squeezed by the economy.
Officials at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Police's Animal Care and Control and Second Harvest Food Bank said Tuesday they hope to begin providing relief next week.
Groups are setting up barrels to solicit donations of pet food, which will be distributed by food banks that Second Harvest serves. The program is scheduled to begin Monday.
Smoke shop owners charged with food stamp fraud
STOCKTON, Calif.-A smoke shop owner, his brother and daughter face federal charges for allegedly redeeming $2 million in food stamps they bought at half their face value.
A joint investigation by the USDA and IRS alleges that for five years 51-year-old Ahmad Khan and 48-year-old Mumraiz Khan used the Smoke Shop & Snack in Stockton as a front to purchase the stamps at 50 cents on the dollar.
Tax records showed the store sold $6,818 in food in 2008, yet redeemed $718,056 in food stamp benefits.
I'm not sure why they needed the food stamp scam, they have a million dollar idea right there in the Smoke + Snack!
Food Conscious: Locally grown heirloom brown rice gains respect
Brown rice has long been a symbol for all that was too earnest and fibrous about 1960s-era health food, but now that everyone from Frito Lay to restaurant chefs has embraced whole grains, its image is changing...
Koda Farms in South Dos Palos (Merced County) is one such farm that produces premium versions of the wholesome grain. Koda's organic heirloom brown rice has a complex flavor and light texture...
Now farming on 4,000 acres, the family has a centuries-old association with rice. Keisaburo Koda's father was a rice miller and broker in Japan, and an ancestor was involved in rice cultivation during Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate in the 17th or 18th century.
Because he was born in Japan, the Alien Land Law of 1913 made it impossible for Keisaburo Koda to own his own land, so his young American-born sons Edward and William became shareholders in his successful business.
During World War II, the Kodas were sent to an internment camp in Colorado and signed over the power of attorney to a stranger. After they were released from the camp in 1945, they returned to a farm that had been stripped of its mill, airplanes and the majority of its once sizable acreage.
What a history. For me it's still hard to believe WWII was just 40 years before I was born, and the civil rights movement just twenty. Well I guess I know what it's like to live in a world with internment camps, though on a smaller scale (Hat tip to D. Cheney, D. Rumsfeld, G.W. Bush et al.)
I always wanted to enjoy brown rice, but never could stomach the taste. I'm excited to give this stuff a try! That article also has a brown rice recipe.
Organic foods in demand, despite recession
World demand for organic foods is expected to grow by 46pc over the five years endin 2012, despite the world economic crisis.
This bullish outlook is contained in a United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD) report.
World sales from certified organic products are expected to reach $67 billion in 2012, up from $46 billion in 2007 and about $23 billion in 2002.
Some specialist organic retailers are experiencing consumer resistance to paying more for organics.
But UNCTAD says many consumers have weighed the higher cost of organic food against its benefits - and they've decided organic foods are worth the extra cost.
The Organic Economy is taking off, get on board at the ground level! Maybe invest in Organic Lip and Cheek Shimmer?
GROWER PROFILES: Massa Organics
Whether it's rising fuel prices, contending with wildlife, battling weeds or a fluke fire caused by burning debris flying off the back of a truck, Greg Massa of Massa Organics near Chico takes everything with the earnest aplomb of someone fulfilling a dream...
Touring the farm, it is often difficult to tell where agriculture ends and wildlife habitat begins: nesting boxes in the surrounding oaks attract owls and wood ducks; a poorly performing rice pond is being turned into habitat for birds that control weeds and bugs; and the closed-loop water system doubles as a home for river otters, who deposit their bright orange, crawdad-filled scat all over the farm.
Regardless of wildlife, producing an industrial crop using non-industrial methods is difficult. Weeds, the need for high nitrogen input and low prices have driven Massa to start marketing his rice directly to consumers, where he can make double per pound.
I've seen the farmland up highway 5 and highway 99 on the way to Chico when they flood it and let the ducks and other animals move in. Very cool. Massa talks about the high nitrogen input that is needed for crops. Michael Pollan goes into this in great detail in The Omnivore's Dilemma. Before 1909 nitrogen could only be put into soil through manure, by natural release from plants like legumes, and lightning strikes. Fritz Haber changed all of that with the Haber-Bosch process. Basically it converted fossil fuels into nitrogen. At first we used it for bombs, then we used it to grow corn. I don't want to paraphrase Michael's whole book, but that didn't turn out well for anyone but the seed corporations and Republicans in the era of Nixon.
Food That's Better For You, Organic Or Not
under the United States Department of Agriculture's definition, (organic) means it is generally free of synthetic substances; contains no antibiotics and hormones; has not been irradiated or fertilized with sewage sludge; was raised without the use of most conventional pesticides; and contains no genetically modified ingredients...
The government's organic program, says Joan Shaffer, a spokeswoman for the Agriculture Department, "is a marketing program that sets standards for what can be certified as organic. Neither the enabling legislation nor the regulations address food safety or nutrition."
People don't understand that, nor do they realize "organic" doesn't mean "local." "It doesn't matter if it's from the farm down the road or from Chile," Ms. Shaffer said. "As long as it meets the standards it's organic."
Hence, the organic status of salmon flown in from Chile, or of frozen vegetables grown in China and sold in the United States - no matter the size of the carbon footprint left behind by getting from there to here.
That article is well worth the read. It really sets out the lingo, sustainable, organic, humane, local, slow... all those sound better than chemical, genetically modified, or factory farm. (Yes I know all GMOs aren't bad, just the ones that are designed for profit at all costs).
Two Headed Salmon
SILVERDALE - These chum salmon are particularly, well, chummy.
From a salmon egg hatched in early February at Woodlands Elementary emerged a fry (fries?) with two heads.
"I guess we got a special egg this year," said Jeff Sullivan, a learning specialist who has managed the Central Kitsap school's Salmon in the Classroom program for the last 13 years. Sullivan has never seen anything like the creature.
Two-Headed">Salmon Hatched in CK School Cute VIDEO
Fortenberry Leads Ag Subcommittee Hearing on Obesity and Nutrition
Washington D.C. -- Congressman Jeff Fortenberry today led a congressional hearing examining obesity in the United States. Panelists included the Director of Nutrition at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. William Dietz, who noted that 30 percent of American adults and 16 percent of American children are obese. Dietz also stated that 25 percent of increased U.S. health care costs from 1987 to 2001 were related to obesity.
"The increase in obesity nationwide has far-reaching effects in terms of public health and health care costs," Fortenberry said. "I am very concerned by this trend, particularly among our children. Good nutrition, including a diet of fresh, locally-raised foods, can improve health outcomes and lower medical costs, a winning combination for American health care, sustainable agriculture, and strong local economies."
Dr. Dietz, asked by Fortenberry about the benefits of fresh, local foods in promoting healthy habits, noted that a northern California fruits and vegetables program, based on a network of farmers markets proximate to health clinics, has produced positive outcomes for a health care provider's employees, patients, and local farmers.
Sugar is Sugar, Natural doesn't mean Healthy
"People are disgusted with aspartame and Splenda, and they're looking for an alternative to high-fructose corn syrup," said Kantha Shelke, a food chemist specializing in natural foods and principal with the Chicago-based food science think tank Corvus Blue. But Shelke adds that consumers' high hopes for agave may be somewhat misguided. "People say it's a healthful alternative, but it's not really. A sugar is a sugar is a sugar," she says.
Agave offers no advantage in terms of caloric content: about 16 calories per teaspoon, the same as table sugar. But the syrup's chemical makeup can differ significantly from that of other sweeteners. Whereas table sugar is composed of sucrose, which is broken down to yield half fructose and half glucose, agave can contain up to 90% fructose, Shelke says. That increase in fructose means -- theoretically, at least -- that agave nectar doesn't result in the same dangerous spikes in blood glucose that other sweeteners can cause in diabetics.
Such a high fructose content isn't typical of all agave products. "Depending on how the syrup is processed, it may or may not contain more fructose," says Roger Clemens, a professor at USC and spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists, whose research has focused on functional foods, food processing and nutrition.
Lets finish with a recipe from the HOT NEW HOLLYWOOD DIET
(I like it because it's simple)
Mexican chicken salad with spicy salsa dressing
"The 5-Factor Diet" by Harley Pasternak
Servings: 2
INGREDIENTS
• 6 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 1 cup nonfat cream
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 small head iceberg lettuce, coarsely shopped
• 1 1/2 cups canned corn, drained
• 1 teaspoon fajita seasoning mix
• 1 pinch cumin
• Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Be careful with the nonfat cream, that might just have a lot of sugar in it. The full fat or reduced fat might be better for ya. If you don't like that one there's a recipe for spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs.
Eat Well. Be Well! Crossposted at The Daily Kos |
