Cooperatives, Bringing Power Back to Consumers

With the amount of political dissatisfaction that's churning and bubbling these days, co-ops are a breath of fresh air. They offer the very elements that are missing in our governments and parts of society- accountability, transparency, and balance.

With some of AFC's board members.
Photo courtesy of Gigi K. of Nutritiously Curious

Gigi K, blogger of Nutritiously Curious, and I sat down with Patrick Reagan, president of the Arroyo Food Co-op, to learn more about a community-owned grocery store and what it means for us to become "stakeholders."

Patrick's involvement in the co-op started when a Wild Oats Market in his neighborhood closed down due to a supposed acquisition by Whole Foods Market. But the merger was challenged by the FTC on the grounds of the anti-trust laws and Whole Foods ended up reselling Wild Oats in the same year (side note: here are the companies that were gobbled up by Whole Foods, listed on Whole Foods' own website). But the real losers of the market battle were the local customers of this Wild Oats Market. The community was left without a natural food store that was "human sized and addressed the neighborhood's needs" as Patrick recounted. Fast forward a bit and now a group of unhappy shoppers banded together in hopes of bringing some changes to the area's grocery scene. Patrick's ties with the efforts early on earned him the position of president of what would become the Arroyo Food Co-op. In March 2008, the group had its first meeting, and now they're 370+ members strong! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Not me... but HEALing Foodie is turning 1 today! THANK YOU to all 2000+ OF YOU who visited this blog this past year and perhaps have become returning visitors!

A few days before HEALing Foodie's first birthday, I had the phenomenal privilege of hearing Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser speak at USC. If I had a bucket list, #1 is now crossed off!

Dietitians-in-training with Michael Pollan.

... and Eric Schlosser! 

Local Organic Foods at a Wal-Mart Near You?

As of late, everyone has chimed in on the "Wal-Mart going healthy" discussion. I think it's my turn to do the same.

I'm not a supporter of Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. I don't agree with their labor practices. I don't believe in getting my daily necessities from a store that's the size of Rhode Island. I also don't think selling packaged processed food in bulk for household use is doing us (and our health) any good. I doubt any family needs 5 loaves of white bread and 5 pound bags of candies.

Change Is Coming

Is time-warping a symptom of getting older? One minute I was posting about Thanksgiving, and the next, it's almost the end of the year! The other explanation is that the tryptophan from my turkey really knocked me out- for almost 2 weeks!

For me, the year's end is usually a time for reflection- reflecting to appreciate for the good, to learn from the not so good, and to find clarity for my next steps in the new year. It has been a tremendous year to say the least, and to get a head start on some new steps for 2011, I've decided to expand HEALing Foodie! I might be using the term "expand" rather loosely here, but my dear friend and fellow foodie Meghan P. (see her bio on the left) has graciously agreed to be a guest blogger, and I cannot be more thrilled! Our friendship only dates back to earlier this year, but we've definitely had our share of foodie moments and adventures already. I also like the fact that she is a health-conscious foodie who has a good dose of skepticism with fad foods. I'm excited to collaborate with Meghan here and in the kitchen. So stay tuned for her first post coming your way REAL soon!

Aside from changes on HEALing Foodie, there have been some substantial changes about food on a national level. The Senate has passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act while the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will be signed into law next Monday by President Obama. Talk about may-jah changes on the food front!

Celebrity Status for Food Politics

Another brilliantly funny, well-articulated argument from Stephen Colbert. It's unfortunate that some in the courtroom think that checking a Blackberry is more enthralling than hearing the testimony on such an important issue.

As Marion Nestle wrote in her book What to Eat, 

"The choices you make about food are as much about this kind of world you want to live in as they are about what to have for dinner. Food choices are about your future and that of your children. They are about nothing less than democracy in action."

Migrant farmers are people who deserve to enjoy the democracy of America. The kinds of foods we choose ultimately reflects how much we care for these folks who leave their families behind to fill the kind of jobs that most Americans are too arrogant and vain to fill. 

The Amazing, In-Edible Egg

The recent egg recall that involved half a BILLION eggs sparked a lot of interest about food safety in the States.

Food safety regulations in the U.S. are too lax in many ways. As described by the video, we've had plenty food scares in the past few years. Beef, lettuce, tomatoes, peanuts, and eggs just to name a few. So who or what is the culprit?

Eggs-plained

In light of the ginor-mongous recall on eggs issued last week, CNN's Eatocracy published a great article that "eggs-plained" the 3 types of eggs available to us. I added a couple other types to cover what we might encounter at supermarkets.

Free Range:

"The USDA does not specify the quality or size of the outside range nor the duration of time an animal must have access to the outside or the amount of space available to them, and there is no mandate that the chickens are fed organically or are hormone and antibiotic-free.

While some egg producers are truly free-range, and the chickens remain outdoors for a good deal of the time, there is nothing preventing a factory farm from labeling eggs as free range, merely because the structure in which the chickens live has a door to an outside yard.

As author Michael Pollan notes in 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' ..."Since the food and water remain inside the shed, and since the little doors remain shut until the birds are at least five weeks old and well settled into their habits, the chickens apparently see no reason to venture into what must seem for them an unfamiliar and terrifying world." There's a very good chance that a free-range chicken, raised for either eggs or meat, has never seen the light of day." 

Cage-free:

"There isn't a legal designation eggs as cage free. Many factory farms keep their laying hens in so-called "battery cages" - typically rows and rows of wire cages in which chickens are given insufficient room to accommodate their wingspan.

In a cage-free facility, battery cages are not used, and typically a hen will have enough room to walk around and extend her wings, but the facilities may still be crowded, and birds may still be "debeaked." This entails the trimming of a portion of a bird's beak in order to combat cannibalism and feather pecking that may occur among birds kept in close quarters.

In July, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed A.B. 1437 into effect, making California the cage-free state in the US."

Organic:

"For eggs to be labeled "organic,"... [hens] must be fed organic feed - no animal byproducts or genetically modified or "GMO" crops - produced on land that has been free from the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers for a minimum of three years.

The hens themselves must be maintained without hormones and other intrusive drugs and antibiotics may only be used in cases in cases of outbreak or disease. They're also kept in a cage-free environment and allowed access to the outdoors."

"Designer":

Gucci, YSL, and the likes haven't tapped into the egg industry (monogrammed eggshells?). Designer eggs, also known as value-added eggs, are those that have been designed and modified to contain more nutrients. The most common being omega-3 or vitamin E added eggs. Keep in mind that the chicken feed only increases "boosted nutrients" in the yolk. So if you're a "yolk tosser", splurging on designer eggs is simply money down the drain.

Brown vs. White:

The age old debate. Nutritionally, there is no difference between brown eggs and white eggs. The colors only indicate the breed of the hen. Brown eggs tend to cost more because they're usually from larger hens that eat more but produce fewer eggs.

To avoid getting foodborne illness from eggs, rinse all eggs when you bring them home from the store. Then keep them on fridge shelves (as opposed to the side door) where the temperature doesn't fluctuate as much. Of course, thoroughly cook both egg whites and yolks to kill all bacteria.

Quoted excerpts from CNN's food blog Eatocracy. Visit the site for the article in its entirety.

Photo credit: timyoung.net 

Supplement's Dirty Dozen

The obsession with supplements in America started with seemingly innocent multi-vitamin and mineral pills. Then herbal supplements came into the picture and boasted magic bullets like improving memory and energy. Dramatic increase in supplement usage came when people started taking them for weight loss, muscle gain, and the whole nine yards. Nowadays, the supplement isles in markets stretch as far as the eye can see, and consumers are purchasing ginormous bins of these pills at discount warehouses. 

But there's a bit of a problem- there is no governing body that regulates these supplements.  Somehow, they got a special pass to skip FDA inspections. No fact check against these health claims, and there isn't much supporting evidence for the exaggerated health benefits that are becoming ingrained in consumers' minds. 

Once used to describe the 12 fruits and veggies that contain the most pesticides, the phrase "dirty dozen" has now transcended into the supplement realm.The 12 most harmful substances that are often found in these pseudo-nourishment are now given the same foul label.

Nutrition should be coming from fresh foods that we can recognize, not plastic bottles that have childproof caps on them. If they warrant such safety precautions, supplements are probably much less healthful (and actually harmful) than we believe them to be. 

For more supplement safety details, visit the pages on nsf.org and fda.gov. Full article on supplement's "Dirty Dozen" can be found at msnbc.com.

Princess Peas, Buzz Bananas, and Sully Spinach!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I'm not sure why this is news, but I do like the potential success with registered character advertisements in fruits and veggies ! Only if farming is as lucrative a business as processed junk...

Nutrition Facts... or Fiction?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Food labels and restaurant nutrition info have been under scrutiny lately because some of them are providing consumers with fictitious nutrition facts.

As a health-conscious consumer, it frustrates me to see such dishonesty stemming from slack regulations and missing moral compasses. But on the other hand, it just goes to show that we may need to rely less on others to do the cooking for us. Cooking from scratch cuts down on potential nutrition "fibs" and reduces the usage of mysterious ingredients since you're in charge of what goes into the pot.

Also, shopping the perimeter of a grocery store can help us steer away from caloric traps, salt mines, and chemistry labs that are situated in the middle aisles with attractive packaging. The center aisles are most likely where we can find chips, candies, sodas, ice-cream, and all sorts of frozen food-like substances. Fresh food- fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, breads, and other grains- usually line the perimeter of grocery stores.

While frozen entrees are convenient, they were still prepared in a factory by mechanical arms with mysterious ingredients to keep the texture and flavor intact after freezing, transporting, and reheating. To put it simply, I'm going to borrow a line from my food hero, Michael Pollan. "If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't."

One Less Use for HFCS

As consumers are more aware of the uses of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), food manufacturers have responded by eliminating the ingredient from some popular items. Just last week, Hunt's announced that HFCS will no longer be used in their ketchup! 

Companies are beginning to listen to consumers' demands which only makes sense. After all, we're the one who drive the market and give them business. This is an encouraging trend that just goes to show we do have a say as consumers. Michael Pollan has been right all along- vote with your fork- and let your voices be heard!

But one little caveat: there is still sugar in ketchup but just not in the form of HFCS. So continue to read your food labels to make sure you're paying for what you think you're getting.

To read up on the Hunt's announcement, visit prnewswires.com.

Image from babble.com