Food on The Huffington Post

Carl Honore: In Praise Of Slow Food

2009-11-08T07:13:10Z

When a friend of mine moved from France to London last year, one local tradition left her perplexed.

It wasn't the British penchant for talking about the weather, or for apologizing when someone else steps on your toes.

It was that Londoners often eat while walking down the street.

"Devouring a Niçoise salad and dodging pedestrians at the same time is not a sign of civilization," my friend concluded, with Gallic hauteur. "It's a sign that you need to slow down."

You can say that again. In our fast-forward culture, we have lost the art of eating well.

Food is often little more than fuel to pour down the hatch while doing other stuff -- surfing the Web, driving, walking along the street. Dining al desko is now the norm in many workplaces.

All of this speed takes a toll. Obesity, eating disorders and poor nutrition are rife. We are also missing out on the sensual pleasure and social connection that come from eating good food together.

The bright news is that people all over the world are taking a slower approach to food -- and eating better as a result.

The Italian-based Slow Food movement now has 100,000 members in 132 countries, including the fast-food-loving US. The search for a kinder, gentler relationship with food is reflected in other trends, too: the renaissance of the farmers' market; the rise of school gardens; the growing popularity of cooking classes; the organic, fairtrade and eat-local movements; the thriving artisanal production of everything from cheese and chocolate to bread and beer.

The recession may also be helping. To cut back on restaurant bills, people are eating at home more. But unlike in the last downturn, when sales of frozen meals soared, more of us are taking the time to cook from scratch. The US is now racking up the highest levels of homecooking since 1992.

There is so much to be gained from investing more time in what we eat.

Buying fresh ingredients means knowing where your food comes from and what's in it. In a world where so much happens through computer screens, making a meal by hand, touching the raw materials, feeling your way through a recipe, tasting, adjusting, engaging all the senses, can be a soothing release.

Eating more slowly, chewing every mouthful, pays dividends, too. It helps digestion and guards against gluttony by giving the stomach time to tell the brain that it is full.

It also allows you to savor what you put in your mouth. Of course, this works better with Slow food, which is packed with natural flavors, textures and aromas that linger on the palate and in the mind. By contrast, processed food is designed to be eaten quickly: Pay it too much attention and you start to realize how vile it tastes.

Sharing a slow, convivial meal can also bring people together. It is no accident that the word "companion" is derived from the Latin words meaning "with bread." As Oscar Wilde noted, breaking bread together can even help us bond with those we find hardest to stomach: "After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations."

At the same time, studies from around the world show that children who have regular family meals are more likely to do well at school, enjoy good mental health, and eat nutritious food; they are also less likely to engage in underage sex or use drugs and alcohol.

Yet Slow food need not be a luxury for the rich. As Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, the 19th century French gastronome, put it: "The pleasures of the table are for every man, of every land, of every place in history or society."

In other words, a Slow meal does not have to be a five-course banquet of handmade delicacies. Small, affordable and simple works, too. You can prepare a fresh tomato pasta or vegetable soup in less time and for less money than it takes to order in pizza or sushi.

Start by fencing off time in your schedule for cooking and eating. Then get reacquainted with your kitchen. Grow a few herbs, like mint, rosemary or thyme, in the garden or on the windowsill. Buy your own fresh ingredients and cook with them. Turn the preparing of food into a communal affair by enlisting others to help with the chopping, grating, stirring, simmering, tasting and seasoning.

When the cooking is finished, eat together round the table with the electronic gadgets switched off so you can savor the food and let the conversation flow.

But, hey, don't beat yourself up if you fall short of the Slow Food ideal. Nobody's perfect. And I mean nobody:

The last time I bumped into my French friend, she was racing down a London street munching on a sandwich.

When was your last slow meal, and aren't you due another one soon?

Papaya Hermaphrodites Sought By Farmers, Researchers

2009-11-07T22:01:00Z

Papayas, it turns out, have not just one but three sexes: male, female and hermaphrodite. The third produces the yummy fruit, but the male and females are mostly useless to farmers.

15 Seafood Options Good For Human And Ocean Health

2009-11-06T17:57:15Z

Finding sustainable seafood has always been about balancing the health of a given fishery with the health effects of consuming that fish. Some that can be sourced sustainably are also high enough on the food chain that they accumulate toxins in their flesh, transferring those to us humans when we eat them.

The Super Green List from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program balances the two considerations, providing a list of the healthiest seafood that comes from sustainable sources.

David Chang Dishes On His Momofuku Success (VIDEO)

2009-11-06T15:09:37Z

Momofuku has quickly become a New York City institution and VBS.tv had the chance to interview chef David Chang about his trio of restaurants. Chang had worked in the food biz here and in Tokyo but, as he recalls, "I needed to challenge myself. I thought that opening a restaurant would be the ultimate test to see if I could just do it. And that was the first goal, can I open it up? I didn't really think about the food I would serve."

Now he's responsible for Manhattan's most infamous pork buns, selling three to four-hundred a day, and has written a book with New York Times reporter Peter Meehan. However, he's still humble, explaining, "I am the worst type of chef. I guess. I don't like to go out to eat to fancy restaurants, or restaurants in general." But the real truth comes out at the end of the video when David gets his drink on. Warning: strong language.

WATCH:

Why Doesn't Exercise Lead To Weight Loss?

2009-11-06T15:05:51Z

Few people, an overwhelming body of research shows, achieve significant weight loss with exercise alone, not without changing their eating habits. A new study from scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver offers some reasons why.

Will Overfishing Leave The Tuna Industry Dry? (VIDEO)

2009-11-06T15:01:17Z

As global demand for sushi and canned tuna escalates, fishermen are struggling to bring in a sizable catch. Tuna companies' shipments have halved due to dwindling fish populations, endangering the fish populations and the livelihoods of entire communities. Check out this video detailing the situation in the Philippines.

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JFK's Chef: "The Kennedys Were Very Sophisticated About Food"

2009-11-06T13:32:46Z

It seems that the fascination with the Obamas' eating habits, from their garden to their Vineyard munchies, to the menu for the upcoming state dinner is unprecedented, but they're hardly the first first couple to bring a sense of culinary awareness to the White House. JFK's chef René Verdon remembered his boss's affinity for foodstuffs.

"The Kennedys were very sophisticated about food," Mr. Verdon told the New York Times. "They liked to eat well, and they understood the meaning of good taste."

He pointed specifically to the July 11, 1961 state dinner for the president of Pakistan, which Jackie chose to hold under a tent at Mount Vernon, 16 miles from the White House.

"This was a very big challenge," Mr. Verdon commented, with an exaggerated shrug of the shoulders and a wide grin. "We had to cook everything at the White House and then carry it to Mount Vernon," he said.

The President and Mrs. Kennedy attend a dinner July 11, 1961 at Mt. Vernon in honor of the President of Pakistan. (Photo courtesy of Kennedy Library Archives/Newsmakers)

The menu consisted of avocado and crab meat mimosa, poulet chasseur (chicken in a sauce of shallots, mushrooms and tomatoes), fresh vegetables and herbs with rice, raspberries in Chantilly cream, and petits fours dipped in chocolate.

What do you think the Obamas should serve when they honor India at their first state dinner, on November 24th? Tell us below.

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Women: Sleep Might Improve Your Willpower

2009-11-06T13:00:50Z

Your head says it's time to lose a few pounds, but your hand reaches for another cookie. Why is it that even when we want to be good, we end up being so bad?

Is Your Mood Affected By The Season?

2009-11-06T12:53:42Z

When the days get short and dark, many people develop a predictable set of symptoms. At their extreme, they can be very difficult and disabling. Together we call them Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD - an apt name because of how down and blue people can feel at a time of year when we're all supposed to be gearing up to celebrate.

Elaine Shannon: BPA and Food: We Can Fix This

2009-11-05T17:24:54Z

The debate about controversial plastic chemical bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic estrogen, is heating up, with warring camps hurling data like flaming darts. Sometime later this month, the federal Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce its plans for evaluating and possibly restricting contamination of BPA in infant formula and other canned and plastic-packaged food and drink.

For those of you who like to follow every gnarly twist, we've posted an updater on environmental health developments on Environmental Working Group's Kid-Safe online news site.

Too busy? Here's a speedread.

Bisphenol A, whose family tree traces back to the petrochemical benzene, is an industrial chemical integral to the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resin.

These materials are ubiquitous. If you look around and don't see anything made with polycarbonate or epoxy resin, chances are you're living in a beaver den.

BPA-based synthetics are light and extraordinary tough, which is why they're valued. Personally, to tick off few random, unscientifically chosen examples, I'm totally fine with them in:

• Athletic helmets. They don't prevent every blow, but they help.
• Hockey arena "glass". Without it, second-row seats wouldn't be so awesome.
• CDs and DVDs. If they could only stop them from scratching.
• HIgh performance epoxy coatings. Bonus: check out my dream car.
• Eyeglasses. Light, safer polycarb keeps my glasses lenses from looking like bottle bottoms.
• Sailboat repairs.

I could go on. Cell phone and computer cases. Aerospace. Headlights.

The thing is, we don''t eat off our headlights.

Scientists who study the endocrine system, brain, reproductive system and several other important systems are convinced that BPA is a problem, a big one, when it shows up in food and beverage bottles, cans and other things that come in contact with food. For reasons known best to polymer chemists, both synthetics are chemically unstable, which means that BPA migrates out of them, particularly when they're heated or subjected to acids or caustics. That's why federal investigators have found traces of BPA in 93 percent of Americans over age six, and many other researchers have found trace BPA contamination in pregnant women, newborns, wildlife and the environment.

Because of the burgeoning political and regulatory battles over BPA in food packaging, makers of polycarbonate baby bottles are switching to non-BPA plastic, following the lead of some major sports water bottles. But other water and drink bottlers are still using polycarbonate bottles (signified by the number 7). And then there are the food canners, who insist they don't have a good substitute for epoxy resin can lining.

Here's my list of 6 things that need to be BPA-free, fast:

• Canned infant formula. Come on, people.
• Canned chicken noodle soup. Critical for the next cold and flu season.
• Coca-Cola. As a Georgian, I believe it heals hangovers and other ailments that don't yield to chicken soup.
• Sports bottles. Hydration is key. Thanks to Nalgene and Camelbak for dumping BPA. And SIGG, belatedly.
• The Potomac River.
• Amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood. Really.
• Beer.

What's on your dump-BPA list?

Read more: Bpa, Food Safety, Bisphenol A, Food, Politics, Green News

Always Wanted To Work At A Farmers Market? Find Out How!

2009-11-05T13:40:35Z

With more than 4,800 farmers markets of various sizes already established in the U.S., there's a huge demand for dedicated individuals to make these events happen. From the sales folks on the ground to those establishing and maintaining the stands, farmers markets owe their success to the hard-working people behind them.

7-Eleven WINE Coming Soon

2009-11-05T13:39:38Z

Michelle Locke, AP:

What goes well with Slim Jims and Slurpees? 7-Eleven wine, naturally.

The convenience store chain announced Tuesday it is getting into the value wine business, releasing two low-priced proprietary wines in the United States and Japan.

Sold under the Yosemite Road label, the California wines, a chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, will retail for about $3.99, a price-point that has been doing well despite -- or perhaps because of -- the economic doldrums.

"The consumer is really pinched as far as discretionary income. We're seeing a lot of success in products that really resonate on a value basis," said Kevin Elliott, senior vice president of merchandising and logistics of Dallas-based 7-Eleven, Inc.

Private label products were strong sellers for many food retailers even before the economic crisis hit. Last year, 7-Eleven launched the 7-Select line of staples including cookies, candies, chips and beef jerky.

Adding wine ties into two economy driven trends -- a demand for affordability coupled with more people eating at home, said Thom Blischok, president, global innovation and shopper marketing, at Chicago-based IRI, a market research company.

"They're changing the game at convenience store retailing. They're really trying to take this back to neighborhood stores. They fulfill your most basic needs," he said.

Bargain wines have been booming as budgets shrank. Some brands, such as Two Buck Chuck (formally Charles Shaw but renamed in honor of the $1.99 price in California), have even attracted near cult following.

Yosemite Road is 7-Eleven's first value-priced wines -- the company earlier introduced Sonoma Crest and Thousand Oaks, which retail for about $10 -- and it's the company's first global product launch.

The wines will be released in 15,000 outlets, including 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. and Japan, as well as other subsidiaries of parent company Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., an $87.9 billion Tokyo-based corporation.

The wines are being made by The Wine Group in California, which is the world's third-largest wine producer and has a number of inexpensive brands including Corbett Canyon and Glen Ellen. The chardonnay is described as zesty with notes of apricot, peach and honey, and the cab as full-bodied with "juicy plum overtones."

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Dana Joy Altman: Real Food Rehab: 2 Simple Steps To Healthy & Delicious Meals

2009-11-05T11:19:26Z

For the last few months, I've been doing in-home food makeovers and basic cooking instruction for people who want to eat better and rely less on processed and packaged foods. During the initial consultations, what I hear each time is a slightly different version of the same story:

They go to the store, stand in the produce section and freeze; they have great intentions but get completely overwhelmed. They have no idea what to do with all those vegetables! They have little to no food in the house and need satisfaction in the moment, so they inevitably run back to: a) the freezer section for frozen dinners, b) the expensive prepared foods or deli section or c) the grocery aisle for boxed, add-water type meals. Or maybe, they'll just have chips for dinner in front of the telly. Perhaps this rings true for you, too.

This repeated scenario is not what people want but what many people settle for. I believe that everyone wants to look good, feel good, share great food experiences and have the energy to pursue the life they desire. To do that, we all need to eat more high quality food: food that's grown and produced without chemicals, antibiotics and hormones. We also need to spend some time planning and preparing our food.

I realize these are simply facts, not solutions. So, I have two big tips to turn your barriers into breakthroughs.

STEP ONE

Stock Your Pantry - it's a well-known fact: if you stock your pantry with high-quality basics and foods you love, you won't overspend on last minute grocery store runs. You'll eat healthier and always be able to throw together a satisfying meal.

So, how do you know what to buy? How can you discern what's delicious and healthy and what isn't? This is where Real Food Rehab really saves the day.

Spend $9.95 and purchase The Pantry Essentials Guide.

The Guide is divided into four sections: Foundation Ingredients, Baking Basics, Perishable Staples and Ethnic Staples and includes nine pages of detailed descriptions and uses for over one hundred ingredients. It includes easy recipes, kitchen tips, web resources and brand recommendations. It also includes checklists for each section that can be printed out and taken to the grocery store. And I should note, it's a guide to be experimented with over time; do not feel you have to run out and purchase all these things at once. You ease into it. It might help to start by stocking the Foundation Ingredients first, along with some of the Perishable Staples and work from there. Also, if you're in a diet rut and tired of the things you eat on a daily basis, The Guide will turn you on to new, healthy and delicious things to eat.

OK, you've stocked your pantry - you have all your bases covered -now how do you use all this stuff?

STEP TWO

Subscribe to NoTakeOut.com for free! NoTakeOut is a life-enhancing site that I recommend to all my clients. You sign up for daily emails and each weekday they send you a complete menu, a short shopping list and a step-by-step game plan to prepare a delicious, seasonal meal in a short period of time. And if the menu of the day doesn't move you, there are many others on the site to choose from.

Click here to see an example of one of their menus and instruction - Chicken Cacciatore & Polenta with a Big Green Salad - only 15 minutes prep time and 45 minutes total time to make a beautiful meal. I also love that their instructions usually include this step: "Open the wine and pour yourself a glass." I don't know about you, but I can really get behind that.

The other thing you should know about NoTakeOut is that two working dads who are the primary cooks in their households created it. They wanted to help other busy people discover the simple pleasures of sharing a home-cooked meal.

So here's the scenario:

You're at home or at work. You get an email from NoTakeOut. You print out the shopping list and take it to the grocery store and pick up the few remaining ingredients to complete your recipe. You have a stocked pantry at home now so you can breeze through the express line. You get home, crack open that bottle of wine or beer if you desire and start cooking with an easy step-by-step game plan helping you along the way. Consider getting other members of the family to participate - make it a shared experience with your partner, your kids or your friends. Set the table and you're eating.

Whether you begin to do this every other night or once a week, you've made an improvement to your health: you've eaten a healthy, delicious meal, sat around the table with those you love and actually created more time for what's important to you. These are major breakthroughs to a better life.

To learn more about the Pantry Essentials Guide, click HERE.

To Learn More about NoTakeOut.com, click HERE.

This is excerpted from the blog Real Food Rehab.

(c) 2009 Dana Joy Altman, Real Food Rehab, Inc.

DJ Jaffe: FDA Considers Caving to Scientology and Making Mental Illness Treatment Illegal

2009-11-05T09:21:36Z

While Congress is considering health care legislation that
would provide more coverage for individuals with severe mental illness, as
far-fetched as it sounds, the FDA is considering making it more difficult to
treat depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and psychosis.

At the request of Scientology (and a few others), they are
considering requiring expensive new government testing for a treatment that has
been successfully used for years: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). If the
‘testing’ isn’t done, the treatment will be taken off the market. And that is
the goal of Scientologists. As the
LA Times pointed
out “(The) Church of
Scientology… opposes virtually all psychiatric treatments.”

In 1976,
the FDA grandfathered continuing use of ECT, and many other devices, pending
FDA evaluation of safety and effectiveness. It is now 30 years later and the
treatment has been safely and effectively used ever since then.

In spite
of 40 years of success, the FDA—prodded by Scientology-- recently decided to
hold hearings on the safety and efficacy of this treatment. Depending on the
outcome, the manufacturers of the device might have to go through onerous
duplicative testing that has already been done in the real world.

The
manufacturers say the tests would be too expensive and therefore they would
have to get out the business. Doctors could be jailed for offering their
patients treatment.

The American Psychiatric
Association’s most recent
report on ECT concludes

ECT is an effective antidepressant in all subtypes of major
depressive disorder

Dr.
Demitris Popolis wrote in Overcoming
Depression

There's been a resurgence of interest
in ECT because it has evolved into a safe option, one that works

ECT has a higher success rate or severe depression than any
other form of treatment…

It is particularly useful for people who … cannot take
antidepressants due to problems of health or lack of response and pregnant
women who suffer from depression or mania. A patient who is very intent on
suicide, and who would not wait three weeks for an antidepressant to work,
would be a good candidate for ECT because it works more rapidly.

Kitty Dukakis in her book,
“Shock” credited ECT with saving
her life.

Rolland
Kohloff, principal timpanist for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra saw how
ECT helped his son with schizophrenia. When Mr. Kohloff developed his own
severe depression, he decided to try it himself. As he said in the New York
Times, “What I think it did was to act like a Roto-Rooter on the
depression."

Dick Cavett told People Magazine,

“In my case, ECT was miraculous. My wife was dubious, but when she
came into my room afterward, I sat up and said, 'Look who's back among the
living.' It was like a magic wand."

In spite its obvious efficacy,
ECT (and all treatments for the mentally ill) has opponents. Rael Jean
Isaacs Madness
in the Streets is the best book on the anti-treatment, anti-ECT, often
Scientologist crowd.

While there is some opposition to ECT from non-Scientologists, Scientologists believe “The
concept that a brain-based, chemical imbalance underlies mental illness is
false.” They believe mental illness doesn’t exist and treatment for it is
torture. It is
their right to believe whatever they want. But my choice of treatment should
not be dictated by it.

In response to a previous effort by Scientologists to ban
ECT, Laurie Flynn, former Executive Director of the National
Alliance on Mental Illness wrote a 1995 letter
to Bernie Arons, Director of the Center For Mental Health Services:

As you know, there are widespread efforts led by Scientologists and other anti-psychiatric groups underway
throughout the country to ban ECT as an available treatment and to criminalize
the prescription of ECT by physicians treating individuals with severe
depressive illnesses. These groups ignore the extensive, uncontroverted
evidence in the scientific literature that ECT is both safe and effective as a
treatment for severe depression. Consequently, it is critically important that
any statement coming from CMHS must focus on medical aspects of ECT and avoid
the “politics” of ECT.

The FDA
should avoid the politics too. They
should immediately reclassify electroconvulsive devices as “Class II” devices,
rather than keeping them in Class III which requires the manufacturers to go
through expensive and unnecessary laboratory testing to prove what patients and
doctors know: ECT works.

You can submit
your comments to the FDA in favor of reclassifying ECT to Class II by clicking
the ‘submit’ button at the top right hand side of the page of the FDA public
docket.

Dana Joy Altman: Real Food Rehab: How to Get Out Of A Salad Rut

2009-11-04T16:20:22Z

Salad culture in this country has changed so much since I was a young. Back then iceberg wedges and Julienne Salads reigned the day. I rarely see them anymore except at a steakhouse, diner or deli which I enjoy but rarely frequent.

Now, it seems to me almost every casual American restaurant dishes out slightly altered versions of the same two or three salads -- and they've just been done to death. You know the ones I'm talking about. And more often than not they're mediocre and mediocre isn't satisfying.

Perhaps we're in a salad rut and maybe it's time to re-think what salad could be. This is potentially promising for people who think they don't like salad. Perhaps we need to take an improvisational salad journey; it sounds silly but wait.

When I speak of an improvisational journey I'm not talking about glow sticks and Ecstasy and a long, slow death by musical masturbation -- no -- this is a journey that begins by letting go of our tired, old salad dogma such as, " a salad has got to have lettuce" or "when I see a sneeze guard, that's the time for a salad."

This journey is about you in your kitchen without the safety net of a formal recipe, throwing together ingredients you might not ordinarily consider using or combining and seasoning them to your taste. The sky's the limit.

Perhaps it might also be a creative and refreshing exercise to take a break from bottled salad dressings and whip up your own with great oils, vinegars, mustards and citrus. It's easy, fast and makes a huge difference in taste.

In my experience, the best tasting and most beautiful salads are made from the best ingredients. It's that simple. So before you go to the grocery store to buy the same old goober-y bag of mesclun lettuce and three month "baby" old carrots, let me stop you right here. I'm going to keep saying this over and over so just amuse me: If you're fortunate enough to live in an area where farmers' markets are still up and running, by all means buy locally. Your salads will be more nutrient-rich and taste so much better.

Below I've provided a list of salads that move me; perhaps it might inspire you to create your own. Make these to taste, adjusting quantities and seasonings as you go. It goes without saying you use great vinegars and extra virgin olive oil. To slice vegetables quickly and super thin, look into buying one of these.

Arugula, Radicchio, Feta & Dates tossed in lemon juice, olive oil

Arugula, Avocado, Grapefruit, Red Onion, champagne vinegar, olive oil

Chopped Celery, Blue Cheese & Tabasco, olive oil, a touch of lemon juice*

Watercress, Pear & Fennel, lime juice, olive oil, toasted hazelnuts**

Celery, Dates, Toasted Walnuts, shaved Pecorino, sherry vinegar, olive oil

Shredded Carrots, Harissa, touch of cayenne, chopped cilantro, raisins, olive oil, lemon juice*

Cantaloupe, Prosciutto, Buffalo Mozzarella, Parsley, Arugula, olive oil, lemon juice**

Tomatoes, Cucumber, Parsley, Kalamatas, Radish, Red Onion, Lemon Tahini dressing (see below)

Celery, Carrots, Cucumber, Radishes, Parsley, Basil, Red Onion, Radicchio, Boiled Egg, Homemade Croutons, garlicky red wine vinaigrette

Radish, Apple, Fennel, dressing of apple cider vinegar, whole grain mustard, touch of honey, olive or walnut oil

New Potatoes, Parsley, Capers, Chopped Garlic, tossed warm with red wine vinegar, olive oil*

Cucumber, Daikon Radish, Red Radish, Scallion, Celery, Avocado, Toasted Sesame Seeds, dressing of sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar and a touch of honey, topped with sprouts and a side of brown rice

Arugula, Bacon or Prosciutto, Peaches, Ricotta, Mint, dressing of fresh peach juice, sherry vinegar, olive oil, pinch cayenne

Pristine Greens of any kind be they arugula, watercress or the tender leaves of a young Bibb -- simply tossed with a classic vinaigrette and maybe some shaved Parmesan is perfection.

How to Dress a Salad

To make a simple dressing, the typical ratio is 3 tablespoons oil to 1 tablespoon vinegar or citrus such as lemon juice and then season with salt and pepper. Feel free to riff on this to your taste. You can also try adding a half teaspoon finely chopped garlic or shallot and a small amount of dijon and fresh herbs as well.

The pros mix the dressing right in the bowl, whisk it until it thickens, then toss the ingredients gently on top with their hands. If you want, make double or triple batches in a non-reactive jar or container and save in the fridge - simply whisk it well before you use it.

Here's the Lemon Tahini Dressing recipe as promised. This is from the great food blog 101 Cookbooks. Simply blend in a food processor.

1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup tahini - a sesame seed paste found at Whole Foods, and middle east grocers
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

* adapted from the awesome Melissa Clark
** adapted from The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater

This is taken from the blog Real Food Rehab. Copyright 2009 Dana Joy Altman, Real Food Rehab, inc.

David Becker: Michelle Obama: "A Drumbeat Of Small Changes" To Better Eating

2009-11-04T16:18:28Z

The
front page of The New York Times dining section yesterday featured not one
but two stories on chefs playing a major role in encouraging better
eating habits in America. All part of Michelle Obama’s “crusade to
reduce childhood obesity through better school lunches, community
gardens, farmers markets and exercise.” The good news is the changes don't have to be cosmic to have a huge effect.

When faced with big challenges the average citizen throws up her hands and says “but what can I do to really make a difference?”

The answer is “plenty.” And unlike purchasing a Prius you can start right now, today.

Grow your food. You’ll connect with the cycles of
nature. You’ll experience seeing a plant grow from a tiny seed to a
head of lettuce that fills your salad bowl. You’ll also see what it’s
its like to face hellacious weather, poor soil, and pests. And in turn
you’ll have a greater appreciation for what you see on display at
farmers’ markets. For example, how hard it is to grow a carrot. Or the
joy of pulling a warm cherry tomato off the vine and serving it to your
nine-year-old.

Talk to farmers. You’ll be impressed with the
depth of farmers’ knowledge. Why they grow what they grow. How they
augment the soil to make a far more nutritious product. When and why
they may have to spray. For more questions to engage farmers, click here.

Buy direct: Go to farmers’ markets and farm
stands, or buy a share in a CSA. Buy a whole cow. Keep it in your
freezer. Share it with your neighbor. You’ll put money directly in the
pocket of a farmer rather than a host of middlemen. The typical farmer
works 100 hours a week in the summer and may earn less than the typical
customer service rep. Sure they love what they do but, if they’re going
to invest in our food future, they need to earn more.

Cook your own food. Daily shopping is much more fun.
“Honey, are we going to visit Italy or Mexico tonight? Great broccoli
rabe in the farmers market today. But those tomatillos make an
excellent salsa too.” According to research, families that cook
together are typically healthier than those that don’t. You’ll search
out new potatoes like the fine Adirondack Red rather than the bland
white potato. Try butternut squash as a side dish with pork rather than
a once-a-year Thanksgiving soup.

Experiment, with friends: Take your friends on a food adventure with you: Have them over for dinner, and try something new together. Butterflied leg of lamb. A potato, leek and fennel gratin.
Excite them with something that tastes great. And then maybe talk about
how food is produced in this country. Don’t stuff them with stats from
Food Inc.; inspire them with your cooking.

There’s plenty you can do today. Shift even 5% of your food budget
to locally grown food and the impact is significant. And you can hold off on
buying that Prius.

Food Lobby Mobilizes, As Soda Tax Bubbles Up

2009-11-04T15:00:28Z

By Christine Spolar, Huffington Post Investigative Fund and Joseph Eaton, Staff Writer, Center for Public Integrity

Washington lobbyists have been enjoying a multi-million-dollar sugar rush from the food industry.

Soft drink makers, supermarket companies, agriculture and the fast-food business have poured millions into campaigning against what they fear could be a burgeoning national movement to raise money for health care reform by taxing sweetened beverages.

During the first nine months of 2009, the industry groups stepped up their lobbying in Congress. They have spent more than $24 million on the issue of a national excise tax on sweetened beverages and on other legislative and regulatory issues, according to an examination of lobbying reports filed with the Senate Office of Public Records. The review shows that 21 companies and organizations reported that they lobbied specifically on the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages - which among other things would include sodas, juice drinks and chocolate milk.

About $5 million of the money was spent on a national advertising campaign aimed at Capitol Hill lawmakers and promoting a newly formed coalition called Americans Against Food Taxes . The group bills itself on its website as a coalition of "responsible individuals, financially-strapped families, [and] small and large businesses" but its 400-plus membership list is dominated by industry heavyweights such as Burger King Corporation, Coca Cola, Pepsico and Domino's Pizza.

Many health officials and advocacy groups have argued for years that sugary drinks, particularly those with high-fructose corn syrup, have been key contributors to a rise in obesity rates in the United States, especially among children. Some argue that the time is right for a soda tax, which they say could not only cut consumption but also generate revenue to close state budget gaps and pay for new health care programs.

A proposal for a national excise tax on soft drinks surfaced in a May funding policy options paper during the Senate Finance Committee's deliberations on health care reform. Food lobbyists attacked then and continued their efforts in July when President Obama raised the possibility of a soda tax in an interview with Men's Health magazine. The proposal has not emerged in any of the health care reform bills still in play on Capitol Hill.

But the issue may be gaining traction in some key states. This week, California lawmakers are holding a high-profile hearing in Los Angeles to examine the link between childhood obesity and sugary drinks. In New York, Gov. David Paterson has revived the idea of a sugared beverage tax after a previous proposal was shot down by the legislature earlier this year in the face of industry opposition.

"We are reacting to the situation we find ourselves in," said Kevin Keane, senior vice president for the American Beverage Association, which alone spent more than $7.3 million on lobbying and advertising in the third quarter of 2009, more than six times what it spent in the previous quarter. "In the fourth quarter we are on target to do as much, if not more," Keane said. "We really don't know when the threat is over."

Lobbyists for the industry groups argue that soft drinks cannot be blamed for obesity. A beverage tax, they say, would unfairly single out one type of product and would be a particular burden on low-income people, who can least afford to pay a few cents more per can or bottle.

"To say soda is the only cause of obesity, that's not correct. Just walk down the street and count the number of White Castles or Burger Kings or Jack in the Box," said Nelson Eusebio, executive director of the National Supermarket Association. "If we eliminate soda, would people stay away from fried food, hot dogs and all the other junk out there?"

Supporters of a beverage tax make the comparison to tobacco, saying that it makes sense to impose a levy on sugary drinks to offset health care costs. Such beverages now account for 10 to 15 percent of the calories consumed by children and adolescents, according to an April 2009 report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"For each extra can or glass of sugared beverage consumed per day, the likelihood of a child becoming obese increases by 60 percent," said the article, co-authored by Kelly D. Brownell, a professor of psychology at Yale University, and Thomas R. Frieden, a physician who was then New York City health commissioner and now heads the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Sugar-sweetened beverages ... may be the single largest driver of the obesity epidemic," wrote the authors, who argued for a federal or state tax.

In the Senate, a federal beverage tax was not perceived as a deep enough well of potential revenue, some congressional aides said in interviews. Others pointed out that the members of the Senate Finance Committee are especially sympathetic to the food industry: Democratic Chairman Max Baucus hails from Montana, a large producer of sugar beets. Iowa, the home state of ranking Republican Chuck Grassley, is the nation's largest producer of corn.

"It ran into a committee with a lot of farm members," said Chuck Marr, director of federal policy at the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington that examines fiscal policies. "Senate Finance is a farm-dominated committee."

The National Corn Growers Association spent $200,000 to lobby Congress against the tax and other issues through September, records show. Jon Doggett, an association spokesman, said other factions of the sugar lobby pushed hard on Congress, but didn't describe their work on public filings as specific to the sweetened beverage tax. "They have kind of kept their heads down a little bit," Doggett said. "Nobody plays politics better than the sugar guys."

In state capitals, the financial crisis has sparked more interest from officials scrambling to make up for lost tax revenue. Although 33 states have sales taxes that apply to soda, the taxes are not aimed at raising money for health care and generally are too low to affect consumption, according to another New England Journal of Medicine article. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group, released a study this October that estimated that states could generate as much as $10 billion a year by adding a seven-cent tax to a 12-ounce can.

This week's hearing in Los Angeles, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Alex Padilla, was prompted by a policy brief on soda consumption called "Bubbling Over," published in September by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy and UCLA. It found that 41 percent of the state's children between the ages of two and 11 drink at least one sweetened beverage a day.

One of the speakers will be Yale University's Brownell, co-founder and director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. He said he expects to see the beverage tax adopted first by the states.

"It's just a matter of time," Brownell said. "If the tobacco tax is any precedent--and I think it is--it will happen first in the states. ... If politicians in other states see it happen in California, they will see it as a winning issue."

Keane, of the beverage association, agrees that the industry has never faced such a political challenge. He said he helped design the television ad campaign for Americans Against Food Taxes to focus on families and to point out how a new tax could squeeze the middle class. One scenario portrayed a family at a campsite as a narrator intoned: "This is no time for Congress to be adding taxes on the simple pleasures we all enjoy, like juice drinks and soda .... We all want to improve health care, but taxes never made anyone healthy."

In two other 30-second ads that played in prime time in the past few weeks, a young mother says: "They say it's only pennies. Well, those pennies add up when you're trying to feed a family. Washington, are you listening? What doesn't seem like much to you can be a lot to us."

Keane said the ads were aimed at lawmakers more than consumers. "We found that all the lawmakers in D.C. get their news on satellite, so we had to buy national cable ads to reach them," Keane said. "It directly targeted the policymakers and staff and those who are directly active and engaged in the process."

In addition to the producers of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and Snapple, Americans Against Food Taxes also counts the U.S. Chamber of Commerce among its many partners and has encouraged Hispanic and African-American interest groups to write letters and send e-mail blasts against the sugar tax as unfair to lower-income families.

Elena Rios, a physician who is president of the National Hispanic Medical Association, said she sided with the beverage industry because a tax on soda wouldn't be "a comprehensive approach" to health problems in her community.

"I'm not convinced that [a sugared beverage tax] is a positive incentive to make people aware of nutrition," Rios said. "So instead of sugar, what do they use? Sweetener? I think we have to step back and take a broad approach."

The National Supermarket Association's Eusebio, a leader in Americans Against Food Taxes, said his organization is providing grassroots manpower. When New York Gov. Paterson raised the possibility of a soda tax, Eusebio organized petition drives in neighborhoods that would feel the pinch of a few pennies on a can of Coke.

At Key Food Supermarket at 161st Street in New York, shoppers who wanted to protest the tax waited in a line that stretched a city block, Eusebio said.

He has since coordinated with grocer associations in South Florida, Massachusetts and Connecticut - all who see a nickel-a-can tax as prohibitive.

"Unfortunately, these days whenever a state or federal government needs money--and right now the state of New York needs money--this is what happens," Eusebio said. "They are trying to make this out as something else. This is just a way to raise money."

Soft Drink Tax Lobby
A proposed soda tax to fund health care reform spurred lobby spending during the first three quarters of 2009. A look at the top 10 companies and organizations lobbying this issue. Editor's Note: Figures for Coca-Cola Enterprises and Coca-Cola Company have been combined. (Source: U.S. Senate Lobbying Contributions Database)

See all Huffington Post Investigative Fund coverage of health care.
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David Bronner: Bring In the Organic Police

2009-11-04T14:55:38Z

I am President of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a 60-year-old family company founded by my German-Jewish grandfather, Dr. Emmanuel Bronner in 1948. We produce the best-selling natural brand of liquid and bar soap in the United States from formulas that have been in my family for over 150 years.

Organic personal care for us and our customers is about traditional time-honored recipes handed down through generations, based on ingredients produced from organic agriculture with a bare minimum of synthetics and processing. Beginning in the 1940s, the world was flooded with cheaply-made synthetics, ranging from pesticides and food additives to detergents and plastics, all created in the laboratory largely from non-renewable petroleum. This widespread use of synthetics was hailed as "Better Living Through Chemistry," but its unintended consequences included pollution of the air and water, deterioration of soil nutrients and health, unhealthy overly processed foods, and synthetic ingredients in personal care products -- more than a few with significant toxicity issues.

A generation later, in a movement led by pioneers such as my grandfather, more and more people began changing the way they lived and consumed. That global, organic and sustainable movement that has taken shape over the last few decades continues to reject the intensive synthetic inputs and processes used in conventional agriculture and food processing. It also recognizes that traditional methods result in better soil and improved human and environmental health. In the realm of organic personal care, organic consumers expect "organic food for the skin" based on cleansers and moisturizers made from certified organic agricultural, not petrochemical, material. They expect that hand and body washes use traditional simple soaps made from organic oils, rather than modern synthetic surfactants made in part or entirely with petrochemicals. And they expect that organic unrefined oils and waxes, rather than synthetic silicone or hydrogenated vegetable oils, will be used as emollients and moisturizers.

Consumers trust "organic" personal care brands that voluntarily comply with the hard-fought USDA National Organic Program (NOP) regulations, the federal rules that govern the labeling as "organic" of both raw and manufactured food products and ensure consumers that such items are free of the chemicals they expect to not be present in "organic" products.

Unfortunately, compliance with the NOP is currently voluntary, not mandatory. For that reason, the current regulatory approach fails to protect consumers from misleading and deceptive labeling. People are paying a premium for personal care products they believe are organic when in fact they are made from the same petrochemicals used by brands that aren't even natural in the first place. The problem is that while the NOP enforces strict standards for the labeling of organic food products, the NOP has thus far declined to regulate "organic" personal care, thus fostering a business culture of fraud.

Just as America woke up to Wall Street abuses in the housing bubble, we are set to see the "organic" personal care bubble burst as well. Companies that make high profits off fraudulently labeled "organic" brands are slowly being exposed. Groups like the Organic Consumers Association have initiated a consumer boycott of such brands. The California Attorney General in May of 2008 sued leading so-called "organic" brands for 1,4-Dioxane contamination, produced when the petrochemical Ethylene Oxide is attached to their non-organic cleansers and moisturizers. But without federal NOP regulation and action, millions more will continue to be deceived, and trust in the integrity of organic products will be permanently compromised.

This month, USDA's National Organic Standards Board will vote on whether to recommend that the NOP regulate personal care products and "ensure consumers and businesses alike that the products have an unquestioned home in the USDA National Organic Program." If the Board recommends that USDA NOP undertake such regulation, the USDA should promptly act on that recommendation. Unfortunately, aggressive lobbying by "organic cheaters" may delay or derail such regulation.

In the meantime, to protect consumers and our own business from the fraudulent labeling that is already rampant, we have filed suit against prominent "organic cheater" brands under the federal law that bans false and misleading advertising. If companies cannot live up to their organic claims, they need to drop those claims. Deceptive practices that profit off growing consumer demand for healthy and environmentally friendly organic products must stop. We need the USDA NOP to step up and regulate personal care products. Now is the time to clean up the systemic consumer labeling fraud in organic body care, before the organic brand is damaged beyond repair. Bring in the organic police.

Consumer Group Finds Elevated BPA Levels In Range Of Foods

2009-11-04T11:05:16Z

A consumer advocacy group's analysis of canned goods has found measurable levels of the chemical additive bisphenol A, or BPA, across a range of foods, including some that were labeled "BPA free."

Gelato University: Yes, There Is Such A Place

2009-11-04T08:45:09Z

A school in Bologna, Italy teaches aspiring entrepreneurs everything they need to know about making -- and selling -- a delicious dessert

Read more: Food, Gelato, Gelato University, Style News

Joshua Rosenthal: How to Make Smart Food Choices When You're Confused And Overwhelmed

2009-11-03T16:10:38Z

There was a time when deciding what to eat was fairly easy. It consisted of walking outside to the garden and picking out what was available and in season, and sometimes trading with a neighbor.

Now it's more complicated. At the grocery store there are aisles and aisles of choices; different types and brands of cereals, condiments, snacks, sauces and drinks; so many packaged and processed foods!

Reading a food label can also be daunting. The ingredient list goes on and on and so do the syllables. The shelf life of supermarket food is important to the manufacturer, so the ingredients quite often contain preservatives. The look and attractiveness of a product is also a factor, so dyes and colorings are added as well.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration regulates food labeling. The Nutrition Facts contain lots of information, including nutrient content, amounts of calories, sugar, fat, cholesterol and sodium, all in the context of serving size and a 2000-2500 calorie diet. Manufacturers are required to list ingredients in descending order by weight, from most to least. Health claims are found on many food labels, such as "high fiber, low fat content" as a way to lower risk of cancer.

Smart Choices, a front-of-pack nutrition labeling program, which debuted in August, was designed to help shoppers make better food choices. Smart Choices was scrutinized by the F.D.A because it was apparently giving approval to foods like high sugar cereals and high fat mayonnaise. The government agencies feared the program would mislead consumers, causing them to purchase products based on their green check mark seal of approval, instead of their actual nutritional content. The program has since suspended operations. Isn't it interesting that a program can suggest a product, whose first listed ingredient is sugar, a smart choice?
When shopping for food, I suggest following a few guidelines that make things simple so you can be confident of a truly smart choice.

1. Stick to the outer aisles of the store. That's where you'll find fresh produce, and more whole foods. I like to eat by the colors of the rainbow, and put lots of foods from the produce aisle with vibrant color in my cart. Leafy greens, blueberries, red apples and oranges are staples.

2. Try the unwrapped diet. If food is in a box and you have to unwrap it, more than the packaging is added. Wrapping means processing, preservatives, and chemicals are packed into the food.

3. Read the labels! What is the first ingredient? Is it some form of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup? Are vitamins and minerals represented in high or low quantities? What is the fat and sodium content? Are there ingredients that you've never heard of or cannot pronounce? These are all important questions when deciding if a product is a smart choice or a poor choice.
A health counselor and recent graduate of our school told of a client who began to incorporate some of these guidelines when food shopping. This woman began to shop primarily in the produce aisle and even started going to her local health food store for quality organic foods. Within a few short weeks she noticed a marked improvement in her overall health, dropping pounds and gaining confidence in the kitchen and out. I believe we all have the ability to make smart choices when deciding what is best for our health.

Joshua Rosenthal is the founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the largest nutrition school in the world. Visit the site for a free "14 Days to a Healthier You" coaching program.