Buying locally produced foods is important for superior nutrition, environmental reasons (no fossil fuel based shipping), and because it keeps important dollars in the local economy.  Congratulations to HEB for being an excellent civic and environmental citizen!

See our Live-Eat-Buy Local section for a list of local vendors for fresh foods, farmers markets, and restaurants offering locally sourced fare.

The site has great resources for parents and you can become a member if you like. Here’s a quote to give you an idea of what they offer: “Have you been told “They won’t eat it” and “It’s too expensive” in response to wanting to improve the food in your school cafeteria?  Then we have good news for you! A study done by the University of Minnesota has found that school lunch sales don’t decline when healthier meals are served. The study also shows that more nutritious lunches don’t necessarily cost schools more to produce.”

Another good site is www.farmtoschool.org, which connects schools with local farms in school districts across the nation.  There are 1200 participating school districts in Texas, and the program helps improve the quality of food and is environmentally sound because the produce is more local.  Visit these sites to learn more about how this important component of your child’s education is being handled, and if you see a need for improvement; jump in and be part of the solution for your own kids and others. 

Here’s great Youtube video from Whole Foods called “Five Ways to Help Your School”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6wSLaP1a0c&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=F68DD6C0034EA90D

1. Canned Tomatoes-  The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Acidity — a prominent characteristic of tomatoes — causes BPA to leach into your food.

2. Corn-Fed Beef- The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of books on sustainable farming

Cattle were designed to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. A recent comprehensive study found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

3. Microwave Popcorn- The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group

Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize — and migrate into your popcorn.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes- The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting.

5. Farmed Salmon- The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany

Nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT.

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones- The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

7. Conventional Apples- The expert: Mark Kastel, codirector of the Cornucopia Institute

If fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides with Parkinson’s disease.

Everyone loves to eat, so let’s start with FOOD!  There is so much benefit to the planet and to our health with attentive eating choices.

+Buy local and organic as much as you can, and support restaurants that use locally sourced produce and meats.  Grow some of your own!

There are health benefits and fuel saving benefits galore from adopting this practice, and it turns out to be fun (addictive, even) to support local growers, choose organics, and even grow some of our own.  Make changes gradually.  Start by buying produce once a month from a farmer’s market.  Take your grocery tote (Stanberry has them free for you if you need some!) and talk to the folks who raise/make the stuff.  If you don’t like that idea, try a delivery service like Greenling.  When you shop at a supermarket, add “how far away did this come from?” to the list of items you always compare, like price and health benefits.   Organic onions farmed in Texas may cost more than conventionally grown onions from California, but if you also consider the amount of fuel used to get them here, the “bigger picture” vote is for the Texas onions.  As we collectively begin to change the way we make purchase decisions, the market changes in response.  Our demand creates more supply, which helps prices come down.

We have become accustomed to having whatever we want, whenever we want it, and forget to factor the fuel cost of shipping items over long distances.  Produce shipped over long distances like this is invariably pulled green, fumigated, waxed, and otherwise made to tolerate unnatural handling.  The growing practices for huge production farms are not sustainable or earth friendly.  Growing and raising food that is intended for a local market results in healthier food, better stewardship of the land, and more dollars being used directly in our local communities.   Remember to include wine, spirits, cheeses, honey, eggs, oils, jellies, nuts, etc. in your “I Love Local” planning.

Regarding food and playing your part in defense of the environment, try to eat “lower on the food chain”.  Start small if you need to; one vegetarian meal a week may whet your appetite for more.  If meat is a must for you, buy from local small farm sources.  It takes a lot more fuel, water, and energy to produce meat than plants, and the production of meat animals by the huge factory farms that produce most of what is in our grocery stores is seriously harmful to the soil, air and water.  The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization tells us the livestock sector produces more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks worldwide combined.  The health benefits of eating more grains, vegetables, and fruit are widely known, as well.  Take steps in this direction for the health of you, your family, and the environment.

Here are some good sites to help you get started, or further your knowledge if you have been at this practice for a while:

http://citizengardener.ning.com/           http://www.austinfarmtotable.com/  www.localharvest.org

www.edibleaustin.com        www.austinfarmersmarket.org     www.greenling.com    

And check the Live-Eat-Buy Local section on this Stanberry Green Living site…

CooksDen decided to apply the scientific method to that important question. They brought in an unbiased test subject — one who has superior taste buds, is unaffected by marketing hype, and is unafraid to express her opinions publicly.

Meet Hammy the Hamster. Hammy was kind enough to participate in hours of rigorous testing in order to get to the bottom of this critical issue. Read on for the results — they just may surprise you.

Highlights

First off, a bit about their technique is in order. Hammy was asked to repeatedly choose between an organic food item and a conventional item of the same type. Click on this video link to see documentation of several test trials.

Hammy goes Organic!

Relaxation of the federal standards, and an explosion of consumer demand, have helped push the organics market into a $23 billion-a-year business, the fastest growing segment of the food industry. Half of the country’s adults say they buy organic food often or sometimes, according to a survey last year by the Harvard School of Public Health.

The market’s expansion is fueling tension over whether the federal program should be governed by a strict interpretation of “organic” or broadened to include more products by allowing trace elements of non-organic substances. The argument is not over whether the non-organics pose a health threat, but whether they weaken the integrity of the federal organic label.

Washington Post article—read full article here:  http://tinyurl.com/lhqydg