There was a post on Serious Eats titled Food Trend you wish would fade away? Of the 160+ comments left, there were a handful that stood out to me. Those were left from the people who were hatin on the “organic” and “local” food trends. These comments reiterated to me how disconnected from food we have become. I’m pretty sure, but organic...
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One of my imaginary friends on Facebook, Michael Martz, said that he was listening to a local SoCal radio station. They were discussing how organic food wasn’t as nutritious as non-organic and that the farming practices couldn’t sustain the world. He wanted my thoughts on this. The show was titled The Non-Organic Future. I’ve heard these arguments...
There was a post on Nourished Kitchen titled The Fight to Label GMOs & 7 Ways You Can Avoid GMOs. The post was about fighting to have GMO (genetically modified organism) foods labeled as such. They currently aren’t. The author of the post, Jenny, writes how the food choices you make are becoming political statements and, “No longer do you choose whether...
Books are what really got me started down this path of wellness and health. They are the ones that made me want to start growing my own food. Not gardening books, but books about food, health and the environment. Here are four food quotes from books that are eye opening and can really get you thinking. Ideally, a meal should be enjoyed at the dinner table with friends...
Earth Day is coming up this Friday and every company is jumping on the Earth Day bandwagon. They are doing “ABC in honor of Earth day” or “XYZ to celebrate Earth Day.” It’s all a bunch of BS and greenwashing. I mean it’s great that people are acknowledging it, but unless true habits form, it’s all for naught and just another...
There was a post on Change.org, Federal Budget Cuts Threaten Food and Water Safety Programs, which should give you another reason to grow your own food and source as much of it locally as you can. Here’s an excerpt: Congress recently proposed a federal budget that threatens to eliminate critical funding for food safety and clean water programs, placing the health and safety of all Americans at risk. Since our country is in such an economic crisis, Congress sees it fit to cut the budget when it comes to the safety of our food and...
Update: I was corrected by someone and told that People’s Gardens are the name for Community Gardens, not people’s individual gardens. It still doesn’t sit well with me. Last month the USDA announced People’s Gardens. I’m sure that my thoughts on why this database will be questioned by the “anything having to do with gardening...
There was a post on EcoSalon titled The Conscious Case Against Veganism by Abigail Wick. The gist of the post was that just because one is vegan that doesn’t mean that they are eating in a more sustainable way than an omnivore. This is a topic that I wrote about in the past on GreenLifestyle Magazine. To me what was most interesting about her post were the comments. The people who left comments were so tied to their label – be it vegan or omnivore. “As a vegan…” “Veganism is about…” People...
When President Obama was campaigning in 2008, there was all this promise of “change”. That was the rallying cry “change.” Everyone jumped on board and was happy when he was voted in. One of the first things that happened when he moved into office was his wife, Michelle, became the poster child for healthy living, especially for kids, with her Let’s Move program. She also received and continues to receive a lot of press coverage from traditional media about the organic garden in the White House that she had...
There was a post on SimpleBites.net by Aimee titled Why (and How) You Should Create a Healthy Food Culture for Your Family that got me thinking about the food and health culture that I’ve created and the one that I grew up with. Aimee’s talks about food culture as it relates to couples and kids, why food culture is important today, the food culture of her family and how you can create one of your own. I’d like to address some of those same issues and some others as well. My Food Culture Growing Up Growing up I always...
The rising food prices have been in the news a lot lately. I mean c’mon it helped to cause an uprising in Egypt. Here in the States, the food prices are starting to rise as well. While indeed that may be true, it’s not the food that is too expensive it’s everything else that goes into getting the food to your plate that’s causing the price to increase. The Daily Green had a great post titled For Every Dollar You Spend on “Food,” Less than 16 Cents Pays for Food. They broke down where the money goes based...
One of the questions that I often get and have had myself for a while is where can you buy non-gmo seeds or seeds from companies that aren’t owned by Monsanto. Monsanto owns something like 90-95% of the seed companies out there. So the company might not be selling genetically engineered seeds, the money is still going into the pockets of Monsanto. I’m...
There are plenty of safety problems in the food industry and your dinner is linked to them. These safety problems are why you should grow your own food and organic gardening makes sense to me, but right now I want to discuss problems beyond the food. Let’s talk about how the workers are treated, but more specifically the female workers. There was an article on Alternet.org titled “Why Women Who Pick and Process Your Food Face Daily Threats of Rape, Harassment and Wage Theft.” That’s a pretty heavy title. Here’s...
Rodale.com has dubbed this month Plastic-Free February. From their site: We’re going plastic free in February—or at least, trying to. Follow our efforts, share your advice…and join us if you dare! After reading the difficulty that my fellow bloggers Christa and Theresa have experienced and what rock star Michael Nolan is already doing to reduce his dependence...
One of the biggest news stories over the past week has been the USDA’s announcement that it’s going to be deregulating Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa. There has been a lot of confusion circulating around this news. This confusion started with Organic Consumers Association report that the “Organic Elite” of Whole Foods, Stonyfield Farms and Organic Valley decided to surrender the fight. They decided to give up and select what amounts to the lesser of the presented evils. I’m always for listening...
Last week the Eatocracy section of CNN.com posted an article titled – Study shows people don’t give a crap how many calories they eat. The results of a study showed that, “Posting calories on menus has little effect on what customers buy, according to a recent study.” Besides the fact that it’s slightly awesome that CNN put the word “crap” in their headline, I think that calorie counting in and of itself is a bunch of crap. If you eat real whole foods, you won’t have to worry about calories....
There was a post on Rodale.com on rodent control and how it was effecting barn owls. Even though this post wasn’t specifically about gardening, it can certainly be related to why organic gardening makes sense. Here’s an excerpt from the post: Other studies have found these dangerous chemicals building up in the bodies of herbivorous animals like squirrels and deer. Scientists aren’t sure why they’re building up in herbivores, but the evidence suggests that the chemicals are extremely persistent in the environment...
One of the food blogs that I regularly read, Fooducate, had a post 2011 Food and Nutrition Trends. It was a recap from some of the top food industry experts Marion Nestle, The Food Channel, Food & Wine and Mintel. I’d like to contribute my predicted 2011 food trend as well. I am going to predict that people will continue to take their food back from the hands of corporations. More people will start to grow their own food and reestablish that connection with their food source. It’s already begun, and I believe will continue...
One of the biggest stories and bills that’s out there right now is the S510 Food Safety Modernization Act that recently passed Senate. There is lots of speculation and to do about this bill because it can have a huge impact on growers both large and small. It’s written in legalese and has a bunch of amendments and additions to it that it’s confusing to follow and understand what’s going on. Grist.org has been covering the bill in more detail. With all of that being said, there is one thing that I definitely don’t...
Most people only give thanks for their food during their Thanksgiving (or other holiday) meals. It’s usually done as an afterthought. My question is why is being thankful for the food on our plate part of our daily routines? Why is it something reserved for Thanksgiving? To me this is another example of how disconnected we’ve become from our food source. Thanksgiving is usually a time when friends and families congregate together to be thankful for each other. Giving thanks for the food is done as a, “Oh yea thanks for...
