Emulsifiers are in everything!

Last weekend, there was an opinion piece in the NY Times regarding how additives in processed foods negatively affect your gut microbiome, in particular mentioning emulsifiers and food thickeners. This isn't news exactly, this has been known for the last several years. But more research has shown what they do to the lining of your gut.

These are your guts on emulsifiers!

I've been having increased issues with food sensitivities over the last ten years and find that I have more and more issues with an increasing number of foods that I've had to eliminate. I can still eat them, but I generally have bad gastrointestinal issues, migraines and skin problems.

As a result of these food sensitivities, I've stopped eating foods that contain:

• gluten
• soy
• nightshades (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes)
• nitrates
• msg
• fermented foods

From the research I've done, I've found that these emulsifiers act as surfactants that break down the protective barrier lining your guts, causing food and bacterial encroachment into your bloodstream which results in an immune response. This is commonly referred to as a leaky gut and more and more scientific studies are showing this is actually a thing (versus pretending it was all in our heads).

The most offensive emulsifiers include:

• carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), otherwise known as cellulose gum
• polysorbate-80 (P80)
• carrageenan
• MDX, maltodextrin, modified starches (corn, wheat, tapioca, etc.)
• lecithin, soy lecithin (the jury is still out on these)

Additional gums that cause problems include:

• guar gum
• locust bean gum
• carob gum
• gellen gum
• cellulose gum
• tara gum
• xanthan gum

Needless to say, after looking at the processed foods (all organic) that I routinely eat, these emulsifiers are in EVERYTHING. From ice cream to salad dressing, sauces, chocolate, tortillas, and gluten-free anything, they are almost impossible to avoid.

Right now I'm on an elimination diet to get it out of my guts for at least 6 weeks and then see if I can challenge eating the foods that were causing me problems.

All this time I thought I had a gluten sensitivity, but I'm starting to think I have a surfactant reaction to these modifiers that's making me sensitive to all these other foods that I used to be able to eat without issue.

I'll be posting some recipes for substitutes to products that I've been eating that contain numerous and, in some cases, up to 5 of the emulsifiers and gums listed above. Just because something is organic or "natural" doesn't mean it doesn't have potentially harmful ingredients in them.

What about you? Are you finding that you are having more food sensitivity issues as you've gotten older?

Articles for your own research:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4615306/

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/02/25/food-additives-inflame-mouse-guts-by-disturbing-microbes/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568997215000245

https://dailyhealthpost.com/beware-of-emulsifiers-like-soy-lecithin-used-in-processed-foods-its-hurting-your-gut-health/

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14232

https://www.forbes.com/sites/fayeflam/2015/02/26/study-suggests-chemical-emulsifiers-in-food-are-disrupting-gut-microbes-and-making-us-fat/#7f6df5825f08

Coconut Bliss review

Coconut Bliss. Oh, how I love thee - let me count the ways...

When I was doing my month long detox in January for my book on toxins I eliminated all sources of dairy. I also avoided sweets, but one thing I did indulge in was organic dark chocolate and a container or two of Coconut Bliss ice cream. Well, it's not ice "cream" so much as a frozen dessert because it's non-dairy and vegan.

It's base is made from coconut milk rather than milk, cream and eggs, like ice cream. While most flavors have a mild coconut flavor it's not overwhelming and some flavors don't have much of a coconut taste to it at all. If you have sensitivities to dairy, soy or gluten products or are lactose intolerant, this coconut ice cream is a great alternative. My favorite definitely has to be the Mint Galactica. My picky kids loved it and even preferred it over Häagen-Daz.

What's the story with Coconut Bliss? Well, the ingredients are certified organic, the company works directly with farmers in Thailand for their source of coconut milk and their chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and coffee ingredients are certified fair trade. The company itself is a hippie's dream come true, with a biker's incentive for staff members and they provide someone to come into the office three days a week to prepare vegan, organic lunches. Plus, they are located in awesome Eugene, OR.

Having tried various non-dairy frozen desserts in the past, I fully expected it to taste like crap or, at the very least, cardboard but I was overwhelmed at how comparable it is to "real" ice cream. So, in the future, in spite of the extra cost I will definitely be picking up Coconut Bliss instead of ice cream not just for the taste, but for the health benefits of coconut milk as well.

Please note: I am in no way being compensated for this review and have no connection whatsoever with Coconut Bliss. Although I'd be happy to advertise this awesome product in exchange for food.

This is your food on drugs

Señor Philpott over at Grist has another post up regarding the sustainability of our food supply.

In the post, The way we eat is trashing the fragile conditions that make human life possible, Tom explores the problem with producing and distributing lots and lots of calories, leveraged by fossil fuel and synthetic fertilizers and poisons. This may solve certain short-term problems but the practice also creates long-term ones that won’t be easily solved.

Go check it out and see how our nation's corn and soy crops are dependent on a Roundup and Atrazine cocktail. The hangover sucks and the withdrawal is catastrophic. What's next, corn stalks huffing all the nitrous oxide off-gassing from the synthetic nitrogen fertilizers?

When you read this kind of stuff does it make you irate and more willing to choose organic and/or sustainable crops?

Omnivore's Delusion: Debunked

It's been a while since I've had so much to say and I've got a crapton of posts lined up. I hate to throw this post under the Saturday bus (when readership is low), but I thought it was an important article for y'all to check out.

Tom Philpott has a response in Grist to the article, The Omnivore's Delusion: Against the Agri-Intellectuals written by a corn/soy farmer from Missouri published in The American, a right-wing journal.

Tom starts off by acknowledging the obvious issues inherent with sustainable agriculture such as these three big challenges:

1) soil fertility—in the absence of synthesized nitrogen and mined phosphorous and potassium, how are we to build soil fertility on a larger scale?;
2) labor—sustainable farming requires more hands on the ground; who’s going to work our farm fields, and at what wages?; and
3) access—in an economy built on long-term wage stagnation, how can we make sustainably grown food accessible to everyone?

He then goes on to discuss the flaws in the Omnivore's Delusion article. I'll leave you to read what Tom Philpott has to say since he's going to do a better job than I. So go check it out! And come back here and let me know what you think.

Is there a problem with bananas?

Unless you are my Dad and have a bunch of banana trees in your backyard, odds are that the bananas available to you in stores are in no way local. Even if you do live in an area that supports bananaculture (yes, I made that up), they won't be available year round.

So, what's a banana loving gal or guy to do? Well, the next best thing if you must have bananas is to buy organically grown ones. Even some of the major suppliers (Del Monte, Dole and Chiquita) now provide organic bananas. But, how sustainable are they? We know for a fact that they are shipped in from afar, raising the carbon footprint considerably, but what else is there to consider?

Is there really a difference in taste? I totally think so. The difference in flavors from conventional bananas and organic ones is huge. At least for me. However, there are plenty of issues with non-fair trade bananas, mostly revolving around workers' rights, dealing with terrorists and the like. In other words, fairly nasty business (check out link at the end for more information). The organic major brands are better than conventionally grown, but are by no means an option that will let you sleep soundly at night.

If you are lucky enough to have access to Grow brand organic bananas, you can purchase these bananas that don't cost much more per pound (at least in my area) than the conventionally grown, pesticide, non-crop rotated bananas. What's the difference? Well, let me tell you... they actually give a crap about the farmers who grow the bananas. From their website:

The GROW Fund supports numerous efforts that improve the lives of workers, their families and their surrounding communities. It also requires farmers to use Organic Unlimited's ecologically friendly farming techniques that protect the earth and allow for sustainable agriculture. The GROW Fund ethos forms Organics Unlimited's corporate culture. The company pledges to treat its employees with respect and dignity, provide a pleasant work environment, and be a socially responsible company.

There are other companies that provide fair trade certified bananas that may be available in your area. These bananas are much more available in the UK and Europe so if you live overseas, you'll have better luck buying them. In the meantime, keep your eyes (and your bananas) peeled for sustainably, humanely farmed bananas.

To really read into why Dole and Chiquita are problematic companies (think of the meaning behind "Banana Republic"), you can find out more about the belly of the beast in this article here.

Do you eat bananas or have you given them up for environmental reasons? If you still buy bananas, do you get conventional, organic and/or fair trade?

Crunchy chocolate - organic and ethical

I do love me some chocolate. My husband is quite the chocolate connoisseur and you'll find a few books on the history of chocolate and chocolate making on our bookshelves. Add to that our propensity for making our own truffles and chocolate pastries and, well, let's say that we know our way around the Cluizels, Guittards and Valrhonas of the world. Add to that the chocolate making classes and you wouldn't be too far off from calling us chocolate snobs. And, I'm okay with that.

Unfortunately, there's a huge derth when it comes to high quality, good tasting organic, fair trade chocolate. It's an unbelievable injustice, I say. Basically, I stick with Green & Black's or Theo Chocolate if I want to go organic, but they still lack the same sort of mouth feel that the high-end chocolates invoke. I like both of them well enough, but I still would like a whole lot more selection with organic chocolates.

So, when Seeds of Change contacted me to review their new product, Seeds of Change Chocolate, I was more than delighted. Gleeful, even. The chocolate is certified organic and ethically produced. They also donate 1% of net sales to promote sustainable organic farming initiatives worldwide.

They sent me quite the variety of their chocolate bars and I've been (slowly) sampling through them. I'm not a huge fan of milk chocolate so my son, chocolatier in training, has been helping me out on those. This is the same child who informed us that his Valentine chocolates from a friend at school didn't have chocolate filling, but ganache. Brought a tear to my eye. Sniff.

Anyway, I generally like my chocolate straight up without any doo-dads in them, but Seeds of Change Chocolate has a number of flavors with extras in them if you go for that sort of thing. The Dark Chocolate with Coconut was a little too Mounds Bar-esque for me, but I liked the Dark Chocolate with Mango & Cashew as well as the Dark Chocolate with Cherries & Vanilla. The Milk Chocolate was exceptionally good (for a milk). All the dark chocolate varieties have a great mouth feel, good flavor and no bitter aftertaste. My only complaint is that the percentage of cacao is only 61% - I tend towards the 70% and higher.

Of course, all this has been tempered (get it? tempered - I so entertain myself!) by the fact that we've been eating chocolates my brother just brought back from a month in Paris. La Maison du Chocolat is the best freaking chocolate on the planet, in my opinion. Oh, how the couverture crackles over the ganache! Ooh la la, indeed.

But, I digress. If you want to go organic, sustainable and ethical, Seeds of Change Chocolates should definitely be on the top of your list along with Theo and Green & Black's. Getting hungry?

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge

I've been reading a bit lately about the argument that the sustainable food / organic movement is really only affordable by the middle and upper classes. Basically, those who can afford to shop at Whole Foods or the like. I tend to disagree wholeheartedly because there are many avenues to buying organic, sustainable or local foods without breaking the bank.

First off is where you are shopping. Sure, if you go to Whole Paycheck and buy their gourmet, packaged items you are going to ring up quite a tally. But, if you skip the morels, cave aged Gruyere and imported organic wines and stick to the in-season local fruits and vegetables and the bulk aisle, even Whole Foods can be somewhat affordable. Locally owned grocery stores more often will carry locally grown food over chain supermarkets. So you'll need to take into consideration whether locally grown fruits and vegetables that are sustainably grown but not certified organic or even use some non-organic practices are 'better' than Walmart organic produce grown half-way around the world.

Another alternative is shopping at your local food co-op if you have one. If you do, consider yourself extremely lucky because there you will find more food grown locally and at more reasonable prices. Hell, you might as well become a member of the co-op and reap the other benefits generally available to members.

Farmers markets are certainly on the rise. We have a ton in the Seattle area and, each year, more are opening up, which is so exciting even if I don't always get a chance to shop there. The best part of buying at the farmers markets is that you get to "meet the producer". In other words, you can ask all sorts of questions of the grower to get an idea of how that food was raised (organic, sustainable, with or without pesticides, etc.). But, the best part is also the fact that you are buying directly, so prices tend to be cheaper. Since you are also buying what's in season and fresh, the prices will be more inexpensive as well. If you are willing to eat seasonally, you can really reap the savings.

Finally, don't forget U-Pick, farm stands and on farm purchases. The U-Pick option tends to be extremely inexpensive mostly because you are doing the manual labor. Of course, you do have to take into consideration your own time with this one, but if you can spare the few moments to head out to your closest farm, then it's well worth the trip to stock up and do some preserving.

To stretch your food dollars even more, eating less meat is one huge way to go to reducing your costs. Sticking to grains, legumes and nuts can provide great sources of protein at a fraction of the cost. Additionally, cutting back on dairy can stretch out your food budget as well.

So, the question remains... is it possible to eat an organic or sustainably grown diet on a budget? A few years ago, there was the argument that those individuals who received food assistance from the government didn't receive enough money to be able to afford healthy food. Some took it further and argued that poor Americans really were excluded from being able to eat sustainably strictly because of the higher costs. There are a number of factors at play here, the majority of which have to do with food availability such as the fact that not many supermarkets remain in some inner city areas and it's difficult to travel out to the suburbs to shop at stores that sell the kinds of foods we are talking about here.

But, for the rest of us, can it be done? For those of us who live in areas where ample farmers markets, farms and grocery stores selling sustainably grown food exist, is it affordable?

I'd like to challenge us all to see if we can eat sustainably using the Food Stamp Allotment Program guidelines. It will take a lot of careful planning, but the end result is that we can save a lot of money on our food budget by trying to spend within this framework for a month.

Challenge Guidelines
So, here's the skinny. Based on the following allotment chart, you are to stick to the corresponding amount for food for the month of April. The challenge is that you must buy according to the following guidelines (from Locavores). Do not include non-food items or home grown items into your budget, but do include seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat. Make sure you include all the food costs from eating out, trips to coffee shops, etc.

These are fairly loose rules, but the goal is to buy sustainably grown food:

1. If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.
2. If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.
3. If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.
4. If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Terroir: purchase foods famous for the region they are grown in.
5. Hit the farmers market before the supermarket.

Household Maximum Monthly Allotment Chart:
1 person - $176
2 people - $323
3 people - $463
4 people - $588
5 people - $698
6 people - $838
7 people - $926
8 people - $1,058
Each additional person - $132

Sign Me Up!
To sign up for the challenge, add your name to the comments of this post. I'll be doing weekly check-ins to see how everyone is faring and for you to confess your non-sustainably grown food purchases.

This should be a difficult challenge for most of us since it's combining a tight budget with buying sustainably grown foods. For those of you already ahead of the curve, feel free to lower the budget amount and see if you can squeeze in even more savings.

What's growing?

I know y'all probably don't care too much about what I have growing in my backyard, but I'm pretty excited about it and wanted to share. Plus, this acts as a recorded catalog of what I have so I can look back on it later. And, I really need to update the sidebar list.

Anyway, I generally announce here and there what I'm planting so I thought I'd create a complete list so you can see how it's possible to squeeze in a bunch of stuff into an urban lot. I still have quite a bit more yard to work with and quite a bit more lawn I can put raised beds into so there are always plans for the future if I want to expand the volume.

Okay, here we go! These are listed in no particular order.

Vegetables
Black Krim tomatoes
San Marzano tomatoes
Sweet Million cherry tomatoes
Napa cabbage
Viroflay spinach
Nero Di Toscana kale
Purple top globe turnips
Bulls blood beets
Mixed mustard greens
Broccoli raab
Black beauty zucchini
Cucumbers
Leeks
Early Italian purple garlic
Yukon Gold potatoes
French Fingerling potatoes
Oregon sugar snap peas
Anaheim peppers
Cayenne peppers
Sugar Pie pumpkins

Fruits
Tristar strawberries
Meyer lemon
Dwarf fig negronne
4 x 1 cherry (Rainier, Lapin, Bing, Sweetheart)
Bluecrop blueberries
Olympia blueberries
Catawba grapes
Pinot Noir grapes

Herbs
French tarragon
Genovese sweet basil
Italian flatleaf parsley
Dukat dill
Berggarten sage
Rosemary
Dark leaf oregano
English lavender
English thyme
Bay laurel
Spearmint

Whew! I think I've got them all. I ripped out a huge rose bush yesterday and hope to plant a dwarf Honeycrisp or Akane apple tree in its place. I still have a bunch more work to do in the yard to get it where I want it, but at least this is a start!

I'm going to try to keep the winter produce going this year. It just takes a lot of daily planning since we tend to not go out back when it's cold and it gets so dark early during the winter that I generally don't want to rummage around out back to get food and herbs when I'm making dinner.

Speaking of winter vegetables... what's your favorite winter vegetable?

Anal retentive organics

It's back to school time and with that comes cooperation with other parents in a group environment. At Emma's preschool there is a demand by one of the parents to only provide organic foods for snack time. We've known this family for several years and every year it's the same, although this year the pressure on the rest of the parents is more intense. From the school:

We are also striving to make organic choices for our snacks. Snack items such as dairy and meats (for non-vegetarian families) have specifically been requested to be organic, so if you are able to buy organic foods please sign up for those.

On one hand, I applaud the fact that they are moving to providing only organic snack items. But, some of the parents are completely freaking out about providing snacks now. For some it's a cost issue, but for many, they just don't generally buy organics so they don't know what to get.

One thing that I think gets lost in the shuffle is the whole concept of organic as being the only healthy choice. Organic food items coming from China and South America do not follow the same stringent (albeit watered-down in recent years) rules as produce and food products manufactured and/or sold in the U.S.

So, while it may appear to be "organic", how does that compare to a local producer who follows Oregon Tilth organic practices yet doesn't or can't afford to become certified organic? Some producers may even choose to not be certified on principle yet follow stringent organic and permaculture farming techniques.

The important thing is to take into consideration all factors when choosing your food, particularly for our little ones. Buying organic food from Walmart or the like does not necessarily guarantee that you are getting a better product when compared to something seemingly conventional.

You can also look for labels such as Certified Ecologically Sound, Food Alliance Certified, or local (state) certifications for sustainably grown food. So, there's one more reason to shop at farmers markets or at stores where you get to know the grower and find out more about how your food is produced.

Planting a fall and winter garden

Just because summer is almost at its end doesn't mean you have to shut down your gardening opportunities. If you live in a very cold northern clime, hoop houses, row covers and cloches can help to extend your season. If you live in a warmer clime, well, this post probably isn't too applicable, but I'm sure these vegetables will grow where you live as well.

There are two things to keep in mind when planting crops for fall and winter harvest: temperature and number of hours of daylight. You can only fool some veggies so much before they just decide to either give up or overwinter.

Yesterday, I prepared one of my beds for my fall and winter crops. I dug out all the radishes (most were too puny and bolting to keep around) and all the red onions for storage. I left the row of tomatoes in the back as they are still going strong. I added in a couple inches of compost and then went to town planting my winter hardy crops.

Since our first frost date around here is at the end of November, I found the vegetables that had a growing period of 60 days or less to make sure they were mostly "finished" before frosty weather arrives. I also ordered a number of winter hardy types last year and got those out.

What I ended up planting were some Napa Cabbage that I bought as seedlings over the weekend as well as spinach, kale, purple top white globe turnips, beets, broccoli raab and sugar snap peas.

I'm curious to see how successful they'll be. Since we are still having warmish weather at least for a little while longer I'm hoping they'll get off to a good start. Early next month is when I'll go totally bonkers planting garlic. It was such an easy success last year that I want to plant a whole lot more for next summer's harvest.

I also am freezing the tomatoes (for making sauce later) as well as shredded zucchini (4 cups from the one I picked yesterday) for making bread when it's not so hot out. I just need to remember that I have them in the chest freezer.

By the way, here's an interesting article from the New York Times last week about finding local wheat and growing it yourself: Flour That Has the Flavor of Home. It makes me want to plant a patch of wheat in my front lawn.

Anyway, are you planting anything for fall/winter? If so, what?

The other white meat

Last week The New Scientist reported the results of a study regarding the disease rates in organic pigs versus ones raised conventionally.

This is a no brainer, right? The organic pigs are by far going to be healthier, have less exposure to disease given their healthier living conditions and just generally be happier and shinier, right? Um, well, no.

According to the study, done by researchers from the College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University, of the U.S. pigs that were tested, they found traces of Salmonella in 39% of the conventionally raised pigs (which are routinely given antibiotics) and in 54% of organic pigs raised outdoors without the drugs. Did you just snort those pork rinds out yer snout? Well, read on.

Additionally, the study found that two of the organic pigs had signs of infection with Trichinella, our dear roundworm friend that can cause trichinosis when undercooked pork is eaten. Trichinella has been nearly eradicated in livestock in the the U.S. and Europe, although it still exists in wildlife. The rate they found it was 23 times the average frequency in conventional piggies.

And, just to wrap things up, the researchers also found traces of the parasite Toxoplasma, which is carried by cats and other animals, in 1% of conventional pigs and 7% of free-range animals. For those of you who have been pregnant, you will recognize this as the parasite that can damage developing fetuses.

Now, before you start throwing out all your organic pork products in fear for your life let me remind you that as long as pork is cooked thoroughly according to federal guidelines, the presence of these infectious agents in food animals should pose no risk to human health. So, what's one to do? Shooting pigs up with antibiotics prophylactically breeds antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but not giving them drugs means more animals carry Salmonella and other nasties.

This doesn't, of course, take into consideration animal welfare or other environmental impacts, but if we were to look strictly at food safety this poses a huge conundrum. Does eliminating antibiotic pre-treatment create an environment for the resurgence of diseases that we thought were somewhat under control? What does this all signify and can the same parallels be drawn in other animal stock? Will we see similar results if organic poultry and cattle operations are similarly studied and compared against conventional?

The obvious argument will be just to choose a vegan or vegetarian diet and you then eliminate all chance of meat-borne pathogens, but let's face it, that's just not a realistic answer.

Now comes the biggest question of them all, if you dig deep into the bowels of the original study article in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease you'll find this gem: "This project was funded by a grant from the National Pork Board (NPB-04-108)."

How significant is that? If you read the study it appears that the researchers are basically just reporting the numbers of animals found exhibiting the presence of certain pathogens, but we all know how numbers can be massaged to support one argument over another. How can we trust food safety research if there is the possibility of an ulterior motive funded by industry?

In either case, we are in a bit of a pickle. On one hand, organic pork appears to have more contaminants. If this isn't actually the case, then we are being bombarded by food safety studies that are skewed to smear the organic industry.

So, what should we do with this information?

Christmas Eve menu

And it was sooooo good.

I tried to use organic and local when I could. I used received Christmas cards as place markers, and real glassware, dishes, silverware and napkins. There was very little waste created, hardly anything thrown out and a ton of leftovers.

My friends and I exchanged homemade gifts in reusable gift bags. All in all, I'd say we had a pretty Green Holiday party.

Merry Christmas to you!