Are America's children addicted to ....

New York Times article: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

Cheap processed food is the new crack

Federal panel: Don’t take vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent fractures

Federal panel: Don’t take vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent fractures

"My oncologist says the best way to get vitamin D is through 15 minutes of sunshine (even in the winter)  and to build strong bones is weight bearing exercises.  Hopefully, walking from the grocery store carrying groceries after a snow storm counts." - SuperMom101

The horsemeat scandal

This horesmeat scandal is similar to our "Pink Slime" 
Consumers feel duped

Just returned from the United Kingdom and this Horsemeat Scandal is HUGE.  I would liken it to our "pink slime" controversy last year.  Consumers feel duped that they have no idea what is really in their food supply, where it comes from and how badly it may be contaminated. Plus, you're paying for something entirely different than what you thought you were.  Social norms aside, doubt the healthiest horses are used for processing and they are administered drugs that are illegal for human consumption.  Plus, in this case, there is more than just a trace of pork in the beef products which is forbidden in the Jewish and Muslim communities.

Read entire post at Food Politics.

Side note:  had the pleasure of staying with a lovely Muslim family that follows the practice of consuming only Halal meat - fascinating how the "food rules" are similar to kosher:

Guarantee that the animal has been raised and butchered humanely.
No factory farmed meat here!

What is Halal?

According to the U.S. Halal Chamber of Commmerce:
In Arabic, the word halal means permitted or lawful. Halal foods are foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines. According to these guidelines gathered from the Qu'ran, Muslim followers cannot consume the following:

• pork or pork by products
• animals that were dead prior to slaughtering
• animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered in the name of Allah
•  blood and blood by products
• alcohol
• carnivorous animals
• birds of prey
• land animals without external ears 

Find the following post discussing the methods of butchering interesting as well and far more humane than factory farming.

Recent post at www.thekitchn.com:

My boyfriend owns a large Halal slaughter house in New York. Each animal is taken away from the other animals when it is slaughtered. It is given water to drink beforehand, and each animal is killed with one cut to the throat while ritual prayers are recited. The knives are re-sharpened before and after each killing. The animals are not kept in cages. The chickens are not piled on top of each other in crates. His poultry comes from Amish farms, and his lamb and goats are free range from Texas. The animals are fed all natural feed, and they are never given drugs or fed any animal by-products. 

The Halal laws are very similar to the Kosher laws. It is about respecting the creature whose life you are taking, and acting with reverent accordance. Two-thirds of my boyfriend's customers are not Muslim. They are just people looking for responsibly raised and slaughtered meat. I have lamb chops in my freezer right now, and I know exactly where and how they were produced. And I get the freshest eggs of anyone I know!

Recent college grad lives off $7 per day for food

My woeful budget

Good luck Anna!  These skills will take you far.  Have a pound of "organic" black beans soaking for chili  - you can buy them in bulk for far less than cans without the added salt. Completely intimitated at first to buy in bulk and had to look at a dry bean package to get the directions on how to soak - none of the cookbooks gave great details.  Entire countries live off rice and beans (with barely any meat and zero dairy)  and have a fraction of the health issues we Americans experience and they're thin too.

Great ideas for Kale - will give them a try.

Wishing you continued success,

SuperMom101

Overnight soak: add 6- 8 cups cold water to 1lb dried beans (approx. 2 1/4 cups.)
Let stand overnight - at least 6-8 hours.
Drain soak water and rinse beans. Cook as desired.*

*To cook: add 6 cups water to drained and rinsed beans.  Simmer gently with lid tilted until desired tenderness is reached, about 45 minutes - 1 1/2 hours.  Stir occasionally and add water to cover beans as needed.  Acidic ingredients such as tomatoes, vinegar, wine or citrus juices should only be added at the end of cooking once beans are tender.  Thank you to Whole Foods Market for providing the directions.

Fooducate leads the way...no more artificial food dyes for our children

Fooducate leads the way...

In honor of my sister, who tragically passed away unexpectedly last January 2012 - I signed the  petition.  As a mother of four - nursery school teacher - friend to the developmentally challenged and story listener of the elderly - Susan believed food dyes, diet sodas, chemical additives, etc. "screwed up the wiring in our children's brains"...

America's children deserve better - sign here

Hmmm..are these kid's sticking out their artificially dyed tongues at us?

To:
John Bryant, CEO, Kellogg's
Indra Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo
Tony Vernon, President, Kraft Foods
and all American Food Manufacturers 

Please stop using artificial colors in your food products. They are unnecessary and potentially hazardous to our health:

* Artificial colors are a petroleum industry derivative, not a food product.

* Artificial colors have been linked to cancer in lab animals

* Artificial colors may cause allergic reactions

* Artificial colors cause hyperactivity in some children

* Food products with Artificial dyes require warning labels in the UK

* Artificial colors are banned in several European countries

* Artificial colors provide absolutely no nutritional benefit

* Artificial colors are easily replaceable by natural coloring such as paprika and turmeric.

So why keep using them?

Companies like yours have shown that natural colorings can be used in products for the European market. Those very same products use artificial colors when manufactured for the US. Don't American kids deserve better?

In summary: Please remove Red #40, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, and Blue #2 from ALL foods you manufacture.

Sincerely,
SuperMom101 (via Fooducate)
America's children deserve better

Garden Herbs

Well, it's my own fault.  I knew we had two feet of snow coming and I still didn't trim back the rosemary and bring most of it inside...don't think we'll see the soil again until the spring.  Hopefully, the blanket of snow will protect it...

Mountain Dew introduces a breakfast drink

Mountain Dew introduces a breakfast drink

Hahahahahaha - wait - they are serious?

I'd call this candy-in-a-can a breakfast to "Kickstart" diabetes, obesity and a host of health problems.

Why is it America (and her children) have never been fatter, sicker or more malnourished and it's so strange we can't seem to figure out why?

Asian Honey, Banned in Europe - Floods U.S.A. - Food Safety News

Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S. Grocery Shelves

FDA has the laws needed to keep adulterated honey off store shelves but does little, honey industry says.

BY ANDREW SCHNEIDER | AUGUST 15, 2011

A third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals.  A Food Safety News investigation has documented that millions of pounds of honey banned as unsafe in dozens of countries are being imported and sold here in record quantities.

And the flow of Chinese honey continues despite assurances from the Food and Drug Administration and other federal officials that the hundreds of millions of pounds reaching store shelves were authentic and safe following the widespread arrests and convictions of major smugglers over the last two years.

Experts interviewed by Food Safety News say some of the largest and most long-established U.S. honey packers are knowingly buying mislabeled, transshipped or possibly altered honey so they can sell it cheaper than those companies who demand safety, quality and rigorously inspected honey.

“It’s no secret that the honey smuggling is being driven by money, the desire to save a couple of pennies a pound,” said Richard Adee, who is the Washington Legislative Chairman of the American Honey Producers Association.

Entire Food Safety News Article 

Can eating earlier help you lose weight?

Can eating earlier help you lose weight?

The comments are very interesting - the following excerpt is my favorite:

Define 'moderation.' Fast food one meal a day? Fast food once a week? Once a month? Does five cigarettes a day make me a 'moderate' smoker?How about ten cigarettes?  Does a 'moderate' drinker abstain all week but get obliterated every Friday and Saturday night? Or is one drink every day 'moderate'?  Some things are best avoided entirely.  And the term 'moderation' is meaningless.  Your 'not enough' is my 'too much.'