What Being a Vegetarian Means to Me

As I was mentally composing this blog in my head while I was in the shower, I realized it sounded kind of like a standardized test essay portion. So I've decided to just go with it and title it appropriately! My mom watched the Forks Over Knives trailer I posted a few days ago and decided to start cutting meat out of her diet! Yeah Mom! As I listened to her talk about her diet, I realized that being a "vegetarian" means different things to different people. And I'm talking beyond the some eat eggs, some eat fish thing. I'm a solid vegetarian...I actually just passed my 2 year anniversary (please, no gifts!) yet I'm not truly happy with my eating habits. Cutting meat out of my diet isn't really where I strive to be. I want to eat only whole foods. That means more grains, more beans, and fruits and veggies. For example, I told my mom that she should try to cut preservatives and dyes out of her diet (we were discussing the Jillian Michaels book I've mentioned before (see the list to the left)) and she told me she wasn't eating that stuff. She had egg beaters for lunch... "eggs" that come in a carton and not a shell are not whole foods! While at the lake with my family, we were grilling out, hot dogs and burgers...American food...and my stepmom was thoughtful enough to get me some veggie (actually vegan) burgers. When I said they're weren't healthy, I heard a surprised, "They're not?". No, they're a fake meat with additives and thickeners. That's not a real food either! Being the vegetarian, as I'd like to define it, would mean eating whole grains (rice, quinoa, lentils, millet, oats--NOT General Mills whole grain cereal!), beans (at LEAST two cups a day), veggies (at least a cup of dark leafy greens a day) and fruits (being sure to "eat my rainbow!"). I'd like to limit the amount of dairy I consume to as little as possible. This is where I want to be. This is how I define being a "good" vegetarian. This is not where I am. I ate an entire carton of Ben and Jerry's this weekend (it was Pistachio Pistachio...can you blame me??) I had Papa John's not only for dinner last night, but also for lunch today. I DID have steamed broccoli, Greek Yogurt with organic raspberries, a 1/4 organic apple and a small glass of Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness juice too, so I'm not LIVING on junk...but clearly I'm not as close to my goal as I'd like to be. These last two days aren't my norm, I usually do have a cup a greens about 3 times a week and I DO eat fresh fruits and veggies at at least two meals a day. As I write this, I'm realizing how silly it all must sound. I'm the one who does all the menu planning in my house. I'm the one who does all the grocery shopping. If I WANT to eat like a "good" vegetarian, what's stopping me? Laziness, I guess. It's a lot more work to make a bowl of oatmeal or cream of millet for breakfast than it is to open a box of (albeit organic) cereal. I takes a lot longer to soak and cook beans than it does to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So I guess it comes down to priorities...what's more important to me? My time, or my diet? Guess I'll answer that tomorrow at lunch.

Farm-To-School Programs

If you haven't been lucky enough to hear me complain about school lunches, here it is in a nutshell: It drives me crazy that I can't send any nut products with my child to school, but it's fine for the school to feed them HFCS, pesticide-laden food, preservatives, and dyes. I allow my oldest to buy lunch once a week, on pizza day, simply because it's so important to him. He wants to buy breakfast in the worst way, but that's usually a pop-tart or sausages, neither of which I want him to eat. He did get breakfast on the two mornings that his teacher had a sub and didn't know which kids could get breakfast and which couldn't. So when I read articles about Farm-to-School programs, like the one in this link, (I cut and pasted the article from the link below.) I wonder how hard it would be, in Canton, OH to get locally grown food into the schools.

USDA seeks ways to boost farm-to-school programs

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The popularity of farm-to-school programs that put locally grown food on cafeteria trays has exploded in recent years — so much so that the federal agency in charge of school lunches is giving them a new stamp of approval.

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said the programs have become so popular so fast that her agency doesn't have solid figures on how many schools are serving their students vegetables, fruits and meat grown by local farmers.

"We know it's just snowballing," Merrigan said in an interview with The Associated Press before her appearance Tuesday at the School Nutrition Association convention in Nashville, Tenn.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture used the convention to release a new report on what works in farm-to-school programs, what doesn't and what the agency can do to help them work better. The report was put together by a USDA team that traveled to 15 school districts across the country and comes as officials, including first lady Michelle Obama, are promoting the importance of healthier food for kids.

"First, it is about bringing fresh locally grown food into school cafeterias," Merrigan said. "So there's the yummy factor, the good nutrition factor. ... Number two, we believe it provides good market opportunities for local producers, particular those midsize farmers that are struggling to make a go of it. This is a real opportunity for them to increase the bottom line in their farming operations. So it's about rural economic development."

Third, she said, farm-to-school programs help connect people with where their food comes from, how it's produced and by whom.

"We know that children are very disconnected from agriculture ... literally thinking food comes from a grocery store," Merrigan said. But many schools use farm-to-school programs to work agriculture into the curriculum, she said, transforming the lunchroom into a classroom.

Farmers who supply schools say they benefit from having steady customers, and they also get satisfaction from knowing they're helping children eat healthier food. Jeff Rosenblad, owner of Happy Harvest Farms in Mt. Angel, Ore., said he gets great feedback from the districts he supplies with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

"The kids like it so much they're eating (from) salad bars more. They're eating watermelon, they're just gorging themselves," Rosenblad said.

Matt Jones, who owns Jones Farm Produce in nearby Gervais, Ore., said the extra business he gets from supplying schools lets him keep a few more workers employed for a few more weeks a year. He's been able to sell to schools later into the winter because he has plenty of cold-storage capacity for the apples he grows. A lack of refrigerator space is a common problem for many schools.

"These school districts are not just serving the fresh fruits and vegetables but they're also educating kids in the process," Jones said. "They're trying fruits and vegetables they never would have tried at home, so that's really good for the children."

Farm-to-school sales benefit rural economies, said Deborah Kane, vice president of food and farms for Ecotrust, a Portland, Ore., conservation and economic development group that organized a pilot program that gave the Portland and Gervais school districts an extra 7 cents per meal in 2008-09 to spend on local foods. An Ecotrust study coming out soon found even such a small sum could have a big impact — every dollar the two districts spent on local food generated $1.86 in economic activity, Kane said. And, for each job directly created by their purchase of local food, another 1.43 jobs were created indirectly.

Kane was invited to the White House last week to brief President Barack Obama on another Ecotrust initiative, a USDA-backed online service called FoodHub that helps connect family farms with schools and other urban buyers. The site covers parts of the Pacific Northwest now and aims to go national next year.

The USDA's 76-page report said team members learned in their travels that communities with farm-to-school initiatives are passionate about them and work hard to overcome the challenges they face, but success depends on good communications among schools, farmers and others invested in the programs. And it said money is needed to support these programs, particularly for food service staff training, equipment and facilities to process and store local produce, and to develop educational activities for students.

In an age when many districts do little more than heat up prepackaged foods, the report noted that schools often lack people trained to clean, cut and cook fresh fruit and vegetables. They may not even have enough knives and other basic equipment to do the job.

The USDA pledged in the report to step up efforts to connect schools with farmers, including increasing collaboration with nonprofits and expanding outreach and awareness initiatives.

Merrigan also announced a pilot program that will give Michigan and Florida schools more flexibility to use federal school lunch money to buy locally grown produce for their students, removing one obstacle. It's difficult under current rules for schools to direct their federal food money to local farmers, she said. The goal of the project is to work out the kinks in procurement systems and rules so the program can be expanded nationwide.

While various farm-to-school programs are operating in every state, Merrigan said, the USDA has relied on advocacy groups for data and their numbers are often limited or old. So she asked officials at the convention to participate in a USDA survey to determine what schools across the nation are doing.

"This thing is growing beyond our ability to track it, and we really need a systemized way to get this data," she said.

The National Farm to School Network estimates there are over 2,500 programs involving more than 10,000 schools around country, up from about 400 programs in 22 states in 2004, but spokeswoman Chelsea Simpson said those numbers aren't certain. The network is hoping the USDA survey gives everyone a better picture of how many students are benefiting, she said.

"It's a tricky thing to figure out because the beautiful thing about farm-to-school is it's such a grassroots initiative," Simpson said.

If you're interested in this article here are more links.

USDA Farm To School initiative: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/f2s

National Farm To School Network: http://www.farmtoschool.org

Kale!!

Yesterday I was talking to my family about my garden. I said how we had our green beans two nights ago and last night we had sauteed Swiss Chard. "What's THAT?" my sister asked. I told her it was a dark leafy green. What I SHOULD have said was, it's one of those bunches of greens that everyone walks by on their way to grab a head of iceberg lettuce or a bag of salad. So this blog post is to pay homage to one of the healthiest foods out there that many people don't even know about...KALE! I try to eat kale every day. It can be eaten raw, but it's a tough green and it's hard to chew. I usually saute it with a little olive oil and various veggies I have, like cabbage, onions, mushrooms or zucchini. My kids, LOVE baked kale. Chopped into bite sized pieces and sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with seasoning (my daughter loves seasoned salt) and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes. They crisp up and crunch like potato chips. I sent this with my daughter to preschool for Veggie Day and one of the other moms asked for the recipe. So what's so great about this veggie?? LOTS! (From healthdiaries.com)
Diet and Digestion
One cup of kale has only 36 calories and zero grams of fat, which makes it a great diet aid. Furthermore, one cup contains nearly 20% of the RDA of dietary fiber, which promotes regular digestion, prevents constipation, lowers blood sugar and curbs overeating. Finally, kale contains the glucosinolate isothiocyanate (ITC) that fights the formation of H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori), a bacterial growth in the stomach lining that can lead to gastric cancer.

Antioxidants
Kale is a superstar in the arena of carotenoids and flavonoids, two powerful antioxidants that protect our cells from free radicals that cause oxidative stress. The key flavonoids kaempferol and quercitin (not to dismiss the 45 other distinctive flavonoids in kale) have also been shown to specifically fight against the formation of cancerous cells. With the addition of high doses of well-known antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin A, and manganese, kale is certainly a smart choice in the battle against cellular oxidation.

Anti-Inflammatory
One cup of kale provides about 10% of the RDA of omega-3 fatty acids that helps regulate the body’s inflammatory process. A megadose of vitamin K further aids to fight against excessive inflammatory-related problems, such as arthritis, autoimmune disorders, and asthma.

Cancer
Not only do kale's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities work together to prevent and even combat cancer, a healthy diet of kale also provides glucosinolates, which have been shown to prevent colon, breast, bladder, prostate, ovarian cancers, as well as gastric cancer.

Cardiovascular Support
The high fiber content of kale lowers our cholesterol by binding with bile acids that the liver produces from cholesterol for digesting fat. Because many of these bile acids are coupled with fiber, the liver is charged with producing more bile acid to digest fat, and therefore requires more cholesterol to so, ultimately lowering the amount of cholesterol within our bodies.

Detox
The isothiocyanates (ITC) from glucosinolates found in kale aid in both phases I and II of the body’s detoxification process. The high sulfur content of kale has further been shown essential for phase II of detoxification.

Vitamin K
Kale provides a whopping dose of vitamin K (providing 1327% of the RDA in one cup), which is necessary for the synthesis of osteocalcin, a protein that strengthens the composition of our bones. Vitamin K also prevents calcium build-up in our tissue that can lead to atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Finally, vitamin K is essential for synthesizing sphingolipid, the fat needed to maintain the myelin sheath around our nerves, and therefore our nervous system as a whole.

Vitamin A
With over 192% of the RDA of vitamin A, one cup of kale is an effective antioxidant, boosts immunity, maintains healthy bones and teeth, prevents urinary stones, and is essential to our reproductive organs.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C, which one cup of kale heartily provides (over 88% of our RDA), is not only a powerful antioxidant, but also lowers blood pressure, ensures a healthy immune system, and fights against age-related ocular diseases, such as cataracts and macular degeneration.

Eco Malibu

Although blogging does not pay it does create one perk---free t-shirts!! My friend LaVon (as in FOK video clip donator!) was shopping, saw a "Live Green" tee, thought of me and picked it up. The cool thing about this tee is that it not only says "Live Green" in colors that match both my pink AND my blue flip flops but that it's made from a company called Eco Malibu, which is earth-friendly. When I was reading one of Deidre Imus's books she suggested buying organic cotton clothes. I don't know if anyone else has looked for organic cotton clothing, but unless you're wearing a size 3-6 months, it's pretty hard to come buy. The cool thing about this tee, and all of Eco Malibu's clothing, is that it's not 100% cotton, it's part cotton (organically grown) and part polyester from, are you ready for this??, recycled plastic bottles! Some of the other fabrics that they produce are made of a cotton/bamboo blend. How cool is THAT!?! So I know what you're thinking, "I'm not eating my clothes, why organic cotton clothing?" There are a few reasons why organic cotton clothing is better. First, it's better for the planet. By being grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers it's better for the soil, doesn't produce toxic run-off, and protects the wild-life (remember the DDT thing with the Peregrine Falcon eggs? The DDT that was getting into the falcon's system's diet from the pesticides all along her food chain were causing her egg shells to be soft. When she sat on her nest, the eggs would crack, thereby greatly decreasing the Peregrine Falcon population. See, those endangered animal reports from 7th grade really DO have real life value!). Second, the material is stronger and softer. It hasn't been broken down by the use of chemicals. Third, that clothing is right up against your skin. Those chemicals that were used to grow the cotton are still present in the fibers and can seep into your system (just like the disposable diapers.) Hopefully there will be more companies that will choose this option in the future. In the mean time, the best we can do is vote with our dollars--when you see clothing that's organically produced--by it instead of the conventionally produced cotton!

Webinar

I did the webinar! It was really great! Thanks to my mom for coming over to watch my kids so I could actually listen to what what being said! There was a lot of great information and ideas, and some startling statistics! When I registered for the webinar I found that you can access former webinars from the Kiwi website. (Later today you can also access this seminar.) I'm excited to check some of them out! This webinar, by Robyn O'Brien is about her book, The Unhealthy Truth. She talked mostly about her reasons (sick child) and her journey to eating a healthier diet. I thought the most interesting part was how she kept saying how most other countries do not allow all the junk (dyes, HFCS, growth hormones) in their food supply. US companies actually make two products, one without all the Junk, which they then export to countries that are working to protect their food supply, and one with all the junk, which we put on our grocery store shelves. This seems CRAZY to me!! Why are we not demanding the same, high quality food, that other countries are?!?! It actually made me feel good, for once!, about what I'm doing for my kid's health. Her webinar said that cancer is the number one disease related death for kids under the age of 15. This statistic alone motivates me each day to make sure that my kids are NOT part of this statistic.

Forks Over Knives

Thanks LaVon for sharing this with me! I was REALLY affected by Food, Inc and I'm sure I'll love this movie too! If you haven't seen Food, Inc. I highly recommend it! It's very enlightening. ANYWAY, this movie is called Forks Over Knives (click to view the website and the trailer). Its about how adopting a plant-based diet has been shown to prevent and "cure" many western diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and stroke. The website says "If you’re interested in learning more about the lifestyle, we are developing an online resource for this purpose. We expect this to be up and running in the coming months." So check out the trailer and let me know what you think! It's not going to be in a theater around here, but it's in my NetFlix queue when it comes out on DVD!

Produce Codes

I'm just doing a quick post today. I'm being lazy. I was thinking after I posted about my shopping trip about the fun fact I read about produce codes. Now that everywhere has self-scans I think most people are more aware of the codes for the produce, since you have to key it in yourself. ANYWAY, I read that you can tell from the produce codes if the product is organic, conventionally grown or a GMO (genetically modified organism). If it's organic, it will start with a 9, coventional has one less number and a gmo product starts with a 8. SO...I have beside me a red pepper. It's produce code (PLU#) is 94688. It's organic. If it were conventionally grown it would just be 4688. If it were a GMO it would be 84688. I usually buy organic (big surprise there!) but whenever I'm looking for some produce that I cannot find in organic form, I always look for that initial 8 to make sure that it's not a GMO. Actually, I haven't found one that starts with an 8 yet... so I guess that's good news! I'm going to look at the corn this season because I have a feeling that there's a pretty good chance that's been genetially modified. Now if they would only put that on labels of EVERYTHING so we could tell if it was made with any ingredients that were generically engineered...