November 2009

GREETINGS

Here we are on our final run-up to our big PreThanksgiving Feast on Saturday, Nov. 21. We still need a few volunteers: someone to help with final postering/publicity; someone to make up table decorations (we can supply dried flowers , corn cobs, etc.); one person for early kitchen crew (4:30 to 6:30); one person for later kitchen crew (5:30 to 7:30); and one person for clean-up (6:30 to 8). We’re almost there, but these last few volunteers are needed to make things really go well. Phone Jody and David (414-764-7262) or me (Louise, 414-962-2703) or email us at chuckgyver@aceweb.com or come to the November potluck to get in on this great opportunity!

Also, it is now time to send in your preregistration if you’re planning to attend the Feast!! Attendance is by preregistration only; regular subscribers to this newsletter will find a flyer folded into it, and online readers should find a form in last month’s issue. It is time to use it!

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sunday, Nov. 1, 5 PM, regular potluck at the Friends’ Meeting House, 3224 N. Gordon Pl. in Riverwest (from Humboldt Blvd., go east on Auer a few short blocks to the parking lot). Food theme is Asian-inspired foods. (For anyone new, you can either bring a theme food or anything else.)

Other Veg-Friendly Potlucks

There will NOT be a macrobiotic potluck in November (although there will be one in December).

The Urban Ecology Center’s vegetarian potluck will be on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 PM at 1500 E. Park Pl. – bring plate and fork as well as your meatless dish. Phone is 414-964-8505.
To find out about Vegan Meetup’s possible November events, check the Vegan Meetup website.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“With the rise of new problems linked to the consumption of animal products – including climate change, diseases passed from animals to humans, and the epidemics of obesity and diabetes – the human race is being forced to reassess its self-centered past… Never before has compassionate living been more clearly in our own best interests. The vegetarian movement is a vital cog in the wheel of these reforms.”

NEWS

Speaking of livestock’s effect on climate change, Wisconsin State Farmer reported on the American Farm Bureau Federation’s objection to the Kerry-Boxer climate change bill on the grounds that it would not prohibit the EPA from fully regulating all greenhouse gasses (including cattle-emitted ones) under the Clean Air Act; alas, an EPA assistant administrator later announced that a tax on cattle-emitted methane will not be imposed.

And on the subject of diseases passed between animals and people, a pig at the Minnesota State Fair tested positive for the H1N1 “swine” flu recently. The pork industry has suffered a downturn in recent months, partly because of rising feed and energy costs, but also because of the bad rap from the new flu.

In general, animal foods are not good for you. Good Medicine, the publication of Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine, reported on a study that found fish and omega-3 oil consumption to be linked to a higher risk of type two diabetes, while a different study found an increased risk of diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease from eating processed meats. PCRM is also suing Kentucky Fried Chicken because its new grilled chicken products carry no warning that they are laden with carcinogenic chemicals from the grilling process. Yet another study reported in Good Medicine was one that looked at the link between dietary fat and pancreatic cancer; it found a correlation between this cancer and red meat and dairy consumption, but not between this cancer and plant food fats.

Then there was a huge article in the Sunday NY Times detailing the problems of e. coli in ground beef, the cost-cutting practices that promote its spread, and the inadequacies of USDA inspection for finding and stopping it. “Ground beef is not a completely safe product,” said one food safety expert quoted, which the article made look like the understatement of the decade. A meat industry spokesman responded in a letter to the editor that the meat industry is really trying to improve the situation – by requesting the right to irradiate meat… And on a different note, a Prevention item pointed out that poultry is often plumped up by injecting the meat with salt water.

Sometimes good news does come from the strangest places. One article I saw reported on the happiness of environmental organizations when four of the world’s largest meat producers agreed to ban purchase of cattle from newly deforested areas of the Amazon rain forest. The NY Times reported on a technological breakthrough that enables dairy farmers to ensure that almost all their cows’ calves are heifers rather than bull calves, thus greatly decreasing the number of calves born that will be slaughtered for veal. Michigan has banned battery cages for hens, veal crates, and confining stalls for pregnant pigs. And Sweden is mandating listing the carbon emissions associated with the production of foods, so that people will see the difference in impact of meat versus plant foods (and the different impacts of local versus imported ones, and grown in the ground versus in heated greenhouses). Whether this will actually change people’s buying and eating habits, of course, remains to be seen.

Sometimes there are concerns about plant foods. The Organic Consumers Association reported the good news that a federal court has ruled against genetically modified sugar beets – but the bad news that American Crystal is planning to use them anyway. And a Prevention article debunked the rumor that white flour is treated with dangerous chemicals to bleach it – but did add that white flour, due to having been stripped of most nutrients, is still seriously non-nutritious even if it’s not poisoned. Other Prevention items discussed concerns with the dangerous chemical BPA in the linings of tomato cans, and the carcinogenic chemicals in some packaged popcorn.

Generally, though, plant foods are good for you. Good Medicine noted a Vietnamese study which found that vegetarian Buddhist nuns had just as good bone strength as omnivorous women. And a long article in Vegetarian Voice pointed out the epidemiological fact that countries with the highest dairy consumption also have the highest rates of bone fractures, as a basis for discussing a whole diet approach to bone strength. The authors went through the way in which eating animal foods including dairy tends to pull calcium out of the bones in order to neutralize the blood pH, while bone-building requires many vitamins and minerals, most of which are found in plant foods and none in animal foods. Their conclusion: eat lots of produce, including calcium-containing green leafy vegetables and beans, do weight-bearing exercise, get vitamin D (from a supplement in our latitude), and stay away from the animal foods. Meanwhile, a Prevention item about building strong bones recommended avoiding colas and other soft drinks; a different item mentioned that cow’s milk is a common trigger for arthritis pain.

A British Journal of Cancer article reported on a large study which found that vegetarians are substantially less likely to develop cancer than meat-eaters; the effect on blood cancers was especially pronounced. Black tea is the kind with the highest level of polysaccharides, which may help prevent type two diabetes. Black elderberry preparations have been found in studies to help prevent flu, or at least to significantly reduce its symptoms (find them in health food stores). And cranberries, green tea, and omega-3 fatty acids can help boost the immune system generally (fish oil was named in the studies this tidbit came from, but vegetarians can get omega-3s from dark green leafy vegetables, hemp seed oil, ground flax seed and its oil, and walnuts).

Vitamin D continues to make news, as boosting immune system function, preventing heart disease, and aiding memory as well as building bone. The kind our bodies make is D3, so I was extremely happy to find a vegetarian D3 supplement at the Outpost.

Chocolate is also still healthy; the latest news is that cocoa flavonols may help keep the brain alert by increasing blood flow. Another Prevention item recommended berries, dark chocolate, turmeric, and dark green leafies as good sources of antioxidents that can keep the brain functioning by preventing and repairing free radical damage – and of course, omega-3 fatty acids are identified as helping brain function. It was pointed out that fish provide not only the omega-3s but also several other nutrients such as vitamin D, selenium, and protein – so those of us who don’t eat fish need to make sure we’re getting those nutrients as well in order to maximize the benefit of eating our leaves. (By the way, it seems that organic greens stay fresh longer than conventionally-grown ones.)

DIALOG

There has been a good bit of discussion and debate lately about raw foods diets. Many people laud them as the best and healthiest way to eat, others are willing to agree that a raw diet is healthy but find it too difficult to do with variety and pleasure, while still others are extremely skeptical of the suggestion that cooking one’s food is tantamount to poisoning oneself. So I was particularly happy with an article on the subject in the Fall Vegetarian Voice, since it was extremely well-balanced, and really put the whole thing into a reasonable perspective.

The author, nutritionist Brenda Davis, was generally positive about raw foods diets, but without suggesting that this is the only good choice. She started by defining a raw diet as consisting primarily (not really exclusively) of uncooked raw foods, devoid of refined packaged products. But she then pointed out that while going for raw whole foods has the advantage of automatically eliminating white flour, white sugar, harmful fats, additives, and preservatives, it is still true that if one cooks from scratch with whole-food ingredients, one can eliminate all those nasties while still cooking. Again, raw whole plant foods are certainly full of vitamins, antioxidents, phytochemicals, fiber and enzymes – all of which are good for you. But she also pointed out that for some foods, cooking actually breaks down cell walls and so makes some of the nutrients more available to the body than eating them as a salad (juicing can help in the same way as cooking). And while high-temperature cooking can indeed create undesirable chemicals, gentle cooking such as simmering a soup or stew does not. Nor do the food enzymes for which raw foods are touted stand much of a chance of sur viving digestion.

These caveats do not mean that Davis dislikes raw food diets; on the contrary, she considers eating as much as 70-80% of one’s food raw as having many benefits. So what she does is give tips for raw foodists to help them ensure that they’re getting good nutrition: eat fatty foods (such as olives, avocados, nuts and seeds) with vegetables to ensure absorbing the fat-soluble vitamins A, E, and K; take vitamin D and B12 supplements; eat nuts, seeds, and sprouted legumes, whole grains, and beans to ensure getting enough iron and zinc; eat good calcium sources such as dark green leafies, especially the low-oxalate ones like broccoli, bok choy, collards, napa cabbage, kale, watercress, and dandelion, mustard, and turnip greens. And iodized salt and sea vegetables supply iodine. Not least, enough protein must be consumed, so raw diets relying mostly on fruits could be a problem; vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted beans should be part of a balanced raw diet.