October 2009

GREETINGS

Planning for the PreThanksgiving Feast is now moving into high gear, and you will soon be receiving a flyer with which you can pre-register (we have a “no walk-in” policy as usual, so pre-registration is required). However, if you don’t want to wait, you are encouraged to pre-register using the form at this link.

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sunday, Oct. 4, 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 harvest bounty.

Subsequent regular potluck will be on Nov. 1

Other Veg-Friendly Potlucks

The October macrobiotic potluck will be hosted by Roberta Forman on Oct. 11 at 5 PM at 500 W. Bender Rd., #67, in Glendale. RSVP needed: 414-967-2580.

The Urban Ecology Center’s vegetarian potluck will be on Thursday, Oct. 15 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 October events, check the Vegan Meetup website.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“It’s mind-boggling that in spite of overwhelming evidence that the consumption of animal products is directly responsible for a host of human diseases, greenhouse gas production and indescribable animal suffering, the general public continues to satiate its taste buds and support factory farming. …we need to examine and revise our own diets. A plant-based diet is better for human health, the environment and, obviously, the animals.”

NEWS

The letter quoted above came in response to a frontpage NY Times article about water pollution in Brown County, Wisconsin due to cow manure runoff. Area residents, including some living miles away from farms, were quoted as complaining about contamination of their wells and water with e. coli and other contaminants from the manure. The article explained that laws are on the books to prevent farms from affecting water but that the EPA simply does not enforce them. Other responses mentioned various ways to prevent water pollution, including managed grazing and burning manure for energy generation; none denied that cows can be a problem for water.

Hog manure can be a problem as well: in Iowa, hog manure pumped onto a farm field ran over into a nearby creek and caused a fish kill. And in other water news, California asked the federal government to reverse its restrictions on water use intended to protect fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Fish and fishing continue to be problems. While Palau (an island nation in the western Pacific) is banning shark fishing in its waters, the European Union can’t agree to protect blue-fin tuna. As popular fish species dwindle, less known fish are sought, but a NY Times article pointed out that these are now being overfished as well. Perhaps this explains why fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico is going to be allowed despite flaws in the rules and the absence of a national policy that could protect against saltwater fish farming’s known problems.

Controversies over other liquids continue. New York State pulled back from trying to tax sugary sodas and juice drinks, but New York City unveiled an ad campaign against them. On the national level, the idea has been floated that a national tax on sodas could pay for health care reform. On a different note, Colorado-based Aurora dairy, which supplies cheap supposedly-organic milk to Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Costco, etc., is still under fire from the Cornucopia Institute over its documented failure to allow its cows to graze in accordance with organic rules. And in a different concern regarding milk, 13 confirmed cases of bacterial infection in southeastern Wisconsin were linked to drinking unpasteurized milk.

Another food contamination incident recently involved green onions from Mexico, with thousands of cases being recalled; as usual, there was no mention in the report of how the salmonella might have gotten into them. Even more worrisome was the Government Accountability office report which found that the Agriculture Department failed to inform schools promptly about some recent food recalls.

Chronic wasting disease, the deer-and-elk version of mad cow disease, was in the news again. A 700-elk herd was destroyed in Minnesota when CJD was found among them. And a new study found that deer get infected with it when infected deer pass the infective agent in their feces, which lie on the ground and get eaten by other deer along with nearby plants.

In other issues, a new study of honey bees with colony collapse disorder has found genetic peculiarities that indicate (if I read the article right) that pesticide ingestion may indeed be playing a role.

Speaking of paying for health care reform, food issues author Michael Pollan pointed out that Americans can only control health care costs by starting to control the chronic diseases that arise from our meat-, fat-, and sugar-heavy national diet; his conclusion was that if we do manage to get a national health reform policy, the federal government will have to start changing agriculture policy to make unhealthy foods less subsidized and therefore more expensive.

In good plant food news, this same issue was addressed in the Outpost Exchange, where an article on type two diabetes concluded that it can be easily prevented by exercise and improved eating habits. One needed improvement is eating more fiber from vegetables and fruits, peas and beans, and whole grains. Another is eating less saturated fats (i.e., animal foods) and more omega-3 fatty acids, oils like olive and canola, and nuts and avocadoes.

For of course, plant foods are still good for you. A newsbit from the Organic Consumers Association pointed out that the best way to avoid the swine flu may be to boost your immune system through eating plenty of bright orange and bright green produce, vitamin C-rich foods like peppers, tomatoes, dark leafy greens, and citrus fruits, protein foods (beans, peas, nuts, seeds, soy, whole grains), iron-rich foods like greens and dried fruits, and raw garlic.

OCA also pointed out that science is starting to confirm what Mexican farmers have always believed: that nopal (prickly pear cactus) pads are good food, and can lower cholesterol and treat or prevent diabetes. And a Swedish study of people who survived a first heart attack found that the more chocolate they ate, the likelier they were to survive longer thereafter.

A Healthwise article about cilantro, used both as a green herb/seasoning and as the seed/ spice coriander, taught me that it originated in Asia and/or Egypt and was introduced by the Spanish to Central and South America, where it became a staple in Latin cuisine (I’ve always wondered). And it turns out that it not only flavors food deliciously, but has antimicrobial properties and is especially effective against salmonella; it also shows promise in fighting diabetes and controlling cholesterol. Use it in salads, soups, Mexican dishes, stir-fries, curries, marinades, dips, and pestos.

Then there were two different items, one in the NY Times and one in Vegetarian Times, on eating right to prevent breast cancer. In one, a researcher pointed out that the risk of cancer generally can be reduced by eating a mostly plant-based diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. The Veg Times article discussed population studies which found people less susceptible to breast cancer when their diet limited alcohol, avoided meat and especially red meat, avoided fatty foods, and featured lots of fruits, vegetables, and legumes as well as including plenty of fiber. It definitely seems that when girls eat soy foods during puberty it helps protect them later on, and eating mushrooms (at any age) also seems to be protective. In a related matter reported by Prevention, researchers found that eating celery, parsley, red wine, chamomile tea, and tomato sauce were protective against ovarian cancer.

Another interesting Prevention item described a new study which found that adding a handful of whole walnuts to one’s daily diet can improve balance, coordination, and memory (probably due to walnuts’ good omega-3 fatty acids), while people who eat nuts more than four times per week reduce their heart attack risk by 37%. And a different article warned that palm oil is full of saturated fats, and recommended eating whole foods rather than processed ones, and buying processed foods with oils like olive and canola in the ingredient list rather than palm oil.

CONNECTIONS

DIALOG

The Organic Consumers Association reported to its constituency about last month’s Washington Post article recommending reducing meat consumption as a way to cut one’s carbon footprint. Subsequently, they reported that several of their readers wrote to them defending meat-eating and bashing soy. OCA is running a forum where people can debate the pros and cons of vegetarian and vegan diets. If you want to join in, the site is organicconsumers.org/forum/

The September Healthwise ran an interview with physician, lawyer, and former FDA commissioner David Kessler, who has just written a book on overeating in America. His conclusion is that people in this country keep overeating because a certain combination of sugar, fat, and salt excites people’s brains in a way that is essentially addictive – and the food industry has made a point of creating foods that will play to that addiction. His conclusion is that in order to stop overeating, people need to literally reprogram their brain circuitry to find pleasure and satisfaction in healthier foods and eating habits. He does seem to feel that it can be done, but it would clearly involve first learning what’s going on, and then finding personal incentives for a concerted effort at change that outweigh the established brain circuitry.

It strikes me that some very similar patterns are involved in addressing meat-eating versus vegetarianism. Most humans seem to find a primal satisfaction in eating fat-and-protein-rich animal foods. This tends to draw people to those foods unless and until they learn about the negatives of eating them, so that they can make a conscious choice to find different ways of eating, and to make a real effort to develop new tastes which will make a vegetarian diet pleasant enough to stick to. It can certainly be done. But for most people, it will NOT happen by itself.