October 2011

GREETINGS

We have decided that we should be able to hold our usual PreThanksgiving Feast again this year. We’ve reserved the Wauwatosa Wil-O-Way for Saturday, Nov. 19. Mark calendars now, and use the registration form below. Pre-registration is required!!

We still do need volunteers! We need people for dining room clean-up (6:30 to 8:00), and for kitchen crew in the 5:30 to 6:30 slot. Note that we have changed our procedure, and are asking people to sign up only for one-hour slots for kitchen crew rather than 2-hour slots. This will mean that people can volunteer for these jobs and still have considerable time to sit and eat with friends and family; also, we are talking about having all kitchen crew people go through the line first (we’ll hold their plates for them if necessary). In addition, we need volunteers for doing greetings/ announcements, for buffet line attendant, and for preparing table decorations beforehand; we already have a couple of people to do postering 2 to 3 weeks before the Feast (that is, in the first week of Nov.) but we can always use more.

To sign up for a job, come to the Oct. potluck or phone Jody and David at 414-764-7262 or email us at chuckgyver@aceweb.com.

In other news, MARV finally has an activity for World Vegetarian Day! Jody found us a gig doing a food demo at the Fondy Farmer’s Market this Saturday, Oct. 1, between 9 AM and noon. It will be a chance to spread the word about vegetarianism to people who might not otherwise hear it. Which is just what we need to do.

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sun., Oct. 2, 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). Theme is tacos, enchiladas, salsa, mole, etc.

The next regular potluck will be Nov. 6.

Sat., Nov. 19, PreThanksgiving Feast at 10602 Underwood Pkwy, Wauwatosa. Doors open at 5 PM (volunteers for set-up and early kitchen crew come earlier). Preregistration required; you can use the form below.

Other veg-friendly potlucks

The October macrobiotic potluck will be hosted by Annette Gehlhart on Oct. 30 at 5 PM at 4678 N. Ironwood Lane, Glendale, 967-1951.

The Urban Ecology Center’s vegetarian potluck will be on Thurs., Oct. 20 at 6:30 PM at 1500 E. Park Pl., 414-964-8505. Bring plate and fork as well as your meatless dish.

Vegan Meetup: to find out about possible events, check the Vegan Meetup website.

QUOTES OF THE MONTH

“A shift to more vegetables and less meat in your meals generally leads to a diet that’s richer in fiber, vitamins and antioxidents, and heart-healthy fats, all of which are helpful in reducing your risk for developing a wide range of chronic diseases. This can also be effective for minimizing weight gain…”

-- March/April flight mag of Frontier Airline

“Embracing a plant-based, whole-food diet isn’t just better for our bodies; it keeps the planet healthy too, writes Brendan Brazier in

Thrive Foods, the pro triathlete’s 3d book.”

-- Vegetarian Times

NEWS

There are still problems with animal foods. A federal judge determined that a Michigan farm had indeed sold cows for human food even though there were illegally high levels of drugs in their bodies and thus their meat. And the federal government will now ban the sale of ground beef contaminated with six toxic strains of e. coli that are showing up increasingly; this adds these strains to the nasty 0157:H7 strain that is already banned. It will still be legal, though, to sell meat containing all other bacterial contaminants.

Alas, cantaloupes from a Colorado farm are the most recent culprit in a listeria food poisoning incident, having already caused several deaths and been recalled. As usual, no one is mentioning that the commonest cause of listeria on food is contamination from animal feces.

And in the “you can’t make this stuff up” category, it was reported that the European Union has allocated $4.2 million to research and promote the eating of insects as a cheap, low-fat protein source. The Week magazine’s contest to name the first French or Italian restaurant to feature this great new cuisine yielded “Beetle Jus,” “Le Moulin Roach,” and “Beetlemangia” as its winners. Cockroach Cluster, anyone?

There was a good bit of food news about this summer’s droughts. NPR reported that the drought in Texas was causing more cattle to be sent to slaughter, yielding lower chopmeat prices now but meaning that here would be fewer calves and thus higher beef prices next year, but Wisconsin State Farmer later reported that cattlemen from drought-stricken areas were simply selling off their cattle to ranchers in better-watered spots. Wisconsin farmers sent hay to Oklahoma, and Iowa sent some to Texas. And the drought has caused major crop losses in Kansas in corn, wheat, hay, sorghum, and soybeans – all of which will push up prices for food in months to come.

On the other hand, the lousy economy has induced a lot more people to plant gardens this year, both for their own tables and to sell to their neighbors, and Farmers’ Markets are thriving and growing.

There was some controversy over a study that was published in the Journal of Dairy Science, which claimed that factory-farm dairies’ milk is better because it has slightly lower plate and cell counts than small farms’ milk; objections were raised pointing out that this study did not even look at whether hormones and antibiotics were used in either setting. (In fact, small farms are much less likely to be using hormones, and therefore have less need for the antibiotics that would lower these counts – and therefore are arguably producing higher quality milk, and better lives for cows, than CAFOs.)

Speaking of controversial substances, new rules are being made which will enable Wisconsin honey producers to sell under a “Wisconsin certified” program that will guarantee that the certified honey is pure honey and has not been “stretched” by the addition of other cheaper sweeteners. Those who do eat honey, take note.

In any case, plant foods are still good for you.

A new British analysis of seven studies seems to confirm that consumption of chocolate in a variety of forms was linked by many measures to lower rates of stroke, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and other heart conditions.

A Harvard study again found health benefits to drinking small amounts of alcohol each day: in this study, middle-aged women who drank one-half to one ounce of alcohol per day were 28% more likely than teetotalers to achieve a healthy old age (defined as being free of 11 major chronic illnesses and having no physical or cognitive impairments after age 70).

And while it is definitely a good idea to minimize fat in the diet, we do need a little bit of it each day to absorb and use the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. So it was useful for Vegetarian Times to run an article on using different oils in cooking. Heating oils to the point where they smoke causes the creation of unhealthy free radicals, but many tasty oils can be used in cooking without reaching that point, including almond oil, avocado oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and sesame oil. Refined oils are better for higher-heat cooking, while unrefined ones are best used for low-heat salad dressings and after-cooking drizzles. Expeller-pressed and especially cold-pressed oils are best. Glass, especially dark-colored glass, makes the best containers.

Another Vegetarian Times article, by Dr. Neal Barnard, addressed dietary measures for keeping bones strong. Unsurprisingly, he recommended beans and dark green vegetables such as broccoli, kale, collards, and Brussells sprouts (but not spinach) as supplying good amounts of easily absorbable calcium, and

reminded readers that dairy has been controversial ever since the Nurses’ Health Study showed that milk did not in fact prevent fractures. The current theory is that any animal protein, including of course the protein in milk, tends to escort calcium from the bloodstream through the kidneys into the urine. The other big calcium stealer that Barnard mentioned is salt. So his bottom line was to eat vegetables and beans and avoid animal foods as the best tactics for keeping bones strong.

Winter squashes such as butternut, pumpkin, etc., etc. are in season now, and more than one source pointed out that they are low in sugars but high in fiber, beta-carotene (equals vitamin A), vitamin C, and potassium. And all can be made into many tasty dishes including soups and stews, but also including being mashed with potatoes or roasted and used in salads.

Prevention pointed out that potassium blunts the effects of too much sodium, and can be found in bananas, cantaloupe, honeydew, kidney beans, mushrooms, orange juice, peas, prunes, raisins, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Another item reported that replacing refined carbohydrates in the diet with foods high in soy or low-fat dairy protein can help lower blood pressure, as can 3 cups of hibiscus tea daily.

And dark is good in food color: blackberries, black (beluga) lentils, black quinoa, black radishes, black rice, and black soybeans all contain high levels of beneficial anothocyanins, while blackstrap molasses provides calcium, potassium, manganese, iron, magnesium, and more antioxidents than most other sweeteners.

But spinach on top of the bin that was exposed to light has more vitamin C than spinach stuck underneath in the dark.

THE VEGGIE TABLE

Chuck and I vacationed for a week in San Francisco, where the vegetarian living is easy (a tad on the expensive side, but worth it).

We ate at Thai, Japanese, eco-conscious, and garlic restaurants and cafes. Everywhere (except the ultra-touristy Pier 39 at Fisherman’s Wharf) there were vegetarian and vegan options to be had, and every waiter understood what vegan was and could point us right.

Chez Panisse (1517 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, 510-548-5049) serves lunch and dinner, and had only one vegetarian (dairy) choice on the menu, which I found excellent, but the chef happily made up a delicious vegan dish for Chuck. The Greens restaurant in the Fort Mason complex (Building A, 415-771-6222) is open for lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch; it is vegetarian with vegan selections, also all wonderful, and features views of the Golden Gate bridge from its elegant dining room. We enjoyed a meal at The Stinking Rose, a restaurant that puts garlic in everything (325 Columbus Ave., 415-781-7673); this also is not a vegetarian establishment but could accommodate us very well. But the ultimate experience (priciest too, but justifiedly so), was Millenium at 580 Geary St. near Union Square, 415-345-3900. All vegan, organic/sustainable/biodynamic, and sophisticated as all get out, our dinner there was a magnificent cap to our vacation. Between one of these and another, it was days after we got home before we were properly hungry again. If you go to San Francisco, be sure to bring your appetite.

DIALOG

Here is a challenge to raw food enthusiasts.

Note well: I have nothing against raw food per se. Chuck and I eat a whole lot of salads and fruit, and often have other raw vegetables as side dishes. They provide vitamins and fiber and minerals, and are whole foods which automatically makes them more nutritious than refined ones. And raw foods certainly do have enzymes that cooking would destroy (although I have not seen any science showing that eating these enzymes actually makes you healthier).

However, I also note that some nutrients are more available from cooked foods, such as the lycopene in tomatoes, or the beta-carotene in carrots that cooking has softened. Quite a few comfort foods are ones that are cooked. And this may not be coincidental.

For here is something to chew on: what really makes humans different from all other animals? Not intelligence: some gorillas and chimpanzees are smarter than some low-end-of-the-scale humans. Not self-awareness: research has found a number of different animals that can recognize themselves in mirrors. Not tool-using: a variety of animals have been found to use tools. Not even the exploitation of other animals: some ants farm aphids.

Humans, though, are the only creatures that use heat to cook our food – and by doing so, have greatly increased the variety of foodstuffs we can eat – a real adaptive advantage. Cooking food and sharing it with others is the most pre-eminently and uniquely human thing we do. And I’m not inclined to give that up.