Elana’s Pantry

Top Ten Tips for Healthy Shopping

Here are some things I keep in mind when I go grocery shopping:

One last tip. Don’t go to the grocery store on an empty stomach! When I do this, I think I need everything and I end up buying things I don’t need.

Remember –it’s all about fresh, local and what’s in season!

MLK

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

City Survey

A debate is brewing here in Boulder about a survey that the City Council wants to send out to 3,500 citizens. The cost of the survey would be $100,000 and the results would come in just before at least 4 (though possibly 7) of our 9 incumbent council members vacate their seats.

Below is a letter I wrote to the editor of our local newspaper, The Daily Camera, that was published online August 6th and printed in the paper the following day:

While I might not agree with Clint Talbott’s exact choice of words in his Aug. 2 editorial, I agree with his point. I cannot find one good reason to spend $100,000 on obtaining citizens’ opinions when we live in a democracy where we may express them freely.

Too shy to go to a city council meeting? Send an email or letter to your council person. We all have the right to make ourselves heard in this country and I believe it is our responsibility as citizens to do so. Some may choose to abdicate this freedom, however, in Boulder, those that do express themselves to their elected officials are now the “squeaky wheels?”

Has democracy become a “carefully worded” multiple choice quiz for those too busy to participate of their own volition? I suppose convenience is something we have all grown so accustomed to that we now expect it not only from the fast food industry, but from government officials. Congratulations –with this survey we move one step closer to becoming a “take out” republic. Have we really stooped to spoon feeding our citizens their rights? If so, I’ll take pepperoni and cheese with my survey.

Elana Amsterdam
Boulder, Colorado

The Terminator

I never, ever thought I’d be calling the Terminator an activist, however, Ahhhnold is my new hero. He not only sued the EPA once for failing to implement carbon dioxide regulations, he is now threatening to do so again!

That’s the short of it. The whole story is quite convoluted. The EPA claimed that it does not have the “authority” to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Go figure? Supreme Court told EPA otherwise. In the face of EPA foot dragging, the Governator decided to draft his own set of carbon dioxide regulations for the state of California.

Problem? The Bush Protection Agency, ahem, I mean the Environmental Protection Agency has taken almost two years to get back to Ahnold on his plan. Now, the Governator is mad. Instead of “I’ll be back!” He’s fighting back and has threatened to file another lawsuit against the EPA if they do not grant California approval by October 25, 2007.

California simply wants to monitor its own green house gas emissions. And while Bush claims he fully supports the rights of states, when it comes to the environment, his administration shows much more interest in wiretapping. Let’s hope the Governator can take him down on this one. Hasta la vista baby.

David Steinman

David Steinman, founder of the Green Patriot movement, is an acclaimed author, environmentalist and health consumer advocate.

His books include:

• Diet for a Poisoned Planet (1990)
• Seafood Safety (1991)
• The Safe Shopper’s Bible (1995)
• Living Healthy in a Toxic World (1996)
• Safe Trip to Eden (2007)

Steinman has testified before Congress as an expert witness on the levels of chemical contaminants in the blood of persons eating locally caught fish from Southern California bays. It was his landmark study, published in the Journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, that led to the historic movement to clean up the Santa Monica Bay.

Steinman is an advisory board member for The Green Guide Institute, a national non-profit organization for consumer research and information.

He has won awards for his reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Sierra Club, and the Society of Professional Journalists.

David Steinman is married with three children and lives in California.

Carlo Petrini

The Slow Food Movement was born in Italy in1986 when Carlo Petrini organized a protest against the building of a McDonald’s in Rome.

Petrini founded Slow Food International three years later, renouncing not only Fast Food, but the overall pace of Fast Life. Issuing a manifesto, the movement called for the safeguarding of local economies, the rediscovery of authentic culinary tradition and a sustainable, ecologically aware consumerism.

At the table, Slow Food advocates a return to traditional recipes, locally grown foods and wines, and eating as a social event. Today the movement is active in over 50 countries with over 80,000 followers

Carlo Petrini, President of the International Slow Food Movement is a writer; he lives in Bra, Italy.

Monica Moore

Monica Moore is a founding member of the worldwide organization Pesticide Action Network and has worked on pesticide issues for close to three decades. Although she keeps a low profile, she is a hero in the environmental movement, having received numerous awards, most recently “Advocate of Social Justice” from the Ecological Farming Association.

She co-founded Pesticide Action Network North America in 1984 and was an Executive Director there for over 20 years. She currently serves as an advisor and board member for numerous local, national and international non-profit environmental organizations.

Ms. Moore also consults internationally on sustainable agriculture, preservation of biodiversity and genetic resources and is fluent in Danish, German and Spanish.

Future of Food

Did you know that farmers are being sued for growing food? Did you know that a company can purchase the genetic “patent” for a seed that has existed for thousands of years? Did you know that one company could eventually “own” all of the seeds in the world and that you could be arrested for planting them in your own backyard?

Multinational corporations are genetically engineering “impotent” seeds, ones that are incapable of reproduction –altering, no, stealing the life-giving energy from food that is our birthright, our gift from mother nature.

I cried when I watched this movie. However, the film offers hope too, with its focus on indiginous cultures, as well as organic and sustainable agriculture as solutions to the political and economic food crisis we face today.

To purchase this film, click here

Tyrone Hayes

Dr. Hayes, a professor at the University of California Berkeley, studied the hormone disrupting effects of the pesticide, atrazine on frogs. In reaction to the study’s results, Syngenta, the manufacturer of atrazine, went on a witch hunt to discredit Dr. Hayes and his research.

I have seen Dr. Hayes speak at conferences; he is a knowledgeable and captivating presenter of fairly dry information.
For more on Dr. Hayes and the scary stuff on drug companies read this article.

A Rose by Any Other Name

According to Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet - 1594), “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” unless it’s not actually a rose, that is.

Unfortunately, when it comes to avocados, we have a problem here. More specifically, guacamole. You see, Kraft is calling a green dip it makes “guacamole.” However, this dip is in fact made out of soy bean oil, corn syrup and green food coloring. Well, let me not exaggerate, 2% of its ingredients are made up of avocado.

Brenda Lifsey, of California has filed a lawsuit against Kraft Foods Inc., because it is making a fake food and calling it guacamole. Hats off to Brenda!

For more on this story go to The Independent.