The ethics of what we eat

"In the United States somewhere between 20 and 40 million birds and mammals are killed for research each year. That may seem like a lot- and it far exceed the number of animals killed for their fur, let alone the relatively tiny number used in circuses-but even the figure of 40 million represents less than two days’ toll in America’s slaughterhouses, which kill around 10 billion each year."
Peter Singer- The Ethics of What we Eat 

Occupy the Food System

In December, Willie Nelson, President of Farm Aid, wrote an amazing piece for the Huffington Post. In it, he points out how concentrated the agricultural market is- a very small number of firms control the majority of the market, threatening competition and resulting in market abuses:

93% of soybeans and 80% of corn grown in the United States are under the control of Monsanto; four companies control up to 90% of the global trade in grain; 3 companies process more than 70% of beef in the U.S.; 4 companies dominate close to 60 % of the pork and chicken markets.

Nelson gives example of the power these large corporations have, overturning GIPSA in the US - proposed fair market contract rules under Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration that would have made it illegal for packers and slaughter houses to unfairly discriminate against independent farmers - and using $5.6 million in lobbying costs to overturn US Department of Agriculture rules that would have changed the standards for school lunches to reduce the amounts of starch and sodium and increase the amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.

He ends:
Despite all they're up against, family farmers persevere. Each and every day they work to sustain a better alternative -- an agricultural system that guarantees farmers a fair living, strengthens our communities, protects our natural resources and delivers good food for all. Nothing is more important than the food we eat and the family farmers who grow it. Corporate control of our food system has led to the loss of millions of family farmers, destruction of our soil, pollution of our water and health epidemics of obesity and diabetes.

We simply can't afford it. Our food system belongs in the hands of many family farmers, not under the control of a handful of corporations.

"We are farmers, we grow food for the people"

In March 2011, the Public Patent Foundation filed the landmark lawsuit, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) et al v. Monsanto on behalf of family farmers, seed businesses and farming organizations to challenge Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified (GMO) seeds and protect farmers from the biotech seed and chemical giant’s abusive patent infringement lawsuits.

At the heart of the lawsuit is the threat that farmers face due to genetic trespass as a result of Monsanto’s GMO seed and the aggressive enforcement of their alleged patent rights.




I stand with Farmers vs. Monsanto



After hearing the arguments, Judge Naomi Buckwald stated that on March 31st she will hand down her decision on whether the lawsuit will move forward to trial.

For more information and how to get involved, visit Food Democracy Now!

"Back to the Start"

Willie Nelson teamed up with Chipotle to release this ad against factory farming and for sustainable agriculture. Download the song from itunes- proceeds go to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

What Americans are Eating

Click on image to view it.





Source: Fooducate Blog

Do Locavores Have it Wrong?

In 2007, locavore was the New Oxford American Dictionary's word of the Year. I remember first hearing the word in 2008.

The movement has since really taken off, helped by wonderful book written by two Canadians- Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon-The 100-Mile Diet. Click here for a previous blog about the book.

Food miles is the cornerstone of the locavore movement: the distance food travels from the farm to our plate.
It's estimated that the the average food we eat has travelled 1500-3000 miles... oftentimes more than that.

What are the Benefits of Eating Locally?

According to its many advocates, eating local foods (which hasn't really been defined yet, but within a 100-mile radius is what the 100-mile diet is all about) not only minimizes the fossil fuels used to bring the food to us, but results in food that tastes better, is better for our health, better for local economies. It also allows us to reconnect with the seasons and with the people producing our food.

Is Local Food Healthier?

Kind of.
In a recent publication of its Current Issues (Jan 2010), Dietitians of Canada's concluded that there is no evidence that supports that local foods are healthier...
but
Limited evidence does show that certain foods (like broccoli, kale, green beans, red peppers, tomatoes, apricots and peaches) lose nutrients when they travel long distances. Preliminary studies indicate that local grass-fed meat may also be more nutritious.

Eat Locally: Not the Answer?!

Lots of people also choose to eat local because it's a way to stand up to our current "messed-up" food system : "local is a way to counter the global". There's the well-known expression: "voting with your fork". While I'm not a locavore, I've become very conscious of where my food comes from... and haven't eaten a banana or citrus fruit in months!

According to James McWilliams, author of Just Food: Where locavores get it wrong and how we can truly eat responsibly, I'm not alone.
Since 1990, there has been a 4-fold increase in farmer's markets with more and more people wanting to know where their food's coming from.... which is great!

BUT

According to McWilliams, focusing on eating locally is a form of denial. Not only, is it not globally sustainable, it's flawed to think that food miles is what's bad for the environment, and simplifying the issue into "distance is bad, local is good" prevents us from finding real solutions.



Life-Cycle Assessment: Food's Carbon Footprint

McWilliams talks about the Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA)- a measurement that goes beyond food-miles and looks at the carbon-footprint of food- at all the stages. It factors in things like water usage, waste, harvesting techniques, pesticide use, climate, storage, etc.

LCA tells us that the the production and processing of food actually uses the most fossil fuels (45%)... transportation uses the least (11%)!

What Does This Mean?

According to the LCA, and McWilliams, if you live in th UK, it is 4 times more energy-efficient to buy grass-fed lamb imported from New Zealand than to buy local grain-fed lamb (this point was corroborated by Michael Pollan in an interview )!

An LCA of the Danish fishing industry found that changing fishing method could reduce fuel-use tremendously- using a net hanging vertically in the water (a seine) used 15 times less energy than using a trawl (a weighted net dragged across the ocean floor). So, it would make more sense to ask about fishing method rather than food miles....

A great paper written by Pierre Desrochers and Hiroko Shimuzu- We Have No Bananas- agrees with McWilliams. They point out that importing produce from areas where they grow naturally emits less greenhouse gases than growing them locally in greenhouses or cold-storing them to extend their shelf-life.

Their argument is summarized in the following statement:

"...food miles are, at best, a marketing fad that frequently and severely distorts the environmental impacts of agricultural production. At worst, food miles constitute a dangerous distraction from the very real and serious issues that affect energy consumption and the environmental impact of modern food production and the affordability of food".

Hmmm. Interesting...

What are the Best Nutrition and Food Books?

Well... the best according to me anyways!
Would love to know what you favourite nutrition, food and cook books are!

Books That Changed What I Eat




















Best Books for Nutrition Information (my go-to books)


















Best Sport Nutrition Resource Book



















Best Vegetarian/Vegan Nutrition Resource Books


















Best Food Writer
Ruth Reichl





















Book That I Use Most in my Practice


















Best Books About the Restaurant World
(from the perspective of a chef (left) and server (right))





















Best Books About Learning To Cook


















Best Book About Food Celebrities





















My Favourite Cookbook
















The Two Last Books I Read and Really Enjoyed






















Books on my Nightstand

Pork from a Petri Dish

Source

Preventing a second, or a first, heart attack: Part 3

Eating the right type of fat.

Our dietary fat intake has actually decreased over the years... but heart attack and strokes have increased.

Obviously, fat isn't the enemy and, in fact, including the right type of fat in your diet can help decrease your risk of having a first, or a second, heart attack or stroke.

Unsaturated fats include:

Monounsaturated fat- Olives, olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, nuts, seeds, natural peanut and seed butters and avocadoes.

Polyunsaturated- Fish and corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, soybean and cottonseed oils.

Replace the Bad with the Good:

Replacing saturated fats or carbs in your diet with unsaturated fats has been shown to decrease the 'lousy' LDL cholesterol (the one that clogs up your arteries), prevent the increase in triglycerides (the fat that's in your blood) that has been linked to heart disease and that increases with high refined carb intake (sweets, desserts, white bread, white pasta, white rice etc.), reduces the risk of blood clot formation, and decreases erratic heartbeats- the main cause of sudden cardiac death.

Dr. Willett and his team at the Harvard School of Public Health calculated that replacing 5% of calories as saturated fat with unsaturated fat reduces the risk of heart attack by 40%!

Assuming you eat 2000 calories, that would means replacing 11g saturated fat with 11g unsaturated fat.

For example, eat 1 oz nuts (about 1/4 cup) instead of 1/2 cup ice cream or eat 2 Tbsp peanut butter instead of 2Tbsp cream cheese or 1 oz hard cheese.

Speaking of nuts, the Nurses' Health Study, published in the British Medical Journal in 1998, looked at the health of more than 86,000 women. It found that those who ate 142 grams (five ounces) of nuts per week were 35% less likely to develop heart disease than women who ate less than one ounce per week.
The 2002 U.S Physicians Health Study found that men who ate nuts two or more times per week were 47% less likely to die of a heart attack and 30% less likely to die of heart disease than men who rarely ate nuts.

Bottom Line

Make sure that every day you replace some of the saturated fat in your diet- found in animal products like meat, milk products, eggs, lard, shortening and butter- and excess refined carbs with various sources of unsaturated fat, including fish, vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, avocadoes, peanut butter, olives and non-hydrogenated margarine.

Want to read more?

Click here for Part 1
Click here for Part 2

Food, Inc.

"If you knew, you might not want to eat it."
"Faster, Fatter, Bigger, Cheaper."
"So much of our industrial food turns out to be rearrangements of corn."
"We can get 2 hamburgers for the (price of a vegetable)."
"We've never had food companies this powerful in our history."
"They have managed to make it against the law to criticize their products."
"When we run an item past the supermarket scanner we're voting for local, or not, organic, or not."
"Imagine what it would be if, as a National Policy, the idea would be to have such nutritionally dense foods that people actually felt better, had more energy and weren't sick as much. See, now that's a noble goal."
"People have to start demanding good wholesome food of us and we'll deliver, i promise you."




Wow.

Red meat linked with death

A study published in March’s Archives of Internal Medicine looked at the meat intake of half a million Americans aged 50-71 for 10 years.

After controlling for age, race, BMI, education, smoking history, alcohol intake, caloric intake, fruit and vegetable intake, vitamin intake, hormone therapy and physical activity, researchers found that the more red meat and processed meat people ate, the higher the mortality risk- in fact, they had a 20-40% increased risk of death. They also had a higher risk of heart disease and cancer.

The participants that ate the most meat were more likely to be of white (non-Hispanic) ethnicity, married, smokers, have a higher BMI, higher caloric, fat and saturated fat intake, have lower education and physical activity levels and lower intakes of fibre, fruits and veggies. Remember, that all these factors were controlled for though.

So, how much meat were they eating? The subjects that are the most meat were eating about 160g red meat or processed meat per day- the equivalent of about a 5 oz steak a day. The ones getting the least meat were eating just under 1 oz a day.

This study adds to what we’ve already known: red meat and processed meat are major sources of saturated fat which have been associated with high blood cholesterol, heart disease and cancer. Meat has also been shown to be a source of cancer-causing agents which are formed during high-temperature cooking. Processed meats also contain carcinogenic nitrosamines.

Since it's pretty clear that eating a diet rich in red meat and processed meat puts your health at risk, try to limit your intake- there are so many delicious vegetarians options available now... try them! Also replace your red meat with beans and lentil-based meals, fish and/or white meat as often as possible.

Supersized USA

Population: 293,027,571
Percent of population overweight, male/female: 72/70%
Percent of population obese, male/female: 32/38%
Percent of population over the age of 20 with diabetes: 8.8%
Percent of dieting men/women on any given day: 25/45%
Percent of all dieters who will regain their lost weight within 1-5 years: 95%
Caloric intake available daily per person: 3,774 calories
Annual alcohol consumption per person (alcohol content only): 9.6 quarts (~9 liters)
Cigarette consumption per person per year: 2,255
Sugar and sweetener available per person per year: 158 lbs
Soft drink consumption per person per year: 54.8 gallons (~207 liters)
Meat consumption per person per year: 275 lbs
McDonald's restaurants: 13,491
Liposuction surgeries per year: 400,000
Gastric bypass surgeries per year: 150,000
Percent paid by taxpayers for obesity-related medical costs: 50%
Annual spending on dieting and diet-related products: $40 billion

Taken directly from Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel

Swine Flu: Q & A

The WHO has also called the outbreak of the Swine Flu virus in the States and in Mexico a "public health emergency of international concern".
So far as many as 86 deaths are suspected and 20 confirmed in Mexico, with over 1400 people ill. The United States, which has declared a public health emergency today, 20 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 5 states, including New York (8), California (7), Kansas (2), Texas (2) and Ohio (1). Canada has now confirmed 6 cases in Nova Scotia (4) and British Columbia (2).

CTV and CBC News published great Q & A pieces and I'm including the main points below:

What is swine flu?
Just like humans get the flu, so do pigs. They get a fever, a cough, sneezing, lose their appetite.

Can humans catch swine flu from pigs?
Usually it's rare and, if it happens, it's people that deal directly with the pigs. On average, in the States, there are 4 cases documented a year.
1976 saw the last swine flu outbreak at Fort Dix, NJ among military recruits. At that time, the US vaccinated 40 million people fearing the outbreak would turn into a pandemic, but it didn't.

Can you catch swine flu from an infected person?
Yes- just like the seasonal flu is transmitted between humans.

Can you catch swine flu by eating pork?
No- the swine flu virus isn't transmitted through food.

Should we be worried about this outbreak?
This new outbreak is a bit worrisome because none of the people recently infected had any contact with pigs. The Center for Disease Control is reporting that this is a new virus that's a combination of bird, swine and human influenza.
American officials are asking people not to panic though. The emergency declaration lets the government free more money for antiviral drugs and give some previously unapproved tests and drugs to children. One-quarter of the national stockpile of 50 million courses of antiflu drugs will be released.

Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital told CBC News that, while the cases in Mexico sound like a large number, "in truth for influenza, that's a very small number." "You need to remember that in Canada alone, which is not that much bigger than Mexico City actually in population terms, 4,000 people die of seasonal flu every year."

If you're travelling, you may be asked if you have had the flu or a fever. Those that appear ill will be asked to step aside, given a mask and given medical care.

Is there a vaccine?
Only for pigs- none to protect humans. The flu shot will not protect you.

What are symptoms?
Similar to regular flu symptoms: fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing. Some people have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

How to they diagnose swine flu?
A respiratory specimen is collected within 4-5 days of becoming ill and sent for testing.

Is it treatable?
Yes, with antivirals. The recent US swine flu cases seem to be resistant to 2 antivirals (amantadine, rimantadine) but are susceptible to zanamivir and Tamiflu.

What can you do?
The CDC is advising you to to wash your hands frequently, to cover coughs and sneezes, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth (that's how germs are spread) and to stay home if you feel sick.

Visit the CDC and the WHO's sites for more up-to-date info.

A Greener Diet: How the foods we eat impact our environment

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has a great Eating Green Calculator you should try... it allows you to enter the servings of animal products you eat in a week to determine the impact your diet has on the environment: pounds of fertilizer and pesticides used yearly to grow animal feed, acres of grain and grass needed for animal feed and pounds of manure created by the animals you eat. The program then allows you to make changes to your diet and calculate how those changes can reduce your environmental burden.

The website also allows you to score your diet: you enter the servings of certain foods you eat in a week and the program calculates a Health Score, Environmental Score and Animal Welfare Score. Kinda cool.

The CSPI encourages everyone to take the Pledge to eat less meat and dairy:

To protect my health and the environment, I will eat a more plant-based diet—more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts and fewer fatty meat and dairy products. When I do eat animal products, I will emphasize ones that are lower in fat and raised in humane ways that minimize harm to the environment.

What are the CSPI's 6 arguments for a greener diet?

1. Less chronic disease and overall health: The fat and cholesterol in meat, dairy, poultry and egg products cause about 63, 000 deaths from heart disease a year. Apart from heart disease and hypertension, consumption of meat and other animal products have been linked to an increased risk of cancer and diabetes.

2. Less foodborne illnesses: More than 1000 Americans die annually from foodborne illnesses linked to meat, poultry, dairy and egg products.

3. Better soil: Currently in the States, 100 million acres of land is used up to grow crops to feed livestock. In fact, 66% of US grain ends up as livestock feed. This practice depletes the topsoil of nutrients and erodes the soil (a typical acre of US cropland loses an average of 5 tons of soil a year!) , as does overgrazing of grasses by livestock. 22 billion pounds of fertilizer and immense amounts of pesticides are used to grow the animal feed is used, disrupting the ecosystem, poisoning wildlife and polluting waterways.

4. More and cleaner water: 80% of all freshwater in the States is used for agriculture, Half of available irrigation water (14 trillion gallons annually) is used to grow food for US livestock (1 trillion alone is used directly by livestock). Fertilizer, pesticides, manure, antibiotics and eroded soil pollute water.

5. Cleaner air: Methane gas produced by cattle and livestock in 2000 had the same impact on global warming as 33 million cars! Livestock are the largest source of ammonia releases on Earth, contributing to smog, acid rain as well as respiratory and other health problems.

6. Less animal suffering: 140 million cattle, pigs and sheep, 9 billion chicken and turkeys and millions of fish, shellfish and other sea creatures are slaughtered a year in the United States. Food animals are not protected by federal animal welfare laws making common procedures such as chopping animals' beaks, horns, tails, or testes legal.

Click Here to download their entire "6 Arguments for a Greener Diet" book.

Happy Earth Day!

Guatemalan markets

Paula Deen's Heart Attack on a Plate

This is horrible!



Using Calorie King’s Food Database, I calculated that this meal has approximately:
907 calories- which is about half of your daily requirement, 60% of which comes from fat (and 25% of which comes from saturated fat)!
It also has a total of 350 mg of cholesterol which exceeds your day's requirement.

Eating this burger is equivalent to eating 15 pats of butter or 3/4 of a stick of butter!


Bon Appétit!

Happy World Vegan Day!

Happy World Vegan Day!

Today is also the start of Vegan Month.

The holiday, created by the Vegan Society, has been celebrated since 1994 by vegans around the world. This year’s theme is: improving the quality and availability of vegan food.

Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that excludes animal-derived products. Vegans choose not to eat any foods derived from living or dead animals - no meat of any kind (red meat, poultry, white meat, fish etc.), no animal milks (cow's dairy products, sheep, goats etc.), no eggs, honey or any other animal products (no gelatin, cochineal, shellac etc.).

Most common reasons for becoming vegan include an ethical conviction for animal rights, the environment (animal farming uses much more land, energy and water and has a greater effect on climate change than plant-based agriculture), health and religious concerns.

How do you plan to celebrate vegan month?

Maybe try going a day or two without eating any animal products? It’s easier than you think! Lots of dishes are already vegan, including Chinese, Indian, African, Asian and Mediterranean meals.

Click here for other ideas on how you can celebrate.

Western diet causes heart attacks

Researchers at McMaster University found that a ‘Western diet’ increases the risk of heart attacks by 35%, regardless of what country you live in.

The study, which was published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, looked at food frequency (of 19 food groups, adjusted for food preferences per country) results of 5761 people that have had heart attacks and 10,646 people without known heart disease from 52 countries.

3 different dietary groups were identified:

1. Prudent diet- People in this group ate more fruits and vegetables and had a 30% lower risk of heart attack compared to people who ate less fruits and veggies.

2. Western diet- Individuals in this group ate more fried foods, salty snacks, eggs and meat. As

mentioned above, this type of diet was associated with a 35% greater risk of heart attack than those that ate less meat, fat and salt.

3. Oriental diet- This diet was higher in tofu as well as soy sauce. This diet had no relationship with heart attack risk, despite its high sodium level. The researchers suggest that the healthy aspects of this diet-low in meat and relatively higher in vegetables- counteract the effect of the high sodium. Nonetheless, they note that the high salt could increase stroke risk, which was not looked at in this study.

Although we’ve known for a while that a diet high in animal protein, fat and salt increases the risk of heart disease, what this study shows us is that this same relationship exists in other regions around the world.

Bottom line:

Eat lots of vegetables and fruit, reduce your intake of fried foods, meat and salty foods. ... Duh.