7 Foods Banned in Europe - Still In The U.S.!

Modified Foods

Although the E.U. is continuously coming under attack for policies banning GM foods, the community is highly suspicious of genetically modified foods, and the agro-industrial pressures that drive their use. The problem with GM foods is that there is simply not sufficient research and understanding to inform good public policy. In spite of widespread GM use without apparent negative impacts in other countries, the recent public reaction to trans-fats are reason enough to support a precautionary principle for the food supply chain.

Pesticides in Your Food

The E.U. has acted against the worst pesticides typically found as residuals in the food chain. A ban on 22 pesticides was passed at the E.U. level, and is pending approval by the Member States. Critics claim the ban will raise prices and may harm malaria control, but advocates of the ban say action must be taken against the pesticides which are known to cause harm to health and nevertheless consistently found in studies of food consumption.

Bovine Growth Hormone

This drug, known as rBGH for short, is not allowed in Europe. In contrast, U.S. citizens struggle even for laws that allow hormone-free labeling so that consumers have a choice. This should be an easy black-and-white decision for all regulators and any corporation that is really concerned about sustainability: give consumers the information. We deserve control over our food choice.

Chlorinated Chickens

Amid cries that eating American chickens would degrade European citizens to the status of guinea pigs, the E.U. continued a ban on chickens washed in chlorine. The ban effectively prevents all import of chickens from the U.S. into Europe. If chicken chlorination is “totally absurd” and “outrageous” for Europeans, what does that mean for Americans?

Food Contact Chemicals

Phthalates and Bisphenols in plastic are really beneficial. They help manufacturers create plastic products with the softness and moldability needed to fulfill consumer needs. But when the food contact additives are found in the food and liquids contained by those plastics, trouble starts. Both the U.S. and Europe stringently regulate food contact use of chemicals. However, the standard of approval is different. In Europe, the precautionary principle requires that the suppliers of chemicals prove their additives safe, or they will be banned. Of course, although the E.U. has banned phthalates in toys, both phthalates and bisphenol-A remain approved for food contact uses — subject to strict regulations on their use.

Stevia, the natural sweetener

The U.S. recently approved this “natural” sweetener as a food additive. Previously, it was sold in the U.S. under the less stringent dietary supplement laws. It has been embraced in Japan for over three decades, but E.U. bans still stand — pointing to potential disturbances in fertility and other negative health impacts. But the sweetener is credited with potentially positive health effects too. Is this a case where consumer choice should prevail?

Planned Ban: Food Dyes

Many food dyes previously recognized as safe are suspected of contributing to attention deficit disorder. Action is afoot as the UK evaluates a ban on synthetic food colors. Regulation in the E.U. often starts through the leadership of one Member State, which pushes the concepts up to Brussels after a proof-of-concept pilot phase. Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, and Red 3 are among the food colors associated with hyperactivity.

Scariest Fast Food Breakfasts

How would you like to meet your daily sodium and saturated fat allowance, as well as nearly half of your daily calorie needs, in one quick breakfast eaten on the road? It’s becoming progressively easy these day as food technicians, chefs and market researchers, holed away in corporate fast food “studios,” are busy developing monstrous new breakfast items. Trying to claim as much of the $57 billion fast food breakfast market as they can, the fast food giants are drumming up increasingly cheesy, steak-y, fried chicken-y breakfast dishes that tap into flavor combinations that have proven successful for lunch and dinner items. It’s no longer eggs and English muffins for fast food breakfast–breakfast burger anyone?

What’s most striking about some of these high-calorie items–aside from the unsustainable, industrial, often GMO and synthetic ingredients–is the very high sodium and saturated fat content. According to the USDA, the current recommendation for sodium consumption is less than 2,300 milligrams a day. For saturated fat, the maximum allowance is between 18 grams to 31 grams, depending on your caloric intake needs. (You can calculate your caloric need with this calculator from the Mayo Clinic.) Many of these breakfast items meet or exceed the daily sodium and fat allowances, and provide much more than one-third of your daily caloric needs.

1. Carl’s Jr Breakfast Burger
Yes, I’m afraid you read that right, “breakfast” and “burger” in the same menu item. How do you turn a regular burger into a breakfast burger? By adding not only an egg–but an egg, bacon, American cheese and hash brown nuggets too!

Calories: 780
Fat Calories: 370
Total Fat: 51 grams
Sat Fat: 15 grams
Sodium: 1460

2. McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Hotcakes
Chances are that if you are ordering a breakfast that contains scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, hotcakes and a biscuit, you’re probably not really watching your waistline (well, watching it increase, maybe) but still, the tally for this corpulent combination is quite impressive.

Calories: 1150
Fat Calories: 540
Total Fat: 59 grams
Sat Fat: 20 grams
Sodium: 2260

If you decide to go with something less bulky, like the McSkillet Burrito with Sausage, you’ll still be ringing up 610 calories. The “best bet” here is the Egg McMuffin at 300 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat. But then again, the sound of “Pasteurized Process American Cheese, Canadian Style Bacon, and Liquid Margarine” may leave you a little blue in the gills…

3. Burger King Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Platter
I can’t decide which one is worse, the Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Platter or the Double Croissan’wich with Sausage Egg and Cheese. Calories are the same, but you can have 35 grams of fat with 2350 mg of sodium (that’s your limit for the day), or you can opt for the 49 grams of fat with 1520 mg of sodium.

Calories: 680
Fat Calories: 310
Total Fat: 35 grams
Sat Fat: 28 grams
Sodium: 2350

4. Burger King Double Croissan’wich with Sausage Egg and Cheese
Does the cutesy name make it any less threatening?

Calories: 680
Fat Calories: 421
Total Fat: 49 grams
Sat Fat: 18 grams
Sodium: 1520

5. Hardee’s Double Sausage Egg n’ Cheese Biscuit
Anytime you start saying “double sausage” when talking about a meal, you should just know to expect trouble…like 21-grams-of-saturated-fat kind of trouble. Along with your RDA for sodium and saturated fat all scooped up with this one sandwich, you can pretty much eat nothing else besides celery for the day. The problem with any of the biscuit meals here is that the biscuit alone is 370 calories.

Calories: 830
Fat Calories: 570
Total Fat: 63 grams
Sat Fat: 21 grams
Sodium: 2100

6. Hardee’s Loaded Breakfast Burrito
Can you imagine? “Eggs, crumbled sausage, bacon and diced ham, lots of shredded cheddar cheese, then wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. Served with zesty salsa.” I like the use of “zesty”–as if it somehow lightens this overwhelming brick of animal fat disguised as a burrito.

Calories: 760
Fat Calories: 400
Total Fat: 49 grams
Sat Fat: 21 grams
Sodium: 1380

7. Hardee’s Low Carb Breakfast Bowl
So, you think maybe the low carb option is going to be the better option? How does this sound: “eggs topped with a sausage patty and a slice of Swiss cheese, then piled with a loaded omelet (with crumbled sausage, bacon, diced, ham and shredded cheddar), then finished with more shredded cheddar and sprinkled with bacon bits.” Sounds like “call 9-1-1″ to me.

Calories: 620
Fat Calories: 450
Total Fat: 50 grams
Sat Fat: 21 grams
Sodium: 1380

8. Jack in the Box Steak and Egg Burrito
I don’t know who came up with the idea of steak and eggs for breakfast, but, ouch. Even worse when they are wrapped up in a tortilla along with hash browns, cheddar cheese, jack cheese and a bunch of sauce.

Calories: 821
Fat Calories: 450
Total Fat: 48 grams
Sat Fat: 15 grams
Sodium: 1616

9. Jack in the Box Extreme Sausage Sandwich
When a regular sausage sandwich just isn’t enough…

Calories: 690
Fat Calories: 445
Total Fat: 41 grams
Sat Fat: 17 grams
Sodium: 1356

10. Chick-fil-A Sausage Biscuit
The Chick-fil-A Sausage Biscuit is not too much better or worse than the other sausage biscuits. The general problem with a biscuit breakfast is that it is not that large of meal, yet you are using up a lot of calories for a lot of junk and animal fat.

Calories: 590
Fat Calories: 370
Total Fat: 41 grams
Sat Fat: 16 grams
Sodium: 1250

11. Chick-fil-A Chicken Egg and Cheese Bagel on a Sunflower Mutligrain Bagel
Well it’s nice that they opted for a multigrain bagel studded with sunflower seeds, but does that really hide the fact that there is a slab of fried chickenbetween the eggs and American cheese?

Calories: 530
Fat Calories: 200
Total Fat: 23 grams
Sat Fat:7 grams
Sodium: 1330

Happy Earth Day! - 7 Tips For Green Eating

It’s Earth Day. Which means that you might be experiencing a rush of media extolling the virtues of reusable shopping bags, the evils of single use water bottles, and the importance of organic food. And seasonal food. And local food. And so on. All important issues, but I’m guessing a lot of you know about these things by now. So may I interest you in some other ideas on how to make an impact with your food choices?

Don’t get me wrong. My closet’s packed with cheerleading outfits for the basic tenets of green eating: local, seasonal, organic. They are, in my opinion, vastly important. So I’ll pay tribute to them, quickly, in tip number one–and then cut to the chase with six other tips that see less of the spotlight.

1. Buy Local, Seasonal, Organic.
Shop locally to decrease the fuel consumption of transportation–shop at farmer’s markets, CSAs, food co-ops, and markets that sell local products. Even big box stores are hopping on the local food train. Eat seasonally, which essentially means that you are eating locally, which means that you are not supporting the fuel consumption of cross-country, cross-global transportation. This can be challenging for those of us living in, say, Brooklyn in the winter, but you’d be surprised by all the things you can do with dark greens and winter squash! Support organic agriculture. There, said.



2. Don’t Buy Organic.
What??? Organic should be first choice when it’s locally grown, but consider that shipping a pound of organic apples across the country increases fuel and greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent more than if they had been consumed at their point of harvest. And much of the organic produce on the market is now shipped across the planet. Meanwhile, many local farmers practice organic methods but don’t certify organic because it is expensive and labor-intensive administratively. Since each type of crop needs to be registered, for a smaller farm growing a variety of food it becomes a Herculean task. If you shop at a farmer’s market, talk to your vendors and see if they use eco-friendly agricultural methods–many of the farmers I have talked to do so because they recognize the importance of keeping their land healthy. Consider buying non-organic locally grown produce over non-local organic produce, if you can determine that it was grown conscientiously.

3. Yes, Eat Your Weeds.
Dandelions, purslane, chickweed, stinging nettle, lamb’s quarter, burdock? Yum! Skip the herbicides, and celebrate your weeds instead with a hot pan and some olive oil. Many plants now maligned as bothersome invaders of the perfect lawn were long used as food greens. Just make sure that you identify the plant species correctly. I, for one, go absolutely shivery in the knees for dandelions–you could be, too, by looking at these pages:

Eating Dandelions
Cream of Dandelion Soup
Homemade Dandelion Syrup

4. Minimize Your Meat.
Meat is the most resource-intensive food on the plate. It takes much more energy, water and resources to produce a pound of meat, than a pound of grain or produce. (A pound of beef can require about 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes.) In addition, agricultural hormones and antibiotics lead to pollution of soil, air, and water.

If you eat meat, aim for meat from animals who were raised humanely; grass-fed, and without hormones or antibiotics. Try hard to avoid factory farmed meat which relies on large-scale industrialized and intensive agricultural practices that are focused on profit with animals kept indoors and restricted in mobility. Each industry has its own abusive practices, and some are much more cruel than others. For example, the chicken, egg, turkey, and pork industries tend to be far more abusive to animals than the beef industry. A growing number of producers are raising animals without intensive confinement. Refining your diet by choosing cage-free animal products, instead of the conventional factory farm products that fill most supermarket shelves, will help to reduce animal suffering. Happy animals are part of a happy planet.

Try slowly cutting out meat from your diet. Become the term that Mark Bittman of The New York Times has coined–a Lessmeatatarian! He is vegan daily until 6:00 PM.

And, trust me, this is torture for me - a die-hard meat-lover. The bloodier it is, the better. But there are benefits.

5. Eat Antiques.
Grow and shop for heirloom vegetables–varieties that have been around for a long time–to help promote biodiversity. Heirloom varieties can be knobby, speckled, bursting with flavor and loaded with character–they’re not industrially-raised supermarket produce designed for life in a truck and a shelf. With big agriculture growing only a small variety of the same bio-engineered (often patented and sterile) seeds, we run the risk of letting thousands and thousands of generations-old fruits and vegetables become extinct. The same goes for grains and beans. Heirloom beans are awesome; their flavor and texture do justice to their poetic names such as Black Valentine or Butterscotch Calypso.

Learn about heirloom beans and how to cook them here.

6. Mind Your Chills and Hot Flashes
Your refrigerator can be one of the biggest energy drains in your home. Here’s the cooling-efficiency cheat sheet cribbed from Sustainable Dave’s (much more comprehensive) post, Putting the Deep Freeze On Your Energy Loss: Do the dollar bill trick on the seal to check air-tightness; keep the fridge and freezer full; keep the fridge at 35 to 38F degrees, and the freezer around 0F; clean the coils; keep it in a cool place.

Meanwhile, keep the heat out of the kitchen by cooking outside–outdoor grills use less energy than your stove and keep heat out of the house, reducing energy needed to feed hungry air conditioners. And being outside is nice.

7. Love Your Coffee Farmer.
Lord knows I try to be good about my eating habits, but then, there’s coffee. I can manage to eat straight from my farmer’s market all winter long, but I can’t seem to shake the coffee. And until someone figures out a way to grow coffee beans in New York’s climate (which isn’t going to happen any time soon–fingers crossed), it’s a decidedly not-local item.

Especially with coffee, the consumer’s spending power can really make a difference. Coffee is the world’s second most valuable traded commodity, behind only petroleum. Second, isn’t that interesting? Imagine the impact of our shopping? According to Global Exchange, there are approximately 25 million farmers and coffee workers in over 50 countries involved in producing coffee around the world. Coffee producers are kept in a cycle of poverty and debt by the current global economy designed to exploit cheap labor and keep consumer prices low. Buying Fair Trade Certified coffee ensures a proper wage and working conditions for those who harvest and handle it, and has strong environmental standards built into its certification process that protect watersheds and virgin forests, help prevent erosion, promote natural soil fertility and water conservation, and prohibit GMOs and many synthetic chemicals. Look for the Fair Trade Certified label on your beans or in your coffee shop.

Recipe: Grapefruit Brulee

Here’s a simple dessert, a fit cure for wintertime blues. Simply broil the grapefruit slices until warm and irresistible. Follow them up with a strong cup of aromatic jasmine or Earl Grey tea.

INGREDIENTS
3 large pink or ruby-red grapefruits
6 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter cut into tiny pieces
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1. Position oven rack about 5 inches from broiler; preheat broiler.

2. Slice the stem end and opposite end off each grapefruit. Stand the grapefruit, one cut-end down, on a work surface. Cut off the rind and pith with a sharp knife, making sure to remove all the white pith. Cut each fruit into 4 rounds, about 1/2 inch thick, by making slices parallel to the ones you made on the top and bottom.

3. Place the slices in a large baking pan in a single layer. Top each with 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar, dot with butter and sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg.

4. Broil the grapefruit until bubbling and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Drizzle pan juices over each serving.

Serves 6.

Recipe nutrition per serving: 121 calories; 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat, 0g mono unsaturated fat); 5 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 2 g fiber; 5 mg sodium; 215 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (60% daily value), Vitamin A (30% dv).

2 Carbohydrate Servings.

Exchanges: 1 fruit, 1 other carbohydrate, 1/2 fat.

Power Up Your Diet For 2009

Are you or a loved one feeling fatigued after the holidays? While part of it may be from all the celebrating, part of that dragging feeling may be coming from your diet.

It's easy to let a healthy diet slip away during the holidays, but it is equally important to take stock of what you are eating and make sure you are getting a healthy balance of nutrients. Vegetarians may feel particularly sluggish and fatigued if they are not getting enough iron in their diets.

Foods rich in iron include beans, lentils, iron-fortified cereals, dark green leafy vegetables, dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Make sure you get enough iron to power you through the new year! For today's Action, try a tasty recipe for iron-rich lentil almond burgers.

While I'm not a huge fan of vegetarian or vegan meals (I have a tolerance factor of zero for icky foods), these vegetarian burgers are just the thing to have on hand if you’re rushing around or have company for the holidays. Keep them in the fridge or freezer, and pull them out to have on buns or on their own with sliced tomatoes and relish. Or try them with roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli.

INGREDIENTS
6 cups water
1 cup brown lentils or green French lentils (see note)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 cup finely chopped carrot
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots (about 2 medium)
1/3 cup finely chopped celery (about 1 stalk)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten (or flaxseed substitute)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in lentils, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until very tender and beginning to break down, about 25 minutes for brown lentils or 30 minutes for green lentils. Drain in a fine-mesh sieve.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add carrot, shallots and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add almonds, thyme, salt and pepper; continue cooking until the almonds are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor; add 1 cup of the cooked lentils. Pulse several times, scraping down the sides once or twice, until the mixture is coarsely ground.

3. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in the remaining lentils. Let cool for 10 minutes. Mix in egg yolk (or flaxseed) and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

4. Form the lentil mixture into 5 patties. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large non-stick skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn gently and continue to cook until lightly browned and heated through, 3 to 4 minutes more. Serve immediately, or allow to cool then freeze.

Note: French green lentils are smaller and firmer than brown lentils. They cook more quickly, too, in about 20 minutes. They can be found in natural-foods stores and some larger supermarkets.

Nutrition per serving: 228 calories; 9 g fat (1 g saturated fat, 6g mono unsaturated fat); 41 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrates; 11 g protein; 7 g fiber; 276 mg sodium; 467 mg potassium.

Nutrtion Bonus: Folate (53% daily value), Vitamin A (50% dv), Fiber (40% dv), Iron (20% dv), Potassium (16% dv).

1 Carbohydrate Servings.

Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 very lean meat, 2 fat (mono).

YELLOW PEPPER RELISH
A colorful relish for the burgers, this is also great stirred into nonfat yogurt for a vegetable dip or combined with light mayonnaise for a zippy salad dressing.

INGREDIENTS
3 cups water
3 yellow bell peppers, seeded
2 medium onions, peeled
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons frozen pineapple juice concentrate
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 serrano chile or jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (optional)

1. Put water on to boil in a medium saucepan.

2. Meanwhile, shred peppers and onions with the large-hole side of a box grater into a large bowl. Finely chop any remaining pieces of onion or pepper and add them to the bowl. Cover with the boiling water and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain in a large colander for 5 minutes (don’t squeeze out any moisture).

3. Place the shredded vegetables, sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice concentrate, salt and chile (or jalapeno), if using, in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and gently simmer until thickened and tender, 25 to 30 minutes. If the mixture gets too dry before the peppers are tender, add water, 2 tablespoons at a time. Refrigerate, uncovered, until chilled, about 2 hours.

Visit EatingWell.com for free quick and easy healthy recipe collections!

Limiting Your Java Waste Starts at Home (by Sustainable Dave)

I was planning on jumping straight to ways to avoid coffee cup waste on the road, but I realized that the problem can be avoided much earlier: Don’t even hit the coffee shops to begin with.

While this may seem like an overly simplified way to go about things (many of my ideas are), let’s think about it. Say the average cup of coffee at your local Coffee Peets & Starbucks conglomerate costs $2. If you get a cup of coffee every morning, five days a week, over a 50-week period (I’m assuming you have a nice boss and get two weeks paid vacation … and dental), that’s $500 over the course of a year.

While $500 seems like enough of an incentive, it doesn’t stop there. You’ve also got to factor in the wasted time standing in line in the store (3 minutes per cup would add up to 12.5 hours during a year), the waste you are creating (250 cups, covers, and warmer sleeves), and, while it can’t be quantified, the extra money you are paying in taxes for all that waste to be disposed of (where do you think landfill and recycling money comes from?). So it’s costing you a lot more than you even recognize, it’s just that because it’s spread out over time, it doesn’t seem that bad.

As an alternative that will save you money, save on waste, and save on time, I’d like to suggest trying to make your cup of joe at home.

Let’s start with coffee makers. There are a ton of electric models on the market and if you have one, then by all means, dust it off and see if it still works. Having said that, if you don’t own one, consider buying one used on (www.craigslist.org) craigslist or a similar site. Some may balk at buying a used coffee maker, but run a concentrate of vinegar and water through it a few times, clean it up, and it’ll be good as new. We had a used Mr. Coffee (or was it a Ms. Coffee, I can’t recall) that we used for years that cost us $10 at a tag sale. One note, however: Unplug them when not in use. Doing so will not only be safer (ever leave it on when you head out of the house for the day?) but will save on energy (that little clock timer is sucking power every second it’s plugged in).

Now, staying with the auto drip coffeemaker theme for a second, let’s talk about filters. There are really two ways to go; “disposable” and reusable. The paper “disposable” filters come in white (bleached) and brown (unbleached) and there is some debate over whether or not the bleached ones are a problem as they may leach chemicals into your java. I don’t really need to see any big studies to recognize that a chance of drinking bleach doesn’t sit as well with me as opting not to in the first place, so I’d go with the brown ones if “disposable” is your choice.

While the paper filters do a slightly better job at catching all of the grounds, a metal reusable is a much better way to go in my opinion. The paper filters will run you about $2 for a 100-pack while the reusable (which you can toss in the dishwasher if you’d like) will run you just under $10. The metal filters will save you money and cut down on waste. We’ve been using them for years and have never had a complaint.

Back to coffee makers, if electric auto is your thing, than have at it. Personally, I prefer one of two less energy intensive methods. The first is a French drip coffee maker. We actually have one from camping a few years ago and use it all the time. You put in grounds, pour in hot water let it sit, and plunge. No mess, no fuss, and a really good cup of coffee. The other method is similar to an auto called a Melitta. It’s basically a carafe that has a little filter holder on top. Pour the water in and it will filter through the grounds, emptying down into the carafe. Voila, coffee sans coffee maker.

As for the coffee itself, here’s my suggestion. Many stores now sell coffee in bulk using their own generic bags. Fill one of these up, pay for it, bring it home (you can grind at the store or at home) and then empty the coffee into an airtight container (a Tupperware will work fine). Then fold up the bag, stick it in your reusable shopping bag and you’ll have it there next time to bring back to the store. You’ll never have to toss one of those plastic/metallic coffee bean bags in the trash again.

A pound of coffee will make somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 cups of coffee (by my estimation) and will sell for about $10 or less. For 250 cups of coffee, you’re looking at $50 compared to $500 on the go, and you’re cutting down on your waste stream by a major factor. And while we’re on coffee, I’d suggest checking out fair trade beans as opposed to non-fair trade. The prices are now comparable and you’ll feel better for having supported a sustainable living wage for the farmers.

And finally, wondering what to do with those coffee grounds when you are done with making your morning cup, check out these tips for more than enough ideas.

While making your cup at home may seem like a lot of work it really isn’t. If you have an auto drip maker, you can set it up the night before, plug it in before your shower and voila, coffee when you are done. If you are using one of the other methods I mentioned, you can look for your eyeglasses while the water is boiling, and then it’s just pouring it over the grinds, add milk and sugar, and drink.

Like anything else, making your own coffee at home takes a bit of experimenting and a bit of training, but you’ll soon realize it’s not that hard. There are a few costs that I can’t quantify, like the electricity/gas it takes to boil the water, but overall, you’ll more than save the price of a maker and metal filter in the first year alone. If anyone has any other energy/waste saving tips on the coffee making front, please feel free to share.

Next up: Coffee on the road and how to avoid those darn cups.

Dave Chameides is an environmental educator and freelance filmmaker. He writes alternative fuel articles for Edmunds.com and maintains the blogs 365 Days of Trash and Achieving Sustainability. While he is presently saving all of his trash for a year to better understand his environmental impact, his main focus is sustainability through education and believes that with knowledge all things are possible.

Top 10 Superfoods for Fall

I, for one, love the idea that there are superfoods–certain edibles that go the extra mile in terms of nutritional chutzpah. They may not leap tall buildings, but superfoods are purported to fight the evil villains of heart disease, high cholesterol, cancer and a host of other diseases. Blueberries, for example, have become a superfood darling for their powerful punch of antoxidants–and I have to say, they do seem pretty mighty to me.

That said, I think some of the trendy superfoods are stealing the spotlight from the true heart of the matter–from the everyday heroes. It seems to me that almost any grain or produce that is grown organically, unprocessed and prepared gently, has much to offer. I just can’t see a list of ten superfoods that earn obvious rank. In fact, if you look at 10 “Top 10 Superfoods” lists, you will see that they vary widely.

The truth is, most good food from nature is pretty super. So with that in mind, I like taking a seasonal approach. Rather than debating the merits of acai berries over goji berries, I prefer to look at what’s in season, and work with the nutritional workhorses that I can get here and now. These are my favorites for fall, based primarily on nutritional variety and strength, but that also give me that primal, sensuous satisfaction that comes with eating what’s in season:

Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin
I go crazy for these flavors come fall, and no wonder: The dark orange vegetable family outdoes all others in vitamin A content. Sweet potatoes are also packed with antioxidants, vitamin C, calcium, and potassium. Other dark orange vegetable standouts include pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, and orange bell peppers.

Cruciferous Vegetables
Crucifers such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collards and turnips contain indole alkaloids that may help prevent cancer. They are also high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Along with their fabulous flavor, once you get the hang of cooking them, they may have an added bonus: they may help bolster memory as you age. Researchers at Harvard Medical School found that women who eat the most of these foods are the least likely to be forgetful.

Pomegranates
Pomegranates have very high antioxidant activity, offering brain and memory protection. And research shows that drinking pomegranate juice may help with lowering the risk for hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis. And they're my personal favourite on the list!

Beets
The pigment that gives beets their super-beautiful fuschia depth-betacyanin-is also a powerful cancer-fighting agent. Beets’ potential effectiveness against colon cancer, in particular, has been demonstrated in several studies. Beets are also particularly rich in the B vitamin folate.

The Alliums
Garlic, onions, leeks, scallions, chives and shallots contain sulfur compounds that may protect against heart disease and some cancers, they can all help the liver eliminate toxins and carcinogens.

Beans
An excellent source of protein, antioxidants, folic acid, potassium, dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates, beans are flavorful, nutritionally dense, inexpensive and versatile. Read about heirloom varieties and cooking tips.

Olive oil
Several large studies suggest that the monosaturated fat in olive oil is good for the heart. Olive oil lowers bad cholesterol levels and increases good cholesterol. It is hgih in antioxidants–and is one of the superstars of the Mediterranean diet. Recent research shows that heart-attack survivors on a Mediterranean diet had half the death rates of those on an ordinary low-fat diet.

Tea
The caffeine content in tea is useful for stimulating alertness, mood and motivation, but is also a rich source of the antioxidant called catechins. Studies suggest that catechins protect the artery walls against the damage that causes heart disease and prevents formation of blood clots. It also does wonders for the spirit on a cool autumn day.

Red Wine
Grapes provide vitamin C, vitamin B1 and vitamin B6–red grapes also contain powerful phytochemicals (especially phenolics) that may help decrease risk of cardiovascular disease. These phenolic compounds are housed mostly in the skin of the red grapes, which is what makes red wine red. Resveratrol, a polyphenolic stilbene found in the skins of red fruits including grapes, may be responsible for some of the health benefits ascribed to the consumption of red wine. Resveratrol has been shown to have anti-oxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activity.

'Happy' Halloween from the FDA

Dear Tara,

If the Wall Street bailout was hard to swallow, the government is preparing a Halloween trick that just may be impossible to stomach.

The Food and Drug Administration is opening the way for grocery stores to sell food made from genetically engineered animals. And the agency is proposing that these products, called “Frankenfoods” by some, be sold to you without your knowledge.

Sign our online petition demanding that food from genetically engineered animals be labeled. We have the right to know what we are eating!

Genetically engineered animals are not a far-off, exotic concept. It’s happening right now. Goats are engineered with spider genes to produce silk in their milk. And pigs carry mouse and bacterial DNA to improve their digestion.

The jury is still out on whether food from these animals is safe for humans or the environment. And the ethics of such changes have yet to be considered.
The FDA says they will conduct a safety review before these foods can be sold for human consumption. But consumers won’t know if they’re buying genetically engineered food, because the agency isn’t going to require a label.

We know what’s in the can of soup we buy because the label tells us. Shouldn’t we know if the meat we buy comes from a pig with another animal’s genes, or whether our milk has insect DNA in it?
Sign our petition and show the FDA that Americans want to know what’s in their food!
We have until Nov. 18 to collect signatures. Please forward this message on to others so they can sign too. Let’s stop this Halloween trick before it starts.

Sincerely,
Jean Halloran
NotInMyFood.org
A project of Consumers Union
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10703

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