Sonic Giveaway Winners! Also, Tuesday Megalinks! Hooray!

We have winners from today's Sonic $25 gift card giveaway! Chosen by Random.org, here they are, along with their favorite food blog:

#1: AB - $5 Dinners
#2: Bashtree – Baking Bites and Gourmet
#18: Broman – Closet Cooking
#21: Amy – CHG (aw, shucks)
#31: Karen – Closet Cooking

If you guys can shoot me an e-mail with your addresses (cheaphealthygood@gmail.com), I can get those cards out tomorrow. Congratulations, one and all, and thank you to everyone for your most excellent suggestions. They’ll be part of an upcoming post.

And with that, let’s go to the links! Today, it’s a lot of listing, restaurant questions, and yikes-inducing news for happy couples. All in ten words or less. (The descriptions, not the articles. Those are longer.)

Bitten: Real Food Can Be Cheaper Than Junk food
Mark Bittman gets on the cheap-n-healthy train…

Bitten: The Ten Ingredient Shopping Trip
…then does a little shopping for easy-to-make meals.

Bon Appetit: Top 10 Surprising Health Foods
Duck breast and whole milk (not together) – who knew?

Casual Kitchen: How Do You Define Truly Great Restaurant Service?
Four words: free cookies, coffee refills. Dan has other ideas.

Chow: 10 Good Cheap Liquors
No plastic bottles! Sorry, Odessa vodka. You made college … fuzzy.

Chow: Are Whole-Wheat and All-Purpose Flour Interchangeable?
As it turns out, nope. I could've told you that.

Epicurious: Top 5 Bad Wine Pairings
Chardonnay with spicy lamb and chorizo? *barfs*

Freakonomics/NYT: Vegetarianism as a Sometimes Thing
Correspondent Matt has stellar idea for group part-time veggie-ism. Bravo!

The Kitchn: The Best Easy, Frugal Foods for Camping
Potatoes and biscuits and food-on-a-stick, oh my!

The Kitchn: Homemade Stock – What’s Your Routine?
A.k.a. Reasons Don’t We Make Stock at Home? (#1: Time)

The Kitchn: Quick ‘n Easy – Ways to Soften Butter
Cut up, pound into chunks, warm water bath. There. Done.

New York Magazine: How I Learned to Heart Breakfast (or at Least What to Eat for it)
Older piece, just as awesome today. Good for you, too!

New York Times: Discounts Have Restaurants Eating Own Lunch
Applebees, Friday’s, etc. trying to outbid each other. Working? Kinda.

NPR: How Low Can You Go?
Public radio asks listeners to submit recipes $10 and under.

Seattle Times: Summer Berries and Fruit Make Quick Desserts
Um … title self-explanatory. Berries are good.

Telegraph UK: Are Lentils the Perfect Food?
Well, they’re okay. The Telegraph begs to disagree with me.

Time Magazine: First Comes Love, Then Comes Obesity?
Clinically proven: chicks gain weight in happy relationships. CRAP!

Zen Habits: Why You Almost Never See a Fat Japanese (or How I Lost 4 Lbs in Tokyo)
And later: why you never see a happy jogger.

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Posted in: Links

$25 Sonic Gift Card Giveaway

Sweet readers! Tuesday’s Megalinks are coming a bit later, but first we’re kicking today off with a giveaway from Sonic. The lovely chain of drive-in restaurants bestowed this fine blog with a few $25 gift cards, and we’re passing one each to five lucky winners this evening.

So! Here’s the deal. I’m gonna choose the five folks at 9pm tonight using Random.org. To enter the contest, simply go to the comment section and leave your name and your answer to this question:

What is your favorite food blog, and why?

(Though straight-up recipe blogs are great, I’d love a few food news suggestions, a la Serious Eats or The Kitchn.)

Again, five winners will be chosen at 9pm tonight, so get those entries in! Think of all the grilled chicken sandwiches (without mayo, naturally)!

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CHG Turns 2: The Year's Top Ten Recipes

You guys! So many things going on today.

1. Last night, I received a KitchenAid stand mixer. For free. From my Mother-in-Law-Elect. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to joining this family.

2. Also last night: bananas, stuffed with chocolate, wrapped in foil, and grilled. I now have proof that Heaven is a place on Earth. (Thank you for the heads up, Belinda Carlisle.)

3. It’s CHG’s two year anniversary (er, as mentioned in the title)! Thank yous are in order to all you lovely readers, as well as Veggie Might’s Leigh, Jaime of City Kitchen Chronicles, and our frequent contributor, Rachel. Also, a huge shout out to all the blogs that’ve supported us for the last two years, including (but not limited to) MSN Smart Spending, Get Rich Slowly, The Simple Dollar, Money Saving Mom, Like Merchant Ships, Healthy Eats, Serious Eats, Casual Kitchen, Kalyn’s Kitchen, Thirty a Week, City Mama, A Good American Wife, Chief Family Officer, Mom Advice, and more…

I'm thrilled to helm CHG, and am warm fuzzified that so many people seem to like us. There will be plenty of giveaways this week to celebrate. But in the meantime, we proudly present our best recipes of the last 364 days. Behold, in alphabetical order:

Baked Eggplant with Mushroom-Tomato Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light
Best. Eggplant dish. To ever appear. On the blog. And that’s saying a LOT.

Chipotle Pork Tenders
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
This could be CHG's manliest recipe, which isn't to say that folks of all genders won't flip their lids, as well. Excellent on burritos, to boot.

Nathan's Lemon Cake
Adapted from Cooking Light
You say it’s cake you want? Keep looking. This piece is mine.

Pasta Puttanesca
Adapted from Rachael Ray
We give thanks to Western New York for many things, including beef on weck, a consistently decent hockey team, and our state’s alfalfa supply. But mostly this Rachael Ray dish.

Pumpkin Orzo with Sage
Created by Leigh
Imagine a world where risottos were wildly flavorful, but contained negligible fat. I bet this is served there.

Sublime Fruit Salad
Adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis
The picture is worth a thousand … mmms. The actual salad will ruin all other salads for you.

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows
Adapted from my Ma
My favorite Thanksgiving food, and second favorite overall, after macaroni and cheese. Ma gave me more than good genes.

Tomato Bread Soup
Adapted from Serious Eats
It’s better than any other tomato soup you’ve ever had. Not kidding

.Tunisian-Style Greens and Beans
Adapted from the International Vegetarian Union
Never has something this healthy and green been so tasty. I could eat this for weeks.

White Chicken Chili
Adapted from Recipe Zaar & Simply Recipes
The motherlode.

Honorable Mentions: American Chop Suey, Autumn Apple Salad, Avocado Chicken Salad, Black Bean Burrito Bake, Easy Vegetarian Bean Chili, Indonesian Bean Stew, Kale with Mushrooms and Polenta, Mojitos, Peach-Blueberry Cobbler, Plums with Orange and Mint, Polenta Pudding with Blueberry Topping, Shaksouka, Spinach Rice Casserole, Tzatziki

Again, thank you so much for all your support and kind words, and be on the lookout for celebratory giveaways. They're gonna be sweet.

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Posted in: About Cheap Healthy Good

Kale with Garlic and Peppers: A Tribute

Today was going to be about the general awesomeness of kale – how it’s super-easy to prepare, lends crazy heft to lighter dishes, and is one of the cheapest, most natural foods you can pick up at the supermarket. As part of that, I was going to gush all over the innate incredible-ness of Cooking Light’s Kale with Garlic and Peppers. Mostly about how it’s one of the simpler, tastier sides I’ve whipped up in recent memory. Then I was going to babble about the profusion of kale dishes available here and at the eminently stellar I Heart Kale.

After it was all done, I was going to stop writing. Soon enough, I would to dump my leftover Kale with Garlic and Peppers into some cold spaghetti. Then I was going to warm it up in the microwave with a tiny bit of salt, and espouse for hours about hearty/healthy/goody aspects of eating it in the office (which I’m sure my new, temporary co-workers would love).

Finally, I was going to make a lot of kale puns. Like that this dish was kale and hearty and that criticizing it would be beyond the kale. I’d watch my favorite movie, Kale Rider, or maybe even An American Kale, and then read A Kale of Two Cities, but only when I finished my kalegate party.

But then Michael Jackson died.

So instead, I’ll leave y’all with one of the best things he’s ever done.



P.S. Nutritional numbers come from Cooking Light, so only the price is calculated down below.

Kale with Garlic and Peppers
4 servings (serving size: 1 cup kale mixture)
Adapted from Cooking Light.

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups sliced red bell pepper (about 2 medium or 1 large )
1 tablespoon chopped seeded jalapeño pepper (about 1 small)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
14 cups chopped kale, stems removed (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup organic vegetable broth (or low-fat chicken broth)
1 garlic clove, minced
Lemon wedges (optional)

In a large pot or small Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, jalapeno, salt, and black pepper. Cook until tender, about 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add kale and broth. Cover. Drop heat to medium-low and simmer until the kale wilts, around 10 minutes. (Only stir it once.) Uncover. Add garlic. Stir. Jack heat up to medium. Cook about 2 more minutes, or until all the liquid is gone. Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
157 calories, 4.1 g fat, 40.63

Calculations
2 teaspoons olive oil: $0.17
2 cups sliced red bell pepper (about 2 medium or 1 large): $0.96
1 tablespoon chopped seeded jalapeño pepper (about 1 small): $0.14
1/4 teaspoon salt: $0.01
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper: $0.01
14 cups chopped kale, stems removed (about 1 pound): $0.79
1/2 cup organic vegetable broth (or low-fat chicken broth): $0.22
1 garlic clove, minced: $0.05
Lemon wedges (optional): $0.16
TOTAL: $2.51
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): $0.63

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Posted in: Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian

Veggie Might: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Nostalgia, Co-opted

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a regular Thursday feature about all things Vegetarian.

For the last few days, I’ve been in a sweet, tangy, gooey haze of nostalgia created both in my imagination and in my kitchen. Just sweet enough, not too rich, it’s been delicious.

Everyone I know has a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, or second-cousin Shirley who made the best strawberry-rhubarb pie/cobbler. Except me. Sort of.

A couple weeks ago, on my Lehigh Valley excursion, I bought my first rhubarb. I’ve never used it before, and to my knowledge, never had it at home. I was excited to try it. When I got my stalks home, I tried a piece raw. It reminded me of a Granny Smith apple. But I decided to trust what I’d heard and cook it with something sweet.

My first exposure to rhubarb was in a cobbler at an NYC restaurant where I used to work. It was there I learned that rhubarb is commonly paired with strawberries and sugar because of its natural tartness. Everyone, co-workers and customers, had a story: “Oh my aunt made the best rhubarb pie. My mother’s strawberry-rhubarb cobbler was the best you’ve ever tasted.”

Maybe, I would think, but I’d never had it before. I didn’t even know what rhubarb looked like. To my knowledge, no one in my past ever baked with rhubarb. My finicky dessert issues, for once, were not to blame for my culinary cluelessness.

Then I called my mom. Apparently my Grandma C made the most amazing strawberry-rhubarb pie ever. Dad got on the phone and confirmed Mom’s claim. He went on: his grandma (who I never met), plus Great-Grandma (Mom’s grandma, who I knew well) made great rhubarb pies too.

How did I miss all these pies? I usually remember rejecting foods out of hand; I feel guilty about it. Well, this recipe made up for lost time.My friend, who ate it, called me by my full name in exclamation. “Leigh Angel, I like your cobbler!”

Crumble, to be exact. This recipe developed via a culinary game of telephone, much like recipes passed down through the generations. Everyone makes a tweak and sends it on. I got it from the delightful blog, everybody likes sandwiches, who got it from Smitten Kitchen, who got it from Nigella.

The secret to this recipe, according to Nigella and SK, is the baking soda. It converts a standard crisp topping into a lighter, crumbier topping, without upping the amount of butter. Essentially, you get more delicious warm sugary, buttery bang for your buck. As a matter of fact, the els recipe reduced SK’s butter amount, and I reduced hers a bit more.

This crumble is a pretty dang easy and healthy dessert for one so delicious. I used these cute little ramekins instead of a casserole dish, but I overfilled them—only getting five servings and thanking SK for recommending foil to line my baking sheet. It still came in at under 300 calories and 8g fat per serving. If I'd used a casserole dish, I would have gotten six servings out of the recipe.

I used organic strawberries from the farmers’ market, which pushed up the price a bit. If you find cheaper fruit, the cost will go way down. But let me tell you, these berries were better than any from the grocery store.

If my parents were nearby, I would hope they would like this as much as Grandma C’s (or Great-Grandma’s or Grandma F’s). Or at least enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Serves 5
Adapted from many places, but Everybody Likes Sandwiches most recently.

Filling
5 stalks rhubarb, chopped into 1” pieces
1 scant qt. strawberries, quartered (about 1 lb)
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of allspice

Topping
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp granulated sugar
zest of one lemon
1/4 c melted butter (I used Earth Balance vegan margarine.)

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) (If making individual crumbles, mix the following in a medium bowl. If using a casserole, mix directly in baking dish.) Combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and nutmeg. Add lemon juice. Stir thoroughly.

3) In another bowl, combine all topping ingredients. Stir until you get some clumps.

4) Sprinkle topping with your hands evenly over the fruit.

5) Bake for 40-50 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit is saucy.

6) Allow to cool and serve with ice cream/nondairy frozen dessert of your choice. Maybe you’ll cry a little from happiness and nostalgia. It’s okay. It happens.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
292 calories, 9g fat, $1.62

Calculations
5 stalks rhubarb: 55 calories, 0g fat, $2.17
3 cups strawberries: 150 calories, 0g fat, $4.50
juice + zest of one lemon: 12 calories, 0g fat, $0.25
1/4 cup + 3 tbsp granulated sugar: 366 calories, 0g fat, $.25
3 tbsp cornstarch: 87.8 calories, 0g fat, $.17
pinch of allspice: negligible calories and fat, $.02
1 cup flour: 337.5 calories, 1g fat, $.21
1 tsp baking powder, negligible calories and fat, $.02
1 tbsp brown sugar: 52 calories, 0g fat, $.04
1/4 c melted butter: 400 calories, 44g fat, $.48
TOTALS: 1460.3 calories, 45g fat, $8.11
PER SERVING (TOTALS/5): 292 calories, 9g fat, $1.62

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Posted in: Desserts and Snacks,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

Food Network, the Decline of Stand and Stir Programming, and Where to Go From Here

Earlier this week, True/Slant’s Michael Greenberg wrote a scathing open letter to Bob Tuschman, the SVP of Programming at Food Network. In it, he rails against their lineup as of late. A few key quotes:

“The Next Food Network Star sucks. It’s not entertaining. It has nothing to do with actual culinary skill. And it’s another troubling step in the ultimate devaluation of your network’s brand.”

“Nowadays, prime time on the Food Network is all about competition shows and reality non-fiction programming — and it’s all about folks looking to make a name and buck. The food is just an afterthought for you, Bob, and it’s really starting to grate on me.”

“It looks like my beloved Food Network has succumbed to the reality-show dreck that pollutes other once-innovative TV networks, like MTV and VH1.”

As a food freak, I agree with some of Michael’s points. I want gentle, informative instruction in my cooking shows, not all this reality stuff. Why so many cake wars when you can show Ina, Giada, and (oh lord, please bring her back) Sara?

Because (with the notable exception of Ace of Cakes), verité programming becomes pretty dull after awhile. Look, it's nice that you can make fondant that looks like Shrek. But can someone tell us how to create fondant in the first place? I’ve watched approximately 50,000 Food Network shows, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen step-by-step instructions.

However.

As someone working in cable television, I think Michael’s out of his mind.

When it comes to TV, righteous indignation tends to garner support. Especially on the internet, it rallies idealists to your side. But often, it ignores real-life situations like technology, demographic shifts, industry changes, and financial needs. Michael may lament Food Network turning into VH1, but you know what? VH1’s ratings have never been higher than the last few years, when reality programming has taken over the schedule. However you feel about Bret Michaels or Guy Fieri, they run rings around Charlie Rose and C-Span.

At its heart, television is a business. An occasionally ruthless, often pandering business that’s chief purpose is to make money for advertisers. It does that through ratings, and subsequently, will broadcast almost whatever it takes to garner those eyes. In some cases, that’s Food Network Challenge. In others, it’s the truly charming Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It still others, it’s Unwrapped (which - I feel like I’ve seen the same dang conveyor belt 200 times now).

However you feel about these shows, they rate. Someone is watching this stuff. Usually, it's me. Or you. Or your mom. If you don't like it, change the channel. It's not like there aren't a million other options.

If you want elegance, pick up a Julia Child cookbook. Read Saveur or Bon Appétit. Change the channel to PBS, where I’m pretty sure you’ll never see Lidia Bastianich competing on Chopped (which I actually think is a fun show). As with music or movies, it's up to each individual to take advantage of non-traditional outlets, if they so choose.

But if you want cooking shows designed to appeal to the widest possible swath of Americans, go to Food Network. Because odds are, you’re one of those people, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Odds are, Alton Brown, Emeril, or even Ray-Ray got you interested in cooking in the first place. Odds are, you’ve watched one of those reality shows and thought, “Wow. I didn’t know you could do that with celery root.”

Ultimately, this it isn’t to say we shouldn’t reach for the stars, or try to get the best possible programming on television for all to see. The quality of our mass media says a lot about the intellectual interests of our country. What it IS to say is that we have to accept that certain outlets are businesses. They exist to make money, not to achieve indie cred.

So readers, I turn this one over to you. If you ran Food Network what kind of shows would you create? What would they look like? Who would host them? What kind of cuisine would you make? What issues would you tackle?

P.S. Quite a few Serious Eaters compared Food Network's current slate to MTV's lifestyle programming, which I thought was interesting. MTV stopped playing videos because they’re pretty much the lowest-rated things you can put on TV without resorting to infomercials. Kids aren’t the same as they were in 1987 – they’re not going to watch a Ne-Yo video and then stick around for the Jonas Brothers. Also, get off my lawn!

P.P.S. This didn't relate to inexpensive, healthy food in the least. We'll get back to that tomorrow, I promise.

(Photos courtesy of The Morning News and Operation Bon Appetit.)

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Posted in: Cooking

Evidence: Collusion, Conflict of Interest at FDA and Aspartame

We all know the many reasons why we don't like the FDA, but this one is especially timely at this time. Timely as so many readers are looking up my posts on Coke Zero and related aspartame and sucralose (Splenda) or rebiana disclosures.

There are more than 67 articles here at Natural Health News concerning the products and problems with artificial sweeteners.

Here is something new to consider: During Ronald Reagan's tenure in the White House he selected Arthur Hull Hayes as FDA Commissioner.

Even though aspartame had been on the market in 1974, it was banned in 1975 because of testimony by John Olney MD, a neurologist. Dr, Olney's work raised issues about the safety of aspartame and brain cell damage. The cancer issue was also raised.

With 92 allowed adverse reactions to aspartame at the FDA, even though more have been reported, we know there is a problem. After all, aspartame, like sucralose, began as a pesticide with very sweet taste.

Reagan like Diet Pepsi just like Michael J. Fox. Fox has Parkinson's and Reagan died from Alzheimer's. Both diagnoses are known to be related to aspartame exposure.

Now, as exposed by Lane Shore, we know Arthur Hull Hayes is listed as one of the inventors of aspartame.

From McGill's Choice (Salem Press), Inventions and Inventors: Volume I, noted under "Aspartame".

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Posted in: aspartame,aspartame dangers,Coke Zero,Coke Zero banned because of aspartame,natural health news

Tuesday Megalinks

Today it's recipe lists, weight loss for the very tall, and an infuriating article from the Gray Lady. Tuesday, I like you!

Ad Age: Consumers Say They Want Healthy, But Aren’t Buying it
Oh, yikes. You know those calorie counts they’re starting to post on fast food menus? Apparently, they’re not making/they won’t make much of a difference in what good citizens are ordering. This is perplexing.

Casual Kitchen: The Hummus Blogroll – 16 Easy to Make Hummus Recipes
As I am currently obsessed with all things hummus-related (we’re even watching Don’t Mess With the Zohan, where it figures in prominently), this is my favorite post of the moment. Chipotle Hummus? Thai Basil Hummus? Avocado Hummus? I’ve died and gone to Hummeaven.

Chow: RSVP to My Damn Invite
Yarg. We’re all adults here! Tell me if you’re coming to my party! Because next time you show up without notice and bring 16 hot dogs with no buns, I’m making them out of your shirt.

Consumerist: More People Are Getting Their Food Straight From Farms
Thanks to CSAs, pick-yer-owns, and various related services, farm-procured edibles have jumped about 100% in ten years. Disillusionment works, people!

Consumerist: Sorry, You Are Too Tall for Weight Watchers
WW Online doesn’t cater to those 6’10” and over. Sorry, Shaq.

Frantic Home Cook: 50 Pasta Salads, Just in Time for Summer
Woo hoo! Just … woo hoo! (Thanks to Casual Kitchen for the link.)

Frugal Dad: How Many Nights a Week Do You Eat Out?
Good post made better by solid cross-section of comments and experiences. This is a habit I’m still desperately trying to break. Or at least curb a little.

The Kitchn: Help! I Have the Palate of a Child
Great post with a title that reminds me of my favorite Stephen King line, after someone asked him why he writes such fanciful horror tomes: “I have the heart of a small boy. And I keep it in a jar on my desk.”

The Kitchn: Good Question – How Should I Store Brown Sugar?
Why, in a acid-free plastic cover, so you don’t bend the corners or muss the liner notes. Oh … wait. Not this Brown Sugar? Sorry. I got confused.

The Kitchn: What’s Your Favorite Warm Weather Breakfast?
Come for the picture. Stay … well, stay for the picture, too. It’s a nice picture. But the comments are good, too.

Like Merchant Ships: Library Bag – Green Garden Dip
Okay, I don’t want to creep her out or anything, but every time Meredith posts something like this, it makes me want kids, like, right now. Oh, and there’s a ranch dip recipe.

Money Saving Mom: Is it Possible to Lose Weight on a Budget?
Umm … yes. But again, more in the comments!

New York Times: How Food Makers Captured Our Brains
Hint: it wasn’t with a net. It was with regular foods, combined in certain ways so as to stimulate the reward system hardwired into our brains. They blinded us with neuroscience!

New York Times: With This Burger, I Thee Wed
This article’s been making the rounds the last week or so, and I have to say – I flat-out hate it. It reeks of privilege and condescension, and I can’t tell if it’s the subject or that it’s being called a trend. Readers, thoughts?

Science Daily: Living Near Fast Food Outlet Not A Weighty Problem For Kids
Huh? This goes against popular science and widely-accepted research. Michael Pollan, are you listening? If so, sweet! You have excellent ears.

The Simple Dollar: The Truth About Grocery Store Flyers
The circulars are my supermarket bibles, but Trent has some well-founded reservations. The quantity sales are a pain in the butt, man.

(Photos courtesy of Tasty Planner, Calgary Public Library, and Psi Xperience.)

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Posted in: Links

Flea Treatment Harmful to Pets

Not only do we have to deal with the impact of harm from vaccines and microchip IDs for our loving animal companions, now we know, just as my natural vet has said, the flea products are unhealthy too.

Killing Fleas and Ticks May Be Harming Your Pet
The EPA is investigating reports of skin irritation, seizures and even death from between-the-shoulder flea and tick treatments for dogs and cats.

Flea and tick treatments for pets fall into that murky area in a lot of consumers' minds: We know the chemicals are designed to ward off or kill bugs ... but somehow we don't associate the products with the term "pesticides."

But the Environmental Protection Agency has received an increasing number of reports of pets having adverse reactions to "spot-on pesticide products" -- those between-the-shoulder liquid treatments designed to infuse the pet's skin with pest-fighting toxicity. Now the agency is taking a harder look at the potential toxicity of these products. "Adverse reactions reported range from mild effects such as skin irritation to more serious effects such as seizures and, in some cases, the death of pets," the organization reports.

Previously, the Natural Resources Defense Council reported that people can be exposed to flea and tick pesticides at 1,000 times the recommended safe dosage just from petting a dog or cat that has been treated.

Beyond Pesticides recommends these alternatives to spot-on treatments:

* Vacuum daily during flea season with a strong vacuum cleaner, changing the bag often
* Groom pets with a flea comb daily, using soapy water to dunk and clean the comb between strokes
* Bathe pets frequently with soap and water
* Restrict pets to a single bed and wash bedding frequently to kill larvae
* Consult Beyond Pesticides' Least-Toxic Control of Fleas and Least-Toxic Control of Ticks

The NRDC has similar recommendations:

* Frequent use of a flea comb
* Regular bathing of pets
* Regular vacuuming and washing of pet bedding
* Administering of chemical flea and tick controls by pill, only when absolutely necessary (find the least-toxic products at NRDC's www.greenpaws.org)

Find this article by Dan Shapley at: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/pets-pesticides-47062203

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Posted in: flea and tick product danger,natural health news

Anti-Acid Drugs, H. Pylori, Vitamin C

Adding vitamin C to H. pylori treatment dramatically increases eradication rate says study.

While we often see an increase in H. pylori with the increases in anti-biotics and anti-fungal drug use, we often don't see vitamins in a good light.

Of course anti-acid drugs depress immune function in the stomach because they suppress hydrochloric acid.

HCl fights food poisoning. Vitamin C is a major approach to food poisoning in higher doses, but of course those relying on drugs rarely see the benefits of supplements. The media follow suit.

And then of course there are other approaches. One is to first look to determine if the person has too low HCl as a cause of their reflux problem or properly evaluate for food allergy.

Take more vitamin C daily and also consider using BioPrin. BioPrin is an herbal compound thoroughly tested at Dana Farber and it is pharmaceutical grade as well as available through professionals only. Contact us for more information.

In the interim, start asking the correct questions at your doctor's office if you are dealing with this concern.

Topic: Vitamin C added to Standard H.Pylori Drug Treatment Increases Eradication Rate

Keywords: H. PYLORI, HELICOBACTER PYLORI, INFECTION - Vitamin C, Amoxicillin, Metronidazole, Bismuth, Omeprazole

Reference: "The efficacy of Helicobacter pylori eradication regimen with and without vitamin C supplementation," Zojaji H, Talaie R, et al, Dig Liver Dis, 2009 June 1; [Epub ahead of print]. (Address: Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: swt_f@yahoo.com ).

Summary: In a study involving 312 patients with H. pylori infection, supplementation with vitamin C (500 mg/d) in addition to the standard H. pylori drug treatment regimen (consisting of 1 g amoxicillin, 500 mg b.i.d. metronidazole, 240 mg b.i.d. bismuth, and 40 mg q.i.d. omeprazole) was found to significantly increase H. pylori eradication rate, as found in urea breath tests conducted 4 weeks after the intervention, as compared to subjects who received the drug treatment alone. These results suggest that patients with H. pylori may benefit from supplementation with 500 mg/d vitamin C during the course of their standard drug treatment therapy.

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Posted in: Amoxicillin,Bismuth,food allergy,H. PYLORI,HELICOBACTER PYLORI,INFECTION - Vitamin C,Metronidazole,Omeprazole,vitamin C

Swiss Move to Protect Right to Access Natural Health Care

Thanks to Ralph Moss for this news -

BIG NEWS FROM SWITZERLAND

From them I learned a very interesting fact. On May 17, 2009, the people of Switzerland voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that supports the use of complementary medicine (CAM). A total of 67 percent of the population voted in favor. Thus Switzerland becomes the first country in Europe to set out in its constitution authority for the national government and its constituent states to take CAM into consideration in its health services. It is an astonishing victory and may set the model for other countries as well. I hope to go to Switzerland at some point in the future to see how this change is affecting medical care, particularly the treatment of cancer.

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Poached Eggs and Hardboiled Eggs: Eggs Two Ways, No Yolking

It’s been five days, and the Husband-Elect and I have successfully polished off our haul from last week’s trip to the Farmer’s Market. (Friends helped.) While we appreciated the ground beef, liked the bacon very much, and freakin’ loved the bread, the highlight of our booty (heh) was undoubtedly the carton of eggs. The EGGS. Who knew?

Lemme explain.

Okay, you know how supermarket eggs are? Runny, pale yellow yolks with flimsy whites and shells that break if you look at them the wrong way? Farmer’s market eggs are not like that at all. They have bright orange yolks with a silky, almost syrupy texture. They have substantive whites you can actually bite into. They have thick, brownish shells that seem almost twice as hard as store-bought eggs.

But best of all, they’re not just eggs. They’re EGGS. They taste like the eggs you remember as a kid. Or like regular eggs, turned up to 11. Or like eggs on ‘roids. (Alex Rodregguez?) If supermarket eggs are regular humans, farmer’s market eggs are the X-Men – regular humans, but way better. Like with claws and telekinesis and stuff.

I prepared our EGGS two ways this past weekend: poached and hard-boiled. Neither method uses oil, butter or cream, which cuts down on the fat. And the techniques – one from The Kitchn, the other from Chocolate & Zucchini – are basically foolproof. I’m an idiot when it comes to hardboiling, and Clotilde’s way hasn’t failed me yet. I owe her something in return. Perhaps a really good egg?

I do need to mention: today I learned there may be an issue with pasteurization and farm-fresh eggs. If you’re nervous, you might want to avoid the poaching and skip ahead to hardboiling. Either way, you’ll feel eggscellent in the end. Eggstra special. Eggceptional, even. (Sorry.)

Whirlpool-Style Poached Eggs
Makes 1 serving
Adapted from The Kitchn.

1 egg
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Add 1 quart of water, salt, and vinegar to a medium pot. Bring it to a boil. Drop heat to medium-low and simmer, making sure the bubbles remain pretty low-key. Using a slotted spoon, create a gentle whirlpool in the pot.

2) Get out a teacup and crack your egg into that cup. Very gently, lower the teacup into the whirlpool and set the egg free. It should migrate to the middle of the pot. 

3) Cook the egg 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. (Try not to go over.) Gently remove egg with your slotted spoon, and let some of the water drip back into the pan. Stick egg on plate. Salt and pepper to taste. Eat.

NOTE: If you’re having multiple eggs, I might do this one at a time. Otherwise … collisions. Yolk everywhere. Dogs and cats, living together. Mass hysteria.


Hardboiled Eggs
Makes 1 serving
Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini.

1 large egg
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Get out a medium pot. Gently place the whole egg in the pot. and "cover with cold water by a 1/2-inch or so." Put it on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Once it starts boiling, kill the heat and cover the pot. Do not touch it for 7 minutes. (No more, no less.)

2) While egg is sitting, fill a medium bowl with cold water and a few ice cubes. After 7 minutes, put the egg in the ice bath. Let it sit 3 minutes.

3) This is all from Heidi, and it's genius: "Roll egg lightly on cutting board, hard enough so shell will crack, but not so hard you mangle it." (Why did I never think of this?) Peel your egg. Add some salt and pepper. Serve. To yourself, presumably.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving for Both Dishes
74 calories, 5 g fat, $0.50

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Breakfast,Eggs,Sides

Electronic Records, Data Mining and Your Health

While it is more likely than not an activity most people don't about, data mining can be a lucrative endeavor.

Along with drug data and prescribing activity used by CVS and other large pharmacy chains, web sites like Reeal Age are known to have been selling your data for profit.

’Data mining’ for drug companies goes to courts

By Associated Press | Saturday, June 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Healthcare
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The prescription drugs you take are on the minds of a lot of people: judges on two federal courts, legislators in several states, countless doctors and, at the center, the companies that make money by figuring out who’s prescribing what.

"Data-mining" firms — which gather electronic information on the drugs prescribers order for their patients, then sell that information to pharmaceutical companies — have sued to block laws restricting their activities in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

At issue is the use by drug company "detailers" — the sales force that deals with doctors and other prescribers and tries to get them to use the company’s products — of the information about doctors’ prescribing habits.

If, for example, a doctor usually uses one company’s antidepressant drug instead of another’s, that can be valuable information for a detailer trying to get the doctor to switch.

In upholding the New Hampshire law, 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston found the result of the activity is often higher drug costs, because the detailer usually is trying to steer the prescriber toward the newest, most expensive, medicines.

The data mining companies are set to appear Tuesday at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to ask a three-judge panel to block Vermont’s law from taking effect July 1.

And the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide by the end of the month whether to hear the data-mining companies’ appeal of the Boston court’s decision on the New Hampshire law. The Boston court has put a separate Maine case on hold until New Hampshire’s is resolved.

The issue has come up in more than 20 state legislatures, advocates on both sides said.

Randy Frankel, vice president for external affairs at IMS Health, said restricting the ability of his and similar companies to collect doctors’ prescribing data could hurt more than just commercial activity.

The data also are used to help law enforcement track when narcotic drug prescriptions spike; they help academic and government researchers follow drug safety and help aim information at doctors prescribing a drug when new side effects or other issues crop up, Frankel said.

"These data have enormous value to the public good," he said.

Maine state Rep. Sharon Treat, D-Hallowell, head of a national group of lawmakers following drug issues, said the data-mining companies’ "bread and butter" is selling the information to drug companies to bolster their marketing efforts.

The more that doctors are urged to use expensive drugs rather than generics, the less money there is to spread around to deliver the most health care to the most people, Treat said. She argued that’s a bad idea when many states are cutting people from public and subsidized health programs in budget-cutting moves.

The data companies, IMS Health Inc. and SDI, argue that restricting the data collection and use violates their and the drug companies’ First Amendment free speech rights to collect and use the information.

But the Boston court rejected the First Amendment argument, saying the issue was less a matter of speech than of conduct. In both that court and the U.S. District Court in Vermont, judges ruled that commercial speech can be regulated without violating the First Amendment, and that what the data-mining companies were doing fell into that category.

Treat concurred that "this isn’t about speech. They’re trying to change behavior" — the behavior of health providers in deciding which kinds of drugs to prescribe.

"That’s what it’s all about," Treat said. "What it’s not about necessarily is good health care."
___

On the Net:National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices: http://tinyurl.com/mxn8ab

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1180068

At the same time as data mining companies are suing to get access to this data in states where it is prohibited, Big Pharma is making half-baked back room deals with Baucus and others to try to boost appearances of something real happening in DC on Plan D.

Emerging $80B deal would help fund Medicare drugs

So far an unmentionable on either side of the asile is the idea that freedom of choice in this discussion should be considered.

The preventive and curative nature of vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements continue to be ignored and, according to the National Health Federation's support of the efforts of www.CodexFund.com. (More factual information on Codex can be found at www.nocodexgenocide.com)

Consider this from CodexFund's FAQ page -

The 2005 Guidelines are in Direct Conflict with Existing US Law - the Proxmire Amendment of 1976.
In 1976, Congress passed the Proxmire Amendments to stop FDA from establishing standards limiting potency of vitamins and minerals in food supplements or regulating them as drugs based solely on potency. (PL-94-278 Section 501 (a)).

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, the FDA initiated measures to reclassify vitamins and minerals with a potency of 150% or more of their recommended daily allowance (RDA) be classified as drugs. (Vitamins A and D were to be classified as drugs at 100% of their RDA.) Congress considered these actions as infringements on consumer's freedom of choice and amended the law to forbid the FDA from setting such limits. The law, which became known as the Proxmire Amendment barred the FDA from setting the composition or maximum potency of vitamins, minerals, or combinations thereof, unless they were of a specified type (e.g., toxic, habit-forming, administered by a doctor) or unless they were intended for use by a specified clientele (e.g., by individuals in the treatment of specific diseases or disorders, by children, by pregnant women).

Dave Lindorf writes, "But you cannot achieve the twin goals of reducing health care costs and providing access to health care to 50 million uninsured people, while leaving the profit centers of the current system—doctors, hospitals and the health insurance industry—in charge and in a position to continue to reap profits."

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Posted in: Codex,data mining,electronic health records,natural health news,natural news

Strawberry and Avocado Salad: An Exercise in CAPITAL LETTERS and Fat Reduction

I’m pretty ambivalent about salads. They’re okay, but I’d order almost anything else before paying for a staid pile of lackluster leafy greens. Still, I like strawberries. And I like avocado. And I like pecans. And this dressing sounded tasty. So I thought I’d give AllRecipes’ Strawberry and Avocado Salad a try.

Sounds neato, right? I thought so. However, there was one minor issue: namely, 609 calories and FIFTY-POINT-SEVEN grams of fat per serving. I realize numbers higher than eleven aren’t usually spelled out. I wanted some extra emphasis there.

Now, healthy oils are dandy, but to reiterate: FIFTY-POINT-SEVEN grams of fat? In a freakin’ salad? You gotta be kidding me. This wasn’t in the realm of possibility. In fact, I couldn’t even see the realm of possibility from where I read the recipe. That’s how far away it was.

But shucks, I still wanted the salad. Strawberries and avocado? C’mon. It’s like Christmas in summer. So, I made some changes. I dropped 75% of the pecans, 50% of the avocado, and added 50% more salad greens.

The result was three main course salads for … wait for it … 222 calories and FIFTEEN-POINT-THREE grams of fat. Those three dinky alterations meant 387 lost calories and THIRTY-FIVE-POINT-SEVEN lost grams of fat. And? If you don’t use all the dressing (we didn’t), the numbers drop even lower than that.

It still tasted great, to boot. No one flavor was overwhelming, we avoided mushiness, and divided among three plates, the sweetness was just right. The Husband-Elect and I ate it with a lovely bean concoction and a slice of last week’s Buttermilk-Vanilla Pound Cake. HEAVEN.

With that said, hope y’all have a lovely weekend. It’s been a wet June - great for food photos, bad for people. New Yorkers, stay dry!

P.S. Update on Monday’s post! We got our feet wet at the farmer’s market and hauled back some ground beef, fancy bacon, a loaf o’ whole wheat bread, and a dozen eggs. So far, the bread was quite tasty and the egg … well, it wasn’t just an egg. It was AN EGG. It asserted itself in my mouth, and I appreciate that. Next stop: Bacon City.

Strawberry and Avocado Salad
Makes 3 main dishes or 4 sides
Adapted from AllRecipes.

2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups torn salad greens (I used romaine. – Kris)
½ small avocado (about 2 ounces) - peeled, pitted and sliced into 1” pieces
10 strawberries, sliced
1/8 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts or almonds)

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, olive oil, honey, vinegar, and lemon juice. Whisk it all together and reserve 2 tablespoons dressing in a teacup. Add salad greens to bowl. Toss gently with dressing. Place avocado and strawberries on top of salad. Drizzle with the 2 tablespoons of dressing. Top with pecans. Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
Three servings: 222 calories, 15.3 g fat, $1.02
Four servings: 167 calories, 11.5 g fat, $0.76

Calculations
2 tablespoons white sugar: 93 calories, 0 g fat, $0.04
2 tablespoons olive oil: 237 calories, 27 g fat, $0.24
4 teaspoons honey: 85 calories, 0 g fat, $0.13
1 tablespoon cider vinegar: 3 calories, 0 g fat, $0.02
1 teaspoon lemon juice: 2 calories, 0 g fat, $0.11
3 cups torn salad greens (romaine): 24 calories, 0.4 g fat, $0.45
½ avocado (about 2 ounces) - peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1-inch pieces: 91 calories, 8.3 g fat $0.75
10 strawberries, sliced: 38 calories, 0.4 g fat, $1.00
1/8 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts or almonds): 94 calories, 9.8 g fat, $0.31
TOTAL: 667 calories, 45.9 g fat, $3.05
PER SERVING (TOTAL/3): 222 calories, 15.3 g fat, $1.02
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 167 calories, 11.5 g fat, $0.76

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Mains,Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian

Veggie Might: People Need Potato Salad

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.

Okay, enough with the rain, am I right, East Coasters? The sunshine teasers are just not enough. Anyway, I’ve digressed before I’ve begun.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting my dear friend S in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. We spent a lovely (sunny!) couple of days playing with her little one, cooking (a fab bean salad I will share with you later), and catching up. On Sunday, we strolled through her local farmer’s market. I was able to score some choice produce to bring back to the city.

I also got a little inspiration to make a zippy, healthy potato salad.

Everyone has a favorite potato salad recipe. It’s a spring and summer classic and endlessly customizable. The tricky thing is making it light. My pal C’s mom’s version, my all-time favorite (sorry Grandma), swims in olive oil and mayo. But, dang it all, it’s good.

For this recipe, I let my farmer’s market haul, potato salads of my past, and the voices of my foodie friends speak to me. “Leigh, it’s just potato salad,” you may be thinking. But that’s the beauty of it. It’s so simple, and yet, so satisfying. And it just says summer.

My friend, A, called me just last week to tell me to keep my eye out for garlic scapes at my farmer’s market. She had just discovered them (and made pesto), but I had no idea what they were. Well, I do now; and I got a handful in PA.

Garlic scapes are delightful, curly green shoots that come out of garlic bulbs and eventually hinder bulb growth. Farmers trim off the curlicues, which have a lighter, less intense garlic flavor. I showed S my purchase, and she said, “Oh, scapes, I sauté them with potatoes.” A plan was forming.

My market take also included some beautiful spring onions. Diced and tossed in the potato salad, they gave a mellow sweetness. I opted to leave the scapes raw for a snappy crunch. I tossed in a bit of dill to what’s become my standard vinaigrette (courtesy of Mark Bittman) and voila!

Zippy and light, this potato salad is perfect for topping salad greens or accompanying a sandwich. I’ve had it for lunch twice this week and it’s definitely helped me beat the well-I-guess-I-could-never-live-in-Seattle blahs.

Normally, I would make potato salad with red bliss potatoes, but I had a bag of russets begging to be used. Hey, whatever potato suits your fancy, as long as they are firm in texture after cooked. I have to set a timer. Mine always come out too soft. I find that five minutes is all it takes.

Something about eating potato salad feels like summer. And I don’t know about you, but I could use a little sunshine right about now.

Potato Salad for Rainy Day People
Serves 4–6

1 1/4 lb potatoes (about 4 medium russets)
2 spring onions, chopped
1 small handful garlic scapes, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp dried dill
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

1) Scrub potatoes well. Cut into 1” pieces. (I’m a skins-on kind of gal, but if you want to peel, go for it.) Place into pot of boiling water and cook until firm but cooked through, about 5 minutes.

2) Drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

3) Chop onions and dice scapes.

4) In a blender, combine olive oil, vinegar, dill, salt, and pepper. Blend until emulsified.

5) Combine potatoes, onions, scapes, and dressing in a large bowl and toss well. Salt and pepper further to taste.

6) Serve over salad greens. Eat on a rainy day and feel like summer.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
179 calories, 8.2g fat, $.54 (4 Servings)
119 calories, 5.5g fat, $.36 (6 Servings)

Calculations
1 1/4 lb potatoes: 440 calories, .6g fat, $.40
2 spring onions: 32 calories, 0g fat, $0.33
1 small handful garlic scapes: 4.2 calories, 0g fat, $1.00
2 tbsp olive oil: 240 calories, 28g fat, $0.16
2 tbsp white wine vinegar: negligible calories and fat, $.20
1/4 tsp dried dill: negligible calories and fat, $.02
1 tsp salt: negligible calories and fat, $.02
fresh ground pepper: negligible calories and fat, $.02
TOTAL: 716 calories, 32.8g fat, $2.15
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 179 calories, 8.2g fat, $.54
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 119 calories, 5.5g fat, $.36

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Posted in: Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

Health Costs Set to Rise Again

A 9% increase in costs is targetted for next increase in medical care costs for 2010. It surely makes me wonder why it is that Beltway honchos seem to think they know what's best for folks when they are totally ignoring real issues at hand in the medical care debate.

Because most people have some kind of insurance they equate it with health. People who have no insurance use whatever means they find, usually emergency rooms, to get care for their medical concerns.

We don't have a health care system in the US. We have a sickness and medical/pharmaceutical model master controlled by corporate insurers who wield a heavy hand in already dertermining kind and amount of care. It's no wonder doctors create over-utilization; they want to keep up their income.

A similar issue is related to why we have so few internists/GPs (family docs). But we need other models as well. And I'm not referring to the small faction of licensed hybrid medical naturopaths who too follow the Newtonian limited perspective of care these days.

As much as I have little good to say about Idaho except the scenery, the state has a good piece of legislation that provides freedom of choice and access to care of choice without so much tunnel vision.

"Georgetown University health economist Jean Mitchell said she sees one main reason behind any health care cost increase: overutilization. Mitchell, who was not involved with the survey, said health care costs have been rising faster than inflation because the payment system rewards care providers for doing more."

By TOM MURPHY, AP Business Writer, Jun 18, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS – Employers who offer health insurance coverage could see a 9 percent cost increase next year, and their workers may face an even bigger hit, according to a report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Costs will rise in part because workers worried about losing their jobs are using their health care more while they still have it, the firm said in the report released to The Associated Press. The report also said rising unemployment is driving up medical costs.

Health care reform legislation currently being hashed out in Congress likely will have little impact on next year's costs, said PWC principal Michael Thompson. But he noted that the intense focus on health care may slow price increases.

"Nobody wants to be front page news when all the lights are shining on your industry," he said.

The report projects the expected cost increase per person for employee benefits plans, and it factors in things such as price increases, as well as utilization changes.

Businesses confronted with increases will likely pass some of the burden to employees via higher premiums, deductibles or copays, Thompson said.

"If the underlying costs go up by 9 percent, employees' costs actually go up by double digits," he said, noting that will have a "major, major impact" when many employers also are freezing or cutting pay.

A total of 42 percent of employers surveyed said they would increase employees' share of costs.

The 9 percent increase predicted for 2010, however, represents a slight decrease from the 9.2 percent PWC projected for this year, and 9.9 percent predicted for 2008. A growing use of generic drugs has helped tame spending, according to the most recent survey.

Actual cost increases for this year and last were not available.

PWC surveyed more than 500 employers and health insurers. One of the factors it found that may increase medical costs next year is the lingering threat of unemployment. Workers worried about losing their health coverage along with their jobs tend to seek medical care they might otherwise put off.

PWC also said health care providers tend to shift costs to private insurance plans to make up for the revenue drop they see from a rise in the uninsured population or from an increase in the percentage of people covered by Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program for the poor.

Georgetown University health economist Jean Mitchell said she sees one main reason behind any health care cost increase: overutilization. Mitchell, who was not involved with the survey, said health care costs have been rising faster than inflation because the payment system rewards care providers for doing more.

"Until we fix that, we're never going to be able to rein in health care costs," she said.

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Posted in: Big Insurance,cost increase,medical care,natural health news,overutilization

Film Fest '09: Three Essential Documentaries About Food

Hypothetical situation: let’s say you’re teaching a junior high health class. Your arms are broken, so instead of giving notes, you’ve decided to show three movies that thoroughly explain the modern food industry. (Presumably, one of the kids will work the VCR. Or DVD player. Or whatever newfangled thingamabob they use these days.) What would those films be?

This past weekend made the decision much easier for me, because the Husband-Elect and I caught an early screening of Food, Inc. in Manhattan. Without exaggeration, it changed the way we’ll eat from here on in. (Not too shabby for a Saturday matinee.) So there’s Movie #1.

Afterwards, we rented King Corn, a 2007 documentary about the kernels’ influence in America. It was really well done, and an easy choice for Movie #2.

And frankly, Super Size Me is a no-brainer. Some might be all, “Spurlock, you MTV punk! Shave yer ‘stache, stop making like a Gen X Michael Moore, and get real!” But I love the guy, making his McDonald's exposé a shoo-in for my #3 pick.

Together, I consider these films the holy trinity of documentaries on food production. Michael Pollan figures heavily into two of them, and McDonald’s is a major player in all. If you get the chance to teach that junior high class (armless or not), I might watch them in this order.

(Due warning: Spoilers ahead. If you want to see these movies and be surprised, skip this post.)

1. King Corn (2007)
Directed by Aaron Woolf

Premise: Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis are two New England 20-somethings who travel to Iowa to plant a single acre of corn. They come in as blank slates, clueless about farming and agriculture in general. What they learn over the course of a year is shocking to anyone who isn’t part of the system already: their crop isn’t edible, it’s processed to create animal feed and corn products, and it’s impossible to make a profit entirely on their own. Instead, government surplus demands and mammoth corporations conspire to keep them relatively powerless and almost completely broke. Ian and Curtis leave Iowa as new men - with $28 in their pocket and loads to talk about later.

What’s great about it: Affable, curious, and creative, it’s impossible not to like the filmmakers, which goes a long way considering their approach. They’re just guys learning about corn, not experts with an agenda. Even better, the movie is perfectly plotted, with a natural progression and easy-to follow explanations. The dangers of what they’re doing only become apparent as the process itself gradually dawns on them.

Key scene #1: The guys rent their acre from a genial older man named Charles Pyatt, an Iowa corn farmer who seems to be doing pretty well through the course of the film. Six months after wrapping, they revisit Charles to find he’s gone broke and is selling all his possessions. It’s heartbreaking and perhaps, a sign of the times.

Key scene #2: Curt belly-slides down a mountain of corn that looks – no lie - like it might be bigger than Yankee Stadium. For this New Yorker, it was pretty friggin’ trippy.

Key scene #3: Earl Butz, the Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon, and the guy who set so many of these farm policies in motion, was still alive (though 40,000 years old) when they made this. Ian and Curt find him for an interview, and you learn he meant well. It’s just that he grew up during the Great Depression, and never wanted to see Americans go hungry again. Something to consider.


2. Food, Inc. (2008)
Directed by Robert Kenner

Premise: On average, there are 47,000 food products available in each American supermarket. From the eggs we have for breakfast to the burgers we wolf down for dinner, they come from a handful of mega-corporations with three goals: ship food fast, cheap, and in whatever borderline condition customers will accept it. Oh yeah - and under no circumstances reveal how it’s all accomplished. Because apparently, the first rule of processing food is: don’t talk about processing food.

Of course, there are repercussions. First, the potential for disease is ever-present, since FDA regulations are ineffectual and most food comes from the same places. Second, the production methods themselves are dangerous, dirty, and inhumane – and that’s just for the animals. It’s even worse for the workers, many of whom are illegals receiving rock-bottom wages for thankless work. Third, the surplus of calories (Thanks, corn!) is making Americans obese and wildly unhealthy. But you knew that.

Oh, also? That’s just the first 15 minutes.

What’s great about it: It’s scattershot, overwhelmingly one-sided, and after the first hour, you might want to banish the unsubtle HEY, THIS MUSIC SIGNIFIES A THING WE DON’T LIKE back to Hell where it came from. But man, is this an effective film. The testimony and footage are so convincing, it’s hard to imagine how food corporations could possibly respond. (PR nightmare!) Even more vexing though, are our own roles in the mess. What are we doing to ourselves, and how can we stop it?

Key scene #1: About halfway through the film, after the audience has seen hundreds, if not thousands of featherless, headless chicken carcasses, a live fowl has its throat slit at Joel Salatin’s Polyface farms. At that point, it’s the most natural thing in the entire movie. Still, there were several audible gasps in my theater. A few minutes later, full-grown pigs are herded squealing and terrified into a slaughterhouse box. They come out dead. No one at Film Forum made a sound.

Key scene #2: Any video of Barbara Kowalczyk’s little boy will pretty much kill you.


3. Super Size Me (2004)
Directed by Morgan Spurlock

Premise: 30-something Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days, just to see what happens. And what happens is this: he gains 25 pounds, loses his sex drive, and sees his metabolic functions go haywire. Along the way, he learns a ton about the connection between food, marketing, and obesity, especially for kids.

What’s great about it: If King Corn is about the source of our food issues, and Food, Inc. is about their scope, than Super Size Me is about their potentially cataclysmic effects on our bodies. Check it: a third of Americans are clinically obese, and another third is overweight. Some of the blame can be pinned on us individually, but there are so many factors working against us (because foodcorps are after money only) that it’s difficult to know what’s what. And that’s the director’s point: how do we stay healthy when bad food is inescapable? When it’s our only option at the corner store? When it’s the only stuff in school lunchrooms? When it’s advertised to us FROM BIRTH?

Also, it’s a well-paced movie with a light touch. Just thought I’d mention it.

Key scene: After he downs his second super-sized meal from Mickey D’s, Morgan promptly opens his car window and barfs it right back up. Mmm ... I’m lovin’ it!


SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

American Dream (1990)
Directed by Barbara Kopple

The 1990 Oscar winner for Best Documentary, American Dream examines a Minnesota meatpacking labor dispute during the Reagan administration. Evenhanded and well-observed, it’s neither pro- nor anti-union - just tremendously insightful.

Le Sang des Bêtes (1949)
Directed by Georges Franju

Blood of the Beasts is oh-so-French in its arty juxtaposition of serene farmland with monolithic slaughterhouses. Still, if you’ve ever wanted to know exactly how animals were – and sometimes still are – killed, watch it. It’s unrelenting and will ensure there’s no disconnect between what your food is and where it comes from. Due warning: for a 60-year-old film, this mother is GRAPHIC.

And that does it. Readers, anything you’d add for your armless junior high lessons? Please fire away in the comment section.

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Posted in: Buying Food,Dining Out,Health

Will Health Care Reform Fall Short?

This morning I wrote the the House Ways & Means Committee with my comments on the medical insurance debate. This entire discussion is a fiasco because it is hanging on to the old paradigm. This is zero sum change folks!

By James Ridgeway | Tue June 16, 2009, Mother Jones

Confused about what's happening with health care reform? Join the club. After months of buildup, neither Congress nor the administration has produced a clear plan. Instead, the picture seems to get fuzzier every day. This doesn't bode well for President Barack Obama's commitment to create a "health care system that works for all of us."

At the American Medical Association convention in Chicago on Monday, Obama called health care expenditures a "ticking time bomb" and related eloquent—but familiar—stories of families, small businesses, and doctors crushed by spiraling costs. The rest of his speech catalogued the most uncontroversial elements of any potential health care fix—instituting electronic medical records, cutting down on junk food, encouraging more preventative care, promoting "best practices," eliminating waste. Who could possibly object to any of that, except maybe the manufacturers of potato chips and Wite-Out? Meanwhile, Obama offered only ambiguous clues about how he plans to resolve the most contentious and vital issues that will determine whether his attempt to overhaul health care succeeds or fails.

In fact, the White House's battle plan for passing legislation could best be described as one of calculated vagueness. Last Wednesday, Obama called together a group of key senators from both parties to hash out their differences. Afterward, the group touted the fact that nothing had been settled. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Associated Press, "The president, I thought, was very flexible except on one thing, and that was getting it done. When the president is flexible on controversial things...I think that that's good news." Thanks to all of this flexibility, ranking Democrats and Republicans from the Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee agreed they could bring a bill to the Senate floor in July.

But what will the bill actually contain? So far, the administration's maneuvering suggests that its primary concern is not what kind of health care system we end up with, as long as we get something that looks like reform—preferably before the end of Obama's first year in office. Given the disaster that ensued last time Democrats tried to pass health care legislation, the administration's careful attention to the politics of the issue is understandable. But the danger of this approach is that it could ultimately produce a law that is uncontroversial, weak, and expensive.

One disturbing possibility is that health care could become a replay of the credit card legislation. The pattern goes something like this: First, we get a propaganda blitz heralding sweeping changes. But although the final legislation corrects some of the most egregious abuses, it doesn't change the system's underlying flaws. So, for example, insurance companies may be required to cover people with preexisting conditions—a need Obama illustrated vividly in his AMA speech with moving references to his mother's battle with cancer. We might see what the president called "more efficient purchasing of prescription drugs," which presumably means faster approval of generics and giving the government greater power to haggle with Big Pharma over drug costs. We will likely see incentives for health care providers to offer more cost-effective—and, hopefully, better—treatment. These things are not meaningless, and they will provide a modicum of relief to some struggling Americans. But they do virtually nothing to strike at the deeper problems of the for-profit health care system. And they offer only a fraction of the savings that a single-payer system would provide.

With no clear vision emanating from the White House and no bottom line, everything is up for grabs when it comes to the all-important details. It's no wonder, then, that new balls keep coming out of left field every day. As Obama prepared for his AMA speech, Washington scuttlebutt held that he would seek to reduce costs by accepting limitations on malpractice suits. In the speech, Obama said he was "not advocating caps on malpractice awards," but nevertheless wanted to "explore a range of ideas" to reduce the malpractice threat. As Mother Jones' Stephanie Mencimer has reported, the notion of crippling malpractice costs is essentially a conservative myth. But, according to the New York Times Obama sees addressing medical liability as "a 'credibility builder'—in effect, a bargaining chip that might keep doctors and, more important, Republicans, at the negotiating table."

Perhaps most important, Obama has not yet demonstrated how hard he's prepared to fight for the so-called "public option"—a government-run alternative to private insurance—or what such a reform might entail. At the AMA, Obama reiterated his position that one of the choices available to Americans "needs to be a public option." But could this position be a straw man, set up only to be knocked down? The public plan has certainly served as a panacea to single-payer advocates and other critics of medicine for profit, including important Democratic constituencies like labor unions. One health care advocate told me that the speculation around town was that the administration could eventually abandon the public option in order to win bigger concessions from its opponents.

For now, it seems increasingly likely that the "public option" could be access to the Federal Employee Health Benefits program. This is something Obama talked about on the campaign trail, and, according to Government Executive, his officials studied the plan closely earlier this year. Senate Finance chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has long hinted that the FEHB might provide the "compromise" that would allow bipartisan support.

However, while the FEHB covers millions of public employees, it is in no way a public plan. It simply allows federal workers to sort through dozens of different plans and pick one they want. Their employer, the government, then picks up around 70 percent of the tab, with the worker paying the rest. The coverage is generally good: It encompasses preexisting conditions, caps out-of-pocket expenses, and gives subscribers clear information to help them find the best plan for the needs. But it is not cheap. One hundred thousand federal workers don't participate because they can't afford the premiums.

Jim Jaffe, a former congressional staffer who worked on economic, tax, and health issues, and an FEHB subscriber, explained in a recent post Health Beat blog that the plans offered under the FEHB "differ little from insurance plans offered by other large employers." In particular, he writes, the plans "are not particularly user friendly or structured for efficiency," with enrollees facing many of the same complications and obstacles that they would encounter with private insurance. Jaffe concludes that the FEHB plan would be better than nothing, but "from an economic perspective, they are more problem than solution. Premiums regularly rise at a rate double inflation." Expanding access to the FEHB is far inferior to another incremental strategy for a public option, which is to open up Medicare or something like it to the wider population. Medicare, for all its flaws, is basically a single-payer system.

Obama has said that the public option must "inject competition into the health care market so that it forces waste out of the system and keeps the insurance companies honest." The FEHB wouldn't meet that standard. It might, however, be a victory for the Heritage Foundation, especially its chief of domestic policy, Stuart Butler, a Thatcherite Brit who advanced this idea back in the early days of the Reagan administration.

Sen. Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who chairs the Budget Committee, has advanced another compromise that he believes can win backing from Republicans and conservative Democrats where the public option cannot: health care co-ops. This proposal would establish a network of non-profit organizations that offer an alternative to private insurers. Instead of being controlled by the government, however, they would be run by boards of patients who are elected by fellow consumers. Again, it’s not clear that this scheme would bring about significant savings for patients or fix the inefficiencies that abound in the current system. In an interview with Kaiser Health News, Pam MacEwan, the executive vice president of a co-op called Group Health, admitted that its rates were similar to private insurers and its payment structures were also "pretty much" the same.

In other words, some of the leading public options under consideration may not be all that public. Will Obama allow his health care push to fall short by embracing such measures?
http://www.motherjones.com/print/24541

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