No, not that meatloaf, although he too has enjoyed some newfound popularity of late. We're talking the meat we eat, or don't if you're a vegetarian. As the article below points out, meatloaf is back in style which begs a question for many homecooks: did it ever go out of style? No one told us.

Whether you're a newcomer to meatloaf or a seasoned veteran, we think you'll enjoy this classic version:

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2-3/4 pounds unseasoned meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal) or ground beef round
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (2 slices firm white sandwich bread)
1/3 cup ketchup
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 slices bacon
1 large can plum tomatoes in juice (or your own, if you have them)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Procedure
1. Arrange rack on lowest position in oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, celery and 2 teaspoons garlic; cook 5 minutes, until vegetables soften. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the parsley. Remove from heat and let stand until cooled to room temperature.
2. Combine meatloaf mix, bread crumbs, ketchup, eggs, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, nutmeg and the cooked vegetables until blended. Transfer mixture to a shallow pan; shape into a 9-1/2x5-inch oval. Arrange bacon slices on top. Bake 70 minutes, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in center registers 160 degree F.
3. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper flakes in a 9-inch glass baking dish, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon. Bake on lower rack with meatloaf, 35 to 40 minutes, until sauce thickens. Serve with meatloaf. Makes 6 servings.

Meatloaf Popularity Grows Among Foodies

Growing up in Texas, chef Gavin McMichael used to ask his mom to make meatloaf for his birthday each year. Now that he has his own restaurant, meatloaf is on the menu, along with quail stuffed with foie gras.

"I was a huge fan, so of course I had to have meatloaf on my dinner menu," said McMichael, a partner in the Blacksmith restaurant in one of the fastest-growing sections of Oregon. "We are creating foodies as fast as we can. Then they want to try things like foie gras."

Mom made meatloaf to stretch the food budget. Dad ate it because it tasted good, especially with lots of ketchup. Now Baby Boomers are ordering it in restaurants. Meatloaf may not be tops on the healthy food list, though it can certainly be made that way with lean meats and lots of veggies. But this comfort food that became an American staple during the Depression is hanging on, growing up and branching out.

"It has graduated from diner food into restaurant food," while remaining a home-cooking staple, said Andrew Smith, editor in chief of the "Oxford Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink," from his New York home in Brooklyn. "It is real American food. It is something that is part of our early lives and part of our heritage."

Meatloaf comes out of the late 19th century, when meat grinders became popular, said Lynne Olver, editor of the Web site Foodtimeline.org. The 1884 "Boston Cooking School Cookbook" has recipes for ground veal mixed with breadcrumbs and eggs, baked in small individual molds.

"A big old loaf of meat would violate the American Victorian sense of decorum," she said.

The word meatloaf appears regularly in the New York Times in the 1930s and 1940s, when the Depression and World War II made stretching food dollars imperative. But it was the 1950s when America "embraced" meatloaf.

"I have cookbooks from the '50s with all sorts of filled meatloaf, gourmet meatloafs, meatloaf for the grill," Olver said.

James E. McWilliams, assistant professor of history at Texas State University at San Marcos and author of "A Revolution in Eating, How the Quest for Food Shaped America," sees meatloaf's roots in scrapple, a mixture of ground pork and cornmeal made by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since Colonial times.

"It's a food that's quite consistent with an American attitude," McWilliams said. "It is so open to interpretation and flexible. Its origins are humble."

President Ronald Reagan was a famous fan, and writer Jean Shepherd included family battles over meatloaf in the movie "A Christmas Story." Little brother Randy declares he hates meatloaf, and The Old Man threatens to use a screwdriver and plumber's helper to get some down him.

Chicago piano salesman and sometime food writer Lee Maloney grew up loving his mom's meatloaf, and kept looking for something that would measure up when he traveled the country as music director for various circuses and ice shows.

Most of the stuff he found in diners and truck stops was awful, but circus friends made marvelous variations. A Czech trapeze act made it with hard-boiled eggs in the middle. Others baked whole tomatoes, gherkins, sausage, stuffing and foie gras baked inside. But the closer to Mom's the better.

"My parents have long been gone, but it brings back very fond memories of coming home after school, and eating meatloaf, mashed potatoes and creamed corn," said Maloney.

About 10 years ago, cookbook author David Rosengarten started seeing meatloaf tarted up with wine sauces in New American Cuisine restaurants, but now finds it in neighborhood bistros, where it is treated with respect in the classic style, with ketchup.

Competing with New York steak and seared scallops, meatloaf is one of the top entrees at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, on Oregon's coast, where golfers fly in from around the world to walk as many as 36 holes in a day.

All that walking makes people hungry, and if they are staying over a few days, they also want something familiar, said executive chef Don McCradic.

At the Blacksmith restaurant, McMichael mixes ground beef and pork with eggs, cream, roasted tomato puree, poblano chilies, shallots, garlic, onion and Japanese breadcrumbs. He bakes individual loaves in cylinders, and serves them with a tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean-carrot-and-onion saute, and creamed corn.

Smith said he expects meatloaf to keep going strong. His kids like it, and the reasons it became popular — low cost and good taste — remain.

"It's very good wholesome, nutritious food, depending what you put into it," he said. "And I like my way better than in the restaurant. Because it's my way and reminds me of what my mother made."

source: Associated Press

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FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, health, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. If you are the copyright holder and feel that this use does not fit under the clause mentioned above, then please let us know and we will remove this from our site. Thank you.

Posted by at 7:49 AM | Permalink

Sent to us by our friends in Italy "Amici della Terra"

Posted by at 9:06 AM | Permalink

Posted by at 11:24 AM | Permalink

2005 might well be remembered as the year that hybrid cars "broke through" into the mainstream with the Toyota Prius leading the pack. It's true that these cars could offer great benefits to society if more drivers replaced their old gas guzzlers with their fuel-efficient cousins.

However, if you really want to have a positive impact on the environment, you would do well to start by reconsidering what you eat rather than what you drive, say Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin of the University of Chicago.

The two recently compared the environmental savings of switching to a vegan diet versus switching to a hybrid vehicle and - guess what?- the tofu won. Eshel and Martin studied the amount of fossil fuel needed to cultivate and process various foods, including running agricultural machinery, providing food for livestock and irrigating crops. They also factored in emissions of methane and nitrous oxide produced by cows, sheep and manure treatment.

The typical US diet, about 28 per cent of which comes from animal sources, generates the equivalent of nearly 1.5 tons more carbon dioxide per person per year than a vegan diet with the same number of calories, say the researchers.

By comparison, the difference in annual emissions between driving a standard car and a hybrid car, which runs off a rechargeable battery and gasoline, is just over 1 ton.

There are those of us for whom sliced tofu just doesn't cut it, so to speak. If you don't want to go vegan or even vegetarian, choosing less-processed animal products and poultry instead of red meat can help reduce greenhouse gasses. And, of courses, always buy locally produced foods when possible.

Source: New Scientist magazine, 17 December 2005

Posted by at 6:21 AM | Permalink

And that's just in the US, says Timothy Jones, a professor at the University of Arizona.

A study by Jones and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2003 estimated that more than 50 million tons of edible food are wasted in the United States each year. The study looked at farming, retail establishments and homes. It found that:

• Twelve percent of American crops, valued at $20 billion, go unharvested due to difficulty in predicting demand.
• Retailers, including restaurants, throw away 35 million tons a year, valued at $30 billion.
• Households dump $43 billion worth of food a year, or about 14 percent of what they buy.
• American households throw away 1.28 pounds of food a day, 27 percent of which consists of vegetables.

Jones says that people often buy fresh vegetables because they think they are eating healthfully. But many then go home, pop a frozen pizza in the oven and throw the vegetables out.

There are many things that could be done to prevent this waste:
• At the farm level: encourage gleaning so that edible crops are made available to individuals and groups (such as food pantries) that are in need and in a position to harvest them.
• At the community level: encourage the composting of food wastes.
• At the individual level and in schools: teach young people how to cook and how to be creative with that leftover head of broccoli.

Posted by at 7:24 PM | Permalink

In our January 2006 Newsletter, we asked you how you felt about seeds. Specifically, we asked:

How green are you are when it comes to seeds? Do you pay attention to who owns whom in the seed world? Do you favor heirlooms over hybrids? Saving your own over buying? Do you only use/buy seeds that have been organically produced? Are you concerned about genetic pollution in our seed stock? Do you only buy seeds from companies that have taken the "Safe Seed Pledge"?

Here's what you had to say:

I found your topic most intriguing. I do in fact try to pay attention to what is going on in the seed world and am concerned about it. I have to say though that I do not keep up on it as much as I would like to.

I try to buy my seeds from companies I respect (the first two on the list below). I prefer heirloom over hybrid. I have just begun trying to save seeds, although I also want to support those companies who do so much for supporting our seed heritage. I have also found a blog on Organic Magazine with many very friendly people willing to share seeds.
-Kate Bodmann

I really enjoy this email newsletter. After reading the safe seed pledge, I located a company in my state of Pa. that goes by this rule and also has organic seed. I was drawing up plans for this years vegetable garden when I read your newsletter. With the info, I decided to buy from a different company, all my vegetable garden seeds. This makes you think about our planet, what is safe, what is best.

Your link to buying organic, when it pays and when it doesn't was also interesting. I must say I learned a lot from this but do not agree on the cosmetics issue. I buy organic shampoo, soap, etc. Even cosmetics. Your skin is your largest organ and I do believe what you put on it can effect your health. I do believe organic products are better and safer. Most do not contain the chemicals shown to cause cancer, etc. Propylene glycol is an example of an ingredient that a lot of lotions contain, but that is shown to be unsafe. When there are so many safe, organic ingredients why settle for chemicals? Most plants contain ingredients that are safe for the skin and when they are organically grown, it seems that would make them even safer. Breast cancer studies show that only 15% is genetic, that leaves a huge 85% to environmental issues, diet, smoking, etc.

All in all, I feel anything you can grow or buy that is organic is 100 times better then it's chemical, pesticide, hormone based cousin.

Thanks for a wonderful newsletter. I enjoy the recipes and all the info and all the gardening ideas.
-Debby McKissic

First, I want to thank you for the great news letter, brought some laughs, in-site and great to mull over in the winter.
As for seed origin and what company, safe seed etc. I live in Kansas which may be a strike against me but we are the bread basket of the world. I have nothing against the GMO seeds. First they produce an abundant crop to feed a hungry world and they do this with eliminating harmful chemicals that can enter the food chain and the environment. My job is working with water quailty, I work for the NRCS and we can see the great benifits through testing water quality samples, health of the soil through no-till cropping, the earth worms come back the millions of soil microbs come back and the soil gets healthy again. By not using these hamful chemicals all of this is happeniing. I had a neighbor who several years ago used a popular insecticide for several years ton his corn crop, within 4 years both he and his wife developed cancer and died, I always felt it was from using these chemicals. I plant my garden using the sq. ft. method which is completely organic, but think by not using seed from a company because it is GMO is defeating the pupose of providing safe and quality food for one to eat. I have not developed a third eye or grrown a horn from my head. Thank you again for this opportunity and keep your newsletter coming. Also if one choose not to buy from one company for whatever reason that is their choice it is a free country. I just do not like seeing everything pinned to GMO as bad. Even Greenpeace has said that Round up is one of the most environmentally freindly chemicals ever, which is correct. Also BT is BT it is found in nature and works and it keeps the very harmfull chemicals off the market. I don't understand how some think there is 2 different BT's one that is OK to use and the other [same] is not. I will get off of my stump now

-Don Rogers, Topeka, Ks.

I definitely pay attention to who I'm buying seeds from (and other gardening stuff and food too), to do everything I can to make sure NONE of my $$ go to Monsanto. I do favor heirlooms over hybrids, prefer organically produced seed, and only buy from companies that have taken the safe seed pledge.

Sadly, I have not saved seeds, but it should definitely go on my agenda!

Jill

I am very concerned about preservation of agriculture, both in terms of genetic diversity and cultural diversity (the knowledge that goes with the genetics, and the power of self-determination that makes both viable). When the safe-seed pledge first came out, I wrote to all the companies I was accustomed to buying from, if they hadn't published the pledge in their catalogs, to ask them if they would sign on. I also once wrote to all of them asking about ownership: were they independent businesses or subsidiaries of something else? I'm now also a gardener at a local historic site, so I have a professional concern for preservation of rare varieties as well as an ethical and spiritual commitment to life, liberty, and self-determination.

Thanks for raising this issue.

-Nancy Wygant

I buy my seeds from Johnny's Seeds, ironically from Maine--where the conversation took place! They are very careful about their seeds in many, many ways. Please check them out because they do not send out catalogs without a request. They have a line of organic seeds as well as identifying untreated seeds from treated. Their germination is tops! They care about all the right (left?) issues .

And, of course, you have heard of Seed Savers, another seed company, this time in Decorah, Iowa.

Ann Guell

It is very important to me where I buy my seeds!

I buy my seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in Mineral, VA
(www.southernexposure.com/) and this year am also buying seed from Seed Savers Exchange (http://www.seedsavers.org/).

-Lauren, Richmond, VA

A lot of the companies that signed the Safe Seed Pledge, including some of those founded by people who helped write it will have some rethinking to do, because it is virtually impossible to put together a full line of seeds without any Seminis produced varieties. This is only the latest step in a long line of acquisitions. Seminis was tainted goods long before being acquired by Monsanto. At one point they had 93 GMO tomato lines they were testing, and that was years ago.

If you are curious to understand the depth of this issue, go to the EPA site, and look up the registrations for field test permits, arranged (when last I looked) by vegetable crop. You will find some surprising stuff, I am sure.

-Shepherd Ogden, Director, Heritage Organics

Hi Roger,
I have a hard time keeping track of who owns who in the seed world. I stick to open-pollinated types as much as possible - probably about 95% of the seed I grow out is open-pollinated (not necessarily "heirlooms,"
just not hybrids.) I own a small organically-run produce farm, and our goal is to grow out most of our seed. We're maybe half-way there! Even if we had met our goal already, I would still buy a fair amount of seed from seed companies, because we constantly try new varieties. Since Monsanto & similar companies don't sell the open-pollinated types (because they can't make any money from it), I don't have to worry about the companies I buy from. I try to buy from companies who are preservation centers, or who in some way have a mission to their companies greater than simply making a buck - this isn't always possible due to the cost of seed, but we try.
I most definitely steer clear of GMOs. Genetics has its place, I'm sure, & there's lots I don't know about it all, but I do know I don't want it in my food supply. Fish genes simply have no place in my tomatoes. Not in my garden.
Thank for the opportunity to put in my 2 cents!
-Beth

Posted by at 2:54 PM | Permalink

Chestnuts, while very common in Europe, are hard to come by these days in the US as the result of a massive blight that wiped out most chestnut trees here during the first half of the 1900s. Fortunately, the tree is making a comeback, largely due to the efforts of the American Chestnut Foundation. Still, if you happen to be the lucky holder of a pound or so of these beauties, don't miss the opportunity to enjoy them at their best...roasted over an open fire.

Recipes for Hot Roasted Chestnuts

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh chestnuts in the shell
Water

Procedure:
Chestnuts are like popcorn kernels, with a tough shell that traps moisture. And like popcorn, chestnuts will explode if you don't slit their shells before roasting. Use the point of a paring knife to cut a large "X" into the flat side of the shell to let the steam escape. Be sure to cut through the skin. The cooking methods below yield about 2-1/2 cups, enough to serve four.

Note: Do not use a microwave oven. The chestnuts' texture is likely to turn gummy.

Fire-roasted:
For this method, it's best to use a chestnut roaster, a cagelike device with a long handle specially designed for use in the fireplace. After slitting X's in the chestnuts, place them in the roaster and hold it over hot coals. Roast chestnuts for 8 to 10 minutes, shaking the roaster from time to time.

Oven-roasted:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. After scoring them, place chestnuts in a single layer in a baking pan and sprinkle generously with water. Roast 17 to 20 minutes, or until the X-cut opens up and the shell begins to char. Continue to sprinkle water over chestnuts as they bake to prevent them from drying out. Stir occasionally.

Peel both the shell and the skin off the roasted chestnuts while they are still hot. (If they cool so much that the shell won't easily come off, reheat them briefly.)

Serve fresh from the oven because their flavor declines as they stand; they are always at their best when hot.

Pan-roasted:
Heat a heavy sauté pan for one minute. When it's hot, add chestnuts in a single layer, sprinkle with a small amount of water, and cover the pan. Medium-high heat works best. Shake the pan often and continue to sprinkle with water, until shells begin to char and the X-cut opens up. Cooking time: about 10 minutes. After chestnuts are cooked, remove them from the pan and wrap them in a tea towel to retain moisture. Peel and eat as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Recipe source: Christian Science Monitor

Posted by at 4:16 PM | Permalink

Price is Main Deterrent to Buying Organics

Results from a new online global survey from ACNielsen show that U.S. consumers are among the least likely shoppers from around the world to regularly purchase organic food and beverage products. Asked about their purchasing of organic alternatives from 11 food and beverage categories, just 6 to 15 percent of U.S. consumers said they purchase such products regularly – well short of the average among consumers from all 38 markets included in the study.

For full story, please see:
http://us.acnielsen.com/news/20051205.shtml

Posted by at 9:06 AM | Permalink

"Your first job is to prepare the soil. The best tool for this is your neighbor's motorized garden tiller. If your neighbor does not own a garden tiller, suggest that he buy one."
- Dave Barry, American humorist

Posted by at 6:18 AM | Permalink

And, while we're at it, why does he wash his fruit in the bathtub?

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few years, you will recognize this young man to be UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Dismissed by many culinary professionals as more celebrity than chef, Oliver is winning over the people that count.

A recent study conducted by the UK food company Tate & Lyle found that consumers are becoming increasingly educated about food and as a result are questioning the health profile of their favorite brands. The study credits Oliver, among other influences, for his well publicized crusade to improve the food served in Britain's school cafeterias.

According to the study, the increase in awareness regarding health issues has caused consumers to question the nutritional value of the food they buy and consume on a regular basis and to become skeptical about brand claims. When asked, 65% of consumers agreed with the statement 'often brands that claim to be healthy aren't healthy at all'.

Tate & Lyle said consumers are looking for ways to improve their diet, with 66% of respondents across Europe affirming that they were always looking for ways to eat more healthily.

Across Europe, while consumers are becoming more concerned about the health consequences of their diet, the majority of people still believe that taste is the most important factor in determining what they eat. More than two in five consumers (42%) agreed that enjoying food is more important than nutrition, while one in three people (33%) argue that taste and health are equally important.

Source: Datamonitor Newswire

Posted by at 6:48 AM | Permalink

I have always divided the world of cooks up into two categories: cookbook cooks and intuitive cooks. Life somehow seems simpler and easier to handle when submitted to the rigor of classification. As I grow older, however, I'm discovering that the culinary world is grayer than I thought. Not only are there people out there cooking without the aid of cookbooks who probably shouldn't, there are others who produce perfectly delightful results without cookbooks who still consult them for guidance and inspiration.

If you fall into the latter category, you might want to add two books to your holiday wishlist, both of which were recently featured by Amanda Hesser of the New York Times:

"As of Nov. 29, three weeks after its publication, "The Silver Spoon" had sold 26,000 copies, according to Bookscan, making it one of this season's surprise hits. Although "La Bonne Cuisine" is still relatively unknown here, its influence is easily traced. Julia Child, the food historian Barbara Ketcham Wheaton and the cooking teachers and writers Madeleine Kamman and Anne Willan all relied on it in their early days in the kitchen. Paul Aratow, who translated the book into English, owns a version that Child once sent to a friend. Her inscription reads, "This is the best French cookbook I know." Indeed, Wheaton told me recently, it can be seen as the template for Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (written with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle): Saint-Ange begins a subject like braising beef with a long basic recipe, then proceeds with more challenging refinements. "It empowers you," Wheaton said. "If you have the patience to follow the big recipe, which is described in incredible detail, you will really know where you are in the kitchen."

Dating back to 1927 and 1950 respectively, La Bonne Cusine and The Silver Spoon offer further proof that there's very little new under the culinary sun, but, fortunately, many deliciously old things to rediscover.

Posted by at 7:35 AM | Permalink

We know that it's not the perfect date, or even a good date for some of you, but it seems to be the best date for the majority of us. So, let's rally around it and make it our biggest celebration yet.

There are a number of things you can do to help:
1) Celebrate the day yourself by having people in your garden
2) Plan a kitchen garden event in conjunction with another organization in your community or with a local farm
3) Publish the date in community calendars, on websites, in newsletters, etc.
4) Spread the word about the day and about us within your gardening networks

For more info about the day and how you or your organization can get involved, just drop us a line.

Posted by at 4:01 PM | Permalink

“Then I say the earth belongs to each…. generation during its course, fully and in its own right. The second generation receives it clear of the debts and encumbrances, the third of the second, and so on. For if the first could charge it with a debt, then the earth would belong to the dead and not to the living generation. Then, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence.”
—Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789

Posted by at 11:57 AM | Permalink

Switzerland's Neue Zurchner Zeitung reports voters' backing on Sunday for a five-year ban on the use of genetically modified crops.

The 55.7% vote in favour of the moratorium is, says the paper, "a surprisingly clear result".

Geneva-based Le Temps welcomes the vote.

Swiss people take scientific research seriously, the paper says, so the decision is "an important signal".

It says they resisted what it calls "the assault of globalised junk food" and "an irreversible mutilation of the natural heritage".

Another Swiss daily, Le Matin, also hails the decision.

"Swiss citizens... are not prepared to sell their souls and convictions to satisfy their consumer tastes," the paper says.

It describes the vote as "a warning shot" against the liberal policies of the government and the political right.

"The Swiss have shown their clear-sightedness in not giving a blank cheque to scientific circles, and especially the food lobby," the paper adds.

Source: BBC News

Posted by at 7:52 AM | Permalink

In a previous post, we sang the praises of cooking with cast iron and mentioned the importance of seasoning the cookware before use. Here's how the experts at Lodge Manufacturing do it.

Posted by at 4:29 PM | Permalink

"The pleasure of eating should be an extensive pleasure, not that of the mere gourmet. People who know the garden in which their vegetables have grown and know that the garden is healthy will remember the beauty of the growing plants, perhaps in the dewy first light of morning when gardens are at their best. Such a memory involves itself with the food and is one of the pleasures of eating. The knowledge of the good health of the garden relieves and frees and comforts the eater."
-Wendell Berry, from What Are People For?

Posted by at 9:30 AM | Permalink

Tired of trying to keep track of all the so-called superfoods you're supposed to eat? You know, oregano that packs 42 times more antioxidants than apples, cooked tomatoes that may prevent prostate cancer, and chocolate and wine that may or may not be health foods? Then here's the good news — according to a new report by the AP — you can stop trying.

Experts Urge Less Focus on Antioxidants

By J.M. HIRSCH, Associated Press Writer

Leading researchers say all those breathless headlines, food packaging claims and seemingly contradictory studies about what antioxidants can and can't do have fostered a faulty silver bullet mind-set that can hinder health more than help.

Instead, experts advise focusing on balance, moderation and variety, and leaving the phytochemicals, flavanols and phenolic acids to scientists.

Researcher Jeffrey Blumberg acknowledges that "doesn't seem to be a very sexy message. People would rather be told there is a superfood, a term I hate because in fact there is no such thing."

Foods labeled as antioxidant-rich — everything from bottled tea to bags of frozen berries — have become a $526 million industry that continues to grow.

Even foods that otherwise have seen sales slump are getting a boost from antioxidant claims, says Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and editor of SupermarketGuru.com. Sales of blueberry preserves, for example, are up, though overall jam sales are down.

"It's clear that regardless of whether or not people understand what 'rich in antioxidants' means, it is certainly a logo or a stamp that says 'Buy me! I'm going to help you live forever,'" Lempert says.

Maybe. Maybe not. Experts aren't suggesting antioxidants aren't important or that people shouldn't eat foods that contain them. Instead, they're saying not enough is known about how they work to justify focusing one's diet on any particular antioxidant or food.

It's all about quashing free radicals, harmful chemicals produced by the body and found in the environment that damage cells. That damage has been linked to a host of chronic conditions, from heart problems to cancer, even aging.

Diets rich in antioxidants — which are in countless foods — seem to minimize this damage. What's not clear is whether that benefit is due to the antioxidants themselves or to the overall diet and the way the antioxidants and other nutrients in it interact.

The evidence increasingly suggests the latter, says Howard Sesso, a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. That means eating patterns make a difference, but probably not eating particular foods or taking supplements.

Diets rich in beta carotene, for example, have been found to help prevent heart disease and cancer, but studies of beta carotene supplements alone have been mostly disappointing. And there is little evidence that one antioxidant is better than another.

Also unknown is whether quantity counts. Manufacturers brag about the amount of antioxidants in their products, but studies have yet to establish that more is better, or whether the body can even absorb the amounts contained in most foods.

Blumberg, a scientist at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition, worries that the hype about antioxidants creates a false sense of security. Eating a daily handful of almonds — believed good for heart health — won't make up for a diet otherwise laden with saturated fat and cholesterol.

So how should people work antioxidants into their diets? Think big picture.

Healthy diets are like healthy investment portfolios — diversified, says John Erdman Jr., a professor of internal medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Eating a variety of produce and whole grains ensures the best mix of all nutrients.

There's probably not much harm in eating a lot of blueberries, but that can't be said of all antioxidant-rich foods. The calories in fruit juice and alcohol, for example, add up quickly and obesity negates the benefits of even the healthiest foods.

Even people trying to address specific health problems would do better to eat a broad mix of foods than to tailor their diets around certain ingredients, the experts say.

"When people get prostate cancer, all of the sudden they make all the changes in their diet," Erdman says. "We don't even know if those changes make a difference then. But we know that if people eat that diet before getting cancer, you don't tend to get it."

Consumers also must be critical of companies' health claims about antioxidants, many of which are unregulated and unsupported by science. And studies often are funded by the industries that benefit when products are dubbed superfoods.

Bottom line — eat a balanced diet and don't get hung up on the particulars.

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FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, health, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Posted by at 9:05 AM | Permalink

"A modest garden contains, for those who know how to look and to wait, more instruction than a library."
-Henri Frederic Amiel, 'The Private Journal of Henri Frederic Amiel'

Posted by at 8:46 AM | Permalink

"Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education."
-Mark Twain

Posted by at 6:48 PM | Permalink

Here's one for the cooking minimalists among us. Mark Bittman, the original Minimalist and celebrated author of "How to Cook Everything", has witten an eloquent little love story about one of his most prized kitchen possessions. You're probably thinking it's a $5000 Viking Range or one of those shiny $300 All-Clad copper stockpots. Well, think again. It's a $15 cast iron skillet, just like the one Grandma used to make those perfectly browned home-fries of your childhood dreams.

Why does Mark love cast iron so much? Let him count the ways:

"...cast iron has so many benefits. Well seasoned, it is nearly as nonstick as any manufactured nonstick surface and far more so than stainless, aluminum or even copper pans.

Cast iron is as good at browning as any other cookware, and its mass lets it hold a steady temperature so well that it is perfect for deep- or shallow-frying."

It's true that cast-iron requires more maintenance than your nonstick pan. You'll need to learn how to season your pan, an activity which - if done on the stovetop - will send out enough smoke to send smoke signals to your neighbor. Once that's done, though, so are you. You'll have a pan that cooks many things well, cleans up with little effort, and will last until the cows come home, wherever they happen to be.

To read all of Mark Bittman's article, go here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/dining/07mini.html

Interested in starting a cast-iron romance of your own, then pick one up here through KGI's online store. For every $15 pan bought through our store, 75 cents goes towards supporting KGI's education and outreach activities. No small potatoes!

Posted by at 11:09 AM | Permalink

Not that we kitchen gardeners need another good reason for doing what we do, but here's a very compelling one. The Earth's population is already 6.5 billion and is expected to reach 7 billion within the next 5 years. What isn't growing and won't, however, is the amount of fertile land available for farming, as is pointed out in the article below.

To feed a hungry and growing world, we'll need to take a more creative approach to what farmland is and can be. Vacant city lot? Farmland. Your town's proposed new sports field (its 10th)? Farmland. Your front yard? Farmland. You get the point.

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Food Crisis Feared as Fertile Land Runs Out
Maps show 40% of Earth's land is used for agriculture
Growing human 'footprint' a risk to the environment

by Kate Ravilious, the Guardian UK

New maps show that the Earth is rapidly running out of fertile land and that food production will soon be unable to keep up with the world's burgeoning population. The maps reveal that more than one third of the world's land is being used to grow crops or graze cattle.

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison combined satellite land cover images with agricultural census data from every country in the world to create detailed maps of global land use. Each grid square was 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) across and showed the most prevalent land use in that square, such as forest, grassland or ice.

"In the act of making these maps we are asking: where is the human footprint on the Earth?" said Amato Evan, a member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison research team presenting its results this week at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

The current map shows a snapshot of global land use for the year 2000, but the scientists also have land use data going back to 1700, showing how things have changed.

"The maps show, very strikingly, that a large part of our planet (roughly 40%) is being used for either growing crops or grazing cattle," said Dr Navin Ramankutty, a member of the Wisconsin-Madison team. By comparison, only 7% of the world's land was being used for agriculture in 1700.

The Amazon basin has seen some of the greatest changes in recent times, with huge swaths of the rainforest being felled to grow soya beans.

"One of the major changes we see is the fast expansion of soybeans in Brazil and Argentina, grown for export to China and the EU," said Dr Ramankutty.

This agricultural expansion has come at the expense of tropical forests in both countries.

Meanwhile, intensive farming practices mean that cropland areas have decreased slightly in the US and Europe and the land is being gobbled up by urbanisation.

The research indicates that there is now little room for further agricultural expansion.

"Except for Latin America and Africa, all the places in the world where we could grow crops are already being cultivated. The remaining places are either too cold or too dry to grow crops," said Dr Ramankutty.

By continuing to monitor changes in land use the scientists hope that they will be able to highlight problems and help find solutions.

"The real question is, how can we continue to produce food from the land while preventing negative environmental consequences such as deforestation, water pollution and soil erosion?" said Dr Ramankutty.

The next phase of the project is to build an internet-based databank - called the Earth Collaboratory - that would draw on the knowledge of scientists around the world, local environmentalists and members of the general public.

Jonathan Foley, director of the Wisconsin-Madison research team, said: "[The Collaboratory] will truly be a brave new experiment that effectively bridges science, decision-making and real-world environmental practice - collectively envisioning a new way to live sustainably."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

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Posted by at 4:39 PM | Permalink