Now there have been 45 people in California who have eaten pork from animals fed with China-manufactured melamine. Melamine is a plastic that is often unscrupuously used in many food products to make it seem as if there is more protein available.
The FDA is simply not equipped with manpower or money to inspect all foods coming into the United States from other countries.
The pet food contamination scare accompanied by new evidence that people are digesting melamine is just one more reason why buying locally grown and known food is critical. With the start-up of so many farmers markets now, it’s time to get to know your farmer and your food.
Posted on April 30th, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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One good reason to buy local food is to help the environment. If you buy local, then you aren’t buying food that has been fossil-fueled to the grocery store from thousands of miles away.
Here are 20 great tips to help the environment that I found from the BellevilleNews-DemocratOnline:
At Home:
1. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, they produce the same amount of light as normal bulbs, but use about a quarter of the electricity and last 10 times as long.
2. Install low-flow showerheads and faucets that will use half the water without decreasing performance. Turning down the hot water heater to 120 degrees will also reduce electricity use while cutting costs by as much as 50 percent.
3. If you have houseplants, water them with leftover drinking and cooking water whenever possible to reduce water consumption.
4. Run your dishwasher only with a full load.
5. Reduce the amount of on “standby power” you use by unplugging electronic appliances you are not currently using.
6. Reuse margarine tubs to freeze foods or to pack lunches to reduce the need for foil or plastic wrap.
7. Reduce organic waste by composting food scraps, and by leaving short grass clippings on lawns to decompose.
8. Create designated holding bins for each type of recyclable product and place these in a convenient spot in you home, garage and office.
9. Paint your home a light color if you live in a warmer climate and a dark color if you live in a cold climate. It can help regulate the heating and cooling of your home.
10. Cancel subscriptions to magazines or newspapers you don’t actually read, especially if you could read them at the local library. Give old issues to friends, coworkers, nursing homes, doctors’ offices or libraries.
At School:
11. At school, kids should use both sides of a sheet of paper before recycling it.
12. Ask your teachers to set up a reuse box in the classroom for used pencils, pens, folders and other items that are still usable.
On the Road:
13. Save gas by carpooling or using public transportation and you can save nearly $2,000 at the pump.
14. Make sure to drive smart. A well-tuned car with properly inflated tires uses less gasoline, cuts pollution and saves money.
15. Write to policy makers to urge them to raise fuel economy standards to 40 miles to the gallon, we can save nearly 4 million barrels of oil a day. The technology exists to make our cars go farther on a gallon of gas. Using less gasoline is the biggest single step we can take to curb global warming because the less gasoline we burn, the less CO2 we put into the air.
In General:
16. Recycle paper. Recycling a stack of newspapers only 4 feet high will save a good-sized tree.
17. When shopping, if you buy onlyy a few products, skip the shopping bag. For larger purchases, bring your own cloth bags.
18. To reduce garbage production, participate in bulk buying programs so you can purchase larger quantities of items with less packaging.
19. Recycle old clothing by donating it (in season) to homeless shelters, thrift stores and other community organizations.
20. Buy durable (long-lasting, multiple-use) items instead of those that are disposable or cheaply made.
Posted on April 23rd, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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A number of cities across the country including Chapel Hill are testing the PennyWise Eat Local Challenge. It might be interesting for all of us to do some price shopping. Find out a few items that are locally produced or sold at farmers markets and get a price. Compare that to similar items in the grocery store. I will be checking and letting you know about what I discover and I will be trying to keep track of others who are doing so as well.
Eating locally is all about living more simply. There may be good reasons to do so for our psychological as well as economic health according to Mark Matousek. Read his Live Better with Less.
Posted on April 18th, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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Now that farmers markets are starting up again, find out if the markets close to you sell crafts as well as food. In some cases it doesn’t make a difference. In others, it can.
I’m a purist when it comes to farmers markets. I prefer just to buy food and food products from local farmers. Prior to my moving to the beautiful El Paso, Texas southwest, for three years I wrote a weekly e-letter for the Carnation Farmers Market in Washington State. Only farmers were allowed to sell their food at that market. In the lastest emailed newsletter, the new manager of the market wrote this:
” Regarding crafts: our market is sponsored by the Sno-Valley Tilth, made up of some of the leading sustainable and organic farmers in the region who believe that farmers markets should be just that, farmers and farm produced food from
Washington
State. Therefore, in order to attract and keep the best of the best, and in our desire to promote healthy and organic food produce, we do not accept craft vendors. Check out our guidelines for more specifics. We also offer booth space to non-profits, and community outreach efforts.”
The guidelines make it clear that the goal of the market are to have a place where local farmers can sell their food and local people can have a place to buy this farm fresh local food. Value added foods (jams, pickles, syrups, salad dressings, etc.) must have a majority of their ingredients raised by the farmer and those ingredients must be raw ingredients.
These guidelines clearly protect the integrity of that farmers market. The consumer knows that he is getting fresh, local farm food.
I like the definition that LifeintheUSA.com gives a farmers market:
“The idea of the farmers markets is that local producers of fruits and vegetables will bring in and sell their fresh produce without having to go through cumbersome distribution chains, selling directly to the consumer. The products available at a typical farmers market will vary through the season. In addition to fruits and vegetables, many farmers markets have tables offering jams and preserves, honey, baked goods and other specialty food items. Many sellers at farmers markets offer fresh or organic produce, but it always it pays to investigate the source of the products.”
If there are too many crafts, then the market becomes a craft market and not a farmers market. I’ve seen some where the crafts literally crowd out the farmers and value-added food products are not always local.
So check into it. If the market close to you does sell crafts as well as food, make sure that you get to know the farmers selling there. That one-on-one relationship is the key anyway.
Posted on April 16th, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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Apparently local pet food companies are booming since the recall of so many pet food brands. However, not all locations have pet food companies. So, many pet owners are making their own pet food. Although many vets caution against making homemade pet food, people are lining up at butcher shops for meat for their dogs and cats.
The other trend is the boom in sales at organic pet food stores. However, a new market survey reveals that most Americans have not changed their pet’s diets in spite of the high public awareness of the pet food recalls.
Pet food choices may follow a similar pattern to that of local food sales at farmers markets. We may only be seeing the beginning of a trend that will grow in time. People are hearing just too many stories about food from faraway that is poisoned: E. coli in spinach, salmonella in peanut butter, dangerous chemicals in the wheat gluten used in a pet’s daily food.
Look for more local pet food options and chains of organic pet food store or even online stores such as Only Natural Pet Store which issued this press release.
Posted on April 13th, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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Locally grown, known and sold food is all about freshness, friendship and community. It’s the new organic.
Because of the current pet food poisoning scandal, American consumers have become wary of food produced in other countries that do not have the same standards that we do. A further reason for concern is that the FDA and Department of Agriculture do not have the budgets nor the staff to check all food products coming from outside of the United States.
The fact is that China allows a chemical (melamine) to be used in its fertilizers. This product is sprayed on wheat and wheat gluten is sold to companies such as Menu Foods of Canada to be used a a binder and filler in pet foods. (One wonders why Menu Foods doesn’t use Canadian wheat as there is an over-abundance of that commodity in Canada.)
Some have even come to question eating human foods from China such as Mandarin oranges.
You may want to learn more about pet food including making your own at home.
For more information, read an interview of Phil Brown, a veterinarian who helped Newman’s Own Organics with their pet food lines.
You can also read today’s entry of Conkey’s Tavern.
Posted on April 12th, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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Now is the time to start looking for openings of farmers markets near you. Chances are that you will find at least one. Just over the last two years there has been a 20% increase in the number of farmers markets nationwide according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
News stories touting the benefits of buying local and announcing market openings are now appearing across the country. Here’s a story from Portland, Oregon and one from Virginia.
Posted on April 10th, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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Because it is Passion Week, my blog entries will be short - “on the run” so to speak.
I invite you to read my other blog, Conkey’s Tavern, a place to chronicle and discuss the trend toward buying local, sustainable, and organic food and that trend’s impact on our culture, our politics, our environment, our communities, and our relationships with each other and our planet.
In today’s Conkey’s, I comment on a friend’s response to the contaminated wheat from China that has tainted so much pet food. My point is that once again we have a reason for buying locally. He reminded me that there can be no wheat grown in the Chihuahua Desert where we both live. His point was well-taken. Sometimes we have to think regionally. The main point is building relationships not only with our food raisers, but with our food and with others. Relationship and community. These are the key words.
I really agree with fellow WebbleYou blogger, the Caffèist, who wrote an excellent entry entitled Relationships. In preferring the Relationship model for buying coffee over the Fair Trade model the Caffèist writes: “Relationship Coffee is based on layers of trust - between the grower and the roaster and between the consumer and the roaster.”
A similar relationship needs to be formed between the food consumer and the farmer or, at the very least, between the “grocer” and the food buyer. Such relationships can only be possible when there are real friendships - not just contracts for commodities.
So, as the farmers markets get underway again, get to know the farmers who sell you their food. Spend some time chatting and not just buying. More on this next time.
Posted on April 5th, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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The current widespread pet food recalls exemplifies why there is a growing demand for locally grown and known food.
What began with a long list of cat and dog food products produced by Menu Foods of Canada has grown to include products made by Del Monte, Colgate-Palmolive and Nestle as well as other companies. The FDA has a comprehensive list. (By the way, it’s a good idea to sign-up for FDA recall alerts.)
In short, many manufacturers of pet food products have bought wheat gluten used in making those products from China. China allows chemicals in their fertilizers that are not allowed here in the United States. Those fertilizers are applied to the wheat and contaminate all wheat products used in pet food and in human food. In fact, Del Monte claims that it uses human-grade wheat gluten in their pet food.
As the Economist online points out all of these pet food manufacturers have severely damaged their reputations because people now know that they use contract manufacturers and have little control over quality. Not only that, the supply chain that stretches across the globe undermines any chance for assuring against contamination.
Large food manufacturers cannot control the quality of their food. In turn, they sell their products under a variety of labels through large supermarket chains: Kroger’s, WalMart, Safeway and others.
Just as it is with pet food, it is with human food. Large factory farms and the few food processors and distributors contribute to the growing cases of widespread contaminations. In recent months consumers have become leary of E. coli in spinach and salmonella in peanut butter.
The need to know who makes one’s food and how that food is raised and processed has become critical. Because the pet food recalls are so widespread now, look for more people choosing to buy locally grown and known food.
Posted on April 3rd, 2007 in
Local food | Author:
jimtolbert |
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