Strawberries are in Season!

Everyone has a certain time of year for their favorite foods, for me it is 365 days actually. Each season brings a new taste sensation and a different miracle in terms of how nature feeds us. With the advent of industrial agriculture and the airplanes that fly food around the world, our modern culinary practices have lost the art of cooking and eating seasonally. Nature always provides the best for what we need in terms of being in harmony with our surroundings. Eating seasonally is probably the easiest and most profound step you can take in moving towards a more sustainable life style. The extra added benefit? YUMMY FOOD. Late May and through Early June is peak Strawberry season in the Northern Hemisphere. What has been passing for strawberries in the grocers produce section since January, are lovely decorative items, but the jewels coming out of ground now are really worth the wait.

Strawberries, according to the botanists who are ever so picky, are not really berries, but an extended part of the plant stamen. Now this could get tricky, but it is sort of the stamen turned inward with the seeds on the outside. Who cares, really, they are fantastic. Strawberries are part of the rose family and our modern varieties have apparently been cultivated since the 1700's in where else, France. The berries apparently made their way to Britain thanks to William the Conqueror, who was passing on the gift left by the Romans. Strawberries are grown in all 50 states in the US, and wild varieties are found all over the world. When I was at my first Slow Food Terra Madre in 2008, I met these amazing people from Romania who create preserves out of a rare Romanian forest strawberry that is only in season for 2 weeks. Guess what they are doing during those two weeks? Besides eating so many berries they are going to burst, they make a series of jams and preserves that have international Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity status http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/pagine/eng/presidi/dettaglio_presidi.lasso?-id=1734

The best way to enjoy Strawberries is to grow them  yourself, http://www.groworganic.com/seasonal-items/berry-plants/strawberry-plants.html The site Grow Organic is from an organic seed and plant source in Grass Valley California, they send out strawberry plants through the mail if you can't get there, and have a YouTube channel that is really great. The second best is to go to a local organic grower and either pick yourself (aka U Pick) check your state's agritourism sites for options or Local Harvest http://www.localharvest.org/ for options near you. For all the health information on Strawberries listen to the podcast. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/real-food-empire/2013/06/05/strawberries-are-in-season It is important to eat organic, as conventional strawberries have residues of 54 pesticides, most do really nasty things to your health and the health of those who pick them, not to mention the birds, bees, soil and water.

Here are some ideas for Strawberries

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar and Black (or Pink) Pepper

2 cups fresh strawberry slices, 2 Tbsp of sugar or honey, 2 tsp high quality Balsamic Vinegar or Balsamic vinegar reduction, freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place berries and sugar in a glass mixing bowl, drizzle vinegar over berries, allow to sit for about 15 minutes. Ground Black (or Pink) Pepper.

This is fantastic on vanilla or honey flavored ice cream, added to Greek yogurt, or placed on short cake for a new twist for a classic summer dessert.

Strawberry Vinaigrette 

I have found that making a basic salad dressing with Safflower oil and Apple Cider Vinegar with a touch of honey and a couple of strawberries added, is amazing. The following recipe is a take off on Papaya Seed dressing, and is really delicious! 

2 cups frozen or fresh organic strawberry slices. 6 tbsp fresh lime juice, 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar, 1/8 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Blend in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth. Excellent on Spinach Salad with some feta, sliced red onions and walnuts.

Roasted Strawberries 

Are, well, amazing. Slice the tops off of the berries and place sliced side down on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roast in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the berries burst, you can then eat them alone, or dress up with things like balsamic vinegar syrup, ground black pepper, maple syrup, brown sugar.

Enjoy what this current season has to offer!

Farm Bill and CA Urban Agriculture

Hi All,

Hope you are enjoying the last lovely days of Spring. There is much going on in the world of politics and legislative effort in the food realm. What is particularly interesting is that the budget game of chicken the House and Senate Republicans inflicted on the American people has really wrecked havoc on the Farm Bill. (I am a proud member of the California Green Party so please do not call me partisan) The United States Farm Bill is reauthorized every five years, and was up last year at this time. For many reasons, none of them rational, it got tabled till now. Mix all this in with sequestration ( cue for dis-harmonic horror movie organ music jingle) and wow, this is going to be an epic food fight.

With the advent of social media, cspan and 24/7 punditry, oops, I meant news, it is amazing to me personally that something so crucial to our national security. (food, remember the French and Russian revolutions, no food makes the populace REALLY angry) Agriculture news is almost absent from the media, unless someone gets sick from organic lettuce. The Farm bill provides funding for things like food assistance to the poor, crop subsidies, farm land preservation, rural farming development and research. Guess what is on the sequestration chopping block? Farmland and environmental preservation and food assistance to the poor. What is absent from the discussion of the morality of taking food out of the mouths of the hungry and poor in our nation, (when we waste 40% of what we produce and seem always to have billions of dollars to invade other countries or blow them up with drones, but that is fodder for another blog post) is that each dollar spent from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) AKA food stamps, brings in almost $1.50 of community spending to a local economy. Do I hear good investment? Keeping people fed and avoiding revolutions and food riots are always good ideas for maintaing civil society. SNAP is a subsidy that actually benefits all farmers and grocery stores and increases profits in a community. Just think, no drones, no blowing people up, just feeding them and making local economies stronger at a fraction of the cost of the mis-adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/outreach/pdfs/bc_facts.pdf

Cutting funds to help preserve farm land and for environmental protection, well that is obviously stupid. Well maybe it is a good idea to help our obesity rate in the US, but cutting off any possibility of raising food in the future. But what can I say, consider the source. What is interesting, is that it seems the stalling on the farm bill might have gone on indefinitely, but so many people, real people, pushed the issue with their calls, emails, letters and visits to their representative.  As a result of American citizens pushing, Congress decided to stop repealing Obamacare after 38 tries and the Senate is debating the  Farm Bill for the next few days. So it is REALLY important that you call EVERYONE!

 http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfmn 

Here are some suggestions

Here is a link on the Pollinator Protection Amendment, introduced by California Senator Barbara Boxer

http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/blog/2263/senator-boxer-introduces-pollinator-protection-amendment-to-the-senate-farm-bill

In the lovely state of California, who has the worlds fourth largest Agricultural economy, food is big business. Thank goodness, there are so many sustainably minded people who are electing similar politicians in the state. In the show, I discussed a new California Assembly Bill 551 which is promoting Urban Agricultural Incentive Zones http://www.sfuaa.org/-urban-ag-incentives-zone-act.html With most of the worlds populations migrating into the cities, and less and less land available for farming, it is very important to develop Urban Agriculture. There are even businesses that are springing up where you can hire urban farmers to plant gardens in your front or back yard and tend it like a landscape gardener, they call it "food - scaping"Problem is, under many local and state ordinances, it is a crime to grow food in your front lawn, or sell your produce directly to the public. This bill would allow people to develop agriculture initiatives without having to go to jail if they sell their tomatoes at a fruit stand. Extra plus, tax breaks for property owners who do this, and in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles, that would not only bring a solution to food accessibility in urban places, ease tax burdens, but also would create opportunities for economic independence . What a concept. For you California People, here's how to find your representative

 http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts/districts/assemblydistricts.html

As is the case with any California legislation, how California goes, so goes the nation. If we can start this here, it will spread. A really great magazine and website, I actually interviewed them last year, and LOVE the publication is Urban Farm http://www.urbanfarmonline.com/ Check it out!

So, please pay attention. With the increased demand for locally and sustainably produced agricultural products, and the vital necessity of preserving the land that feeds us, please, call, write or visit your representatives today. If we the people actually made our government work for us, instead of letting big businesses who do not pay taxes, do not want to pay their employees fair wages, and want to own our food supply buy our democratic process. Really, it is simple math. There are more of us than them. Call today! And keep listening to Real Food Empire on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/real-food-empire/2013/06/04/the-farm-bill-and-ca-urban-agriculture

Happy Colon Foods!

Thanks to all that listened to the program today, here are some promised ideas for happy colons, because if your colon is happy, EVERYBODY is happy! (You older folks know what I am sayin)

The foods that help keep your digestive system, especially the colon are as follows:

Foods rich in Pro-biotics. 

Yogurt 

Miso

The trick with Miso, is to make a vegetable soup, just with water, simmer till veggies are soft, and add spoonfuls of Miso paste to desired flavor. I usually like a rounded tablespoon full for about 2 cups of liquid, but that is just me.

Sauerkraut for you vegan types, which is really easy to make, best book ever on fermentation is Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz, his website is amazing http://www.wildfermentation.com/ make your own, you will never go back to store bought again. The website and the book are invaluable, it is easy, and very inexpensive, all you need is cabbage and salt, and anything else you like, say herbs and such.

The Probiotics that are produced in fermentation help the body digest food, populate the gut with beneficial flora, help fight disease, help harmful toxins from passing from gut into the body, and well, really really taste good

Flax seeds are great to add to your salads, smoothies, warm breakfast cereals and as toppings for veggies and casseroles. They add lots of fiber, and are rich in Ligands and Essential Fatty Acids, especially omega 6 and 3's so good for your system. I like to buy them whole and grind myself right before adding them to anything, it releases all the great nutrients. Already ground ones, also called "Flax Meal" often are sitting around for a while and the oils can go rancid or loose their nutritional value Bob's Red Mill http://www.bobsredmill.com/organic-golden-flaxseeds.html is a great product and many health food stores sell organic flax seeds bulk

The Braccisa family, AKA as Cruciferous Vegetables consist of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, collard greens and Brussels sprouts. They contain compounds known to prevent cancer. Wow, if you make sauerkraut with cabbage, your colon will be leaping for joy! The best way to eat these are in slaws.

Dino Kale Caesar Salad

One bunch Dino (Dekata or Black) Kale

Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

Juice of 1 lemon or two limes

One shallot, minced

Garlic Powder to taste

3 TBSP Olive Oil

2 TBSP Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup Toasted Pepitas (optional)

Remove the center stalk and rib from the Kale Leaf, Roll and Chiffonade (cut up finely)

Place in a medium salad bowl, and sprinkle with salt, massage the salt (yes that is what you do) into the kale shreds until salt is thoroughly mixed in, add citrus juice, shallot, olive oil, Garlic powder and Parmesan. Let it sit for at least a half an hour to marinate, no one will believe it is kale. This is my new summer passion food, I CRAVE it! You can get fancy if you like, adding say feta in stead of Parmesan,  use apple cider vinegar instead of citrus juice, and add things like walnuts and cranberries. 

Another great Cruciferous delight is Broccoli Slaw

This is a wonderful way to use up your Broccoli stalks, simply shred by hand with a grater or in a food processor, and you can dress with either an oil and vinegar dressing or a Greek yogurt (pro-biotics there plus cruciferous, Colon is getting thrilled by the minute)

You can also buy prepared broccoli slaw and dress it yourself. This is one yummy salad:

2 cups Broccoli Slaw

1 cup Shredded Carrots

1/4 raisins

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Mix together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp Honey, 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste until fully blended. Pour over slaw mixture, allow to sit for 30 minutes and watch it disappear.

High pectin fruits are great such as Apples, Peaches and Pears, (You don't really need pictures of those do you?) the pectin binds to toxins in the gut and helps them exit peacefully.

And finally, berries, all kinds of berries, but especially organic ones, conventional berries have so many chemicals on them, they might be good for flairs on the highway. The best are blue berries, raspberries and pomegranates. Obviously if you have ulcerative colitis berries are not a good idea, but as a preventative you can't beat them.

Finally, Organic is the best, especially for happy colons. The Environmental Working Group has a great list of the Dirty Dozen (foods that really really need to be organic, there are so many icky things on the conventional ones) and the Clean 15, that it is safe to eat them if they are not organic

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

Until next time, Happy Eating! 

The Price of Colonoscopies and US Health Care

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/health/colonoscopies-explain-why-us-leads-the-world-in-health-expenditures.html?hp&_r=0

Sometimes, I wonder if the copy editors for major news sources know what they are doing, are they trying to be snarky, make a subtle sarcastic point? Colonoscopies I think are incredible metaphors for the state of US Health economics, the visual is priceless, the symbolism perfect, the silly responses endless...... but then I always laugh at fart jokes and the like, occupational hazard of having younger brothers........

According to the National Cancer Institute, it is estimated that 142,820 men and women (73,680 men and 69,140 women) will be diagnosed with and 50,830 men and women will die of cancer of the colon and rectum in 2013. A major way this cancer is diagnosed is by Colonoscopies. The Colon is an incredible organ in the body, a true work of art, and has really suffered under the typical American diet of mostly meat and sugar, coffee and little fiber. We are also learning that exposure to pesticides is a major culprit in the increase incidence of colon cancer. I call the colon the UPS of the body, where food stuffs are transformed, packed and shipped out as part of the miracle of digestion. While any cancer is terrible, people afflicted with colon cancer suffer particularly horrific deaths. Colonoscopies performed on a regular basis can detect cancer and literally save peoples lives.

Here are some interesting pictures from the Colon Cancer Alliance, apparently one can now purchase inflatable colons for patient education. There is hope for me to launch my modeling career yet! What do they inflate them with I wonder?

I took a public health class at UCLA in the early 80's. At that time, we learned that US Health Care was costing 12% of GDP. Before the onset of third party insurance in the 40's and 50"s, the US had a relatively healthy population, and spent only 6% of GDP on health care. I think it is sort of funny that this article uses Colonoscopies as a metaphor for health costs, because it is actually the best symbol of what said costs are doing to the US population. Time after time, I have written letters to papers and representatives asking for true market forces to determine health care costs. I say over and over, when no one will publish me, the insurance companies have done to health care what sub-prime mortgages have done to real estate. Sort of an economic Colonoscopy for the middle class, maybe a colonic is a more descriptive term. Colon cancer is also a great visual as to what the middle class suffers in terms of health care economics in the US.

 Insurance allows wild pricing, because there is no real competition for customers. Insurance also fixes the market against people such as myself, by squeezing natural medicine out of the market place. The Affordable Health Care act I feel will be the death knell to my sort of medicine, because Naturopathy and Acupuncture is not covered, and hospitals and insurance will only reimburse such services, sort of, if a physician provides them. Most physicians providing such care have learned it through weekend seminars or 12 part video classes, with no boards or examinations. A 60 dollar treatment from an Acupuncturist will be marked up to several hundred dollars if a physician does the same procedure, often wrongly because they were not trained in technique or diagnosis for Traditional Chinese Medicine. People pay me out of their pockets, and with the impending mandatory insurance purchasing, or resulting tax for not doing so, what little out of pocket money people would spend on things like Acupuncture will not be available to a large portion of the population. Natural medicine, which should be available to all, and the first step in health care, will now be relegated to the rich who have better health anyways. The mistake of the Affordable Health Care act is that it really has nothing to do with health care, and everything to do with insurance care. If our health care system is entered through the door of insurance, well then this is the law that makes it somewhat more equitable. But Insurance and Big Pharma are the reasons health care costs are so expensive, they have destroyed medicine in this country. The administration of insurance, salaries, pay outs and bonuses to insurance executives are the reason health care is out of control. Any fool would rack up the charge for anything if they knew they would get it. President Obama knew the only way to have any sort of health care reform pass in the Congress was to invite Insurance and Big Pharma to the table, but they should have not been invited. It is similar to having cocaine cartels be involved with addiction treatment policy.

After my hernia surgery, I held my abdomen in agony as I laughed at the bill. $80.00 to have my lower abdomen painted with betadine, and they charged me an extra $15.00 for the bottle. I want that bottle, I paid for it, what did they do with it ?  I could have painted my own belly at a fraction of the cost. Each 15 minute time period during surgery was charged for in terms of anesthesia and room rental. Did I get those minutes prorated for the next surgery?  I can not afford insurance at this time, and no one will hire me as a woman in her 50's. The penalty for not purchasing insurance is a few hundred dollars on my taxes, which is the direction I will go at this time. I refuse to contribute to this sick system, I would rather give the money to the government, as I feel it will be better spent than giving my money to an insurance industry that has no regard for human life, the wisdom of physicians and has destroyed my profession. In essence, I am willing to pay a tax for my health care directly to the government, because at least that is where the money will go, not to pay for lobbyists that work to enrich their clients at the expense of my fellow citizens. Any further discussion on my feelings towards Insurance and Big Pharma would violate my blogger agreement, and remove the "G" rating from the post.

A brief overview of modern health care challenges in the United States shows the majority of the disease from which we suffer are related to nutrition. Heart Disease, Diabetes and Cancer are the three big killers, and the others that plague us are immune related and degenerative, say Asthma, Arthritis and Auto Immune disorders. Each and every chronic disease has a nutritional etiology. Too much bad fat, protein and cholesterol, too little fiber, mineral and vitamin content. Don't even get me started on the fake food stuff like GMO's and processed sugars. Our bodies do only what they know how to do, fight the invaders only the invaders are what we are eating.

With the onset of the industrial food system, what we have seen is a steady decline in the nutritional value of food. Fruits and vegetables literally have half the vitamin content the had 50 years ago, and yes folks it has been documented 

http://www.yourhealthbase.com/foodandmedicine.htm,

 http://www.jacn.org/content/23/6/669.short

And no these are not studies promoted by the vitamin industry. What is so interesting is that the minerals and vitamins so vital to human health have been declining since the onset of mono culture farming and the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Take Chromium for example. This so called wonder mineral is in all weight loss supplements, there was a book written in the 90's all about how to eat chromium rich foods that would help you loose weight.Chromium has been decreasing in the food supply since the onset of industrial farming. Do I sense a bit of dot connection going on? Chromium helps you loose weight (fat), lack of Chromium makes you fat, less Chromium since industrial farming, maybe industrial farming makes you fat, which them increases your chances for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. I could go on and on and on. Supplementing with vitamins is not the answer, it is a sad commentary on our food supply, that even if we eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, we can't get nourished. Many people, often in farming communities, do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. In Redlands, California where I used to live, it was in San Bernardino County, next to Riverside County, with some of the best small farms in the nation. Yet, it had high obesity rates, why? The food was shipped out of the county, and the junk food shipped in and sold at Walmart.

It is all related, the high cost of health care, the incidence of chronic diseases, the lack of access to real food, the diminishing nutrition of food sources and the industrial food system. Maybe this is what you will be thinking about during your next colonoscopy. For me, I will be eating lots of organic berries and greens, that is my protection, my health care, it costs a lot less, and is really much more fun than, well, a colonoscopy.

American Meat and Pork Headlines

Hi All,

As you may know, I have this unique combination of a wicked sense of humor, and the training and 25 years of experience as a health care professional. Being in health care means I have a unique talent for fishing out information from reluctant and ignorant sources, as well as an insatiable curiosity for how things are related, what causes things. This make for interesting interpretation of current events, especially when it comes to food. I am considering calling this post the great porcine caper of 2013.

The rage these days in the business section of the paper and media is the impending sale of Smithfield Foods in North Carolina to Shang Wei of China. At the risk of sounding a bit pun-ish, it is all about pork. Why in the world would China who owns so much American debt, want to purchase America's leading pork producer for 4.7 billion in cash? Don't they own enough of our pork? Well, it seems that China has been in a Pork Panic for several years now. With the switch to industrial farming practices in China, and her ever increasing appetite for schweinfleisch as the Germans call it, it seems as if the People's Republic can not keep up with demand. Such a shortage was noted in 2011, that China fessed up to having a strategic pork reserve of 200,000 tons of frozen pork in case of emergencies. I guess this was for the party bosses, since China consumes about 100,000 tons of pork each day. My imagination went wild as to what the secret pork bunkers looked like, and what party boss you had to kiss up to to work in such a place. Did they only have Vegans guarding it? 

With the advent of factory farming, and the largest porcine population on the planet, (Professor Higgens, I think there is a new diction exercise in there somewhere) disease was almost certain. The world witnessed a mass pig carcass inundation in the Xing feng area of the Jiang ping river near Shang Hai. In the last 10 years this region has become home to 7.7 million pigs per year, and seven slaughter houses, with all the waste going into the river. It is now black with a think algae slime on top, and locals report a continuous stream of dead pigs floating about on a daily basis, until the 16,000 pile up last March. The stench was unbearable, and cranes had to be brought in to fish the carcasses out. Apparently purchasing Smithfield will help this problem, but I wonder if the Chinese know they are getting a real nasty buy, as a recent report from Food and Water Watch notes. http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/the-trouble-with-smithfield-a-corporate-profile/ This is a great report if you are trying to loose weight, if you get the munchies, just read this and I promise your appetite will disappear.  You will never, ever say again, "Happy as a Pig in S _ _ _." The big sticking point that is holding up the sale of Smithfield? Apparently the Chinese have banned a drug present in American factory farmed pork, ractopamine, that causes tremors, headaches, increased heart rates and blood pressure in humans, and makes the pigs lame and nervous. So comforting that the FDA deemed this drug safe for our food system. I just love it, China the land of tainted baby formula and 16,000 floating pig carcasses, of smog so bad people can not see 10 feet in front of them, and yet, no ractopamine in the pork please.

So what is the bacon lover to do? In June 2nd's show, I feature an interview with Graham Merriweather, producer of an excellent documentary called American Meat. This film shows in very simple non confrontational graphics and interviews that Americans do not have to have factory farms to meet their demands for meat. In fact, taking the lead from Joel Salatin from Poly Face Farms www.polyfacefarms.com, we have enough land to raise our meat sustainably, and employ lots of people 

doing it. In the mean time, many consumer choices are available. Applegate Farms, www.applegate.com 

available at Trader Joes and Whole Foods has delicious options for sustainably raised pork, and Niman's 

Ranch  Pork products, available on line http://store.nimanranch.com and at chains like Chipotle are also 

delicious alternativesto ractopamine laced baby back ribs. And even Texas, again not what I would consider

 the bastion of  sustainability, especially with her Climate Change Denying Forgetful Gov and Senators 

who think Global Warming is some sort of group hug in a barn with international visitors, has this amazing 

program at Texas Tech University called the Sustainable Pork Farm Site.

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/animalwelfare/Research/SustainablePorkFarm/index.php 

The film is a joy to watch, and a stark contrast when compared to factory farmed pigs. Geeze, if they can have happy pigs in Texas, there is truly hope for the future of the world. 

 Finally if you are in need of a great summer read so you can feel good about eating bacon, read http://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Porkchop-Finding-Beyond-Factory/dp/B0064X7LOU. For me personally, I think pigs are really cute, and well I am a vegetarian, so I couldn't do it,  BUT if you must eat pork, please try these options. The farmers are so delightful, and the pigs lead truly wonderful lives.

Make sure to tune in on June 2 @ 9 am Pacific Time, or listen to the podcast  at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/real-food-empire/2013/06/02/american-meat-film-and-pork-in-the-headlines. 

Hello there, sorry I have been gone for so long, but as my birthday is approaching, it is time for a new year for me personally and my resolution is to be better at posting. I have moved the program after a lovely sojourn with KCAA to www.blogtalkradio.com and will be posting show concepts on Facebook, Twitter, here on the blog. Lots happening is the short version, when it comes to the world of Real Food, and I want to share with you all what is going on in my world in response to the challenges we face. But not all will be serious. The think I love about the Food Movement is that it incorporates all aspects of living on earth, the environment, social justice, culture, health, the economy and bundles it all up in a delicious way which makes all those serious issues more, well, palatable. We will be having programs on health, cooking, politics, farming, producing and celebration. A real stone soup show if you will.

I just returned from the Slow Food USA leadership conference in New Orleans. Wow is the short definition version of my experience, I hope to blog and do programs on what transpired during the lovely May Days in NOLA. But we seem to be embroiled (accidental pun) now in what is hard not to view as the biggest food fight in the history of humanity. What is this about? Well, the two things really heating up the ante are GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) and Fracking (Blowing up underground gas deposits with chemicals and water to loosen them for extraction) Somehow, altering the genetic pool of food sources making them sterile franchises, and destroying farmland isn't as important as reality tv shows about bored housewives or adulterous Armenians. 

On June First, the program will feature Claire Robinson from Earth Open Source, a research and educational foundation in the UK dedicated to food security. Earth Open Source published a landmark study called GMO myths and truths http://earthopensource.org/index.php/reports/58 which is free to download. The study was actually put together in preparation for California's failed GMO label initiative for the 2012 election, they wanted to have a publication available for activists to refer to for debates and such. I always knew it was bad, but wow, it is amazing to have this issue laid out in terms of what the research says. Last year I attended a forum on the science and technology in agriculture. One of the moderators, whom I found ever so irritating in general, stated in astonishment that he could not believe how his friends who are thoughtful educated and reasonable people were so upset about GMO's. I asked him, well, maybe it is because they are educated, thoughtful and reasonable that they do not want to eat GMO's in the first place. Why is it that when citizens are against things like pollution and death, we are told we really do not know anything about sanity?

At the conference in NOLA, I had the honor of sitting next to Serena Milano, coordinator for the Slow Food International Foundation for Biodiversity. She is from Bra, Italy and we had a lovely conversation regarding the failure of Prop 37. She diplomatically said that they (Europeans) could not understand how Prop 37 failed. I laughed, "You Europeans always say that, like how can this be? When it comes to anything rational and American political discourse." She raised her eyebrows, and there was a knowing look, like well, at least you get it.

I had several conversation with Claire Robinson leading up to our interview (which is in podcast form, you can listen anytime and pass it on, certainly.) I commented that I really wanted her to talk, because the British just sound better in these instances. She of course did not jump to contradict me. What kept coming up for me in the interview was how rational, how logical all of the arguments were given. There was no emotional bunker paranoia tone I often hear in many of the street activists regarding GMO's. It was pure and simple actually, the goal of GMO's is to own the global food supply. All of the so called benefits are mainly lies and proven by basic research. The report has over 600 citations, but who's counting. Remember, the FDA and USDA tell us GMO's are safe, there is no evidence they are different than non GMO foods, or harmful to animal or human health. In Genetic Roulette by Jefrey Smith, he cites a study where mice fed GMO corn had their testicles turn blue. I have never heard of any fetish that would embrace that, and I am sure it was more than a nuisance to the poor mice. 

Recently, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that farmers could not use Monsanto’s patented genetically altered soybeans to create new seeds without paying the company a fee. Get it, they are feeding and saving the world by bankrupting small farmers. In the case of Bowman v Monsanto, Bowman did not know he had bought the seeds in the first place and was fined by doing what all farmers have done since the beginning of time. And we are supposed to but the line that Monsanto is working on our behalf to "feed the world?" President Barack Obama signed H.R. 933, which contained the Monsanto Protection Act into law. Sigh, it is basically an amendment that nullifies any states law that requires labeling or research. There are attempts to stop this rape of our democratic process in the works, hopefully we can get them into the Farm Bill.

Senate Amendment SA 978 (introduced by Senator Merkley, D-Oregon) would repeal the Monsanto Protection Act, which is currently a 6-month 'rider' provision that slipped into the Continuing Resolution spending bill passed in March. The Monstanto Protection Act strips federal courts of the authority to halt sale or planting of GMO seed by Monsanto and other companies that have not been adequately reviewed for their environmental and economic impacts. This Amendment would strike that 6-month provision, sort of a big fly swatter and a "take that" you bad, bad multinational who is trying to steal our food supply. What is amazing is that I learned about this by watching the Daily Show with John Stewart, that was the only media attention this got outside of GMO activist blogs. 

SA 1025 (Senator Boxer, D-California) is a "Sense of the Senate" statement that states that the US should join with 64 other nations that give their consumers the right to know if there are GMO ingredients in their food. It is a non-binding statement only. But we will take what we can get, seeing that the GOP voted down recognizing the rights of handicapped individuals around the world in from of Senator Bob Dole in a wheel chair, I am not holding my breath. 

SA 1026 (Senator Boxer, D-California) would call for the FDA to submit a report to Congress on the methods of labeling GMO food in nations that require such labeling, and the probable impacts of having differing State labeling laws in the absence of a Federal labeling standard with respect to GMO food. What is so interesting is that the discovery of GMO wheat in Oregon last week has halted US wheat exports to Japan, one of our largest importers of food stuffs. Who knew the "market forces" the GOP is slobbering over would actually force their beloved multinationals to stick three little letters on the label. You'd think they would jump at the chance to get free publicity for their world saving products?

So, listen to the program at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/real-food-empire/2013/06/01/the-truth-behind-gmo-foods and let me know what you think!

Till next time, I hope all your meals are locally grown, hand made and delicious (Oh and yes, no roundup pesticide genes put in it by a multinational either)

Stephanie

Farmers Market Watch

Hi All,

I hope to be more prolific in my writing these days, and to say I will be launching a new facebook and blog over a project at KCAA called Farmers Market Watch. On Mondays from 9:45 - 10 am on KCAA I will be talking about one of the many Farmers Markets in the Inland Empire. My reasons for doing this are numerous, not the least to bring attention to my program Real Food Empire, but also because I have been watching with great interest for several years the food scene here in the IE. What fascinates me most is that we have such an agricultural base out here, and yet most of our locally grown food is shipped out of the area, and we ship food in. The other striking thing is that in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, we have some of the largest percentages of obese children and adults in the State. How can this be? Especially since we grow so much incredible food here. I can tell you, I have lived over much of California, including the Bay Area, and I have never tasted such delicious produce, especially Citrus, as I do here. What we are finding is that the local people here often do not take advantage of the bounty that exists, and we have numerous food deserts throughout the county. A prime example is San Bernardino, which used to be a jewel of a city, based on farming, and now rivals Detroit in terms of urban blight, poverty and crime. So we are literally starving ourselves on fast food in the middle of an oasis of fresh produce and small artisan food producers. At a recent meeting of the Redlands Sustainability Network, the topic of food security was a focus for comittees. One of the conversations surrounded bringing Farmers Markets to North Redlands. A member of our group lives in North Redlands, and she said there is no interest in such things because "they are too expensive, the food is seen as dirty." we were told that so much education would be needed before we could even attempt to start up a Farmers Market that it might be a waste of time. Hmmm, having to educate people to eat fresh, delicious food. Shows how far removed we are from our food actually. I chuckled at a sticker on a fast food drive up window that warned people about fish being served there, and I thought, wow, you have enough chemicals and fat in your kitchens to start some sort of terrorist bomb and you are warning people about fish allergies?
In any case, what I will be doing is featuring a weekly update on one of the many delightful Farmers Markets here in the Inland Empire and featuring a recipe on a seasonal produce item I picked up at the market. One week I made a Meyer Lemon Shaker Pie, the next was a dino kale salad with blood orange slices and vinegaretre, the co-hosts on the morning program are hooked to say the least. So tune in and educate yourself on the bounty of what we have here in the IE, as well as what to do with the produce when you buy it. Monday mornings on KCAA 1050 AM or live stream at www.kcaaradio.com