Steven Trudell, PhD, and Joe Ammirati, PhD, know their ’shrooms.

Authors of the recently released Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest, Trudell is an affiliate professor of forest resources and lecturer in biology, while Ammirati is a professor of biology who specializes in mycology (the study of mushrooms). Both teach at the University of Washington.

The profs wrote this book because mushroom guides are plentiful, but they could never find one that focused on the Pacific Northwest—an area with diverse and abundant mushrooms. In 352 pages, with more than 460 photos, they cover the geographical area, fungi basics, mushroom collecting, fungus ecology and mushroom poisoning.

Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest makes a great gift for organic mushroom aficionados. It regularly retails for $27.95, but Amazon is currently offering the book for $18.45 (a 34% savings).

Bat flowers. Lily-of-the-Nile. Devil’s tongue. Cobra lily. Black cow parsley.

Each of these plants is a lovely shade of black.

Once you open the pages of Paul Bonine’s Black Plants, you’ll no longer associate the floral color with Morticia Addams’ garden or a Goth funeral wreath. Bonine, co-owner of the wholesale nursery Xera Plants in Sherwood, OR, will have you craving a patch of “dusky denizens” in your organic garden.

Hauntingly beautiful, 75 black annuals, perennials, bulbs and shrubs are featured. You’ll find black varieties of common favorites like pansies and columbines, as well as more exotic offerings. (Dracula orchids, anyone?)

The 160-page book retails for $14.95, but Amazon is selling it for $10.17 (at press time), a 32% discount.

When the folks at Health magazine asked organic foodie Mollie Katzen to name some of her favorite products, she cited Fusion Naturally Flavored Sea Salts, a new line of artisan salts.

More than 20 flavors are available, from Thai Ginger and Italian Porcini Mushroom to Green Tea and Spicy Curry.

The salts “add a punch of exotic flavor to roasted or steamed vegetables,” notes Katzen, a best-selling cookbook author who cofounded the famed Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. “Because they’re so potent, you end up using less salt.”

That’s an important health priority, as Americans consume far too much sodium. Just ask the New Jersey man who’s suing Denny’s over its high-sodium entrees.

I’m looking forward to trying Fusion’s Aged Balsamic Sea Salt, a blend of hand-harvested sea salt and aged Modena balsamic vinegar.

10 Favorite Mollie Katzen Cookbooks

1. The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without
2. The New Moosewood Cookbook
3. The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest
4. Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Heaven
5. Mollie Katzen’s Sunlight Cafe
6. Mollie Katzen’s Recipes: Soups
7. Mollie Katzen’s Recipes: Salads
8. Honest Pretzels (children 8 and older)
9. Salad People and More Real Recipes (preschoolers and older)
10. Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes (preschoolers and older)

Food historian and self-described “full red-blooded carnivore” Betty Fussell understands that Americans are “caught up in the romance of beef.”

As she writes in Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef:

I felt that when I ate steak, I was sinking my teeth into the myth of the Frontier—the Marlboro cowboy busting his bronc, the cast-iron skillet on an open fire, the smell of tobacco and burnt coffee, a soft neigh or two from a tethered horse, the clank of a metal spur, the wheeze of a harmonica, a black sky full of stars.

But Fussell also acknowledges the stark realities of factory farms and slaughterhouses, animal cruelty, E. coli, mad cow disease and the toll meat production takes on our environment.

She talks with folks like Connie and Doc Hatfield of Country Natural Beef, who prove it’s possible to raise cattle humanely, without feeding them hormones or antibiotics, and without polluting the environment.

This makes Raising Steaks a fascinating anthropological read for organic foodies, whether you’re a meat eater, vegetarian or flexitarian.

We already know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As noted in Healthy Breakfast May Protect Against Heart Disease:

Eating breakfast—especially one that includes whole grains—reduces your risk for heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes and heart failure, according to the May 2008 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter.

Now, a prominent physician suggests that if you’re watching your weight, there’s an optimal time to eat your first organic meal of the day: within 15 to 30 minutes of waking up, and no later than 8 a.m.

Matthew Edlund, MD, director of the Center for Circadian Medicine in Sarasota, FL, and author of The Body Clock Advantage, recently told Redbook magazine: “If you don’t eat breakfast, your body thinks it’s in starvation mode, and you’ll eat more food later on.”

Try these recipes from our blog:

• Cracked Wheat Cereal
• Early-Morning Pumpkin Maple Oatmeal

We have a new recall to report: romaine lettuce from Salinas, Calif.-based Tanimura & Antle. The company sells artisan lettuces and specialty vegetables.

As for the Nestle cookie dough recall, the Associated Press reveals that the company had refused to supply reports to the FDA over the last 5 years—not illegal, but certainly noteworthy as U.S. food-safety incidents pile up.

As consumers, we need to put pressure on mainstream and organic companies to comply with FDA inspectors’ requests—even the voluntary ones.

Farm Aid Adds Artists

Farm Aid has signed new artists for its Oct. 4 concert.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Jason Mraz and Phosphorescent to the Farm Aid family, and having Wilco and Jamey Johnson back to Farm Aid this year,” says Carolyn Mugar, executive director. “Every year, artists and bands donate their time to perform on the Farm Aid stage, raising funds and awareness about the critical contributions family farmers make to our country.”

Farm Aid seeks to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America.

What’s on My iPod?

I can’t get enough of Jason Mraz’s We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things—and not just because he’s supporting Farm Aid.

Science geek that I am, I’m finishing up Mary Roach’s audiobook Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. It’s also available in paperback. Great info about the human body, but not recommended for those with queasy stomachs!

Photo courtesy of Tanimura & Antle

School may be out for summer, but seize the opportunity to increase your children’s vocabulary and environmental literacy with a good book.

Kids ages 3–8 will enjoy Recycle! A Handbook for Kids, by Gail Gibbons—a colorful 32-page book that explains the recycling process from start to finish.

Children will learn how different types of garbage—from paper and plastic to glass and aluminum cans—are recycled into new products. Gibbons also offers recycling tips and “trash trivia.”

“Gail Gibbons is a phenomenal writer whose informational books help kids learn new and interesting facts,” says Jennifer D. Turner, PhD, an assistant professor of education at the University of Maryland. “And she doesn’t disappoint with her book on recycling. This book is very readable and well organized, and helps children really get a sense of what landfills are and why we need fewer of them.

“Gibbons does thorough research in order to write her books,” Dr. Turner continues, “so when she describes how to recycle, why it’s necessary and its benefits, you know the information is accurate. The book ends with some interesting information about the ozone layer and the limited potential for recycling polystyrene, followed by 14 facts about garbage.”

For Your Child’s Organic Bookshelf 

1. Where Does the Garbage Go?
2. Why Should I Recycle?
3. The Three R’s: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle
4. Garbage and Recycling

Brooklyn’s Isa Chandra Moskowitz hosts the online Post Punk Kitchen video series, which offers great vegetarian cooking lessons. She’s also the author of the highly acclaimed Vegan with a Vengeance: Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock.

The cookbook is divided into nine sections:

1. Brunch (Sweet Potato Hash with Five-Spice and Watercress, Ginger-Pear Waffles)
2. Muffins and Scones (The Best Pumpkin Muffins, Glazed Orange Scones)
3. Soups (White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup)
4. Little Meals, Sammiches and Finger Food (Parsnip-Scallion Pancakes, Fresh Corn Fritters)
5. Sides (Balsamic-Glazed Portobello Mushrooms, Coconut Rice with Toasted Coconut)
6. Pizzas and Pastas (Homemade Gnocchi, Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes and Kalamata Tapenade)
7. Entrees (Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Tofu with Baked Pumpkin and Cranberry Relish, Moroccan Tagine with Spring Vegetables)
8. Cookies and Bars (Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, Macadamia Blondies with Caramel-Maple Topping)
9. Desserts (Coconut Heaven Cupcakes, Gingerbread Apple Pie)

Rocker Joan Jett added her review to the book’s back cover: “This fun and creative book is delicious for people like me, who don’t eat pets!”

Vegan with a Vengeance retails for $17.95, but the current price on Amazon is $14. Use the recipes to jump-start your organic Meat-Free Monday meals.

My views, however, haven’t changed. As Dr. Rallie McAllister points out in Sobering Stats on Childhood Obesity, 90% of the products food manufacturers hawk to children meet the criteria for junk food.

Jeff Novick, director of nutrition for the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa, doesn’t mince words about the BK Quad Stacker, whose commercials proudly advertise that it contains “no vegetables.” (When did this become a key selling point?)

“With four slices of cheese, four fatty patties and four slices of bacon, this burger might better be called the quadruple bypass special,” Novick says. “Maybe they call it the ‘stacker’ because it helps stack the odds against the long-term consumer collecting much from Social Security. Fast food like this is great if you’re in a hurry—to die.”

I sent Jeff some of the comments on A Mountain of Meat and Cheese and asked him how he’d respond to the folks who are proud of their fast-food habits.

“We live in a very permissible society,” he tells OrganicAuthority, “and unfortunately many of us indulge in self-destructive products and behavior. As a nutritionist, it is my job not only to give people the best education possible on how to live and eat healthfully, but to model the behavior that I teach to our clients, to my children and to anyone with whom I come into contact. But as the saying goes, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.’

“I help many, many people every day,” Jeff adds, “but there are some who need to reach rock bottom before they finally decide to make healthy changes in their life. As a society, we are faced with the same dilemma in trying to stop people from smoking. I could show smokers statistics about death rates for cancer, I can show them a lung ravaged by disease caused by smoking, and I can model a nonsmoking healthy lifestyle. But with some people, no amount of information will stop them from smoking until, unfortunately, they are finally diagnosed with cancer. For some people who eat poorly, just as those who smoke, they have to reach a point where their bad habits have impacted their lives so profoundly that they decide to make a change. Then—and only then—can I truly help this particular group.”

Suggested Reading

• Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World
• Fast Food Nation
• Don’t Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America

“High incidences of diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and related physical problems among indigenous peoples are pervasive consequences of colonialism,” says Mihesuah, an Oklahoma Choctaw and the Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor in International Cultural Understanding at the University of Kansas’ Center for Indigenous Nations Studies. “Natives once gathered, hunted and cultivated foods that kept them physically strong. Now, many Natives across the Americas are sedentary and have lost touch with their traditional tribal knowledge, including methods of cultivating, preparing and preserving foods. Taking charge of our health by boycotting the greasy, fatty, sugary and salty foods that are killing us in favor of the nutrient-rich and unprocessed indigenous foods of this hemisphere is greatly empowering.”

The book contains sections on exercise, strategies for healthy eating, gardening and indigenous recipes, including Acorn Squash-Pumpkin Soup, Creamed Corn and Boiled Okra Soldiers. Mihesuah strongly believes in consuming fresh, homegrown foods.

“We can only do so much to combat racism and prejudice,” she notes, “but we can control what we eat, what we feed our families and how much we move around. We must take responsibility for our health and for the well-being of our children. In so doing, we pass on a legacy of self-respect and tribal strength to future generations.”