November 2nd, 2009 - Laura Klein
 About a third of our nation’s adults are obese, which translates to escalated risks for cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
Many of our nation’s neighborhoods simply don’t have access to supermarkets, let alone fresh organic fruits and veggies. Chips, soda and other packaged, chemical-filled, unhealthy ‘convenience foods’ are cheap and readily available at the corner store…a far cry from the nourishment our body naturally craves, and a key contributor to the obesity epidemic.
The term for geographic food inequity is ‘food desert,’ and it’s defined as a district with little or no access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet…but often served by plenty of fast food restaurants. It was coined by Mari Gallagher, a researcher who has delved deep into the topic and found that food deserts exist in every type of community across the U.S — urban, rural and suburban.
I was moved by a profile on Chicago-based Graffiti and Grub and its founder, La Donna Redmond, on CNN last week. Her community garden and store focuses on supplying several low-income Chicago communities with sustainable, organic and locally-grown food. This quote says it all…
“You could find drugs in my community, you could find a gun in my community, but you couldn’t find a tomato.”
-LaDonna Redmond
One of the critical areas of good eating habits is education – ideally from an early age as so brilliantly executed in Alice Waters’ inspirational Edible Schoolyard project. In a similar vein, Graffiti and Grub is focused on ‘providing the hip hop generation with the tools needed for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.’
Kudos to those hard-working advocates committed to changing the food desert into an organic food oasis.
Are you familiar with ‘food deserts’? I’m curious to know whether there is awareness of this issue. Let me know!
Tags: diet & health, fast food, healthy eating, Junk Food, obesity, Organic Food
Posted in Green Living, Health, Organic, Organic Food, Organic Food Recipes | 1 Comment »
June 29th, 2009 - Leslie Billera
 I’m about to become a first-time mom at age 40. Literally, at any moment.
I don’t know how I will feel when I first see my baby (my guess is a post mortem cocktail of thrill and terror), but one thing I definitely do know: my time – and sleep – will be limited. That’s what everyone has been telling me for the last 10 months (yes, it’s actually 10 months, not 9…but that’s another blog subject!).
Soon, my husband and I will have less time to make buying decisions – but more pressure than ever to make the greenest and healthiest choices for baby. The hours I formerly spent clicking around eco product sites, languorously reading ‘about us’ and ‘press’ sections to try to discern a given product’s ‘true green value’ will be but a hazy memory.
To prepare, I’ve saved these green washing sites – green washing is misleading marketing about the environmental benefits of a product – that I now share with other busy moms, dads, or just busy people in general…
Green America’s Responsible Shopper
I’m a Green America Business Network member, so this one is close to my heart (as a copywriter, I’m Green America-Approved and have the seal to prove it!). This site ranks companies in 27 industry categories from best to worst based on research focusing on such key issues as human rights, social justice, environmental sustainability and more. Check out the user-friendly “Act” section in which you can join campaigns to battle corporate abuse, or sign up for instant emails to get actions delivered to your inbox.
Skin Deep Database from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
This searchable database matches the ingredients in more than 25,000 shampoos, makeup, deodorants, sunscreens and other personal care products with 50 toxicity and regulatory databases. It provides the most safety information anywhere about the products you put on your body – and on the body of baby too!
The Greenwashing Index
Enviromedia Social Marketing’s website asks consumers to send examples of both good and bad green marketing campaigns, which visitors then rank using a five point index that includes 1 for Authentic, 3 for Suspect and 5 for Bogus. Also includes “ripped from the headlines” exposes on worst offenders, i.e. the recent charge from the FTC that Kmart Corp., Tender Corp., and Dyna-E International are making false and unsubstantiated claims that their paper products were “biodegradable.”
Terrachoice
Check out the free report entitled the Six Sins of Green Washing and get tips on the top suspect terminology – i.e. the use of ‘chlorofluorocarbon-free’ even though these chemicals have been banned, by law, for years.
Laura Klein’s Green Club
Shameless plug here (I am the chief copywriter for Laura Klein’s green lifestyle membership site), but there’s no doubt that in addition to lots of good, green info and action-oriented tips, membership in Laura Klein’s Green Club gives you one-on-one consultation from Laura herself on any question relating to going green. It’s like having a personal eco consultant at your finger tips, so it makes for a truly great value.
Babies away!
Tags: babies, children, grocery shopping, healthy eating, healthy living, motherhood, newborns, Organic Food, parenthood
Posted in Green Living, Health, Organic, Organic Food, Organic Food Recipes, Organic Living, Parenting | 1 Comment »
January 4th, 2006 - Barbara Feiner
Yesterday, I explained the Food and Drug Administration’s new labeling requirements on trans fats, which became effective Jan. 1. As you settle into your organic lifestyle routines during this first week of 2006—and assuming your New Year’s resolutions are not yet in need of resuscitation—here are some additional tips on reducing your consumption of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol to prevent heart disease.
Read the “Nutrition Facts” Panel on Grocery Items—Even the Organic Kind
Choose foods lower in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol. For saturated fat and cholesterol, keep in mind when reading labels that 5% of the daily value (%DV) or less is low and 20% or more is high. (There is no %DV for trans fat.)
Choose Alternative Fats
Replace saturated and trans fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which don’t raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (“bad” cholesterol) and have health benefits when eaten in moderation. Sources of monounsaturated fats include olive and canola oils. Sources of polyunsaturated fats include soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, and foods like nuts and fish. Avoid saturated fats like coconut and palm kernel oils.
Bond with Your Waiter
When dining out, don’t be afraid to ask which fats are being used in food preparation.
The FDA is conducting research to determine whether a footnote on Nutrition Facts panels, featuring dietary advice on saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol consumption, would be helpful to consumers as they monitor their diets.
Tags: fat, food labels, healthy eating, healthy foods, new years resolutions, trans fat
Posted in Organic, Organic Food | No Comments »
December 13th, 2005 - Barbara Feiner
The Virtual Salad Bar
You decide to take a break from your holiday shopping or go out with the gang for a quick lunch. Your best bet: the salad bar at your favorite organic restaurant or natural foods market.
But making the right choices as you navigate your way through the lettuce, tomatoes, cheeses and dressings is critical if you’re watching your waistline. Pile on too much of a good thing, and you’ll be in for a high-calorie, high-fat or high-sodium surprise.
Registered dietitian Joan Salge Blake, a clinical assistant professor of nutrition at Boston University and author of “Eat Right The E.A.S.Y. Way,” has created an online Virtual Salad Bar that allows you to fill your plate with lettuce, red cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers, beets, garbanzo beans, olives, broccoli, tuna and three bean salads, hummus, feta and Parmesan cheeses, croutons and your choice of dressing.
As you drag each selection onto your plate, the program totals meal values: calories, total fat, saturated fat, sodium, carbohydrates and fiber. You also receive helpful tips as you click on each ingredient: Red cabbage, for example, is a “crunchy way to fight lung and prostate cancers,” while “creamy dressings don’t spread well, so you could end up using tons.”
My salad weighed in at a respectable 420 calories, with 8 grams of fiber (pretty good!), but I wasn’t pleased to see the 1,012 milligrams of sodium I would have consumed, courtesy of the beets, Parmesan cheese, ranch dressing and croutons. Food for thought—and a great visual way to teach both children and adults about the nutritional pitfalls of today’s salad bars.
Tags: fast food, healthy eating, Organic Food, salad, salad bar
Posted in Organic, Organic Food | No Comments »
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