July 2005

GREETINGS

So, are we going to have a Pre-Thanksgiving Feast, or not?

I remind all readers that the PTF is MARV’s one and only annual fundraiser, so unless we’re going to solicit charitable contributions from the Dairy Council (can’t you just see it?), we need to raise funds if MARV is to continue and if we are to keep having our regular potlucks at the Friends’ Meeting House (for which we do pay some rent, as is only fair). The PTF, in fact, is really important both as a fundraiser and as a big publicity opportunity, and we started doing it because it’s a good idea. But it’s not going to happen, folks, unless all you area MARV people get involved. Right now, the following jobs need volunteers to do them: kitchen crew – we need 3 people for a 4:30 to 6:30 PM shift, and 3 more for a 5:30- to 7:30 shift; 3 dishwashers (6 to 8PM); 2 people for set-up (3:30 to 5:30 PM); one or more people to put up posters (if a few people who live in different parts of town volunteer to poster in their areas it makes light work for everyone and covers more territory); one person to make a half batch of stuffing ahead of time, someone to prepare a big salad; and someone to make a few welcoming remarks (which we can write out for you in advance) and also take people’s colored tickets so they come through the line in order of arrival. That’s 12 jobs. One person could do more than one job if they prefer – but we really ought to be able to find 12 individuals out of the several dozen area households reading this who could and would help! Do note that we make sure that all volunteers get to eat, by putting them in the favored category of people who get to go through the line at any time rather than having to wait for their ticket-color to be posted. Also, I remind anyone with kids that this is a child-friendly event and that, indeed, in past years some of our best helpers were the children, who clearly were having a great time doing it. As stated last month, in order to book the hall and hold this event at all, we need to have these jobs pretty well filled first. Phone Jody at (414) 764-7262 or me, Louise, at (414) 962-2703 to get involved. But do it now! Because it’s fun! And because time is running out in the sense that the hall won’t be available if we wait much longer!

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sunday, July 10, 5 PM, regular potluck at an irregular place: the Quigley home at 2201 E. Jarvis St., Shorewood (SE corner of E. Jarvis St. and N. Maryland Ave., 1 long block north of the intersection of N. Maryland and E. Capitol Dr.), (414) 962-2703.

Other veg-friendly potlucks

There will be a macrobiotic potluck in July, on July 17 at the home of Emily Feddersen, 6506 Silver Beach Rd. North, in Cedar Grove, at the usual time. Phone (262) 258-3331 for directions, time, and further info.

The raw foods potluck is usually held on the last Sunday of the month at 6 PM in Brown Deer. Call the Cloughertys at (414) 355-7383.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“Being vegetarian has its upsides: compared with meat eaters, vegetarians have lower mean body mass indexes, lower cholesterol levels, and may have a lower risk of developing gall-stones, appendicitis, constipation, and diverticulitis… There is one downside, however: eating out can be a major hassle.”

NEWS

In the Bad Animal Food department, the US government has finally admitted to a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in this country, explaining that the food supply is safe, safe. For the animal in question was a “downer” cow (that is, unable to walk off the truck carrying it to the slaughterhouse) and therefore never entered the food chain. This does beg the question, of course, of whether it would have been tested at all if it had already been sick but not yet quite so sick that it couldn’t even walk. Not to mention how many cows might reach slaughter in exactly such a condition. The resumption of various other nations’ boycotts on importing of US beef was a predictable development. But even when the cow is safe, the meat may not be: Prevention magazine published an “underdone beef alert” which explained that not only is beef often contaminated with e. coli, but that the e. coli strains in question are often drug-resistant (probably, we guess, because of the continual antibiotics fed to the beef cattle to make them grow faster) and can give diners drug-resistant urinary tract infections if their meat was not well cooked. And there are still rumors and fears of a really widespread bird flu epidemic in the offing – which is directly related to raising poultry for food.

Other interesting news involves various liquids. Water is one, and Prevention reported that the number one sports camp risk is dehydration, which can affect more than half of sports campers before the end of a week. The obvious response is for campers engaged in significant physical activity (or anyone else, for that matter), to keep track of how much water they’re drinking and make sure they get enough. And looking at water from another angle, a court dispute over water rights is pitting East Troy against neighboring Lake Beulah and the DNR over regulation of wells that tap into the shallow groundwater reservoirs which supply lakes. Then there is milk. We understand that there have been TV ads of late claiming that drinking plenty of milk helps lose weight. However, and on the contrary, a new study has shown that children who drink more than three glasses of milk a day are likelier to be overweight, not thin. Researchers looked at whether it could help children avoid over-weight if they drank milk instead of the soda they were used to – and found no advantage in milk even when low-fat milk was used. Yet Prevention reported on a British analysis of many studies of stroke- and heart attack-causing homocysteine, which suggested that drinking milk reduces homocysteine levels by 13 %, making it the second-best food for this purpose, right next to cruciferous vegetables. Meanwhile, Organic Gardening magazine looked into the question of whether organic milk is more nutritious than commercially-produced milk, and determined unsurprisingly that it is: organic milk from grass-fed/ grazed cows has substantially more omega-3 fatty acids than milk produced by cows fed from a trough, not to mention that organic milk is far freer of pesticide and hormone residues. You may or may not drink milk, but if you do, go organic. Another notable potable is wine, regarding which some Swedish scientists found that a glass of wine a day can help the heart rate to vary normally and healthily (but beer and liquor did no good). And another good food tidbit, but one that vegans may not like, is that further proof has documented that rubbing honey on a mild burn helps it heal; on a related note, preliminary research shows that honey and other bee products may help fight cancer.

At the same time, there is much Good News about eating plants.

Research from the Netherlands has identified the nutrient folacin/folate/folic acid as helping to protect brain health and perhaps prevent or treat Alzheimer’s disease – and this nutrient is found primarily in dark green leafy vegetables and secondarily in whole grains. Further, this research is bolstered by UCLA researchers’ findings that people with the highest blood levels of folate had the lowest risk of cognitive disorders. University of Wisconsin research, meanwhile, has shown that drinking fruit and vegetable juices is part of the lifestyle measures (along with exercise and preventing gum disease) that lessen Alzheimer’s risk. The British Medical Journal reports on seven foods which help lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and other heart-disease risk factors, and as usual 6 out of the 7 are plant foods: garlic, almonds, red wine in moderation, dark chocolate, fruits, and vegetables. The fish which were the seventh food they named are of course there for the omega-3 fatty acids, so substitute flax seeds or oil, hemp seed oil, and dark green leafy vegetables with a tiny bit of oil in the dressing. On a similar note, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported on chef Dana Jacobi’s list of the 12 best foods, and its 11 vegan items are blueberries, black beans, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, spinach, broccoli, soy, tomatoes, walnuts, onions, and chocolate (number 12 was salmon – see above). A different article in the same paper reported on a study of antioxidents in several popular apple varieties, ranking them from highest antioxident levels to lowest as: red delicious, northern spy, Cortland, Ida red, golden delicious, McIntosh, mutsu, and empire (and assuming eating the skin in all cases). The Prevention article mentioned above regarding milk also listed the other foods that lower homocysteine levels: cruciferous vegetables (which are the cabbage kale, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choi family), and then there were breakfast cereals (probably meaning the whole-grain ones and bran cereals), and peppers (the picture showed hot peppers). If you’re quick, you can still catch sugar snap pea season, which is going on right now; besides tasting great (and sweet) when very fresh, sugarsnaps supply beta-carotene, vitamin C, niacin and iron, and are good in salads and stir-fries as well as just steamed. And Delicious Living discussed peanuts and peanut butter as a great way to get many nutrients. Although nuts in general are admittedly high in fat, it has been found that people who eat nuts regularly are actually likely to be leaner than people never eat them, while peanuts do supply vitamins A, E, and C, plus calcium, magnesium, potassium, and fiber – all of which are on the USDA’s list of nutrients that most Americans don’t get enough of. Finally, Delicious Living also reported on the joys and benefits of tree fruits, from cherries to apricots, preaches, plums, and nectarines. They all are full of beta-carotene (equals vitamin A), fiber, antioxidents, and anthocyanins ( plant chemicals that lower cancer risk and boost eye health). And this is their season. Enjoy!

CONNECTIONS

As mentioned above, I saw a review of a new series of dining guides. The Veg Out series is published by Gibbs Smith, and with a 2004 publication date should be reasonably current. Each volume is a vegetarian dining guide to a different major metropolitan area, including Southern California, Washington, D.C., New York City, Seattle, and Portland, with restau-rant reviews and ratings, locater maps, and listings for green grocers, farmers’ markets, bakeries and co-ops. If they’re not in stock in your local bookstore, most bookstores can special-order anything in print – and this means that you could ask your bookstore’s Special Order department to look up whether there is a guide in this series for whatever area you’re planning to travel to.

I have read of a “fun website” which takes off on the Star Wars phenomenon to promote organic food and the fight against genetically modified foods. Try www.storewars.org

A different report is of a new site, vegbay.com, which calls itself a “a free online auction for the vegan, green, and animal-rights communities, where you can buy or sell vegetarian, vegan, hemp, fair trade, yoga, new age, health and beauty, organic, recycled, and miscellaneous items and services; this site also offers free storefront space to veg-friendly businesses and individuals.

Now that I’ve pointed out all the great vegetables and fruits that are currently in season, I would be seriously remiss if I failed to mention some resources for finding them.

Rare Earth CSA (Community Supported Agriculture farm) is still accepting subscribers for this year; contact Steve Young, 262-285-7070.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has long had an advertisement section titled “Good Things to Eat” which lists local farm stands and pick-your-own farms; it’s there every day but the Sunday listings are more extensive.