February 2006
 

GREETINGS

Now it really is time to think about the Great American Meat-Out, since March 20 falls on a Monday this year and is now only seven weeks off. Should we do something on Sunday, the 19^th, the day before? Or on the 20^th itself? Or both? Like what? My own feeling is that, first day of Spring or no, March 20 is generally pretty wintry weather around here, so some-thing indoors is vastly preferable to something outside, but beyond that I am open to suggestion. And in any case, we will be needing to talk about this at the February potluck, and start scrambling to put together whatever we mean to do. And we need our members to be forth-coming with ideas and help implementing them. The postcard I got from FARM lists “Demos, Lectures, Leafletting, Info tables, Walks, Videos, Feed-ins, Festivals.” There are other possibilities as well – but only if we move on it! So come to the potluck and/or phone me (Louise) at (414) 962-2703.

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sunday, Feb. 5, 5 PM, regular potluck at the Friends’ Meeting House, 3224 N. Gordon Pl. in Riverwest (from Humboldt Blvd. go east on Auer a few short blocks to the parking lot).

Theme will be a kids’ video night (also suitable for adults), with maybe even popcorn.
 

Other veg-friendly potlucks

The macrobiotic potluck will be hosted by Lise Meissner and Marty Malin at 5 PM on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 6522 W. Wright. Call (414) 453-7326.

QUOTES OF THE MONTH

“Ever since chronic wasting disease was detected in Wisconsin nearly four years ago, hunters were reassured that they could greatly reduce their risk of getting the deadly neurological disorder by avoiding tissue from the brain and central nervous system of the animal.

“Muscle tissue never has been shown to be infective, officials said.

“Not anymore.”

NEWS

There was plenty of news this month in the Animal Food Is Not Good For You department, starting with a variety of items regarding spongiform encephalopathies, the set of deadly brain diseases which are increasingly turning out to be transmissable between species; the human form is called CJD and is associated with eating meat from infected animals. Canada confirmed a new case of mad cow disease in Alberta, which was most unwelcome since the U.S. had just recently lifted its ban on importing Canadian beef. The cow in question was six years old and was tested because it was symptomatic. This story came on the heels of Japan’s reinstatement of its ban on importing U.S. beef, which occurred after spinal material, which is still completely banned, was found in a shipment of U.S. veal. Closer to home, a fence was found cut at a Portage County hunting preserve which was already under quarantine due to the discovery of Chronic Wasting Disease there (the deer form of the same ill-ness); this raised questions of whether infected deer might have contacted wild deer and infected them. And then came the report of an article in the journal Science which detailed how researchers had found infectious prions which cause the disease in the leg muscle of infected deer, and used it to produce the disease in squirrel monkeys (which are primates like us). The New York Times ran a story about this on page 16, while for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, it dominated page 1.

This month also saw another spate of bird flu news, bird flu being a problem that only arises when humans raise fowl for food. Turkey saw new cases in humans in 20 different outbreaks. Cases seem to involve an ordinary bird flu virus, not a new mutation, and to arise when people, especially children, have extended con-tact with infected fowls. The Turkish government responded by slaughtering hundreds of thousands of birds, and warning people to report dead birds and avoid contact with sick poultry and wild birds, but were still accused of having been slow off the mark in the beginning. Meanwhile, a dead bird in Hong Kong turned out to have had the disease, at least one case was reported in Iraq, UN agriculture officials advised that European countries should watch travelers more closely in the attempt to stop the spread, and a 2-day world conference in mid-January called on governments to spend heavily for years in order to prevent bird flu from spreading to humans.

On a different note, cattle manure was bad news when it spilled from a cattle feedlot in western Iowa into a creek. Yet Wisconsin State Farmer reported on efforts by farmers whose operations generate excess manure to turn it into an asset, for example by selling it to grain farmers who could use it as fertilizer.

Another good news/ bad news pair of items involve fish. On the one hand, sharks are now starting to become endangered due to over-fishing primarily for the fins, which become shark fin soup, much demanded in China; and scientists reported recently that shifts in fish catches in the seas east of Canada show another five species of fish are becoming endangered. On the other hand, the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico this Fall do not seem to have harmed the fish and shellfish there, and stocks of some heavily fished species even rose.

Other stories involved milk. One WSF news item happily reported that perchlorate in cow feed does not seem to show up in milk hardly at all. In another, we learned that the Dairy Council is actively promoting school breakfast plans, which sounds great, unless you worry about the promotion of dairy products that goes along with this virtuous endeavor. And on a similar note, a NY Times article reported on city health officials’ efforts to bring healthier eating to poor neighborhoods – by promoting 1% milk as a substitute for whole milk…

A happier story was a somewhat belated report about a town in Italy that has been baking its special regional bread since Roman times, and how the townspeople drove a new McDonalds right out of town by ignoring it to death in favor of their own good bread (and by jacking up McD’s rent).

And as a matter of interest, the Vegetarian Resource Group sent us a letter about a survey they conducted to try to answer the thorny question of how many vegetarians there are. By asking specifically which foods were never eaten, they determined that 3% of 8 to18 year-olds are vegetarian, and within that group, 11% of girls 13 to 15 years old are vegetarian – which is considered important since many of them are likely to become a permanent market for vegetarian foods.

One item is not about either meat or vegetables: people might want to know that tests on rats have convinced an Italian foundation that aspartame can cause cancer. And another item reported in Prevention, which is about vegetables, informs us that someone has got the bright idea of using lasers to etch label information into produce skins so we don’t have to peel off sticky little labels! I’m not buying them.

On the other hand, there was as usual much Good to report about Plant Foods. Prevention published a list of foods that have even more antioxidents than green tea (whose antioxident content has been found to fight cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s). It listed (in order) blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, red apples, red kidney beans, pecans, pinto beans, sweet cherries, black plums, walnuts, green pears, hazelnuts, navel oranges, red cabbage, russet potato, and pistachios. An Indiana School of Medicine study found that rats (and therefore presumably women) with a higher ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6s had stronger bones; vegetarians get their omega-3s from flax seed oil, ground flax seeds, hemp seed oil, and dark green leafy vegetables. Also in the strong bone department, a Prevention article by Dr. Andrew Weil reminds us that calcium, vitamin D, and weight-bearing exercise need to be joined with getting enough vitamin C (in so many fruits and vegetables), magnesium (in dark leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, and potatoes), vitamin K (dark green leaves), and potassium (fruits like bananas and vegetables like potatoes); eating soy foods also seems to help.

Prevention also ran an article (predictably) for Valentine’s Day on foods that might spice up one’s sex life. Apparently, some ancient aphrodisiacs actually might have an effect, such as oysters, clams, and mollusks which are full of amino acids that increase levels of sex hormones (in rats, anyway), and asparagus which packs significant amounts of phytoestrogens. On a different note, research involving scents found that there were physically measurable increases and decreases in sexual arousal associated with different odors; results suggested that men should ditch the cologne and eat some licorice if they want to interest women, while men were most turned on by a mingling of lavender and pumpkin pie. And chocolate naturally scored high in making people feel good – and therefore possibly easier to get in the mood.

A New Year’s issue of Delicious Living suggested four good resolutions, one of which was to eat more nuts, which satiate the appetite while supplying beneficial fats and nutrients.

Increasingly of late, I’ve seen printed recognition of the fact that diets don’t really produce long-term results (which should surprise no one by now), and that therefore a different way of approaching eating is needed if one wishes to achieve and retain a healthy weight. It should also sound familiar that foods which are often named as elements of a healthy dietary regimen lean heavily on plant foods, such as whole grains, beans/ legumes, monunsaturated and unsaturated plant oils, and brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Lowfat dairy products like yogurt, and a few lean meats (skinless chicken and deep-sea fish) may also be named – but in general a more-or-less plant-based diet is frequently described as the healthy one for permanent weight control. A Delicious Living article on this topic also went so far as to name apples, lentils, oatmeal, spinach, and yogurt (read soygurt if you prefer) as “good-food superstars). In addition, the latest diet advice now suggests that small amounts of fat are needed in one’s daily fare, to generate contentment and thus discourage overeating; the same article’s list of foods with good fats named avocados, olive oil, and walnuts as well as (inevitably) salmon.

CONNECTIONS

The Vegetarian Resource Group, which con-ducted the survey mentioned above, is a non-profit organization that educates the public about vegetarianism. The group provides re-sources to other groups and to the public, including books, and offers $5,000 scholarships to high school seniors who have promoted vegetarianism. Their website gives more details about the survey. If you’re interested in further information about them, their website is www.vrg.org, while their email address is vrg@vrg.org and their telephone number (how quaint, eh?) is (410) 366-8343.

I have learned that the Urban Ecology Center will be sponsoring an open house for all the CSA farms in our area on Saturday, March 25, from noon until 4 PM. Chuck and I have been very happy subscribers to CSAs for quite a few years now: we think that a box of fresh, local, seasonal, organic produce each week is a great way to get plenty of good vegetarian fixings. And it’s a good deal financially as well—while you do shell out a few hundred dollars at the season’s start, the produce you get would cost noticeably more in the stores. Call (414) 964-8504 for confirmation or further details, or use the Center’s website: urbanecologycenter.org.

The Riverwest Co-op is hosting their first vegetarian cook-off in April at the Polish Falcon. Deadline for recipe submissions is Feb. 18. For more information, contact Patrick Frederick at rudranandaii@yahoo.com or go to the Co-op (733 E. Clarke St., (414) 264-7933.