January 2006

GREETINGS

Happy New Year! And welcome to the twelfth year of this newsletter’s continual publication.

As we start off 2006, it is time, as I men-tioned last issue, to start thinking about what we will do for the Great American Meat-Out, coming up in barely 11 weeks. (!) Since the Outpost declined to give us a venue a couple of years ago, we’ve done tablings at Alverno College and UWM, which I thought went pretty well, plus a radio show last year. Do we want to do that again? Or do something else? Such as what? Things that groups do for the Meat-Out include tablings, food give-aways, picketing fast-food restaurants (ugh), video showings, seminars and lectures, billboards (need money, probably), getting mayors and governors to issue supportive proclamations, and feeding the homeless. Feedback, please! Come to the next potluck with your thoughts or call me at (414) 962-2703.

OCCASIONAL HUMOROUS BIT

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sunday, Jan. 8, 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 chilis, so bring your best chili and/or whatever you think would go well with chili.

Subsequent regular potlucks will be on Feb. 5, March 5, April 2, and May 7.

Other veg-friendly potlucks

There will be no macrobiotic potluck in January, but Lise Meissner will host one in February.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“According to the Audobon society, almost ½ of water consumed in the U.S. is used for livestock.

“Cows alone account for 15-20% of methane – a primary ‘greenhouse gas” – released into the atmosphere.

“Today 69% of U.S. waterways are contaminated with agricultural pollutants, and the EPA says that animal waste from factory farming pollutes American waterways more than all other industrial sources combined.”

NEWS

There are still problems with animal foods. In early December, ConAgra recalled 2.8 million pounds of ready-to-eat lunches because of possible listeria contamination of the meat. The New York Times Science section ran an article about how the fishing industry is getting fewer fish for more fuel expended, due to over-fishing of virtually all fish stocks. And the U.S. Congress is now trying to tighten regulations designed to prevent the spread of mad cow disease – but according to critics, the measures proposed (banning the use of cow brain and spinal tissue in any animal feed) do not go nearly far enough. For example, cow blood would still be allowed to be fed to calves. On the other hand, after a year of behind-the-scenes arm-twisting, Japan finally agreed to resume importing U.S. beef – though only from animals less than 20 months old.

Bird flu continues to make news, with human deaths in Indonesia and the Ukraine, another human case reported from China, and attempts to curb the avian epidemic by mass slaughter of domestic birds in Ukraine and Japan. The situation is even adding to the woes of fois gras farmers, who now have to worry about their flocks getting bird flu as well as about the image of cruelty that plagues their operations.

In food news regarding children, The NY Times reported that food industry companies are finally beginning to retreat from the stance that their hyper-sugary offerings can be part of a sound diet. They are actually taking some small steps towards pulling back from using cartoon characters to hype candy and other nutritionally useless edibles to children, and Kraft and Pepsico are starting to look at trying to design healthier foods. Meanwhile, Illinois’ State Board of Education is considering new rules for school food programs that would ban junk food in elementary and middle schools, remove fatty whole milk from the menu, and allow baked chips but not fried ones.

Food was also at the center of World Trade Organization deliberations in Hong Kong recently, with the issue of farm subsidies becoming very contentious indeed. On the one hand, farmers in developed countries believe that they need government subsidies to survive; on the other, farmers in developing countries feel that their livelihoods are threatened by developed countries’ crops being dumped on them at below-cost prices.

On a different note, Great Lakes governors and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec have signed an agreement that was called historic, to ban almost all diversions of Great Lakes water away from the Great Lakes basin. Waukesha, Wisconsin is one of the very few potential exceptions that the new accord might make – but if this accord is approved by respective legislatures, it will end the chances of Lake Michigan water ending up in Las Vegas or Kansas or on tankers to Asia. We all drink water, after all; it’s a good vegan beverage; so this effort to protect our supply is of significance to us all.

Moving on to news that focuses more on good plant foods, Wisconsin State Farmer reported on a new method for propagating June-bearing strawberries that prompts them to fruit again in late Fall, opening up the prospect of fresh, seasonal strawberries in December.

The NY Times ran an odd article on so-called superfoods, i.e. plant foods with lots of anti-oxidents that are touted as protective against disease. For the article’s slant was to forget making a big effort to try to get enough of special foods, and just eat a moderate, balanced diet. But it then went on to give examples of produce that has special health benefits: spin-ach whose lutein contributes to eye health; oranges whose vitamin C boosts the immune system; blueberries whose flavonoids improve brain and memory function; tomatoes whose lycopene may reduce the risk of prostate cancer; almonds whose vitamin E improves heart health and whole grains whose vitamin E helps the immune system; and red grapes (reseveretrol), mushrooms (selenium), and carrots (beta-carotene), each of which may help prevent cancer.

Delicious Living magazine ran an item pointing out that one needs to get protein as well as calcium to build strong bones; soy milk, legumes, and whole-grain bread and pasta were among the good protein sources mentioned. Tea is still being discussed as possibly helping to prevent cancer. Chocolate is also still being named as healthy, provided it is dark chocolate and not full of fat and sugar like milk chocolate or, even worse, white chocolate; this time a Swiss study found that eating fairly moderate amounts of dark chocolate helped smokers’ blood vessels be more flexible. Meanwhile, coffee is a good antioxident source – and one that many Americans get more of than they get produce. Finally, the FDA has announced that barley can join oats in making claims to help reduce the risk of heart disease.

There were spotlights on the benefits of seasonal produce from several sources this month. Organic Gardening ran an article on beets, pointing out that they are high in fiber, vitamins A and C, and iron, as well as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and folic acid – and furthermore, their strong pigmentation indicates powerful free-radical-fighting anti-oxidents. The Outpost Exchange featured squash, cultivated in North America for at least 5000 years and with winter squashes (hard shells, good keepers) being full of beta carotene (equals vitamin A), plus vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Delicious Living pointed out that tangerines, oranges, lemons, grapefruits, and so on contain not only vitamin C, but also flavonoids and limonoids that are unique to citrus, and which help the immune system and also help prevent osteoarthritis and cancer. The same magazine also pointed out that shallots (related to onions but milder) are good sources of quercetin, another anticancer agent, as well as vitamins A and B6. And Prevention magazine had an item about pomegranates’ ability to help blood flow to the heart.

Prevention also ran an article on maintaining brain health, which recommended eating such root vegetables as carrots, beets, turnips, par-snips, and rutabagas, in addition to berries and broccoli; other recommendations were to use alcohol very moderately and maintain a normal weight (so as to avoid insulin-resistance). A longer Outpost Exchange article on the same subject suggested quite a variety of vitamins and minerals to help maintain the brain: vitamins C and E; the B vitamins thiamine, pyroxidine, and B12; potassium, selenium, and zinc; as well as amino acids glutamine and tyrosine, and also choline. If you don’t eat eggs and red meat, you can get choline from soy products, brewers’ yeast and wheat germ (which point to whole grains), and peanuts. The herbs sage and rosemary, as well as ginkgo, have also been shown to help the mental faculties.

CONNECTIONS

DIALOG

The New York Times Business section ran an article recently on companies that are trying to market foods fortified to be essentially medi-cines. The example they focused on is a new yogurt specially packed with a particular microbial culture that is supposed to combat con-stipation. Other items discussed included a flavored (naturally and artificially) beverage which contains glucosamine and chondroitin to fight arthritis, and new versions of Tropicana orange juice fortified with fiber or with vitamins and minerals which are supposed to benefit the heart, immune system, and bones.

I find myself put off by the whole idea. Yet at the same time, I am in fact drinking calcium-fortified orange juice and soymilk. At what point do such nutritional additions to foods cross the line from useful additions to actual medicines? And is making food into medicine good or bad? I’d like to open this subject to discussion. Any takers?

Vegetarian Voice, published by North American Vegetarian Society, ran an article recently on “flexitarians” – people who are vegetarian most of the time but make exceptions on occasion when they do eat meat. What are we to think of this?

In part, the question arises from the many ways of defining vegetarianism. For example, the article’s author confessed to having eaten cheese made with rennet, a dead-animal-pro-duct, for the first few years that he considered himself a vegetarian. But the issue centers more on those who do actually eat meat, but only rarely. I was in this category myself during my long transition from omnivore to vegetarian; when I ate meat once a month, I called myself semi-vegetarian. The label may be less important, though, than the food choices themselves – and they raise many questions.