November 2006

GREETINGS

Here we are, getting ready for this year’s PreThanksgiving Feast. Those who get this by snail-mail will have found their flyer/ registration form enclosed; I’m putting a registration form as part of this newsletter for those of you who are taking it on the internet and are not on my mailing list.

The time to send in your registration is now! And while you’re doing so, please consider volunteering for one of the slots we still need people for: kitchen crew, dishwashers, and clean-up. Come, eat, hang out, pitch in! Volunteers get special tickets that allow them to go through the food line at any time, rather than waiting their “first come first served” turn.

Note that we have also determined the dates for the next half-dozen potlucks after November.

We’re still hanging fire about the possibility of having Dr. Gregor here to speak about his new book.

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sunday, Nov. 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 carob desserts (but we need non-desserts also!).

Saturday, Nov. 18, PreThanksgiving Feast, Unity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1025 E. Oklahoma Ave., 5 PM. All vegan again this year. Advance registration only. Call 414-962-2703 with registration questions; call (414) 764-7262 regarding what to bring.

Other Veg-Friendly Potlucks

The November macrobiotic potluck will be at Wellspring in Newburg on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 PM (note the time); phone (262) 675-6755 for directions.

The Urban Ecology Center at 1500 E. Park Pl. usually has a vegetarian potluck on the 3d Thursday of the month at 6:30 PM; call (414) 964-8505 for confirmation and details.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“…a great deal of spinach from a great many fields gets mixed together in the water at that plant [where the contaminated spinach came from], giving microbes from a single field an opportunity to contaminate a vast amount of food… In effect, we’re washing the whole nation’s salad in one big sink.”

NEWS

The e. coli saga that started last month has continued. Three people died of it, and hundreds were sick enough to go to hospitals. Just when spinach was starting to return to store shelves, there was a second scare about lettuce. Government investigations were launched, and the source of contamination was found at one California ranch, where it seems that wild pigs that had picked up the e. coli from the ranch’s cattle had broken into spinach fields to graze. The problem is that in that part of California, cattle graze on hillsides while crops grow in the valleys – and water runs downhill. As both the Organic Consumers’ Association and Michael Pollan’s NY Times Sunday Magazine article pointed out, industrialized agriculture in which many farms’ produce is all processed together pretty much guarantees that a small and limited contamination can quickly become huge and nasty. Pollan offered a solution: buy local food in season from people you know.

Cattle were responsible for other pollution as well. Cattle feedlot runoff contaminated an Iowa wildlife area; an Iowa company recalled 5200 pounds of ground beef that were feared to be harboring dangerous e. coli; a valve failure on a farm’s manure storage tank caused a spill that led to another fish kill in a creek near the farm. One can only hope that the recent working agreement between federal authorities and Purdue Farms may actually succeed in control-ling “nutrient runoff”.

Meanwhile, enough carnivores are apparently getting the word about the horror of factory farms to be willing to pay for something a trifle better: the NY Times reported recently (on the front page!) about labels intended to reassure consumers that their meat was humanely raised. Of the labels they listed, Whole Foods’ “animal compassionate” and Animal Welfare Institute’s certification seemed the best.

Spongiform encephalopathy diseases have not gone away. A study published in Science indicates that deer, elk, and moose spread chronic wasting disease through saliva; federal US agencies are trying to prevent scrapie, the sheep version, from being spread between states; and a Quebec farmer is suing the Canadian government and a multinational feed company that he claims knew how to prevent the spread of mad cow disease and failed to act.

There are problems with fish as well. The shark fin trade is being denounced as endangering shark species, while French oystermen find their trade endangered by the threat of water pollution. Nor is it clear whether people should or shouldn’t be eating fish: one recent study announced that the health benefits of eating fish outweigh concerns about contaminants like PCBs, mercury, and dioxin, but many experts attacked its conclusions, and another study was far more cautious about imputing health benefits to fish-eating.

Other food concerns focus on foods that even vegetarians eat. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ran an article about food allergies, naming peanuts and tree nuts, soy, and wheat among common culprits as well as milk, eggs, fish, and shellfish. And an article in the NY Times Dining Out section revealed that most apples since 2002 have been sprayed with a chemical which delays ripening, so they’ll keep longer; the treatment is considered “most likely harm-less to humans” and is being expanded to cantaloupes and bananas. The only way to avoid it at present is to buy only organic produce.

There are a variety of other current food issues. New rules in England requiring only healthy school food were emphatically whined about by the schoolkids themselves. A National Academy of Sciences report states that there is too much fluoride in our fluoride-treated drinking water, enough to increase bone fractures and tooth enamel deterioration. According to an Organic Consumers Association report, genetically engineered rice has gotten into the U.S. food supply. And New York City announced plans to sharply limit restaurants’ use of trans-fats, to predictable outcry.

Despite occasional food allergies, however, there remains much good news about plant foods.

Good Medicine, the publication of the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), reported extensively on study findings that type two diabetes can be effectively prevented and controlled by switching to a low-fat vegan diet. A Prevention article coincidentally reported on a study which found that people with the highest levels of carotenoids (from orange and dark green leafy produce) had the least diabetes over a 15-year period. PCRM also reported on the continued successes of vegan ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, who of course attributes his records to his veganism; other reporting in this issue focused on vegetarianism as helping prevent and heal from cancer.

Delicious Living featured carnival squash as its produce of the month; like all winter squash, these are full of beta-carotene as well as being sweet and low fat. The Outpost Exchange featured apples, with their pectin (a cholesterol-fighting fiber), potassium, vitamin C, antioxidents in the peel, and absence of fat; the huge number of varieties means that there should be an apple for everyone.

Wis. State Farmer reported on a compound in blackberries that may help fight cancer, while all kinds of health claims are made for kombucha, a culture of bacteria and yeast available in various beverages (research is still pending) A tidbit in Prevention pointed out that a sweet tooth can be healthful if it prompts one to eat fruit; another named chestnuts as much lower in fat than other nuts, yet very satisfying.

Another Prevention item discussed the best ways to eat at a salad bar: start with a big bed of leafy greens, then add a variety of other bright-colored vegetables and some lean protein (but avoid protein prepared with oil or mayo), add a bit of dried fruits or nuts/seeds or olives, and dress with a little oil and a bunch of lemon juice or vinegar. And part of Prevention’s guide to a healthy winter included foods that boost immunity, including: barley and oats for the beta-glucan, garlic cooked and raw, yogurt for the probiotics, and tea. Fish were also mentioned for their selenium, which vegetarians can get from whole grains, wheat germ, and sesame seeds/tahini.

An item in Delicious Living reminded readers that whole grains are good for you while white flour is not, and gave tips for reading labels to make sure that the grains you’re eating are in fact whole. Look for 100 % whole wheat, amaranth, barley, brown rice, bukwheat, bulgur wheat, cracked wheat, oatmeal, oats, quinoa and whole rye, while avoiding “wheat flour,” enriched wheat flour, bleached or unbleached wheat flour, cornmeal, rice flour, semolina or durum flour, and white rice.

Finally, an article on foods that help you sleep suggested having a protein food like milk that contains tryptophan (a serotonin precursor) before bed, and/or low-glycemic-index carbohydrates such as beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, sweet potatoes, winter squash, leafy green vegetables, citrus, apples, and pears; magnesium, which can be found in leafy green veggies, beans, soy, whole grains, and almonds, was also recommended.

THE VEGGIE TABLE(S)

The new Whole Foods Market, as noted last month, has substantial eat-in facilities: a huge salad bar, a hot food bar, cases of food to take out or eat in, an Asian foods kiosk with hot and cold items, dessert bar, beer and brats bar, and coffee bar. In two lunches Chuck and I have only begun to tap the possibilities.

The first time we ate there, I chose the salad bar because there were few vegetarian (and no vegan) options at the hot bar. So I wrote a comment for the store’s suggestion box – and when I looked again, about 10 days later, there were numerous vegetarian and several vegan options at the hot bar. I sampled them on my second trip, along with a couple of salad bar things (easy to combine since both hot bar and salad bar sell for the same $6.99 per pound). Chuck, after noticing another customer at the hot bar being careless where he put his spoon back, preferred the Asian food kiosk, which also had vegan options and used tin foil on their grill to keep vegetarian and meat foods separate. Our various choices were tasty, distinctive, and filling; Chuck was pleased that his meal was refreshingly not oversized. We can highly recommend this place for on-the-fly eating.

I also spot-checked prices, and found Whole Foods generally cheaper that Outpost, often a lot cheaper; the “365” store brand even beats out our direct-from-warehouse buying club.

Whole Foods Market is at the corner of E. North Ave. and N. Prospect, and is open from 8 AM until 10 PM seven days a week. Prepared food is served from10 AM to 10 PM.

Beans and Barley has been around for many years now, and since it is just down the block from Whole Foods, this seemed like a good time to review it again.

Beans has been operating in its current incarnation (same location as before but much expanded from its prefire coziness) for over a decade. Its core menu has not mutated out of recognition, but we have noticed increased dinner specials over the years, and small but significant improvements, such as the option of brown rice and now whole wheat tortillas on request. The basics are reliable, consisting of fresh soups and chili, appetizers, salads which can be sides or a whole meal, cold sandwiches, hot sandwiches, Mexican-food menu, desserts, a page of beverages, and beer, wine, or other alcohol. We have found the quality of all items to be reliable as well: fresh, distinctive, and tasty. And we have found the waitstaff to be knowledgeable and very helpful about vegetarianism and veganism: they understand the words and can reliably guide patrons to which menu items will be suitable. They are also very helpful about substitutions, for example of one kind of bread or roll for another, or giving me some lettuce leaves instead of chips with my burrito.

Chuck and I ate there again recently, and enjoyed our meal as always. Dining at a table where one can start with a glass of wine or beer and be served by a waitperson is a completely different experience from the salad bar down the street, and one to be savored in its place.