My personal choice is to purchase organic produce from local farmers, either at my farmer's market or from a great LOCAL DELIVERY service like ALBERT & EVE, who carefully source from and support local farmers.  Where your food comes from is important especailly if you are concerned about the environment and energy conservation. The carbon footprint of food grown locally is much better for the planet!

Many people across the US do not have as many fresh produce choices as I do living in California, which is why Whole Foods Markets are great for many healthy organic products. If you don't want your food shipped from China or New Zealand or Chili, then just don't buy it.

I have a friend who works for Whole Foods, and she shared this insight about the quality of Chinese organics:

Organic products from China can absolutely be certified organic to the exact same standard as domestic products. While China has had a number of food quality issues in the news in the past year, it does not mean everything grown in the entire country is unsafe. Since 2002, the USDA’s National Organic Standards have governed exactly what can be sold as organic in the US – how it’s grown, processed and handled - regardless of where in the world it’s grown, INCLUDING China. Organic integrity is ensured every step of the way. For example, a broccoli grower in China must be visited and certified to the USDA organic standards by a certifying agent that is approved and supervised by the USDA. If that broccoli is processed in a packaging plant, that plant must also be visited and certified by a certifying agent, who verifies that the handling and ingredients of the product comply with the standard.

This structure is the backbone of organic integrity under the USDA organic standard – everyone who grows or handles organic food must be certified and audited by a USDA-accredited certifier. The USDA then provides audits and oversight of the certifiers to ensure that they are enforcing the standard and upholding organic integrity.

 

 

 

Protein, fat, cholesterol, methionine (a sulfur-containing amino acid), and dietary acids, which are all superabundant in animal foods, are poisoning nearly everyone following the standard Western diet. Most people cannot fathom this, because it takes four or more decades of consumption before disability, disfigurement, and death become common from these endogenous toxins. This long latent period fools the public into thinking there is no harm done by choosing an animal-food-based diet. If the case were one of instantaneous feedback—one plate of fried eggs caused excruciating chest pains, paralysis from a stroke followed a prime rib dinner, or a hard cancerous lump appeared within a week of a grilled cheese sandwich—then eating animal foods would be widely recognized as an exceedingly unwise choice. Similar failures to appreciate slow poisonings from our lifestyle choices are seen with tobacco and alcohol use. If one package of cigarettes were followed by a week on a respirator or a bottle or two of gin caused hepatic (liver) coma then no one would indulge in these instruments of long-drawn-out death either. The difference defining the failure to take long overdue actions is that the dangers from tobacco and alcohol use are universally known and accepted, whereas almost everyone considers red meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products necessary parts of a healthy diet.

To read the rest, click here.

Thank you Dr. McDougall for this article!

Many fun classes offered at BioFuel Oasis

What a great way to spend a morning!

They also teach Urban Farming: raising chickens and bee keeping!

I loved that the tea was served with fresh raw goat's milk from a BioFuel peeps' goat!

 

Benefits of Kimchi

Dear friends,

More than 31 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program. Many consume as many as half their daily calories at school. Helping schools serve real food may be the most promising way to end child obesity - but it simply can't happen unless Congress invests in healthier food in the upcoming Child Nutrition Act.

Will you send an email to your legislators to help schools serve real food?

As an organization, Slow Food gets involved in policy when we see big problems with America's food system that can only be solved if citizens speak up. Teaching children to make good food choices will require hard work from parents, schools, non-profits, the private sector and government. But an enormously important step is to ensure that the National School Lunch Program isn't undermining those efforts, and is instead serving kids the healthy food they need to grow up into able, productive adults.

On a conference call this week, USDA Secretary Vilsack said that the most important thing citizens can do to get healthier food into their local schools is to urge Congress to pass a strong Child Nutrition Act. This issue has broad public support, he said, but it isn't appearing in the national media - so we need to make sure Congress gets the message.

That's where you come in. Now that Michelle Obama is leading the charge, Congress will begin updating the Child Nutrition Act this month. If legislators hear support from citizens back home, they'll have the opportunity to invest in healthier food, strengthen nutrition standards, and equip schools to buy local and cook meals from scratch.

So please take a minute to email your legislators today.

Thank you,

Gordon Jenkins
Advocacy Manager
Slow Food USA

If you like (or LOVE, as in my case) tomatoes and eat them all year round (thanks to our Mexican Neighbor Farmers) then you will be thrilled to know, how fabulous they are for you!

Tomatoes rank number 16 on the ANDI Scale and can be whipped up into a delicious raw soup in 5 minutes!

Tomato Facts

A laboratory study found that lycopene has a similar effect to the cholesterol-lowering drugs, statins.

Tomatoes contain high levels of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that supports the immune system and helps maintain healthy skin and tissue lining.

They are packed with antioxidant flavonoids and vitamin E, both of which are essential for heart health, and are a good source of potassium.

One medium-size tomato provides 50 per cent of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C.

Analysis of the Mediterranean diet suggested that cooking tomatoes with olive oil further improves their potency.

Lycopene and beta-carotene are broken down by heating, and are soluble in oil but not water, so cooking tomatoes in olive oil prepares these beneficial chemicals perfectly for absorption by the body.

Other research suggests that lycopene may enhance chemical communication between the cells, which helps to regulate unusual cell growth and may even reverse the process by which a tumour becomes malignant.

Tomatoes are also rich in the antioxidant lutein, which is believed to protect the retina from free radical damage.

Read the entire article by Luke Salkeld here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249207/The-SUPER-TOMATO-reduce-risk-prostate-cancer.html?ITO=1490

The simplest smoothie yet:

3 big frozen bananas

Greens: I used Trader Joe's "Southern Greens Blend"

Some fresh water..

Blend in the Vitamix and Viola!

Enough to take with me on my daily erronds too!

I'm so excited about this recipe!

I make Cheesy Kale chips all the time, in fact I have some in the dehydrator right now!

But these that I just found on http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/ have a fabulous KICK!!

Here is a great snack recipe for YOU! these are the kale chips we made in the store (with added spice). You could use less spice if you like a milder flavor.
 
Spicy Kale Chips (Rochelle Fahlgren)
 
2 bunches curly Kale (de-stemmed and chopped a little)
1.5 cups cashews (soaked 2-4 hours)
1 yellow or red bell pepper
2.5 Tb nutritional yeast
3 Tb Chipotle
1/2 tsp cayenne
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sea salt
 
Blend everything EXCEPT the Kale in a food processor until almost smooth.
Mix the kale and nut mixture together until all the leaves are coated.
Place on dehydrator SCREENS (no need for teflex) and dehydrate overnight at 110.
 

Since beginning my raw food living diet journey almost a year ago, I have tried many ways to keep up with my need for fresh organic fruit and veg while and keeping my cost down.

By far the best move I ever made was to sign-up for Albert & Eve!

Their service not only saves me time, but a lot of money! And let's face it, time is also money, so having them deliver to your door (for FREE) is priceless!

You also get to "customize" your order each week.
Once you sign up, you get an email each week telling what they have so you can pick exactly what goes into your "box." Not only is the order customizable, but how often you get delivery is customizable too: I choose every week, but you can choose every-other week, once a month - whatever you need! Plus you can pause for when you are out of town.

The Deluxe Organic Mix Box - is a HUGE value!
For only $28.90 -  You get 3 different fruits and 6 different veggies and you get to pick from a list like this:

All Organic:
Satsuma Tangerines
Fuji Apples
California Kiwifruit
Chandler Pomelo
Fair Trade Bananas
Purple Broccoli
Red Russian Kale
Hannah Sweet Potatoes
Green Giant Cabbage
Heirloom Baby Head Lettuce
Royal Stalk field Celery
French Breakfast Bunch Radish
Mixed herbs

In the summer - I step my order up to the Deluxe PLUS Organic Mix box - it's only $36.90 and it comes with 4 fruits and 8 veggies!! If you juice and need a lot of fruit veggies like I do, this box is a lifesaver!

Their service is also impeccable!

Albert & Eve's passion and commitment to organic produce delivery is very evident in the amazing variety and super-high quality of goods that they place each week for your box! Look at all the farms they work with!
They delivery on Wednesday for my neighborhood, and each Wednesday for me is - "Yippee!!...A celebration of life-giving whole food magic!"

Organic veg to your door - Fabulous!

I love that Whole Foods is posting the ANDI numbers of the whole foods they sell.

The top scores are for the greens!

Surprizingly Romain Lettuce (389) beats Blueberries (130) !

Cantalope (frozen from this summer's bounty)

Fresh water

Cantalope Handfull of Goji Berries

Teaspoon of Royal Jelly**

Put everything in the VitaMix blender......Delicious!

**Royal Jelly is taken extensively to promote energy and health!!!

It is considered by many to be a potent anti-oxidant. Produced in the beehive for the nourishment of the queen bee, it is a complex substance that cannot be recreated synthetically by man. When examining its properties and considering the source of its documented benefits, many conclude that it is its high amino acid content that may make it such a special and rejuvenating substance.

The chemical composition of Royal Jelly :- It contains approximately 12% protein with 5-6% lipids and 12-15% carbohydrates. It’s B Vitamin content is high, it has 17 amino acids including all 8 essential amino acids. Royal Jelly also contains around 15% aspartic acid, which is important for tissue growth, muscle and cell regeneration.

Jut look at the Vitamin Content of Royal Jelly:
Vitamin B I (Thiamine) 1.5 to 7.4 mcg.
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 5.3 to 10.0 mcg.
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) 2.2 to 10.2 mcg.
Niacin (nicotinic acid) 91.0 to 149.0 mcg.
Pantothenic Acid 65.0 to 200.0 mcg.
Biotin 0.9 to 3.7 mcg.
Inositol 78.0 to 150.0 mcg.
Folic Acid 0.16 to 0.50mcg.
Vitamin C Trace