Progressive Wednesday

Food is good food.

One of the lingering problems with organic food is cost. While prices have fallen on many products (I do find some organic produce costs about the same as the artificially fertilized counterparts), many of the more processed foods or staples, like milk and eggs, can come with a pretty hefty price tag. This, of course, means that the poorest among us miss out on the goodness and healthfulness of organic foodstuffs.

So, along comes a progressive idea to help fuel our larger progressive revolution:

At the One World Café in Salt Lake City, customers set the price for their organic, fair-trade meals. Urbanite reports that One World provides options for all customers, from homeless patrons to business folks on their lunch breaks. A daily free entrée is always on the menu and the restaurant offers a “hand-up, not a hand-out” option by exchanging meal coupons for every hour of volunteer service. At the end of the day, says founder Denise Cerreta, the restaurant ends up with a fair price for the staff’s work.

Even though most of us don’t live in Salt Lake City, we can still be glad that such wonderful efforts are being made. And there are things we can do to help those suffering in poverty feed themselves better. Amongst many charities we could lend hand or buck is America’s Second Harvest. And what is America’s Second Harvest, pray tell? Here goes:

America’s Second Harvest– ”The Nation’s Food Bank Network is the nation’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization:

• A network of more than 200 member food banks and food-rescue organizations
• Serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

The America’s Second Harvest Network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. Each year, the America’s Second Harvest Network provides food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.

There’s not enough props we can give this organization. So here’s the deal — just give five. (All you’ve got to do is click this sentence.) Five bucks to most of us is next to nothing–a McMeal or a summer blockbuster we wish, afterwards, that we’d skipped. To an organization that feeds those with next to nothing, five bucks is nothing they’ll sneeze at (though, I imagine 100 dollars wouldn’t make them sneeze either… really I doubt any amount of would make them sneeze, so don’t worry about the infinitesimally small chance that you might make someone sneeze).

So, here’s to good food (and tissues) for all.

Bertha the belching cow

Much to the chagrin of my mother, I've always thought that belching was funny. I mean, we praise babies for doing it, why aren't my parents proud of me when I let one go from the diaphragm at the dinner table? And everyone seems to shrug it off as “natural– when animals do it. Well, as it turns out, that “natural– behavior in cows may be contributing a great deal to global warming. Belching is a little less funny to me now.

The average dairy cow belches out about 100 to 200 liters of methane each day, making diet changes a key potential factor in reducing this greenhouse gas.

Methane is by far the most potent greenhouse gas that we produce, doing 20 times the damage of carbon dioxide.

Scientists now believe that methane gas is responsible for 15% of man induced climate change. Livestock contributes to 15-20% of the methane.

The actual impact is in some dispute, but there is more and more evidence that, absurd as it may sound, cow belches actually have a significant impact on global warming. But what can be done about it?

Well, a few things, actually. German scientists have invented a pill that allows the cow to use that energy to make more milk rather than belching it out. There are other research groups that are experimenting with bovine diets to figure out how to reduce methane. Legumes such as clover and alfalfa have proven very effective. So buy grass-fed beef. I told you corn was evil.

Thanks to this cow-lover for the pic

Organics for one, organics for all.

One of the lingering problems with organic food is cost. While prices have fallen on many products (I do find some organic produce costs about the same as the artificially fertilized counterparts), many of the more processed foods or staples, like milk and eggs, can come with a pretty hefty price tag. This, of course, means that the poorest among us miss out on the goodness and healthfulness of organic foodstuffs.

So, along comes a progressive idea to help fuel our larger progressive revolution:

At the One World Café in Salt Lake City, customers set the price for their organic, fair-trade meals. Urbanite reports that One World provides options for all customers, from homeless patrons to business folks on their lunch breaks. A daily free entrée is always on the menu and the restaurant offers a “hand-up, not a hand-out” option by exchanging meal coupons for every hour of volunteer service. At the end of the day, says founder Denise Cerreta, the restaurant ends up with a fair price for the staff’s work.

Even though most of us don’t live in Salt Lake City, we can still be glad that such wonderful efforts are being made. And there are things we can do to help those suffering in poverty feed themselves better. Amongst many charities we could lend hand or buck is America’s Second Harvest. And what is America’s Second Harvest, pray tell? Here goes:

America’s Second Harvest– ”The Nation’s Food Bank Network is the nation’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization:

• A network of more than 200 member food banks and food-rescue organizations
• Serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

The America’s Second Harvest Network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. Each year, the America’s Second Harvest Network provides food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.

There’s not enough props we can give this organization. So here’s the deal — just give five. (All you’ve got to do is click this sentence.) Five bucks to most of us is next to nothing–a McMeal or a summer blockbuster we wish, afterwards, that we’d skipped. To an organization that feeds those with next to nothing, five bucks is nothing they’ll sneeze at (though, I imagine 100 dollars wouldn’t make them sneeze either… really I doubt any amount of would make them sneeze, so don’t worry about the infinitesimally small chance that you might make someone sneeze).

So, here’s to good food (and tissues) for all.

Organics for the poor (w/seven-second action).

Right now, organic food seems, at times, like a pricey luxury. Thankfully, more and more the price of this produce is coming down (thanks to increased demand, and therefore, production), and processed organic food is often similarly priced, and at times, cheaper than their genetically-modified and potentially pesticide-coated counterparts (I find this particularly true with foodstuffs like cereals, mac and cheese, and salsa).

But a new United Nations study plainly states that a shift to organic farming could, besides helping that not-so-little thing called the “environment,” also help curb world hunger. The previously held knock on such an idea was that organic farming can reduce crop yields significantly, but over time this levels off.

And according to the Associated Press:

Researchers in Denmark found… that food security for sub-Saharan Africa would not be seriously harmed if 50 percent of agricultural land in the food exporting regions of Europe and North America were converted to organic by 2020.

While total food production would fall, the amount per crop would be much smaller than previously assumed, and the resulting rise in world food prices could be mitigated by improvements in the land and other benefits, the study found.

But here’s the real perk: if farmers in sub-Saharan Africa made the switch, “it could reduce their need to import foods.” And here’s another plus: these farmers would save precious money by not needing to purchase chemicals, and earn money by exporting any extras.

Another study conducted by the University of Michigan found that:

A global shift to organic agriculture would yield at least 2,641 kilocalories per person per day, just under the world’s current production of 2,786, and as many as 4,381 kilocalories per person per day.

So why are these new findings so significant? Well, here are the facts, Jack:

• 850 million people are chronically undernourished. That’s nearly three times the population of the United States.
• Since 1996, the number of undernourished people in the developing world has gone up by 20 million. But here’s the more upsetting fact: the number of undernourished people is continuing to rise by four million per year.
• 30% of the world’s population suffers from malnutrition.
• Nearly 24,000 people die each day as a direct result of hunger. And here’s a chilling statistic: 18,000 of those daily deaths are of children under the age of five.

So while you might not be able to start an organic farm in Africa, there is something incredibly simple you can do. Just click this sentence to be taken to The Hunger Site. Then click the button on that page labeled “HELP FEED THE HUNGRY.” There — you’ve just helped feed someone.

If you have any doubts about the legitimacy of this, you needn’t: just click here or here or here. The second link includes a citation from The New York Times.

If you just give a few clicks, you can help feed the hungry, and we know you can easily spend 7 seconds every day doing this. So give a little with your mouse button, baby, give a little.

Produce photo by this food lover.

Corn, from Ascorbates to Zein: Learn

With most issues, progressive or otherwise, people usually realize that a problem exists or at least that improvements can be made. We squabble over whether or not it's worth fixing, how to go about doing that, how important the issue is, what side effects our actions might have, etc. But at least we know that there is a problem. Not so with corn. Here are some of the impacts the over subsidizing and overproduction of corn has on our society, in bullet form for your convenience:

• Corn is the most subsidized crop in our country. From 1995-2005, over 51 billion dollars were given to farmers in the US of A, more than twice that of the next closest crop.
• Cows are ruminants whose stomachs are designed to eat grass, not corn. They are given antibiotics to stave off infection until they go off to slaughter. This promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can be transmitted to humans that eat corn-fed beef.
• Corn strips the soil of more nutrients than any other mainstream crop and therefore requires much more fertilizer and pesticides, and consequently, more gas and oil to produce.
• Hormones and antibiotics given to cows to make them grow faster and bigger end up in our meat, soil, and water.
• Corn acidifies a cow's stomach, providing a haven for bacteria like E. Coli. Most of these animals are raised in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) where these diseases are easily spread.
• Compared to 1970, farms (which grow corn) today produce 500 more calories per person each day. We pack away an average of 200 of those calories.
• By many formulas, ethanol made from corn burns nearly as much fossil fuel, if not more to produce the crop as it would to just burn it in our car. Ethanol made from other plants such as sugar beets is much more efficient. Making ethanol is good; making it good is better.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the most common sweetener in the country. It is cheaper and easier to make than sugar from beets or sugar cane. But (there's always a “but– ), it doesn't stimulate the pancreas to make insulin or leptin to let us know when we are satisfied. The result? We crave more, eat more, get fatter, and get sicker. We are literally subsidizing obesity.
• Many scientists are now attributing the latest honeybee die-off to chemical pesticides used in fields of sweet corn.
• Corn is Iowa’s number one crop. Iowa has the earliest Presidential Primary. Need I say more?

Corn, from Ascorbates to Zein: Eat

We won't tell you to stop eating food with corn or corn derivatives in it; that wouldn't be reasonable. But a few changes in our eating habits would certainly lower the need for corn. This site has a list of additives, preservatives, etc. that are made from corn. There are about 600, and the list is not exhaustive. It would be tough to cut these out completely (imagine being allergic to corn), but just knowing how much corn is in your ice cream might make you think differently the next time you're at the grocery store.

This horse is so dead that it's totally decomposed, but we're gonna beat its bones anyway. Buy organic food. Being organic doesn't necessarily mean that there is no corn in it (corn can be grown organically), but generally there is much less corn used to process organic food. Plus, organic food tends to have ingredients spelled out more fully, making it easier to sidestep corn products. For more info on the benefits of organics, click here.

There are 38 ingredients in McDonald's Chicken McNuggets. That's scary enough, but 13 of them are directly derived from corn, and a dozen or so more are processed with corn products. A Big Mac contains corn-fed beef and has high fructose corn syrup in the bun and sauce. And that large Coke has 310 calories from corn. Another reason to stay away from fast food.

Finally, consider buying grass-fed meat. It's leaner, free of antibiotics and hormones, and much less likely to contain E. Coli, fungus, or other contaminants. Here is a list of suppliers in your state, or you can have it shipped to your home. Supporting businesses that go against the grain (pardon the pun) to provide a product that is ethically superior is a big part of progressivism.

Corn, from Ascorbates to Zein: Sign

High Fructose Corn Syrup is one of the leading causes of obesity and type-2 diabetes, especially in children. There is a movement in New York City schools to have HFCS removed from school lunches that is garnering a good deal of attention. Here is a petition online that has collected almost 500 signatures. Add yours. It only takes a few seconds and can send a strong message, and maybe make “Big Apple kids– a bit healthier.

When Congress votes on a new Farm Bill this year, they will decide how much money will be paid in subsidies and to whom that money will go. This petition asks them to shift those funds away from the huge corporate farms and towards programs that can put those subsidies to better use. So please sign it, then tell your friends and tell them to tell their friends– ¦