Happy Birthday!

I recently turned 38.

Even before I turned 38 I began to think a lot more about what I eat and how it effects my health. I try to eat less meat and more raw fruits and vegetables with every meal.

Today I'm topping off a mixed-green, orange, and fennel salad with slivers of key lime pie, mixed berry pie, and flourless chocolate cake topped with fresh whipped cream (the cake and pie were remnants of my birthday celebration - the cream took about 4 minutes to whip by hand - my exercise for the day).

I guess I should feel guilty but I don't. I'm 38.

I'll worry about 39 tommorow.

Who Controls What We Eat?

Recently there has been an increased awareness in the products that we consume. A couple of months ago it was pet food contaminated with the chemical melamine, fish, juice, candy, pickles, crackers containing formaldehyde, illegal dyes, and industrial wax, and most recently toothpaste was recalled because it contained diethylene glycol a thickening agent used in anti-freeze.

All of these products came from China. In fact, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 60% of all recent product recalls have originated in China. Of course much of the blame can be put squarely on the lack of regulatory maturity in China.

Everything that we eat/consume is regulated. Did you ever wonder who is doing the regulating? In the U.S. there are four main agencies that collaborate with state and local governments, private business and individuals, and non-profit groups to oversee the food that we eat.

1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA )

The USDA monitors meat, poultry, and egg products as well as soil and drinking water. The USDA also runs the Food and Nutrition Information Center, which provides information to the public on a variety of topics related to food safety and healthy food choices.

2. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a sub-division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). While the DHHS protects the overall health of Americans, the FDA has a more specialized role in the oversight of food, drugs, and related products. The FDA is responsible for:

a. Ensuring public health by regulating the production, processing, packaging, storing, and holding of all domestic and imported foods, except for those products that are under the jurisdiction of the USDA.

b. Regulation of all ingredients used in food products, approving new food additives, monitoring food ingredients and foods to ensure that they are contaminant free, and monitoring dietary supplements, infant formulas, and medical foods for safety.

c. Oversee food product labelling to ensure that food product details are informative, truthful, and useful to the consumer.

3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Another sub-division of the DHHS, the CDC collaborates with state agencies, private organizations, and other federal agencies such as the FDA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the USDA to provide health information, primarily in the area of disease prevention.

4. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is dedicated to the regulation of pesticide usage and the establishment of water quality standards for the United States. The agency has been in existence since 1970 and it develops and enforces regulations that implement federal laws written to protect the environment. Worldwide Agencies

Note: worldwide there are also many global agencies for example - World Health Organization (WHO), and The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), that help to set policies for food around the world. While these agencies make many recommendations they are not regulatory agencies.

I am grateful that agencies such as these exist... especially as I see countries like China struggle to establish standards for public health and safety. Yet...while I enjoy the information that is provided, I don't take it for granted. Somehow wherever there are government agencies lobbying groups are not far behind.

From Pharmacueticals, and Bio-Tech, to Corn and Beef interests all of these agencies seem to be for sale. From lack of aggresiveness in cattle inspections despite mad cow disease, to the decision to not label genetically modiefied foods - it's not what we are told, it's what we are not told that concerns me.

It would be impossible to keep track of everything...but I try. Afterall, although these agencies regulate my food - with a little research and knowledge I can still try to control what I eat.

What happened to Jim Fixx?

My grade five teacher was an avid runner, and in our studies he would teach us about the health benefits of being physically active. Every morning we were taken out for a run around the neighborhood. These lessons were mostly lost on me at the time since, being a kid, I was always running around anyway. It also never occurred to me that our bodies, beyond height, had any real limits.

Around the same time a guy by the name of Jim Fixx published a book called The Complete Book of Running (a best-seller). Fixx is generally credited with starting the fitness revolution in the U.S. by encouraging people to jog.

So what happened to Jim Fixx? In 1982, at the age of 52, Fixx died of a massive heart attack, His autopsy eventually revealed that cholesterol had blocked several coronary arteries in his body. One by as much as 95%. Although his physical activity and resulting body weight probably prolonged his life, it is believed that his diet (and his genes) ultimately killed him.

Now that I'm older I'm much more aware of the benefits of regular physical activity as well as a balanced and nutritious diet. I exercise pretty regularly and I try to eat healthy foods. And although I don't really worry about my body weight, I am fairly conscientious about what I eat. Lately, I've developed the habit of reading the nutrition labels before I purchase my groceries. However, try as I do, I find that these labels are ridiculously hard to comprehend. Given the complex rules for labelling I guess I should not be surprised.

In case you're curious - In 1990, President George Bush (Sr.) signed the Nutrition Labeling Education Act (NLEA). This act enforced required nutrition labeling for most foods and aimed to regulate the contents of these labels. Excluded from this act were meat and poultry. The law became effective January 6, 1993.

The original NLEA document was almost 900 pages long. And since then, the FDA has issued over 40 major and many minor updates to these rules. Although I'm sure it would be a fun read, I've never read the document, nor do I intend to. There are however, many good, basic explanations of food labels on the internet. This is one from the FDA.

Once you learn to decipher the nutrient labels, you then need to learn how to decipher the ingredients list. If you have the time and an internet connection I would highly recommend going to your cupboard and Googling the ingredients of any of the products that you intend to eat or feed to others. This definitely will give you an appreciation for what is being added to your food.

Additives are added to food for a variety of reasons. Assuming you even want to know - it's really up to you to figure out what you're eating. For example, here is a list of the ingredients for artificial strawberry flavor found in a bottle of flavoured milk:

amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

In case you're wondering, none of these words are synonymous with strawberry.

Here is a simple summary of additives from the FDA and the International Food Information Council. If your interested in meat additives here is one from the USDA.

Sometimes labelling on food packages can also be misleading and it's often hard to tell what food marketers are saying and what they mean. Here is a good article from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) regarding fraudulent food labelling. If you're really intrigued here is another.

If you're intrested in the FDA regulations for health claims and descriptive terms you can find a good summary at the bottom of this page.

When I was young, it never occurred to me that I might die of a heart attack. But, when I think about what happened to Jim Fixx I think again. Not that I think that I'm genetically predisposed to heart disease or high cholesterol, but perhaps it might be something else. Who knows?

Wanting to eat healthy, I'm finding that it's really a full-time job just trying to understand, and keep on top of all the rules, regulations, and loop-holes that are a inherent in the food manufacturing process. But if I can learn and even help others, I think it's worth it.

Ultimately, for me, it's really all about personal choice and freedom. I often like to eat a snickers bar before working out. And now I can read the label and be satisfied knowing that, although I may not have made the best choice, At least it was an informed one.

Not In My Back Yard

Earlier this year I went to see Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". I've been hearing about global warming for years, but this very personal presentation of how human activity is effecting the environment was particularly thought provoking and scary. I tend to think that I'm pretty good about energy conservation, but I realized there is much more that I can do.

Several months ago I signed up for ConEd Solutions GREEN power program. The program is meant to support the use of environmentally low-impact energy sources like solar, geothermal, and wind power generation. While I didn't expect ConEd to come hook my apartment directly to a wind turbine I at least hoped that the extra 10 bucks a month on my energy bill would contribute to the expansion of alternative and cleaner energy sources.

Recently I've been hearing a lot about wind power and the efforts of community initiatives like NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). When I heard about various NIMBY efforts to block the development of local wind farms I was particularly curious to understand why - especially given my on-going investment with ConEd.

Recently I have been attending a series of "green" energy lectures at a non-profit organization called, Solar 1. And earlier this week I attended a lecture on the myths and realities of wind power. As the speaker actually worked for a company that is partnered with ConEd Solutions I figured it would be worthwhile to perform my own due dilgence on the subject.

Critics to wind power cite a wide range of reasons for opposing wind power: bird and bat mortality, health impacts, and efficiency issues related to voltage fluctuation, inability to store generated electricity, and intermittent generation. Critics also sight general aesthetics and the detrimental effects to property values. There is a great amount of documentation addressing both sides of these issues.

Bird and Bat Fatalities


Bird and bat fatalities due to wind power pale in comparison to the hundreds of millions of fatalities related to other human factors such as poisoning from pesticides, and collisions with buildings, towers, transmission lines, and moving vehicles. Of course, any number of animal fatalities is questionable and most builders are now taking more precautions when siting their wind farms.

Generation Efficiency

Despite issues with intermittent energy generation and storage, the environmental impacts of wind power are still much less than the combustion of fossil fuels. As of 2004, less than 2% of the U.S energy supply is generated from non-hydro renewable resources. The majority of electricity is generated from fossil fuels.
Power generation as a result of burning coal, oil, natural gas negatively impacts the environment in a variety of ways including: acid rain, the release of radioactive materials, and the generation of greenhouse gas emissions (considered the main cause of global warming). Some would argue this last point, but given the weather these days, I, and it would seem many others, would be inclined to disagree.

An average large-scale wind turbine generates about 1.5 MW of electricity. This is enough to power 450 homes for a year. To put this into pespective, it is estimated that New York City alone will require an additional generating capacity of 6000 to 7000 megawatts before the year 2025. Assuming existing generators are also refurbished, new sources of fuel and electrical generation will be required. An easy way to meet this demand might be to continue to tap the estimated 200 years worth of coal reserves that we currently have. Many organizations, like USCAP are recognizing that this is not a good alternative and I'm inclined to agree.

Unfortunately, wherever people go they tend to want electricity. I definitely think that wind power is a viable source for the future. In 2005, wind generators accounted for approximately 60,000 megawatts of worldwide capacity. This is still less than 1% of worldwide electricity use, but it is rapidly growing. This is partly due to the fact that over the past 20 years the cost of wind power generation has dropped by 80 percent. In 2006, wind generation capacity in the U.S. grew by 26% and is expected to grow by another 27% in 2007.

With future advances in technology, hopefully we can address many of the generation issues related to wind power. If it isn't a wind farm it will most likely be a coal-fired power plant. And that would effect not only my backyard, but all backyards within hundreds of miles.

Property Devaluation

Among the many anti-wind generation criticisms that I have researched, the only one that makes sense to me is the argument that wind turbines built too close to communities devalue property. To be fair, there really aren't that many homes located close to wind farms, but wherever there are wind farms it seems that people complain. I won't bother trying to substantiate any of the complaints that I have read about since there are not to many reasonable studies out there. This is partly due to the relatively low numbers of people living next to turbines and also because I really don't have any empirical evidence. But the persistence of NIMBY activities is enough to convince me that it most likely does devalue surrounding properties. So far, I have yet to see any realty agents actively using the existence of a wind turbine as a selling point. Of course, this might actually change if you are willing to invest in a property and sit on it for about 200 years.

I guess this seems like a self-interested and short-sighted point to make, but these days more and more people have pinned the hopes and futures of their families on real estate investments, and it would be hypocritical for me to criticize. After all, most of us, first, second, and third world, seem to be competing for more and more of an increasingly diminishing slice of the good-life. Personally, I would love to live in the Garden of Eden, with a nice beach on one side and the Museum of Modern Art on the other. And I still have hope that in the future we can have both paradise and a paved parking lot.

For now, I'll settle for living in a city where the odds of anyone building a wind farm in my backyard are extremely low, but still hang on to the hope that the extra 10 bucks I pay to ConEd each month will help to resolve all of our energy problems. As I'm not a citizen, I can't vote for change, but maybe I can help pay for it.

Who Is Organic?

I always find it interesting that people (including myself) are willing to pay extra for food labelled "organic". Of course, health is a primary concern for many of us but who would've guessed that the organic food industry would explode in the way that it has? As the organic food industry has grown and shifted to big business so has the meaning of "organic". Here is an interesting article in Business Week that summarizes why big business and organic don't necessarily play well together.

If you want to know who is making your food here is an excellent diagram of the top 25 organic food producers in North America. If you're interested you should also look at the other independent and private label producers listed below the main diagram.

I recently read a book called "What to Eat" by Marion Nestle (pronounced - Nessle). Here is something interesting that she notes: Kraft foods spends approximately a billion dollars marketing their food products. Last year their sales topped $32 billion (note the cost of a box of Kraft Dinner). Another interesting fact: Kraft's parent company, Altria, spent $135 million promoting Philip Morris cigarettes. Last year they posted $57 billion dollars in sales.

When I was in university I loved eating Kraft dinner. It was cheap and made a great, easy to prepare snack (I'll have to leave how they market this stuff for another time). Now, I admit that once in a while I'll break down and make myself some Kraft Dinner for lunch....but knowing that someone is going to have to foot the bill for all that lung cancer (i.e. me) certainly makes me pause a bit before I fork out $1.29 for that box of KD.

As for big business and organic....I guess it's buyer beware. For now, I think I'll try to buy from local organic farmers.

Stone Barn Food and Education Center

After reading Michael Pollan's book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma", I really developed an interest in local, sustainable farming. Supporting local farmers who grow organic makes sense to me. Last summer I joined a local CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) and for about 6 months fresh produce, grown at a local farm, was delivered to me at a local drop-off area. I have to admit that there were times when I wished that I had more choice in what the farm produced as everything delivered was seasonal. But I suppose there's always going to be a sacrifice (usually in the quality of production and cost of delivery) for having a plethora of produce available all year round. Overall I think it was worth it, especially if I compare the quality of the food and also consider that I could actually visit the farm and see where and how my food was produced.

Last summer I also came across a brochure for The Stone Barn Center for Food and Agriculture. It seemed like a place that really tried to stress the principles of of local, organic, and natural farming. After half a year of visiting and re-visiting their website, I finally went to visit the facility.

The farm is actually a local organic farm and education center. While they grow food, it is not meant to be a big food production facility but aims to educate the public about local, organic, and self-sustainable agriculture. It also produces food for an on-site restaurant and coffee shop as well a restaurant in Manhattan. The farm was originally owned by the Rockefeller family and used to supply food for their family and staff in Manhattan and upstate New York. The property has recently undergone a 35 million dollar renovation.

Produce

I went to a seminar on organic carrot growing and the produce manager was very knowledgable and helpful. During the lecture the speaker picked carrots which we were then able to clean and eat (they were delicious).
Many local farmers were there and he was able to answer their questions on how to improve their own gardens. I asked him how they dealt with natural predators and he said that they do not kill local animals, but rather just "make sure they grow enough". No pesticides are used and the produce manager was very knowledgable about how to handle natural bugs, plant parasites, bacteria, and other plant diseases.

In the winter the fields are allowed to rest and growing continues within 22000 square feet of green house space.
Each green house features a roof that can be open or closed. Very little heat is required despite the cold because all of the produce that is grown is seasonal. The restaurant on the property also influences the types of crops that are grown and they also do quite a bit of experimentation with different kinds of crops and make sure they rotate what they grow so that natural predators don't get a chance to settle in and get to comfortable with the environment.

Animal Farm

The farm also raises all natural,organic cows, chickens, pigs, and sheep. This is a picture of the pigs as they are kept in the winter.
The livestock is all raised naturally and are allowed to run freely in the fields in the non-winter months. In the winter all of the animals are put into protective pens. Animals are protected and kept using either steel metal or electrical fencing. In addition, there is a dog to help protect the sheep. The animals are fed what they are meant to eat naturally i.e. the cows eat grass instead of being over-fed with corn like most large factory raised cows. No anti-biotics, or growth hormones are used. The animals are fed according to their natural diets.

The farm also implements a rotational farming methodology used by Joel Salatin. Joel Salatin is talked about extensively in The Omnivore's Dilemma. He is also an advisor at Stone Barn. Salatin's farming methodology attempts to re-create nature as much as possible.

The chickens are placed in portable houses with slots on the floor to allow their manure to fall to the grass (their manure contains nitrogen which helps the grass grow). This is a chicken house that is being worked on.

Cows are allowed to eat the grass in the area. Once the cows are done the chickens are set back to the land to purify the cow manure of bugs, larvae, and parasites. As they run around they spread their own manure all over the grass.
The activity of the chickens stimulates the growth of grass which is then used to feed the cows. Cows rumens are healthiest when eating high fibre diets. Corn, which most commercial cows are fed, is not high in fibre and makes cows sick (which is one of the reasons they need anti-biotics).

This feeding cycle interrupted only by days when the land is allowed to rest. The chicken houses are portable and are shifted every couple of days so the chickens don't get bored and the land is never over-foraged. If you're interested you can learn more about the importance of grass feeding at the Eat Wild web site.

The farm is currently working on getting approval to slaughter their chickens on the premises. They will likely use a mobile processing unit such as the one seen here. Processing is expected to begin this spring. All of the animal meat and by-products are used and little is wasted. This spring they will also start using the sheep skins to make coats.

Education

In addition to the produce the farm also services the local community with seminars and camps for kids, adults, and families. These courses enable the community to work on the farm and learn about agriculture and their relationship to the food that they eat. The seminars range from tours of the property and how it works to more specific topics related to agriculture and livestock production. The seminars and tours generally last one hour. They also have daily and weekly camps as well as school programs for kids. Volunteers and interns are always needed and welcomed.

Restaurants and Gift Shop

The food grown at the center is used to stock two high-end restaurants called: Blue Hill. One location is on the farm and the other is in Manhattan. The benefit of these restaurants is that everything is seasonal according to what is grown on the farm and you are actually able to go and see how your food was grown or raised before you eat it. The restuarant executive chef and the farm produce manager seem to work closely together to determine the kinds of crops to grow. The organic waste from the restaurant is used for composting which is then re-used to help fertilize the soil.

There is also a coffee shop where I had a great lunch. There were a variety of sandwiches, salads, and pastries, as well as the option of buying farm fresh eggs to take home (for anyone who has never eaten farm fresh eggs I highly recommend that you compare with the eggs you buy in the grocery store).

The gift shop at the farm is stocked with a variety of souveniers as well as a good selection of books on issues related to farming, nutrition, cooking, and food politics. I was particularly impressed with the knowledge of all of the staff. From the receptionists right up to the managers - they all knew quite a bit food and farming.

Here is an interactive map of the property that can be found on the stone barn website. If you ever get the chance, I would highly a visit to Stone Barns.

A Conscious Life

I like to think of myself as a pretty healthy person. I excercise fairly regularly, and try to eat a healthy diet. When I was a kid in school we were taught about nutrition and the five basic food groups. We were told to eat various portions of each type of food: meat , milk and milk products, breads and cereals, fruits and vegetables, and other i.e. junk food. The pyramid lesson was a good one. Whether consiously or sub-consciously I always tried to eat according to the plan, and when I didn't I could always somehow picture the pyramid in my head. The picture of the pyramid hasn't changed much in 30 years but the nature of the food inside the pyramid has.

I love to eat and I also love to cook. When cooking for other people I am always mindful of what I'm serving. I think about what to cook, how it should be prepared, and what ingredients to use, and I hope that the food I prepare tastes good and is healthy. Sometimes I lean more to one interest than the other, but mostly I try to aim for equal parts of both.

Now that I'm older I have many friends who have kids. I like to think about the different strategies they apply to monitor and teach their kids how to eat healthy. I sometimes wonder what those kids will be eating 30 years from now. I also think about what I'm eating now.

Knowing that my personal choices effect me as well as my personal impact on the environment, I'm now trying to make concious decisions about what I eat and how I live. In this process I've discovered that making these decisions while balancing my various concerns is not simple. How do I really know the impact of the choices that I'm making? How do I balance my interests in local, organic, and sustainable food production, fair trade, and the environment? Perhaps eating an organic banana grown in Mexico might be good for my health but what about the environmental cost of shipping it to me? Maybe I can choose to drink organic coffee, but what is the cost to the local community that produced it?

Whatever the intention, I want to be able to make sound judgements that are not clouded by special interests, big business, or even just the sheer bulk of information that is available through Google or my local public library. I'm not an expert, and I can be a hypocrite, but hopefully, with a little knowledge, I can begin to make sensible, conscious decisions that I can live with.