Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change?

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change?

Shared via AddThis

Pesticides/Herbicides and Health

I read a great article yesterday in the NRDC’s magazine OnEarth about the connection between Pesticides and Parkinson's disease.  (http://www.onearth.org/article/parkinsons-the-pesticide-link) The article talks about Jackie Christensen who developed Parkinson’s disease at age 32.  She had a relatively unremarkable childhood in the Midwest.  To earn extra cash, she worked for a farmer spraying Round-up on weeds at local farms.  The link between her Parkinson’s and her exposure as a young adult can’t really be proven.  However, there is a growing body of evidence that these chemicals cause far more damage than we can possibly understand.  I began to look at some of the chemicals we have around the house to see what i could find out.  The two things I found that are likely pretty common are DEET in insect spray and Round-up weed killer.  A little research into these two showed some significant controversy with their use.  Health and environmental impact is

Herbicides and Pesticides were invented to make life more convenient and to create a financial benefit.  Many people and organizations were willing and motivated to believe in the benefits of these miracle chemicals.  Industries were built on the promise of increased crop yields and greater convenience.  Our government, the organization we pay to ensure we have regulations that protect our society, is also highly motivated to believe the well-meaning claims and to stay out of the way.

How many times have we been fooled by a slick marketing campaign only to find out that the product didn’t quite live up to the claims – or worse, the product actually caused damage?  It isn’t always outright deception; it’s often dishonesty by omission of key facts or data.  Corporations are financially obligated to sell us on the benefits of their product.  Corporate boards and company managers are  responsible to their shareholders first.  They spend millions of dollars tailoring their marketing message to make us like the company and their products.  (For example, company BP used to be British Petroleum, now they are “Beyond Petroleum”.  While that may signify a shift in their corporate direction, it may also be a marketing ploy to make us feel better about the company and their products.)  Yet we believe their claims – almost blindly.  Even when we suspect or intuitively believe there may be issues with their products.  Some even go so far as to claim conspiracy when questions are raised.  Consider the recent past: Tobacco, asbestos, weight loss pills, fast food, pesticides, chemical sweeteners, etc.  Every one of these is an example of our own willingness to believe a company’s claim despite the mounting evidence that there are unhealthy side effects to their use.

What’s the point?

If something is too good to be true, it probably is.  A chemical that will kill weeds but have no other adverse impact to the surrounding plants and animals?  Highly unlikely.  There are always unintended consequences when we tinker with our health and our environment.  Sometimes those unintended consequences are acceptable.  Often the consequences are unknown until it’s too late.  If there’s any question, why take the risk?  Why

So what can we do?

1) Stop using herbicides and pesticides in and around your home.  Take a little time and figure out how to safely dispose of the roundup and other such products.  Then look into natural alternatives for your home.

2) Eat organic, locally produced foods.  Farmers markets, locally owned grocery stores, and co-ops can be a great source for local meats and produce.  At a farmer’s market, you can ask the farmer whether they use pesticides or herbicides.

3) Evaluate product claims for yourself.  Companies have deceived us and our government many times.  They will continue to do so.  Use the Internet and research on your own. 

4) Elect people who are willing to stand up to powerful financial and corporate interests.

Do you have any other suggestions for protecting ourselves and our families? 

Drive to the gym: The ultimate waste of resources?

As I was driving to the gym yesterday, I started to consider the true cost of driving to the gym to get a workout. My trip to the gym is just under 10 miles one way. That’s 20 miles total. In my Mini Cooper, I get about 30 miles per gallon. So the obvious direct cost is the 3/4 of a gallon of gas. There are other secondary costs that are much harder to quantify including the cost of electricity at the gym, the incremental costs (electricity, wear and tear, etc) for traffic lights, road maintenance, traffic police, and Mini wear (tires, oil, belts). Consider the impact to the environment for all of these secondary costs and the infrastructure to support all of these systems. Without fossil fuels, this short 20 mile trip wouldn’t be possible in 20 minutes. If I were to make a list of the raw materials I’d need to make this trip possible, that list would include: Oil (gasoline, plastics, rubber), electricity (natural gas, coal), etc, etc, etc.

But let’s get realistic. If I’m really going to make an impact, I need to focus on the things I can change. It doesn’t help for me to feel overwhelmed with all the things that contribute to our global environmental problems. I’m pretty powerless to change the secondary impacts in a dramatic and meaningful way. However, I can take a hard look at the primary costs. I need to carefully consider my 20 mile trip to the gym. Once I understand the cost, I need to make a decision whether to continue making that trek in the same way or to make a change. Different transportation method? Different gym? No gym?

I wanted to put this problem into terms I can easily digest (pardon the pun) so I decided to evaluate the travel cost in calories. Calories are easy to understand and have a direct comparison to life. Since gasoline is a fuel just like food, the caloric content of gasoline can be measured just like food. One gallon of auto fuel is approximately 31,000 calories. The gym is 3/4 of a gallon round trip in my Mini (20 minutes one-way/40 minutes total). I’m burning about 23,250 calories round-trip to the gym. When I get to the gym, I’m burning about 900 calories during my hour-long workout. Granted, the car can travel faster than I can, but that’s still a dramatic difference in efficiency. (Here’s a great comparison of muscle-engine vs. auto-engine efficiency: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm)

When faced with the true costs of traveling to the gym to burn only 900 calories, it really makes me feel like I’m over-indulging in energy consumption. I could also say that I’m trading the health of the environment and our society for my own health. This seems like a selfish decision since the environment’s ill-health has an impact on every living thing on this planet. It’s also counterproductive since my trip adds to air and water pollution which is going to impact me as well. Makes me wonder why I’m permitted to make such a trade-off without consulting all those who will be impacted by my decision. I can’t drive my car without a seatbelt and I’m really the only person who’s harmed or saved by that decision. However, I can decide to waste 31,000 calories/mile and contribute to global warming and pollution all by myself. There must be a better way. I digress…

Why do I go to the gym? There are four reasons: Health, fitness, friendship, and (blushing) vanity. So here are my excuses for going to the gym and keeping up this energy gluttony (along with some nagging questions about my logic):

Exercise is important to staying healthy and reducing the burden on our healthcare system. (Do I need to go to a gym that’s 10 miles away to get exercise? Can’t I run around my neighborhood?)

It’s important to feel connected to a community and the gym I attend provides me with that connection. (Is your current gym the only gym that will provide that connection? What about a sports league – beach volleyball or running club? What about spending more time with friends in a context that doesn’t involve the gym?)

I can exercise outdoors without traveling to the gym during the nice weather months for cardiovascular exercise, but I need the weights for strength training. (What about a closer gym? How much would it lessen your impact if you buy the weights you need and do your lifting at home? What if you collect rocks from the beach and lift those??!! LOL!)

So it looks like I need to do some soul searching on this topic. I’m really torn. I picked this topic first because it’s so near and dear to my heart. I really enjoy going to the gym. I really enjoy working out. I love the physical benefits and I love the way it makes me feel about myself. However, I can’t deny that the costs of my current “fitness plan” aren’t sustainable. If I’m really serious about making a change, this is where the change needs to start.

More to come…

Environmental Movement

Who knew that today is World Oceans Day?  I didn’t.  Who knew that yesterday was the world premier of “Home” the movie?  I didn’t.  (Home is a movie about our planet and human impact on our environment.  It is an extraordinarily well produced film and can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/homeproject)  This is stuff I truly care about and I had no idea these two events were happening.  I thought I was on the lookout for ways to engage and connect with efforts and causes that expand the dialog on our environment.  But somehow I missed these two very significant events.  If I’m missing these major events, how are these events and causes going to reach the hearts and minds of those who really need to be engaged?  More to the point, how can an event or day or movie really change minds of those who don’t believe or don’t care?  Many very well intentioned people and organizations spend tremendous resources on events and movies and publicity intended to sway public opinion.  But how many people are really impacted by these efforts?

We participate in these events, we are moved by their messages, we chant for change.  When it’s over, we go back to our lives and business as usual.  Despite dire warnings and irrefutable evidence that our actions have already reached a point of no return, we all continue with our lives.  It’s not that we’re resistant to change – in fact, we’re all open to change.  However, there are some very difficult issues to overcome before change will become a reality for many people. 

1) Inertia: Some of us don’t really understand how our actions contribute to the environmental problems we face.  We’re just following the behaviors we were taught.  Others don’t believe our actions have a big enough impact to matter.  The inertia keeps us moving in the wrong direction.

2) It can wait, right? Since there is no immediate and dramatic negative consequence to our behaviors, change doesn’t really seem all that important right now.  Let’s leave the change for another day when it’s easier, cheaper, more convenient, or required by law.  Besides, why should I quit driving to work when everyone else is still driving?  Many of my generation and older believe that it doesn’t matter – we won’t be around to see the truly significant problems our actions cause.  So why bother? 

3) How? So we’ve decided to make a change, what can I possibly do that will matter?  There are so many causes, so many things to do, its overwhelming to understand where to begin.  Should I change my light bulbs? Should I turn down my hot-water heater?  Should I stop all airplane flights?  Prioritizing my efforts and the efforts for my family is a full-time job.  While there are many causes and initiatives intended to catalyze change, each has it’s own priorities.  It is difficult to know how to prioritize my own life so we save it for another day.

4) Change is hard.  The kind of change we need is going to be extremely hard.  In much of the developed world, the changes we need will make our lives less convenient.  There will also be a financial impact to the change we need.  Is it even possible to balance our financial health with our need to change our consumption habits?

When taken together, these issues seem insurmountable.  It seems like an impossible challenge to convince over 300 million people in the US and 7 billion people in the world that change is needed and it can’t wait.  Let’s say you did get them all to decide to change – what would you have them do and how would you convince them to sacrifice their lifestyles for the future – the planet.

Okay, it’s a big challenge.  We know that.  Consider what you’d do if you wanted to lose 100lbs or quit smoking or stop drinking.  If you’ve been faced with a challenge of will, you know how impossible it seems when you are forced to quit.  But it can be done – one step at a time.  The change has to start with yourself and the people you call your “family”.  First we have to admit that we have a problem.  We have to admit that our lives must change because we are living an unhealthy, unsustainable lifestyle. 

This is where I am now:  I’ve made a commitment that I want to change.  I recognize that inertia is taking me in a different direction and that I don’t really know everything I should be doing.  I also understand that this change will be hard.  I also recognize that I’m not going to always going to make the right choices – I’m an imperfect person and I will always be drawn to take the easy way out.  However, I know that I must change for the benefit of the planet.  I’m moved to action by elephants in Africa, Coral Reefs, big cats in Asia and South America, and the beauty that I see in the mountains I see around me. 

I don’t really know how the next steps will go, but I’m going to use the principals I used to lose weight and apply those to my lifestyle to make my life more “green”.  I would encourage you to do this with me!  I’ll update this blog with my steps and thoughts so you can follow them too.  I’ll also twitter my progress and daily updates – subscribe to divernut on twitter.  I’ll post my successes and my failures.  I’ll tell you when I make a choice for convenience – even when I feel guilty about it.

Don’t say: “I’ll see how he does and then I’ll do it if it works for him.”   This is an experiment, but that’s life! We try things.  “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”  The learning is the trying.  Learn what works for you and go with it.  But you have to start somewhere.  Start with me!

20/40/40 Balanced meals

Calculating 20/40/40 for your meals is pretty simple. You need to know a few basics about reading a nutritional label to get it right. Let's take a look at the nutritional information from a relatively balanced snack bar. Nutritional labels are very confusing. They mix up different facts and the layout implies a relationship between dissimilar components. This is the nutritional information for a Think Thin Chocolate Fudge bar:

NUTRITION FACTS

Serving Size: 60g
Servings Per Container: 1
Calories 260
Calories from fat 72
Total Fat 8 g
Saturated Fat 2.5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 5 mg
Sodium 150 mg
Potassium 110 mg
Total Carbohydrate 27 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 0 g
Sugar Alcohol 15 g
Other Carbohydrates 9 g
Protein 20 g

There are four primary components to check when reading a label:

Location of the manufacturer

Serving size

Energy Content (Calories)

Nutritional Content (Fat/Carbohydrates/Protein)

First, where does it come from? Buy foods that are in season, available locally, and have minimal packaging and processing. Look for foods that came from a farm or factory close to home. No reason to buy products that have been shipped across the country when you can get them locally. Better to buy the locally produced non-organic product than the organic product from farm or factory in another state. Try to find foods that are in-season. Shop at the farmer's market for the freshest, healthiest foods. There are a number of online tools that help you figure out what's in season. Try this one: http://www.sustainabletable.org/shop/eatseasonal/

Second, check the serving size. Food is often packaged with multiple servings per package so you want to check serving size to make sure you aren't eating more calories than you intend. In this case, 1 per container - 60 grams total weight.

Third, consider the calories. You want to make sure your total calorie content matches your daily plan. Calories is the amount of "energy" you'll get from eating this food.

Fourth, (this is the most important one for nutrition) check the nutritional value. Make sure that the calories are approximately 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 20% fat. For a simple rule of thumb, look for foods where the nutritional label shows carbs and protein nearly equal and the fat is about 1/4 of that amount. For example, a snack with 20g protein, 20g of carbs and 5 grams of fat is well balanced. The goal isn't perfect 20/40/40, but as close as you can as often as you can.

When making a meal or snack, you aren't likely to find foods with the exact 20/40/40 proportions. Combine items to make the balance. For example, if you are in the mood for some crackers, add some lean meat and cheese to get your protein and fat.

If you want the math to calculate 20/40/40, there is a simple formula: Fat contains 9 calories per gram. Carbohydrates and protein contain 4 calories per gram. Our Think Thin bar above has 8 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbohydrates and 20 grams of protein. So if you do the quick math, here's the breakdown:

Fat = 8g x 9 calories per gram = 72 calories from fat

Carbohydrates = 27g x 4 calories per gram = 108 calories from carbohydrates

Protein = 20g x 4 calories per gram = 80 calories from protein

To check the percentage of calories from each micronutrient, divide each by the total calories:

Fat = 72/260 = 28% Fat

Carbohydrates = 108/260 = 41% Carbohydrates

Protein = 80/260 = 31% Protein

References: Serving Size Definition http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qa-lab18.html

Diary

Sunday's post about nutrition and food planning left out one very important thing:

You must keep a diary. That really should be step 1. The diary will keep you honest with yourself. It seems like it would be easy to remember each meal. When you get hungry, you will conveniently forget about that cookie or candy bar you ate. When you write down what you eat, you will be faced with your choices. Remember, you are doing this for yourself and no one else. If you decide to have a candy bar, that's totally fine. Just write it down so you don't forget and eat another one tomorrow and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday…

I know it sounds daunting, but it really isn't bad. You can take the old fashion route: get a small notebook and a pen. Just make an entry for each meal and exercise. Record the food, meal time, calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein of everything you eat. Do it while you are eating or immediately after, before you forget. There's no need to follow any particular format or style, as long as you are recording your food. No one will look at this but you, so you only need to make it legible to yourself! For example, my written diary entries look like this:

Tuesday, May 5 - Daily Calorie goal 2200Kcal

600Kcal Breakfast 8AM:

Egg Sandwich, 320Kcal, F 9g, C 28g, P 26g

Oatmeal, 190Kcal, F 2g, C 38g, P 6g

Americano with milk, 60Kcal, F 4g, C 3g, P 4g

300Kcal Snack 11AM:

Greek Yogurt and Cheerios, 270Kcal, F 4.5, C 31g, P 26g

Exercise 2PM:

30 Minutes treadmill

If you're a tech savvy iPhone user, there are a number of iPhone apps that will allow you to track your daily food intake. I use an app called Lose It! From Fit Now. The app is Free and it has a huge database of foods and it allows you to create custom foods (very important).

Why go to all this trouble?

1 - Your health: healthy eating means knowing exactly what you eat. Food is essential to life. What you eat has a direct impact on your body. It's something we all must do to survive and the more healthy the food, the better we feel. Eating without thinking is a shortcut that will come back to haunt you.

2 - The environment: As you begin to keep track of what you eat and get used to reading the labels, you'll become aware of the origin of the foods and the ingredients. Why buy English muffins that were shipped across the country when there's a brand that comes from Seattle?

We need fat in our diet. Good fat.

For those who don't know me well, there are some facts you should understand to put this post into context: I'm fit - about 6% body fat. I exercise regularly with very high intensity. And I do a tremendous amount of cardio exercise (40 minutes of cardio daily). I also stick to a very regimented diet. That diet is very low in fat of any kind, particularly saturated fat.

So you can imagine my surprise when my doctor told me that my LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) is too high. After discussing the possible causes with my doctor, it seems clear that the primary cause is my genetic makeup. He suggested adding some LDL-lowering foods to my diet. He specifically recommended fatty acids from fish in the form of fish oil tablets. This posed a dilemma for me since I avoid fish and fish products due to concerns of overfishing. So I began to research LDL-lowering foods. I wanted to understand which ones are safe for the environment, safe for my health and how to incorporate them into my diet. LDL-lowering foods include Oats, Almonds and Walnuts, fatty acids (from fish), plant sterols\stanols and olive oil. (See this article from the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002)

While there are many sources of these good fats, one of the best is the oil from fish. So if fish is on the menu, how do I find a good source for information about fish that are safe to eat? There are a bunch of resources with excellent, reliable information. One of the best sources is the Environmental Defense Fund. The EDF has a Seafood Selector http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521 and a new Sushi selector! http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=29774 Both can be printed in pocket-size for your wallet or purse. The Blue Ocean Institute also has a service called FishPhone for when you're on the go. You can send a text message to 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish and you'll get a reply with an environmental safety rating for the fish! See more at http://www.blueocean.org/

Here's a list of things to add to your diet that keep you healthy with the lowest environmental impact. Remember, read the label - look for products from your home state first. Try to find products that travel the shortest distance to your local grocery store.

Oats and oatmeal (Go for the ones with minimal sugar)

Walnuts and almonds - plain, unsalted. Add them to salad or smoothie.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Extra Virgin has been filtered less. Use this for cooking or paired with vinegar for salad dressing.
Take Control Margarine from Promise- Use it in cooking or where you'd otherwise use butter.
Fish Oil Supplements from small fish and well-managed fisheries. See this article at EDF.org: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=19376 The brand I use is Spectrum Organics.

Sources:
Sterols/Stanols: http://www.ific.org/publications/factsheets/sterolfs.cfm
Margarine reduces LDL: http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v52/n5/abs/1600559a.html