Sustainable Foods Newsletter
Prasino’s Scott Halverson
A veteran in the kitchens
of private clubs and luxury hotels, (most recently the historic Driskill Hotel
in his native Austin, Texas), Chef Halverson
incorporates local, artisanal and organic products into Prasino’s breakfast,
lunch and dinner menus.
Armed with a culinary arts
degree from Le Cordon Bleu, Halverson jump-started his career in 1995, working
under the guise of celebrity
Texas chef David Bull at the
five-star Driskill Grill in
Austin’s historic Driskill Hotel.
In 1999, Halverson was
named sous chef at La Valencia Hotel, overlooking the
Pacific ocean in California. From here, Halverson went
on to lead the kitchen as executive chef at Chive, the James Beard award-winning
restaurant in San Diego
He returned to Texas in
2004 as executive sous chef at Houston’s exclusive Coronado Club
and, in 1996, Halverson lead the world-renowned Jean-Georges Vongerichten Bank
restaurant in Houston’s Hotel Icon. He returned
to his roots as chef de cuisine at The Driskill Hotel in 2008, prior to being
named executive chef at prasino.
Chef Halverson sources the finest products for his menus, such as Eggland’s Best ® organic eggs
for baked goods and breakfasts items and Niman Ranch ® antibiotic and
hormone-free meats for sandwiches and entrees.
All seafood and shellfish
- from line-caught Alaskan black cod to Tasmanian salmon - are sourced from 100%
sustainable and environmentally-friendly purveyors. And, vegan, vegetarian and
gluten-free selections are woven throughout the menus.
Halverson’s signature menu items range from Crab Cake
Benny (English muffin, two house made blue crab cakes, poached Eggland's Best®
eggs, Hollandaise sauce) to Hot Smoked Sockeye Salmon salad (spinach, apples,
pecans, red onions, goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette). For
reservations or menu details, kindly visit Prasino at http://eatgreenlivewell.com or
call (708) 469-7058.
Let's learn to eat green…
We all love a great meal and love to see a full table or exciting menu to pick
from. The trouble here is that all the great food we stack on our plates is not
only ending up on our waist and hips but negatively impacting our planet. We
are filling the planet with packaging, pesticides and climate changing gases.
The good news is we can get our fill of excellent food without tipping the
ecological scales. Just follow these earth friendly steps suggested by
“Ecoholics”.
1. Eat Close To Home
By that I don't mean ordering takeout from your local pizza joint! Search for
produce grown in your own county/state. If you can't find home-grown
garlic/greens/grapes at the grocery store, don't be shy, ask the produce manager
for more local options. Not only does buying local translate into fewer dirty
fossil fuels trucking for shipping that food to you, it also means you're
helping to preserve nearby farmlands and valuable green spaces. Plus, do you
know that the vitamin content of a just-picked tomato is higher than in one
plucked before it was ripe then carted 2500 miles. It tastes a lot better, too.
2. Try Tofu Tuesdays
Eating fewer meaty meals isn't just good for your cholesterol count, your
waistline and your pocketbook —it's also one of the top moves you can make for
the planet.
Our grass fed livestock literally burp and, um, expel more of the world's
greenhouse gases than cars, trains and planes combined! In fact, one
University of Chicago study found that eating 20% fewer animal products
every week reduces your greenhouse gas footprint as much as switching from a
sedan to an ultra efficient Prius!
And since, despite what your mom told you, there won't always be more fish in
the sea, pick your seafood choices wisely. Smaller fish like sardines aren't
only more sustainable than big daddies like tuna, they're also way lighter in
pollutants like mercury.
3. Get It Fair and Square
Quick, pick three things that get you through the day and I'll bet you twenty
bucks that coffee, chocolate, and sugar make the list. Since none of the above
is grown on U.S. soil (well other than beet sugar), you want to be sure you buy
the kind with a Fair Trade Certified label on the package. Why? Well,
the workers that pick those ingredients are generally paid so poorly they'd have
to work 3 days just to afford a Starbucks Grande Latte! Fair trade
certified farms, on the other hand, pay farmhands in developing countries a
decent wage, give their families access to health care and education and forbid
the use of ultra toxic pesticides (which makes them better for your health,
too).
4. Pass on Packaging (especially the plastic kind)
What goes into a Ding Dong is one thing; what's wrapped around it is a
whole other ball of wax (actually plastic) Just stop emptying your kitchen's
trash bin for a week and you'll find yourself knee deep in the food packaging
(think milk cartons, cereal boxes, frozen food trays and all the double to
triple layers of wrap around cookies, crackers, and a myriad other products. No
wonder nearly a third of all the garbage we toss every year is packaging!
Avoid the whole landfill bound mess by buying in bulk and bringing your own
storage sacs shopping. Choose loose lettuce instead of the boxed stuff. Buy
concentrated ingredients like broth in dry form instead of bulkier watered-down
cartons. And when you have a choice, pick the jam/juice/soup that comes in glass
(it doesn't leach dodgy toxins like tin cans and some plastics can).
5. Fork Out For Organics
In my dream worldeverything in the grocery stores would be deliciously
organic and we could all afford to eat chemical-free 365 days a year. But in the
real world, many of us have to budget our pesticide-free picks but we are
learning not to make perfect the enemy of good.
If you have young children, look at what they eat the most of (like milk or
grapes) and switch those items to organic immediately. And though, yes, 73% of
the fruits and vegetables checked by the FDA tested positive for
pesticide residues, to be fair, some are worse then others. Spend your money on
certified organic peaches, peppers and spinach before buying, say, organic
broccoli (since conventional broccoli is quite low in residues). For a guide to
the items you should always buy organic google “dirty dozen”+ food and you will
see the list.
It is important to the health of our families and the planet that we eat both
organic and green. When considering these ideas keep in mind that the family’s
health is not where you want to balance the family budget.
Scatter shooting while wondering; is it OK to use the AM radio after noon?
What to do while waiting for the Volt
"Just one 320-acre farm going organic equals 117 cars taken off of the road or
1,462,500 miles not driven!" That's the conclusion of Chris Hill and Greg
Bowman, contributors to the Rodale Institute's NewFarm.org website which has
been heavily involved in researching the impacts of conventional and organic
farming.
Seems that buying organic food-be it oranges, carrots, soybeans, or lentils-can
be an effective way of shrinking your carbon footprint and living green. That's
because organic farming is a powerful atmospheric scrubber. By cultivating
diverse crops, organic crops are better able to sequester carbon. In otherwise,
they serve as a carbon sink.
But why is growing organic food better at carbon sequestration than growing food
conventionally with fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides? Over their 23-year
comparison of organic and conventional corn-soybean farming systems, these were
the conclusions gathered:
- Retention of organic matter: A general rule of thumb in
farming is that the more organic matter is retained in the soil, the more carbon
is sequestered. Organic farming generally makes use of animal manure and cover
crops as a means of amending the soil; conventional farming on the other hand
uses chemicals which deplete the organic matter found in soil. Pound for pound,
organic farming adds rather than takes away soil organic matter and therefore
helps to sequester carbon.
- Lower fuel consumption: Organic farming systems use about one
third less fossil fuels compared to conventional cropping systems because of a
lower dependence on heavy machinery. This lower dependence in fossil fuels
results in fewer greenhouse gases expended to grow the same amount of food.
These two factors make for a great climate solution. In fact, if the US were to
participate in the Kyoto protocol, it could meet 73% of its proposed targets by
converting all 160 million acres of corn and soybean farmland to organic farming
methods! That would be like taking nearly 60 million cars off the road.
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
If all politics is personal, as is widely held, then ultimately not much is more
political than our food, and the farms which produce it. Everyone must eat, thus
everyone has a vested interest in food.
Just now, early in the 21st Century, foods and farms are emerging as a
leading-edge political movement. Thousands of college students are awake to the
crucial importance of food and farms, and more are awakening.
With food poisoning scares, the ongoing onslaught of genetically modified food
products being surreptitiously introduced to our diets, and the mounting
evidence of the health and environmental consequences of large-scale, chemically
dependent industrial agriculture, the list of reasons is growing for people to
become active and take a direct part in ensuring food quality and food supply.
According to a May 23 story in The New York Times, a new wave of students is
heading to farms this summer, in search of both work as interns, and social
change. The interest in summer farm work among college students has never been
as high.
According to the Times, the students come armed with little more than soft hands
and dog-eared copies of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. They are
acutely aware of the gross environmental problems caused by mass-scale
industrial agriculture; they want to help bring about change, and to know they
are doing something to better the world.
Meanwhile, the dietary forces impelling people to recognize foods and farms as a
key political issue are mounting in strength and credibility. According to
stories in both Time Magazine and Mother Earth News this spring, we now have
solid, scientific evidence that industrial farming is giving us less healthy
food. Produce in the U.S. not only tastes worse than it did in our grandparent’s
days, the evidence shows it also contains fewer nutrients.
Both articles cite a February, 2009 study entitled "Declining Fruit and Vegetable
Nutrient Composition" by Dr. Donald R. Davis published in the journal
HortScience, 2009.
Davis reports that the average vegetable found in today's supermarket is anywhere
from 5% to 40% lower in minerals than those harvested just 50 years ago.
Because of widely used chemical fertilizers and pesticides, modern crops are
harvested faster than ever before. But quick and early harvests mean the produce
has less time to absorb nutrients either from synthesis or the soil. Meanwhile,
monoculture, another hallmark of the Big Ag industry, has also led to
soil-mineral depletion, which, in turn, affects the nutrient content of crops.
So what should we do? Try organic food, or as our grandparents called it –
FOOD!
Scatter shooting while wondering: If at first you don't succeed, shouldn't you
try doing it like your wife told you to?
Another Point of View
I am genuinely concerned about the future of our planet, but I read something
this week that causes me to be a little careful about how I express my
concerns. Habitat Heroes, a social networking website for young people
commissioned a report that contained the following information. One out of
every three children ages 6-11 fears that the planet will not exist when
they grow up and over half of these kids believe the world will not be as good a
place to live.
This caught my eye as I have three young grandkids and I wonder if they are
frightened or confused by our efforts to conserve our resources. This survey was
conducted with 500 kids, half boys and half girls. The most concerned
demographic in the group was minority children; 75% of black children and 66%
of Hispanic children are fearful the planet will deteriorate before they are
adults. There are some positive facts as 95% of the kids feel their parents are
working to save the environment by recycling, using rechargeable batteries,
conserving water and electricity and using foods that are sustainable. My point
is that perhaps we need to be a little more communicative with our kids about
what we are trying to accomplish. I continue to be impressed by how much more
aware kids today are over when I was their age.
Speaking of Children’s Future
Organic foods are higher in nutrients and more easily assimilated into the
body,” says Dr. Elena Michaels, a Santa Clarita, California-based naturopath and
marriage and family therapist who specializes in alternative/integrative health
care. “Organic produce tastes markedly better than conventionally grown produce
and contains higher amounts of cancer-fighting phytonutrients than traditionally
grown produce. These nutrients are able to enter our system best through foods.
Of particular concern is the risk pesticides pose to our children. “Pesticides
in our food supply make us sick and they can especially make children sick,”
says Ann Cooper, former executive chef/director of wellness and nutrition at the
Ross School in East Hampton, New York, as well as author of Bitter Harvest:
A Chef’s Perspective on the Hidden Dangers in the Foods We Eat and What You Can
Do About It. “The risks of ingesting chemicals and pesticides are not still
fully known, so why take the risk with a growing child? Research has shown that
40% of all cancer is diet-related, and much of it can be linked to the chemicals
we ingest in our food and water. Pesticides may stunt growth in children, retard
normal brain growth and functions, as well as cause an array of health issues as
we age.”
Rising cancer rates also alarm Dr. Michaels, and she attributes them in part to
environmental issues. “Pesticides and herbicides, as well as hormones that are
given to animals-which we then eat or drink in their milk-are all xenoestrogens
[chemical compounds that mimic estrogen, often found in detergents and
pesticides]. They skew our hormones and affect all systems in the body,” she
says. “There is no reason to eat food grown with pesticides and herbicides.”
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I have a friend in Texas whose daughter Amy is in her first year at Yale. Her
choices came down to deciding between the University of Texas, Harvard or Yale,
all excellent Universities that speak volumes about her academic ability. I
asked her this question; what main thing made you choose Yale? The answer was
not the Presidential alumni; or even the prestigious reputation of the
Institution but instead Yale’s dedication to sustainable food practices.
Sustainable food may sound to many of us like new age jargon, but more and more
University students are embracing this concept and making it a major factor not
only in where they go to school but where they spend their discretionary
dollars. This generation, many raised on “Whole Foods” diets are pushing campus
dining standards to be measured more by the foods origin and how it was grown
and less by its volume. . These potential students (read customers) are
looking for institutions that are sensitive to how their food is grown and where
it comes from. They want food grown on farms that are sensitive to their
workers, livestock and the environment. They not only want their food grown with
sustainability in mind but they want it grown without the use of pesticides,
herbicides, antibiotics or hormones – they want it organic and this is a factor
in how and where they spend their tuition dollars.
A change in food service, much of which is contracted out, is not easy for
Universities. Most institutions both educational and healthcare are not
accustomed to food being one of the major factors in the buying decision. Yale
is different. Through a unique set of circumstances Yale has a major leg up on
other colleges and universities; Alice Waters. The founder of Chez Panisse,
possibly the best know restaurant serving local and organic in the country, has
a daughter who attended Yale and Ms. .Waters was instrumental in setting up the
Yale Sustainable Food Project. She is adamant that schools will have to change
because students are demanding it and this will carry over to restaurants,
hospitals, retailers and others as these students began to make the power of
their dollars felt throughout the economy.
SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals--environmental health,
economic profitability, and social and economic equity. A variety of
philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to these goals. People in
many different capacities, from farmers to consumers, have shared this vision
and contributed to it. Despite the diversity of people and perspectives, the
following themes commonly weave through definitions of sustainable agriculture.
Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Therefore, stewardship of both natural and human resources is of prime
importance. Stewardship of human resources includes consideration of social
responsibilities such as working and living conditions of laborers, the needs of
rural communities, and consumer health and safety both in the present and the
future. Stewardship of land and natural resources involves maintaining or
enhancing this vital resource base for the long term.
A systems perspective is essential to understanding sustainability. The
system is envisioned in its broadest sense, from the individual farm, to the
local ecosystem, and to communities affected by this farming system
both locally and globally. An emphasis on the system allows a larger and more
thorough view of the consequences of farming practices on both human communities
and the environment. A systems approach gives us the tools to explore the
interconnections between farming and other aspects of our environment.
A systems approach also implies interdisciplinary efforts in research and
education. This requires not only the input of researchers from various
disciplines, but also farmers, farm workers, consumers, policymakers and others.
Making the transition to sustainable agriculture is a process. For
farmers, the transition to sustainable agriculture normally requires a series of
small, realistic steps. Family economics and personal goals influence how fast
or how far participants can go in the transition. It is important to realize
that each small decision can make a difference and contribute to advancing the
entire system further on the "sustainable agriculture continuum." The key to
moving forward is the will to take the next step.
Finally, it is important to point out that reaching the goal of sustainable
agriculture is the responsibility of all of us in the system, including farmers,
laborers, policymakers, researchers, retailers, and consumers. Each group has
its own part to play, its own unique contribution to make to strengthen the
sustainable agriculture community – Are you doing your part?
Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 – HR 875
Almost everyone I spoke to this week wanted to talk about this new bill. I have
heard it will “outlaw organic farming” and that it is a secret plot by Monsanto
to destroy the nation’s alternative food and farming system. I did take a few
minutes last night to read the bill and I recognize it is an attempt to deal
with the recent outbreaks of food-borne illness and the immense amount of
contamination that is entering our food supply via industrialized farming. I
applaud any attempt to correct these problems but I find this a poorly written
and ill conceived “one size fits all” attempt to help that has no chance of
getting through Congress in its present form. I think that we should keep a
close eye on this to see how it ends up. When we try to adopt legislation this
broad it often ends up creating more problems than it solves. In its present
form this bill would not outlaw but would be devastating to certified organic
farmers, farm-to-consumer operations, small independent farmers and especially
raw milk producers who are already hammered by state food-safety regulators.
If you are up to contacting your congressperson regarding this bill ask that they
focus on the real threats to our food safety; globalize food sourcing from
nations such as China where food safety is a joke and domestic industrial-scale
factory farms whose collateral damage to our planet includes pesticide and
antibiotic-tainted food, mad cow disease, E.coli contamination and salmonella
poisoning. You might also ask your Representative or Senator to support a
transition to organic farming which would be a massive correction for most of
our food safety problems. In the very least we will need to find a balance that
protects us from the abuses of our industrialized agriculture system while
allowing access for the small organic farmer and producers who provide us an
alterative. We understand that it is hard for the law to handle the values both
of sustainability and safety but creating more problems for the small producer
is not the answer - as they are not the problem!
This bill has been referred to both the House Agriculture Committee and the House
Energy and Commerce Committee for revision; so stay alert there is no telling
what it will look like when it comes out of committee.
Eat by Color for Good Health
We have all been told “eat your greens if you want to be healthy’ but actually
eating fruits and veggies in every color is the real key to good health. Your
produce palette should be colorful and represent the largest portion of your
diet. The brighter the color of your produce the greater number of
phytonutrients you are receiving. Phytonutrients are a plant based substance
that is shown to help prevent disease, cancer, and the effects of aging. Each
color group provides us with different important nutrients; so add some color to
your diet!
Green: Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Spinach, Kiwi, Bok Choy; help
purify the blood and are spirit lifting.
Red: Red Pepper, Tomato, Beets, Red Apples, Raspberries; reduce
free radical damage and support heart and memory.
Orange: Carrots, Yams, Pumpkin, Cantaloupe, Oranges; support the
eyes and enhances night vision.
Yellow: Yellow Squash, Corn, Grapefruit, Pineapple, Lemons;
boost immune health and promote good circulation.
White: Garlic, Onion, Mushrooms, Pears, Cauliflower; reduce
blood pressure and help reduce LDL cholesterol.
Blue/Purple: Eggplant, Blueberries, Raisins, Plums; support
heart health and slow the signs of aging.
Who said “The nation’s food safety system is a hazard to public health”? Right;
the President of the United States, Barack Obama said that last week while
nominating a new commissioner and appointing a deputy to the top jobs at the
Food and Drug Administration.e former New York City’ Health Commissioner and
both she and her deputy appointee, Joshua Sharfstein, former Health Commissioner
of Baltimore, have been applauded as outstanding picks by consumer groups around
the country. The President also announced he was forming an advisory group to
coordinate the updating of our food safety laws; many of which have not been
updated since they were written early in the last century.
Obama stated he felt too many agencies share responsibility for our food safety,
making it difficult, if not impossible, to share information and to keep
problems from “falling through the cracks”. There are over 150,000 food
processing plants in the US and the FDA is totally under manned and under funded
to conduct inspections on more than a fraction of these facilities and that is a
hazard to public health. The President pledged that this will change under the
leadership of Dr. Margaret Hamburg.
Both of the President’s nominees are doctors and outsiders to the troubled Food
and Drug Administration. Dr. Hamburg is a bioterrorism expert and served as an
assistant health secretary in the Clinton administration. Dr. Sharfstein is a
pediatrician who challenged the FDA on the safety of over-the-counter cold
medications for children. Both of these doctors have received high praise from
those that have a stake in the FDA’s work, from health and consumer groups to
the food and drug industry itself.
It appears that the President is signaling his commitment to overhauling the FDA
and the professional he is appointing show the Administration places a high
priority on the Nations food safety. Most of us probably feel it is past time
our government responded to the signals that the system was in trouble. The
spinach scare in 2006, the pepper and tomato salmonella problems last year to
the salmonella outbreak in peanut products this year that have led to hundreds
of illnesses and nine deaths as well as massive product recalls are clear
indicators that the system is not properly functioning.
Question: Why should we care about pesticides?
The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and
other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during
fetal development and early childhood. Scientists now know enough about the
long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we
minimize our consumption of pesticides.
Question: Will wsashing and peeling help?
Nearly all of the studies that asses damage of pesticides to humans assume that
people rinse or peel fresh produce. Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate
pesticides. While peeling helps the trade off is that much of the valuable
nutrients often go down the drain with the skin.
Question: How can we avoid these harmful pesticides?
Buy and eat organic!
Most everyone can define the term “organic food”, but most of the public are not
as clear on the question of why we should eat organic and what organic farming
does to help people and the planet. So most people know that organic food is
simply food produced using no synthetic chemicals and most would agree that they
would prefer not to indulge in a meal where some of the key ingredients were
produced using pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones, and
antibiotics they are less clear on the answer to the other two questions. Let’s
try to answer those questions in a clear and understandable manner.
Organic food just tastes better! Most good chefs today understand that
fresh produce absorbs flavor from the soil. Non organic produce uses pesticides,
waxes, and chemical fertilizers as a substitute for good farming methods. This
has a major effect on the overall quality of the product and certainly the
taste. The flavor of animal products such as dairy, meat and eggs is directly
linked to the animal’s diet, lifestyle and overall health. There is nothing
delicious about growth hormones, disease, and the lack of ethics used in the
factory farming industry.
Organic food is better for our health! Studies at Baylor University in
Texas have shown that eating organic food and using organic products help ease
the burden of detoxification by the liver and science has established that the
majority of pesticides are carcinogenetic. One of the physicians at Midwest
Regional Hospital in Zion, Il when ask why they fed patients an organic diet
answered he did not want to give the sick food that may have made them ill in
the first place.
Organic agriculture is ecologically sustainable and therefore good for the
environment! One of the key advantages of organic production over
industrial production is the environmental safety of avoiding pesticides. Most
pesticides are indiscriminate in their actions. That is to say they do not
target the bad organisms that damage our food and protect the good organisms
such as beneficial insect predators that help keep pests in balance – they
attack both. In irrigated land the pesticides cause a build up of salt; in
Illinois we have over 172,000 acres presently dormant due to salt build up. The
fertilization of fields with organic amendments such as manures and compost
provides essential plant nutrients and a carbon source for soil microorganisms.
The structure created by the microbes helps in preventing erosion.
Organic farming has a major impact on local economies! The largest impact
organic farming can have on a community is the creation of jobs; it is normally
more labor intensive and therefore job creation actually is a benefit of the
process of building a sustainable food system. Additionally, in organic farming
the local farmers get a higher share of the consumer’s dollar spent on food and
this money is kept locally and not removed from the community. It is also true
that if the food is local there is less transportation time involved in getting
the food to market and therefore it arrives to the consumer fresher and at less
cost. If our economy depends on a business model that develops strong
independent middle class businesses, as we are told by every evening newscast
lately, then organic farming is the answer.
Organic farming benefits our culture! I believe that any system that
helps employ more people in rural areas is helping eliminate social problems.
Sustainable organic agriculture is more family oriented and will therefore
support more people on the land. Sustainable food systems will help population
density in rural America where industrialized farming has proven to employee
less people and leave more folks behind. Every additional person we employee
helps eliminate another set of social problems in society and helps strengthen
the local economies providing more revenue to deal with other social problems.
This is a good example of sustainability at work and industrial agriculture is
not sustainable in the long run.
Traceability systems
Every day of the work week billions of cases of fresh produce crisscross this
country and even the world, finding their way to restaurant tables, retail
shelves, and institutional kitchens. While much of the products are tracked from
point to point the multitude of food safety issues we have experienced over the
last few years points out the need for a faster and more thorough system.
Traceability systems tend to be motivated by economic incentives, not government
regulation. Companies use traceability to improve supply-side management, to
increase quality control, and to market foods with credence attributes
(attributes that are usually outside the consumers understanding, such as
whether the food was produced through genetic engineering). The tracking is used
to provide lower-cost distribution systems, reduced recall expenses, and
expanded sales of high value products. Food safety however in and of itself has
not been the driving force for using traceability programs.
You would have to be living under a rock to not understand the growing importance
of being able to trace products. The exposure to liability and customer
relationships make it mandatory for any growing business in the food industry to
institute traceability plans. Traceability is critical to food safety and the
public as well as producers are coming to understand this is an evolution not a
revolution. Companies that supply our food each have their own internal systems
of tracing product and it is becoming clear that the key for traceability comes
down to having a single point where all these unique systems interface.
The urgency driving traceability is the potential risk of another, and possibly
more devastating, food-safety incident. I recently saw a quote from a leader in
the produce industry that stated “we know what has occurred, we have experienced
the impacts, but there has not been a full set of common tools established to
properly contain and remedy the next incident”. I can only wonder if he is
totally ignorant of the well defined and tested program used for years in the
Organic Food industry. This is a system that narrows the impact of potential
recalls, uses a common framework and language for identifying produce cases and
streamlining connectivity across the supply chain. These are the exact
attributes that the produce industry is saying must be in place for traceability
to properly function.
However, ignorance of the organic industry rules aside, the Produce Marketing
Association and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association are to be commended
for getting together to launch the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI). The
PTI was launched this year to “build a common framework and language for
identifying produce cases and streamlining connectivity across the supply
chain”. The group formed a Steering Committee representing each facet of the
industry to develop an action plan and timeline based on real industry
experience and the current working of the produce industry. The PTI is mainly
concerned with facilitating external traceability to trace products between
companies and to that end use a lot number system a 14 digit Global Trade Item
Number (GTIN) that will be on each case of product and will be both human
readable and barcode form and at each stop in the supply chain this information
will be read and recorded.
Traceability is a great idea but in actuality traceability is mandated by law.
The Bioterrorism Act of 2002 requires the FDA to establish and monitor
traceability and the FDA did in fact change its regulations to monitor
traceability “one step up” and “one step down” along the supply chain. However
the difficulty lies in the number of unique systems used by all the companies
involved. This of course is why the PTI was formed.
What will be the cost? It is really too early to tell, but weighing the benefits
against the cost of implementation is the key to understanding the true return
on investment of traceability. We will need to not only know how to do these
things but how to do them efficiently and effectively. By accommodating the need
for traceability companies will be able to make other processes more efficient
and cost-effective. The initial investment may be high, but ROI will be high as
well. A chain wide traceability system will minimize market disruption and the
added information provided by traceability will allow companies additional
industry facts that will be used to benefit the company. In the end companies
may actually profit from traceability.
The industry needs traceability to improve operating efficiencies and to meet
regulatory and best practice guidelines. Companies must maintain cost controlled
operations that achieve product traceability throughout their end to end supply
chain. This requires tightly integrated supply chain execution that includes
accurate, real-time data from “farm to fork”. Companies will need to be able to
take action within hours of a recall. A rapid retrieval of traceability records
will be the key to assuring the industry meets regulations, narrows down the
scope of any recall by knowing exactly what products are at issue and most
importantly does no harm.
Some thoughts going into a new year…
I am sure that you, like me, sometimes question if we are winning the fight for
good health and sustainability. I know the importance of organic products and
how much better they are for all involved – the environment included. Sure my
family, like my business, buys local when at all possible, and as a family we
use fewer plastics and eat lower on the food chain. However, I confess that
there are times when I think, is it really worth it? I see a lot of products
come across my desk looking for distribution and know that many producers are
working hard to label products organic when they actually are not. But as we
head into a new year I want to urge each and every one of you to renew the
battle for sustainability, do not let up; we can not backslide.
The grass-roots cavalry as well as wealthy food gurus want to see Barack and
Michelle Obama become ”American Gothic”, even creating a symbolic White House
farm. Michael Pollan, author of the best-selling "In Defense of Food," wrote an
open letter to the next president in The New York Times magazine decrying
fossil-fuel-sucking, disease-promoting agribusiness, and calling for more
support of local foods and farming that relies more on the sun than "Sunoco."
The President elect even told Time magazine he read Pollan's analysis that "our
entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil . . . contributing more
greenhouse gases than our transportation sector . . . creating monocultures that
are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food
prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are
partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're
contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and obesity." But
Obama's nomination of former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack for Agriculture secretary
leaves unclear if he has a food strategy. Vilsack is a relatively open-minded
farm-belt politician on alternative energy. But Monsanto's vice president of
global plant breeding, Ted Crosbie, said Vilsack has "a very balanced view of
agriculture." Additionally, we witnessed during the campaign that Obama was
susceptible to pressure from big business as he stepped away from his earlier
comments indorsing Pollan’s remarks in fear of being labeled an elitist. That
pressure was mild compared to what the Agribusiness lobby will bring once he is
in office.
problem is that agribusiness is grossly unbalanced, pouring over a billion
dollars in the last decade to lobbying efforts. What did they get for their
money? They received $177 Billion in subsidies according to the Environmental
Working Group over that period of time. There is so little accountability in
farm payment programs that the GAO (Government Accountability Office) reported
in October that the Department of Agriculture paid a total of $49 million
dollars to 2,702 potentially ineligible people whose adjusted gross income was
more than $2.5 Million with less than 75% of that income derived from farming,
ranching or forestry.
The result is government waste and grossly unbalanced supermarket shelves, full
of sugars, starches, and fats that are cheap to produce but costly to our bodies
and our healthcare system. Can a community organizer from Chicago support
community supported agriculture? First he must display the courage to not back
away from tough positions and secondly, in this writer’s opinion, he will need
our help! Happy New Year and keep up the fight.
PLEASE PHONE YOUR ORDER IN TODAY: 773 874-5928
Here is some news you can use:
Scientists found higher levels of vitamins, antioxidants and "healthy" fat in
milk from organically farmed animals. The researchers believe that letting cows
graze on fresh grass boosts the nutritional value of their milk. The benefits
could include a lower risk of cancer and heart disease.
The study, which analyzed produce from 25 farms, found that organic milk
contained 67 per cent more antioxidants and vitamins than ordinary milk.
Scientists at Newcastle University also found organic milk contained 60 per cent
more of a healthy fatty acid called conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA9, which
tests have shown can shrink tumors.
Similar levels of vaccenic acid, which has been linked to a reduced risk of heart
disease, diabetes and obesity, were also found. Organic milk contained 39 per
cent more of the fatty acid Omega-3, which has been shown to cut the risk of
heart disease, and 32 per cent the levels of the less healthy Omega-6.
"(Organic milk) is more expensive to produce as you get less milk per unit of
land and it is more expensive to buy. But because it is higher in all these
beneficial compounds you don't need to buy as much to get the health benefits.
Researchers are virtually certain that the health befits emanate from the farm
cows diet of natural grass and clover. Organically farmed cows get more than 80
per cent of their diet from grazing on grass. Conventional farms, feed their
cattle just 37 per cent of their diet from grazing.
I believe that this latest research demonstrates that it is the cows' organic
diet that makes their milk healthier. It is the opinion of this writer that each
retailer and restaurateur should be selling organic dairy products as part of
their daily offering. Sustainable Foods is committed to making organics
obtainable and we can help you in your effort to provide organic dairy to your
clients and customers.
Give us a call and let’s discuss how we can provide you with organic dairy
choices that better serve your clients at prices that will make you money.
Some information you can use…
Foodies, or the 31 million U.S. adults who qualify for this Culinary category,
those that highly value healthy eating and sustainability, strive to lead the
way in other consumer areas such as shopping, fashion, nutrition and
automobiles. This information comes from a market research firm Packaged Facts,
which released a new report this past week; the report titled Foodies in the
U.S.: Five Cohorts: Foreign/Spicy, Restaurant, Cooks, Gourmet and Organic
Natural. Packaged Facts forecasts that even as most consumers seek ways to
tighten spending, foodies will continue to dine out almost daily, purchase
gourmet and organic foods exclusively, or indulge themselves in exotic
ingredients. Packaged Facts uses data from Simmons Market Research Bureau to
segment the overall foodie demographic in the five foodie cohorts reflected in
the report title.
While the groups do interact; Foreign/spicy and restaurant foodies are the
largest cohorts. Approximately 71 percent of foodies representing 10 percent of
all U.S. adults, or about 22 million, fall into the foreign/spicy cohort. This
cohort is helping to introduce the next wave of international cuisine to the
American palate. Meanwhile, 65 percent of foodies fall into the restaurant
cohort, representing 9 percent of all U.S. adults, or approximately 20 million.
The fastest growing and most dedicated of the cohorts is the organic/natural
cohort, both as its own independent cohort but as a large part of the two
previously mentioned cohorts. Unlike most Americans who eat at fast food chains
for the sake of convenience, foodies avoid fast food and consider dining out to
be a hobby or leisure activity.
“Some foodies don’t think of themselves as trendy, but overall they are
open-minded, curious, and eager to experiment with the new”, said Tatiana
Meerman, publisher of Packaged Facts. Research shows that they are significantly
more likely than average adults to be the first among their friends to shop at
new stores or try new styles.” It seems to this writer that this report makes a
very strong case for us to target this group in light of the forecasted economic
trends. Further it is fact that the easiest people to sell are the ones who want
to buy, and that if we are to win in a difficult economy we should target the
consumers that are more likely to buy and offer them products and services that
meet their demands. Organics are becoming a way of life for more and more of our
population and the smart retailer or restaurateur will recognize this and
respond to the demand. Let Sustainable Foods help you stay successful in these
challenging times. We offer a larger selection of organic produce, dairy, and
grocery items at competitive prices – Perhaps you should consider making your
New Years Resolution Sustainable.
Have a Great Holiday and know we appreciate your business – Thanks!
Are you keeping up with your competition?
A National Restaurant Association (NRA) survey of more than 1,600 professional
chefs was recently conducted and the results are both revealing and encouraging.
The Study reveals that nutrition and philosophy-driven food choices will be the
hottest trends on restaurant menus in 2009.
“In 2009, we will see healthier menu options with an emphasis on produce and
fruit, smaller dishes and fish, and an increase in the use of local and
sustainable ingredients,” said ACF National President John Kinsella. Many
leading restaurants will need to make some changes to remain relevant and to
attract new business in what promises to be a very competitive market.
Local produce, organics, bite-size desserts, healthful kids’ meals, and new cuts
of meat top the list of nearly 210 culinary items in the third annual “What’s
Hot” chef survey. Rounding out the top 10 trends are kids’ vegetable/fruit side
dishes, super fruits (including acai and mangosteen), small plates/ artisan
liquor and sustainable seafood. Organic foods are growing in demand in the
better restaurants as the price differences between organic and conventional
items flatten and the consumers are more concerned about food safety as well as
sustainability. It is important for us to recognize that as the wider trend of
health eating continues to grow the trend of choosing organic gains momentum.
In October, NRA surveyed 1,609 ACF chefs, asking them to rate 208 individual
food/beverage items, preparation methods and culinary themes as a “hot trend,”
“yesterday’s news,” or “perennial favorite” on restaurant menus in 2009.
Nutrition and health as a culinary theme is ranked number 11 in the survey,
underscoring the growing trends of consumer interest in healthful living.
Among the top 20 items, nutritionally balanced children’s dishes and side items,
produce and fruit items, smaller dishes, fish and gluten-free/allergy-conscious
meals illustrate that restaurant menus will continue to expand options for
health-conscious diners and this will increase the sales and use of organics.
Several among the top 20 trendy items are related to the emerging trend of
philosophy-driven food choices, including local sourcing, organics, artisanal
items, sustainable seafood and free-range pork/poultry.
Locally grown produce – rated the number-one trend on restaurant menus in 2009 –
has grown tremendously in popularity for a variety of reasons. The idea of
farm-fresh fruit and vegetables and minimal transportation are appealing to
many, and sourcing locally is also tied to supporting local communities and
businesses. This trend will spotlight the distribution companies like
Sustainable Foods that can get local product faster farm to fork and that has
strong relationships with the local growers.
Food and beverage items produced by small, artisan businesses also hold appeal,
as do animal welfare and environmental concerns. Various types of alcohol will
also heat up restaurant menus next year, both as a cooking ingredient and on the
drink menu. Micro-distilled liquor, culinary cocktails (created to complement
specific foods and dishes, savory drinks, etc.) and organic wine top the list of
trendy alcohol. Among non-alcohol beverages, specialty iced tea, organic coffee
and flavored/enhanced water will be the top trends.
Also included in the survey were questions about alcohol, kitchen and
cost-cutting trends. The chefs rated mixologists and signature cocktails as the
hottest beverage alcohol trend. The top trend in restaurant kitchens next year
will be environmentally friendly equipment and practices, and the best way to
save money in the kitchen is through sustainable practices, according to the
experts.