Baby's First Foods

I had a fussy baby while I tried to make dinner this week. I sat her on the counter and gave her a slice of dried canteloupe, from The Russian Farmer.



I bought it last Saturday at Argenta. (Yep, there are a few renegade farmers that sell there on Saturdays. I also bought lettuce, mushrooms, peppers, and persimmons.)



She eats it like beef jerky. Well, slobbers on it is a better description. It was too sweet for me.



But my 7 month old loved it. When she was finished (I took it away before she was finished, not wanting her to choke on it) it felt like a wet fish. *grin*



And today she ate puréed acorn squash (from Kellogg Valley Farms) with coconut cream and a dash of Real Salt.

Yum!

The Fight Continues: Food Safety Bill

From the Allinance for Natural Health:


On December 8, the House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) H.R.3082. A CR is supposed to provide temporary, stopgap funding for the government while budget bills are worked out. But this CR included the language of the Senate food safety bill—language that will still affect small food producers (organic farms, small farms, mom-and-pop roadside stands, etc.) most of all. It will completely transform the food and farming industries—for the worse.

Putting the text of another bill into a CR is a prime example of the way Congress operates. It is ethically wrong; indeed it is an example of corruption. We saw this kind of slight of hand in the passage of the health reform legislation, and the American public should be fed up with it.

Now this House CR goes back to the Senate, which is expected to pick it up by the middle of next week. The rumor is that instead of dealing with the CR directly, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) will introduce the Senate’s own omnibus bill (even larger than the CR) that will also contain the food safety language along and who knows what else.


Three specific concerns remain, all major:

1. The bill mandates that every registered facility must be inspected by the FDA: high-risk facilities will be inspected initially within the first five years and then every three years thereafter; low-risk facilities, initially within seven years, and then every five. The FDA will need to hire an additional 5,000 employees to do all the inspections. Big companies love this, because the FDA will be so bogged down inspecting all the smaller operations that they won’t have time to focus on the big guys—where the actual food safety problems arise. Food safety legislation should be targeted at the large industrial farms, but, no surprise, this bill does just the opposite.

2. Language in the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act currently reads:
An officer or qualified employee of the Food and Drug Administration may order the detention, in accordance with this subsection, of any article of food that is found during an inspection, examination, or investigation under this chapter conducted by such officer or qualified employee, if the officer or qualified employee has credible evidence or information indicating that such article presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.

Under this bill, the boldfaced text above would be changed to:


if the officer or qualified employee has reason to believe that such article is adulterated or misbranded. And remember, as interpreted by the FDA, a food or supplement may be deemed “adulterated” if there have been any record-keeping violations. “Misbranded” can mean that the producer makes a completely true statement about the product but without FDA permission.

So when the FDA is inspecting a facility, if they merely believe an item is misbranded or adulterated—no concrete evidence is required—they can confiscate all of that product. If there is a suspected record-keeping error for a supplement, the entire stock can be taken by the FDA.

3. A company has to be registered to operate. Under this bill, if the FDA finds there to be a reasonable probability that a product may cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, the FDA may suspend that facility’s registration, effectively shutting it down. This seems reasonable, but there is only one informal opportunity for companies to reinstate registration, with no opportunity whatsoever to appeal—they are at the mercy of an FDA inspector’s whim. This should not be allowed in America.

Why does all of this matter? Keep in mind the FDA has consistently done Big Pharma’s bidding and has attacked supplement companies and small food producers (such as the cherry and walnut growers). The bill gives the FDA unbridled authority to ratchet things up even further. The FDA needs to focus on large producers, not get its tentacles onto small producers.

Please contact your senators TODAY and ask them to oppose the food safety bill language that is currently in the CR (though it might be found in the omnibus bill next week). This may be our last chance to defeat this bill—please take action immediately!


Here's some contact information and a petition from the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund:


TAKE ACTION People need to contact their Senators now to tell them to Vote "NO" on Cloture for H.R. 3082 and Oppose the "FDA Food Safety Modernization Act" (Division D of H.R. 3082).

STEP 1 - Send a live fax message to your Senators through the online petition at www.ftcldf.org/stopS510 even if you've already used the petition this week.

STEP 2 - Call your Senators and be sure to give your zip code
Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121; ask to be connected to your Senator's office. OR
Go to http://www.congress.org/; enter your zip code on the right side under "Get Involved" and click "Go". Click on your Senators' names then click the "Contact" tab to get office phone number(s). If you get voicemail, leave a brief message with your zip code. If the line is busy, keep calling until you get through.


Lisa

Winter Health Linky Love

Are you afraid to eat liver because you think of that organ as the body's toxin storehouse? Read this explanation and be sure to study the chart comparing the vast difference in supplied vitamins and minerals in liver to fruits and veggies. Makes me want to jump in the liver game with both feet.

Suffering from a cold yet? Yep. That would be me. If you had a house full of runny-nose little kids, it would be you, too! I just read Dr. Mercola's article on beating and preventing the common cold. You list-makers out there will love it. Check off all the things you're already doing and add a few more. Raw milk? Check. Coconut oil? Check. Pastured eggs? Check. Hydrogen peroxide drops in your ear? Uh--no.  ??!!  You get my drift.

It always strikes me as sickeningly funny that anyone would have to make arguments for real food vs. modernized versions of food (aka "fake food"). But if you can get past this blogger's idea that "Mother Nature provided" anything at all, you'll find some very reasonable logic in favor of real eggs, pork, and butter, as opposed to what the government entities, with their verrrry lined pockets, would like you to buy. (Ingredient labels included.) Better health starts with the basics.

Continuing to eat locally is one of the best things you can do for yourself during the winter months. Why not visit Argenta Market or check out the Arkansas Sustainability Network website? (Conway readers can go here.) You can place your order online and pick up your local goodies on Saturday. Get fresh eggs, raw cheeses, frozen summer produce, meats, winter greens, herbs, etc. By the way, one of our very own local favorites, North Pulaski Farms, was featured on Fox16. Some of us missed it when it originally aired (darn "9:00 News" weirdness). If you missed it, you can watch the segment here.

Buy yourself some good, organic raw apple cider vinegar. Not only can apple cider vinegar be used for many, many things in your home, but it can also keep you healthy. Try a "Sweet and Sour," made with one tablespoon of "ACV," one tablespoon of raw honey, and eight ounces of water. Drink it hot like a tea.

For garlic lovers and haters alike, here's an article with lots of information about the healing properties of garlic. I can personally attest to several miraculous recoveries thanks to the use of raw garlic!! In fact, just the other day while suffering from the cold I mentioned above, I minced a clove, covered it in raw honey, and downed it in one swallow. The next day I was symptom-free. No lie.

And speaking of garlic, Erin once told me about GOOT, a mixture of raw garlic, olive oil, and coconut oil, and I have used it successfully on many occasions. Sinus infections, for instance! It's amazing stuff! I keep some in the fridge at all times. Read here about its usefulness and how to make it. (SO easy!)

Stay well!

Lori

Roasted Black Mission Figs

by Jan Robertson


This is how I made a four-ingredient, delicious dessert by roasting Black Mission Figs:

-The ingredients are Evaporated Palm Sugar, Coconut Ghee, Black Mission Figs and salt.

-Cut the figs in half and place on a greased cookie sheet.

-Make a crumbly mixture of the palm sugar and coconut ghee. I found that a ratio of approximately two parts palm sugar to one part coconut ghee worked well but you can adjust to your liking. Make little balls of this mixture and press onto the surface of each fig. Sprinkle with a little salt to balance the sweetness.

-Roast in a 350 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes. Roasting time will vary according to the ripeness of the figs. You want them to cook until they soften. Then turn your oven to broil. Stay close and watch for the tops of the figs to begin to caramelize and for the syrup to run off and harden- about five minutes.

-Place figs in a bowl and drizzle with pan syrup. Don't forget to add a piece of the candy that formed on the cookie sheet during broiling.

We ate these right out of the oven. I added a little Piima Cream to mine but I think they would also be delicious served over vanilla ice cream.

UPDATE: Food Safety Bill Fight Continues

Here's the lastest information on S.510 from the Weston A. Price Foundation:

Last week, the Senate passed S510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, with the Tester-Hagan amendment. Almost immediately, members of the House of Representatives raised objections that S510 includes provisions for user fees, which they argued were revenue raising provisions that violated the Constitutional requirement that all tax provisions originate in the House.

No one in the Senate apparently noticed this problem, yet unnamed House members supposedly spotted it within hours. Other bills that have originated in the Senate have included user fees and passed without objection. There may be Constitutional problems with the provisions, but it also may be a maneuver to stall the bill in order to make changes.

With the clock ticking on the lame duck session, the procedural objections might finally kill this bill. But don't count on it! The SAME day that the procedural objections were announced, Agribusiness lobby groups sent letters urging House members to conference S510 with HR 2749 (the House version), for the single specific purpose of stripping out the Tester-Hagan amendment. Until the procedural objections were raised, the House leadership had pledged to bring S510 to a vote without conferencing the bills. It's suspicious that the Agribusiness groups were prepared to immediately take advantage of the delay to try to remove the protections of the Tester-Hagan amendment.

To quote from Agribusiness: one letter was signed by produce industry groups, which represent the majority of fresh fruits and vegetables sold in the United States, while the second letter was sent by organizations that represent the vast majority of growers, producers, shippers, distributors, processors, packers, and wholesalers. In other words, these lobby groups represent the industrial food system that has been the source of the problems. Yet they are working to convince House members to impose the same regulations on local farmers market producers as on their huge corporate operations.

To be clear, we dont think S.510 is a good bill even with the Tester-Hagan amendment. It increases FDA's power, which will undoubtedly lead to even more battles between FDA and local food producers and consumers. FDA has abused the powers it already has, and that will almost certainly continue, with or without this bill. But as bad as the bill is now, it would be even worse without the amendment.

Agribusiness's real concern about the Tester-Hagan amendment isn't food safety, but the precedent set by having Congress recognize that small, direct-marketing producers are different, and should be regulated differently, from the large Agribusinesses.

TAKE ACTION
Please CALL or EMAIL your Congressman! You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or go to http://www.house.gov/htbin/zipfind to find their website (if the phone lines are busy, the best way to reach them is through the Contact page on their website)

Message: My name is ____, and I am a constituent who is concerned that FDA will abuse its new authority under the food safety bill to hurt small farmers and local food producers. IF the food safety bill passes, it's critical that it at least include the Tester-Hagan amendment to protect small-scale producers from the regulations for hazard analysis plans and growing and harvesting standards. And whether this bill passes or not, I want my Congressman to take steps to rein in the FDA's abuses, through limiting appropriations and overseeing the agency's rulemaking. I would like to talk with you more about this, please call me back at ________.

MORE INFORMATION
The structure and language of the Tester-Hagan amendment is complex because every piece of this amendment was fiercely fought by the opponents. To be understood, the amendment needs to be read in the context of S510 and the existing background law, including the 2002 Bioterrorism Act.

Here are some of the key provisions of the amendment:

* For farmers selling fresh fruits and vegetables: if the producer grosses under half a million dollars, adjusted for inflation, and sells at least half of their produce directly to qualified end users (see below), then the farmer is exempt from the produce safety standards (i.e. regulations in which FDA would tell farmers how to grow and harvest their crops). See pages 16-19 of the amendment. Note that the FDA has already started working on these growing and harvesting standards, and claims that the existing law -- without S510 or Tester-Hagan -- gives it authority to impose the standards on ALL farmers.

* For farmers and producers who sell processed or value-added foods: if they sell more than half of their products directly to individual consumers, they do not have to register with the FDA nor develop a hazard analysis plan. This is due to the provision entitled clarification of intent that directs FDA how to define retail food establishments, see pages 1-2 of the amendment.

* For farmers and producers who sell processed or value-added foods, but do not sell more than half of their products directly to individual consumers: they are ALREADY under a legal requirement to register with the FDA due to the 2002 Bioterrorism Act. The Tester-Hagan amendment provides that these producers can avoid having to comply with S510s extensive requirements for hazard analysis plans by:

1) Submitting documentation that they gross under half a million dollars, adjusted for inflation, and sell more than half their products directly to qualified end users (see below), and

2) EITHER providing documentation that they comply with state and local laws such as a copy of their commercial kitchen license OR preparing a simplified hazard plan. See pages 5-6 (the or is found on line 4 of page 6)

* Qualified end users are (a) individual consumers, WITHOUT any restriction on their location or proximity to the producer, and (b) restaurants and retail food establishments that are either in-state OR within 275 miles. The farmers and producers will NOT have to ask individual consumers where they come from. See pages 7-8 & 18.

* The $500,000 limit on the exemptions is adjusted for inflation. See page 5, lines 13-14, and page 16, line 12

* The amendment also directs FDA to conduct a study that would, for the first time, look at the issues of scale and type of processes in relation to foodborne illness. The directive to do a study is the first attempt to get data to show that smaller-scale producers who don't commingle their products and who do less processing and transportation produce safer food. The bill does NOT mandate that any individual person hand over the information to the government. The FDA is also directed to use the results of the study to define very small businesses that will also be exempt from the hazard analysis plan requirements.

You can read the Tester-Hagan amendment for yourself at http://tester.senate.gov/Legislation/upload/tester_amendment_agreement.pdf

Linky Love

~ Will drinking skim milk make you fat?

~ Here are three ways to naturally beat the winter blues.

~ Foods for Fertility

~ The next two links really encouraged me in seeking balance with this whole food thing:
Balancing Nutrition and Priorities Part 1 and Part 2 from Passionate Homemaking.

~ As a refresher, here's a list of similarities among traditional diets.

 - Julie

Kitchen Help from Kiddos

Long before my now five year old son, Gramm, turned two, I began letting him help me in the kitchen. This was such a fun time for us! I would let him play in the tupperware, or I would put dry beans or rice in a 9x13 pan and let him "cook". It was a great bonding experience and it kept him entertained while I cooked dinner.

My twin girls, Vivian and Brooklyn, are nearing three and I've just started letting them help me in the kitchen. They really aren't much help at all, but I don't think they should have to miss out on time in the kitchen occasionally just because there are two of them at once. And, you know if the twins are cooking, Gramm has to help, too. Having six little hands in the kitchen at one time while I'm trying to cook can get a little crazy. Along the way, I've learned a few things that have helped make our time in the kitchen enjoyable.

First off, get over my bad self and let the kids make a mess. Below is Gramm at 16 months in the kitchen.

Secondly, don't freak out about knives. Seriously, Gramm started using a rounded-tip steak knife to chop vegetables when he was 4. He cut himself one time and it was just a little scratch. I am convinced this helped with his fine motor skills. He still cuts a mad carrot. And, he grates cheddar like it's his job.

Brooklyn wielding a butter knife and showing the mushroom who's boss.

Vivian concentrating hard:

Thirdly, pretend to be Julia Child and explain to your children every single thing you are doing. Gramm has always been very articulate. I've done my pretend cooking shows with him on a very regular basis from birth till now. And, it won't be long till one of my little sweeties tells me "don't crowd the mushrooms!"

Fourthly, it's okay that I don't let my kids help me in the kitchen every time I cook. Helping me is a privilege, it's not a given. It does take more energy from me and I need to be sure I'm in a place where I can tolerate messes being made and children in my kitchen while keeping a smile on my face. I have a strict 'no cussing in the kitchen' policy at my house. If we're in the kitchen, and you're gonna make me cuss, then you gotta get out. :) But, of course, this little man never makes me cuss....this picture was taken in July of this year.

Lastly, enjoy the process. Let your kids be kids, even in the kitchen.

How I Chop an Onion

Some people swear by the Pampered Chef chopper.  I don't care for them.  They take up precious space in my always full dishwasher.  Plus, I think I can chop an onion faster with my knife than I could if I owned a chopper.  Definitely, I can use my knife to control the size of the onion pieces.

First decide which end is up.

Whack off the top (not the root hairs).

With cut side (top of onion) on your board, cut the onion in half.

Peel off the papery outer layer.

Make slices through the onion, depending on how large you want the pieces.  Be sure not to cut all the way through the root - this is what holds it together. 

In the picture below, the root ball is hidden under my thumb.  The onion is still in tact.  I've just spread it apart to demonstrate the size of slices.

 Lastly, chop perpendicular to the slices you just made.

Voila!  Chopped onion.

See what others are doing for Monday Mania with The Healthy Home Economist

-Julie

Surreptitious Baking

I was making Baked Oatmeal one day last week and had a sudden twinge of laziness.

I didn't feel like peeling my good, organic Honeycrisp apples this morning for the baby and the "texture-issues" child, so......................

I secretly shredded them skin and all.

And nobody noticed a thing.

Mmmwwahahahaha!!!

Lori

Fieldtrip to Barnhill Orchards

One day at the farmers market I asked Bob Barnhill about his pecans. The conversation was complete with tractors and helmets; I knew my son would love to see the operation.

Mr. Barnhill graciously invited us for a field trip. Well, to be more accurate - I invited myself. And kept calling him to remind him to let me know when he was going to make his trees shake.





The mechanism on the back of the tractor could have a fancy name. I'll call it the tree shaker.
The kids cheered when the trees shook and pecans fell.


Once picked up (the old fashioned way) the pecans are sorted into sizes with this machine.


And cracked in this machine. The nuts still need a bit of elbow grease after being cracked.


We also saw one of the Barnhill gardens.  


And brought home some of the sweetest broccoli I've ever eaten...in my entire life!

Thanks for showing us around Mr. Barnhill!