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Want To Eat And Feel Better? Try A Farmers Market

Want To Eat And Feel Better? Try A Farmers Market

By Lori Nickel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (TNS)

Trainers and nutritionists generally agree on this theory: Our weight and our waistlines are determined 80 percent by what we eat and 20 percent by our amount of exercise and activity.

My summer resolution is to start shopping at farmers markets. I don’t, usually, because I’m too busy and that’s just another stop to make, but it’s time to reconsider. I’m tired of buying pale and flavorless strawberries from the store that were shipped from drought-stricken California when I would rather support local farmers anyway.

I just need to get over some of the higher prices.

So I asked Nicole Fasules, a certified personal trainer and registered dietitian at Milwaukee’s Way of Life Nutrition & Fitness who also works with professional athletes, to come with me to a farmer’s market recently in downtown Milwaukee.

I peppered her with questions as we picked up pea pods.

Q. What do you look for first whenever you’re at a farmers market?

A. The greens, for sure, because I eat those every day.

Q. I used to think I just felt better in the summer because of more sunlight and vitamin D, but even I eat more fruits and vegetables now because they’re in season. Could I be feeling better because I’m eating a little better?

A. Absolutely. Fresh produce like fruits and vegetables are a very high in vitamin C and antioxidants. A lot of our fruits and vegetables help to oxygenate the blood, which is great, because that aids in energy production. It’s cool how you can minimally take in a little more fruits and vegetables and feel such a great difference. That’s how powerful real, fresh food is.

Q. What’s the biggest difference between organic and regular produce _ besides the price?

A. There are some foods that are an absolute must to buy organic. I do not believe everything has to be organic but because of the amount of pesticides that are needed for certain crops, there are certain things that are wiser to choose organic: anything that has an edible skin. All your berries, all your greens. Celery, bell peppers are big ones. Apples are really big.

Things that don’t need to be organic: bananas. Nothing permeates through the peel. Avocado. Just rinse this off as much as possible because you are putting a knife through it. Pesticides actually stay in our body for some time and they collect in our fat tissue. They eventually leave our body through the detoxification process.

Q. So pesticides are a superficial thing? It doesn’t get in to the root system and into the fruit or vegetable, it is just sprayed on the outside?

A. It can be both, depending on how it’s done. Now, not all of the farmers markets produce is pesticide free. I wouldn’t trust that it is. You have to ask. What I like about organic food is that it has to get to people faster. It will go bad quicker.

The conventional bell pepper could have been on a truck for two weeks before you got it and another week before you decided to do something with it. And the nutrients aren’t there. Organic, local food will have less shipping and more nutrients in it. It will also have far more flavor

Q. It won’t be long before we’re talking about the Wisconsin State Fair and the food. The whole point of the state fair beginning in 1851 was to showcase our agricultural bounty. But now the fair is known just as much for the crazy foods. You called it a science experiment two years ago. How do you feel about the food now?

A. It’s pretty crappy. I’ve tried it. I tried a fried cookie dough thing once. I’m not going to finish something like that. I’m going to buy it, I’m literally going to take a bite out of it to see what it tastes like and I’m going to throw it away. Let me see what this tastes like because it is crazy, and I want to experience that. But it’s not giving me anything that’s usable to my body, so I certainly don’t want to keep exposing my body to it.

Q. I can’t do that. At Summerfest, sharing a sampler platter, I had a hard time throwing away the last French fries because I paid $9 for the plate.

A. You’ve got to let go of that. You’ll never get value for eating that. It’s not about value. Do we really get value out of purchasing $8 coffee? No. I don’t need this in my body. I don’t go to these places to eat _ I eat a meal before, or I go out to eat after.

Q. I want to talk about that. The value of food. Every parent knows you can go to a grocery store and buy hot dogs, buns, chips, baked beans and soda and feed a family of four for less than $20. It’s hard for families on a budget to shop at farmers markets or buy organic.

The only way I can justify paying so much more is when I look at the long-term effects of eating unhealthy, I guess, and what that costs us in medical bills, health insurance and even things like treating depression. But it’s hard to always connect those dots between this grocery purchase and that annual physical exam. How do you convince someone that the real value is eating good food and not cheap food?

A. It is hard with a family. You have to think about what you’re getting from your food. And how are you really feeling after you eat it? Most people don’t know what it feels like to feel good. They just accept feeling bad. You really have to consider what you got from the hot dog and chips. It’s not giving us anything that is usable to our bodies. That’s clear how ill people are, how achy people are. We deserve quality. Why aren’t we choosing quality?

Q. I still struggle with it. It’s almost like we have to re-evaluate our living expenses. It’s not: house payment or rent, car payment, cellphone, cable, insurance, clothes, entertainment and then groceries. It’s as if food has to rank higher.

A. Exactly. Are our priorities so whacked out? Food is a priority. You’ve got to fuel your body the way it needs, and deserves, to be fueled. Of course it’s challenging to eat good produce on a budget, but I feel that’s what makes farmers markets so much better.

You’re getting fresher food and more nutrients. I will get philosophical here. We are consuming our choices. You buy cable, for what? Crap TV. It fills your mind with crappy things and it makes you feel crappy about yourself. Why do we do that? Why are we spending money on that? Why aren’t we doing Ironmans or things that make us feel 12 years old again without any aches and pains after it? Doesn’t that bring you joy more than another … Kardashian episode? It’s all about your choices. Do you want to fill yourself up with positivity? That makes you feel amazing? Or do you want to fill yourself up with junk?

Photo by Luke Jones via Flickr

Organic, Local, And Natural: Sorting Through Food Labels

Organic, Local, And Natural: Sorting Through Food Labels

Conscientious shoppers seeking healthy, environmentally sound food choices are confronted every day by a messy and nearly indecipherable barrage of buzzwords, labels, and symbols. With the proliferation of certifications and stamps, discerning precisely which foods adhere to what standards, who sets those standards, and who enforces them can be nearly impossible. To help, we’ve tried to break down these mysterious terms as simply as possible.

Organic: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) arbitrates organic certification at the national level. Ever since October 2002, the USDA Organic seal has appeared on crops, livestock, and processed foods that meet the standards set forth by the National Organic Program. In short, organic crops are free of irradiation, sewage sludge, synthetic fertilizers, prohibited pesticides, and genetically modified organisms; organic livestock are raised without the use antibiotics or growth hormones, and provided with 100% organic feed and access to the outdoors. Straightforward enough.

The USDA accredits local organizations (either state agencies or private companies) that actually handle the certifications. 16 states have their own agencies — usually each state’s respective Department of Agriculture — that are responsible for regulating USDA certification within their borders. These states occasionally tack on their own requirements for certification in addition to the what the USDA stipulates. But only one state — California — requires certification from its own organic program in addition to the USDA’s, which makes sense considering that California’s Central Valley is responsible for a large percentage of the nation’s total agricultural output.

This year the USDA initiated the Organic Survey, which is the Department’s attempt to take a “complete inventory of all known organic producers that are certified, exempt from certification, and transitioning to certified organic production.” The survey, which will examine everything from the methods used in the production of organic agriculture to the industry’s marketing practices, comes at a time when demand for organic produce, dairy, and meat has never been higher among consumers. The Department’s last such survey, its 2012 Census of Agriculture, found that the total organic product from American ranches and farms increased 83 percent between 2007 and 2012.

It’s here that socially-conscious consumers find themselves facing another pickle in the produce aisle. Much organic food, for all its virtues, is under the sway of Big Agra, some of whose emissaries have sat on the National Organics Standards Board, which makes recommendations about which chemicals and additives can be considered “organic,” diluting the word’s integrity in many shoppers’ eyes. The notions of responsible, healthy food production that organic consumers desire from their growers are not exactly evoked by the likes of Kraft, PepsiCo, and General Mills.

Local: Enter “local.” Demand for locally-sourced organic produce has soared in the last seven years, according to a USDA study, which found that shoppers valued locally-produced agriculture for a cornucopia of reasons: local food is seen as being healthier and fresher, having lasting environmental benefits, contributing to local economies, and offering more variety.

But according to a 2010 report commissioned by the USDA, findings on local food’s economic, nutritional, and environmental benefits were all inconclusive. Despite the confidence consumers ostensibly have in the integrity of buying local, in 2011, more than half of local food sales came from farmers selling exclusively via intermediaries such as restaurants and grocery stores, as opposed to direct-to-consumer methods like farmers markets and CSAs. Which means that essentially, a lot of shoppers were taking the store’s or chef’s word for it.

You see, “local” is a non-enforceable concept. Unlike organic, which has very clearly articulated guidelines, even if they are not up to every consumer’s standards, there is no set definition for “local.”  Organic certification standards may be flawed, but they are written in black and white. To further muddle matters, a study conducted in 2011 and whose results were published last year showed that several consumers mistakenly conflate and confuse the meanings of “local” and “organic.”

Natural: And there is yet another signifier of healthy, responsible food that gets tossed around by marketers: “Natural.” Careful with this one. It doesn’t really mean anything at all, not officially anyway. There is a nascent, Brooklyn-based non-profit organization, Certified Naturally Grown (CNG), described as “a grassroots alternative to Certified Organic,” whose requirements and system of certification are loosely based on the USDA’s Organic model. According to their website, over 700 farms and apiaries are CNG Certified. (Just to really complicate things, there is also Natural Food Certifiers, but they’re actually just one of the companies that is accredited to give USDA Organic certification.)

Perhaps the best move is a to maintain a degree of healthy skepticism for all stamps and certifications. The late great comedian George Carlin cut to the heart of the issue in his timeless routine on the pitfalls and duplicities of food labels: “The word ‘natural’ is completely meaningless. Everything is ‘natural.’ ‘Nature’ includes everything. It’s not just trees and flowers. It’s everything.”

Photo: Chiot’s Run via Flickr

Battles Rage In Oregon, Colorado Over Genetically Modified Foods

Battles Rage In Oregon, Colorado Over Genetically Modified Foods

By Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times

Voters in two Western states are caught in fierce battles over whether consumers will know what is deep inside their food.

Oregon and Colorado on Nov. 4 will decide the fate of labeling laws for genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, the latest fronts in a battle over packaging. Measure 92 in Oregon and Proposition 105 in Colorado call for labeling food so that purchasers know whether they are buying products that contain materials that have been genetically engineered or modified.

The states could become the first to pass such a referendum; Washington and California rejected similar measures after expensive campaigns in 2013 and 2012, respectively. Vermont approved such labeling through the legislative process, but the issue is still being fought in the courts.

In its most basic terms, the ballot measures pit coalitions of foodies, organic farmers and nutrition activists against many of the nation’s leading manufacturers including the biotechnology company Monsanto, Kraft Foods, and Coca-Cola. The coalition fighting against labeling has also included large grocery chains and some farmers, and some of the labeling advocates are sizable companies in their own right.

Those who want the label contend that consumers are entitled to know whether their food contains GMOs so that they can make informed decisions about their purchase. Opponents fear labeling will stigmatize their products and will place an economic burden on consumers because of the higher costs associated with separating out modified products from others.

A GMO is any plant or animal that has been modified with outside DNA, a practice companies contend is useful as a way to increase yield or provide protection against some diseases.

Still, GMOs carry the stigma of past debates that centered on “Frankenfood,” and raise fear of good, scientific intentions running into unexpected consequences. That is an ungrounded fear, say scientists who have studied the issue. A 2008 report by scientists for the National Academy of Sciences found no health problems associated with using GMOs and well more than a majority of all commercial products have them.
The current battle in Colorado mirrors those positions.

“What California really did was wake up the country,” Larry Cooper, co-chairman of Right to Know Colorado, told the Los Angeles Times. Even though the California labeling proposition lost, Cooper said the effort helped raise awareness on the issue.

In Colorado, the supporters of the labeling campaign are heavily outweighed by their opponents: $700,000 to an estimated $12 million, Cooper said.

“It’s definitely a David-versus-Goliath thing,” Cooper said, adding he was proud of the grass-roots support his side had marshaled.

“If they are so proud of GMOs, why would they be opposed” to a measure that advertises them on the label? Cooper asked.

Opponents contend that labeling measures could hurt the people they were designed to help.

“We oppose state-by-state mandatory labeling laws like Measure 92 in Oregon and Proposition 105 in Colorado,” said Monsanto spokesman Thomas M. Helscher said in an email to the Los Angeles Times. “The reason we don’t support them is simple. They don’t provide any safety or nutrition information, and these measures will hurt, not help, consumers, taxpayers, and businesses. We support a federal approach which ensures food safety and consumer choice.”

In Oregon, the battle has become the costliest over a ballot measure in the state’s history.

As of the weekend, the two sides have raised $16.7 million, The Portland Tribune reported.

Monsanto has donated more than $4 million to defeat Measure 92, it was reported.

On the other side, the Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps company, which has supported similar labeling battles elsewhere, has given $1.15 million.

And in a clever public relations move, Ben & Jerry’s, the Vermont ice cream company and label supporter, renamed its popular Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor to Food Fight Fudge Brownie to draw attention to the ballot initiatives.

Photo: CT Senate Democrats via Flickr

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