The Case for Organic Food

 Just a few generations ago, in the early 40s, we didn’t have the word “organic.” All food in those days was grown and prepared without pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, or irradiation.  Foods wire unrefined, whole, or minimally processed.  With the advent of chemical farming and food processing after World War II, the soils and foods of much of the world have been depleted of many important minerals and nutrients.

These days our food is not only deficient in nutrients, but also full of pollutants and farming chemicals.  The modern process of denaturing foods via heavy refining and chemical treatment deeply affects the life force of our food supply, making it difficult to foster equilibrium and health.

Pesticides have been shown to cause cancer and liver, kidney, and blood diseases.  They create extra work for our immune systems.  They accumulate in tissues, resulting in a weakened immune system, and allow other carcinogens and pathogens to filter into the body and affect our health.  Organic certification is assurance to the public that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures without persistent chemical inputs.

I bring all this up, because, now that I have been eating a high raw vegan diet for several years, I notice more than ever how much healthier organic produce looks in the stores, how much better it keeps, and what a bargain it really is, in spite of the fact that it costs a little bit more than conventionally grown food.  And, yes, the fact that we now have to say “organic,” like it’s a special and unusual request rather than the way the food was created in the first place, leads me to speak out with some reminders about why opting for “organic” is a smart choice for anyone concerned with individual, community, or global health.  Following are a few reminders about the benefits of buying and eating organic foods.

1.  It keeps chemicals off your plate.  Pesticides are poisons are designed to kill living organisms and thus are harmful to humans. Many of them were registered and approved long before much research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is a way to prevent any more of these chemicals from getting into the air, the water, and the food supply.

2.  It protects future generations.  Children are four times more sensitive to exposure to cancer-causing pesticides in foods than adults.

3.  It protects the water supply.  More than half the country’s population is using water which is pesticide polluted.

4.  It promotes harmony with nature.  Much of the three billion tons of topsoil which is eroded each year from  US croplands is due to conventional farming practices, which often ignore the health of the soil. Organic agriculture respects the balance necessary for a healthy ecosystem, and wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fencerows, wetlands, and other natural areas.

5.  It saves energy and supports a true economy.  More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate, and harvest all the crops in the US. While organic foods might seem expensive at first, remember that your tax dollars pay for hazardous waste clean-up and environmental damage caused by conventional farming.

6.  It helps small farmers.  Some large-scale farms are making the conversion to organic practices, for sure.  However, most organic farms are small, independently owned and operated family farms.  Organic agriculture can be a lifeline for small farms because it offers an alternative market where sellers can demand fair prices for crops.

7.  It promotes better nourishment and flavor.  Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil, which then produces nourishing plants.  Well-maintained and respected soil produces strong, healthy plants that have more nutrients than conventionally grown produce.  Do  the taste test yourself!  Organic produce simply tastes better.  End of story.

In recent months I have stepped up my insistence on buying as much organic produce as I can, and am less and less willing to compromise my health and the health of those around me with second class, adulterated foods. Please consider joining me in the effort.  The consumers demand the food they want to put on their tables and in their lunchboxes, the more we will get it.

Kombucha, the Tea of Gods

I was six or seven months into a high raw food diet several years ago, when I discovered Kombucha.   Kombucha is a fermented, sweetened tea that employs a colony of bacteria and yeast to consume sugars and transform the tea mixture into a living drink.  The microbe colony responsible for this friendly ferment forms a gelatinous layer that floats on the surface of the tea.  This floater is referred to as the “mother” of living vinegars and is often referred to as SCOBY, “Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast.”

As with all living foods, enzymes, probiotics, and concentrated nutrients engender these foods with health-supporting properties.  Research in Europe has shown Kombucha to be supportive of digestive function.  Other potential benefits include immunity support, cancer prevention, and improving liver function.

What a wonderful beverage!  I bought several bottles from our local health food store, and then learned how to make it myself.  Since then it has been a staple in my refrigerator that I enjoy often, particularly in warm weather.  It’s tart and tingly, reminiscent of champagne, soothing as it travels down the channel into the belly where it does its job of providing pro-biotics, positive, digestion-enhancing, constipation-relieving  microbes to the system.

For those of you who would like to make your own Kombucha, here’s how.

Equipment

A one gallon GLASS jar.

6 air tight bottles suitable for bottling liquid.  (I use bottles saved from my store-bought Kombucha – they’re perfect.)

Plastic spoon

Kombucha in starter tea
 

Ingredients

1 Kombucha culture* in some starter tea

4 black or green tea bags (black is best)

1 cup sugar (organic is best)

The best water available; spring water is wonderful, otherwise filtered is good.

 

* If you don’t have a Kombucha mother in some starter tea, you can often find one by asking at your local health food stores.  People there often have them in their refrigerators waiting for good homes.  Some health food stores sell packaged Kombucha starter kits.  Alternatively, the bottled kombucha available in health food stores, if it is unpasteurized, can be used to grow a culture (“mother”).  Just one bottle will do it, along with some patience.

Empty the bottle of Kombucha into a glass quart jar, and cover it with a cloth or paper towel (so it can breathe) and an elastic band. Keep it at room temperature for two weeks without touching the jar.  The culture is slowly growing.  That “baby” can be used, then, to start your own batch of Kombucha. 

Directions

Boil 1 gallon water

Remove from heat and add 1 cup sugar.  Stir until it is dissolved.

Add the 4 tea bags and stir gently.  Let steep until the mixture is room temperature.

Pour the liquid into the gallon jar.

Add the mushroom and the starter Kombucha.

Cover with a towel or paper towel….something that breathes.

Label the mixture with the date. Let sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.

Taste it after about a week with a non-metal spoon.  If it tastes like vinegar, it’s ready.  If it’s still quite sweet, taste it every couple of days until the tastes suits you.  When you think it’s right , (and it really is all about taste here), remove the mother and ½-1 cup  liquid to a jar.  Cover with a tight lid and store in refrigerator until you’re ready to make another batch of Kombucha.

Decant the new Kombucha into glass airtight bottles. Refrigerate. 

That’s it!  You have Kombucha. 

Notes

The mother must be stored in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make more Kombucha.  It will grow at room temperature.

 The next time you make Kombucha using that mother, it may grow so much that it grows a “baby.”  If it does, you can peel the baby off for a second jar.  If it doesn’t detach easily, just leave it attached, and it should be easily detached after another batch or two.

 

If you like your drinks on the fizzy side, just leave your freshlybottled batch in a warm place for 3 or 4 days, and then checkon it.  Be careful, as they might get really bubbly  or even explode if left for too long.

Enjoy!

Form

 

Cherries in Wisconsin

Cherries are Wisconsin

When we were in Door County, Wisconsin a few weeks ago, I was ready to see bags of cheese curds in every store and at every roadside stand, and  I was not surprised that restaurants served them almost universally.  It’s what they have in Wisconsin.  But, I had forgotten in the 5 years since we’ve been there that there are just as many avenues for procuring and enjoying ruby sweet cherries as there are cheese curds.  And for this raw foodist, the cherries trump the cheese bits any day.

Seriously, the cherries were everywhere. In restaurants we visited many of our friends enjoyed a slice or three of cherry pie, there were dried cherries in salads, and cherry juice options either all by itself or mixed with other fruit juices.  When we reluctantly drove out of town after a week of very pleasant biking and relaxing, we stopped at an outdoor market and loaded up on cherry jams, jellies, preserves, and salsas, all locally grown, prepared, and packaged.

Plump, sweet, and ruby red

I, of course, just enjoyed them whole and raw.  So delicious and spectacularly colored.  I knew they were probably a wonderful thing to be eating, so guess what?  Here comes the good news.

Cherries have been shown to combat cancer, improve sleep, balance pressure and ease gout.  Compounds found within cherries also relieve pain as well as aspirin.  They have anti-infammatory properties, and can help to ward off disease. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, and anti-oxidants, and should be enjoyed often.

There’s more good news.  Cherries are a circulatory stimulant that dispel stagnation in the bloodstream and impart a rosy glow to the complexion.  They are detoxifiers, helping the body eliminate uric acid and cleanse the kidneys. They have been used traditionally to remedy anemia, arthritis, asthma, constipation, cramps, fatigue, gallstones and kidney stones, gout, and many other ills.  What’s not to like? 

Avoid contamination - buy organic

The bad news is that cherries are one of the most contaminated fruits, so it’s best to buy organic ones whenever possible.  Although they get cooked and put into jars, mentioned above, they can be enjoyed plain or in fruit salads, puddings, smoothies, and  juices.  They can also be dried for year-round consumption.

Their growing season is almost over for another year, but cherries are still in the stores.  Here’s a recipe you may want to try before they are gone until next year.  I will certainly be ready for them then!  Enjoy!

 

Cherry Soup – A Seasonal Delight

(Yield: 4 servings) 

¼ cup dates, soaked for 20 minutes

2 cups cherries, pitted

2 ½ cups water

2 Tbs lemon juice or lime juice 

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and liquefy.

From Rawsome, by Brigitte Mars