Chocolate-Covered Kindness

It's that time of the year again... welcome to the Holiday Season!  As we're approaching Thanksgiving, many of you are planning the usual get-together with family and friends, some may be volunteering at a local shelter or soup kitchen, and others just can't wait for the paid vacation!  

If you don't fall into the category of "soup-kitchen-volunteer," or you've always meant donate to that charity but never really got around to it, or didn't think you could make a difference anyway... I have the easiest solution EVER (and it's FREE)!

A fellow veg-blogger, Chocolate Covered Katie, is hosting a "Page View Charity Drive."  What does that mean?  Well, pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  Each time you visit Katie's blog, click on a post, view chocolate-covered recipes or view her 101 ways to make sinfully delish oatmeal, money is automatically donated to The Enough Project.  If you have a blog, write about it and get all your readers to help Katie's cause.  


Here is a little of what Chocolate Covered Katie has to say about her project:  

We bloggers talk incessantly about “perfect” meals and “delicious” foodie products.  We spend hours browsing the expensive offerings at Whole Foods, making our meals as aesthetically-pleasing as possible, and photographing said meals with fancy digital cameras.  But the people being helped by the Enough Project are happy to get ANY meal.  And while people like me run for fun, others in the world are running because they have to in order to survive.    It really puts things in perspective and makes me want to help as much as I possibly can.  I’m not going to set a goal amount, since I really have no idea what t expect.  But no matter how much we end up raising, every little bit helps, and every little person can make a BIG difference!  

So what are you waiting for?  Visit Katie's blog, get some free to-die-for chocolate recipes, have a laugh, and best of all, do it for a good cause.  Remember, the more pages you click on, the more you are contributing! 

E. coli: Because They Can

The latest edition from Food Politics:

The New York Times reports that the company selling contaminated ground beef responsible for killing two people and making 500 others sick, “stopped testing its ingredients years ago under pressure from beef suppliers.”
 Recall that since 1994, the USDA bans E. coli 0157:H7 in ground meat.  It encourages, but does not require, meat companies to test for the pathogen. Why don’t they test?  Because they don’t have to.
If they did test, they might find toxic E. coli and have to cook or destroy the meat.  As the Times reported in depth last month, Testing puts meat companies in “a regulatory situation.”  As one food safety officer put it, slaughterhouses do not want his packing company to test for pathogens: “one, I have to tell the government, and two, the government will trace it back to them. So we don’t do that.”
Instead of requiring safety testing, the USDA uses a “restrained approach.”  As Dr. Kenneth Petersen, an assistant administrator with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, told the Times, USDA has the power to require testing but doesn’t use it because it has to take the companies’ needs into consideration: “I have to look at the entire industry, not just what is best for public health.”
The moral?  Meat companies will only produce meat safely if forced to. 
What will it take to get Congress to act?

Shhhh.... She's One of Those Vegan People!

Last night Shell and I went to a BBQ at our friend's house for dinner.  Of course, we brought our own veggie patties & all the fixin's so we could still eat with everyone.  When we got home, I was telling Shell that sometimes I feel like its 1950 and we're still 14 years away from a Civil Rights Movement for vegan foodies!  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing the way we are treated to how African American's were treated during racial segregation, but I have a feeling that some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.  The whispering; the looks; the "peace offering" of chicken!

We are still one of "those" people... the minority... the activists... trying to find a better way to contribute to the planet and to bring our children into the world with a better chance of avoiding disease caused by the Western Diet.  So, yes, I do feel alone quite often.  What I want to know is when exactly did it become socially acceptable to feed poison to ourselves and our children on a daily basis with cheesburgers, french fries and soda? And at the same token, when I tell people that I plan on raising my children on a plant-based diet with little to no animal products, I am looked upon as some sort of freak.  I suppose the people who affect change are those who don't follow the crowd.  So yes, I am proud to say that I am one of those Vegan People!


Then this morning I opened my email to discover an article written by Marion Nestle, titled "Are Vegetarian Diets OK?"  I have mentioned Nestle, nutritionist and author of Food Politics, in many of my past blog posts.  She starts off her article by giving full disclosure that she does eat meat but continues by stating that "it is not necessary to eat meat [and it is] not an essential nutrient."  "Why anyone would question the benefits of eating vegetarian diets, or diets that are largely vegetarian is beyond me.   People who eat vegetarian diets are usually healthier – sometimes a lot healthier – than people who eat meat," she said.


Nestle continues with only three main concerns she has with a vegan diet:
1. B12 supplementation
2. Eating enough calories to maintain weight
3. Eating a variety of grains and beans for adequate protein


"Vitamin B₁₂ is found only in foods of animal origin – meat, dairy, eggs, or fish.  With this one exception, fruits, vegetables, and grains provide plenty of the other vitamins and minerals.  Vegans who obtain enough calories from varied plant food sources should be taking care of those nutrients as well as protein." Many nutritional experts, dietitians and plant-based doctors recommend to supplement with a sub-lingual source of B-12 one to two times per week.  That's it!


Without argument, the number one question that we get is "where do you get your protein from?"  I have heard some pretty funny come-back lines such as, "which amino acid are you referring to, exactly?" or "the same place your cow gets it from!."  But historians like Nestle and McDougall continue to support that veg foodies get plenty of protein from consuming starches and veggies.  "Think about it: entire civilizations – in ancient Egypt, China, and Mexico, for example – were based on wheat, rice, beans, or corn as sources of protein," Nestle exclaims. 


So please do me and my fellow foodies a favor; stop worrying about what we're not eating.  Since when did you and your Lipitor become the food police? 


Does anyone else feel this way???

A Letter from John Hopkins

This morning I received a wonderful email from the project director at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Center for a Livable Future), recognizing my 30 Day Carnivore Challenge.  I was so touched that I had to share it with you:

Dear Kinzie,

What a great concept!  I love the 30 day carnivore challenge.  Thank you for your kind words on the LivableFutureBlog.  Honestly, it's people like you who will effect change.  We're so grateful for the work you're doing through your blog!  As a communications person I'm humbled by what you've accomplished on your site so far.  Knowing that your background is exercise physiology and nutrition, your body of work is that much more impressive.  I'm looking forward to following how Shell fairs on the rest of his challenge!  Tell him I'm rooting for him.

Best,

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

I urge you to check out their blog at the Center for a Livable Future.  I love their concept model (show left) as well as their mission statement: 

"To promote research and to develop and communicate information about the complex interrelationships among diet, food production, environment and human health; to advance an ecological perspective in reducing threats to the health of the public; and to promote policies that protect health, the global environment and the ability to sustain life for future generations."

Meatless Monday: Blueberry Brainiac Smoothie

This week's MM video is posted on day seven of the 30 Day Carnivore Challenge site.  Click Here and scroll to to watch me make Shell's favorite breakfast  smoothie!

With just under 300 calories, 8 grams of fiber and 14 grams of protein per serving, this is the perfect way to start your morning.