Food
Crayon Health Bars
There are many fantastic and interesting inventions out there, with new ones happening every day. (Even paper chips!). One that really caught my eye is a remarkable idea for a health bar – a crayon. Luxirare (a combination of Rare and Luxury) is a weekly, elegant, webzine that focuses on portraying the beauty of fashion and food. The webzine concentrates on one item at a time and spends a lot of time towards executing the creation and presentation of that item. In this case, Luxirare has created crayon health bars, and captured the attention of many.
Luxirare created the crayons out of colorful foods, all listed on the back of the box, and many of the ingredients are very healthy and an appealing change from normal fruits and vegetables. The yellow crayon, for instance, includes processed corn, nuts, yellow Fruity Pebbles, dried bananas and bee pollen (which is super healthy). Luxirare separated many different types of foods in small containers and captured the creation process and end result in many striking photos. › Continue reading
Slim Chips Are Not The Answer
Today as I was hanging out with my boyfriend goes “Remember when eating paper was okay, because you were a kid, and you also ate paste?” (Hmm… No honey, actually I don’t.) “I found flavored paper chips online today”. What? Yes, that’s right: paper, as food. And I’m not talking about the “McDonalds is made out of paper” scenario. The intent of this item is really to market paper, to be eaten, as paper. It’s a little different from the Sunchips biodegradable bag approach.
Brought to you by HAF®
, of Hafsteinn Juliusson, comes Slim Chips. Hafsteinn Juliusson is most well known for their growing jewelry, which features rings and necklaces with live moss as the focal point. I’ll admit that I love the rings. They’re the right blend of nature and fashion for me. However, the chips, I just can’t get behind.
Peppermint, Blueberry, and Sweet Potato. I’m not really sure who decided on the three flavors they would develop, but those are them, The flavors, at least, are organic. According to their website, Slim Chips contain no calories, and “instead of getting fat you can now eat paper with different flavors”. I have to say I really think this is not a habit we want to cultivate in our children, or anyone for that matter. Typically paper is made from a combination of chemicals and pulp. › Continue reading
Take a Peek at Emeril Green
As a long-time fan of The Food Network, I was really excited to hear about Emeril Green. Featured on the Planet Green Network. Chef Emeril Lagasse explores the world of eco-friendly, delicious cooking and shares every tip he can find with his audience.
Shopping at Whole Foods Market, Emeril is asked about real life culinary challenges by real people. In each episode, Emeril creates easy recipes in order to find healthy, organic solutions to the challenges presented to him. He answers questions such as what foods to eat if you have digestion issues, which fruits and vegetables are known for their cancer fighting capability, and how to have an eco-friendly fiesta. This is a great show to watch if you enjoy educating yourself about shopping and cooking green as well as gaining everyday tips to enhance your lifestyle and well being.
The Big Business of Organic Foods
Who owns your favorite organic food label? Think most organic products and companies are independent- think again. Odwalla = Coca-Cola; Green and Blacks Chocolate = Cadbury; Cascadian Farms = General Mills. The list goes on and on. In fact, if you see it at a chain grocery store, your favorite organic or natural foods product is probably owned by a big corporation. See the graphic below for your favorite organic brand and their parent company.
It is the natural progression of business. In 2005, US organics accounted for 2.6% of the food market, growing at a rate of 17-20% a year resulting in a $52 billion industry in 2008.
The plus side
- Organic food is easy to find, is plentiful and the costs are reasonable.
- The food is predictable in quality, flavor and taste. Often smaller producers have a smaller production line and work in small batches with less strict ingredient or quality controls. While this can add to the uniqueness, it occasionally can produce unexpected results.
- It can expand the organic market, adding and converting farmers and updating practices to the mainstream.
Food as an Environmental Issue
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxypar4/ / CC BY 2.0
While thinking about and writing my posts on natural groceries and organic delivery services, it came to my attention that the concept of food is not inherently an environmental issue in the minds of many people. I’ve got to admit that this kind of blew me away. To me, food is so essentially an environmental issue that to not think of it that way is to ignore huge aspects and linkages within environmentalism. Think of the vegetarian and vegan movements. Think of organics. Think of sustainable agriculture and waste reduction and prevention. The environment and all its issues are like a giant spider web, and right there in the middle, where all the threads intersect, is food.
When people think of being green, of acting environmentally responsible, they think of recycling, of using reusable shopping bags and water bottles. They might even go so far as to think of using public transit or even riding a bike to work. Let’s be honest, a lot of people just think politics and then tune out. When people think about food, they think of what they like to eat, what their family likes to eat, the price of the food, and maybe even what’s healthy.
But there is so much more to it than that. Let’s break it down. › Continue reading
Natural Groceries Part 2: Spud! Organic Delivery Service
I had the chance to try out and review Spud! Local and Organic Delivery this past week. After reviewing Whole Foods in order to have something to compare Spud with, I had high hopes for the delivery service, but mixed results in the end. But more on that later.
Spud (short for Small Potatoes Urban Delivery) was dreamed up in 1995 by a sustainability business consultant determined to correct the imbalance between large scale and independent farming through alternative retail methods, i.e. direct home delivery. This method generates 80% less food waste, creating direct connections between food suppliers and customers, and reduces grocery store car trips saving people time and reducing carbon emissions. Spud claims to be North America’s greenest grocer, through buying local, buying organic, and being completely, 100% carbon neutral.
The site itself is kind of amazing. It calculates how far away every item you order comes from. You have the choice to order only locally sourced items, meaning they are grown or made within 500 miles of your zip code. › Continue reading
Natural Groceries Part 1: Whole Foods
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilovemypit/ / CC BY 2.0
This past week I was lucky enough to get the chance to try out Spud’s organic delivery service. But in order to properly review the site and the service, I felt the need to compare it with another organic grocery chain, in order to provide a more valuable sense of perspective. So I decided to swing by my local Whole Foods Market to get a little scope.
The first thing I noticed, as I pulled into the parking stall, was the shiny new jaguar I was parked across from. Compared with my well loved, if slightly beat up, old Saturn, I felt a little out of place. Whole Foods has developed a bit of a reputation, particularly among the younger demographics of grocery shoppers, as a yuppie environmentalist market.
I must admit that I feel there is a grain of truth to this judgment. The selection is vast, the quality is impeccable, everything is natural and organic, and as such the prices are, understandably, high. Whole Foods has very much earned its nickname of “Whole Paycheck”. It made sense that at least one shopper had a nice car. If I made enough money to buy all my food at Whole Foods, I would probably drive something much nicer as well. › Continue reading
Antioxidants and The Greatest Health Discoveries
Super foods and Supplements are like the stock market – you want to invest over the long term and diversify for best results. With all the attention given to the ‘newest’, ‘greatest’ and ‘exotic’ super foods with mega antioxidants like acai, goji berries, pomegranate and blueberries, you may get sucked into the marketing hype and lose sight of the actual benefit. It’s like greenwashing for healthy foods.
At prices double or triple what you would expect to pay for other healthy fruits and vegetables, it makes you wonder- is this really worth it? The answer is, only if you like the way it tastes, because that is going to be the biggest difference you are going to notice.
While these may be high in a few beneficial antioxidants, you aren’t going to turn into superman consuming them, in fact you may lose out in other important vitamins and minerals by ignoring the less flashy fruits and vegetables.
New and Hot:
Açaí – A berry from the Açaí Palm, found mostly in Central America, has been a staple food of many of the Brazilian jungle dwellers for generations. Far from the antioxidant powerhouse it is marketed as- while it contains more than oranges and apples, it has less antioxidants than the more common blueberry, and black cherry, concord grape or even red wine.
It is a great addition to your existing food selection, but at $5.00 a bottle it’s probably just as healthy as a $1.25 bottle of grape juice.
Goji Berries (Wolfberry) – A berry originating from China has been associated with healing powers and high vitamin C content. Also greatly misrepresented, the dried berry loses a great deal of its potency and are comparable to the levels you would find in a citrus fruit such as an orange or lemon. While tasty, these berries don’t deliver on their lofty health benefits.
