Jenny at Nourished Kitchen commented that enjoying fruits and veggies is the key to getting kids to eat them and eat healthier.  She says it as well or better than I could.  I especially enjoyed her comments about the long-term effect on food preferences of eating a varied diet when breastfeeding.

I am lucky to have boys with broad tastes and an appreciation for good nutrition.  Two things I think have helped immensely:
First, the family garden:    My boys help plan the garden, choosing species and varieties they want to eat.  Our garden time is treated as special time with Mom, not a chore.  Sure, they might not always be the most help, but hearing them have adventures as they pull paths through the weeds to rescue “John Porter” (a tomato variety) is better than hired help any day.   Choosing varieties such as purple carrots, purple beans and red lettuce, growing and harvesting make eating them a celebration, not a chore.  Add in having them help cook it, and you’ve made huge strides in expanding their palate.

Second, a supportive school program.  The Montessori school they attended for the past three years made lunch part of the curriculum.  It was delightful to have my then-5-year old lecture me about needing to have fresh vegetables, not canned for dinner.  They are now in public school, they have a great perspective on the school lunch menu.  They will often choose to take their lunch based on what they helped prepare or on the “junkiness” of the school food.  I realize I am indeed lucky to have children opt for homemade meatloaf over the school corndog and tater tots.

The latest E. coli-related beef recall has prompted me to stop unpacking moving boxes long enough to post.  Obama Foodarama is urging people to “avoid beef like the plague“, pointing out that the recall is voluntary, so there is no guarantee that the recalled beef is actually being pulled from the shelves.  On top of that, of course, is the issue of traceability and identifying exactly where all the contaminated beef ended up.   The identifying establishment ID and processing time stamp do not usually appear on the final consumer package in ground beef and most individual cuts, and certainly not in any cooked products. 

There’s no reason to avoid beef if you know your producer, who knows the date, time, steer and processor from which the ground beef came.

The inside of a muscle or cut of beef is relatively sterile.  It’s only the surface that typically harbors bacteria.  Ground beef is particularly susceptible to food safety issues and recalls for a couple of reasons.    In ground beef, any bacteria on the surface of whatever is being ground gets thoroughly mixed in during the grinding process.  Part of what goes into ground beef tends to be scraps and trimmings, which have lots of surface area and have been handled more than say, a rump roast.   In addition, most ground beef is ground in batches containing meat or trimmings from a large number of cows.  More cows = more chance that one of them will be contaminated. 

And to add a final couple risk factors:  Ground beef is often not ground at the site where the animals are slaughtered, but at a secondary processing plant, further obfuscating the trail to the source.  Even in the few grocery stores that grind their own ground beef, it is a common practice to grind cuts that are nearing their “use by” date.

BUT, rather than go without your hamburger on the 4th of July, you can minimize your risk by purchasing ground beef through local producers.  Our own Wild Type Ranch ground beef, for instance, is ground from a single animal and is packaged and frozen within a short time of its being cut from the side of beef.  When we sell a package of ground beef, we know which animal it came from, when it was processed (and can usually tell you its name and pedigree, if you ask).  This is fairly typical among the producers you meet at the local farmer’s market, or through Local Harvest or Eat Wild.   

Ground beef produced like we do ours does not have that kind of icky smell (reminds me of sour feet).  I was so sensitive to that smell after growing up on home-grown beef that I became a vegetarian while I was away at college!  And the flavor is as different from grocery store ground beef as a homegrown tomato is from a grocery store tomato.

If you can’t get to the farmer’s market, the next best alternative is to purchase roasts (chuck, rump, etc) and grind them yourself using a grinder attachment on your mixer.

Just when I finally got myself trained to remember to take my reusable “green” grocery bags to the store (at least most of the time), I read a report on “food safety threats” from them!  Apparently, reusing the bags can result in the accumulation of coliform bacteria and molds.

Before you trash all those bags, however, please keep in mind that the study was funded by the Environment and Plastic Industry Council (I read that as a vested interest in plastic bags).  And it appears that no E. coli or salmonella were found in the tests.

Still, common sense should come into play:

• Put potentially leaky items, such as meat, or dirt-bearing produce in a separate bag before placing in a reusable bag.
• Wash your bags after multiple uses, turn inside out and air dry, preferably in the sun to allow UV rays to help the sterilization process.
• Replace your bags if they become moldy, smelly or stained
• Wash all foods placed in direct contact with a reused bag

No reason not to keep using those bags.  In many industrialized countries, green bags are the norm, not the exception.

Despite the nomenclature “swine flu”, the CDC assures us that there is no danger of contracting influenza from eating or handling pork.  Here’s some facts:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
•    People cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Most influenza viruses, including the swine flu virus, are not spread by food.
•    Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe.
•    No food safety issues have been identified, related to the flu.
•    Preliminary investigations have determined that none of the people infected with the flu had contact with hogs.
•    The virus is spreading by human-to-human transmission.

 The CDC recommends the following measures to prevent the transmission of flu: 
•     Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
•    Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
•     Wash your hands frequently and use alcohol-based sanitizers.
•     Try not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus.
•     Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
•     Try to stay in good general health.
•     Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

Detailed information and updates on the flu outbreak may be obtained at:
Texas Department of State Health Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

If you own swine, consider the following practices to enhance the biosecurity on your farm to prevent the disease from being transmitted to your herd:
•     Workers should shower and change into farm-specific clothes and shoes before entering swine facilities.
•     Establish, implement and enforce strict sick leave policies for workers presenting influenza-like symptoms.
•     Recommend that workers with symptoms be seen by a medical provider immediately.
•     Restrict the entry of people into your facility to only workers and essential service personnel.
•     Prevent international visitors from entering your facilities.
•     Ensure adequate ventilation in facilities to minimize re-circulation of air inside animal housing facilities.
•     Vaccinate pigs against the influenza virus.  Vaccination of pigs can reduce the levels of virus shed by infected animals
•     Contact your swine veterinarian if swine exhibit flu-like or respiratory illness, especially if the onset or presentation of the illness is unusual.

Functional Foods are defined as foods that, in addition to nutrition, offer distinct health benefits.

The term usually brings to mind “added” features, such as enrichment with probiotics, omega-3’s, or other components that are added through processing.

I was pleased to see that 4 of the 5 “best functional foods” listed by the New York Dietetic Association are whole, unprocessed and readily available.   Pro-biotic enhanced yogurt was the only processed food to make the top 5, and it came in at number 5.   As an added benefit, they all are on my list of favorite foods!

The other foods were

Number 1:  Salmon (Omega-3 content for heart and brain health)

Number 2:  Whole-grain Oatmeal (fiber for digestive health and lowering risk of heart disease, cholesterol, diabetes and cancer)

Number 3: Blueberries (antioxidants for protection against free radicals and anti-aging)

Number 4:  Low-fat milk (high levels of calcium and vitamin D for strong bones, regulating blood pressure and heart rate)

Looks like a breakfast of oatmeal cooked in milk and topped with blueberries, with a yogurt lunch and salmon for supper is a top rate menu for the day!

The American Meat Institute (AMI) has released a YouTube Video which seeks to counter some of the recent press about health risks from eating processed meats.   I admit I am a big fan of bacon.  In fact, I have read in several places that bacon is the single most frequent food that lures people out of vegetarianism.

Even though this comes from an industry group, (so obviously there is an agenda) there are some good facts in here.  For example, only 5% of the nitrate in our diet comes from processed meats–far more comes from green leafy vegetables and other plant sources.   Although I’d fall short of calling lunch meat a health food, the video points out that lunch meats can be low-fat and/or low sodium.  They also correctly say that many of the sensational press articles about “processed meat” have confused pickled and very high-salt meat-based diets (such as in parts of Asia) with the typical lunch-meat in the US.

I’m a huge advocate for simple, less processed foods.  But, the take-home message is that you don’t have to feel guilty for eating an occasional hot-dog or giving your children lunch meat on some days.  In moderation, lunch meat or nitrate-cured bacon is not something to lose sleep over. 

Amanda, over at Beef Daily Blog, is hosting a discussion about ranch chores, which got me thinking about my own chore philosophy.

I can’t say I was a big fan of chores as a child.  Now that I’m a Mom, I have come to the conclusion that a good chunk of what’s wrong with our society, our economy and our food/health status could be fixed if all children grew up doing chores.

My boys go to a Montessori school where there is no homework.  Instead, parents are asked to pledge they will involve their children in daily life activities, such as laundry, grocery shopping and cooking.  I am convinced that, if a parent does so consciously, the children learn more of value that way than any amount of homework can teach them.  It is especially so out on a ranch, but true enough in any home.

When children are responsible for helping take care of their environment, they are truly a part of the family. Face it, especially when they are young, having children “help” often just isn’t much help.   It is tempting to do it yourself.  BUT, if you are taking the time to teach them or to work beside them, they are gettting serious “quality time” from you.

I think we unconsciously teach our children to be passengers when we take care of all their needs.  Without participating in life chores, how can we expect them to suddenly be competent parents or responsible adults once they leave home?  Chores teach children responsibility.  Perhaps as importantly, when children inevitably fall short on their responsibilities, they can experience the consequences in ways that are sooo much cheaper than learning that lesson later in life.

At our ranch, our boys are part of the food chain all the way through.  They are there when we artificially inseminate, help name the calves, go with us when we take beeves in for harvest and they really love a good steak.  In fact, we joke that at our ranch, we know our beef “from semen to sewer”.

Children don’t need to be on a ranch, though, for chores to contribute to an appreciation for where their food comes from.  Chores such as gardening, cooking, grocery shopping or going to the farmer’s market help promote healthy eating habits.  It’s amazing what vegetables children will eat when they grow them themselves.  Especially if you get some of the cool varieties, such as purple ‘green’ beans, rainbow chard, purple carrots, zebra striped tomatoes or blue potatoes.

All this adds up to self-esteem.  And it’s a lot cheaper than therapy, martial arts classes or reform school!

Allergic reaction to the products of introduced gene products (the ‘foreign’ genes)  is one of the primary concerns about GMO’s.  It is a concern that is legitimate, but, like “unknown consequences” needs to be put into perspective of the non-GMO food we eat every day.

Fanatic Cook (among many others) has been writing about it.  Bix links to a very helpful monograph on the subject of allergenicity in GMO foods. Predicting allergic potential is difficult and an inaccurate process, at best.  All genes used in GMOs at least go through screening for potential allergenicity.  Compare this to the vast majority of other foods that are effectively only screened on people through trial and error through a long history of eating.

The main reason the use of GMO grains is not required to be listed on labels is that the grains are not any more likely to cause allergies (or any other adverse affect) than their  non-GMO counterparts.  Voluntary labelling such as “no-GMO” is allowed, which is something I applaud and support in the interest of freedom of choice and information.

I’ve been asked if eating meat from animals fed GMO grain means that we are eating the GMO proteins themselves?  Only to the extent that the particular modified protein passes through the digestive system wall.  In a healthy animal, most proteins are broken down before they are passed into the blood.  If this were a concern, we should be far more concerned that my pasture-raised cattle graze ragweed and other highly allergenic plants.

Since last month’s post on the role of technology in feeding the world, I’ve been thinking a lot about the fundamental issue of GMO’s.

A primary GMO-related fear is the unknown consequences of the genetic manipulation.  I won’t discount this concern, but I would like to put it into perspective.

Every bit of variation in all the food crops (plant or animal) we consume arises by genetic mutation.  As humans domesticated plants and animals, we selected mutants (sounds a lot scarier than ‘variants’, doesn’t it?) that suited our needs better.  These mutations had some visible difference (color, faster growth, better taste), but beyond what we could see, we had NO idea what other changes were caused by the mutation.

Since early in this century, plant breeders have produced new varieties of all sorts of plants by something called “mutation breeding“.  Seeds are subjected to some form of mutagenizing agent, such as a chemical, UV light or x-rays.  Thousands are planted to screen for and select desirable mutations.  This is a primary way in which disease-resistant varieties of vegetables, fruits and other crops are developed.  The FAO maintains a database with thousands of catalogued varieties.

Even heirloom varieties are mutants.  Are you familiar with those cool zebra-striped heirloom tomatoes?  Those stripes are caused by a “jumping gene” that randomly inserts itself in the genome, sometimes disrupting a color gene.

At least the GMO varieties had to go through some sort of characterization of their biochemical properties.

We’ve blogged about home food safety here more times than I can count.  It hit home (literally) last night.

My boys go to a Montessori school where they have access to a kitchen.  Lunch is truly part of their curriculum, a place where they discuss nutrition, recycling and also honor healthy food and communal dining.   They are encouraged to bring “oven food”, in glass containers or wrapped in foil to heat up in the oven (no microwaves allowed) so they can have a hot lunch.  As a sidebar, it is very gratifying to have your children choose a bowl of homemade beef stew for lunch over PB&J!

Yesterday’s lunch was “stuffed hamburgers”.   My son forgot to put his dish on the oven tray at lunch time for heating, so was not able to heat it up.  He chose not to eat it cold (can you blame him?), but apparently go hungry about 3 pm between the end of school and start of his afternoon Performing Arts class, so ate his now 8-hour old, non-refrigerated hamburger. I’ll spare you the details of what happened when he got home about 6 pm.

This was our home-grown beef, ground and frozen straight from a USDA-inspected carcass at a plant whose cleanliness I see with my own eyes each month.  The meat was cooked properly and placed in the refrigerator immediately after we finished our supper.  My son has a very sensitive palate–often declaring the milk to be ‘off’ days before the rest of us suspect anything.  He said the burger was delicious.  The failure here was that he has an uninsulated lunch box, so foods like leftovers and sandwhiches should NEVER be eaten if not consumed at lunch.

Fortunately, the onset of what I can only attribute to food poisoning was so rapid that Eric does not seem to be suffering any after effects this morning.

I think when he gets home from school today we’ll  be making an online visit to the FSIS’s mobile food safety game.