Archive for July, 2011

It’s Our Right to Know

 

Since the early 1990’s there have been genetically modified organisms in our food. GMOs – short for genetically modified organisms – are man-made organism created in a laboratory and patented by a corporation or the USDA. GMOs are created by a process called genetic engineering.  Many people have been asking for required labeling of GMO food, as already exists in thirty other countries. And there are a growing number of countries, like Ireland, Japan and Egypt that have completely banned the cultivation of GMO crops.

GMOs are not created the same way as traditional cross-breeding. Traditional cross-breeding is creating natural hybrids, such as crossing two varieties of roses, different types of squashes, or different breeds of dogs or cats. GMOs are made by actually splicing a gene from a virus or another species into the GMO seed.  Some examples are, fish genes being spliced into tomatoes, human genes in corn, mouse genes in potatoes.

Since the 1990’s, people have been asking for GMO food to be labeled.  We’ve been asking the USDA, the FDA, our legislators and the courts. They are not listening, and it’s time for us to speak for ourselves.

If you live in California, there is a Ballot Initiative in the works for the 2012 election. This proposition would require labeling on all GMO foods in the state of California. The website is http://www.LabelGMOs.org and there’s a Facebook page as well, Label GMOs.

Why avoid GMO foods and why do we want them labeled? Scientists warn that GMO foods may set off allergies, increase cancer risks, produce antibiotic-resistant pathogens, damage our food quality and produce dangerous toxins in our environment. GMO fed animals had higher death rates and organ damage in scientific studies.

GMOs will increase the risk of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria due to the use of antibiotic resistant genes in GM food. The British Medical Association cited this as one reason why they called for a global moratorium or ban on GM foods.

GMO crops cross-pollinate: Canadian organic farmers can no longer grow canola and soybean crops organically. The seed stocks of those two crops are now totally contaminated by GMOs, which cross-pollinate into other market garden crops from the brassica family, such as kale, cabbage and broccoli.   The recent deregulation of GMO alfalfa is particularly concerning as Alfalfa is a high cross pollinator, which means it can cross pollinate – and contaminate – many other plants.

It will be a few months before we can volunteer to gather signatures but there are many ways to get involved now.  If you would like to be part of the Label GMO campaign you can visit the website, spread the word, volunteer to gather signature in the fall and/or donate.  You will be coming together with other parents, farmers, doctors, scientists and food activists who are demanding our right to know what’s in our food.

This is an exciting time.

It’s time to for us to join together and legislate labeling of all GMO food.

We have a right to know!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/07/monday-mania-7252011/

Read more great, Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/07/real-food-wednesday-7272011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/07/28/simple-lives-thursday-54/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/07/pennywise-platter-thursday-728.html

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-july-29th/

Chicken in Lemon Cream Sauce

 

I’ve made this a few times in the last few weeks, as everyone liked it so much. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand but what I used below was wonderful and it’s another good way to use zucchini if you’re growing it in your garden, like I am.  This is easy to make, takes around a half hour, and is nice enough to serve for company.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup organic pastured butter

1 to 1 ½ pounds organic chicken tenders or skinless thighs

2 tbsp. dry vermouth

1/2 tsp. grated organic lemon peel

2 tbsp. organic lemon juice

1/4 tsp. Celtic or sea salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

1 cup organic heavy cream, preferably fresh and raw

1/3 cup organic grated Parmesan cheese

½ – 1 cup organic sliced mushrooms

½ – 1 cup sliced organic zucchini

3 organic scallions, chopped

Directions:

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; add chicken. Cook, turning, about 10 minutes (around 5 minutes per side) or until chicken is brown and tender.

Remove chicken to ovenproof serving dish. There should be lots of wonderful butter left in your pan. Saute your vegetables in the butter for 5 minutes, or until just tender and then put the veggies in the casserole on top of the chicken.

Add wine, lemon peel and lemon juice to skillet; cook and stir over medium heat 1 minute. Stir in salt and white pepper. Gradually pour in cream, stirring constantly, until hot; do not boil! Pour cream sauce over chicken and vegatables; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Place the dish in your oven around 6 inches from heat source and broil until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.  Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/07/monday-mania-7182011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/07/real-food-wednesday-7202011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/07/20/simple-lives-thursday-53/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/07/pennywise-platter-thursday-721.html

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-july-22nd/

Grassfed Steak Fajitas

 

Grassfed Steak Fajitas

We bought 1/8 of a grassfed cow last month, it was around 40 pounds of meat, and some of the cuts were not ones I usually buy. We have two packages of ‘fajita meat’ so I started looking around for recipes. I found a few that I tweaked together, and added in what veggies we had in the house to make this.  I’m not eating grains at the moment so I just had mine on a plate with a little shredded raw cheddar and they were delicious.  We all like them so much that I made it again a week later.

 

Ingredients:

NOTE: What you see in the pictures is double the steak and the marinade ingredients listed. I wanted leftovers.

1 pound grass fed flank steak or skirt steak, cut into strips.

Marinade:

A few tablespoons of Olive oil

Juice of 1 organic lime

2 cloves organic garlic

½  teaspoon ground cumin

½ tsp chili powder

1/4 cup chopped fresh organic cilantro, including stems

Veggies:

1 large organic yellow onion

2 large organic bell peppers (I used one yellow, one red)

3 organic scallions

2 organic  zucchini, cut into little stick shapes

1 Tablespoon of organic Coconut oil

 

Serve with:

Tortillas, brown rice or on their own.

Shredded cheese

Salsa

 

Directions:

The meat we had was already cut into strips so I put it into a glass dish and tossed the meat with the marinade.  I covered it and let it marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator.

First I cooked the meat in a large frying pan with a little coconut oil, until cooked through, it took around 10 minutes. Then I took the meat out of the pan and set it aside, covered to stay warm.

Next I cooked the veggies in the same pan, with a little more coconut oil and cooked until they were done. Then I added the meat back into the pan and mixed them both together.

You can serve them with tortillas, brown rice, or as they are. They’re wonderful with a little cheese and salsa. Guacamole would be great too. Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/07/monday-mania-7112011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/07/real-food-wednesday-7132011.html

Read more, great Real Food Weekly posts here: http://www.thewholegang.org/2011/07/real-food-weekly-july-14-2011/

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/07/14/simple-lives-thursday-52/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/07/pennywise-platter-thursday-714.html

Read more, great Things I love Thursday posts here: http://thediaperdiaries.net/voluminous-million-lashes-things-i-love-thursday/

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-july-15th/

Farmageddon Movie Review

Farmageddon – A MUST See Movie

We saw Farmageddon – The Unseen War on American Family Farms last week.  It’s produced and directed by Kristin Canty, a mom of four, who couldn’t understand why the healthy food she wanted to buy for her family, was so hard to find.

Kristin said, about why she made this film, “I decided I needed to tell this story. My goal was to let these honest farmers using centuries old farming practices tell their side of the stories. So, I set out to make a film. Farmageddon is in no way meant to convince anyone to drink raw milk, or eat grass fed beef, but rather an argument to allow those that want to make those choices to do so. It is simply about freedom of food choice. The government needs to stop harassing small farmers, private food buying clubs and co- ops without food freedom…. we are not free.”

From the movie’s website, “Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.”

 

“Farmageddon highlights the urgency of food freedom, encouraging farmers and consumers alike to take action to preserve individuals’ rights to access food of their choice and farmers’ rights to produce these foods safely and free from unreasonably burdensome regulations. The film serves to put policymakers and regulators on notice that there is a growing movement of people aware that their freedom to choose the foods they want is in danger, a movement that is taking action with its dollars and its voting power to protect and preserve the dwindling number of family farms that are struggling to survive.”

I knew the basic premise of the movie before we went to see it as I had seen the trailer and have been impatiently waiting for it to come to a theater near me. It’s such a travesty of justice that our small farmers are under fire, most times with no just cause. There are cases of food and animals being seized, hundreds of thousands of dollars of livestock, and equipment seized, for no reason.  No complaints had been filed, no one had gotten sick. There have been raids of private food clubs, guns drawn on young children. It’s not just isolated instanced. Google “farmers raided” and you will see too many examples. There are more examples on my post of last year, http://momsforsafefood.net/2010/10/25/what-is-the-matter-with-the-fda/

This is not the American Way!

I thought Farmageddon was brilliantly directed. Where it could have just been a very depressing story, there’s hope here too.  It’s about the growing real food movement and how more and more people are looking to buy their food directly from their local farmers.

It’s time for all of us to stand up for food freedom. For the freedom to choose real food for our families and for the choice to not have our food contaminated by GMOs. I am starting to wonder if it’s going to take acts of civil disobedience – nonviolent resistance – and becoming vocal to the point where the FDA, USDA and our government understand that we are not going to put up with our small farmers being harassed and raided for good no reason.  It’s time to stand up for ourselved and our farmers!

This is a film that everyone should see. It’s only in a few theaters now, but if you are near anywhere there is a showing, it’s an incredible film.  Below is the link to the website. There you can watch the trailer and see or arrange a screening.  Highly recommended!

http://farmageddonmovie.com/

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-july-8th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/07/pennywise-platter-thursday-77.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/07/07/simple-lives-thursday-51/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/07/real-food-wednesday-762011.html

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/07/monday-mania-742011/

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