The True Food Movement is taking the lead in trying to enact change. We’re pretty sure that genetically modified food (GMOs) don’t really qualify as “true”.

At the very least, consumers should know what they’re eating. Food companies are required to list the ingredients on the side of the box and yet they aren’t required to list whether or not those ingredients have been genetically altered in anyway. But Big Agra has lots of lobbying money to spend and they’re using those dollars to keep food labeling off their products. Even though the European Union and many other countries require it. Even though studies are calling in to question the long-range health risks associated with GMOs.

Sometimes change has to come from the people because the politicians won’t pay attention otherewise. Our own Mike Gioscia (aka, The Green Dad) has become a leader in spreading the word about what we consumers can do to enact change. He’s been very engaged in efforts such as the March Against Monsanto and trying to get state legislatures to pass laws requiring the labeling of GMO foods.

In fact, the state legislatures in both Connecticut and Maine in just the past 10 days have passed GMO labeling bills to that effect and the governors are expected to sign them into law. This is the start, but more still needs to be done.

On May 25th, Mike joined hundreds of other concerned citizens for the March Against Monsanto at the State House in Boston. He wrote about the event as well as spoke with many of the nationwide march organizers about what this movement means and why it’s so important. His piece ran on edible South Shore and we’re happy to share it with you.

Are you concerned about GMOs? Do you want to get involved? Let us know and we’ll be happy to put you in touch with organizers so you can find out what you can do where you live!

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Organic corn (courtesy of The Bitten Word)

A new study conducted in the U.S. in conjunction with Flinders University in Australia looked at pigs bred in Iowa and Wisconsin. It shows significant changes to the animals that were raised using GMO feed versus non-GMO feed. The findings suggest what might be happening to our own guts as Americans consume pork.

What is GMO Feed?

The GMO feed looked at in this study is called triple stacked. This is the typical feed given these days and has two proteins, one to kill bugs and one herbicide built into the feed. According to the movie “Genetic Roulette,” the way the bug killer works is through the insect’s digestive system. They eat the GMO corn or soy, their stomachs explode, no more bug.

The pigs studied were bred for a typical commercial cycle of 22.7 weeks before being taken to slaughter. Autopsies were then conducted to measure the weight of several organs and also to cut these organs open for examination. Nearly 150 pigs were used in the study, 50% were given non-GMO feed and the other half were raised on the modified feed. It’s also worthwhile to note that the piglets used all came from mothers given GMO feed.

The Results

There was a lot in common actually. Results show disease rates were nearly identical and death rate (pigs dying before making it the 22 weeks) was very close too; 13% for non-GMO pigs and 14% for GMO. As a side note, the GMO pigs seemed to develop about a day earlier than the non-GMO pigs, leaving me to wonder if the extra day of production would be offset by the slightly lower death rate. But that’s just my musings, not the researchers.

But the two big differences were fairly alarming.

The GMO-fed pigs had 25% heavier uteri and stomach inflammation was significantly higher; 4x higher in male pigs and more than twice as high in female pigs. Researchers noted that a 2009 study on rats also showed an increase in uterine weight and cited a few studies that showed digestive system abnormalities in mice fed using GMOs.

GMO Feed Conclusions

The researchers state right off that we need more studies, but that the difference in stomach inflammation and reproductive weight are concerning and should be further investigated. They said the human digestive track is somewhat similar to pigs, so if the animals are having inflammation issues, this could be a trigger for our own problems as well.

According to the USDA, the average American consumes about 185 pounds of meat per year (as of 2010). Most of our livestock system uses GMO feed. What are the long term effects of that in our bodies?

Inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease are on the rise in the U.S. Is there a milder version of what happens to those bugs occurring in our own guts? According to the CDC, $1.7 billion is spent annually (as of 2011) on treatment for IBD and Crohn’s. Is this part of the hidden cost of GMO feed?

The truth is we have no idea … and simply the peace of mind of ruling out GMO products would be nice to know, wouldn’t it?

What You Can Do

An easy first step is to watch the movie “Genetic Roulette”. You can rent it for just $2.99. Another step is to find out about GMO labeling in your state. Is there an initiative?  Currently one of our bloggers, Mike Gioscia, is very involved in Massachusetts. You can find out more at his blog, The Green Dad.

Frankly this study scares the pants off of me. I want to know what the heck I’m eating and what I’m putting in my kid’s system. I want to have the right to choose GMO or non-GMO. This is why I buy as much organic as I can find and/or afford because organic foods are required to be GMO-free.

What do you think?

Lisa

Read True Food Movement’s other articles around GMO foods.

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Summer salads. I post pictures of them during the winter to cheer me up. They’re easy to make and you actually feel good about yourself after eating them. They’re also terribly easy for impressing other people … if that’s your thing. And who doesn’t like to make a good impression once in a while?

I know you’ll be invited to at least one cookout this year where the folks might not know your full spectrum of fabulosity. This could be your time to shine!

Fresh Corn Chop Salad

I got the idea from “Cowboy Caviar” you see as various salsa incarnations, but this salad is meant as a side, not a dip. You can certainly tweak it INTO a dip if you like, but as a side, it’s killer. And you don’t have to feel guilty about going in for seconds.

Feeds four to six people (as a side dish) and I often pair it with fish, but it works fine with any protein. If you’re going vegetarian or vegan, you might consider serving it with some roasted avocado.

Ingredients

• 6 medium sized ears of fresh corn, preferably from your local farm so you know it’s organic and non-GMO
• 1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper
• 1 small to medium-sized sweet onion
• 1 English cucumber
• 2 large or 3 medium organic tomatoes, heirloom are preferred
• 3 to 4 green onion/scallion stalks
• kosher salt and pepper

Directions

1. Shuck the raw corn and cut the kernels into a bowl. Set them aside for now.
2. Chop the cukes, tomatoes, pepper, and sweet onion into small, bite-size pieces. Remember, this is a chopped salad, so cut the pieces small enough that they can be eaten with a fork. Place the pieces into a serving bowl.
3. Chop up the green onion … you’re looking for about a half  cup here. Set it aside for now.
4. Heat a medium-sized skillet with a little bit of unsalted butter or olive oil. Sauté the onion for two to three minutes and add a pinch of kosher salt. When the onions start to sweat, throw in the corn kernels. Stir once or twice so all the corn is coated with the onions. Sauté another two to three minutes and remove the pan from the heat.
5. Mix the corn in with bowl of chopped veggies. Can be served warm or chilled.

A beautiful summer salad has been achieved. The sweetness of the corn and the crunch of the cukes and peppers, mellowed out by the magic that is a fresh summer tomato. Heaven!

(Post Script – The next day I used the leftover salad with orzo and it was amaze balls!)

This post is part of Angie C’s ongoing “Sustainability and The Single Mom” series. Enjoy the recipe!

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I was only three minutes in to the movie “Genetic Roulette“ and I was already disgusted. What large companies — particularly Monsanto in this film — do with genetically modified food is questionable at best and quite possibly life-threatening at worst.

When I started watching, I was honestly expecting a bunch of screeching greenies insisting that we were all about to die. Instead what I got was a bunch of knowledgeable scientists who clearly laid out how GMO crops work, what the biggest concerns are, and what little evidence we have right now that does seem to implicate GMOs with a wide array of human disease.

The basic gist of “Genetic Roulette” is there are pesticides that are built into plants now and these pesticides are all over the food chain as cows eat GMO corn and then we eat the GMO-fueled cows (or pigs, chickens, whatever). Traces of GMO pesticides have been found, for instance, in our kidneys and in breast milk. There also seems to be a correlation between the introduction of GMO food into our food supply and an increase of gut health issues such as Crohn’s Disease and even diabetes.

To me the biggest issue is there isn’t a lot of research. The FDA doesn’t require all that much to approve a new GMO food and whatever information is supplied always comes from the food manufacturer so it’s not exactly “unbiased.” There are alarm bells that this stuff is dangerous with side effects happening right now that we don’t even know about, but no one is even studying it to find out. How can that be? Why doesn’t the U.S. government care about what is getting dumped into the bodies of its citizens?

The scientists lined up to say that if you go up against Monsanto it basically means the end of your career. Several scientists talked about how they or a colleague had spoken up and lost jobs.

There are currently 20 states considering initiatives to label GMOs. Currently all of Europe, China, and India either require labeling of GMOs or ban their sale entirely. My state, Massachusetts, currently has five bills that have been put forward that next month will be whittled down into one common bill.

I think the genie is out of the bottle here, thanks mostly to last year’s California Prop 37 ballot initiative. It failed to win, but did finally send a strong message to Big Agra that this isn’t okay. The most important point the movie makes is that the easiest way to change Big Agra’s behavior is to stop buying this stuff. If it doesn’t make money, they won’t make it.

So watch the movie, learn a bit more about GMOs, and then start voting with your wallet. (It’s only a $2.99 rental, just go here.) Yes I eat as much organic food as I can, which eliminates GMOs right there, but I know that’s not possible for everyone. The one sure way to know you’re not getting GMOs is to buy organic. And kudos to Whole Foods for pledging to eliminate them from their shelves by 2018 (and hopefully sooner).

Cheers,

Lisa

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This cattail is pretty in nature and tasty on your plate.

There’s an apple tree growing in the back alley of my apartment building. It seems healthy and strong and every year the apples fall to the ground and get picked off by squirrels. Or they just rot on the dirt. It’s such a waste; I think I should go get a few and make a cobbler or something, but I hesitate wondering if they’re “good to eat.”

But not the urban foragers … if there is ever an apocalypse, these will be the people who survive. Foragers can distinguish between long abandoned food sources and things that will kill you. They know how to make dinner from weeds and even make it tasty.

Urban foraging is a growing hobby for many. While some prefer to stake their claim in abandoned lots and other stray patches of dirt to grow gardens, the urban forager trains his or her eye to what is already there. My abandoned apple tree is easy for them.

Take a look at FallingFruit.org for a map of the entire U.S. showing places where food is growing right now. Yes, there are plenty of abandoned fruit trees, but there are also other plants that you wouldn’t think to consider. Cattails? Before the tops turn brown, you can cook ‘em and eat ‘em like little ears of corn.

Acorns from elms? The acorn meat can be boiled several times and then ground down into a flour. Milkweed? Boil the stalk and leaves for 20 minutes and eat like asparagus.

Who knew??

There’s another aspect to urban foraging … the venerable dumpster. Yes the back side of restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries can provide a lot of tasty options if you’re willing to overlook the fact that it might be a little stinky or moldy or slimy.

Actually a lot of food is quite fresh when it’s thrown out, especially restaurants who didn’t sell quite as much of their daily special as they were hoping for. If you’re up for it, hit the trash receptacles right after closing and see what’s worth taking home. There is a whole movement of “Freegans” who live quite well this way.

Personally I have to say it’s not really for me … I’m happy to support the supply chain and encourage businesses to build compost piles instead. But I would like to learn more about the wild plants in my neighborhood and maybe snag some greens for my next salad. I think that would be cool and this fall I’m definitely picking some apples!

How about you? Have you ever foraged in your urban environment? Would you ever dumpster dive for supper? Let us know your thoughts.

Cheers,

Lisa

photo credit: James aka Pylon757

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Sage Cornbread Recipe (photo credit: Lisa Johnson)

If you’re from up north, you think of cornbread as almost sticky sweet and mealy. If you’re from down south, the sugar usually isn’t added and you get more of a pure corn flavor coming through.

This delicious sage cornbread recipe is one of the “four-fork” dishes from “The Epicurious Cookbook” and it’s absolutely delicious. The leaves add a great visual effect and the flavor takes cornbread to a whole new level of sophistication. Yes, we really liked this cornbread recipe.

Sage Cornbread (photo credit: Lisa Johnson)

Cornbread Recipe Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal (we used organic yellow cornmeal from Arrowhead Mills)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, plus a few whole leaves for decorating
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup honey (we used raw local honey)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter

Sage Cornbread (photo credit Lisa Johnson)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and heat a heavy skillet (we used a cast iron one) for 10 minutes. Mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and chopped sage in a large bowl.
2. In a separate medium bowl, mix the milk, honey, and egg until well blended.
3. Remove the skillet from the oven and plop in the butter, swirling until completely melted. Pour all but two Tablespoons of the butter (just eyeball it) into the egg/milk mixture and blend in.
4. Add the whole sage leaves to the bottom of the pan and press them into the pan a bit to get them to stay.
5. Add the liquids to the dry mix slowly and stir until just combined, the batter will be runny. Pour the batter gently over the sage leaves in the skillet.
6. Bake until browned at the edges and a toothpick in the center comes out clean (about 22 minutes). Cool in the skillet for 10 minutes and then flip onto a cooling rack. Be careful … the skillet will still be hot!

You can get your very own copy of “The Epicurious Cookbook” in our True Food Amazon store.  We loved this cornbread recipe and we hope you do too!  Let us know your own variations on this dish or if there’s a cornbread recipe that you particularly like.

Cheers,

Lisa

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Sage Cornbread, photo credit: Lisa Johnson

Yes, we do love our cookbooks here at True Food Movement. How else would we discover gems of recipes for our readers that we test first in our own kitchen before sharing with you? “The Epicurious Cookbook” is a great addition to our library (Amazon affiliate link). The photos are beautiful and the recipes are great! We tested a bunch of them over the weekend and came away with very happy tummies.

If you like food porn, you’ll really like the Epicurious Pinterest page. And if you like simple, well-directed recipes, you’ll love Epicurious.com. Their site is chock full of recipes from the staff, but also includes member contributions with everything based on a one to four fork review. “The Epicurious Cookbook” has collected over 250 Four-Fork dishes and packaged them just for you. (For the record, we paid retail and didn’t get a free copy for review.)

Here’s what was especially surprising about the recipes: they were very precise. If it said cook 20 to 22 minutes and check for doneness with a toothpick, then it was … every time. We’re almost always futzing with the timing of doneness in the TFM test kitchen (um, actually our crappy kitchen with an iffy gas stove from the ’80s), but in “Epicurious” everything was as written. It was a relief not to feel hyper-vigilant after we banged out a few dishes.

Recipes that we tested include:

• Strawberry shortcake with buttermilk biscuits
• Baked zucchini fries with tomato coulis dipping sauce
• Extreme granola with dried fruit
• Honey-glazed butternut squash
• Sage cornbread (pictured above and click here for the recipe for it!)

Everything we made came out great. We are also saving for later their double chocolate layer cake — the most reviewed recipe on Epicurious.com and “classic birthday cake material,” according to the editors.  The 1,541 reviews (as of this writing) were almost unanimous in their love for this cake.

Baked Zucchini with Tomato Coulis (photo credit: Lisa Johnson)

We will definitely quibble about one thing: we needed more photos! The food photographer for the book, Ellen Silverman, is gifted and we wanted to see more. Silverman also shot Gwyneth Paltrow’s first book, “My Father’s Daughter,” a mix of memories and recipes. We were drooling over the photos that Epicurious included, when they were available.  Another quibble is how often the editors chose to use all-purpose white flour in recipes with not a lot of whole grain options. We swapped out some basic white flour for whole wheat a few times and you can too. Just be sure to keep an eye on the moisture content as whole grains do absorb more.

So we highly recommend “The Epicurious Cookbook” and it’s going on the counter in the kitchen, not back on a shelf, because we know we’ll be reaching for it again and again!  (Please note all links are Amazon affiliate links, so yes we’ll make about 25 cents if you buy through us and that helps to keep our little blog going.)

You might also want to check out our interview with Susan Landry of the Passionate Vegetable, another fave of ours.

Cheers!

Lisa

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This post is part of Angie C’s ongoing “Sustainability and The Single Mom” series. Enjoy the recipe!

As a single mom, I’m always looking to expand on my kid’s diet … but without breaking the bank. It would also be nice if we strayed from the world of chicken nuggets/fingers/tenders once in a while.

Having been back in Massachusetts from California for over a year now, I keep finding myself rediscovering old New England classics. I was cooking for my Dad recently and he had a request: “Hey Ang, I bought some hamburgah meat.” (Yes, read it with the Boston accent). “How ’bout some American Chop Suey?”

Why yes! Of course! This dish is common all over the country, but it seems to be only known by this moniker in the New England area. (I’ve heard it called American Goulash elsewhere.)

It’s not spaghetti sauce … it’s simpler, and has a much cleaner, true food flavor.

It sounds Italian in nature, but it’s all ‘Merican, my friend. Trust me. As Karl Welzein (@DadBoner) would say … “It’s got bold flavors.”

The beauty of this dish is not only can I convince my picky eight year old to eat it, but I can make a nice big batch and have leftovers for days. Best of all? It is cheap and easy to make.

What you’ll need:

• 1 box of elbow macaroni (for traditional … if you want to get fancy, try corkscrew shaped pasta, the kind with ridges so they can grab more of the sauce)
• 1 pound of 80/20 organic ground beef (you can sub ground turkey or chicken for healthier versions)
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
• 1-2 large cans of plum tomatoes (often referred to as “stewed,” a fancy term for tomatoes that are peeled and cooked for preservation … you can used diced or whole as well … I prefer whole and then squish them by hand in a separate bowl before adding)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• olive oil

What to do:

1. In a large sauté pan (on medium to high heat), heat the onion and pepper in olive oil. Add kosher salt and pepper. When the onion is translucent, add the ground beef and cook until brown.
2. Add the garlic and stir for one minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic … the less time it’s sauteeing, the better. Quickly add the stewed tomatoes and reduce heat.
3. In a separate pan, boil water for pasta and follow directions on the box. Cook one to two minutes less than instructed. You don’t want it to overcook because you’ll be adding it to the sauce where it will continue to cook for another minute or two.
4. When pasta is very al dente, drain and add to the original sauce pan. Mix together and voila: American chop suey. Serve in bowls with Parmesan cheese on the side. It’s a delight for kids of all ages.

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Today is Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day and we at True Food Movement are more than excited! We’ll be speaking to a class of 5th graders at a local school and we’ll be passing out the buttons above. We printed one thousand of them to help spread the message that True Food is truly the way!

I’m pleased to be an ambassador for Jamie Oliver, and happy that my husband, Greg Wymer, and I are leading the charge.

The great thing about Food Revolution Day is you don’t have to do anything fancy to participate. Here are some simple ideas for you:

1. Buy something organic.  Just purchase organic fruits, veggies, or meat today and bring it home to cook and eat!
2. Cook at home more.  One of the biggest ways that Big Food is in our lives is through processed food. By buying it, we’re encouraging the corporations to continue their free-wheeling ways in helping to shape laws and policy with the government. By cooking at home with fresh foods, we’re cutting Big Food out of the equation and stripping away some of their power.  That feels good, doesn’t it?
3. Call or write your representatives.  Tell them you support GMO labeling and ask them to support it too. We just want to know what’s in the food we’re buying and GMO labeling lets us make an informed decision.
4. Eat mostly plants.  If we start thinking of meat as a side dish instead of a main course, then we’ll automatically decrease our consumption.  Yes we heartily support vegans and vegetarians, but if that’s not an option or of interest for you, how about just a little less meat than before?  We swear you won’t miss it and you’ll help your pocketbook, the planet, and your health.

So join us today in celebrating Food Revolution Day. And if you’d like to do something even more, learn about the March Against Monsanto taking place nationwide next Saturday, May 25th.

What do you plan on eating today?

Cheers,

Lisa

Follow along using the #FRD2013 hashtag on Twitter today!

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As a blogger, one that hopes to be read by the masses, I have to get my act together before I start writing a post. I like to make sure I know what I’m talking about (I know, crazy idea, right?). This doesn’t stop many bloggers from just blathering on and on, but I like to have some concrete material behind me.

So before I speak about GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), let me look over my “GMO Score Sheet.”

1. GMOs are in 70-80% of the food we eat.
2. American obesity rates are off the charts.
3. The chemical companies that create GMOs (such as Monsanto) do NOT have to tell us how they modify these foods.
4. These chemical companies do NOT have to tell us WHAT FOODS contain GMOs.
5. Because President Obama recently signed the “Monsanto Protection Act,” these chemical companies can NOT be held liable for any GMOs that harm or kill us! Monsanto is now above the law.
6. Cancer rates keep going up.
7. The rates of kids with asthma and/or severe allergies? WAY UP!
8. Big Pharma profits … WAY UP!
9. Dr. Thierry Vrain, former “Pro-GMO” research scientist, has just refuted the claims of biotech companies saying “the scientific literature is full of studies showing that engineered corn and soy contain toxic or allergenic proteins.”
10. Last fall, the link between cancer and GMO food was confirmed in a French study, the first independent long-term animal feeding study not commissioned by the biotech corporations themselves.
11. A new study published in the Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Diseases indicates that the biopesticides engineered into GM crops may also contribute to blood abnormalities from anemia to leukemia.
12. Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas is a former Monsanto attorney.
13. Some brands that oppose GMO labeling?

• Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Smucker’s, Hershey’s, Hormel, Ocean Spray, Mars, Sara Lee, Campbell’s, Dole, Godiva, Kid Cuisine, Banquet, Chef Boyardee, La Choy, Hunt’s, Bertolli, Peter Pan, Libby’s, Swiss Miss, Healthy Choice, Wesson, Snack Pack, General Mills … I could go on, but yes, ALL THE FOOD you eat!

I think my blog just wrote itself.

Eat what you want, but these FRANKENFOODS need to labeled, like cigarettes and booze.

Remember lead paint? Asbestos? Aerosols? The people acted and changed policy. Change comes from the citizens. It’s going to take the people (me! you!) to make real change again.

So what can you do?

The “March Against Monsanto” happens EVERYWHERE on Saturday, May 25th! Be heard. Be seen. Get involved! Click that link to find out the March happening closest to your home.

GMOs have built quite a lead, but I’ve always rooted for the underdog.

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