One of the things I really like about Whole Foods and other stores like it is the fact that I don't have to do so much label-reading.
I admit after some searching I find I am not the first person to make this discovery. But how many also had the general impression that there were no HFCS (High-fructose corn syrup) products at Whole Foods?
I knew that Earth Fare had a non-HFCS policy. Unfortunately, I assumed Whole Foods did as well. A huge benefit, for me at least, in shopping in these earth and health-friendly stores is the comfort in knowing they choose to sell products good for us, and the planet.
I could not find such a policy on Whole Foods' site, someone please point me there if there is one. I did find this tweet, however, that explains "none of our 365 products contain HFCS and only a small % of our branded products do, unlike in other stores."
Other tweets explain that "HFCS isn't on our unacceptable ingredient list, but you'll still find it's the exception, not the convention in our stores."
Here is what I found:
This is a shrimp tray, with cocktail sauce included. The HFCS (and more corn syrup later) is in the sauce. What baffles me, in part, is why it seems that the cocktail sauce was portioned out from a bottled shelf brand that has HFCS, when there is an organic 365 brand available without HFCS. Furthermore, I think it might be even simpler (and cheaper) for the kitchen to mix some 365 organic ketchup with a little grated horseradish, and voila! Cocktail sauce.
Don't get me wrong, I love Whole Foods (I was actually there a couple days ago because I was in a bad mood and being there cheers me up :)) I just find it odd that they (my local Cary, NC store, by the way) would package up some shrimp with HFCS sauce and showcase it in the seafood section.
I was actually curious about Whole Foods non-top ranking in Greenpeace's recent Seafood Scorecard report. More on that coming up. Stay tuned.
What do you think? Should HFCS be on the unacceptable list at Whole Foods? I think so, especially considering recent news regarding mercury in HFCS.
Main photo credit goes to boeke on Flicker. Shrimp photo is mine.
<-------Please click to see the scorecard. Please choose the store closest to the top of the list that is near you and shop there. Avoid the red ones like the plague (really).
This is from @greenpeaceusa's "Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas" http://su.pr/AOZDsQ (article with link to full report).
Also, please use this widget to look up what seafood is safe to eat (or not) and why:
Thank You. I <3><(({°> ><(({°> ><(({°> ><(({°> ><(({°>
I don't normally post video without a whole lot of accompanying text, but this video says it all. Thank you Michael, your voice was just not being hearl loud enough. I'm going to do my part to amplify it.
I joined twitter in February. I've been following a lot of "green" people, groups, and organizations. Yesterday, I was in a really down mood after watching the film HOME on youtube (what a beautiful film, with a great ending - please set aside an hour and a half to watch it!). It was just hard to watch the beauty and life on this earth being destroyed by man.
Today, I was delighted to see tweet after tweet about our government, our people, our leader -- all working together to reverse this horrible problem!
Now, what I'm talking about is a general problem with pollution and general disregard for the Earth by humans, coupled with the whole global warming crisis. Now for those of you still caught in "global warming denial," this is the way I look at it: let's just go ahead and say that humans are not causing global warming. Fine. I've been watching footage of icecaps melting (both inland and at the poles) and if we start to lose the hundreds or thousands of species that live in these areas, it quite frankly could be the beginning of the destruction of the food chain and loss of a beautiful part of our ecosystem as well. Who cares what the cause is? We need to do all we can to reverse the problem, and hey, let's try reducing "industrial age emissions" just in case.
In my last post I was happy to receive a comment from Anthony Pickles, a Web Editor for the documentary The End of the Line. Please take a moment to watch the trailer on their website and make a pledge to only eat seafood that isn't harming the earth, threatening species, or hurting you!
Twitter gem #1 comes from planetgreen.discovery.com - news about President Obama'sOcean Policy, which is a "soon-to-be-crafted, first-ever national ocean policy that will sustainably manage our country’s oceans" ~~~~hallelujah~~~~! The article suggests that you hop on over to the White House web site and send Mr. Obama a thank you note.
Next gem comes from worldwildlife.org -- an interactive climate map and summary of the "The U.S. Global Change Research Program report “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States." One of the most striking conclusions from this report is this: "Threats to human health will increase. Health impacts of climate change are related to heat stress, waterborne diseases, poor air quality, extreme weather events, and diseases transmitted by insects and rodents."
2) Sandy at Green Eco Voice posted an excellent summary of what the average person can do to help. My favorite part: "You can become an extraordinary hero! Practice modesty and courage everyday. Become a leader for social change beginning in your home and your community. Personal actions defeat feelings of hopelessness and you can and will 'Help Save Our Planet'!" Oh, and the movie trailer made me shed a tear - how did I miss that movie???
In Conclusion & More Breaking News
This quote on worldwildlife'sarticle really echoes my sentiments about these issues: “Climate change and what we do about it is going to transform the world much more rapidly than people realize. It’s my goal to get us moving to a world we will want, not one we’ll regret leaving for our children and grandchildren.” - Richard Moss, WWF's Vice President and Managing Director for Climate Change
And today from the White House blog: "An important element of this new report, apart from that it is deliberately written in plain language so we can all read and understand the science in it, is that it dives down in the various regions of the U.S. and provides much more regional detail about possible impacts than ever before – critical information for an effective response. It also breaks down the potential climate change impacts by economic and social sectors, most of which transcend regional boundaries, such as water, energy, health, transportation, and agriculture – all vital components of a healthy and stable society."
There are a lot of scary things going on in the fishing industry that compel me to remind you to pick and choose which seafood you purchase. This page on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations details the use of things such as poisons, explosives, and “pounding” (oh my!) to name a few.
And then there is overfishing, defined beautifully by the folks at www.overfishing.org:
“Over three quarters of our planet are covered by the oceans. Their biodiversity is unmatched and they contain over 80 percent of all life on earth, mostly unexplored. Millions of people worldwide are depending on the oceans for their daily livelihoods. More and more all this is endangered because of ignorance and a global lack of management.”
Don’t continue to economically support practices that are destructive to our planet (Some are on the list because of mercury content concerns, link to factsheets for more information.)
Summarized from an assignment I completed for: JOMC 710 "Computing Concepts and Issues: Power Tools for the Mind" Professor Deb Aikat, Ph. D April 9th, 2009 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
THE ISSUE
Most of us are familiar with the possible dangers of radiation from things such as nuclear power plants, microwave ovens, x-rays, and power lines. New technology has introduced a few more devices that have entered the debate over what levels of radiation are harmful: the cell phone, and more recently, the wireless network. Because cell phones are used by 83% of Americans, and by some for the majority of their day, exposure to cell phones and the radiation they omit should be a top-of-mind issue. Similarly, wireless networks, commonly known as wifi, are popping up all over the country and the world, including public schools, in order to connect laptop and web-enabled phone users to the Internet. Both of these technologies may be causing a greater health risk via the radiation they emit.
FIVE FEARS OF THE ISSUE
1) General decline in public health: There are a bevy of research-proven illnesses attributed to overexposure to radiation, including: asthma, sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, attention deficit disorder, autism, multiple sclerosis, ALS, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, cataracts, hypothyroidism, diabetes, malignant melanoma, cancer, heart attacks and strokes (including in young people) and "radio wave sickness". The more people are exposed to these devices and the towers associated with them, the higher the chances are that illness may ensue at some point.
2) Forest die-off, reproductive failure and population decline - these things have been found in many species of birds, as well as ill health and birth deformities in farm animals near microwave towers. Possible implications could include disruption of the food chain that could lead to extinction, contaminated food supply via direct exposure or from the birth defects and degradation of the animal's genetic material.
3) Privacy concerns - Some people are beginning to feel "invaded" by the proliferation of microwave radiation in our cities and towns, and even some of the most rural areas are no longer safe havens for those who may choose to live or spend time away from towers. Lawsuits could become more prevalent if more people fall ill and the link between radiation from wireless devices and illness is proven.
4) Major loss of productivity and well-being - Non-diagnosed, symptomatic effects of radiation sickness including things such as nausea, headache, fatigue, weakness, and depression could vastly effect the productivity and well-being of Americans.
5) Increased risk for children and teens - Those who are using these devices at a faster and faster pace are those perhaps most susceptible -- most likely because of their thinner skulls and developing tissues. This youtube video shows a study done in 1997 that reveals the higher amount of penetration in children: (Paul Fitzgerald: EMF expert and founder of the Research Center for Wireless Technology)
*Air on the side of caution - Use an earpiece instead of holding the device to your head, particularly for longer conversations. Bluetooth devices are a better alternative to holding the phone up to your head, but a wired headset with a ferrite bead or a hollow-tube device are the expert's choice. Keep conversations to a minimum. This simple yet effective piece of advice can save you quite a bit of radiation. Think back to the days when cell calls were .80/minute, and this one's easy to do. Avoid long conversations in locations, such as rural areas or enclosed areas, where a cell phone's network signal is weak. A weak signal makes the phone emit more power so it can connect to a faraway cell tower.
* If you buy your preteen or young teenager a phone, make sure he or she follows the above precautionary measures. Parents should be vigilant about their children's using speakers or hands-free devices, and about limiting the number of calls and amount of time their children spend on the phone. A comprehensive list of strategies (for both young and old) is found here: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/reduce-your-risks-from-cellpho.html
* File complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, and your local government officials about your concerns about lack of space to go to be "free" of technology radiation.
Antioxidants – one of those buzzwords you hear in advertising a lot. I think we've heard it so much that it's one of those terms that sort of goes in one ear and out the other. Same with "detox".
The other night, my husband asked me exactly how (why) Cancer forms in our bodies, since we've recently discovered our 16-year old dog has tumors.
Let's just concentrate on the blue "clearance" box at the top right. In order to "clear" our blood of carcinogens, there is only one path: detoxification. Another health buzzword that perhaps we should be paying more attention to: detox. There are, of course, many products on the market that promise to detox you, but the fact of the matter is, you can easily get the antioxidants you need for detox in everyday food – in particular fresh, local fruits and vegetables!
Some of the ones this study mentions are: prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, red bell pepper, plums, onion, brussels sprouts, broccoli, beets…the list goes on. That said, if you're one of those people who just can't stomach a lot of fruits and veggies, please do invest in a good supplement. And don't forget the antioxidant-rich teas such as green tea (not from a bottle) and my favorite, yerba maté, which I am finding available at more and more places including Kroger. (Note: maté may contain a small amount of carcinogens because the leaves are smoked, but the high antioxidant content far and away makes up for it, in my opinion.)
Now, on the more daunting bottom half of this graphic. I'm not even going to bother to try and explain all of this, other than to say there seem to be no good paths after the carcinogen turns into an "Ultimate Carcinogen". There is a place where Apoptosis, or cell death, occurs, which appears to be a good thing in this graphic, but it doesn't say how that happens. Anyway, All kinds of scary things are going on now that detox has not occurred – DNA Damage, Inflammation, and ultimately carcinogenesis – yes, the creation of cancer.
This graphic gave me and my family pause. Get your fresh fruits and veggies in your diet, please.
(This post is part of an assignment for the class I am taking, Writing for Digital Media at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This week, I liveblogged an event. I chose to cover the brewery tour at Carolina Brewing Company in Holly Springs, which occurs every Saturday at 1pm.)
By Marcie Barnes
12:44 - I'm in the parking lot, have seen at least a dozen people enter already, and I was afraid there wouldn't be much of a crowd on State Fair weekend. The facade is quite unassuming.
12:47 - An announcement in the lobby - beer samples before the tour, and I need to have my ID ready.
12:51 - Waiting in a long line for beer, some happy jazz/swing music is playing overhead. Sign near serving area reads: Now On Tap: Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, Summer Wheat, and NEW Oktoberfest. I think I'll try Oktoberfest, it only seems fitting.
12:59 - I've counted (roughly) 75 people in this room, the entire operation consists of a front lobby area and a large warehouse-type space behind it. There are more people still coming in. Guess free beer is popular! The Oktoberfest is yummy. I must admit I have never been a fan of their main brand, Pale Ale, because it is too bitter for me. Oktoberfest is just right. It's a very refreshing medium-colored amber, and there seems to be a hint of orange which is nice. (Note: their website says nothing about orange, maybe I was imagining that!) Now, a jazzy rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water is flowing from the speakers above.
1:07 - Tour still not started, people still pouring in and waiting in a long line for beer. Many are going back in the line for seconds (or thirds, or fourths).
1:19 - Taps are off. Music is off. John, who is one of the three partners, starts the tour. They have only one employee, and do all the work themselves up to the point of distribution. The brewery is 13 years old. The Pale Ale was their first beer, and it is brewed year-round along with the Nut Brown and India Pale Ale. They have a winter porter coming out in November, and there are many other seasonal beers. They have a six-county distribution area.
1:28 - John is passing around barley and hops for us to see/smell. He explains how each affects the bitterness (hops), darkness (roast of the barley), sweetness (barley), etc. The Oktoberfest brew has the highest alcohol content at 5.7% which is related to the fact that it uses more barley, which produces more sugar for the yeast to convert to alcohol (and carbon dioxide).
1:31 - The barley sample comes my way. It has a nice, fresh, sweet smell. The hops sample was neither nice nor sweet smelling. The girl in front of me recoiled at the smell. I can only describe it as something unpleasantly pungent, to be nice. Now I know why I don't like a lot of hops in my beer, besides the fact that I don't like bitter.
1:33 - A comment from the audience is about rice and corn being used in beermaking. John describes how the big national breweries use these ingredients to make a light, cheap beer. Their brewery uses only (Holly Springs tap) water, barley, hops, and yeast. They use a different kind of yeast for the ales as they do for the lagers.
1:35 - He tells how they got started. Three friends were homebrewing for a long time and one of them eventually took an apprenticeship at a brewery to "learn the ropes". They moved to NC specifically to open the brewery after looking at demographics and noticing a deficiency in local breweries in the area. Someone asks him what beers he likes besides his own and he says: Sierra Nevada, Anchor Steam, and Highland (out of Asheville).
1:37 - He gets into the specifics of the recipe: grain is cracked, mixed with warm water, and steeped, which makes mash. Liquid is drawn out, leftover grain is given to a local farmer to feed his cattle. Liquid is boiled for 90 minutes, hops are added. Liquid is cooled rapidly and pumped to fermentation tanks. Whole process takes six hours. The two large tanks hold 2500 gallons of beer when full. Yeast added here in the big tanks. When it runs out of sugar to convert, it goes dormant, and they reclaim it and reuse it again.
1:42 - Once beer is done here, it is filtered through a system and sent to last holding tank, where it ages for three (ale) to six (lager) weeks. Another tourist asks about dry hopping. He says they only do that sometimes, like with a recent Thanksgiving lager. I don't have a clue what dry hopping is.
1:44 - He says they do not use any preservatives and do not pasteurize their bottles. I am happy to hear that. I thought there was some sort of government-imposed law about that with commercial bottling, but apparently not. It does shorten the shelf life compared to other beers, but beer is not meant to sit on the shelf like, perhaps, wine. Pasteurization and preservatives would compromise some of the healthy benefits of beer.
1:45 - We move closer to the bottling/kegging area. He's explaining the bottling process. Would be cool to see the machine running, but I imagine that would be logistically difficult. Machine bottles 100 bottles per minute, they only run it a couple days a week.
1:48 - He says he's wrapping up, turning taps back on. Says he'll leave them on maybe until 3:30 if we are "good".
1:56 - I finally make it back to the taps. Ask John if I can stay here and have a small sample of each, he says sure. The Summer Wheat doesn't really remind me of wheat, but I can definitely taste the hops. It's much more bitter than the Oktoberfest. I love the back of John's shirt: "All it takes is a liver and a dream".
2:02 - India Pale sample - Their website says it's the most highly hopped, and I can tell. It's so bitter it tastes metallic to me. Very crisp, though. The "bar" is situated at the end of a giant room-sized walk in cooler. The taps are literally drilled into the side of the cooler. Tourists are jovial and polite in the requests for their favorite flavor of free brew.
2:12 - Pale Ale sample - Doesn't smell as hopsy. I can actually taste more yeast in this one, which I like. Still too bitter for me, but I know a lot of people like it that way!
2:20 - Stout sample - this was dubbed "hidden stout" because there was no tap handle and the "bartender" didn't know it was there at first. This was a good one to end with because it smelled like Kahlua! I don't see anything about it on their website, and I wonder if this is the Winter brew that is coming out soon? Anyway, it's definitely heavy, but tasty. Has a sweet syrupy taste combined with the expected bitter hop flavor.
2:28 - Asked if this was a large group for them, and got the answer that no, it's a small group. He estimated about 100 people today, and says he's seen up to 300 come in! Wow.
Later Notes: Due to the popularity of this event, I recommend arriving early and getting a place at the front of the line. And bring a designated driver, too. This is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, learning about the brewing process and sampling some great, fresh, local beer. And it's a great way to support your local economy as well. There are also health benefits to beer not widely discussed in mainstream media the way those of wine have been (although I disagree with the part in the above linked article that says mainstream beer is as good as a microbrew, due to the fact that they -- mainstream -- use cheaper, lighter grains like rice and corn, so "equally high-quality ingredients" doesn't ring true.)
For readers outside of NC, please go tour a local brewery in your area!
By Marcie Barnes
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