Eat. Drink. Better.

One issue that’s come to my attention since I started thinking more about my food is the debate about organic foods — are they healthier, and is the cost worth the potential benefits?

I’d love to buy organic food all the time, but it’s just not financially possible for me right now. That said, I believe in the health risks of pesticides on foods and would like to start moving in the direction of eating foods grown without them. But if I’m going to get a bang for my buck, which foods should I buy organic in order to protect myself from ingesting the most pesticides? Are some fruits and vegetables more susceptible to absorbing pesticides than others?

One list I found that can help answer this question is the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides, which ranks 47 popular fruits and vegetables based on how many pesticides they contain, often after being washed and peeled. The list was put together by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit group working on public health and the environment.

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Trail mix is a favorite fall time snack of mine. Fun to take on hikes and picnics, it always hits the spot. Try mixing some seasonal seeds in your favorite nut mix to stay healthy this season. Here is a simple recipe with remarkable immune boosting powers.

Sunflower Seeds: Rich in vitamin E, magnesium and selenium, sunflower seeds are high in phytosterols which are known cholesterol reducers.

Pumpkin Seeds: Carve that cute Halloween pumpkin and, save those seeds to roast for snacks! Pumpkin seeds are abundant in proteins and vitamins. They contain L-tryptophan, a compound that prevents and treats depression. Nutrient rich pumpkin seeds contain zinc, magnesium, boron phytosterols, carotenoids, omega-3 fats, manganese, phosphorus, iron, and copper. They are also proven to be anti-inflammatory.

Raisins: Raisins are amazingly good for you, especially if they’re organic raisins. Raisins are rich in calcium, vitamin C, iron, b-vitamins, oleanolic acid, and catechin, a phenolic antioxidant effective for prevention of tumors and colon cancer. Raisins are also a known high fiber snack. The healthiest raisins are sulphite-free and organic.

Before the recent Whisky Fest in San Francisco, a select group gathered for a whisky tasting of the Bowmore whisky which in itself should be deemed a special treat especially when sipping on the 25 year Bowmore single malt and the 44 year old (older than most us in the room) Bowmore Gold, which up until that moment had only been savored by a few ones in the U.S. Toss in the fact that we sampled this whiskey at the classic power lunch spot meets oh la la One Market and everything seemed to be going as smooth as the and Bowmore 12 and the Tombo Tuna (we hope wild caught).

But of course, being in San Fran, we struck up the whole Green thing as far as Bowmore and whisky production. The Bowmore crew being from Scotland aren’t exactly strangers when it comes to Green or sustainable practices. After all, we would have to say that whisky might be one of the ultimate slow foods. A few tastes later only spurred the spirited dialogue. The fact that Bowmore came in second in the Green Apple award a few years ago impressed us. We even liked the fact that they got downright innovative in the fact that they use the waste heat generated from the stills plant to not only dry the barley but heat the local public swimming pool as well. They also use the generated hot water to pre-heat the facility that works like a form of radiant heating. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a scrumptious and healthy alkaline rich beet and orange salad with refreshing lemon zest and your choice of protein and toppings.

Try silky light tofu, or organic cottage cheese, crumbled feta, or plain. To top it off try fresh thyme or rosemary. I happen to have a blood orange I threw into the mix, so get creative and treat yourself to this healthy root vegetable and citrus salad.

Below is the recipe and an example menu to pair this nutritious side dish with. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you looking to feel balanced inside? Perhaps you’ve tried eating alkaline and are looking for a new recipe.

Try this simple sprout recipe you can grow yourself! Try these Organic Sprouted Seed Kits.

Sprouts are one of the most natural and healthy foods for the body. Nourish yourself, and feel the difference. Most supplements for digestion, alkalinity, immunity, energy, and extra greens, include sprouts of some sort. Almost anything that is a seed may be sprouted. Beans are sprout-able too!

Keep reading for this easy recipe that may serve as a side dish, a larger salad or taco topping, or a mid day snack. Read the rest of this entry »

Going to a body and nutrition expert with my husband is one of the best things we’ve done for ourselves. What was the key take away? Warning! Turn Alkaline!

Turn Alkaline? Are we magicians? Well according to biochemists we are! You can change your body chemistry with what you eat!

Chemicals have seeped into foods, air, and water, which in turn lower our system’s ability to control the chemistry of our body fluids, increasing illness and chronic disease.

The sad fact is that most food consumption in the wealthiest nations has shifted from nutritious raw foods to low nutritional value processed foods and we need to shift it back. Now that our total biological terrain is at risk, we urgently need to do some clean up by shifting our body chemistry back to the raw, organic foods it was designed to function on as we’ve evolved.

Below I’ve listed out a quick list of the good foods (alkaline) to treat your body to often…

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Fresh ingredients go a long way in adding flavor to any dish.  The same culinary theory holds outside of the kitchen in other contexts as well, as evidenced at the 13th annual Community Food Security Coalition Conference this past week in Des Moines, Iowa.  Over 500 activists from around the country gathered to connect, collaborate and challenge each other on ways to transform and improve our food system, including representation from young women dedicated to a farming career in sustainable agriculture.

As a female farmer myself, running Inn Serendipity farm and B&B with my husband, John Ivanko, in Wisconsin, this increasing blending and crossover between new women farmers with a passion for raising both cabbage and change cultivates a hefty serving of inspiration. These new women farmers grow more than food for our table; they rethink the status quo approach to our food system and provide keen insights into what needs to change.

“As one of the fastest growing groups of new farmers, women can be the change makers that transform our agricultural system into one that provides organic, healthy and fair food to us all,” explains Faye Jones, Executive Director of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), a Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) member organization that sponsored two women farmers to attend this conference. Wisconsin women farmers Jai Kellum of King’s Hill Farm and Erin Schneider of Hilltop Community Farm attended the CFSC Conference on behalf of MOSES.“It is important to keep the voice of farmers represented in the national discussion on food and agricultural policy and priorities,” sums up Jones.

Here are four of their tips for politicians to policy makers from Kellum and Schneider to improve our agriculture and food system: Read the rest of this entry »

Henry Albert Schroeder (1898-1967) must be rolling over in his grave at Kroghville Cemetery.  Either that, or he is about ready to come down from Heaven and give corporate farming hell, bringing with him the Clydesdales that once plowed his farm fields in the township of Pleasant Springs, 20 miles from Madison in eastern Dane County, Wisconsin.

From 1926 to 1951, Henry Schroeder farmed 80 acres off County Trunk BN and Schadel Rd. in Section 2, Range 11 East, Town 6 North — a parcel that included five other farms of similar size.  Schroeder got into the work he loved as Wisconsin farming was completing a major shift to crop diversification as corn replaced wheat as the state’s most productive and profitable grain and the College of Agriculture encouraged more farmers to raise dairy cows to produce milk, butter, cheese and beef.

Schroeder raised corn for feed, oats for animal bedding, and devoted one-tenth of his land to tobacco, a labor-intensive cash crop.  His farm featured a steep hill that was the second-highest elevation in Dane County, according to county land records and interviews with descendants.  To conserve his topsoil, Schroeder used the high land for pasture and initiated contour farming practices.  He applied manure and other farm wastes to fertilize crops, never using chemical alternatives. Livestock included cows, pigs, and chickens for family use or sale to neighbors.  Schroeder was proud of his ecologically and economically efficient family farm long before those terms were used.

“He was in his glory when he was on the farm,” his late wife Meta used to tell me as we looked through old photo albums.

You see, Henry Albert Schroeder was my grandfather.

Would you like to know the direct benefit of buying organic versus conventional?  Do you ever wonder what the cumulative impact of purchasing organic versus conventional products is over the course of a year?  There’s a website out there that allows you to calculate the number of pounds of synthetic nitrogen, pesticides, and herbicides that are eliminated by choosing organic products.

The website is for Organic Valley Family Farmers.  Organic Valley is a co-operative of farmers that produce dairy products, juice, eggs, meat, soy, fruit, and vegetables.  It claims to be the largest organic farmer owned co-operative in North America, and you can review on their website their array of various products.

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Fresh, organic fruit salads are so festive and healthy, make someone you love glow with one soon. I love mixing fruit flavors together and I think I’ve found a few secrets to delectable fruit salad blends. Here are some elements that make a great fruit salad sure to please and win smiles:

• Marinade: First off a good juicy base fruit is best, citrus and melons both make nice frescas marinades. If you can find organic watermelon or organic citrus in season near you, go for it, you body will thank you.
• Bite size delights of nutrients: The essence of fruit salad is to combine healthy organic bite size fruit slices that vary in texture and flavor. For instance organic white peach, green and red grape pair well with pear and berry. It is amazing how well fruits meld when combined.
• Freshness: Depending on how fresh the fruit is when cut, it will keep for half the week. To ensure this you may like to wash the fruits or add Grapefruit Seed Extract to the mixture for natural freshness.
• Rainbows: Creating a feast for the eye as well as the palate is key, I like adding edible flowers!

Keep reading for the recipe.

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