Monthly Archives: November 2011

The FDA is breeding superbacteria to kill us all.

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It’s true: FDA Turns Down Petitions to Withdraw Medically Important Antibiotics from Animal Agriculture

Why do we, as consumers, care about this? Because the overuse of antibiotics in our food supply leads to drug-resistant bacteria. We’re seeing that with the rise in MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, infections, which are not treatable by most antibiotics.

Antibiotics are regularly fed to healthy factory farmed animals to ward off any diseases that are likely to strike when large numbers of animals are confined together in a small, unsanitary space. This irresponsible use of antibiotics means that bacteria have more opportunity to evolve defense mechanisms against the antibiotics, making the drugs ineffective, and creating super bugs like MRSA.

The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming has some scary statistics:

  • In 1998, the Institute of Medicine estimated that antibiotic resistance generated at least $4 billion to $5 billion per year in extra costs to the U.S. health care system, more recently estimated at $16.6 billion to $26 billion per year
  • Up to 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are given to healthy food animals
  • More than 25 million pounds of antibiotics a year are used as a non-therapeutic treatment to artificially speed up the growth of food animals and to compensate for the effects of unsanitary conditions on the farm

The World Health Organization has recommended that the FDA and USDA regulate the administering of antibiotics to food animals, and end this dangerous practice. But since they won’t, we consumers need to be responsible and only purchase animal products from animals that were not fed antibiotics. Check labels to be sure the animals’ diet was drug-free, or look for the Organic designation, which means no antibiotics, hormones, or steroids were fed to the animals. Even better, purchase your animal products from small, local farms, where you can visit and confirm that the animals are pasture-raised and happy. The future of humanity may depend on it!

Local snack: CCNO Bars

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I am embarrassed by, and sorry for the poor quality of this picture:

I walked around my office trying to find some decent lighting for my old iPhone’s camera, to no avail. Fortunately, this blog has a lovely photo of a CCNO Bar.

I needed an afternoon snack, and my favorite workday food shop doesn’t carry my usual quickie bite, Lara Bars. I like Lara Bars because they’re just fruit and nuts smashed together, without chemicals and additives and preservatives like Clif, etc. So I was very happy to find the box of CCNO Bars by the register. They’re along the same lines as Lara Bars, but made locally, and with an extra kick of flavor from cononut oil. They’re vegan, gluten free, and all-natural. And LOCAL. And REAL FOOD. Give them a try, if you can find them!

The Omnivore’s Dilemma QotD

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If you think eating responsibly is too expensive–

The ninety-nine-cent price of a fast-food hamburger simply doesn’t take account of that meal’s true cost–to soil, oil, public health, the public purse, etc., costs which are never charged directly to the consumer but, indirectly and invisibly, to the taxpayer (in the form of subsidies), the health care system (in the form of food-borne illnesses and obesity), and the environment (in the form of pollution), not to mention the welfare of the workers in the feedlot and the slaughterhouse and the welfare of the animals themselves…

…for if quality matters so much more than quantity, then the price of a food may bear little relation to the value of the nutrients in it. If units of omega-3s and beta-carotene and vitamin E are what an egg shopper is really after, then Joel’s $2.20 a dozen pastured eggs actually represent a much better deal than the $0.79 a dozen industrial eggs at the supermarket.

from p. 200-201, Grass: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Pasture; and p.269, The Meal: Grass Fed.

New neighborhood grocery in Charlottesville: The Farm

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Saturday was sunny and warm, a perfect day for HPup and me to walk (yes, walk! hooray!) down to Belmont to check out The Farm, a new grocery promoting local products.

The outside area is cute, with gourds and pumpkins for sale, and a picnic table for lunching. The inside is small but beautiful! I didn’t expect it to have such an upscale feel. I ordered a latte (the coffee is local, from Shenandoah Joe) and had a look around.

Local produce, local bread, local wine and beer! Local tofu, local eggs, local hummus and salsa and pesto! Yay.

They get produce from Horse & Buggy and The Farm at Red Hill, which also supplies salsa, pesto, hummus, and other dips. Tofu from Twin Oaks, breads and pastries from Albemarle Baking Co, and The Farm sells sandwiches. I didn’t try one, but they looked delish, and were cheap!

I plan to frequent The Farm, and hope they’re very successful. Two paws up from HPup!

Cheenius and the Mushrooms, Part I

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Today we have a guest post from our resident survivalist, Cheenius, who attended a mushroom-growing workshop and was kind enough to share her experiences with us! Take it away, Cheenius!

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Cheenius signed up for a “Mushroom Workshop” and was excited about the opportunity to share her experience with HP readers.  Offered by Mark Jones of Sharondale Farm in Keswick, the 3 hour course covered the biology, ecology and cultivation of mushrooms.

Eleven intrepid souls showed up in the rainy 38 degree weather to sip on the yummy herbal tea (free with registration of $60) and learn about fungus.   Mark proved to be quite knowledgeable, and provided interesting mushroom facts and insight.  For example, did you know that the largest living organism on the whole planet is a fungus?  It measures six square miles!

After some fungi basics, Mark walked us through his collection of poplar and oak logs in different stages of growing a number of mushroom varietals.  We then moved on to the hands-on part of the workshop, where he showed us how to drill holes in the logs, insert the spawn and cover it with cheese wax (Cheenius was happy to see that cheese wax has multiple uses!).

He had us each try our hand at the different parts of the process, and sent us home with our own starter spawn for oyster mushrooms.

Cheenius also purchased some shitake mushroom spawn as well as a nifty “innoculator” tool to make the insertion process easier.  As soon as she fells some trees she’ll be in business . . . in 8-12 months!

Cheenius recommends:

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Good luck, Cheenius! Keep us posted on your progress!

New local food cafe in Charlottesville

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Can’t wait to visit The Farm in Belmont! I’d seen it from the road, but thought it was just a coffee shop. They do sell (local) coffee, but so much more: local produce, local meat and dairy, local baked goods, as well as sandwiches, wine, and beer. Local, local, local. From The Hook article:

Much of the produce comes via Horse & Buggy Produce, which distributes food gathered from small farms in the area. Coffee comes from local roasters Shenandoah Joe, baked goods from Albermarle [sic] Baking Company on West Main, and milk, yogurt and other dairy from Organic Valley, Seven Stars Farm and Grass Point Farms. There’s tofu from Twin Oaks in Louisa, hummus, dips, salsas, pesto and fresh produce from The Farm at Red Hill, just down the road in North Garden.

I’ll try to get there this weekend and will let you know how it is!