Menu Foods contaminated pet food

Most cat and dog owners are familiar with the recall of moist pet food by Menu Foods due to contamination. The latest news: testing by the FDA found traces of melamine in the wheat gluten used to make the food. Traces of this chemical were found in the kidney of a sick cat. Melamine, used to make plastics, is also used as fertilizer in other countries. This story will no doubt continue to unfold. There's more information available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine. No doubt, pet owners are a little concerned about the 60 million pet food containers that were recalled, and have switched to dry pet food. It sounds like a good time to go organic; visit http://www.organic-nature-news.com/organicpetfood.html for suggestions.

Google Dining is the peak of freshness

I learned recently about Google's famous on-campus eateries (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/01/FDG32H9OF61.DTL&type=printable) and I thought I'd comment on a phenomenon that I hope will catch on with other businesses. The newest eatery, Cafe 150, is so named because of its practice of utilizing only locally grown foods within a 150 mile radius. (That would rule out foods like shrimp and tropical fruit.) Many people swear by this philosophy, and some feel that it's more important than buying organic. (See the article in Time, March 12, 2007, entitled "My Search for the Perfect Apple" by John Cloud. He visited the Google cafe.) What makes Cafe 150 and the other four eateries so special is that they are responsive to employee needs, as well as purveyors of good nutrition. Charlie's Cafe, for example, serves Southwest and Indo-Pakistani cuisine. No-Name Cafe serves made-to-order salads, house-cured meat, and vegan items. Pacific Cafe serves Asian dishes. Their beverage options include such things as wheatgrass juice and kombucha. And employees eat free! Google claims to spend about $8.00/employee, and they love it. I wonder if they're hiring...

Global warming

With all the talk about environmental issues these days, I thought I'd interject a little information that I came across on the internet. For those of you who did not see "An Inconvenient Truth", or who did not see Mr. Gore at the Academy Awards, the movie really is a must-see. You can learn a little more about it at http://www.climatecrisis.net. Ben & Jerry's ice cream is also getting involved with environmental issues; learn about their efforts at http://www.lickglobalwarming.org. There's a great fact sheet that defines global warming and climate change in a way that any layman could understand. It can be found at http://www.thegreatwarming.com/pdf/ClimateChangeFactSheet.pdf. Enjoy!

World Water Day

While enjoying the Dasani that I purchase everyday, I happened across an ad in the New York Times about World Water Day. According to the ad, over 1 billion people worldwide to not have access to clean, pure water. Of these people, one child dies every 15 seconds from water-bourne illnesses. It's a sobering thought for those of us who take clean water for granted every day.

Visitors can visit http://www.worldwaterday.net for more information about this international event, and what you can do in your area. Or you can visit http://www.ge.com/en to learn how General Electric is developing technology to provide clean water for all. If you are interested in taking action in other ways, please visit http://www.organic-nature-news.com/take-action.html. It's a small price to pay for doing good -- and feeling good!

Read the label!

With all the food sensitivities cropping up lately, it behooves us to learn how to read those pesky food labels. Today, food items like trans fats must be listed on the label. At the Center for the Science in the Public Interest website (http://www.cspinet.org), you can read a list of food additives that are safe and which ones we should avoid. I learned the hard way, for example, that too much sorbitol (a sugar alcohol used in sugar-free products) resulted in loose bowels (yuck!). Unfortunately, most chemicals introduced into our bodies accumulate in our fat cells, and they don't go away. It's something to think about the next time we reach for a Twinkie.

The truth about genetically modified organisms

I've recently encountered a new book written by Denise Caruso that talks about genetically modified organisms, and I thought I'd share it. The title is "Intervention", and it dispassionately examines some of the facts behind the push to introduce GMO's, or transgenic crops, into our lives. "Intervention"'s scrupulous refusal to sensationalize only makes the alarms it raises more compelling. "Intervention" outlines a better approach to assessing the risks of new technologies. Under this process, interested experts from different fields assess risks from a broad perspective, asking questions rather than deliberately ignoring our lack of knowledge because they lack information.

Visitors can read a little more about gmo's on our website, by going to http://www.organic-nature-news.com/genetically-modified-organisms.html.

The Whole Foods conundrum

There's been plenty of talk about the Whole Foods empire over the past week. The first item was good news for finicky foodies; both Whole Foods and Wild Oats refused to sell products coming from clones animals. The second -- Whole Foods has plans to buy Wild Oats and reconfigure its stores, in another one of many takeovers by the natural foods giant. Stock prices, unfortunately, have fallen over the past year by about 30%, prompting many to comment that perhaps Whole Food's CEO has taken on more than he can chew. Is Whole Foods growing too big; are they selling out? We'd like to hear from you.