The Dirty Dozen

I think this most recent salmonella outbreak in the country's egg industry is a clear reminder that our food industry is mess of a debacle, to put it lightly. Not only can the food industry not be depended on for safe reliable food and service, but those who police this mess are as tainted as the food. And if this massive recall of 500+ million eggs isn't mind boggling and scary enough, recent headlines such as this one; "Eggs from suspect farms will be processed" , will surely put the icing on that cake that never should have been made in the first place.

So what's the solution you ask? Well I hate to sound like a broken record but... Local Organic Farming!

If you buy from local organic farms then you can be confident that you are getting the healthiest safest food available.

Put a face on that food that's on your dinner plate; support your local organic farmers.

Zone... Perfect "Garbage"

The only thing "Perfect" about the Zone Perfect bars (any of them) is that they are the perfect examples of what NOT to eat if your intentions are to eat healthy...

Listed below is the ingredients off a package of one of their All Natural Zone Perfect Classic Nutrition Bars, with all instances of sugar highlight in Blue. Below that is the same ingredients minus those that contain sugar in any way.

"Soy Protein Nuggets (Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Starch), Corn Syrup, Chocolate Flavored Coating (Sugar, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Powder, Whey Powder, Nonfat Milk Powder, Soy Lecithin, Natural Vanilla Flavor), Soy Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Yogurt Drops (Evaporated Cane Juice, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Nonfat Milk, Nonfat Yogurt Powder [Cultured Nonfat Milk], Soy Lecithin, Lactic Acid Powder [Modified Corn Starch, Lactic Acid], Natural Flavor), Coconut, High Oleic Sunflower Oil And/Or High Oleic Safflower Oil, Glycerine, Macadamia Brittle Pieces (Sugar, Macadamia Nuts, Butter, Corn Syrup, Baking Soda, Natural Vanilla Flavor And Salt). Less Than 2% Of The Following: Fructose, Sugar, Natural Flavors."

(ingredients without sugar)

"Soy Protein Nuggets (Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Starch), Soy Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Coconut, High Oleic Sunflower Oil And/Or High Oleic Safflower Oil, Glycerine."

There are three giant industries in this country that shape our food industry for their own greedy intentions; Corn Soy and Dairy, and it's obvious from the ingredients in this "health bar" that these industries govern what food manufactures use as "healthy ingredients". As you can see from the drastically reduced ingredients, without sugar (corn) you are left with Soy and Whey (Dairy), oh and some coconut oil... yum! Now that's one tasty nutritional bar.

Please do yourself a favor and don't be fooled by what "they" (any large food manufacturer) portrays as healthy, instead eat what you know is healthy... Organic fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, natural whole grains and legumes, and organic grass-fed / free-range beef and poultry.

It's your health, take control of it!

The Locally Grown Difference

So you're buying organic produce from you local grocery or health food store, and chances are if you're buying it from your local grocery store then the majority of those vegetables are coming from one of two major organic food companies located in California. Assuming you don't live on the west coast the question becomes how fresh are they, especially when compared to locally grown organic produce. It is true that relativity speaking California is more local then say New Zealand, Portugal, etc., but if you're not on the west coast then organic or not these vegetables are most likely picked prematurely in order for them to get to your local grocer before they begin to rot.

So they question again is, is there a difference between locally grown and non-locally grown produce?

The answer of course is 100% YES! I experienced this myself this morning when I was snacking on some carrots, a few were from a local organic farm stand that my wife and I frequent often during the summer months, and a few from the organic section of our local grocery store (from some large organic produce company located in California), and what a difference. The funny thing is you don't always notice the difference until you do a side by side comparison. The smaller (less commercial looking) locally grown ones tasted, well, very much like a carrot should, but when I re-tasted the non-locally grown ones I noticed something I hadn't noticed before... they lacked flavor.

As you know it is very important that your diet consist of fresh organic foods, and as you may or may not know it's important that these foods be eaten 'in season' (for instance don't eat tomatoes or blueberries in the dead of winter), but even if you follow these eating guidelines I urge you to go one step further. Find a local organic farm in your area, even if you have to drive an hour to get there, and taste the locally grown difference!