Balance of Food

Saute mushrooms, part deux: Cooking them with water

Sauté mushrooms with water seemed to be a contradiction to what we've learned about the sauté. Mushrooms in a cold pan … with water!?

Earlier this year, we tried the Alton Brown method. Waiting 45 seconds before adding the mushrooms and water. Cooking 2-4 minutes and then adding the butter. We tried this twice because, well, I added the wrong amount of water the first time. Neither effort came close to what Brown wanted us to accomplish.

I had some faith in the concept but not the method. I sauté a lot of mushrooms and slowly gave up on the idea of involving water.

America's Test Kitchen on PBS also tried to convince me to use the method. They had an experiment on how much oil mushrooms had been absorbed: raw vs. cooked briefly in the microwave. The difference in oil was significant. Again, the method sounded great but the practice needed to be effective.

The America's Test Kitchen (ATK) recipe is a considerable side dish with red wine, chicken broth, and rosemary. I just wanted to sauté some mushrooms to put on spaghetti. Both the Brown method and the ATK approach involved at least a pound of mushrooms.

The ATK approach started with a cold pan with the mushrooms and water. The water was a ¼ cup instead of ⅓ cup for the Brown method. No 45-second wait.

ATK noted that you should wait until the liquid evaporates to then put in the oil. The Brown method didn't mention the liquid and suggests putting in the fat a lot sooner.

The mushrooms release their liquid so in using the ATK method, there is a lot more liquid. I used a timer to keep track of the progress. There isn't a precise amount of time — a few minutes definitely — waiting until the liquid disappears is the key.

Using less butter or oil or even bacon grease is an advantage to cooking with water. Less fat and more money. This is not a no-fat approach, just using the mushrooms natural makeup to use less fat.

Food TV teaches us to eat with our eyes. The philosophy results in an uglier presentation. If texture is an issue, this approach can be your new best friend. There are advantages to both paths in terms of taste: the water path means smaller pieces that feel more meaty.

Mushrooms and other vegetables can taste better with improved texture

On the surface, this anecdote means the Brown method was "wrong" and the ATK approach was "right." This is where there is art to the science of cooking. The paths are sufficiently similar. Both recipes are checked over and over before hitting the airwaves (cable?). Both are rooted in the science of mushrooms.

ATK offers more steps, which can help some cooks who follow along step by step. The Brown method has a precision with the 45 seconds missing from the ATK approach.

You may have tried both paths and found the Alton Brown method was dominant over the America's Test Kitchen approach. This is why trying more than one path can help you figure out a cooking task.

You might try one path for certain dishes and another path for other dishes. You might combine some of each method into one that suits your cooking.

The New York Times declared mushrooms to be the 2022 Ingredient of the Year. Experimenting with mushrooms is worthwhile.

Charcuterie board offers a small Thanksgiving feast without pressure or hard work

Add vegetables to processed lunch choices for flavor and nutrition

Resolve to post more pictures of home cooking in 2019

I've been enjoying Mary Berg's Mary Makes It Easy, which airs on the Food Network in the United States. As a nod to our sibling blog, CanadianCrossing.com, Berg is Canadian, which explains why she says Fahrenheit a lot and has an actual recipe for butter tarts.

I can't say I love all 4 recipes in any episode but there is almost some tidbit or a whole recipe in every episode where I find personal temptation.

There are so few cooking shows on commercial television so the ones that are good need to be noted.

I can deal with Berg's shortened language — parm for parmesan — and find it reasonably charming. You should know that Berg goes really fast in a recipe and makes great assumptions if you are not a seasoned cook. Her show sometimes feels like you are listening to a podcast at 1.3 speed because the show goes really fast.

The idea is to realize your own speed as a cook and approach inspiration accordingly. A Mary Berg idea might be your jam, as she would say, but you might need a ATK approach to figure how to work through a recipe. This is a part of the cooking process. The idea may be great, such as cooking mushrooms in water, but this only works when you find an approach or method that suits your cooking interests.

photos credit: me

Food sensitivity tests should tell us why we are food sensitive

"Is it an allergy?"

I have what is likely a food sensitivity to mozzarella cheese. This keeps me away from most standard pizzas.

I often get asked "are you allergic to all cheeses?" I calmly explain I have a reaction specifically to mozzarella cheese. Why? Don't know. Food sensitivity seems to be the proper answer.

EverlyWell has a way for those with food sensitivities to find out for themselves: "Learn How Your Body Responds to 96 Different Foods."

"This at-home test measures your body’s immune response to 96 foods to help provide guidance on what foods may be the best to choose for an elimination diet."

The cost for the food sensitivity test, an immunoglobulin G test, is $159. This is lower than the hundreds of dollars I've heard quoted for similar procedures.

Here is why I likely won't take the EverlyWell test, no offense to the company.

cost — $159 is quite a bit of money. EverlyWell does take HSA/FSA payments, which would be nice if I had that option.

security — The stories about the ancestry sites and who owns DNA and the like make me reluctant to submit blood or DNA to figure that out.

viability — The test works on 96 foods. I have a specific food in mind, but don't know whether that food will be tested.

results — If I take the test, and the test tells me I have a food sensitivity to mozzarella cheese, I paid to know what I already know. If the test is negative, I've wasted $159.

Cheap pizza comes to Canada but at what cost

A test that would tell me why would have value. Is there something in mozzarella cheese specifically, such as the process, that makes this distinct from other cheeses and dairy products. Buffalo mozzarella might not produce the same reaction.

The simple "test" would be to buy buffalo mozzarella to see if I have the same or similar reaction: a bad headache in the back of my head, sometimes with nausea. A lot cheaper than $159. Even if buffalo mozzarella makes a difference, I would still have to ask each time what mozzarella is being used.

BalanceofFood.com advice coverage

I read food labels and don't order items that might have mozzarella cheese in them. I have had a few instances where I ordered something in restaurants, thinking I was safe, and was not.

If I had a diagnosis printed on a card, I could have them read the card instead of explaining why I have a food sensitivity to only one kind of cheese. That might not have helped in the one instance in the French-speaking part of the world where I accidentally received mozzarella cheese.

Pain and suffering over time has led to a diagnosis, however unofficial that is. I don't miss mozzarella cheese in the slightest and won't die if I ingest some.

$159 would be a great price if I could learn something I don't already know. Staying away from mozzarella cheese is annoying but costs $0.

photos credit: EverlyWell

Euell Gibbons: a natural food enthusiast ahead of his time

I feel certain I saw Grape-Nuts commercials featuring Euell Gibbons when I was a child. Maybe not. I remember watching Match Game episodes with questions featuring Euell Gibbons.

The answers often went back to wild hickory nuts since Gibbons, in the Grape-Nuts commercials, said the cereal reminded him of "wild hickory nuts."

Grape-Nuts was a healthy cereal in the 1970s, a time where more cereals were healthy. Cream of Wheat, old school oatmeal, Farina. Healthy cereals are less intense than the cereals of those times.

The 1970s was the last pure decade of the U.S. food system with relatively healthy fast food, no high-fructose corn syrup, glyphosate did exist but not to the extent of today's dominance, and a less-greedy approach to processed foods.

Gibbons was into wild foods, appreciating what nature could provide with plants that might otherwise be overlooked. He had a series of books that started with the word "stalking."

• Stalking the Wild Asparagus (1962)
• Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop (1964)
• Stalking the Healthful Herbs (1966)
• Stalking the Good Life (1966)
• Stalking the Faraway Places (1973)

Gibbons was ahead of his time in many ways. The word "diet" was commonly found in artificially sweetened soft drinks with saccharin. People foraged for mushrooms but that wasn't too well-known. People ate liver without irony; the concept of a "nose to tail" approach without a catchphrase.

I remember eating Grape-Nuts as a child, putting refined white sugar on the cereal. I now enjoy Grape-Nuts as an adult minus the sugar. The latest is eating Grape-Nuts with a flavored Greek yogurt. The ingredient list is about as simple as a brand name cereal could get. Grape-Nuts is like no other cereal on the market, though I haven't had wild hickory nuts.

Not everyone knew who Euell Gibbons was, even if they were on Match Game. The contestant seems really confused even when Gene Rayburn explains who Gibbons is.

The Grape-Nuts commercials led to the Match Game jokes. Gibbons did make appearances on Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Match Game kept Gibbons in the spotlight.

What's Tempting: Original Grape-Nuts

What's Tempting: More protein in breakfast cereal

Grape-Nuts went through a self-inflicted PR mess by adding "isolated soy protein," a cheap GMO protein to a cereal already strong in protein. Changing back was a very smart move.

BalanceofFood.com advice coverage

Julia Child has been celebrated lately with a HBO Max series and a CNN film. Child's work and legacy should be celebrated.

Given our love for natural foods, eating foraged wild mushrooms, and a nose to tail approach, we should do more to celebrate the work of Euell Gibbons.

Gibbons died in 1975, not longer after most of the world figured out who this person was. He deserves more than just the punchline of game show questions and a cereal spokesperson.

video credits: YouTube/Bionic Disco; YouTube/movienotes
photo credit: Grape-Nuts

How seaweed can reduce the methane output from cows

We hear that eating meat is bad for climate crisis because of the methane that comes from cows. This likely is worse in huge feedlots with a large accumulation of cows.

What if cows could consume something that is healthy for them AND would reduce the methane that cows release?

Joe Dorgan, a Prince Edward Island farmer, starting taking local seaweed and adding that to the feed for his cows.

This led to researcher Rob Kinley, an agricultural scientist then at Dalhousie University in nearby Halifax, Nova Scotia, testing Dorgan's seaweed mix, and discovered a 20% methane reduction from the cows. Kinley said the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis reduces methane in cows to almost nothing.

Not all seaweeds reduce methane; seaweeds high in bromoform would be more likely to reduce methane.

There are a number of issues that still need to be studied. The idea of natural seaweed or a farmed version reducing the climate impact of cows is amazing.

How feeding cows seaweed could help PEI meet emission targets and boost this business (CBC News)

How red seaweed might help curb methane emissions from burping cows (The Current from CBC Radio One)

PEI farmer assists in near-eradication of methane from cow farts (CBC News)

In eating animals, we need to be critical thinkers about what those animals eat. The push for truly wild animals is knowing their diet is a lot more pure than what we see, especially at the U.S. feedlots, where the quality of feed hasn't been important.

Seaweed would be good for cows, even if that didn't help methane levels for purpose of the climate crisis, provided cows can digest well. Cows eat grass for a reason. The idea of cows eating grains was a false dichotomy to fatten them up, reducing taste and nutrition in the grain-fed version.

Balanceoffood.com Canada food policy coverage

BalanceofFood.com science coverage

The climate crisis needs to be addressed, even by those who eat meat. The seaweed solution shows there are possibilities to improve our diets and deal with the climate crisis. Some of us could be eating the seaweed directly.

Hopefully, this news story will get more recognition for solutions such as this one to improving our diet and the climate crisis.

photo credit: CBC News

Farmers markets in Year 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic

This was the longest winter in terms of farmers markets since I have become a fan. The primary market didn't have an indoor winter version. The supplemental winter version of a farmers market moved around. Their last space was closer and prettier than a parking garage (first site) but didn't visit that as often for other reasons.

My local produce store became the catch-all where I bought food from local farmers, the de facto farmers market. In the winter of 2019-2020, I ran out of eggs. I went online to my favorite eggs vendor, ordered a dozen. She actually delivered them to my door but I could have walked less than a mile to the pickup spot.

When I ran out of eggs in the winter of 2020-2021, I didn't have that option since she went out of business during the pandemic. I bought eggs at my local produce store.

Last spring, the mad scramble was to find farmers markets. We were tracking individual farmers who made the 100-mile (each way) trek to deliver in a different manner than we were used to doing. Chicago has put in a delay that didn't make any sense since Evanston (suburb immediately to the north) started on time.

This year, the markets started at or near the original time. Farmers markets are not back to pre-pandemic form, even with vaccines.

Still have nightmares of the local farmers market where they insisted on spraying everyone with an unmarked bottle reportedly carrying hand sanitizer. The fake safety practice had long been reputed but the sudden change meant finding different markets. Here's hoping common sense kicks in for 2021 but not holding my breath.

Opening Day of the farmers market season had replaced the ritual of Opening Day for baseball. Baseball has hot dogs and apple pie but farmers markets have asparagus (definitely) and strawberries (sometimes).

"How was your winter? How are the crops going so far?" Standard questions in a normal opening day. "Hey, you survived. Good for you. Have you had the vaccine?" New questions for 2021.

2020 farmers market update: What to do without winter markets

Use food education to help kids learn outdoors during a pandemic

Add summer local fruit to your lemonade

Tomato trust at a farmers market is a cherished responsibility

Inside a farmers market in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Farmers markets in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

Food safety is a subject where we have written about extensively, the dichotomy of being over safe on such things as medium rare burgers and raw milk and under safe about certain ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup.

Customers have to be patient with how close they get and what they can touch. The idea of having them put you fruit in a resealable container is a year away. The fact that we can touch tomatoes in a grocery store but not at a farmers market is baffling.

Farmers markets will be cautious because we live in a cautious society. Farmers and their workers might be thrilled if people in 2021 are actually wearing masks as intended. The stress that farmer market customers have had to endure does not compare to the stress of the farmers and their workers. Considered essential but not always respected by the customers.

We always recommend people be nice to the vendors at farmers markets. Go above and beyond to be nice.

As the population of the United States becomes more vaccinated, restrictions might lighten at farmers markets. Hoping September is better than May in that respect. There are likely people who love farmers markets and yet are also anti-vaxxers, even if they seem incompatible.

You may not have to wear a mask but you should consider the vendors and other customers in mind. In our situation, a lot of the farmers come in from other states and their vaccination rollouts may be different than in your state.

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

If you are looking for 2019 style farmers markets, think 2022. The 2021 version should get better as the summer progresses. Still better than the 2020 version.

photo credit: me

Film review: Meat the Future

One innovation that we would love to see is cloned meat. The goodness of meat without the animal sacrifice. The primary drawback has been availability and cost. Meat is expensive in most of the world with the United States as a grand exception.

Meat the Future takes us into the world of cloned meat, mostly by following Memphis Meats over the last few years. The film specifically follows Memphis Meats CEO Uma Valeti, a cardiologist turned entrepreneur. We even go back to India, where Dr. Valeti is from. He tells a story about chickens being slaughtered at a child's birthday party when he was young.

“If I practice cardiology for another 30 years, I would probably save two or three thousand lives. But there is very little, in the form of any idea, that even comes close to the level of impact of what this could impact on billions of humans lives and trillions of animal lives,” Valeti said.

We spend part of the film looking at the company expanding to larger spaces. Nice but not relevant to the subject.

The film also covers the agency alphabet soup battle between the FDA vs. the USDA. We see the nuance of what to call the end product: clean meat as opposed to cultured meat or lab-grown meat.

The film feels like a business case study in general instead of a conversation about cloned meat.

At one point, they talked about growing corn and soy to feed the cells. "Why wouldn't you use grass?" was my logical question. Cloned meat isn't going to work well if the cells are eating cheap filler. Cloned meat should be glyphosate-free.

They did talk a bit about how the meat is grown in a sterile environment with a reduced chance of pathogens to sneak in. Mainstream meat production is sadly full of antibiotics.

The cost of the meat starts out at $17,000/lb. at the beginning of the film and falls to under $50/lb. at the end of the film. That does sound great. The final drop in price may be the most difficult step.

There are a couple of tastings in the film. You can taste through a film. The Beyond and Impossible non-meat products supposed taste like meat. Does the cloned meat taste like good meat or just meat? Did the taste improve between the first and second testing? We don't know.

BalanceofFood.com film coverage

Meat the Future is a good introduction to clean meat / cloned meat but doesn't cover the topic all that well. The person behind the meat is important but the meat is the future.

Meat the Future was scheduled to be a part of the 2020 Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto. The film aired as part of Hot Docs at home on CBC television and the documentary Channel in Canada.

video and photos credit: Meat the Future film

Alternative foods if your grocery store has been raided due to COVID-19 coronavirus

You may have seen the grocery store shelves in North America where people came in and hoarded groceries thanks to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Most of that food likely won't get eaten in the next 2-3 weeks. The hoarding makes some feel safe leaving others without actual options.

Milk, bread, eggs are usually what gets taken in with an impending snowstorm. This is worse in a major way since most communities dig out of a snowstorm faster.

If you got to the grocery store later than you wanted, here are some good foods that will help you last longer in a "shelter in place" scenario.

Rice lasts a very long time, much longer than bread. The worse the bread is made, the longer the bread will keep thanks to chemicals. Bread of any type will last in the freezer. Rice is the go-to carbohydrate. Brown rice holds nutrition and fiber advantages over white rice. Fiber is crucial when trapped inside for long periods, keeping you full longer.

You can make rice in large batches, bring them out of the freezer in small batches, and warm them in the microwave. Rice is also huge in terms of being cheaper than any level of bread and, in the best way possible, you have more rice left over when things get better.

Pasta is also inexpensive and lasts for a very long time. You can also make pasta if you have flour and eggs or flour and water.

UHT milk provides longer shelf life but nutrition and taste are lost

You could cut back your "milk" consumption during this time. If that is not practical, you have a few options.

Powdered milk might be easier to find. The idea of mixing water into your milk container may seem, well, gross. Powdered milk is likely not a key raided product.

Alternative milks that are shelf-stable gives you flexibility.

We dread the UHT milk that seems to be quite popular. The longer expiration dates make consumers feel safer even with the nutritive losses with UHT milk. You can extend regular milk beyond its expiration date within reason

Switching to cheese and yogurt helps the dairy and protein requirements. Milk in its forms does offer versatility missing from other dairy products

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

Eggs bought from local farmers last longer than store-delivered eggs. Find out if a local farmer can satisfy that requirement. Knowing your farmer is helpful in such times. Farmer markets are pretty much done in the current pandemic. If the farmer can get to you or you can get to the farmer, you can get amazing eggs that will last a long time.

Pasteurized eggs and egg substitutes offer alternatives that are less flexible than actual eggs.

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

Fresh is better: canned and frozen fill the gaps really well. Rinse and drain anything that has been in a can. In a pandemic, canned and frozen are extremely legitimate sources of protein (canned fish, beans) and fruit/vegetables.

photo credit: me

Some Canadian fast food companies want to talk about sustainability

"Sustainable beef" sounds great. Trying not to be cynical but what does that mean?

McDonald's ads in the United States don't talk about the quality of the beef in the fast food hamburgers. We know McDonald's ads in Canada have a completely different mindset than U.S. ads. This McDonald's ad on sustainable beef ran earlier this spring on Canadian television.

"At McDonald’s Canada, (sustainable beef) it’s a commitment. A commitment to ensuring we preserve Canada’s most valuable resources for future generations to come. To look after the land, to care for animals, and to provide the best quality food we possibly can without compromise."

McDonald's Canada says that the company has "partnered to produce beef sustainably" with Canadian farmers for over a decade. The practice applies to the Mighty Angus Burger but not every burger that McDonald’s Canada sells.

Dr. Reynold Bergen, Science Director, Beef Cattle Research Council, is quoted in the ad as saying "the same pound of beef today produces 15% less greenhouse gas than it did 30 years ago, and so our environmental footprint is shrinking."

Is McDonald's Canada beef grass-fed or grass-finished? The ad implies that the cows eat grass and aren't trapped in pens.

In 2018, McDonald's Canada announced that the Angus beef would be certified sustainable according to standards from the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB).

From McDonald's Canada:

For example, a few of the indicators a farmer or rancher must achieve include:

• Grasslands and grazing are managed in a way that maintains or improves soil health and protects watershed areas.
• Outcomes related to feed/water, animal care, shelter, herd health and handling procedures are met as per requirements outlined in Canada's Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle.

McDonald's Canada notes that 100% of its beef comes from Canadian ranches and farms, primarily in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Canadian ads from spring 2019 NHL Center Ice free preview

A tale of 2 fast food justification ads from Subway Canada and A&W Canada

A&W Canada says the company is a proud member of both the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef as well as the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

The chain has touted its stance that it uses beef "raised without any added hormones or steroids." The FAQ does say "our cattle enjoy a mix of different grains and grass" so their beef isn't 100% grass-fed.

When asked about the verifying process, their reply was "We audit all facilities that handle our beef and they are also audited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency or equivalent regulatory agencies. At A&W, we’ve developed our own animal welfare programs that meet the National Farm and Animal Care Council requirements, adding additional requirements from our own research. This means we also audit our supplies using third-party auditors accredited by the Professional Animal Auditors Certification organization to ensure all our requirements are met."

BalanceofFood.com fast food coverage

BalanceofFood.com advertising coverage

You might decide that McDonald's Canada or A&W Canada doesn't meet your high standards (e.g., grass-finished). These places might exceed your current level of standards (likely none).

Having a conversation about sustainability in fast food is rather fun, though a few more details wouldn't harm the discussion. We would love to see more fast food places in Canada jump into the conversation. Fast food outlets in the United States? Someone has to take the first step.

Food companies will try to take advantage of buzzwords such as "sustainability." Holding them accountable keeps them on their toes and we all benefit as consumers.

video and photo credit: McDonald's Canada

UHT milk provides longer shelf life but nutrition and taste are lost

If you need a long-shelf life for your regular milk, you might be excited that you are seeing expiration dates longer into the future. We are seeing this especially in organic milk.

However, those longer shelf-lives come as a result of the milk going through the process of ultra high temperature (UHT) or being ultra-pasteurized. Are the advantages of organic milk being compromised by being UHT?

I learned the different pasteurization techniques via Alton Brown on an episode of Good Eats. The conventional process is 145°F for 30 minutes. Brown referenced HTST pasteurization (high temperature/short time), which is 161°F for 15 seconds. UHT is 280°F for 2 seconds and then cooled quickly.

Brown noted that low and slow is the way to go because it produces better flavor and body.

Nutrition is more important than taste, but a better tasting milk means more milk will be consumed, especially by children. Drinking milk is also about health above and beyond calcium and protein.

Scouring the Internet won't take you long to find articles about the evils of UHT pasteurization, such as altering the milk protein structure is altered and that UHT milk has less folate and could have reduced Vitamin B₁₂, Vitamin C, and Thiamin.

From the Weston A. Price Foundation:

According to Lee Dexter, microbiologist and owner of White Egret Farm goat dairy in Austin, Texas, ultra-pasteurization is an extremely harmful process to inflict on the fragile components of milk. Dexter explains that milk proteins are complex, three-dimensional molecules, like tinker toys. They are broken down and digested when special enzymes fit into the parts that stick out. Rapid heat treatments like pasteurization, and especially ultra-pasteurization, actually flatten the molecules so the enzymes cannot do their work. If such proteins pass into the bloodstream (a frequent occurrence in those suffering from "leaky gut," a condition that can be brought on by drinking processed commercial milk), the body perceives them as foreign proteins and mounts an immune response. That means a chronically overstressed immune system and much less energy available for growth and repair.

If you like raw milk or want to have the milk as little pasteurized as possible, UHT milk goes to the other extreme.

Schitt's Creek amplifies illegality of raw milk

What's Tempting: Finally tasting raw milk

What's Tempting: Fairlife as a milk alternative

What's Tempting: Raw milk from a vending machine

What's Tempting: Raw milk in 2014

Colbert showcases government extreme on addressing raw milk

The UHT process doesn’t add nutrition to the process. UHT milk isn’t safer than regular pasteurization. The primary advantage to UHT is that grocery stores can increase profits. Less milk to throw out and more people will buy milk with a longer shelf life.

You can drink regular milk past the expiration date. Unless you take a long time to consume a container of milk, you almost never have to worry about spoilage. And if you need a long-term, shelf-stable milk, you can buy non-dairy milk.

Your food can be “too safe.” The U.S. has allowed irradiation of ground beef since 1999. Health Canada approved irradiation of ground beef last year but that information must be declared on the label. Irradiated ground beef might be "safe" but I wouldn't want to eat that beef.

We praise Europe’s food process, but the UHT wave comes from Europe. You might remember the Parmalat milk from the 1990s. Finding UHT milk is much easier in Europe, but then again, raw milk is easier to find in Europe.

If I’m going to drink milk, I want to get as much complete nutrition as I can in that glass. UHT milk makes buying and drinking milk less worrisome to some people, but provides no worthy reason where nutrition is concerned.

Organic or conventional, you still have to eat fruits and vegetables

Eating vegetables have many barriers: Texture, raw vs. cooked, cost, taste. Pesticides are a concern but they shouldn't prevent you from eating vegetables.

A dietitian friend of mine had a social media post that said people were not eating enough fruits and vegetables. I would argue that fruits aren't as much of a concern, but we all agree that we aren't eating enough vegetables.

The next part of the post puzzled me: the Dirty Dozen, Clean 15, and other lists were scaring people away from eating fruits and vegetables. I responded online that people weren't being scared away from fruits and vegetables because of the lists.

To clarify, the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 type lists break down which fruits and vegetables should be bought as organic vs. conventionally grown. The lists are also helpful in what isn't on them. They suggest buying organic for certain fruits and vegetables. If a fruit or vegetable isn't on that list, then the lists tell us you don't have to be as concerned. The lists should increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables by giving consumers information to make safer and better choices.

The reply was that people were scared and this study was the proof.

"We surveyed 510 low-income shoppers to learn about their attitudes about organic and conventional fruits and vegetables (FV) and what would happen if we provided them with information about organic and conventional growing practices from a variety of sources. In general, participants preferred organic FV; however, cost was a significant barrier to purchase them. Informational statements about organic and conventional FV did not increase participants' likelihood to purchase more FV. In contrast, messages naming specific FV with pesticides shifted participants toward 'less likely' to purchase any type of FV regardless whether organically or conventionally grown. The results provide insight about how low-income people view FV and how communications may influence their purchase intention."

The study focuses on the impact of communications on purchase intention. The flaw in the study is that the information is incomplete and without context. Let's look at 3 major areas of concern:

• People are scared of the idea of pesticides without knowing a whole lot. Let's start with a dose of reality: conventional-grown produce has pesticides. Organic produce can and often has pesticides. The difference is which pesticides are used, how much of the pesticide is being used, and whether or not those pesticides are outlawed in other parts of the world.
• Farmers markets sell produce that often is grown to organic standards without being certified organic in part due to cost and tedious paperwork. Produce at those markets are usually cheaper than certified organic products in a grocery store. Some farmers markets take food assistance funds (food stamps) as payment.
• The study doesn't address hydroponic vegetables grown in warehouses without a speck of pesticide.

"In general, participants preferred organic FV; however, cost was a significant barrier to purchase them." We hear this quite often that "organic" means "too expensive." Sometimes, this is true but the marketplace has shifted quite a bit. Trader Joe's, for those who are near one, and even conventional stores carry organic foods at more reasonable prices.

The U.S. consumer complains about high food prices. In a world comparison, U.S. food prices are pretty low compared to similar countries but U.S. wages have been stagnant in terms of buying power for 40 years. The cost difference between conventional and organic may seem too high for some consumers but may depend on accessibility to cheaper organic food.

You have to develop your own system for buying fruits and vegetables that fit your nutritional, physical, and psychological concerns. You might want to support local farmers. You might not care where your fruits and vegetables got their start. The marketplace is large enough for all types of decisions.

You might enjoy rinsing and cleaning your fruits and vegetables and figure this is the price you pay for buying relatively cheaper produce. You can choose to follow the clean organic lists such as the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 for some produce and be more open in other areas of produce.

You might not have enough time or money to do anything more than shop in one huge place where organic is a pipe dream. Everybody in all these scenarios and more have an obligation to themselves to consume fruits and vegetables.

Frozen or canned fruits and vegetables can be a wonderful option for consumers. With canned fruits and vegetables, rinsing canned fruit (for ingredients that aren't juice) and vegetables (too much sodium) is a really good idea. Fresh fruit and vegetables can be an amazing supplement when in season whether growing them yourself, getting them at farmers markets, or at the local supermarket.

The ultimate reason you will eat those fruits and vegetables is taste. People who pick organic or farmers markets usually find that the taste of fruits and vegetables is better. They might pay more but they are more likely to eat those fruit and vegetables. Nutrition only counts if you eat what you buy.

For those 510 low-income people in Chicago (a significant scientific flaw in the study for using 510 people all from one location: Chicago), we have good news. You can use food assistance funds in select farmers markets. There are beautiful hydroponic vegetables growing in warehouses in your city without a drop of pesticides.

The United States makes food shopping rather difficult because of the Wild West mentality that food companies can try to sneak things past you that you don't want in your family's food supply. Being diligent has to be a part of the food shopping process. You have to learn about what is out there and make your own smart decisions that work with your core values. And yes, you have to eat your fruits and vegetables.

photo credit: this site