Topic: organic food

Join The Foraged Food Renaissance! Spring Eats You Can Find In Your Area

Have you ever foraged? Once seen as the pastime of hippies and freegans, foraging is having a renaissance due to the natural and organic food movements. People like the idea of finding their own food in their own neighborhoods, getting closer to nature, and saving money. But if you’ve never foraged before, it can seem both strange and overwhelming: What plants do you pick? How can you recognize them? Where do you find them? We talked to a few foraging experts to get their tips for beginners, as well as some helpful information on what plants you can forage for in your area— starting right now! More »

Is Organic Food Better In Taste & Healthiness, Or Are We Just Being Fooled By A Stamp?

Here in Portland, I have met more than one or two people that believes anything organic and edible is good for you and, indeed, better than any other food. Of course, this is a generalization as vague as saying “all vegan food is good for you” or “all carbs are bad”; it’s too simple to assume that all of a certain type of food is good or bad. Apparently, though, organic food isn’t simply susceptible to being considered good for you. More »

Just In Case You Needed Another Reason To Eat Organic…It’s Also Better For Your Fruit Flies

Just in case you needed another reason to eat organic, new research has found that organic produce had health benefits for fruit flies. Yes, I know humans aren’t fruit flies, but researchers think that this research might shed some light on the what organic produce can do for our health, too. More »

Ignore The Hype — Organic Food Is Still Better For You

“Organic food is no more nutritious than non-organic.” If you’ve read a newspaper, looked at Google News or watched The Today Show this morning, you may have heard this (generally preceded or followed by the words “study says,” so you know it’s Science. Sanctioned.). Don’t believe it. If you look a little closer, you’ll see that a “study says” no such thing — at least not if you consider “healthy” and “nutritious” to mean free of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones. More »

Like McDonald’s, But Healthy: Lyfe Kitchen Makes Actual Organic Fast Food

Imagine a restaurant like McDonald’s, where you can get a hot meal in just a few minutes. But imagine that the meal is almost totally organic, sourced from local ingredients, and free of preservatives. Instead of fries, you have brussels sprouts. Instead of milkshakes, you have smoothies with chia seed and soy yogurt. Sound too good to be true? Well, it’s not. Lyfe Kitchen, the new chain of restaurants brought to you by former McDonald’s CEO Mike Roberts, aims to change the face of fast food in America. More »

Arsenic Found In Organic Baby Food And Cereal Bars; Makes Us Question ‘Organic’

When we choose a product labeled as “organic”, we tend to believe this is the healthiest way to go. Not so, according to a new study that found arsenic–a toxin that can increase the risk of cancer–in certain organic baby formulas, cereal bars and energy gels. More »

Blisstree’s Guide To Good Eats In Russia

The Russian market is clearly showing trends that it is ready for a change toward an organic lifestyle. There is a desire to eat and buy organic products growing amongst the population, even though most of the vegetables need to be imported, due to a lack of farms in and around Moscow. Luckily, travelers will find many restaurants popping up with organic, nutrient-dense menu options, inspired by some of the organic chef masters of Europe, making it easy to stick to your health goals, even while on holiday. We’re not saying you have to give up the borscht and blinis (good heavens, no!), but mixing it up will make your trip across Rasputin’s old stomping grounds that much more enjoyable. More »

Buyer’s Guide: The Best Brands of Organic Eggs

As we’re finding out more and more these days, “organic” doesn’t necessarily mean “produced outside the industrialized food system.” Research from non-profit Cornucopia Institute found that although federal guidelines say organic eggs must come from chickens with outdoor access, many organic egg producers are “confining tens of thousands of hens inside hen-houses, commonly only offering tiny concrete or wooden porches.” These producers say: So what? They’re using organic feed. They’ve cut out pesticides and antibiotics. And they’ve got a point. But you still might want to avoid the eggs they produce. Why? For some, the animal welfare issue alone is surely enough. But even if you could care less about livestock lifestyle, choosing non-industrially produced eggs might be better for your health More »

Food Fight: Organic Food Is Tearing Us Apart

Forget red states and blue states; the new public face-off is all about food, and lately it’s even dividing the better boroughs of New York City. The “Dear Brooklyn” poster, above, was created in response to this “Dear Manhattan” poster being sold on Etsy. But it’s not the first time we’ve seen turf wars incited by organic food. Underneath Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein‘s Portlandia “Is It Local?” skit about west coast food obsessions (below) is a divisive sentiment about food: That organic, local food is for rich hipster snobs, and they can stay in their well-to-do neighborhoods. More »

What We're Reading:

Three Sites That Make It Easier to Eat Green(ish)

All you city folk looking to green up your apartment, loft, fire escape, roof, alleyway or what-have-you: Things just got a little bit easier. The new Fire Escape Farms site “offers everything you need to turn even the smallest space into your own little farm,” from seed-starting kits to hanging planters to vertical garden gear. They also sell herb, veggie and flower seeds. More »

Morning Links: 10 Ways Lemon Juice Is a Superfood

Eat Your Beans and (Brown) Rice – New study shows that a high-fiber diet (especially whole grains) can decrease the risk of dying from infectious and respiratory diseases. (Treehugger)

If You Worry, Don’t Fret – Depressed and anxious people live longer than patients who are just depressed. (Psychology Today)

Sour Taste, Sweet Benefits – 10 ways that lemon juice acts a superfood. (FitSugar) More »

Roseanne Loves Nuts and Sustainable Farming, Hates Vegans – We’re not sure what’s more shocking: The fact that sustainable farming got its own reality show, or that soon Roseanne Barr will be back on TV. Either way, count us surprised by Lifetime’s new deal to make a 16-episode reality show about Roseanne’s sustainable macadamia nut farm. (Ecorazzi)

Organic Vending Machines: Healthy Trend or Marketing Scam?

Organic vending machines are the new trend in schools and businesses, according to an article on MSNBC, but are they really providing healthier snacks? According to the article, more companies are popping up that offer organic, natural, and healthy alternatives to vending machine snacks, in response to consumer demand. Demand is particularly strong in schools, where officials are now required to set nutritional standards for all food in schools (even vending machine fare), thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 passed in congress last month. Instead of Twinkies and Oreos, companies are starting to stock their machines with organic fruit snacks, organic chips, and all-natural fruit juice. More »

Census Report: Americans Eat Less Meat, More Organics

The Census Bureau’s newest Statistical Abstract of the United States was released last Thursday, revealing both healthy and unhealthy trends amongst the American population. Among the new statistics — highlighted in the New York Times‘ illustration, above — is promising news about the average American diet: Between 2000 and 2008, Americans dropped their consumption of meat by 5.4 pounds per person, and enough of us are buying organic that there was a 170% increase in organic farmland in that same time period. More »

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