Monday, August 20, 2012

on my mind monday 08.20.12

news | photo: mconnors
It's never the same two weeks in a row.  This is a collection of what I find interesting in food, nutrition, and holistic.  Here's what's on my mind.

Hot cocoa may boost seniors' brain power - cocoa flavonols are gaining increased recognition for their healthy properties.  There were also positive changes for cardiovascular health and blood pressure modulation.  One of the drawbacks is that this study was sponsored by Mars, one of the co-authors is a Mars employee, and Mars provided all of the cocoa samples.  So while this is interesting as a start, there need to be more studies, that are done in a more controlled, less corporate connected studies.

Dry farming - Given the drought many areas of the country have been experiencing it may be time to resurrect this "old-fashioned" way of doing things.  A side benefit is increased nutrient density and flavor in the crops.  This appears, to me, to be a much better alternative to water waste and over-use of fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals.

5 years to "fix" antibiotic overuse in farm animals - This issue has been going on far too long.  The vast majority of antibiotics in this country are used in animal farming.  The consequences are dire as more and more superbugs are created due to the amount of antibiotics people eat from meat and dairy products.  You are what the animal you eat ate.  [it's okay, go back and re-read that once or twice if you need to, it's confusing to read/write but makes total sense once you understand it]  I'm outraged that it's been decades already and this issue has not been addressed.  Now we've given the system another five years to begin to make changes,  It's overwhelming and it's wrong.  Animals that are bred for food need to be raised humanely and treated well, not crammed together and given antibiotics as a routine matter-of-course.

The internet printer - apparently coming soon to a printer near you...the ability to print a roll of tweets, fb postings, recipes and more.  One of the challenges that I see for this product is that they are claiming that it is using thermal paper just like in cash register receipts.  These receipts are coated in BPA which makes the printing process easy.  Unfortunately it flakes off very easily, adhering to your fingers and then contaminating whatever you touch.  If you have to handle receipts wash your hands thoroughly before touching food.

And not one, but two videos this week to make up for no videos last week.

Rescuing bees




Raising Chickens

This is a complete turn-around in how to raise chickens. I love the fact that these chickens do really go outside. There are some companies that claim their chickens have access to the outdoors but they raise them in such a way that the chickens won't go outside when the option is offered to them. These are very healthy, happy looking birds.

1 comment:

Sam said...

The Navajo have Dry Farmed for centuries. And we don't hear much from them about Nevada's excessive use of water for grass IN A DESERT.