Buffalo: a supermeat!

I first discovered the buffalo burger when I was living in New York several years ago. It was in a diner of all places- not normally the kind of establishment where you expect to find new foods, but then, this was New York. On this particular visit to the Malibu Diner, there were table tents promoting the nutritional qualities of their buffalo burgers. Healthy burgers? I figured I'd have to try them. After one bite, I was hooked. High in protein, low in fat, and delicious (not at all like oft-bland turkey or chicken burgers); they quickly became a staple of my New York diet.



These days, when my food choices have as much to do with ethics as with health and taste, I am delighted to have discovered yet another reason to opt for buffalo meat. It turns out that bison, or American buffalo, are one of the most sustainably-raised meat sources in our country. Because they are native to North America, bison have co-evolved with the natural grasses that grow on prairie land. Consequently, they do not need (and are not administered) antibiotics or growth hormones in order to thrive. Furthermore, bison are gentler on the land than cattle, and they may even enhance the land; this article cites researchers who claim that bison-grazed prairie yields greater plant diversity than ungrazed land. Unlike cattle, bison are not domesticated: they graze on their native grasses and require lots of room to roam. Their grass preference contributes to their healthier, lower-fat nutritional profile.

When I was in Bozeman recently, the front page of the paper had an article about bison. (You've got to love that about Bozeman.) It turns out that Ted Turner is the largest bison rancher in the country, and that one of his ranches is just outside of Bozeman. Turner has a chain of restaurants called Ted's Montana Grill that specializes in all things buffalo. (The chain has not yet reached California, but those of you in New York should try the Rockefeller Center location at some point and let me know how it is). Ironically, there is not yet a Ted's Montana Grill in Montana, but that will change this summer, when Bozeman gets its own Ted's. Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled when you're out at a restaurant, and taste some of that delicious, healthy, ethical goodness for yourself. In the Bay Area, you can try buffalo burgers at Pearl's, Buffalo Burger (you don't say!), or Bullshead Restaurant.

A note to home chefs: since buffalo is lower in fat than other meats, you have to take special care not to overcook it; otherwise, it will be dry and tasteless. The National Bison Association recommends cooking bison "slow and low"- that is, at low temperatures for lengthy periods. If you're making buffalo burgers, cook at medium heat for 4-6 minutes per side. You can find buffalo meat at any natural/organic grocery store, some farmer's markets, and the occasional forward-thinking "regular" grocery store (Ukrop's). Here's a link to some buffalo recipes to get you started!

Attack of the clones

The FDA has recently determined that "meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food, are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals." (Read the full press release here.) Until now, meat and dairy farmers had agreed not to sell any products that were from clones or offspring of clones. This latest decision clears the way for cloned beef, pork and dairy products to enter the food system. The FDA has also stated that food from cloned animals need not be labeled as such, because "food derived from these sources is no different from food derived from conventionally bred animals."

Frankly, this makes me squeamish. I can't pretend to challenge the science or methodology of the study, so I'll admit that my squeamishness may be entirely irrational. But there it is. I don't want to eat bacon from a cloned pig, or drink milk from a cloned cow. I just don't.

I fully support the use of cloning animals to develop cures or treatments for human ailments. I support cloning human embryos for the same purpose. But cloning for food? Isn't that a scenario out of some futuristic movie that nobody expects to come true?

My benign reaction is that, if we have reached the point of cloning animals in order to have enough meat or dairy products to feed ourselves, then as a society we are probably eating too much of those products. My more sinister reaction is that it is probably the large corporations who are behind the idea of cloning animals for use in the food supply. The FDA alludes to this, stating, "clones are intended to be used as elite breeding animals to introduce desirable traits into herds more rapidly than would be possible using conventional breeding." Hmmm. Elite breeding animals. So Harris Ranch finds the biggest, heartiest cow among the thousands of cows in its feedlots, and it clones that cow (as many times as it wants), giving it an endless supply of super-breeders of big, hearty cow DNA.

Seriously, this stuff makes me feel nauseated.

I'm curious about whether others feel the same way, or whether I'm overreacting. After all, cloning is standard practice in horticulture. We drink wine from grape clones. We eat apples from cloned apple trees. Why do I feel differently about milk and meat?

Homemade lara bars

Happy New Year to all!
While I don't make formal "resolutions," I do have some goals I set for myself. One of my eating goals for the coming year is to craft more of my foods by hand. Another goal is to eat more whole foods and fewer processed foods.

Happily, I have recipes to share with you that achieve both of these ends. The recipes are for homemade "Lara Bars", a type of nutrition bar that uses only whole, natural ingredients. Below are the recipes I've come up with so far, followed by a bit of commentary about nutrition bars.

By the way, I'm indebted to my friend Mary, for directing me to this blog post in which the author reveals her basic technique for making Lara-type bars. I used her technique to come up with a few of my own recipes. Thanks, Mary!

Jill's "Lara bar" recipes:

Basic recipe for 1 bar: 1 tablespoon wet ingredients (such as dates or raisins), 3 tablespoons dry ingredients (such as nuts), 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon spices (optional). (See specific recipes further down.)

Basic technique: Take each of your ingredients and chop them in a food processor. (Make sure to chop the nuts pretty finely; otherwise, they won't incorporate as well.) Put each of your ingredients in separate bowls (see photo). Measure out the ingredients as below and mix them together in a bowl with a spoon or by hand, until you can form a ball. Cut a piece of wax paper (8 inches or so) and place your ball on the wax paper. Use this to help you flatten and shape your ball into a bar- about 1 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches long. Then wrap in saran wrap and store in your cupboard. Voilà!

Here are the recipes I've made- please experiment with the technique and let me know if you come up with other variations!

Apple Pie: 1 T. dates, 1 1/2 T. walnuts, 1 T. dried apples, 2 t. almonds, 1/2 t. raisins, 1/4 t. cinnamon

Ginger Snap: 1 T. dates, 2 T. almonds, 1 T. pecans, 1/4 t. ginger, 1/4 t. cinnamon, 1/16 t. cloves

Oatmeal Raisin: 1 T. raisins, 2 T. oats, 1 T. walnuts, 1/4 t. cinnamon

Cranberry Walnut: 1 T. cranberries, 3 T. walnuts

Nutty Cookie: 1 T. dates, 2 T. walnuts, 1 T. almonds, 1 t. raisins, 1/4 t. cinnamon

Cinnamon Roll: 1 T. dates, 2 T. walnuts, 1 T. almonds, 1/2 T. raisins, 1/2 T. cashews, 1/4 t. cinnamon


Keep in mind that these are the quantities to make 1 bar. If you already know which is your favorite, I'd recommend multiplying the recipe by 16 or so, making a huge ball, spreading it out on wax paper on a jelly roll pan, and then cutting them into bars from there.

I also recommend shopping in a store that has bulk bins for items like almonds and dates, which will definitely save you money.


Good luck and let me know if you have any questions about this recipe.

*****
Here are my thoughts about nutrition bars. I'll admit, I'm a huge fan of them. Clif, Lara, Luna- they're all so delicious, practical, and (relatively speaking) good for you. When choosing a bar, I used to pay attention primarily to the nutritional information. I looked for fiber, high protein, low sugars, and not too much fat. I also looked for vitamins.

Recently though, I began to shy away from the nutritional information and started paying more attention to the ingredient list. I liked the idea of eating nutrition bars whose ingredients I recognized. With my new approach, I started favoring Lara bars over other brands. Lara bars use only whole foods and spices as their ingredients. Indeed, most of their flavors are comprised of five ingredients or fewer. Compare, for instance, the ingredient lists on the following bars (two of my favorites):

"Cherry Pie" Lara Bar: dates, almonds, unsweetened cherries

"Nutz Over Chocolate" Luna Bar: LunaPro (soy rice crisp [soy protein isolate, organic rice flour], organic toasted oats, organic peanuts, organic soy flour, organic soymeal), organic brown rice syrup, organic coating (organic evaporated cane juice, organic palm kernel oil, organic cocoa, organic soy lecithin, organic vanilla), organic peanut butter, vegetable glycerin, inulin (chicory extract), peanut flour, natural flavors, sea salt.

Which one sounds more appealing to you?

Don't get me wrong- I love the taste of some of the Luna and Clif bar varieties. And Clif Bar recently developed a sub-brand, "Nectar," that competes directly with Lara in its insistence on whole, recognizable ingredients. So I think that's a fine choice, too. But better still- if you have the time and energy- would be to make your own. Good luck!

Helping hunger + helping your brain

If you're an NPR devotee, you've probably already heard about Free Rice, a brilliant and fun website that fights world hunger while helping you improve your mind. Here's the basic scenario: the website presents a vocabulary word, and four possible definitions. If you choose the correct definition, the site donates 20 grains of rice to the U.N.'s World Food Program. You can keep playing (and donating rice) for as long as you want. The program also determines your vocabulary level based on your answers to the questions. (You can go as high as 50... if you reach that and let me know, you'll get a shout-out in my blog!)

I love this site and the overarching concept. It amazes me that I can help fight hunger (albeit in a small way) by doing something I enjoy. Go check it out! (Thanks, Paj, for the tip.)

As a side note, completely unrelated to ethical eating: I suspect that business models like this, where advertisers are willing to pay for site traffic, are heading for a crash. Haven't we all grown pretty much immune to web advertising? I was on the Free Rice site for ten or twenty minutes yesterday and couldn't name a single advertiser who had paid for my traffic. As much as I like the model, since it supports so much free content, I fear that a new, more intrusive wave of advertising is on the horizon.

The House champions ethical eating (for itself, anyway)

Monday's SF Chronicle featured an article about the House's decision to bring local, sustainable, and organic food into their cafeterias. This more ethical food will be served on compostable plates and eaten with biodegradable silverware (which cries out for a new name... sugarware, anyone?).

This move is a boon for the people who work and eat at the Capitol; they will have access to food that is better for them, better for the environment, and (I suspect) tastier than what they are used to. The switch also benefits local growers and vendors who will help supply Restaurant Associates (the catering contractor) with their sustainable food products.

The article gives Nancy Pelosi most of the credit for the change, since she has spearheaded the "Green the Capitol" initiative. Ironically, Ms. Pelosi is also the person most responsible for the current state of the proposed Farm Bill revision. Many people had high hopes for this year's Farm Bill (which only gets revised every five years). Ever since the 1970's, the Farm Bill has included provisions that provide subsidies and other benefits to corn, soybean and (to a lesser extent) other grain farmers, while excluding most fruit and vegetable growers from those subsidies. These subsidies have been blamed for everything from the current obesity epidemic to the high price of fresh produce relative to, say, a McDonald's hamburger. It seemed that 2007 might finally be the year that the Farm Bill removed those subsidies, or provided increased benefits or support to produce growers (especially organics), or both. After all, the Speaker of the House is a Democrat from California, which grows more than 50% of the nation's fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, even the USDA has acknowledged that fruits and vegetables (taken together) are more important to a healthy diet than whole grains, codifying this belief in their revised food pyramid.

Sadly, Ms. Pelosi and her colleagues did little to change the Farm Bill's status quo. A final bill has not yet been signed (as the House and Senate passed different versions), but the version passed by the House retained the majority of the grain subsidies, while diverting only small amounts of money toward fruits, vegetables, and conservation efforts. Now, I'm sure there were lots of competing interests at stake and that Ms. Pelosi was trying her best to balance those interests. I've read speculation that Pelosi was trying to protect some of the freshman Democrats from the grain-producing states. There are always excuses, always reasons that some important piece of legislation couldn't get passed.

I'm happy for Pelosi, her fellow Representatives, and all the staffers who will get to take advantage of the new cafeteria cuisine. They should keep in mind though, as they bite into their grass fed buffalo medallions with a side of local, organic potatoes and collards, that what they have chosen for themselves, they have denied the common American.

Cancerous red meat!

A new study has been published that finds a correlation between higher consumption of meat with a higher risk for a number of different cancers. (The study's findings were covered by many major news outlets; here's a link to one of them.) In addition to an increased risk of colon cancer (which was already known), red meat has now been linked to lung, liver, esophageal, and pancreatic cancers as well.

The media seem to love stories like this. With the rise of cancer rates in our society, we desperately need to find somewhere to point our fingers. It's the meat! No, the transfats! No, it's the Aspartame! the Teflon!

If we were to listen to every instance of "{insert food or behavior here} causes cancer" and change all of our behaviors accordingly, we would become fat-free, sugar-free vegan raw foodists.

And while that does sound enticing, I'll take some joy with my meal, thank you very much.

Buried in the study but not covered by the media outlets is the following point:

-The quintile with the highest red-meat intake (approx. 1/4 pound per day) also had the highest BMI (body mass index), the lowest number of servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and the lowest percentage of reported physical activity.

As far as I can tell from reading the study, the researchers did not control for any of these factors. (Smoking, on the other hand, was controlled for in the lung cancer findings.) In other words, although the researchers acknowledge the above characteristics of the biggest meat-eaters, they did not isolate any of these factors as possible contributors.

My answer then, is: everything in moderation. I don't think the meat-eaters among us have to worry too much about these dangerous cancers, any more than we should throw away our non-stick frying pans. Certainly most of us could stand to substitute a hearty lentil soup for a Porterhouse steak every now and then, but I don't think we need to become ascetics. If you can find balance in your life, by eating a variety of foods (including fruits and vegetables) in moderation, exercising (both the body and the mind) regularly, and getting enough sleep, I think you're probably doing as much as you should in order to stay well and happy.

my first raw-staurant

A few days ago I ate my first meal at a restaurant specializing in raw foods. I was feeling mildly embarrassed not to have tried raw foods before, since there is so much overlap between raw foodism and some of my other lifestyle choices (for example, practicing yoga).

Now, I know I should not judge a restaurant, let alone a food movement, based on one meal alone. So I'll just present the meal and some of the facts about raw foodism, and I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

In brief, raw foods (also called living foods) are plants, fruits, nuts, and seeds that have not been cooked past 110 or 120 degrees. (Beyond these temperatures, certain digestive enzymes in the foods begin to break down.) People undertake a raw foods diet for a variety of reasons, including health benefits, weight loss, disease cure or prevention, and environmental concerns. Raw food gurus such as David Wolfe also claim that raw foods make you feel more energized.

(Here's a fun page of "before and after" photos of people who went on raw foods diets.)

So back to Cafe Gratitude, site of my raw food lunch. The first thing you should know is that all of the menu items are "affirmations," and our waitress informed us that when we order, we need to state our affirmation. So instead of saying, "I'll have the soup of the day," you say, "I am thriving." No kidding. Or, stated in the language of Cafe Gratitude: I am serious. (Check out their menu to find your favorite example of this.) I think this is a quirk specific to Cafe Gratitude, and not to raw foodism in general.

After considering my options, I went with "I am celebrating," or in layman's terms, the daily special. On that particular day the special consisted of spring rolls, side salad, and my choice of grain. My spring rolls were made of kale wrapped around cucumber, carrot, green pepper, greens, avocado, and dried cranberries. (Yes, the cranberries seemed a little random to me too.) There was no dipping sauce, just the rolls. My side salad was just mixed greens with some balsamic vinaigrette, and the grain on the side was steamed quinoa.

The salad was delicious. Of course, I eat salads all the time, and there is nothing novel about eating a "raw" salad. My quinoa had been steamed but was otherwise untouched. (Question for ye who know: doesn't steaming something sort of cross the line? Is it really "raw" anymore?) My quinoa really yearned for some olive oil, salt, and a squeeze of lemon. I made it taste better by adding some of the vinaigrette. Finally, the spring rolls. While they definitely felt healthy, they also struck me as... incredibly bland. Where in the raw foods rules does it say you can't flavor your meals? Isn't grey sea salt as raw as they come? Perhaps a chopped up chili pepper?

Janaki, my companion at this meal and sometime-raw foodist, informed me that after you eat enough raw food, the flavors of the foods themselves really start to emerge. In other words, the food itself is flavorful enough to stand on its own, without the assistance of spices or condiments.

I can understand the logic of this, although I think if you're aiming for maximum flavor from raw foods and vegetables, you have to find seasonal, locally-grown produce (disqualifying my spring rolls, since neither avocados nor green peppers is grown in NorCal this late in the year).

(Edit: I just returned from the Temescal (Oakland) farmer's market. To my astonishment, they had green peppers. This confirms that I don't understand the growing seasons in California.)

It's also true that this was my first raw food meal. If I were to commit to, say, eating only raw foods for a week, perhaps by the end of the week I'd feel convinced that my food was flavorful. (Would I also be hallucinating by then?)

Here are two things I can say for my raw food meal:
1) I felt full afterwards, and continued to feel full for the next five hours.
2) It must have been very fiber-rich. My toilet can attest to this.

Both of these points lead me to believe that yes, switching from a typical American diet (lots of meat, dairy, and processed foods) to a raw diet will cause significant weight loss. Common sense also dictates this: if I were to eat mostly fruits and vegetables, I would be likely to consume far fewer calories than if I were to eat, say, quarter-pounders with fries.

However, I can't say I envy raw foodists. There are too many things I would miss: grilled onions, cheese, and chocolate truffles, to name a few. I also think most of the pleasure I derive from eating would disappear. I absolutely adore fresh fruits and vegetables, but I would come to love them a lot less if they were all I had to eat, day in and day out. So I think I'll stick to my omnivore's diet, and while I won't become a regular at Cafe Gratitude, I'm certainly not opposed to trying a "raw" meal again in the future.

If you'd like to read a great article about raw foods, including a balanced perspective of the benefits and risks, here's one from The New York Times.