In the News - Installment 1

1. Michelle Says Eat Your Veggies. It's about time the press started giving Michelle Obama props for more than just her well-toned arms (although those things are pretty impressive, just look at the accompanying photo). In this article, the NY Times alerts us of the First Lady's intent to spread the message of healthy eating. While visiting Miriam's Kitchen, a DC non-profit providing a range of services to the area's homeless, Mrs. Obama urges us to think about those that are less fortunate in our communities; to offer them the same fresh and locally grown food we should be seeking out for our families.

"Collect some fruits and vegetables; bring by some good healthy food. We can provide this kind of healthy food for communities across the country, and we can do it by each of us lending a hand.”

She praises community gardens. She loves the White House chef's healthy broccoli soup and cream-less creamed spinach. And she doesn't feed her daughters loads of processed foods and sugars. She's a role model for all of us. With Michelle Obama on our side, how can we fail?

2. Is Organic Safer? It doesn't look like it. In the wake of the national salmonella outbreak, where both organic and non-organic products were affected, many consumers are questioning the sanctity of organic. In a related post back in January, I discussed my surprise in discovering that Health Valley Organic Peanut Crunch Chewy Granola Bars (wow, that's a mouthful) were on the hit-list of salmonella-tainted products. I had inherently associated the label organic with an elevated level of food safety. You generally pay more for organic, and you assume that there is some degree of care that goes into its preparation. Well, according to the Times that's not necessarily the case:

"Although the rules governing organic food require health inspections and pest-management plans, organic certification technically has nothing to do with food safety."

It turns out that organic certification was given to the Georgia peanut plant responsible for the salmonella tainted products, even though it lacked a state health certificate. Revoking it's organic status took months, and obviously not all products claiming inclusion of organic peanuts/paste/oils were recalled. That really doesn't bode well for the credence of the organic label.

3. Michael Pollan Wants to Know. Don't miss out on this exciting homework assignment from the food guru. He's collecting food rules from us average Joes to be published on his website.