CT Green Scene

Cheap-skate (part II of II)

by James Simpkins

I did it. I shopped at the Discount Food Outlet in Canton, CT and it was everything I thought it would be…actually, if I’m honest, it was a tiny bit better.  I actually came away with a new appreciation for what the DFO concept is, and what it is not.

What it’s not.

DFO is not a grocery store in the traditional sense of the word. That is, their business model is not structured on having everything you need when you want it, or even if you want it at all. Availability of merchandise that DFO can buy is primarily dictated by the “true grocery store” supply and demand. If wholesale demand is low, the supply is sold off to DFO rather than be a loss of the suppliers. If the demand is high, DFO can’t buy at a price that works for their retail model. What this translates to for you and me is that just because you want unsalted butter for less than $5/lb. doesn’t mean they will have it. Call first if you’re on a mission for something specific. Oh, before I forget, DFO’s phone number is the same as the Canton IGA’s was: (860) 693-2000.

What it is.

Sometimes, it’s a bargain. Mostly, it’s just cheap.

I find myself wanting to say something about this place—this Discount Food Outlet; something about how it has a place in the food world. But, after looking at this screen for an hour, I realized that I’m kidding myself. I'm not on board...the Discount Food Outlet suffers from too many examples of negligence of the concerns of contemporary American food culture.

There are Drugs in My Water?

by Jessica Levinson

We all know by now to recycle our plastic, glass and paper. To a lesser extent, people recycle paint, batteries and television sets but not many consider the implications of throwing our outdated prescriptions or over the counter medication down the toilet, drain or into the garbage. We may not think twice about throwing our drugs away, but researchers and activists have been getting the word out that it’s just as important to recycle our medications.

These drugs find their way into our wastewater treatment plants, surface water and even our drinking water. Whether we realize it or not, we end up consuming drugs through our water and food supply everyday.

As medications are made more available and personal care products are in greater demand, we are seeing more and more chemical compounds in our waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) and water bodies. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), on their website, claims researchers “found that biosolids contain relatively high concentrations (hundreds of milligrams per kilogram) of the active ingredients commonly found in a variety of household products and drugs.”

Goats: Not Great Gardeners, But the Cheese Is Great

by James Simpkins

This past Sunday on route 2E about ten miles southeast of Hartford, I realized that I spend very little time in that part of the state. This was not exactly a revelation since I spend most of my time in Canton in the opposite corner, but it is rather beautiful out that way. However, I wasn’t just out for the colloquial “Sunday drive” (though I wouldn’t have minded); I was on a mission. For goat cheese. 

While attending a party in Simsbury at a colleague’s house, I met a Latin teacher named Mark. Though he insulted the French language (pronouncing it “badly spoken Latin”), which normally removes people from the Christmas card list, he quickly redeemed himself by sharing some of the goat cheese be had brought. There were four different kinds of fresh chevre on the plate—chive, herbes de Provence, black pepper, and dill—and all were delicious. When I inquired where he acquired such bon fromage, Mark further endeared himself to this gourmand when he said “we made them at our farm.”

The “we” Mark was speaking of includes his husband Paul, the main cheesemonger and their farm—already well-known to more local residents—is called Beltane Farm located in Lebanon, CT. Mark and Paul breed, raise, and milk their flock of Oberhasli and La Mancha goats twice a day to bring lucky Connecticut residents their fresh goat’s milk and cheeses. And from my own experience, the goats appear really happy to be there, too. And why shouldn’t they be?

Vegetarian What? (part II of at last II)

by James Simpkins

Last week I’m sure that there were more than a couple raised eyebrows or sighs of exasperation at my writing on the fake meat thing—and that’s fine. I actually didn’t realize I was so fired up about it until I read it again later. It’s funny how that works.

My personal truth about the whole fake meat topic is really “live and let live.” I don’t actually keep myself up at night worrying whether or not people should eat tofu shaped like a turkey. Honestly, though, I think it’s a little strange. Then again, if you saw the wildly un-hip sweatpants that I like to wear around the house, I should think to be understood at least as bizarre.

One of the comments on my previous article was by Julie Braun, of particular note as she mentioned something I don’t hear very often by folks trying to justify their weirdness. She pointed out the taste that she liked. Now here is the pickle that most of us are in: What costs the most in trying to eat (pick one) “green”, “organic”, “healthy”, “natural”, etc.—aside from perhaps succumbing to whim while shopping at Whole Foods Market—is loss of flavor. And meat tastes better than almost anything. Properly cooked meat is, gastronomically speaking, a much more pleasurable experience than most tofu, seitan (pronounced ‘say-tahn’) or tempeh I’ve ever had and you’ll waste your time trying to convince me otherwise. But, I regularly eat all of the meat substitutes listed above. I’ll get to why, later.

Food for the Whole Family

by Eileen Weber
 
In an earlier post this week, I wrote about the Junior League of Eastern Fairfield County’s “Healthy Eating” program targeting low-income women at the Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport. The event was meant to promote the healthy benefits of fresh produce. Today, I had the privilege of witnessing it.

Wrapping light sweaters around their shoulders and bristling at the thought of a five-block walk, about twenty-five women made their way to the Marina Village Farmers’ Market for a field trip to the south end of town. They listened to a short lecture by Heather Harrington, an assistant extension instructor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut. She and her assistant talked about ways to use healthy foods in cooking. With paper bags donated by Trader Joe’s, they loaded up on poblano peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, end-of-season corn, apples and pears.

Peanut Butter: The Best Food In The Whole World

by James Simpkins

Growing up, peanut butter was my favorite food right out of the jar. It still is. Honestly, there has never been another food that ever came close. Usually when I share this bit of information someone will inevitably ask me the two-for-one question: “What brand?...Crunchy or creamy”? The first part is not that simple. The latter I will answer later on.   First-off, I am about peanut butter as I am in many other pursuits - moody. Naturally, then, I have more than one brand of peanut butter that I eat according to whim, but I have a clear favorite—Smucker’s Natural (it's made in Ohio a couple hours from where I grew up). Here I almost always get one of two responses that sound something like: 1) “Great!, I love natural peanut butter, too!”, or, 2) “Oh…really? I can’t stand stirring it--and there is SO much oil in it.” Rarely is there a fair-weather friend to stirring; and to be fair, it is kind of a pain. But, it’s clearly worth it to some of us. You don’t stir, you buy something else. However, like most things, there are exceptions to the rule of my favorite peanut butter. **By the way, don’t try and stir natural peanut butter in the jar. This never works and it may be the biggest foible to the path of the natural peanut butter neophyte. I can’t say I don’t understand: If I had tried 100 times to stir natural peanut butter in the jar, I wouldn’t eat it anymore either. What a mess. So what do you do? You need to know The PB Secret. That’s coming up.

Green Screen

by Eileen Weber

I love summer. As a kid, I remember those hot, humid days. My friends and I would head for the beach, lay out and compete with each other for that Savage tan! Remember that tin foil looking thing people put under their chins to get better rays?

Now, I slather myself and my family in 14 layers of sunscreen, long sleeves and a big hat. Short of wearing a HazMat suit and beekeeper’s headgear, we’re totally covered. Who cares if we sweat profusely? At least we won’t get skin cancer.

That, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is precisely the point. On their web site, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs for the FDA says, "For more than 30 years, consumers have been able to identify the level of UVB protection provided by sunscreens using only sunburn protection factor or SPF values." The FDA is hoping to upgrade the sunscreen labeling into a 4-star system. With this proposal, "Consumers will also now know the level of UVA protection in sunscreens, which will help them make informed decisions about protecting themselves and their children against the harmful effects of the sun."

The American Cancer Society will be the first ones to tell you that skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma) is the most common of all cancers. According to that organization, skin cancer accounts for nearly half of all cancers in the United States. More than 1 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are found in this country each year. This year, they estimate that nearly 70,000 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States alone.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit organization founded in 1993 that uses the “power of public information to protect public health and the environment”, rated top brands of sunscreen. They found that some of the leading brands weren’t exactly as advertised. Banana Boat, Coppertone and Neutrogena were among the top offenders in not providing enough skin protection in their products.

No More Waste. Period.

by Eileen Weber

A friend of mine sent me a link for a product that was reviewed on IdealBite.com. It was a menstrual cup, a device meant to be 100% leak-proof during a woman’s period. While admittedly I felt a little squeamish, I was also intrigued.

With a list of reusable menstrual cups like DivaCup, MoonCup, MiaCup, Lunette, and The Keeper, there are plenty of options on the market. Using one of these cups stops the waste of tampons, pads, and liners from ending up in landfills. Many of the products we have grown up using don’t break down, especially those products that include a plastic backing.

For quite some time, tampons have been associated with toxic chemicals. Tampons have also been directly linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome, an illness caused by a bacterial infection from the use of hyper-absorbent tampons for an extended period of time. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, a sunburn-like rash, fever, dizziness and possible fainting from a drop in blood pressure.  

According to some estimates, the average woman in her lifetime can use enough feminine hygiene products to fill a dump truck. And that’s just one woman. Think of the millions of other women who are doing the same thing every month. Millions of non-biodegradable feminine products are thrown out in the garbage or flushed down the toilet causing residual plumbing problems. Suddenly a silly concept becomes an important environmental statement.

Based on the comments Ideal Bite received, there’s not a single woman who has used the product that gives it a negative review. Some have said it takes a few times to get used to it. But once you get the hang of it, it’s simple, easy, and leak-proof. What more could you want?

Edible School Gardens

by Eileen Weber

We have an epidemic. No, it doesn’t involve an incurable virus or Dustin Hoffman in a Hazmat suit à la Outbreak. However, it does involve kids, their parents, and the schools they attend.

Edible school gardens are growing at a rapid pace. Increasingly, school districts are making the gardens part of their curriculum. The Edible School Gardens Workshop at the Unitarian Church in Westport, sponsored in part by the Westport Green Village Initiative in partnership with Amy Kalafa, founder of Two Angry Moms, featured an expert panel of school garden organizers. With a room filled almost to capacity this morning, parents, farmers, gardeners, and school officials alike listened intently about how to start one in their own school system.

Dorothy Mullen, founder of the Riverside Elementary School gardens in Princeton, NJ, discussed how she got the project underway in her district. Only a few weeks post-9/11 in November 2001, she wanted to make a change in the school lunch system by introducing fresh food.

She noted how nutrition positively or negatively affects the body. “The brain is the most sensitive organ to poor nutrition,” she said. At the very least, kids can have a loss in concentration that prevents learning. “When the brain is out fuel,” she said, “we can’t learn correctly.”

Mullen, who is also an addiction counselor, said she started small by taking kids on a walking tour to her backyard garden. Then, the concept grew. She wanted to take it to the school. This was one way to instill the benefits of nutrition. She pointed out that, with a garden, there is a teaching opportunity for other subjects: science, math, food and nutrition, and art. From an environmental perspective, conservation in composting and water usage is a valuable lesson as well.