Showing posts with label butter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label butter. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Trends in Recipes and Cooking: Local with a Global Twist
Our society's growing consciousness about the impact of our actions on the planet's health and well-being is being felt in the kitchen. Increasingly, the trend in recipes and cooking revolves around finding ingredients that are produced locally. Home cooks are recognizing that fruit and vegetables grown in other states and other countries gobble up energy to package and transport them to market. This leaves a big carbon footprint - a consequence that a growing number of families wish to avoid.
As a result, shoppers are seeking out fresh food and produce that is locally grown. For some, this means regularly visiting farmers markets; for others, it means inquiring about the source of fresh food at the grocery store. Many others have the desire to take steps toward finding recipes and cooking with fresh produce and other ingredients, but aren't sure where to begin.
Thank goodness for the Internet! For those ready to take the first steps, there is an abundance of information available on the Web. Armed with this information, shoppers can learn how to buy fresh produce, discover the types of produce that are in season, read articles about fresh food, and find recipes to prepare everything from delectable fresh fish, seafood, and meat dishes to delicious vegetable courses and dessert treats.
Moreover, home cooks are discovering that cooking with locally grown fresh foods opens the door to a world of cuisines - literally. Today's recipes and cooking trends put a global twist on fresh ingredients. If you're in the mood for Asian food, for example, you don't have to dine out. Instead, you can use the Web to research Asian food culture and find recipes that are easy to make at home. Likewise, resources for French food, German food, Italian food, and Mexican food are only a few mouse clicks away.
Vegetarians and those who are health-conscious are truly embracing these recipes and cooking trends. In the past several years, natural and organic foods have been finding their way onto grocery store shelves, and stores that specialize in fresh and natural foods are now a staple in virtually every city. Whether you adhere to a raw food diet or are simply trying to cut back on butter or sugar, you can more easily find the foods that you need.
At its best, cooking is an adventure. It's fun to experiment with different herbs and spices, and to prepare your favorite foods in a new way. Combining local, fresh foods with global recipes and cooking techniques is a great way to keep your cuisine interesting and tasty.
No one would argue that eating only locally grown foods can be a challenge. After all, it would be difficult to find fresh fish and seafood if you live in the desert, or unearth a source for locally churned butter if you live in a fishing village. Just keep in mind that perfection needn't be the goal; even incremental changes in the way we think and shop will help the planet. And, with the plethora of information about recipes and cooking that is available on the Web, putting a global twist on local ingredients can put the adventure back in dining!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Dairy Dilemma
There have been new and confusing reports about milk and dairy products in the news lately. The dairy council has come out with a report that three servings a day will help you lose fat and weight. At the same time, another study (not as well publicized) came out saying that children who drink more than three servings of milk a day have more weight problems. On top of that the numbers of lactose intolerant people seem to be rising.
What is the truth about dairy product consumption?
As Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD. wrote in their article, “The Plot of Soy” (http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/ploy.html) in 1999, “Organic, cultured butter is available in many stores. It has restored enzymes and high vitamin A content. Contrary to widely held opinion, there is no evidence that butter contributes to heart disease or cancer. At the turn of the century, butter consumption in America was 18 pounds per person per year. Today it is a mere five pounds. As butter consumption has plummeted, cancer and heart disease have risen dramatically. The real blame for this increase points squarely at hydrogenated butter substitutes—margarine and shortening. Butter contains many nutrients that protect us against disease. Those with severe allergies to milk products can still eat clarified butter (ghee) and enjoy its good taste and numerous nutritional benefits.”
Dairy products have been a major part of many cultures’ diets for thousands of years. But the dairy products we have in our grocery stores here in America are very different than the dairy products consumed by people in the past.
The problem today is how we get our dairy products and how they are processed. It starts with the way modern cows are fed. They are given a diet of high-protein soy and grain based feed instead of the traditional grass feeding methods.
We know that grass fed cows have six times higher CLA (conjugated lineolic acid) content in their milk than in grain fed cows, and more Omega 3 fatty acids. CLA helps the body convert fat to muscle, fights cancer, and does many other beneficial things for our bodies. Because of modern feeding methods for cattle, we get almost no CLA in our diets with normal grocery store dairy products. Also the vitamin A and D content of grain fed cows is much lower.
Modern breeding methods also produce cows with abnormally large pituitary glands, so that they produce three times more milk than ordinary cows. These cows need hormones and antibiotics to keep them well in their crowded and unsanitary living environments. The hormones and antibiotics go into the milk, causing trouble for those of us who consume it. Antibiotics are not working the way they should for us anymore because all the antibiotics we consume daily in our dairy and meat products make us resistant to them.
The milk from these grain-fed cows is then pasteurized, which destroys dozens of valuable enzymes. Without these enzymes, the milk becomes very difficult to digest. This explains why so many people are lactose intolerant. This also overstresses the pancreas as it tries to compensate for these missing enzymes.
Pasteurization also destroys much of the valuable vitamin content of the milk. We have been told that pasteurization is needed to keep milk cleaner and kill bacteria. What it really does is allow huge dairy farms to get away with dirty milking practices.
Finally, when they make 1% and 2% milk, they add non-fat dried milk to these products to lower the fat percentage. Non-fat dried milk is ultra-processed, which oxidizes the cholesterol. Rancid (oxidized) cholesterol and fats are what promote heart disease, as we mentioned earlier. Dried milk also has a very high nitrite content.
Raw (unpasturized) milk, on the other hand, is very good for you, and actually safer than pasteurized milk, even for babies and small children. Children fed raw milk have more resistance to TB, scurvy, flu, diphtheria, pneumonia, asthma, allergic skin problems and tooth decay. In addition, their growth and calcium absorption was superior.
Of course, as with all foods, raw milk must come from healthy cows and be carefully handled and stored. The same technology that we use to pasteurize our milk also allows us to keep raw milk fresh and clean. If you are buying directly from a farmer, find out if the cows are kept mostly on pasture and that the barn is kept clean. The milk should go directly from the milking machine into a stainless steel tank or clean containers and be kept chilled. It should be used within a period of one week, after which it will begin to go sour (although it is not dangerous when it does so). With these precautions, raw milk is not only healthy but a safe food for all members of the family, even babies.
Dairy products, meat and whole foods, properly prepared are healthy and life giving. As much as possible, avoid meats and dairy products that have been processed.
What is the truth about dairy product consumption?
As Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD. wrote in their article, “The Plot of Soy” (http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/ploy.html) in 1999, “Organic, cultured butter is available in many stores. It has restored enzymes and high vitamin A content. Contrary to widely held opinion, there is no evidence that butter contributes to heart disease or cancer. At the turn of the century, butter consumption in America was 18 pounds per person per year. Today it is a mere five pounds. As butter consumption has plummeted, cancer and heart disease have risen dramatically. The real blame for this increase points squarely at hydrogenated butter substitutes—margarine and shortening. Butter contains many nutrients that protect us against disease. Those with severe allergies to milk products can still eat clarified butter (ghee) and enjoy its good taste and numerous nutritional benefits.”
Dairy products have been a major part of many cultures’ diets for thousands of years. But the dairy products we have in our grocery stores here in America are very different than the dairy products consumed by people in the past.
The problem today is how we get our dairy products and how they are processed. It starts with the way modern cows are fed. They are given a diet of high-protein soy and grain based feed instead of the traditional grass feeding methods.
We know that grass fed cows have six times higher CLA (conjugated lineolic acid) content in their milk than in grain fed cows, and more Omega 3 fatty acids. CLA helps the body convert fat to muscle, fights cancer, and does many other beneficial things for our bodies. Because of modern feeding methods for cattle, we get almost no CLA in our diets with normal grocery store dairy products. Also the vitamin A and D content of grain fed cows is much lower.
Modern breeding methods also produce cows with abnormally large pituitary glands, so that they produce three times more milk than ordinary cows. These cows need hormones and antibiotics to keep them well in their crowded and unsanitary living environments. The hormones and antibiotics go into the milk, causing trouble for those of us who consume it. Antibiotics are not working the way they should for us anymore because all the antibiotics we consume daily in our dairy and meat products make us resistant to them.
The milk from these grain-fed cows is then pasteurized, which destroys dozens of valuable enzymes. Without these enzymes, the milk becomes very difficult to digest. This explains why so many people are lactose intolerant. This also overstresses the pancreas as it tries to compensate for these missing enzymes.
Pasteurization also destroys much of the valuable vitamin content of the milk. We have been told that pasteurization is needed to keep milk cleaner and kill bacteria. What it really does is allow huge dairy farms to get away with dirty milking practices.
Finally, when they make 1% and 2% milk, they add non-fat dried milk to these products to lower the fat percentage. Non-fat dried milk is ultra-processed, which oxidizes the cholesterol. Rancid (oxidized) cholesterol and fats are what promote heart disease, as we mentioned earlier. Dried milk also has a very high nitrite content.
Raw (unpasturized) milk, on the other hand, is very good for you, and actually safer than pasteurized milk, even for babies and small children. Children fed raw milk have more resistance to TB, scurvy, flu, diphtheria, pneumonia, asthma, allergic skin problems and tooth decay. In addition, their growth and calcium absorption was superior.
Of course, as with all foods, raw milk must come from healthy cows and be carefully handled and stored. The same technology that we use to pasteurize our milk also allows us to keep raw milk fresh and clean. If you are buying directly from a farmer, find out if the cows are kept mostly on pasture and that the barn is kept clean. The milk should go directly from the milking machine into a stainless steel tank or clean containers and be kept chilled. It should be used within a period of one week, after which it will begin to go sour (although it is not dangerous when it does so). With these precautions, raw milk is not only healthy but a safe food for all members of the family, even babies.
Dairy products, meat and whole foods, properly prepared are healthy and life giving. As much as possible, avoid meats and dairy products that have been processed.
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