I Eat Asphalt

While I currently am launching my new website!

Check it out at: http://ieatasphalt.com

A number of the other foodie blogs I read have talked about drinking Kombucha. Last spring when I was recovering from all of my digestive troubles, I came across Kombucha in Whole Foods. It claimed to support a healthy digestive system, among a number of other things. Great! I thought, a wonder tonic. Well, lets just say my first experience was not a good one. The bottle must have gotten shaken up on the way home and exploded over the kitchen table. My roommate looked at me and just about begged me not to drink it, due to the vinegar smell and the fact that it looked like snot was floating in it. I tried one sip and down the drain it went. 

My tastes have certainly matured since then, and after more buzz surrounding this ancient Chinese tea (which, let me state for the record I did NOT see in China) I decided to try it again. I’d heard that Synergy’s Trilogy was a good flavor, so I trudged back to Whole Foods and made my second purchase.

Again, there was stuff floating in it. It still smelled like vinegar, but didn’t explode all over me. First sip, I was pleasantly surprised. It definitely has a strong ginger flavor which I love. I’m not a huge fan of anything carbonated, but this didn’t hurt my stomach like soda does. I drank half the bottle while cooking dinner last night, and finished the second half tonight after returning from the gym. It is surprisingly refreshing and flavorful. I will definitely try another flavor in the future, but this is one of those once weekly treats. At over $3 a bottle, it’s not going to be a regular grocery item. Plus, after some research there have been reported cases of acidosis from over consumption. One bottle is definitely enough for two days and was a great treat after a long run. I guess this goes to show that foods should be given a second chance. 

After reading, I hope to convince you to eat this:

(grilled shrimp, polenta, garlic swiss chard with beats and goat cheese) and this

instead of this:

This is my full blast purge of bad feelings about fast food. I just finished reading Fast Food Nation and am feeling particularly passionate about spreading information about the “all American meal”.

1. Did you know that insurance companies hold stock in fast food companies? Interesting, don’t you think? It’s almost like insurance companies are betting against us. In research, we call this conflict of interest. Why would insurance companies support businesses that negatively impact their customers’ health? Read this.
2. Health issues arising around the consumption of fast food is not a unique problem to the US. The NYTimes recently reported about the rise in obesity and Type II diabetes in Qatar. Qatar is a nation who’s wealth is directly linked to oil sales, and the recent rise in wealth of many people has lead to the luxury of buying food from Western restaurants. But these eating habits don’t come without consequences.
3. Early death by junk food? It’s been proven in mice. Maybe soda should come with a Surgeons General Warning. 
4. Would you buy fast food in support of a charity or research? KFC is now partnering with the Komen foundation by selling “Buckets for the Cure.” As a woman and the granddaughter of a breast cancer survivor, this is a true disappointment to me. How low are “causes” willing to stoop to raise money? It has been proven time and time again that maintaining a health weight is beneficial in cancer prevention and treatment. So buckets of fried chicken in support of cancer research sounds like a bit of an oxymoron to me.
5. Happy meals are a little less happy in Santa Clara, CA. The county now has a ban on toys that come in fast food meals that do not meat basic nutritional standards. The article states that the goal is to remove the mental link between fast food and toys, with the thinking that kids want the toys and not necessarily the meal. I can’t help but roll my eyes at McDonalds’ statement.

I know it may seem easy to point fingers at fast food restaurants and call them the bad guys. But I really hope the articles above make you think twice about buying a burger and fries. 

Last Friday at Philabundance we ran out of two items before serving all of the families in line. This may seem insignificant, but we are only given six items of fresh produce to hand out each week. This past week we ran out of pineapples and grapes. There was a buzz going around amongst the volunteers about donations being down due to the bad winter in the US and the Chilean earthquake. After a bit of research I pulled up an Inquirer article that addressed this issue. Please take this for the point I’m trying to put across. I feel like it is so easy for people to write a check and send it away to a foreign relief agency when a natural disaster occurs. But what about the people back home that are affected indirectly? Would you be willing to take time off of your job to actually go lend a helping hand? Raising money and awareness is great and plays a critical role in helping any country recover. Instead of sending $100 to Chile or Haiti, send $10 of that to a food bank. Because the people in your own neighborhood are going to be affected with the increase in food costs. Philabundance is really trying to place an impact upon eating fresh meat, veggies and fruit, something that is very rare among food banks. It is far easier, and cheeper, to hand out cans of tuna and boxes of Hamburger Helper. In one Friday alone, 200 families are fed at the location where I work, and it is incredibly frustrating when we don’t have the resources to feed them equally. I’m going to step off of my soapbox now. In no way am I trying to point fingers, if you’re helping in some way than that is commendable. But you don’t have to look far to find those in need.

Along the same lines is the subject of food stamps. If you’re a close friend of mine, you’ve probably heard my opinion of (which if you haven’t noticed, I have a lot of). I am completely in support of WIC because of the regulations in place about what foods can be purchased with WIC financial support. There are set requirements about every type of food that can be purchased, such as 100% fruit juice, iron-fortified cereal that is at least 51% whole grain, and fresh fruits/vegetables. Food stamps, in contrast, are not regulated. If you meet the financial requirements, you can use food stamps to buy soda, chips and candy at your local corner store. Is this okay? Do you want your tax dollars to be spent on junk food, with possible implications of increasing the obesity rate in low income families and thus raising medical costs? Maybe that’s a leap, but doesn’t the chain reaction seem possible? Haven’t we all seen the SNAP credit card come out to purchase sweet tea and cookies? Instead, wouldn’t the logical result be to regulate SNAP benefits just like WIC? An MSNBC article got me really thinking about this issue. This article has three celebrity chefs plan out a weeks worth of meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) on a food stamp budget, which averages about $69 per week for families of four. One of the featured chefs was Philly’s Jose Garces. The chefs created meals from fresh produce that are all simple and well balanced, proving that it is possible to make the most out of food stamps. I am all for financial support when it comes to purchasing healthy foods, but I cannot stand behind an organization that allows participants to consume junk. 

Watch out MPH policy classes!

As many of you know I’ve been working on a certified all-natural CSA. I’ve learned a lot about eco-friendly crop rotation, planting patterns, and soil development. As much as I love digging in the dirt and eating the fruits of my labor, I don’t know a lot about raising organic livestock. Stonyfield is hosting a Barnstorming tour of their farms to teach foodies about organic processes. We all know how I have a love affair with Stonyfield yogurt, so having the opportunity to learn about their farming would be like a dream come true. This tour would give me the opportunity to meet people that care about food and farming practices as much as I do. Farm talk and learning where my favorite yogurt comes from, I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend!

Today wrecked a bit of havoc on both my diet and exercise regimen. The PA that I work with called out sick today and our doctor had to leave for a meeting in the ‘burbs at 2p. Meaning: crazy morning of double booked appointments and working through lunch. Not that I ever get a lunch break, but theres usually at least a solid 30 minutes without patients that I can get caught up and just have some quiet time. Not so today. “Lunch” or lack there of consisted on whatever snacks I had stored up. I had a small organic gala apple, approx. 6 whole wheat pretzel sticks, a small dollop of pbutter, a banana Stoneyfield FV yogurt and 5 blackberries. This was consumed between 11:30-2, along with about 3 bottles of water to try and curb my growling hunger. Talk about unbalanced. I could’ve done without the major chaos of the morning and was pretty tired by the time 4p rolled around. I decided to make a quick run to my favorite shopping center for a quick pick me up. Of course, it started to rain on my walk home which scratched any hope of running tonight. I decided to treat myself to some pasta for dinner. And came up with this:

Rice flour pasta with sauteed shrimp, asparagus, pees, sun dried tomatos and goat cheese. And a simple plate of lettuce (because I really just wanted to crack into my bottle of Annie’s Organic Goddess dressing).

I had never tried rice flour pasta before. I’ve cooked the asian version multiple times, but was pleasantly surprised at the spaghetti. It was a little bit sticky but had a similar texture to wheat pasta and there was really no taste to it. Have you ever tried quinoa pasta before? Its pretty fantastic but is super delicate and doesn’t stand up well with sauces. After my long day I decided to treat myself to the rest of my Cyclops raspberry froyo topped with a little Nature’s Path granola.

Don’t you just love my high quality iPhone pictures? This to improve this blog: launch wordpress site, purchase this camera, have more free time for blogging. If you’re reading this mom, that would be a great birthday gift. 

I did manage to get in some reading during the last hour at work and came across this article about salt levels in food. Remember yesterday’s post about salt levels? I think that limiting the amount of sodium in processed foods and restaurant meals would be beneficial to the health of this country. It truly amazes me to watch people shake and shake and shake salt on their food. I don’t even have salt in my salt shaker right now. Maybe I have some adverse taste buds to salt but I, personally, dont want my food to taste like the dead sea. I know sodium is especially beneficial for anyone who does large amounts of aerobic exercise, but I’d be willing to guess that with the amount of cheese and nut butters that I consume in a day, I get my share. Not to mention that it is also in my english muffins, cereal, and pretty much anything else that doesn’t come directly out of the ground. How much salt do you add to your food?