Monday, October 20, 2008

Sustainable eating

Choosing foods that have as little impact on the environment as possible has become a hot issue lately. This idea of a sustainable food system is defined by the American Public Health Association as “one that provides healthy food to meet current food needs while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can also provide food for generations to come with minimal negative impact to the environment. A sustainable food system also encourages local production and distribution infrastructures and makes nutritious food available, accessible, and affordable to all.”

The Piedmont Environmental Alliance is holding a free event about sustainable eating on Thursday the 23rd. There will be a speakers, representatives from local restaurants and food samples. Click on the above link for more information.

Here’s a blog with some good ideas about eating sustainally on a budget.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Vegetarian vitamins

As the weather turns colder and we come upon the start of cold and flu season (achoo!), I’ve been thinking about vitamins and building up my immune system. Vegetarians can tend to be healthier than meat eaters, and we can get a nice dose of vitamins from our food, but we’re not immune to the viruses and bacteria that can make winter so miserable. But unless a bottle of vitamins says on the package that it’s vegetarian, it’s hard to know if you’re ingesting some kind of animal product (though gelatin capsules are a tip-off!). Luckily, Whole Foods and A&S Natural Health carry some clearly-marked brands of vegetarian supplements.

I also found this nice guide to vegetarian options for some common supplements on the Vegetarian Times Web site.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Changes to your chocolate

Do you love chocolate? If so, you might be interested in knowing that in order to cut costs, Hershey’s has taken the cocoa butter—which gives chocolate its creaminess—out of some of its products and replaced it with cheaper vegetable oil. These products include Mr. Goodbar, Take 5, Milk Duds, Kissables and Krackel. Because it can no longer be legally called “milk chocolate,” the labels now contain such words as “chocolate flavored,” “chocolatey” or “made with chocolate.”

As you can imagine, chocolate purists are in a tizzy about it—we chocoholics tend to get cranky when you threaten our beloved treat. Hershey’s has already had to switch Almond Joy back to the cocoa-butter recipe because of customer complaints. “Today” did a taste test, and it was 50-50 whether tasters liked the old or new formula better. But even tasters who enjoyed the new taste weren’t happy when they found out it didn’t contain cocoa butter.

Hershey’s is still using cocoa butter in its more signature products, such as Hershey bars, Kisses and Reese’s cups.

I tend to eat only dark chocolate, so I haven’t eaten any candy bars with vegetable oil instead. Have any of you noticed the change in your chocolate?