You might find success if you make the food look fun.  If you’d like some ideas, you should check out the Funky Lunch gallery.  I bet that any finicky eater might want to eat these, even if they are works of art.

The Laptop Lunches flickr set is another site for lunch ideas.  The photos use the Laptop Lunches bento lunchboxes, but you don’t need the  box since the ideas are great. Also, the photos are nowhere near as artsy, they’re more about ideas of what to pack for lunch and how.

If you remember from a previous post, I shared some pros and cons of genetically modified food or organisms (GMOs) that came immediately to mind.  I was curious about how GMOs fit into the schema of sustainable and organic farming.  That question was answered; GMOs don’t qualify as organically farmed food, but GMOs can be sustainably farmed.

The lecturers indicated that the only way to feed the world is to use sustainable farming practices along with GMOs.  Genetic modification can alter the plant variety, helping it resist pests and survive drought. However, there are conditions that genetic modification cannot help, such as fields suffering from soil erosion due to unsustainable practices.  The authors/lecturers stated that there have so far been no adverse health effects due to GMOs and that people are worrying because they are misinformed.  They concluded that GMOs could (and should) be used responsibly in conjunction with sustainable farming.

The Organic Consumers Organization is strongly against GMOs. Their argument to boycott Kellog’s^® states that “Present knowledge is not sufficient to safely and predictably modify the plant genome, and the risks of serious side-effects far outweigh the benefits.”

My own concern is that I don’t think we take the time to fully assess the risks of  technology and that sometimes published science is biased (who pays for the research?).  This may be an instance where backpedaling or issuing a recall might not work for us.

It also seems like a second green revolution.  While the first mashup of science and agriculture was intended to alleviate poverty by increasing crop yields, it also made those countries reliant on monocultures, pesticides, and herbicides.  The green revolution did increase crop yields, but it didn’t seem to address the primary issues of poverty very well.  As a Bryan Newman states in his article Indian Farmer Suicides – A Lesson for Africa’s Farmers on the Food First website, “Surplus is of little use without the infrastructure and political will to distribute it.” It’s the difference between food being available and food being affordable. The green revolution also appears to have been an ecologically unsustainable solution.

What do you think?  Leave a comment or take this anonymous poll (you can write in your own comment in the blank after “Other:”).

The quality of your cooler is something you don’t want to skimp on and you should have at least two:

• One dedicated to food, which should be rarely opened and for as short a period as possible—this will keep the food as cold as possible for as long as possible.
• A second one dedicated drinks, which will be opened more often. Most drinks keep keep better than food, so opening it more often will only make your ice melt faster.

I used to get a case of water (small bottles), freeze them, then use those as the ice in my cooler. I’d put half of them in each of the two coolers.   The ones in the food cooler would stay there until the final weekend of the event, while I tried to save the the ones in the drinks cooler for late in the week.  They keep their ice, so they continue to keep the items in the cooler pretty cool. One thing I liked about this was that my food wouldn’t be swimming.  A little water is good, and keeps things colder, but too much water and somehow my ziplocks invariably open up (or aren’t sealed well enough) and the exchange of food into the cooler and the cooler water into my food was never pleasant.

The BPA scare is a deterrent to the plastic bottle thing,  but not all of them toxic. If I find them for my cooler I will definitely go that route.

When I’ve shared food with my camp-mates and our  arrivals were staggered, eating the food from the  coolers in the order that they arrived was a great idea. Planning in advance was key so that we didn’t have to put in too much thought or effort while  sluggishly moving about camp in the desert.

Lastly, there’s the dry ice thing.  I have put the end-of-week-food in its own cooler, put in dry ice, and sealed the cooler with duct tape. Keeping it in a shady place until it’s ready to be opened and offering a quick prayer to the Ice Gods has worked, but not reliably. Although the cooler is sealed, it’s actually not so sealed that the carbon dioxide won’t escape the container while it’s sublimating, and this happens faster in a warm environment. This is good because you want that air to escape instead of building up pressure in the container, but it’s not good because the ice is disappearing and the carbon dioxide is toxic (so it’s important to keep the windows down during transport).

That’s what I do.  What do you do?

Gives you quite a bit to think about!

Also, StillTasty offers up some guidance on how long your food lasts in the fridge even without a label.

This is no guarantee that your fridge will be green-fuzz-free, but at least you won’t have to ask anyone if the milk smells sour–you can just look online!

On the one hand, I can see the arguments for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), specifically plants, but I also see the arguments against this technology. Here are just a few off the top of my head:

Pro

• Water is an increasingly diminishing resource and drought-resistant plants will help us stay abreast of the demand for food.
• Pest-resistant plants enable us to reduce the use of pesticides.
• Notorius allergens can be removed from their food source (like peanuts)
• We can increas the nutritional value of certain crops (like golden rice)

Con

• What if pest-resistant plants accidentally kill beneficial or non-harmful insects, such as the Monarch butterfly?
• Allergens could be introduced into the food supply.
• Genetically engineered plants may exchange genetic material with their wild relatives.
• Target pests could evolve a resistance to the pest-resistance plants.

OK. That’s enough for me right now. I did find a ProQuest article and a PBS site that go into the pros and cons in more detail, as well as a California government publication on bioethics and genetic engineering, but that was my short list.

Incidentally, the FDA allows voluntary labeling on whether a food item does or does not contain GMOs, but the label can’t say anything that makes it appear that the genetically engineered food created with biotechnology is any different from conventionally created foods. The FDA also specifies that genetic engineering includes traditional cultivating techniques, such as breeding, so be sure to say “created with biotechnology” or something to that effect if you choose to engage in this debate.

I wonder how the lecture will address organic farming, sustainable farming, and biotech. Will they focus more on biotechnology or will they cop out and talk about traditional cultivating techniques? I hope it’s the former and I will let you all know after the lecture.

In the meantime, what’s your take GMOs, and what kinds of questions should I ask?

I haven’t figured out if the commercial for Smart Balance is one commercial or if it’s two commercials that I’ve seen together a couple of times. In any event, Smart Balance acts like a good samaritan by pointing out that the nutrition facts panel may list trans fats as 0% or 0g, even though there may be up to half a gram of trans fats (0.5g) per serving. They then go on to show that they have the least amount of trans fat than any other fake butter spread!

I also just saw a commercial where a fifth-generation Californian potato farmer is on camera discussing his family farm and his pride in the business — which is why he is so proud to be growing potatoes for Frito Lay! The Frito Lay website indicates that earlier this year they changed their image to be greenward thinking (if that’s not a word, then we should make it one starting now). I can’t wait to see Food, Inc., and how it handles big Agribusiness, the locavore movement, and small farmers, but I wonder if movies like this gave the Frito Lay advertisement company its inspiration.

I don’t have links to the actual commercials, so I hope you get a chance to stumble upon them. What are your favorite food commercials?

I have a cynical view of how fats are presented to us, so I’ve clumped fats into these five categories: the good, the pretty good, the bad, the ugly, and the scary. I think it’s easier to think of them that way, but that does give away my bias.

Before any discussion of fats, though, you need to have a quick and basic understanding of cholesterol.

Cholesterol
Cholesterol is produced by the liver as well as introduced into the body by dietary fats. When things get out of control with how your body deals with cholesterol, you have to watch your intake of both cholesterol and fats. The consensus is that your cholesterol level is more a function of the kinds of fats you eat, rather than the cholesterol-containing foods you eat. However, some bodies cannot balance out their production of cholesterol with that of dietary cholesterol. If you have such a condition, it’s important to talk to your doctor or a certified nutritionist about this before eating food that inherently contains cholesterol.

There are basically two kinds of cholesterol:

• High-density lipoproteins (HDL), the “good” cholesterol, has been found to protect against heart attacks. Low levels of HDL cholesterol has been linked to an increase in heart disease.
• Low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol, has been found to build up plaque in the artery walls and is linked to stroke and heart disease.

The kinds of fats you eat affect the cholesterol levels in your body.

Good: Monounsaturated fats have the effect of lowering “bad” cholesterol even though they do not raise “good” cholesterol. They include olive oil and canola oil as well as a number of nuts, such as walnuts and avocados. The oils can be identified because they are liquid at room temperature, although some solidification at cold temperatures, such as those found in the refrigerator, can occur. It’s advised that most of the fats eaten should come from monounsaturated fats, but remember that you should limit fat intake to 20–35% of your total calories ingested.

Pretty good: Polyunsaturated fats lower “bad” cholesterol, but also lower “good” cholesterol. These fats include safflower and corn oils, and are also liquid at room temperature as well as in cool temperatures. Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids are included in this group. They can be found in most seafood, and are thought to decrease the contribution of fats toward plaque formation in the arteries. Polyunsaturated fats should take up a large portion of the fats consumed.

Ugly: Saturated fats lower the “good” cholesterol and raise “bad” cholesterol, and is linked to heart disease. They typically come from animal products, but also include palm and coconut oils, and are solid at room temperature. Consumption of saturated fats should be limited to less than 10% of total caloric intake.

Bad: Trans fats also lower “good” cholesterol and raise “bad” cholesterol. In fact, they are linked to lowering HDL and a higher risk of heart disease even more than saturated fats. They are synthesized by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils, and are “hydrogenated.” This makes liquid oil more solid and lengthens the shelf-life of the product. While trans fats can be found naturally occurring in small amounts, they can typically be found in many commercially baked goods, such as cookies and crackers, in fried foods, and many margarines and shortenings. Although the nutrition facts panel may list trans fats as 0% or 0g, there may be up to half a gram of trans fats (0.5g) per serving and still list 0g trans fats*.  The American Heart Association recommends that less than 1% of your total caloric intake comes from trans fats; I try to avoid them completely. Always check the ingredients for “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils.

Ironically, Smart Balance Buttery Spread just came out with a commercial advertising that they are as “close to zero trans fats as possible” (at .07g)

Scary #1: Fat substitutes, such as Olean^® (Olestra), typically aren’t covered in discussions on fats because they are not fats (they’re substitutes). Olestra is the one that most of us have heard about—probably because in 1995 an FDA review group “…recommended that products containing olestra bear a label statement about the food’s potential to cause intestinal discomfort or a laxative effect, without suggesting that the product is intended for use as a laxative.” But this isn’t the only fat substitute, so I’ll deal with them in a future post.

Scary #2: Interesterified fats, like trans fats, are designed to be an alternative to saturated fat and also extend the shelf life of food products. They have similar side-effects as trans fats but have been found to affect glucose and lipoprotein metabolism. The American Heart Association states that more studies are needed, and I’m having problems finding labeling regulations on the FDA website. Although I am sure there are more companies that produce them, I could only find that Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) produces interesterified fats as Novalipids^™. Hopefully we’ve learned our lesson from the trans fat fiasco and will deal with interesterified fats cautiously. Look for them in the ingredient list and try to avoid them.

Does anyone else know about interesterified fats or their regulation in our foods? Let us know!

Also, a quick-reference table comparing the above fats will be coming soon.

*FDA Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, § 101.9(c)(2)(ii).

Over this time, though, I have been thinking how to approach the enormous topic of fats.  I guess diving in head first isn’t such a bad way to start.

Two important things to know about fats are (1) we need fats in our diet, and (2) Americans typically eat too much fat.

Why do we need fats in our diet?
Although fat has a well-deserved bad reputation, it’s not because fat is bad; it’s because “we” eat too much of it and too much of the wrong kind. You need at least a small amount of fat to be able to absorb fat-soluble vitamins (namely A, D, E, & K). Also, fat in the diet is necessary for our cells to maintain healthy cell membranes (more about cell membranes), cushion our organs, and provide energy. Lastly, they add flavor to food.

Americans eat too much fat
The typical American eats too much fat, and if you look at the nutrition labels of many processed foods, you can see how hard it is to escape. The rule of thumb for a normal healthy adult to limit fat intake to 20–35% of the total calories ingested.  You can try to monitor this on a per meal basis, or on a daily basis.

When it comes to energy, fats contain more than twice as many calories as proteins or carbohydrates—fats contain 9 calories per gram (about 128 per tablespoon), while carbohydrates and proteins contain 4 calories per gram (about 57 per tablespoon). But not all fats are created equal, and some are actually beneficial.

Types of fat
Fats remind me of the title of the Sergio Leone film, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I think of fats as: The good, the pretty good, the bad, the ugly, and the scary. It’s really just a small stretch.

I’ll go into detail in my next post later this week.

Saturated and trans fats have been getting a lot of press.  Have you been listening? What do you think about the following statement.