Building With Cob Made Our Ancestors Cooler

Cob Cottage in Rosedale Neighborhood
Austin, Texas (courtesy of Mina Loomis)

I spent childhood summers with my grandparents in their 1846 home in the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico. They had no air conditioning but didn’t need it because their house had two-foot thick adobe walls. Humans have been using adobe and cob since prehistoric times to build shelters, particularly in climates with extreme temperatures.

Cob is a building material made from a mix of clay, sand, straw, water and earth, similar to adobe. It's not only fireproof and resistant to earthquakes, but it's also inexpensive and uses locally available materials. Most importantly, cob has high thermal mass that makes it easier to keep cob buildings warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Read the rest of the article in the Austin Post.

Is It Local?

Like one of those characters in Portlandia who demand to meet the chicken they’re about to eat, I've started visiting organic farms across Central Texas. This past weekend I journeyed to Indian Hills Farm in Smithville. While organic farms are a recommended visit for all local-food junkies, Indian Hills is a great mini-vacation for anyone, regardless of your food persuasion.


Read the rest of the article in the Austin Post.

Helping People Fix Bikes: Ramon Martinez Brings a New Bike Co-Op to Austin

Ramon Martinez, founder of Bici Lbre in Los Angeles
and HOPE Likes Bikes in Austin

Sometimes, you have to leave Austin to re-discover Austin. Last week, I flew back to Los Angeles for my little sister’s college graduation. (My own graduation happened fourteen years ago.) Even though the San Gabriel Valley, just east of the city, brings up stark visions of thick smog, stucco strip malls, and tangles of freeway overpasses, I was looking forward to a few days off and cooking by Mom.

My first day there, I had plans to hang out with my brother. I met him at Bici Libre in downtown Los Angeles, where he volunteers as a bike mechanic. Bici Libre is a community bike workshop space (or bike co-op) – with the help of volunteers they fix bikes and teach people how to fix their own, for a suggested donation.

Bici Libre also reclaims abandoned bicycles and redistributes them, as well as provides education workshops, to underserved communities throughout the L.A. County. This non-profit organization is a project of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC).

Read the rest of the article in Latinometro.

Losing Our Trees

Heritage Trees in Downtown Austin  (Cesar Chavez & San Antonio)

Recently, I joined a collective effort to Save the Heritage Trees in the Heart of Austin, Texas.

Their Facebook page states the following:

"STOP property developer Trammell Crow from cutting down our heritage trees in the heart of downtown Austin, [at the corner of] Cesar Chavez and San Antonio. Sign our petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/we-the-people-vote-for-trees

On Thursday May 24, 2012 Austin City Council voted for big business. City Council voted 7 to 0 allowing a waiver to the Heritage Tree Ordinance so that the property developer Trammell Crow could remove seven heritage trees from the development site at the Green Water Treatment Plant in the very heart of downtown Austin, TX.

These seven heritage trees (six live oaks and one 33" caliper pecan tree) are next to the sidewalks and can easily be saved by incorporating them into the design of the landscape. The trees are within a stones throw of Austin City Hall and the Margret Hofmann oaks on Cesar Chavez.

We are committed to following in the footsteps of Austin's Tree Lady, Margret Hofmann, who fought for the heritage tree ordinance as a council member in the 1970's. She was a pioneer in her dedication to trees, and her tireless efforts contributed enormously to the beautiful green city we enjoy today."

I was inspired to cover this story for the Austin Post, in an articled called "City Ignores Its Own Heritage Tree Ordinance: Sets Bad Precedent," exploring some of the deeper issues, as well as similar cases that have happened in the past. Zoila Vega-Marchena, Ph.D. was gracious enough to gather a great deal of information on behalf of Michael Fossum, Executive Director of the Austin Heritage Tree Foundation. I included excerpts in my article, but I wanted to include the entire information somewhere on the internet, for others to see.

A quote from the Austin Heritage Tree Foundation on the importance of saving the trees for Austin's well being:

"The Austin Heritage Tree Foundation supports the “save the trees” petition, but we are not officially involved. We strongly oppose the removal of these trees, and we believe that some of these trees can be accommodated into the design, and the remaining trees can be transplanted. We ask for Trammell Crow to realize how important these trees are to the community and to actively work with the City Arborist, the City of Austin, and the community to save all of these heritage trees and the protected tree left on site.

Only about 5% of all of the trees in Austin are heritage trees, but a healthy distribution is 10%. This is the result of decades of trading and sacrificing heritage trees to save smaller trees on the development site, and the result of removing healthy heritage trees and mitigating by planting new young trees.

Heritage trees are the workhorses of the urban forest. On average, it takes about 75 years for a live oak to reach 24 inches in diameter, and 130 years to reach 30 inches in diameter. These numbers are typical of other tree species and are not particular to slow growing live oaks. It’s hard to grow heritage trees nowadays because of current climate conditions, inferior nursery trees stock, poor soils and low soil volume. Soil is a critical factor.

A heritage tree is special not only because of the tree, but because of the soil it is growing in. That soil is good to promote growth. Removing heritage trees and placing development on that area robs us of the last pieces of good soil left. New trees are planted in compacted soils in parks that see high human traffic. New trees are also planted in sidewalks and are given very insufficient soil volume.

On average, the former Urban Forestry manager estimated that trees on downtown sidewalks die in 10 years, and in 15 years anywhere else, partially due to the harsher conditions by the street (heat from the asphalt), but mainly to outgrowing their small soil volume allocated for the roots. There are techniques that can be used to improve this, but Austin doesn’t use them.

But street trees will never grow to be heritage trees. Street trees are disposable decorative trees. Texas has lost 10% of its trees due to the drought. Many of those were heritage trees. Austin can’t afford to lose anymore heritage trees.

The Heritage Tree Ordinance has saved thousands of heritage trees since it was approved in February 2009. The City of Austin has required more than 3,000 applicants to abide by its rules, and all of these applicants, without a single exception [up until the Trammell Crow development case] have never been given a variance to remove a heritage tree. They have all designed around the trees to save them on site. That is a 100% success rate. Only 5 cases have gone to the public process. Out of those 5 cases, only 1 was an actual case of requesting a variance. 2 of the 4 cases were trees that were not in good shape, one case was retracted, and the last one was a retroactive case because the developer damaged the roots of the trees.

The one public case was the 2011 Bowie St. case, Perry Lorenz’s Land and Endeavour development. The Planning Commission asked the developer to submit proof that they had tried to design around the tree and couldn’t (a requirement of the Heritage Tree Ordinance). The developer showed a design that saved the tree on site. The issue was the garage footprint, and saving he tree caused the design to require an additional parking level for their multilevel garage, something that the developer didn’t want to do.

The development surpassed by magnitudes the number of parking spaces required by the City, even more since the developer had obtained CURE that allow him to have 60% of the City parking requirements, in exchange for some voluntary affordable housing or open green spaces, which the developer refused to give.

Finally, the developer choose to transplant the tree on site, from the location with the rich soil that promoted that heritage growth to a spot in the lot near the creek, next to the garage. A new home for the tree, maybe not as good a home as its previous home, but the tree will still be alive if taken care of. The City Arborist approves the transplanting plans and requires 5 years of irrigation. Survival rate is estimated to be high by some provided that good care is provided, but there is no actual scientific data to substantiate any survival rate at all. But, at least, the heritage tree was not removed."

CASES OF MASSIVE TREE REMOVAL BY AUSTIN DEVELOPERS:

1. 2012: Green, a Perry Lorenz’ and Trammell Crow development. 6 heritage trees and 1 protected tree. Perry Lorenz and Trammell Crow development. TC is directed, but NOT required to work with City Arborist. The community would like to see the design alternatives considered by Trammell Crow, but the ESGRO is not releasing any information because they are determining is it is public.


2. 2007: Grayco development at Lakeshore and Arena, a PUD. City of Austin staff approved the site plans in 2007. City Council attached a covenant in 2007 to protect all of the heritage trees at Lakeshore that were historical because they were donated by LCRA a few decades earlier. There was some stipulation in the covenant that a couple of the trees were going to be removed and that other trees could be removed under some specific situations. [Austin Heritage Tree Foundation hasn't] been able to find the covenant yet. The buildings were demolished years ago, but due to the down turn in the economy, there was no new development until 2012. The case was grandfathered since the site plans were approved before the Heritage Tree Ordinance was approved.
   
   However, Austin has had a Protected Tree Ordinance since the 1970s, and when the 2007 deal was done, all of the trees in the 4 blocks were approved to be removed with only 10% more mitigation than required by code. The developer promised to provide green spaces and environmentally sensitive. A few weeks ago, without the public knowing, 3 of the LCRA historical heritage trees were removed and 2 were transplanted. They were in the way of the new driveways of the new development. Most of the trees in the 4 blocks were removed or are being removed. These magnificent healthy and large trees (some of then heritage trees) are being removed and piled up on the site. Many are still standing, to be removed later, but are being hit by machinery and their roots are exposed by the dozers passing by. It;'s pure tree torture an if trees were rocks, and not living organisms. Over 100 trees were removed from the site, only a few trees were saved. The mitigation was minimum.
   
   Most developments were like the Grayco one before the Heritage Tree Ordinance was approved. It’s easier to take down all of the trees and regrade the lot, and plant new little trees later. But the soil is compacted and the soil volume allocated not enough. Developers try to pile as many young trees as possible because its’ cheaper to mitigate by planting caliper inches than paying the mitigation fee, so the trees get planted too close to even grow past 15 years.
   
   
3. 2008: A good example is Pecan grove at Barton Springs Rd., now the Lofts. Another Perry Lorenz development. Marcia Ball advocated against the lofts and the java coffee shop because of the excessive amount of trees removed. Many arborists evaluated the old pecan trees and assessed most of them to be healthy, but one arborist didn’t, and with that bad arborist report, the City arborist granted the tree removal permits due to poor health and safety issues. There were negotiations back and forth, there was the commitment from the developer to transplant 5 trees, then a storm blew the top of those trees, and the developer never transplanted anything. The centerpiece pecan tree in the courtyard is declining. www.atwhatcostthemovie.com

FUTURE CASES: The electric plant redevelopment and the Seaholm redevelopment, both Perry Lorenz projects. The many trees that will be removed to put the trail in Shoal Creek at 5th St. (all trees and all vegetation will be removed to put walls and gabions instead of leaving the creek banks, under the excuse of reducing flooding and erosion, not really needed since trees hold the soil in place and there is only erosion in a few spots).

Loquats Gone Wild

Excerpt from original article in the Austin Post:

Two of our loquat trees yielded more fruit than we knew what to do with. So we looked up a recipe for chutney and canned as much of it as possible. Turns out, loquats were going wild all over Austin this year. I tried giving away loquats, but I discovered that many people didn’t know what they were. Those who seemed most interested in our fruit were Mexican neighbors who knew loquats as “nísperos.”

When Earth Day Was Every Day and Everyone Walked

The Big K, Greenwich, NY, James Howard Kunstler, 2010

Ever since March, my calendar began filling up with Earth Day activities. Lectures, demonstrations, mixers and, of course, the big 2012 Austin Earth Day Festival at the Historic Browning Hangar at Mueller. I was all set to go on Sunday, but as I was having coffee that morning in my kitchen, with the French doors swung wide open letting in the cool backyard breeze, I thought about a few things.

The radio was tuned to KMFA, one of my favorite stations because the commercials are generally non-intrusive, classical music keeps me and my dogs sane, and the station has innovative programming so you are not stuck listening to the same old Mozart, Beethoven and Bach over and over.

A commercial came on announcing a store that was locally and independently owned, selling 100 percent cotton and organic clothing. (Would have been better if they were sustainable and fair-trade as well!) Not too long ago – maybe some time before World War II – these qualities weren’t luxuries, or options for the eco-conscious. These were part of normal everyday life.

Read the rest of the article in the Austin Post.

Pantene Nature Fusion vs. Ancient Ayurvedic

The Ecoloxica blog spun off my original blog, Chronicles of Undercover Mexican Girl, when I realized I was frequently writing about my adventures in sustainable living, whether it was growing my own organic garden, eating locally, reducing household and office waste, using products that had a low impact on the environment and a positive impact on my health, and generally learning how to be more resourceful. It was also during this time that I began learning how fellow bloggers who focused on a particular niche were often invited to review products, so I was honored when I was contacted to review Pantene's new Nature Fusion collection...just in time for Earth Day 2012!

Pantene uses natural, renewable resources in its product packaging to help reduce its environmental footprint. The Pantene Nature Fusion collection, which combines Pro-V science with naturally-derived Cassia in a more sustainable bottle, is the first hair care brand to use renewable, sugarcane-based plastic in its product packaging.

Lately, the first thing I do when I evaluate a personal care product is to read the label and look for the following ingredients: sodium laureth sulfate and "fragrance." The toxicity of both of these ingredients is debatable and somewhat controversial. Sodium laureth sulfate, or sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), is a detergent and surfactant found in many personal care products such as soaps, shampoos, and toothpaste - it's basically what creates the foaminess.

Some products containing SLES have been found to also contain low levels of 1,4-dioxane, with the recommendation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that these levels be monitored. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies 1,4-dioxane to be a probable human carcinogen at concentrations significantly higher than those found in commercial products. So what does this mean? It means that even if SLES is found in products like Pantene's Nature Fusion collection, the levels are probably too low to cause any health damage.

At any rate, I decided to give Nature Fusion a try. While I'm a geeky environmentalist, I'm still a girl at heart, and because my hair is extremely thick and frizzy, I always enjoy trying hair products that will smooth out my hair, making it look and feel silky. Although my hair did not remotely resemble the television commercial models' long, perfect hair, after using Nature Fusion shampoo and conditioner - without any blow drying - my hair did feel incredibly soft. Shortly after I washed my hair, I went to have lunch with a Latina blogger friend. Without mentioning to her that I had tried a new hair product, she commented that I smelled as if I'd walked out of a natural herbal, beauty store.

But many dedicated environmentalists, including me, choose not to take a chance and opt instead for products that do not contain any SLES whatsoever. One online resource for locating these types of products is the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database. Because I'm also a fanatic of using locally manufactured products, I've developed an affinity for the Ancient Ayurvedic shampoos sold at Austin's Herb Bar, which use a pure herbal formula, contain no sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, sulfites, or artificial colors, and are vegan and have not been tested on animals.

Another ingredient that I avoid is the ever vague "fragrance." The presence of fragrance is usually an indicator of phthalates, which are not only used to soften plastic, but are also one of the oily substances used in cosmetics, perfumes, and many beauty products. Phthalates are labeled on common household products as "fragrance." If you want to learn more about phthalates and plastic, read my article reviewing Bag It, the documentary.

With all that said, not every single personal care product is absolutely perfect. Ancient Ayurvedic products still come in a regular plastic container. The largest size comes in an 8-oz. container, and it doesn't foam up like regular shampoo, so you have to use it very sparingly (otherwise you will be going through lots of plastic bottles). Mine lasts about four to six months, if I alternate with other shampoos, and I only shampoo my hair every 2 or 3 days. (Shampooing your hair every day causes damage anyway - although there is nothing wrong with rinsing it with plain water  on a daily basis, unless your local water is harsh with minerals and chemicals.) Also, it's significantly more expensive. The 8-oz bottle of Ancient Ayurvedic is $20.

According to The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plastics make up more than 12% of the municipal solid waste stream in landfills in the United States, a dramatic increase from less than 1% five decades ago. The largest category of plastics waste are found in containers and packaging such as soft drink bottles and shampoo bottles, and only 8% of the total plastic waste generated in 2010 was recovered for recycling.

The use of sugarcane-derived plastic in Pantene's new Nature Fusion packaging is one step towards reducing its environmental footprint. The old Nature Fusion bottle used 100% petroleum-based plastic. The new bottles use 59% plant-based plastic plus 41% petroleum-based plastic. Sugarcane-derived plastic is effectively chemically identical to traditional plastic. According to Pantene, the only way to differentiate it is through carbon-dating.

NATURE FUSION'S SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION PROCESS:

Sugarcane-derived plastic has a positive carbon footprint, meaning that it reduces the CO2 in the atmosphere by using as much as, or more, than it releases.

The facilities that make the sugarcane ethanol operate almost exclusively on renewable energy that comes from the sugarcane by-products.

Sugarcane-derived plastic uses less fossil fuels and has a lower potential to cause global warming*:

It uses less of the planet’s non-renewable resources than traditional petroleum-based (HDPE) plastic

Its production process uses over 70% less fossil fuels than traditional petroleum-based (HDPE) plastic

Its production process releases over 170% less greenhouse gases than traditional petroleum-based (HDPE) plastic

*When compared ton per ton (or gram per gram) to petroleum-based plastic.

With all these facts, the choice is now yours. Which shampoo will you choose?

in.gredients Plans Nation's First No-Waste Grocery Store

Urban Patchwork Farm Plot (courtesy of in.gredients)

Every day, packaging makes up more than one-third of the 700,000 tons of garbage placed in American landfills. This summer, an Austin grocery store aims to rethink the packaging part of the equation. in.gredients will open on the corner of Manor Road and Walnut Avenue in East Austin as the first package-free and zero waste grocery store in the United States.

While most of us are familiar with the slogan “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” in.gredients founders the Lane brothers (Joseph, Christian and Patrick), Chris Pepe and Brian Nunnery, felt that precycling was the way to go. Precycling is the practice avoiding items that will generate waste in the first place, and it is much more energy efficient than recycling.

Read the rest of the article in the Austin Post.

Deep Green Resistance: Going Beyond a Sustainable Lifestyle

As a teenager, I considered myself globally conscious, following my mom’s advice to recycle for the sake of future generations, and donating to the World Wildlife Federation so I could get my cool set of stickers. In college, I joined Model United Nations and took a course on Environmental Policy, and I learned about how First World countries were helping Third World countries become agriculturally self-sufficient. I read Lester Brown’s books on saving the planet and dealing with the earth’s overpopulation.

After living in Austin for thirteen years, I’ve amped up my sustainable lifestyle. Instead of simply recycling, I try to reuse. Instead of buying a hybrid car (that I can’t afford anyway), I drive a 1983 Mercedes-Benz diesel that I hope one day to run on used cooking oil. When it breaks down I walk, bike or take the bus. Instead of buying misleadingly labeled organic packaged food from the corporate-owned supermarkets, I buy sustainably and locally grown meat, dairy and produce from the farmers markets and CSAs. I conserve electricity, water and gas at my house as much possible.

But is this enough to save the planet? Read the rest in my original article published in the Austin Post's Green Scene.

Courtesy of Stephanie McMillan's Code Green

Don't Just Recycle...Upcycle!

ZeroLandfill Austin

Many who work in design and construction businesses find themselves creating a staggering amount of waste from expired samples or unused building materials, which inevitably make their way to the dump.

ZeroLandfill collects these materials and makes them available to local artists, teachers and students who can "upcycle" what would have been garbage into arts and crafts projects.

Started in Ohio in 2006, ZeroLandfill project sites have spread to more than a dozen locations all over the United States. Since then, this national collective has repurposed over 500,000 pounds of materials back into local communities and is looking at 2012 as the year they will hit one million pounds.


Read the rest of the article in the Austin Post.

Taking Farmers Markets to a New Level – The Rise of the CSA

Ever since the fall of 2010, I’ve been shopping down the food chain – buying my food closer and closer to the source. Like most Americans, I started out buying meat and produce from grocery stores like H-E-B (whatever happened to be on sale) and supplementing it with bulk packaged food from Costco or Sam’s Club.

Then I decided I wanted to eat healthier, regardless of the price tag. So I started shopping at Central Market and Whole Foods. I bought all USDA organic meat, fruit and vegetables, and instead of buying twin-packaged giant cereal boxes of Special K, I bought smaller-sized single boxes of Kashi cereal (also owned by the Kellogg Company). Much of my fruit still came from faraway places such as Chile and New Zealand, and although my meat was labeled "organic," that term is loosely and complexly defined by the U.S Department of Agriculture.

Read the rest of this article in the Austin Post.

Greetings from 5-Mile Farms, a hyper-local CSA in Austin, Texas

Lessons from the Dirt

After buying most of our food at the Sustainable Food Center’s Farmers’ Market in Sunset Valley every Saturday morning since October 2010, we were inspired to take “eating local” one step further. Why not eat right from our own backyard? Last spring, we started our first full-blown vegetable garden. In the past, I had grown herbs and native perennials, most of which had the inherent capacity to grow wild with very little water and tending. We had big plans for this next one.

Start of overly ambitious vegetable garden, Spring 2011

We built a 2 x 7 raised garden bed with square foot plots, and we dusted off the six terra cotta pots we’d been storing in the garage. We hauled in sacks of pure organic dirt and compost from The Natural Gardener. By reading their info sheet on effective planting combinations and asking a ton of questions, we decided to get the following seeds: two kinds of carrot, potato, two kinds of chard, corn, melon, two kinds of radish, and bush bean. We also bought various seedlings: two kinds of lettuce, two kinds of pepper, four kinds of tomato, two kinds of lettuce, and two kinds of strawberry.

After reading the directions on the back of the seed packets, we determined that the instructions were meant for much larger plots of land and that we had been too ambitious, both in the quantity and variety of seed. We did the math in our head, liberally scattered the seeds, and wished for good things to grow. Even though one of the experienced vegetable farmers at The Natural Gardener warned us that we “weren’t doing a good job unless we killed a few things,” we were resolved to grow bountiful crops of everything that would not only feed us, but maybe even feed our neighbors and friends, should the end of the world (or the demise of the American dollar) happen upon us.

One of five strawberries harvested, Spring 2011

We built a frame over the garden bed and the pots, and we covered them all with bird netting to keep the cardinals and blue jays away. We carefully sheltered them under a sheet during the recent freezes that snuck back when we were absolutely sure spring was in full season. We watered them once, sometimes twice a day, and hand-picked the bugs off the leaves to avoid using any harmful chemicals. We propped up the lazy plants and spoke kindly to them to give them encouragement.

But we forgot one thing. That life is not perfect, even if you do all the right things and follow all the rules. Learning to garden successfully, just like playing a concerto or running a marathon, takes a lot of time and patience. And as we’d been cautioned, we needed to be willing to fail and make notes from our mistakes.

Measly, stringy carrots, Spring 2011

Because we had planted so many carrot and radish seeds too close together, they resulted in a bunch of scrawny roots when we harvested them. We were too eager to try our potatoes because the instructions said they’d be ready after 60 days, so we dug out one of the plants only to get pecan-sized tubers. The tomatoes and peppers did well because each plant had its own giant pot with plenty of space to take root. The chards didn’t do so badly either – we’d been more frugal with scattering their seed so the plants did not crowd each other out. And close to 90 days after planting them, we dug up another crop of potatoes with much better results since we’d given them more time to grow.

Last fall, we decided to be less ambitious. We narrowed down our crops to chard, kale, cabbage, spinach, broccoli, and carrots. And we waited, and waited, and waited. Maybe the dirt was thirsty and couldn't do much for us, after the historical 10-month drought. But then the rains came early this year, and it rained, and rained, and rained more than we'd seen in a long time.

Carrots, chard, and the "accidental" lettuce, Spring 2012

A bit late in the season, all our fall vegetables have finally come to fruition. Although we lost the kale to the aphids, the cabbage to the caterpillars, and the spinach just never grew, we have more chards than we can eat ourselves, and they're fleshy and savory. Our carrots and broccoli didn't yield much, but they were the most delicious I've ever had, crispy, juicy and sweet. And then, as a complete surprise, we got a massive crop of what we call the "accidental lettuce" - butter head and red sail lettuce from last spring that had re-seeded itself.

From our second attempt at a vegetable garden, we've had enough lettuce to share entire bags of pickings with friends and neighbors. We still can't feed the world, but we're one step closer. And imagine if we all had backyard gardens - just imagine how many people we could feed. All it takes is dirt, water, sun, and a lot of patience, dedication, and love.

Plenty of lettuce to share with friends and neighbors, Spring 2012

Returning the Farmers Market – El Mercado – to the Hispanic Community

Fresh vegetables at Mercado Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico

Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1980s, my memory of grocery shopping with my mother was going to the Vons in South El Monte. It was sort of like Texas’ version of H-E-B, except with a more distinct Hispanic flair (in 1984, William Davila became the first Mexican American CEO of an American supermarket chain). Since then, that supermarket has been replaced by Superior Grocers, or “La Superior” as we call it in my old ‘hood.

But my first experience going to a farmers market wasn’t until the late 1980s, when I went on an 8th grade school field trip to Exposition Park to visit the great museums of Southern California. For lunch, they took us to the “original” Farmers Market in downtown Los Angeles, on 3rd and Fairfax, in operation since the mid-1930s.

Read the rest of the article in Latinometro.

Natural Allergy and Cold Remedies

Anyone who has ever lived in Central Texas for a few years has experienced the misery - or known someone who has - of the dreadful cedar fever. This hideous allergy creeps up in December, and by January, it's going full force, making people believe they have the flu. Some even claim it's literally attacking them in horror film fashion, like The Fog or the Swamp Thing.

Some people hide out at home, or wear face masks, and others leave the area for a month - some move away altogether. Others take cortizone shots, if they have good health insurance, and other overdose on over-the-counter allergy medicine. I've never taken shots (no health insurance since 2006), and I've never had the luxurious option of temporarily living elsewhere. (Although one day, I am hoping to be sustainably self-employed and have my off-grid home built in Terlingua, Texas.) And to be honest, most years, I'm only very lightly affected, with occasional sneezing and sniffles throughout January.

But there have been some years, I've simply had to take something, otherwise, I couldn't sleep at night or properly function at work. I tried all varieties of Allegra, Claritin, and Zyrtec - the plain one and the one with decongestant. The 12-hour kind and the 24-hour kind. The generic variety and the brand name variety. The gel capsules, tablets, liquids, and powder packets. After rotating through all of them, I never quite figured out which worked best. Sometimes, the non-decongestant varieties didn't work at all.

Pharmaceutical cocktail and Sleepytime tea owned by the corporate Hain Celestial Group

I did figure out, however, that the "D" version of any of these allergy medications made me horribly jittery. That's why they make you show your driver's license and sign off when you purchase it - thanks to speed addicts who figured out how to use pseudoephedrine as an ingredient. And then I started thinking, what other unnoticeable side effects are these drugs possibly causing? According to the FDA's own website, "Most drugs that undergo preclinical (animal) testing never even make it to human testing and review by the FDA." No thank you, FDA, I don't really want to be your human guinea pig.

So what then?

I started using homeopathic antihistamine drops and Activated Quercetin, which you must start taking several months before allergy season hits for maximum effectiveness. I developed tasty recipes for Ginger Tea and Chicken Soup (see below) after researching natural immune system boosters. These are also good when you feel a cold coming on. I also started drinking lots of raw kombucha tea and taking vitamin C.

The verdict - I think it worked! This past cedar season, I was starting to have pretty serious allergy reactions. One Saturday night, I felt as if my head were going to explode, and I was ready to don a hatchet and chop down all the cedar trees in Texas. Even though I didn't remember to start taking the drops until halfway through December, after religiously using them and a regular intake of my famous Ginger Tea and Chicken Soup, my symptoms subsided. For several weeks after I was over the cedar, others were still suffering.

Fighting off cedar allergies is definitely not a science. Who knows, maybe next year, my preventives and remedies won't work like they did this year. At any rate, it's a delicious way to get through the cedar season, and I'm at least confident that I'm not poisoning my body. What's your favorite cedar remedy?

Old timey and natural cold and allergy remedies

Ginger Tea

• 10-20 slices of raw ginger
• 2 cups of water

Bring to a boil - simmer for 15 minutes at low-medium heat
Strain into a cup
Add desired amount of raw honey
Add desired amount of fresh lemon juice



Chicken Broth Soup

• Homemade chicken stock (it's really easy - buy a whole broiler chicken for dinner one night, and when all the meat is gone, throw the bones in a pot with onions, thyme, carrots, and anything else you feel like throwing in there; strain the broth into a mason jar and keep in the fridge or freezer for later)
• Organic wild or brown rice
• Garlic (preferably raw)

Throw desired amount of rice, and as much garlic as you can handle, into the broth. Eat. Enjoy. Keep the vampires away.

Organic. Sustainable. Local.

Even dogs like organic lettuce.

Organic. Sustainable. Local. These are the latest buzzwords when it comes to our food and agriculture system. But what does it all mean? The definitions have a wide range, depending on who you talk to. Organic can refer to food grown in your backyard with absolutely no pesticides, food that is grown fairly and locally and free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and even commercially produced food by corporate brands as long as they follow the USDA’s National Organic Program’s complex requirements.

Then there’s sustainable – that’s even more subjective. Does it improve and replenish the quality of the environment? Does it make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources? Does it enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole? What counts as local? Local food can be grown 15 feet or 150 miles away from your home.

Read the rest of the article in Latinometro.

You Want To Keep Using Plastic Bags?

GoAnimate.com: by Undercover Mexican Girl


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

The 6-Minute Shower

Matted hair after one day
of not showering.

When you're out in Terlingua, in the Big Bend region of West Texas, or in the middle of any arid, desert climate, you're faced with an interesting conundrum after a couple of days. Your pores are clogged by dust, your insides have completely dehydrated, and your hair has begun forming dreadlocks. Taking a shower is almost pointless. Everyone else is just as dusty and smelly as you are - and anyway, you don't smell too much because the sweat immediately evaporates off your skin. Besides, you'll immediately get dusty within hours. On the other hand, you want to feel somewhat human again, even if for only a little white, and you think it might be nice to be able to run a brush through your hair.

The thing is, in places like Terlingua, many people don't have running water in their homes, which are often restored ancient adobe structures, trailers, cabins, sheds, domes, or other creative forms of housing. And even in places that they do, it's sacred because there's so little of it. At the El Dorado Hotel in the Ghost Town, there's a little switch by the bathroom sink, so you can turn on the hot water. Except, they don't label the switch (at least, not in the room we stayed in). I suspect it's a sneaky trick, so tourists don't realize there's hot water, but they are desperate enough to take an extremely fast cold shower. (Which is what I did.)

Entry to the changing room
adjoining the shower stall.

Many folks have outdoor solar showers, and even in the winter, the daytime sun can create sufficient warmth. But hand-washing sinks are only one temperature. The locals have a joke that there's hot water in the summer, and cold water in the winter. Luckily, at the Big Bend Motor Inn, there are super deluxe coin-operated showers. The women's bathroom has two shower stalls - they're always well maintained, very clean, and they have an adjoining private changing area so you can hang your towel and keep your belongings dry.

The showers cost you $2, and you have to insert it all in quarters. I have to wonder in what kinds of varying states of grime the staff at the front desk has seen people come up and ask for change. The showers are supposed to last six minutes. At first, I thought, there's no way I can take a full shower in six minutes. I took $4 worth of quarters with me the first time I showered at the Big Bend Motor Inn. At home in Austin, I've easily taken close to 30-minute showers. Why? Because I could. Because it felt good. Because it's easy to think deliciously warm water can flow out of the shower head forever and ever at full pressure.

So the first time I took a shower at the Big Bend Motor Inn, I was prepared to have to step into the adjoining change room and insert another two dollars worth of quarters, with my hair full of shampoo and soap in my eyes. Just in case, though, I hurried up and got my shampooing, soaping, and scrubbing done as quickly as possible. Then I was done. And the water was still running. I decided to scrub my feet and behind my ears a little more. And the water kept running. I stood there, simply enjoying the hot water. And just when I was starting to think it was never going to end, the water stopped. But I was more than clean enough.

I never timed the showers, and I've taken about a dozen of them at that facility. But I don't doubt they were six minutes, or maybe even ten minutes at most. My theory is that when you know your water source is limited, you're more efficient about how you use it. And even when you have less than you think you need, it's actually more than you need.

$2 for a 6-minute shower. More than enough time.

Eating Veggies Fills You Up

Plant Based Lunch = 2 c. salad: spinach, bok choy, beets, onions & chickpeas, 1 c. French green lentils spiced with cardamom, cumin & cinnamon, 1 c. quinoa with tomato & basil

Imagine getting full after eating a little bag of carrots, or a small bowl of greens. Is that bad? Remember the last time you ate cookies, fried food, or Doritos, and you just couldn’t stop eating them? That’s because your your stomach’s fullness receptors aren’t activated until it’s filled up.

Source: Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Eat for Health. Book One, 2008

It’s funny to me that government institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention perform research studies and make statements like, “Eating fruits and vegetables may help manage weight.” Shouldn’t that be obvious? I suppose it’s not if you’re eating large portions of foods that are fatty, salty, and laden with sugar. Eating an apple or a celery stick, if you’re mostly eating greasy meat and starchy carbs, isn’t going to help you magically lose weight. The trick is eating less (or none) of the bad stuff, and eating more of the good stuff.

When I tell people I shop every Saturday at the farmers market, many react by saying they could not do the same because it is too expensive. Of course, if you just trade out all the meat and vegetables that you consume for organic ones, your grocery bill will go up. But it’s not just about trading out pesticide-ridden spinach for a locally and sustainable grown spinach. It’s about changing the way you eat in general.

Calorie Comparison (from CDC)

By going to the farmers market, I don’t eat anything that comes out of a box or can, and also, I end up eating smaller portions of meat. Since the meat is very expensive, I’ve been forced to eat less of it, and I make up the balance by eating more vegetables and legumes. And voila, now I am eating healthier and not spending that much more than when I used to shop at the big corporate health food stores. But how can I eat a meal that is mostly vegetables and only a little meat and no pasta or rice? That doesn’t seem like it would fill me up. But it does!

Short-term studies (mostly conducted over several days with limited food options) described in the following section indicate that feeling full is more likely to make a person stop eating than is the total caloric content of the food consumed. Many people believe that consuming high- calorie foods will make them feel full, but a study by Duncan and colleagues3 provided contrary evidence. In their study 20 obese and non-obese participants ate as much as they wanted over 5 days from a diet that alternated from low-energy-density to high-energy-density foods. On the low-energy-density diet, the participants felt full with just over half the calories (1570 kcal) they needed to feel full on the high-energy-density diet (3000 kcal). (Source: Can eating fruits and vegetables help people to manage their weight? Research to Practice Series No. 1).

Below you’ll see my plant-based lunch, one hour later. I was so full, I couldn’t finish my lentils. I ended up eating a portion equaling a little less than 1 cup (the container I’d put them in was 1.9 cups). Now it’s nearly four hours later, as I write this post, and I am starting to feel a little hungry. This would be a good opportunity to have a little piece of fruit and small handful of almonds (raw, organic, and sprouted are best!). Dinner will be similar to lunch, although I might add a portion of meat (no larger than the palm of my hand) to my meal, a pint of vanilla porter (tasty in the winter time!), and a tablespoonful of raw local honey for dessert. I call that splurging! How about you?

Plant Based Lunch...Eaten. (Too full to finish the lentils.)

Un-Recyclable of the Week: Half-Eaten Cupcake

Recycling Is Not Rocket Science

The other day, I was asked to give a presentation about proper recycling in a co-working office space. My audience consisted of small business entrepreneurs and professional freelancers. Everyone had a college undergraduate degree, and it’s likely many of them also had a master’s degree. The reason I was asked to give a presentation is not because I work in the environmental industry, but because I’m passionate about recycling and being resourceful.

Recently, I heard someone use the word “eco-nerd” to refer to himself. He got excited that the Asian restaurant we ate at had real, non-disposable chopsticks. And on top of bringing re-usable bags to the grocery store, he kept track of the bulk item identification numbers on his iPhone to save paper and ink, by avoiding having to print out the adhesive labels.

My particular eco-nerdiness comes from my dedication to minimizing plastic in my life (see article about Trash Free Eating). I will wash and re-use the few plastic bags that make it through the front door of our house. I’m on about my 12th use of a microwave and dishwasher- safe to-go container that I keep taking back to a restaurant I frequent often for lunch, since it’s down the street from my office. Fortunately, they allow me to keep bringing it back, and they even offer me a 50-cent discount for my environmental consciousness.

When you’re as excited about something, as I am about reducing the amount of waste I produce as a human, it’s easy to forget that not everyone else feels the same way. Doesn’t everyone get giddy about recycling, reusing, and maybe not even using it in the first place? I discovered that the answer was no. I had also assumed that fellow college-educated, intelligent, liberal-minded, business-savvy people would be as ecologically enthusiastic as I was. But my assumption was wrong. At least in the office place.

My passion for recycling became apparent at work because I was constantly commenting on how the recycling wasn’t properly being done – sometimes, it wasn’t even done at all. The recycling bins are about ten steps from the kitchen and down a half flight of stairs. It’s easier just to throw the can or container into the trashcan next to the kitchen sink. But it’s also not that difficult to take the extra 30-45 seconds to make the short trip to the bins. (Plus, it’s a good stretching exercise for most of us who sit in a chair 6-8 hours a day.)

The presentation I gave was quite simple. I showed how only the following items are acceptable for the blue “clean paper” bin: office paper, envelopes, cardboard, cardstock, catalogs, magazines, newspaper and junk mail. The following items are acceptable for the plastic, glass, and aluminum “commingled” bin: cleaned and/or rinsed glass bottles and jars, plastics (#1 though #7), and aluminum and steel cans. This is pretty much the standard for recycling most everywhere in Austin.

I got all kinds of interesting questions during the presentation. How do you know if it’s recyclable? (Look for the little number inside a triangle, usually at the bottom of the container.) Why do I have to remove the lids and caps? (Because they are made of different material that doesn’t recycle well, or at all in some cases, plus it jams the recycling machines.) Why can’t I just put the empty beer bottles in the cardboard holder and put them in the recycler that way? (Because the recycling people ask us to separate paper and glass.) Why can’t the recycling people sort it out for me? (They ask us to do things a certain way for a reason, the same way we ask our clients to present information to us in a particular way. It makes the whole process more efficient.) The recycling bins are too out of the way. (Do I really have to answer to that?)

I removed styrofoam, plastic bags, dirty pizza boxes, and glass bottles from the paper bin. I removed paper, soiled plastic containers, bottles still filled with (now rancid) liquid beverage, and outright garbage from the commingled bin. After the presentation, I showed a funny home video I made about the things I do at home to be more resourceful – in hopes of adding a bit of humor to my schoolmarm lesson about saving the earth. In the end, I don’t know if I was able to change anyone’s mind, or even slightly inspire someone to think about how much unnecessary waste we produce in society. Maybe everyone just went back to their desks and promptly forgot everything I said. But I did walk away with one thought – I will continue being an “eco-nerd” for the rest of my life. I figure, if I keep at it, maybe it will catch on. After all, trendsetters don’t wait for everyone else to do the same.

Not sure where to begin? Take it one step at a time. The gateway drug to living an eco-friendly, sustainable life is recycling. But recycling rules vary, depending on where you live, and even depending on the service provider. Look up the recycling guidelines for your city's waste program, or for the service your company uses. If you're at a restaurant and you don't understand what goes in the recycle bin, or what goes in the compost bin, just ask! Most likely, someone there will also be an eco-nerd, eager to answer your question.

The Grapefruit Showdown: Raw vs. Del Monte

Do you ever wish vegetables didn't taste quite so "vegetabley"?
--V8 Commercial 2011


CONVERSATION OVERHEARD...

Recently, I overheard a discussion about grapefruits between three people (the names have been changed to protect their privacy). Jane was in the act of eating a raw grapefruit, creating a small pile of rinds as she peeled it. Bob and Mary, who were in the same room while this activity was taking place, engaged Jane in a conversation.

Mary: Hey Jane, do you eat a grapefruit every day?
Jane: Yes, it's healthy.
Bob: Where did you buy it?
Jane: At a regional chain supermarket.
Mary: Is it organic?
Jane: No, that's expensive. I'm on a budget.
Bob: Is organic really better anyway?
Mary: I don't think so.
Jane: Tastes the same.
Bob: I eat Del Monte® Fruit Naturals® - this way I don't have to deal with the rinds, or eat the nasty white part on the skin.

Note that in addition to the name of the company having a registered trademark, so is the term “fruit naturals.” What does it mean exactly when something is trademarked? According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, “A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods.” [1] Apparently, Del Monte has created a product consisting of natural fruit, which they have cleverly claimed as unique by simply reversing the order of the words. Didn’t Mother Nature – or God – invent natural fruit? And just what is this nasty white stuff, anyway?

PACKAGING: A Grapefruit’s Natural Packaging – Plastic is Unnecessary

In a 2009 article published by the New York Times:
“The underside of the peel, called the albedo, contains carbohydrates and vitamin C but is especially rich in a soluble fiber called pectin, said Dr. Renee M. Goodrich, associate professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Florida. ''We are beginning to see links between consumption of such fiber and cholesterol lowering,'' she said. [2]

The albedo is also called mesocarp or pith. According to their official Del Monte® Fruit Naturals® website, “They're picked at their ripest, then perfectly peeled, prepared and packed in 100% juice–all in handy 6-7 oz. plastic cups with easy peel-off lids.” They even remove the seeds and that disgusting albedo for you! And let’s face it – we live in a busy world. Taking two minutes to peel a grapefruit is just too much time. Why should you waste that time, when you can spend a mere two seconds removing the “easy peel-off lid”? Not to mention, what do you do with those rinds? It’s much easier to throw away the plastic packaging.

But wait, if you are eco-friendly, you might want to throw away the non-recyclable lid, and then deposit the “green” cup in a recycling container. (Read Del Monte®'s statement on caring about the environment.) In 2008, they launched a “Going Green” project for all their employees, giving them personal coffee cups and plastic cups (presumably the latter is for drinking water or the wide assortment of Del Monte® fruit juices).

This will surely cancel out the negative environmental impact caused by the millions of plastic cups that consumers throw away after using them for the entire 5-15 minutes it took them to consume the “natural fruit.” In reality, the percentage of aluminum, paper, and plastic that gets recycled is less than 100% – the actual statistic will vary widely depending on the source. (And if you want to learn some interesting things about plastic, see the documentary Bag It.)

In addressing the nutritional content of a raw grapefruit versus fruit-in-a-cup, there are several sources. If you look on the official Del Monte® Fruit Naturals® website, you will notice there are two varieties of the red grapefruit product: the regular one in 100% fruit juice and the “no sugar added” one. On the product page, there is a charming hand-drawn graphic inviting you to “click to read nutrition facts.”

NUTRITION FACTS & INGREDIENTS

Once you click, you will learn that the regular 7-ounce version contains “about” two servings of 126 grams each. Each serving has less than 1 gram of fiber, 13 grams of sugars, 60 calories, 2% of vitamin A and 100% vitamin C of the daily values based on the 2,000 calorie diet. The “no sugar added” version has less calories – it also happens to be in a 6.5-ounce cup. Per serving, this version has only 40 calories, slightly more fiber at .5 grams, only 6 grams of sugar, 10% of vitamin A (more than the regular kind!) and 100% vitamin C of the daily values based on the 2,000 calorie diet. They have conveniently left out the ingredients. We are led to assume it contains only grapefruit.

One website called ShopWell.com™, still in the beta phase, seems to have a very comprehensive database of food products, their nutritional value, and list of ingredients. For the regular red grapefruit, it lists the following ingredients: Grapefruit, Reconstituted White Grape Juice, Reconstituted Red Grapefruit Juice, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (to preserve quality), Ascorbic Acid (to protect color), Citric Acid, Color Added. [3] The “no sugar added” red grapefruit contains the following: Grapefruit, Water, Sorbitol, Ascorbic Acid (to protect color), Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (to protect quality), Citric Acid, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Color Added. [4]

The obvious offenders in both versions are potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate – both of these ingredients are synthetically produced by laboratory chemical methods. The regular version contains reconstituted white grape juice and reconstituted red grapefruit juice. What exactly is that anyway? The USDA has produced a 15-page document called “United States Standards for Grades of Grapefruit Juice.” The document defines reconstituted juice as a “product obtained by thoroughly mixing the concentrate with the amount of water prescribed on the label or other appropriate directions.” [5]

What is concentrate then? The FDA has the answer to that question in a document published in its Health and Human Services department regulations § 146.132:
“If the grapefruit juice is prepared from concentrate, such sweeteners, in liquid form, referred to in paragraph (a)(2)(iii) of this section, also may be used. When prepared from concentrated grapefruit juice, exclusive of added sweeteners, the finished food contains not less than 10 percent, by weight, of soluble solids taken as the refractometric sucrose value (of the filtrate), corrected to 20°C, and corrected for acidity by adding (0.012+0.193x–0.0004x2), where x equals the percent anhydrous citric acid in the sample, to the refractometrically obtained sucrose value by the first method prescribed in ‘‘Correction of Refractometer Sucrose Readings for Citric Acid Content for Lemonade,’’ by Yeatman, Senzel, and Springer, ‘‘Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists,’’ vol. 59 p. 368 (1976). [6]

Let’s dig a little deeper. What are these acceptable sweeteners in liquid form? If we refer to paragraph (a)(2)(iii) of this section on the topic of Optional Ingredients, we will learn that these are defined as “one or any combination of two or more of the dry or liquid forms of sugar, invert sugar sirup, dextrose, glucose sirup, and fructose. Sweeteners defined in part 168 of this chapter shall be as defined therein.” [6] If we refer to part 168 of this chapter, I have to wonder if we will continue to be led further down the spiral of elusive definitions.


LABELING

You don’t even have to refer to part 168 to continue the seemingly endless scavenger hunt. In paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section on the topic of Labeling, we’ll learn that “if any nutritive sweetener is added, the principal display panel of the label shall bear the statement ‘‘Sweetener added.’’” [6] What if the nutritive sweetener is already part of the concentrate, and it’s not present in addition to the concentrate mix? What if “two or more of the dry or liquid forms of sugar, invert sugar sirup, dextrose, glucose sirup, and fructose” are not qualified as nutritive sweeteners, and therefore does not have to be listed?

The FDA gives a decent overview on how it regulates the listing of ingredients, in its Guidance for Industry: A Food Labeling Guide: Contains Nonbinding Recommendations:

15. Do ingredients of standardized foods have to be listed when the standardized food is an ingredient in a non-standardized food?
Answer: The sub ingredients of a food that is an ingredient in another food may be declared parenthetically following the name of the ingredient or may be declared by dispersing each ingredient in its order of predominance in the ingredient statement without naming the original ingredient. 21 CFR 101.4(b)(2) [7]

To truly understand what all this means, the average consumer will likely feel overwhelmed, and if curious enough like me, will feel the desire to go back to college and study chemistry and biology. But Del Monte® has made it easy for the consumer. All they need to know about the Fruit Naturals® red grapefruit in 100% fruit juice is that it contains sugar. Because of the way the definitions are set up to cross reference each other without explicitly stating anything clearly and concisely, Del Monte® can simply list “sugar” as an ingredient, hoping that most of us won’t spend hours trying to get to the bottom of what that really means. Anyway, even if the FDA makes recommendation for labeling food, they are “nonbinding recommendations.”

To confirm the ingredients listed by ShopWell.com™, I visited three different H-E-B markets in Austin, Texas, and I could not find either of these two grapefruit products. A friend visited Central Market – a grocery store that prides in selling healthy items – and could not find them either. I also went to Sunflower (formerly Newflower), and I did not find them either. It seems my only options are ordering online through Amazon.com, Costco, or Sam’s Club, along with a large-screen television. But just to be sure, I sent an email to Del Monte® and have requested the actual list of ingredients.


Dear Del Monte,

Can you please send me the complete list of ingredients for both the Fruit Naturals Red Grapefruit and the Fruit Naturals No Sugar Added Red Grapefruit?

On your website, I can only view the nutrition facts, but I would like to know the list of ingredients.

Thank you,
Alexandra

p.s. I would also like to know where I can purchase these products? I have visited three HEBs, one Central Market, and one Sunflower market and have not been able to find them.


Dear Alexandra,

Thanks for visiting our Del Monte website and for your email.

The ingredients you requested are listed below and below that you will find some stores in your area that carry these products.

*Red Grapefruit in 100% Juice: Grapefruit, Reconstituted White Grape Juice, Reconstituted Red grapefruit Juice, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (To Preserve Quality), Ascorbic Acid (TO Protect Color), Citric Acid

*No Sugar Added Red Grapefruit: Grapefruit, Water, Sorbitol, Ascorbic Acid (To Protect Color), Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (To Preserve Quality), Citric Acid, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose.

We checked our information for you, and it shows this product has been sold in the past 90 days at the stores listed below. Before making a special trip, we recommend you call the store to be sure the product is in stock. If you've already checked these stores recently, it may also be help ful for you to let your store manager know about your interest in this item.

Fruit Naturals Red Grapefruit NSA and Fruit Naturals Red Grapefruit packed in100 percent juice.

Randalls Food Market
2025 W Ben White Blvd
Austin TX 78704-7518
(512) 4433083

Fiesta Mart
5510 S Interstate 35 Ste 250
Austin TX 78745-3293
(512) 3737800

Randalls Food Market
6600 S MO Pac Expy
Austin TX 78749-1431
(512) 8914350

I appreciate the opportunity to respond and hope this information is helpful.

Mike, Del Monte Consumer Affairs

Del Monte. Nourishing families. Enriching lives. Every Day.


Del Monte® does a thorough job of revealing its practices. The Living a Healthy Lifestyle section of their corporate website has a Nutrition Q & A. [8] Below are some of the questions and answers relevant to the investigation in this article:

QUESTION
Why do you only list certain nutrients on your products?

ANSWER
The Food and Drug Administration regulates nutrition labeling. The nutrients listed on all of our products are required by law to be listed.

QUESTION
Why do you use High Fructose Corn Syrup in your products?

ANSWER
High Fructose Corn Syrup is a sweetener that is made from corn that has virtually the same sweetening power as sugar, provides the same amount of calories as table sugar and is used by our bodies just like table sugar. In the food industry, High Fructose Corn Syrup does more than just sweeten a product — it helps retain moisture and food structure. It also allows flavors to blend and increases the shelf life of a product.

QUESTION
What is sucralose and why do you use it?

ANSWER
Sucralose (Splenda®) is made from regular table sugar, but is altered by replacing three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molecule with three chlorine atoms.

High fructose corn syrup is a probable suspect in Del Monte® Fruit Naturals®, and it is a likely explanation for its extraordinarily long shelf life of 15-21 months. Try keeping a raw grapefruit for 3 months – no natural fruit is intended to last that long, unless you preserve it the good old-fashioned way as a jam or jelly preserve. Fruit Naturals® are not being preserved as jams or jellies – they are being preserved much in the way that Walt Disney has supposedly been cryogenically frozen – trying to capture the raw and “natural” state of an organic being. Except that food processors like Del Monte® use modern high-pressurization machines to do so, in addition to preservation chemicals.

Remember the “no sugar added” version of red grapefruit? Even though it has no sugar added, it does contain the following artificial, non-nutritive sweeteners: sorbitol, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose. In its Nutrition Q & A, Del Monte® does explain its use of sucralose, openly admitting the fact that it is simply regular table sugar that has been chemically altered. What about the other two sweeteners? These, too, are synthetic, laboratory produced chemicals.


VITAMIN CONTENT

Many people will argue that the canned (or plastic-cupped) versions are actually better for you because they have increased vitamin content. Both versions of the Fruit Naturals® red grapefruit – the regular and the “no sugar added” – contain 100% vitamin C of the daily values based on a 2,000 calorie diet. But what is 100%? How much vitamin C is that? The USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center website [9] has published a chart of Dietary Reference Intakes prepared by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. According to this chart, the Recommended Dietary Allowances and Adequate Intakes of Vitamins can range anywhere from 75 mg for an adult female to 90 mg for an adult male. [10] Therefore, we can likely assume that Fruit Naturals® will contain roughly 75 mg of vitamin C for a 126-ounce serving.

How much vitamin C does an equivalent serving of raw grapefruit have? Only 39 grams. You can look up this same information on the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. This fact gives fruit-in-a-cup advocates the fodder they need to continue claiming their packaged product is superior to the real thing. Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, can exist naturally in living organisms, but it can also be industrially synthesized. Fruit Naturals® lists ascorbic acid as an ingredient. Could this be a reason why it has a higher content of vitamin C than a freshly tree-picked raw grapefruit?


WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN ANYWAY?

Large corporations with large marketing dollars to spend can potentially convince consumers of just about anything. Del Monte® says on their website that you can “Experience Fruit Undressed™,” which is a “fruit that’s stripped down to its bare goodness; no skins, seeds or cores.” [11] Following that logic, if a human wants to be sexy and undressed, should he or she skin themselves down to the muscle? Isn’t a fruit in its natural state already “undressed”? How are Del Monte® Fruit Naturals® that come individually packaged in small plastic cups, and then packaged together in sets in cardboard, be less undressed than the actual fruit?

Also, watch those labels. A grapefruit should only have one ingredient: grapefruit.


SOURCES:

1. http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/index.jsp
2. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E5D91038F932A05750C0A96F9C8B63
3. http://www.shopwell.com/fruit-naturals-red-grapefruit-in-100-juice/fresh-fruit/p/2400050785?f=sr&nr=322&sp=4
4. http://www.shopwell.com/fruit-naturals-red-grapefruit-no-sugar-added/fresh-fruit/p/2400050793?f=sr&nr=322&sp=5
5. http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3007255
6. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2005/aprqtr/pdf/21cfr146.132.pdf
7. http://www.fda.gov/food/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/guidancedocuments/foodlabelingnutrition/foodlabelingguide/ucm064880.htm#stdfood
source changed to:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuide/default.htm
8. http://www.delmontefoods.com/livingahealthylifestyle/?page=lh_askthenutritionist4
9. http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=3&tax_subject=256&topic_id=1342&level3_id=5140
10. http://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/RDA%20and%20AIs_Vitamin%20and%20Elements.pdf
11. http://www.delmontefoods.com/brands/