Drop that leftover turkey sandwich. For those of you who ate (and keep eating) additive-laden frozen turkeys, chances are you're still metabolizing an unhealthy helping of roxarsone, an arsenic derivative used to keep parasites at bay and boost chick growth.

How many Thanks-givers unknowingly gobbled arsenic-laced turkey last week and still continue to via leftovers? Millions easy, or about 95 percent of all Americans. 

So what does arsenic do to us non-organic turkey gobblers, never mind the poor cluckers stuffed with it? Here's the unappetizing answer, straight from the Centers for Disease Control (via the Los Angeles Times):

“"Ingesting very high levels of arsenic can result in death. Exposure to lower levels can cause nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, damage to blood vessels, and a sensation of “pins and needles” in hands and feet.”

Not exactly safe or sustainable.

Why should we be worried? The FDA isn't. The Feds claim that "consumption of arsenic is safe at levels up to 0.5 parts per million in poultry muscle, and that roxarsone is OK to use," also according to the Los Angeles Times. Okay?

If the Poison Free Poultry Act of 2009 (H.R.3624) passes, bird-eaters might not have to think twice before swallowing, except for about this and this. No wonder why President Obama pardoned the First Turkey. 

Speaking of turkeys, this deft amateur chef (and midwife?) delivered a succulent bird while simultaneously delivering her daughter's baby this past holiday. Baby the bird or catch the baby? Both! Priorities, people.

(Photo credit:Photobucket, para2002)

According to Time author Brian Walsh, more than simply a case of penny-wise/pound foolish, the dangerous game of cheap food production is costing us--big time--both morally and from the standpoint of the health and the well being of the planet.

The farming practices employed for growing animals and food crops for the sake of affordable crispy, salty, fatty goodness are becoming hard to reconcile. As a society of consumers we may have lost touch with the great cost of what we consume. Here are some common-sense practices that we can all employ:

1. The first step is becoming informed about what we eat, no, I don’t mean simply reading the nutritional information on the side of a package. Research the food sources that you consume and the companies that produce and package them. Becoming informed about their cruelty free, fair wage and environmental protection practices--if any--and voting with your dollars.
2. Deciding that we can and should delay gratification before we impulse buy. We should employ the courage of our convictions to supply our pantry in a thoughtful healthy-minded way. It is also a good example to set when raising a new generation of consumers that we care about our health and environment.
3. I am not preaching but I practice and suggest practicing being grateful about what and whom we consume. Realizing that some form of life is ending so that we can be nourished and paying tribute to that life is key. Some acknowledgment of this as a daily practice, can be very grounding and liberating.
4. Supporting local organic, sustainable farmers is a key factor in toppling the industrial farming machine. Keeping our eyes fixed on achieving the goals of permaculture and sustainability and not being swayed by or tempted to give in to lethargy, despair and worst of all inaction.
5. Cutting down on our consumption of meat is so important if we care about ourselves and this world, people like Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Mark Bittman and a growing collective of world scientists are not kidding when they say that what we are consuming is killing us and the planet.

Take two or three or even five and call me in the morning! Have a beautiful, sustainable day!

(Photo credit:ms.lume SuperEco group on flickr)

The 100-Mile Diet might get people to seriously think about where there food comes from, but it's a simplified view. As we've recently mentioned here on Super Eco, going vegetarian might count for more greenhouse gas reduction than going local and once you open up the debate to the other factors, the choices for a truly healthy meal become much more difficult.   

This is especially true for people who live in large urban centers like New York City where almost all the food has to be shipped in from somewhere.

Growing method
A hot-house tomato grown in NYC using fossil fuels consumes more energy than a field tomato from California. However that same hot-house tomato in NYC using renewable energy compared to a tomato grown in a heavily irrigated drought-year in California will come out on top.

Raising method
When we move out of the vegetable realm into meats, does a free range lamb raised on a local upstate New York farm eating only from the famer's field and slaughtered on-site really require that much more energy than a bag of lentils shipped from Saskatchewan?

Continue reading Calculating food choices ›

(Photo credit:BinaryApe, flickr)

Easter will be here in a few more days. All over the US, families are dyeing eggs, assembling Easter baskets, singing charming songs about Peter Cottontail, and soon they'll be hunting or rolling Easter eggs outdoors. As for the children—well, the children will be mystified again about how a bunny is supposed to lay chicken eggs (or chocolate eggs, or jelly beans for that matter); but they'll go along with the gag, if only to score the sweets.

Jelly beans and chocolate bunnies aside, how do you choose that basic Easter basket building block, the egg? Some people just go for size and cost. Other people add in other qualities like humane treatment of the chickens, absence of antibiotics, or  Omega-3 fortification. Cage-free or free-range chickens may produce eggs that pass the ethical treatment test and taste great, but there is no regulation governing these labels. Caveat emptor.

My best advice? Go organic. You can test this advice. Buy a half dozen certified organic eggs and a half dozen of your favorite supermarket specials, be they cage free, free range, or just old fashioned factory farmed, antibiotic laced conventional eggs. Make an omelet using the commercial grade and another omelet using the organic. Which one looks and tastes better?

Certified organic eggs are laid by antibiotic-free chickens that have been fed organic food. In addition, for an egg to be organic, the care of the chicken must meet high animal welfare standards, including providing access to the outdoors. Grade AA eggs are the best. Grade A eggs are acceptable. Grade B? Not so great. The last question for you to consider is a thorny one. Does size matter? All indications are that it does matter, and smaller is better. Whether you're buying organic or commercial eggs, you'll find that medium eggs are less watery and the shell quality is better.

It doesn't take a fabulous chef to make a fantastic omelet, but it does require excellent eggs. And for excellent eggs you need excellent chickens. All of which implies that the chicken came first, not the egg, solving one of the great philosophical conundrums of our time.

(Photo credit:blmurch, Flickr)

Is spending extra money for organic milk worth it? Some scientists have been unable to draw a clean line of health benefits between organic and conventional milk. On the other side of the coin, health experts such as noted pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene say switching to organic dairy is one switch we should all make. With the jury still out on official research and approval of the advantages of organic milk, savvy consumers will need to weigh the facts to decide what’s best.

Milk labeled “USDA Organic” must meet several requirements.

1. Organic milk must come from cows that have not been treated with bovine growth hormone (rBGH), given to cows to increase their milk production.
2. Organic milk must come from cows that have not been treated with antibiotics.
3. Organic milk must come from cows whose feed is grown without pesticides or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
4. Cows that produce organic milk must have “access to pasture,” but no specific guidelines have been set for the length or frequency of their access. (NPR has reported on a growing movement to ensure cows are feeding on plenty of fresh grass if producers want to label the milk as organic.)

The dilemma for consumers is that not enough impartial studies have been released to show whether or not these factors confer actual health benefits. The field is fraught with fractured opinion.

Of course, many families buy organic milk based not only on health benefits but also on its gentler environmental footprint and more humane treatment of dairy cows. And nobody disputes that conventional milk does contain certain levels of hormones and pesticides—so if you’re the type who’d rather be safe than sorry, organic is the way to go.

(Photo credit:chefranden, flickr)

The Internet is full of interesting characters, but it's hardly a cult of the amateur or a vast wasteland anymore. In fact, sites like Makezine and Hack a Day have frequently exemplified the innovation and technological savvy of the common man or woman. In this helpful spirit, I present to you the first of several planned podcasts by Instructables in 2009 on how to live a greener life.

The first featured ideas were sent in by Instructables user Robbtoberfest who displays several of his handy and eco-friendly projects. The first is a self-built chicken coop, from which he claims the chickens provide three eggs per day. He lets them run around in the yard, though I doubt you could call them free range. The chickens get to play with small children, though. That must count for something.

Also on Robbtoberfest's to-do list are a gas-powered flashlight and a coffee machine that runs on solar power. The latter is apparently constructed by brewing the coffee within an empty plastic soda bottle that is then left out in the sun. It's a prototype, people. He's working on it.

His greatest idea so far is also probably the most low-tech. He's used the rubber from a blown tire to make padding on the underside of a pair of sandals. If you're not going to have the tire recycled, this is a wonderfully inventive way of controlling waste.

Do you have your own clever or inspiring green project at home? Instructables is interested (and so are we, by the way). You can submit to the Instructables website and perhaps even get featured during its Green 2009. If you do, drop us a line and we'll feature you too.

(Photo credit:Robbtoberfest, Instructables)

Choosing eggs scrambles my brain. I can stand in front of the egg display at the grocery store, pecking and clucking at all the choices, for so long that I've considered using (brace yourselves) an egg timer to keep me moving along. So it is with great relief that I read that nearly two-thirds of all cage-free eggs are now American Humane Certified, showing that an outside organization has given the green light to the humane treatment of the producers' chickens.

The 10 existing AHC cage-free egg producers represent 8 million of the 12-13 million laying hens producing cage-free eggs annually in the United States. The American Humane Certified label now moves into the leadership position in certifying humane treatment of chickens producing cage-free eggs. This growing standardization bolsters the confidence of egg-headed consumers (like me!) who get all wrapped up hatching the ideal egg shopping list.

Continue reading Hunting and pecking for humanely produced eggs ›

(Photo credit:House of Sims, Flickr)