Yelm Food Co-op Member Blog

The Foods You Shouldn't Touch With a Ten Foot Pole

2010-08-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Read the Full Article

So What Foods Should You Avoid Like the Plague?

Soda
In my mind this is where most people will get the biggest payoff for the amount of effort involved. The average person consumes more than one gallon of soda per week. Reducing or eliminating soda from your diet is one of the easiest shifts to make.

Most diet sodas are worse than regular sodas, as you can read in my recent review on aspartame. When people ask me what is safer to drink: diet or regular soda, I ask them what they would rather be hit in the head with -- a baseball bat or a sledgehammer? It's a tough call, but I think a case can be made for regular soda being the lesser of two evils...
That said, regular soda with its high sugar content promotes yeast overgrowth, which in turn promotes allergies. In fact, many people with yeast-related allergies and food sensitivities tend to have sugar cravings, which is doubly problematic since it actually feeds the yeast that is already overgrown in their systems.
While many of you are not likely consuming many sodas, it is vital to understand the importance of this simple change for your friends and family who are not as health savvy as you. Gentle persistent encouragement of this principle will have massively profound implications on their health.
Fortunately there are simple alternatives that are relatively easy to implement. The best is pure clean water. I just completed a four-hour video interview with a leading water industry water expert and hope to share that with you in the next few weeks for more details.
For those who are really struggling, you can purchase carbonated water and use flavored liquid stevias for a taste that is very similar to most sodas. You can also use Turbo Tapping, which is a highly effective, free EFT tapping technique.
Doughnuts and Pastries
Overall these foods are worse than soda as they not only contain sugar, typically in the form of high fructose corn syrup, but they also contain dangerous trans fats. The reason I did not list this one first is that they are not consumed by as many people on a regular basis.
For more information about how trans fats promotes allergies, while saturated fats relieve them, please see this previous article.
French Fries
Oh, they taste so good, but are ever so bad for you as they are loaded with the worst types of fat on the planet -- typically highly refined and genetically modified omega 6 oils, such as corn, canola, and soybean oils.
If you're still unaware of the link between allergies and genetically engineered food ingredients (particularly soy), please review this recent article by GMO expert, Jeffrey Smith.
These highly processed omega-6 oils are bad enough if you eat them in the form of unheated salad dressing, but when these oils are heated to a high temperature, they transform into a potent mixture that is sure to destroy your health.
Avoid these like the plague. Be particularly careful when ordering hamburgers and other similar foods in a restaurant as most will include fries by default, and once they are at your table they're hard to resist. So please be sure to order a healthier alternative.
Nearly All Breakfast Cereals
Breakfast is, without question, the single most challenging meal to eat outside of your home. Most of the typical breakfast offerings will drag your health down. The most commonly consumed breakfast are breakfast cereals, which are merely disguised forms of high fructose corn syrup loaded with genetically modified (GM) grains. But pancakes, French toast, waffles, scrambled eggs and rolls don't do much to improve your health either.
Many may wonder about the scrambled egg concern but the high heat oxidized cholesterol in the eggs and severely damages it. Far better to have the eggs MINIMALLY cooked or better yet raw eggs.
Processed Foods and Snacks

In addition to these specific examples, processed foods in general can contribute to allergies for a number of different reasons. Most processed foods contain a variety of food colorings, flavors, preservatives, and other additives can have a major impact. Junk foods also has a detrimental effect on your gut flora, which has major consequences for your overall health, weight control, and the development of allergies.

The Many Health Benefits of Maintaining Healthy Gut Flora

The ideal ratio between the bacteria in your body is 85 percent "good" and 15 percent "bad." That's right – you need FAR more beneficial bacteria (probiotics) than you might think in order to maintain the right balance.
The key here is to avoid as many processed foods as you can. This is a challenge because over 90% of the foods that Americans eat are processed and the number source of calories is high fructose corn syrup. So the general principle is to avoid processed foods, but some foods are more particularly pernicious than others so let me give you some examples.
This ratio is essential for:
The proper development and function of your immune system
Protection against over-growth of other microorganisms that could cause disease
Digestion of food and absorption of nutrients
Producing vitamins, absorbing minerals and eliminating toxins
As you can see, probiotics perform a wide variety of functions, which renders them useful and beneficial for a number of health concerns, including the prevention or control of:
Food and skin allergies in children
Vaginitis
Premature labor in pregnant women
Inflammatory bowel disease
Recurrent ear and bladder infections
Chronic diarrhea
One of the ways friendly bacteria help prevent allergies, infections and inflammatory conditions is by training your immune system to distinguish between pathogens and non-harmful antigens, and to respond appropriately.
When you're deficient in these healthy bacteria, your immune system is ill equipped to address the many pathogens and antigens entering your system on a daily basis, and health problems can easily ensue.

Your Gut's Microflora Also Impacts Your Weight

The microflora in your digestive system is also emerging as a major player in weight management, and needless to say, junk food and weight gain typically go hand in hand.
Your gut flora is by no means the only underlying reason for this, but it does play an important part.
Multiple studies have shown that obese people have different intestinal bacteria than slim people, and it appears that the microbes in an overweight body are much more efficient at extracting calories from food.
Researchers have also suggested that certain bacteria may cause low-grade inflammation in your body, further contributing to obesity and difficulty to lose weight.
One such study found that the bifidobacteria counts taken from infants at the age of 6 months and 12 months were twice as high in healthy weight children as in those who became overweight, while S. Aureus levels were lower.
Interestingly, this finding may explain why breast-fed babies are also at a lower risk of obesity, as bifidobacteria flourish in the guts of breast-fed babies.
The breast-fed Italian babies in the study above were also the only ones harboring bacteria resembling the African children's, which indicates your "diet may dominate other factors such as ethnicity, sanitation, geography or climate," the researchers said.
Two previous studies found that obese people had about 20 percent more of a family of bacteria known as firmicutes, and almost 90 percent less of a bacteria called bacteroidetes than lean people. (Firmicutes help your body to extract calories from complex sugars and deposit those calories in fat.)
This latest study confirms those results, as here too, the African children had significantly higher levels of Bacteroidetes and far lower levels of the firmicutes linked to obesity.

How to Optimize the Bacteria in Your Gut

Fortunately, influencing the ratio of bacteria growing in your body is relatively easy. One of the most important steps you can take is to stop consuming processed and sugary foods. This includes cutting down on grains, as most grains are quickly converted into sugar in your body.
Keep in mind, of course, that if you or your children need to lose some excess weight, balancing your gut bacteria is only one part of the equation. Regular exercise and addressing any emotional blocks are also very important.
When you eat a healthy diet low in sugars and processed foods, one of the major benefits is that it naturally causes the good bacteria in your gut to flourish.
Yet, even with an extremely low-sugar diet, there are other factors that influence your gut bacteria. Antibiotics, chlorinated water, antibacterial soap, agricultural chemicals, pollution -- all of these things help to kill off your good bacteria. This is why it's a wise choice to "reseed" your body with good bacteria from time to time by taking a high-quality probiotic supplement or eating fermented foods.
In the past, people used fermented foods like yogurt and sauerkraut to support their digestive health, as these foods are rich in naturally beneficial bacteria. This is still the best route to optimal digestive health.
Healthy choices include:
Lassi (an Indian yoghurt drink, traditionally enjoyed before dinner)
Fermented milk, such as kefir
Various pickled fermentations of cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash and carrots
Natto (fermented soy)
If you were to eat a diet rich in fermented foods that have NOT been pasteurized (as pasteurization kills the naturally occurring probiotics), then you would likely enjoy great digestive health without any additional supplementation.
However, if you simply do not like any of these types of fermented foods, your next best option is to use a high quality probiotic supplement.
I have used many different brands over the past 15 years and there are many good ones out there. I also spent a long time researching and developing my own, called Complete Probiotics, in which I incorporated everything I have learned about this important tool over the years.
Keep in mind, however, that processed foods in general will destroy healthy microflora and feed bad bacteria and yeast, so you can't use the drug approach to probiotics -- meaning, you can't maintain a diet high in processed foods while taking a probiotic supplement to counteract the ill effects.
You may be able to temporarily suppress some of the troublesome symptoms caused by that kind of diet, but it won't work in the long run.

Which Nut Is Tops for Clearing Arteries?

2010-08-23T08:32:00.001-07:00

By RealAge

Nuts certainly are great for heart health. But which nut should you choose if you want to make the most progress against heart disease: walnuts, almonds, or pecans?

Kind of a trick question, according to a recent review of the literature. A body of nut research suggests that just about any nut will help lower bad cholesterol and improve the balance of bad to good cholesterol as well. So just pick your favorite.

A Heart-Loving Substitute
Better yet, use nuts in place of foods high in saturated fat. In many of the studies analyzed, the improvements in cholesterol were even greater when heart-healthy nut fats took the place of less healthy kinds of fat, like those from animal sources. And it took only about 2 1/2 ounces of nuts a day to reap cholesterol rewards. Although, the more nuts people ate, the lower their cholesterol dropped.

Not all health and beauty products are created equal

2010-08-17T21:08:00.001-07:00

Not all health and beauty products are created equal. Many products are extremely toxic and there are no laws to stop companies saying their products are organic, even when they’re not. The only way to guarantee a product is organic is to see the USDA organic logo. The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep research site www.cosmeticdatabase.com is the place to check if your toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, face cream, makeup, sunscreen, baby’s product etc., is harming you? Toxic levels run from #0 for no/low hazard to #10 for high hazard. The Yelm Food Co-op researches every health and beauty product we bring into the store and will rarely bring in a product that is above #3 in toxicity.

Yelm Food Co-op

404 1st Street, SE

Yelm

360-400-2210

Monday – Friday 10 am – 7 pm

Florence Vincent

Ginger Gold Apple on Special this Week

2010-08-10T15:50:00.001-07:00

Ginger Gold

Can't wait for your favorite apples in the early fall? The early ripening Ginger Gold will satisfy your need for a great snacking apple. Check them out early in the season when this special new variety is readily available!
What's It Like?

* Sweet, but mildly tart
* Fine textured, crisp cream colored flesh

Best Uses

* Excellent for eating and salads

Special Hint

* Ginger Gold is very slow to turn brown so it's an excellent choice for any fresh cut apple use.

Availability

* August through November

Wasting Food and Water

2010-08-10T15:35:00.001-07:00

Posted by Tom

Both food and water are resources that are getting to be shorter and shorter in supply. We waste them to our own detriment. Wasting also adds to the pollution of our planet which needs all the help it can get in getting “green” again.

I found a great website that deals with all issues of green living. On it found these 3 videos which deal with subject of wasting food and water and what we can do about it.

Well worth the watch.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/food-waste-not-want-not-video.html

And a great local business that works hard to provide ecologically and earth friendly products to its customers is www.ecoearthmanor.com

Pay both sites a visit and learn and enjoy!

Food Expiration Dates: What do they really mean?

2010-08-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

By: Ann Pietrangelo

Expiration dates on food products can protect consumer health, but those dates are really more about quality than safety, and if not properly understood, they can also encourage consumers to discard food that is perfectly safe to eat.

A recent poll of more than 2,000 adults showed that most of us discard food we believe is unsafe to eat, which is a good thing, of course, but it is important that we understand what food expiration dates mean before we dump our food -- and our money -- down the drain or into the garbage.

Which five foods are most often feared as being unsafe after the printed date? According to ShelfLifeAdvice.com, we are most wary of milk, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, yogurt, and eggs, and they offer these helpful explanations:

· Milk: If properly refrigerated, milk will remain safe, nutritious, and tasty for about a week after the sell-by date and will probably be safe to drink longer than that, though there’s a decline in nutritional value and taste.

· Cottage cheese: Pasteurized cottage cheese lasts for 10-14 days after the date on the carton.

· Mayonnaise: Unopened, refrigerated Kraft mayonnaise can be kept for 30 days after its expiration date or 3-4 months after opening, the company told ShelfLifeAdvice.

· Yogurt: Yogurt will remain good 7-10 days after its sell-by date.

· Eggs: Properly refrigerated eggs should last at least 3-5 weeks after the sell-by date, according to Professor Joe Regenstein, a food scientist at Cornell University. Note: Use of either a sell-by or expiration (EXP) date is not Federally required, but may be state required, as defined by the egg laws in the state where the eggs are marketed.

The “Use-By” Date
The “use-by” or “best if used-by” date indicates the last day that the item is at its best quality as far as taste, texture, appearance, odor, and nutritional value. The decline after that is gradual. The use-by date refers to product that has not yet been opened.

The “Sell By” Date
The “sell by” date is not really a matter of food safety, but a notice to stores that the product should be taken off the shelf because it will begin to decline in quality after that date.

The Law
From the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): “Product dating is not generally required by Federal regulations. However, if a calendar date is used, it must express both the month and day of the month (and the year, in the case of shelf-stable and frozen products). If a calendar date is shown, immediately adjacent to the date must be a phrase explaining the meaning of that date such as "sell-by" or "use before."

There is no uniform or universally accepted system used for food dating in the United States. Although dating of some foods is required by more than 20 states, there are areas of the country where much of the food supply has some type of open date and other areas where almost no food is dated.”

Food-Borne Illness
Cross-contamination and unsanitary conditions are a primary cause of food-related illnesses, whether it occurs in the home or in a restaurant, and independent of any expiration date. The leading culprits:

· Improper hand-washing prior to food preparation

· Storing food at the wrong temperature

· Cooking food to an inadequate temperature

· Cross-contamination (raw meats that come into contact with salads, for instance)

· Improper washing of fresh produce

The Yuck Factor: Common Sense Approach to Food Safety
Aside from any expiration date or lack thereof, if it is moldy or if it smells and looks spoiled, err on the side of caution. If it makes you say, “yuck,” throw it away.

Calling All Members!

2010-08-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Yelm Food Co-op annual meeting is scheduled for Sunday, September 12 at 3:00 at the Yelm Adult Center. This year we have an exciting list of things to discuss. We will also be holding a raffle for some wonderful prizes donated by our community partners including:

Ø Sunbirds – 2 sleeping bags

Ø Red Nails – 1 pedicure

Ø Gordons Garden Center – 1 cherry tree

Ø Lemuria – 1 Yelm Food Coop tee shirt

Ø Giorda E – Gift Certificate $100

Ø Giovana Mendoza – 1 Reike treatment

Ø Used Wonders – Art Piece

Ø Carolyn Mascarin – Majolica Piece

Ø JZ Rose – 1 Garden Set

Ø Yelm Food Co-op – 1 OG Turkey

Hope to see you there!

The Olive Oil Scandal

2010-08-03T15:42:00.001-07:00

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/oliveoil.html

Parts of this article: The Olive Oil Scandal

...trying to find real olive oil is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The problem is most of the olive oil on the market does not duplicate what our ancestors were eating, and people are not getting what they think they are buying. Almost all olive oil is processed in ways that result in the loss of nutrients which are essential to health.

Olive oil is almost unique among oils in that it can be consumed in the crude form without refining. This has the effect of conserving all its vitamins, essential fatty acids, and other nutrients. Because it contains all these nutrients, including powerful antioxidants, real extra virgin olive oil is beneficial to health and protects us from damage by free radical oxidation. Cell membranes contain fatty acids that are highly susceptible to free radical damage. This damage produces lipid peroxides that can kill the cell. Real olive oil contains polyphenols, vitamin E, and other natural antioxidants that prevent this damage.

Numerous studies show that olive oil reduces cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, inhibits platelet aggregation, and lowers the incidence of breast cancer. Because it is so rich in antioxidants, olive oil appears to dramatically reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, thereby preventing heart disease. These same antioxidants also add to the stability, shelf life, and flavor of the oil.

Historically, high quality olive oil... was easy to obtain, but not any more. Today, high quality oil is available only in relatively small quantities, usually from family owned farms, where olives are picked by hand so as not to damage the skin or pulp. They are transported in well aerated containers and milled within 48 hours of harvesting. Before milling, leaves and twigs are removed, the olives washed and dried, and then stone pressed the same way as it was done in antiquity. The resulting olive paste was then pressed in a hydraulic press without the use of heat, hot water, or solvents. The oil is left unfiltered as filtering removes many nutrients. The first pressing produces the best "extra virgin" oil.

The problem with most of today's olive oil is that it is rarely produced in the old way, ... modem factories extract more oil more cheaply, but their processing methods substantially reduce the nutritional quality of the oil. To reduce costs, olives are machine harvested along with leaves and twigs. Olives that have dropped on the ground, which can be said to contain bad oil, are often mixed with the good ones. They are shipped in all kinds of containers, many of which are poorly ventilated, and heaped in large piles where the olives are stored for too long and often become moldy. The oil is then extracted in a continuous centrifuge where hot water is used to help separate out the oil.

Antioxidant polyphenols are soluble in water and are washed away in this process, thereby lowering the shelf life and the nutritional quality of the oil. Italy alone produces 800,000 cubic meters of waste water per year from this process. Because substantial amounts of antioxidants are washed away, factory produced olive oils have a short shelf life of only months, whereas real olive oil lasts for two to three years. Factory produced olive oil is filtered and looks clear. Real olive oil is not filtered and looks cloudy.

Most people think that by purchasing "extra virgin" olive oil they are getting a high quality oil.
Unfortunately, in most cases, this is not true. It's more complex than that. A label reading extra virgin is no guarantee of quality.. nowhere does it say that extra virgin olive oil has to be made 100% from olives. An major criterion for grading olive oil is its level of acidity. Extra virgin oil should have a free oleic acid acidity of no more than one percent, whereas ordinary virgin olive oil can have an acidity of up to 3.3 percent.

Lower quality oils can be refined to bring the acidity down so they can be labeled as extra virgin. But now the oil has been refined, and that's not what you want. That's why being labeled extra virgin is no guarantee of getting high quality oil, which has not been processed in ways that reduce its nutritional value. To complicate matters even more, the term "extra virgin" has no official meaning in the United States. The U.S. is not a member of the International Olive Oil Council. So, olive oil sold here can be labeled extra virgin without meeting the accepted international standards.

Another reason why you can't trust extra virgin olive oil is exemplified by a problem that manifested last year, and may turn out to be the biggest food fraud of the 20th Century. Despite the fact that details of this scandal have been published in Merum, a Swiss-German magazine, and in Italian journals such as Agra Trade, and the newspaper Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, this information has been successfully suppressed and is known to only a handful. Investigators are gathering evidence indicating that the biggest olive oil brands in Italy have for years been systematically diluting their extra virgin olive oil with cheap, highly-refined hazelnut oil imported from Turkey. International arrest warrants have been issued and so far documents indicate that at least ten thousand tons of hazelnut oil are involved. As much as 20% hazelnut oil can be added to olive oil and still be undetectable to the consumer.

In fact olive oil labeled "Italian" often comes from Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, and Greece. Considering what has happened in Europe, where there are strict regulations, imagine what can happen in California where there are no regulations.

.. more oil is "produced" in California than there are olives available. The truth is, most of the extra virgin olive oil on the market does not supply all the nutritional value and health giving properties that we have a right to expect from olive oil.

This is scary stuff when you consider how extremely important oil is to human health. Our modem chronic disease problems are the result of radically changing, in a short period of time, the fundamental parameters of human existence, namely: diet, environment, and behavior. One of the most fundamental changes in our diet has been the kind and the amount of fats and oils that we consume. For example, the consumption of hydrogenated oils has proved to be a disaster for human health. Hydrogenated oils have been implicated in both our cancer and heart disease epidemics. all modem processed oils are injurious to human health.

To reverse our pandemic of chronic disease, we have to return to eating a more traditional diet, and high quality olive oil can safely be included in that diet.

Find an extra virgin olive oil that is cold pressed, unfiltered, and looks cloudy. The oil should be packaged in dark glass bottles to protect it from the damaging effects of light. Real olive oil is still made in small estate bottled settings. The challenge is to find one that does it!

After selecting the oil, it has to be stored properly. When properly stored, real extra virgin olive oil can last two to three years.

Because of processing, most of the extra virgin oil on the market has a shelf life of only a few months. A good rule of thumb is to purchase oil in small bottles and consume it within a year of purchase; this will also ensure getting the best flavor. Store the oil away from both heat and light.

Storing in a dark place is important because exposure to light will start a chain reaction that will destroy the oil a thousand times faster than oxygen. During storage, olive oil oxidizes and undergoes a slow, continuous, and irreversible deterioration until it becomes inedible.

...modem, factory-produced olive oil has been stripped of its health enhancing nutrients, and the task of selecting a high quality oil has been made very difficult.

Beyond Health has made the selection process easier for you. We have searched for a high quality, estate bottled oil that meets our standards and we have found one. The brand name is Bariani. It's produced by the Bariani family on a small farm in the central valley of California. Their olives are grown without pesticides.

They are hand picked from the trees, carefully washed and dried, and milled with a stone wheel within 48 hours of harvesting. It is pressed in a hydraulic press, collected in stainless steel vats, decanted, and bottled.

This first cold pressed oil is the real stuff and retains all the natural flavor and goodness. Bariani is used by chefs in a number of fine restaurants. It is available at selected specialty food stores in California, and from Beyond Health.

Raymond Francis is an M. L T.-trained scientist and an internationally recognized leader in the emerging field of optimal health maintenance.
Reprinted with permission from: Beyond Health News Subscriptions: Call 800-250-3063

Cancer cells slurp up fructose, US study finds

2010-08-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Mon Aug 2, 2010 5:20pm EDT

* Study shows fructose used differently from glucose

* Findings challenge common wisdom about sugars WASHINGTON Aug 2 (Reuters) - Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that challenges the common wisdom that all sugars are the same. Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways, the team at the University of California Los Angeles found. They said their finding, published in the journal Cancer Research, may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types. "These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation," Dr. Anthony Heaney of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and colleagues wrote. "They have major significance for cancer patients given dietary refined fructose consumption, and indicate that efforts to reduce refined fructose intake or inhibit fructose-mediated actions may disrupt cancer growth."
Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy. Too much sugar of any kind not only adds pounds, but is also a key culprit in diabetes, heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association. Several states, including New York and California, have weighed a tax on sweetened soft drinks to defray the cost of treating obesity-related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The American Beverage Association, whose members include Coca-Cola (KO.N) and Kraft Foods (KFT.N) have strongly, and successfully, opposed efforts to tax soda. [ID:nN12233126] The industry has also argued that sugar is sugar. Heaney said his team found otherwise. They grew pancreatic cancer cells in lab dishes and fed them both glucose and fructose. Tumor cells thrive on sugar but they used the fructose to proliferate. "Importantly, fructose and glucose metabolism are quite different," Heaney's team wrote. "I think this paper has a lot of public health implications. Hopefully, at the federal level there will be some effort to step back on the amount of high fructose corn syrup in our diets," Heaney said in a statement.
Now the team hopes to develop a drug that might stop tumor cells from making use of fructose.
U.S. consumption of high fructose corn syrup went up 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, researchers reported in 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Organic Living – 5 Things You Can Do in Your Home

2010-06-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Contributed by: Tom D.

As members of a cooperative grocery store that has a strong focus on providing its customers with organic and environmentally friendly products, we are setting an example to the community. But there are many more things we can do to promote the spirit of the co-op in public and in our homes. Many of you already do some of these things, but we can always do more and encourage others to do the same. Here’s a short list of 5 things you can do in your home to promote the idea of organic living:

=> Boycott foods that are not organic
Be a label reader and look for the certified organic logos.

=> Learn how to cook from scratch with natural ingredients
Get a good cook book, buy all the ingredients and discover the joy of being your own chef!

=> Eat only organic, grass-fed meat
Non-organic meats are loaded with hormones, antibiotics and other additives you don’t want in your body or the bodies of your loved ones. Grain-fed meats tend now to be fed on genetically modified corn and soybeans, neither of which are organic.

=> Shop with local farmers, at farmers’ markets and, of course, your local co-op
Finding a source you trust, that either farms or supplies the kind of high-quality, fresh and organic foods that you want. Many local farmers are even more stringent than the FDA organic label demands because they value their local customers and survive because of them and their repeat business.

=> Start your own garden; even if it’s small, and grow organic.
It doesn’t take much land to produce a surprising amount of food for a family. Even if you only have enough room to produce a few things, you are ahead of the game. Produce like lettuce grows easily and takes very little room for the amount produced. Zucchini is a plant that will grow tons of delicious food in a pretty small space. Potatoes can be grown in towers which maximizes the yield per square foot of ground, minimizes watering and is easy to do.

The list goes on an on and we can all do something to help ourselves and our communities.

The inspiration for this article came from the “Organic View” newsletter put out by the Organic Consumers Association. You can keep up to date with developments in the organic world at their website, http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Summer Fruit Skin Savers

2010-06-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

In-Season Skin Savers

What's so special about this trio of fruits? Check out their unique protective benefits.

· Cherries: Eat a daily handful and you may enjoy fresher, less puffy skin. It's all thanks to the inflammation-fighting anthocyanins and melatonin in cherries, writes Tannis. Melatonin may boost UV protection and cell growth as well -- two great ways to keep wrinkles at bay. Tart cherries tend to be highest in melatonin. (You might also consider adding sweet cherries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries to your bowl. All of these goodies are rich in anthocyanins and other phytochemicals that pack an antiaging, anticancer wallop, according to research. The compounds stopped certain cancer cells from growing and even helped kill some off in lab and animal studies.)

· Nectarines: These smooth-skinned sisters of the peach provide a mini-spa's worth of nutrients that may help correct sun damage from the inside out, according to Tannis. They offer skin goodies like lycopene, lutein, niacin, copper, and vitamins A, C, and E. The A, C, and E trio also works to control inflammation and free radical damage in both the watery and the fatty layers of skin.

· Watermelon: Nibbling on watermelon wedges has the power to refresh your face as much as your palate, thanks to the high water and lycopene content. Lycopene helps protect and preserve connections between skin cells so skin is tighter, smoother, and better able to retain moisture. (Eat at room temperature to get the most lycopene from it).

Look for all 3 of these delectable fruits at the Co-op. Especially the readily available Rainier Cherries, grown in Washington!

Spices Play Role in Reduced Cancer Risk

2010-06-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Many people have an idea about the critical role herbs and spices play in disease prevention and even cures. The attached link from June 15, 2010 talks about specific cancer fighting spices. The Dr. Mercola website is a wealth of information about a variety of health related issues. Hope to see you in the Co-op picking up some super spices soon!

Spices Play Role in Reduced Cancer Risk

Welcome to the Yelm Food Cooperative Communication Center!

2010-06-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

Having been at the store now for almost one month I marvel at the vast amount of product knowledge held by our members. It seems each day I talk with someone new about the benefits or detriments of a product. As I began to realize how useful this information is and how impossible it is for all of the important information concerning food to be properly shared in the store, I had the idea of creating this blog as a forum for members to share knowledge and resources regarding ingredients, food safety, recipes, news and other related topics.

The Yelm Food Coop is the platform for educating the community, to allow us to make informed decisions about the foods and other products we use in our daily lives. By leveraging the knowledge of our members we can build a strong, local, healthy food system in our community for ourselves and our future.

I look forward to sharing information on this site and in the store!

Aaron Rodriguez
Manager, Yelm Food Co-op