Organic Cooking Schools
People are demanding organically produced foods. The demand gets stronger every day. With every “tainted food” headline, more and more people are seeking the safety provided by organically produced, processed, and packaged foods. We can’t see the demand lessening as long as countries like China that still permit the use of the dangerous and highly toxic chemical DDT continue to ship food worldwide.
The beef producers have been arguing and campaigning for more years than I care to count for “country of origin” labels on beef. The government resists. There are no “country of origin” labels on beef or any other products, and you can be pretty sure that there won’t be.
With the growth in the demand for organically produced food, there is a corresponding demand for restaurants that serve only organic food. Restaurants all share one common need – they must have cooks, or chefs. These chefs must understand the principles of organic food and preparing food organically.
Not only must the uncooked food that is shipped into a restaurant be organic, but the seasonings, spices, and even the preparation techniques must also meet organic standards.
Because of demand, there are more and more cooking schools that are specializing in teaching future chefs how to handle and prepare organic food. There’s a lot to learn. There are a great many cooking schools out there in the world that are housed in brick-and-mortar buildings. There are even more organic cooking schools online that can teach professional cooks or just homemakers how to cook organically.
I’ve had people ask me if organic cooking wasn’t boring – there ARE all of those fruits and veggies. My answer is an emphatic NO. Organic is interesting – more interesting even than cooking traditionally. There’s so much room for real creativity!
Drink a Cup of Coffee to Your Health
International Coffee Day is Saturday, September 29th. Drink a cup of coffee to your health. The internet is full of reduced price ads at various coffee shop outlets. But, no matter where you have your coffee and whether you like regular or healthy organic coffee drink a cup of coffee to your health. Remember that regular coffee consumption is linked to reduced incidences of Type II Diabetes, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and endometrial cancer.
International Coffee Day
International coffee day was celebrated in Japan in the 1980’s and in China in the late 1990’s. The USA only started celebrating International Coffee Day in 2009 at the time of the New Orleans Coffee Festival. No matter how long you have been celebrating international day of coffee it is possible to get great deals on a cup of coffee on that day. As evidence mounts for the health benefits of coffee, drinkers may find themselves adding a cup or two or three of coffee to their diet every day. Healthy organic coffee antioxidants make the favorite brew a must for the health conscious consumer.
More Coffee and Less Diabetes
Drink a cup of coffee to your health. Scientific studies indicate that drinking several cups of coffee a day reduces the incidence of Type II Diabetes by roughly one half. Considering that twenty million Americans have this disease there is, in fact, public health value to drinking java. More organic coffee can lead to less diabetes according to researchers. Although the same applies to regular coffee we suggest organic because of the reduced number of impurities found in organic coffee. Researches knew for a long time that coffee consumption was linked to less diabetes. Now they know that levels of the protein sex hormone binding globulin are increased by coffee drinking. The presence of this protein helps reduce the incidence of Type II diabetes. Drink a cup of coffee to your health on International Coffee Day and enjoy the health benefits for years to come.
More Coffee and Less Cancer
Not only does coffee reduce your likelihood of getting diabetes but some types of cancer as well. More regular coffee and more organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer, cancer of the endometrium, and cancer of the prostate. In the fact the most lethal types of prostate cancer are reduced the most among prostate cancer types. An antioxidant produced in roasting coffee, methylpyridium, raises the body’s level of phase II enzymes which in turn reduce the incidence of colon cancer. Drink a cup of coffee to your health, enjoy the aroma and taste and let the antioxidants work to benefit your health. This chemical is found in other food sources such as walnuts, pecans, cloves, artichokes, raspberries, strawberries, blue berries, and blackberries. However, because we drink so much coffee it is the main source of methylpyridium in most people’s diets.
Saturday, September 29, is International Coffee Day. Drink a cup of coffee to your health and drink healthy organic coffee to spare yourself any unnecessary impurities.
Organic Baby Food
Advertising is slick. You really have to pay very close attention to EXACTLY what is said. For example, the companies that produce baby food say that they “screen” for nitrates. They don’t say that there are no nitrates in the baby food, though. I have no doubt that they “screen” for nitrates, but that isn’t the point. The point is that there ARE nitrates in commercially produced baby food…ALL of it, except for what is advertised as “certified organic.”
Poor little helpless babies! They open their little mouths and let their mommies insert whatever food they want. It’s up to the mommies and the daddies of this world to insure that those little babies are being fed safe, nitrate-free, food.
Basically, there are two choices. Parents can buy organically grown foods and make safe organic baby food at home, or they can buy “certified organic” baby food at many grocery stores and on the Internet.
There is basically no difference in the taste or color of organic baby food and conventionally produced baby food. It looks the same and it tastes the same. Both have basically the same food value. The difference is that there are no toxic chemicals in the organic baby food. There ARE toxic chemicals in the conventionally produced baby food.
Conventionally produced baby food is generally produced according to standards set up by the government. The USDA and the FDA put forth “guidelines” about what acceptable levels of toxins in foods are. Did you get that? ACCEPTABLE LEVELS! That means that there is SOME level, doesn’t it? What they don’t tell you is that these levels were determined by tests done on grown men who weighed an average of 154 pounds, and NOT on little babies that weight 10 pounds or toddlers that weigh 30 pounds. Personally, I think that going organic is the very thing to do where your little baby is concerned!
Coffee Taste and Aroma
Wine connoisseurs engage in wine tasting to judge quality. The evaluation of coffee taste and aroma to judge quality is called cupping. Although a master taster may be the one who judges coffee at an international competition anyone can try their hand, or tongue, at judging coffee taste and aroma. A so called expert may be the one who certifies the winner in a coffee competition but you are the judge of coffee taste and aroma when it comes to the brands of healthy organic coffee that you enjoy.
What is Coffee Cupping All About?
Coffee cupping is simply a formal way to assess coffee taste and aroma. Here are the steps:
- Sniff the coffee – breath in deeply to assess the aroma of the coffee
- Drink to spread the coffee over the tongue – experts often say that they slurp so that the coffee reaches the back of the tongue as well as the tip, top, and sides
- Note the texture of the coffee
- Judge the sweetness of the coffee
- Taste for acidity
- Taste the flavor
- Be aware of the aftertaste
Just like tasting wine you will want to roll the coffee over the tongue in order to present the brew to the different senses of sweetness, sourness, acidity, bitterness, and saltiness.
Aroma of Coffee
The following table has a simple list of the aromas that have been described for various types of coffee.
|
Coffee Aromas
|
|
| Ashy | Citrus |
| Burnt or smoky | Herbal |
| Medicinal | Nutty |
| Chocolate | Spicy |
| Caramel | Tobacco |
| Toast like or malty | Wine like |
| Earthy | Woody |
| Floral | |
Coffee taste and aroma are related in that what most of us consider the taste of our coffee is heavily influenced by the aroma. Regular and organic coffee antioxidants are major contributors to both coffee taste and aroma.
Taste of Coffee
* The basic aspects of taste without aroma are acid, bitter, sweet, salty, and sour. A mild degree of acidity presents a pleasing taste whereas a too acid brew can be experienced as over ripe and unpleasant.
* Bitterness to a moderate degree is considered by most to be an agreeable aspect of coffee taste. Coffee bitterness is heavily influenced by the roasting process.
* Sweetness in coffee comes from natural sugars and is experienced as caramel, fruit, or even chocolate.
* Saltiness may be part of coffee taste but if present to any great degree becomes disagreeable.
*Sourness is usually not found in properly grown, picked, and processed coffee. It is found in coffee that has fermented and has a large number of rancid beans in the batch. Sourness is often found in coffee that has not been properly dried.
Texture and Aftertaste
The texture of coffee, often referred to as “mouthfeel” is as important an aspect for same as coffee taste and aroma. The body of coffee is the sense that the brew is something other than just water. Think of a clear soup broth and then a soup broth thickened by pureeing a few of the vegetables and adding back to the soup.
The other aspect of coffee that vies with coffee taste and aroma is the aftertaste. If coffee leaves a persistent dryness in the mouth, from the alkaloids in coffee, it may be very disagreeable despite its otherwise excellent coffee taste and aroma.
Whether you choose Panama Mountain Grown Organic Coffee, one of the Colombian organic coffee brands, or Kona coffee from Hawaii you will most like the coffee taste and aroma most agreeable to you no matter what the label says.
Nutritional Value of Organic Food
According to the statistics issued by the government of the United States, the levels of trace MINERALS in fruits and vegetables started falling in 1940 and have declined steadily since. There is also evidence that there are more of these trace minerals in organically grown produce than in produce grown with the “aid” of toxic pesticides and fertilizers.
During a systematic review by the Soil Association in the UK, the statistics gathered comparing the vitamin and mineral content of organic to conventionally grown food indicated that the organic food contained higher levels of vitamin C and essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, and chromium, than the conventionally grown food.
An independent review of the evidence found during the Soil Association study concurred that organic crops had much higher levels of all 21 nutrients that were analyzed compared with conventional produce. There was an independent review of the evidence that found that organic crops had much higher levels of all 21 nutrients that were analyzed compared with conventional produce. There was 29% more vitamin C, 29% more magnesium, 21% more iron, and 14% more phosphorous. Organically grown spinach, lettuce, cabbage, and potatoes showed the highest degree of mineral contrast.
Danish researchers have found that organic crops contain 10% to 50% more antioxidants than crops grown using conventional methods. It is a well-established fact that eating foods that are high in antioxidants help the body to ward off heart disease and even some cancers. There are substances in vegetables that are called phenolics that act as the structural backbone of most antioxidants in plants. Plants produce phonolics as a defense mechanism when they are attacked by insects. Basically, this means if the plants are NOT attacked by insects, they don’t produce any (or much less) phonolics.
The nutritional value of organic food far exceeds that of conventionally grown food. There’s no doubt about it.
What Is Premium Coffee?
Coffee farmers make more money from selling premium coffee that for non-premium grades. But what is premium coffee? Premium coffee has to do with the altitude at which the coffee is produced, rainfall, quality of the soil, and general weather conditions. Premium coffee also has to do with coffee processing infrastructure. Premium coffee beans are thoroughly washed. Premium coffee beans are picked at just the right time, properly dried, and processed in a timely manner. What is premium coffee? It is good coffee, grown in the right conditions, cared for by farmers who care, and processed professionally. Sounds like healthy organic coffee? The care and attention that organic coffee producers give their plants, the harvested beans, and the soil in which they grow their coffee, is often just what is needed for premium coffee. What is premium coffee? Your cup of organic coffee is very often premium coffee.
Profits from Premium and Organic Coffee
Coffee growers produce premium coffee because it pays. Similarly growers produce great coffee and go through organic coffee certification because the product that they lovingly produce pays better than regular coffee. Organic coffee, like other premium coffee, differs from regular coffee in several ways. The soil in which organic coffee is grown must have been verified as free from prohibited substances for at least three years. Likewise the soil for growing premium coffee must be cared for and nourished. In addition there must be distinct boundaries between land on which organic coffee is grown and land where pesticides, herbicides, and prohibited chemical fertilizers are used. Although regular but premium coffee may be grown adjacent to other coffees the care and attention given to growing premium coffee often reduces the need for pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers. While organic coffee certification includes the adherence to a specific and verifiable plan for all practices and procedures from planting to crop maintenance, to harvest, de-husking, bagging, transport, roasting, packaging, and final transport so does the production of premium coffee require a more organized and demanding process that other coffee production.
What Is Premium Coffee versus What Is Organic Coffee?
Organic coffee certification guarantees that the consumer is drinking organic coffee, coffee uncontaminated by unwanted substances. Organic coffee certification also drives up the cost of a cup of coffee. The problem for a small coffee grower is that some organic practices can be more costly than conventional practices. For example, the labor cost of composting may be more than the cost of buying conventional, albeit prohibited, fertilizers. If the coffee farmer cannot obtain a sufficiently high price for his crop his is unable to continue the sustainable farming practices necessary to produce organic coffee. Thus the ability of the consumer to obtain organic coffee antioxidants and other healthy ingredients depends upon the willingness of the consumer to pay for the higher quality coffee available through organic growing practices and organic coffee certification. Premium coffee production is similar in that the coffee farmer receives better payment for his product but often incurs greater cost due to the diligence that he brings to the task. In the end, however, both premium coffee production and organic coffee production may be one in the same and in both case result in a much more sustainable means of producing the drink with regular or organic coffee antioxidants that can lead to such healthy results is the reduction of cancer and diabetes incidence in coffee drinkers.
Making the Organic Food Argument
I really don’t understand why there would be any argument in the first place about organic food being better and better for the human body than conventionally produced food. Every indicator says that organic food is better. There isn’t even a very convincing argument that conventionally produced food is better for anybody other than the producers. At the moment, it’s true that organically produced food is more expensive than conventionally produced food, but when (if) organic methods are more widely used, the prices will likely be very nearly the same.
But in making the organic food argument, I can point to the following facts with the utmost confidence:
* Organic fruits and vegetables have a higher content of the trace minerals needed by the human body.
* Organic fruits and vegetables have a higher content of vitamins than conventionally grown produce.
* Organic fruits and vegetables have a higher (MUCH higher) level of antioxidants than do conventionally grown plants.
* The meat from meat-producing livestock that were raised using organic methods does not contain growth hormones or antibiotics.
* Milk from milk cows that are fed only an organic diet does not contain growth hormones or antibiotics. The same is true for dairy products like cream and cheese.
* Eggs that are laid by chickens that are fed only a diet of organic feed do not contain antibiotics or growth hormones, either.
The reason that producers use conventional production methods (pesticides, fertilizers, drugs) is because these conventional methods increase production and decrease cost. Basically, conventional methods are more beneficial to the producer’s bottom line than are organic methods that do not use pesticides, fertilizers, or drugs.
Organic food producers work in harmony with nature. They employ such tactics as fertilizing soil with such things as grass clippings or dried leaves rather than toxic chemicals. For insect control, they use “good” bugs to control “bad bugs” rather than toxic pesticides. Meat producing animals are fed a diet of only organic feed and no antibiotics, growth hormones, or other drugs are used.
Low Fat Organic Meat
The subject of fat content – actually, the differences in the kind and level of fat – between organically produced meat and conventionally produced meat has been going on worldwide for a long time. I wish I could tell you that meat produced using organic methods was really lower in fat than meat produced using traditional ranching methods (the use of antibiotics and growth hormones). Unfortunately, I can’t make that claim, and neither can anybody else.
Meat produced using organic methods has virtually the same fat content as meat produced using traditional methods. That finding is the same for beef, chicken, lamb, pork, etc. There is just simply no measurable difference. Fat, it seems, is just fat, and there isn’t much you can do about it except to trim the visible fat from meat before it is cooked.
Now, just because organic meat isn’t lower in fat, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t choose organically produced meats rather than meats produced using traditional ranching methods. Fat content just isn’t all there is to it. The fat in organically produced meat isn’t “good” for you. Animal fat isn’t “good” for you. But the fact remains that organically produced meat does not contain antibiotics or growth hormones.
It’s a known fact that eating large quantities of meat – particularly red meat – increases the risk of many different cancers, including colorectal cancer and possibly pancreatic, breast, prostate, and kidney cancers.
The bottom line here is that eating less meat, and eating less red meat in particular, is a good healthy eating choice. Choosing to eat meat that has been produced using organic ranching methods is a good health choice as well. You won’t be eating less fat, and you certainly can’t eat all of the organic red meat you want, but you won’t be eating antibiotics and growth hormones that are found in traditionally produced meats.
Burns from Mr. Coffee Coffee Makers
There have been reports of people getting burns from Mr. Coffee coffee makers. These coffee makers are sold at Wal-Mart, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Brandsmart, JC Penney, Kmart, and Lowe’s. Burns from Mr. Coffee coffee makers have occurred on the faces, hands, and upper chests of at least sixty-one people. There have been reports of a hundred more cases of the top to the brewing chamber popping open and contents spilling out but without know injury. The problem is apparently a buildup of pressure in the water reservoir which forces the top open. People have been burned by steam, hot water, and hot coffee grounds according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Because of burns from Mr. Coffee coffee makers the company is recalling over six hundred thousand units. These are single cup coffee brewers. They were first sold in North America in September of 2010.
What to Do about Burns from Mr. Coffee Coffee Makers
If you own one of these units stop using it. Go to http://www.cpsc.gov/ for more information. According to the CPSC site, recall model numbers are as follows:
BVMC-KG1
BVMC-KG1A-001
BVMC-KG1-WM-001
BVMC-KG1-001
BVMC-KG1-BEA
BVMC-KG1R-001
BVMC-KG1-044
BVMC-KG1BP-PAL
BVMC-KG1R-006
BVMC-KG1A
BVMC-KG1-WM
BVMC-KG1W-001
For additional information contact the company at (800) 993-8609 anytime, or visit the firm’s website at www.mrcoffeerecall.com.
Take Care When Brewing Coffee
Making good coffee, regular coffee or healthy organic coffee, requires that you boil water. Coffee lovers are well advised to remember that boiling water is hot and that it causes burns. Using a hot pad to handle a pot of hot water is a wise thing to do. Making sure that the connections on an espresso machine is even smarter. In general electric appliances for making coffee are not under pressure and one only need to be careful not to spill the hot coffee. However, when a coffee maker works under pressure similar to an espresso machine there is a greater risk. Burns from Mr. Coffee coffee makers apparently occurred because the pressure seal failed. This is not something that you should try to fix yourself. Take the coffee maker back and get a refund or buy a different and more trouble free model.
Take Care When Serving Coffee
There are few things in life as enjoyable as a good cup of hot coffee. Smell the aroma, enjoy the benefits of organic coffee antioxidants, and be careful not to scald yourself in the process. Remember the issue with McDonald’s coffee years ago. There is a temptation to serve coffee boiling hot so that it will stay hot longer. If you do this be sure to warn your guests, customers, or friends to let the coffee cool a bit before drinking. Unexpected burns from a few defective Mr. Coffee coffee makers are one thing. Watching your mother-in-law burn her mouth on scalding coffee at your table is something that will never be forgotten. So, enjoy your coffee, make sure that it is not too hot, and if you purchased one of the model numbers listed above take it back.
Is Organic Food Safer?
The question, “Is organic food safer than non-organically grown food?” has been asked for many years. The fact is that organic food does cost more – a lot more. The only reason that anyone would pay double or triple the price for organically grown food is that they feel that it is safer for them and their families to consume, and that is it better for the environment as well.
The choice of whether to buy or not to buy organically grown food is, of course, a personal one that depends on your personal preferences, your values and your financial circumstances.
Here are the true facts about organic food:
1. Nutrition: There is no conclusive evidence that proves that organic food is more nutritious than food that is produced by the usual means. Even the USDA, who certifies that foods are organic, does not claim that organically produced food is more nutritional than their non-organic relatives.
2. Pesticides: The exposure to pesticides from non-organically grown fruits and vegetables is negligible according to researchers, and the health risk posed is very, very small. If the fruit and vegetables are washed before consumption, the risk is nonexistent.
3. Taste: Some people say that they can tell the difference between the taste of organic and non-organic food but taste is subjective. There are others who say that there is no taste difference at all.
4. Cost: The fact is that organically grown food is a lot more expensive than non-organically grown food.
5. Environment: Yes, using organic methods of food production are most certainly better for the environment. They reduce pollution and also conserve soil and water.
When you have the facts, you can make better decisions. Deciding to “go green” is a matter of personal choice.