My New Favorite Soup Recipe

The Best Butternut Squash Soup

My husband and I had a bad cold over the holidays. While resting we ended up watching some of Jamie Oliver’s Christmas cooking shows on the cooking channel. We love his recipes and this one looked delicious. He has it up on his website – link below – so I was excited to try it. I added a few notes as well.

It’s sweet & creamy from the coconut milk with a wonderful mix of spices. It is one of the best soups we’ve ever had.

Jamies says:

I like to think of this as a happy soup. The amazing heat from the chile will really get your endorphins going and the rice is so comforting. It’s just what you need in the cold winter months. The secret to making it so good is to really work the seasoning at the end, and pimp it up with some beautiful fresh lime juice. You can vary it by using noodles instead of rice, or adding some pulled chicken or sweetcorn, but as it stands, this is a great veggie dish.

ingredients

• 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth, preferably free-range or organic and homemade

• 6-7 lime leaves (you can use Kefir leaves, but I just took a few from our lime tree)

• 3 fresh red chilies, deseeded (I used one Jalapeno, and removed the seeds)

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled

• 3 sticks of lemongrass, trimmed and squashed with the back of a knife

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• a small bunch of fresh organic cilantro (also called fresh coriander)

• olive oil

• 1 heaped teaspoon five-spice

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 organic onion, peeled and finely sliced

• 1 large organic butternut, halved, deseeded and cut into 1 inch chunks (you don’t need to peel it – the skin cooks up wonderfully)

• 7 ounces organic basmati or jasmine rice, washed

• 2 x 14-ounce cans organic coconut milk

• Juice of 3-4 organic limes

• Optional: 1 fresh red organic chili, finely sliced

Get a high-sided pan or wok on a medium-high heat to get nice and hot, and pour your broth into a small pan on a low heat to get warm. To make your fragrant soup base, add the lime leaves, chilies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and a pinch of salt to a food processor. Chop the top few leaves off your bunch of coriander and pop to one side, then add the rest to the processor and blitz for 30 seconds or so until fairly fine. With the processor still running, add a few good lugs of olive oil, the five-spice and ground cumin. Tip this mixture straight into your hot pan, you can add a splash of broth to loosen it if you want, and fry and stir for a couple of minutes so it starts smelling fantastic. Add your sliced onion, then cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the squash to the pan and stir well, then pour in the broth. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the squash is lovely and soft. At this point, add the rice and give it a really good stir. If it looks a bit dry, you can add a splash of water here. Continue to simmer for about 8 minutes until the rice is almost cooked, then add the coconut milk and bring back to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes until hot through and thickened a little. I like to squash up some of the squash at this point too.

Take the pan off the heat, give it a good stir, then taste and season carefully with salt and pepper. To give it a bit of twang add the lime juice – the amount you need will depend on how juicy your limes are, so keep tasting it as you go. Scatter with more sliced fresh chili and your reserved coriander leaves before serving.

If you’re making this for a party, what I like to do is to hack the top off a massive pumpkin, scoop out the insides, then bake the shell in the oven for 40 minutes at 220˚F. You can then use this as a receptacle for your hot soup, and as long as it’s an inch or so thick, it should keep warm for a good hour or so. Have it sitting out at the party with a load of little cups and bowls lined up next to it and a bunch of lime wedges, and let everyone help themselves!

Here’s the link to Jamie’s site if you want to download the recipe in PDF. Enjoy!

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/soup-recipes/party-squash-soup-usa-imperial-version

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/03/03/simple-lives-thursday-33/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/01/pennywise-platter-thursday-11311.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/01/real-food-wednesday-11211-hopefully-a-few-more-low-carb-or-grain-free-recipes.html

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/01/monday-mania-1102011/

Eating GMO-free on a budget

Eating GMO-free on a budget

It’s a new year and it’s a great time to make resolutions. I am hoping that many more of us will make a resolution to eat GMO free in 2011.  Organics can be expensive so how can you eat GMO free on a budget?  Here are some tips for healthy GMO-free eating on a budget. You can do it, and it will be good for you and your family.

Buy whole foods and cook from scratch – cooking from scratch is less expensive and healthier then buying pre-made meals. As long as you avoid the common GMO ingredients you can use non-organic products. Buy fresh and in season fruits and vegetables, meats, from local farmers if possible, grains (other then corn) and olive oil.  Add some fresh herbs and you can make amazing and wonderfully GMO free meals.  We have a number of great and easy recipes, right here on Moms for Safe Food

Join a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture is a great way to eat GMO free and support your local farmers as well.  When you join a CSA you are buying a share of the years crop, given either weekly or bi-weekly. We belong to a wonderful CSA and get fruit, a wonderful variety of vegetables, spring mix and herbs every week for much less then we’d pay at the store. If you want to find a CSA near you, go to http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Buy directly from a farmer – other then CSA’s you can also shop at farmers markets, and find a local farmer, raising grass and pastured meat and buy directly from them. It will save you money and support our wonderful farmers.

There’s a link to U.S. Wellness Meats in our links section. They have a wonderful variety of grass fed and pastured meats and cheese.

If you eat some processed foods, contact any company you buy processed, pre-made food from. If the food contains, canola, soy, corn, High Fructose Corn Syrup and even ‘sugar’ (a lot of companies are using GMO Sugar Beets), it is most likely GMO. They are using GMO ingredients because we have not yet made it clear that that is unacceptable. You can tell them,

“I would buy more of your product if it was GMO free, otherwise I’m looking for alternatives and will stop buying your product.”  If they hear this from enough of us they will look for alternatives.  Also let your supermarket know you want non-GMO options. There will be a ‘tipping point’ – when they hear from enough people that it starts to make a difference.

So the biggest budget saver, to avoid GMO’s is to buy real, whole foods and cook them yourself. Your family and health will thanks you.

Here’s to a GMO free 2011! – Mom

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-january-7th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/01/pennywise-platter-thursday-1611.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/01/real-food-wednesday-1511.html

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/01/monday-mania-132011/

Moms for Safe Food is in a top moms blog contest

Moms for Safe Food is in a ‘Top Mom blogger contest’ here:

http://www.babble.com/babble-50/mommy-bloggers/nominate-a-blogger/

We’re at #84 at the moment, the middle of page 2, and if you could take a minute to vote, it would help to move us up in the rankings.

This is a great opportunity to get the word out to other moms about GMO’s.

You can also search for ‘moms for safe food’ on the pages.

Thanks and Happy New Year!
🙂
Sheri aka Mom

GMO foods are more dangerous for children than adults

For our last post of 2010, we have another great article from Jeffrey Smith, this one is an excerpt from Genetic Roulette.

Thank you Jeffry and Happy New Year everyone! May 2011 be the year we get GMO’s out of our food supply!  Mom

GMO foods are more dangerous for children than adults

Excerpted from Jeffrey M. Smith’s Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods

“Swapping genes between organisms can produce unknown toxic effects and allergies that are most likely to affect children.”13 —Vyvyan Howard, expert in infant toxico-pathology at Liverpool University Hospital, United Kingdom

Changes in nutrition have a greater impact on the structure and functioning of young, fast-growing bodies. More of the food is converted to build organs and tissues, whereas adults convert more to energy and store this as fat.

The UK Royal Society said that genetic modification “could lead to unpredicted harmful changes in the nutritional state of foods” and recommended that potential health effects of GM foods be rigorously researched before being fed to pregnant or breast-feeding women and babies.”14 Epidemiologist Eric Brunner said that “small changes to the nutritional content might have effects on infant bowel function.”15

Children are more susceptible to problems

Children are three to four times more prone to allergies than adults and “are at highest risk of death from food allergy.” 16 Infants below two years old have the highest incidence of reactions, especially to new allergens encountered in the diet. Even tiny amounts of allergens can sometimes cause reactions. One reason for this sensitivity, according to the EPA, is that “An immature gut or permeable mucosal epithelium is more likely to allow a higher degree of macromolecular transport and access to the immune system than the intact barrier of a normal mature gut. . . . The immune system must also be of sufficient maturity. . . . Both systems appear to be functioning optimally by age three to five.”17

According to the Royal Society of Canada, “The potentially widespread use of GM food products as food additives and staple foods, including use in baby foods, may lead to earlier introduction of these novel proteins to susceptible infants either directly or via the presence of the maternally ingested proteins in breast milk.”18

The UK Royal Society suggested that “post-marketing surveillance should be part of the overall safety strategy for allergies, especially of high-risk groups such as infants,” but acknowledged that it is not clear “whether such monitoring is feasible for GM food.”19

Children can react to much smaller doses of toxins than adults. Exposure to hormones or endocrine disruptors may also severely affect normal development. And children who are prone to infections may be severely impacted if antibiotics lose their effectiveness due to antibiotic-resistant genes in GM food and the overuse of antibiotics in rbGH treated cows.

Children have a high exposure to GMOs

Children consume a large amount of products that may be genetically engineered. They eat a higher percentage of corn in their diet compared to adults, and allergic children often rely on corn as a source of protein. Mothers using cornstarch as a talc substitute on their children’s skin might also expose them via inhalation. Infants are sometimes reared on soy infant formula. The Royal Society wrote, “Infant formulas, in particular, are “consumed as a single food over extended periods of time by those who are especially vulnerable” and “should be investigated most rigorously.”20 Among the potential side effects are changes in soy’s natural estrogen mimickers, which may influence sexual development.

Children consume a disproportionately large amount of milk. In the United States and elsewhere, dairy products may come from cows treated with the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH). The milk contains increased amounts of hormones and antibiotics and an altered nutritional content (see section 7.1). According to a discussion paper on the public health implications of rbGH, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, an “infant would be exposed to a dose of IGF-1, which was 12.5 times the recommended minimum.”21 Samuel Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition and an expert on the health effects of rbGH, says that risks of high exposure to IGF-1 are “of particular concern . . . to infants and children in view of their high susceptibility to cancer-causing products and chemicals.”22 He also suggests that regular exposure might promote “premature growth stimulation in infants, gynecomastia [development of abnormally large breasts on males] in young children.”23

Safety assessments ignore children

An FAO/WHO task force on GM food said that “Attention should be paid to the particular physiological characteristics and metabolic requirements of specific population subgroups, such as infants [and] children.”24 In practice, GM safety assessments ignore them. In fact, industry funded studies often use mature animals instead of the more sensitive young ones, in order to mask results (see part 3).

Biologist David Schubert warns, “Since children are the most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems, if the GM food is given to them without proper testing, they will be the experimental animals. If there are problems, we will probably never know because the cause will not be traceable and many diseases take a very long time to develop.”

To learn more about the health dangers of GMOs, and what you can do to help end the genetic engineering of our food supply, visit www.ResponsibleTechnology.org.

To learn how to choose healthier non-GMO brands, visit www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com.

International bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey Smith is the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods. His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the world’s bestselling and #1 rated book on the topic. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, provides overwhelming evidence that GMOs are unsafe and should never have been introduced. Mr. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, whose Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to create the tipping point of consumer rejection of GMOs, forcing them out of our food supply.

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/12/pennywise-platter-thursday-1230.html

Read more great, Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/12/real-food-wednesday-122910.html

Our Favorite Rugelach

Our Favorite Rugelach

My grandmother used to make this for us every year for Hanukkah. She passed away a few years ago and didn’t pass along her recipe so I finally found this one that I altered a bit. My family loves it.  It’s actually pretty easy to make and I make the dough one day and the cookies the next. Happy Holidays!

For the dough:

1 cup organic small-curd cottage cheese

2 cups organic all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. celtic salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted pastured butter, cut into ¼ inch slices

For the filling:

½ cup organic sugar

1 tsp. organic cinnamon

4 tbs. organic Raspberry jam (you can use any flavor you like)

1 cup organic chopped walnuts

To make dough:

In a food processor, pulse flour and salt just to combine. Scatter the butter over the flour; pulse off and on until the butter seems to disappear into the mixture. Scatter the cottage cheese, in bits, over the mixture. Then pulse off and on just until a cohesive ball is formed.

Divide the dough into quarters; shape each into a flat disc and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. (I leave it until the next day)

Adjust over rack to lower third of the oven. Preheat over to 350º. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl mix cinnamon and sugar.

Remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator and set aside for 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 10 to 11-inch circle. (this is my kids favorite part, like making pizza according to them! )

To make filling:

Spread 1 tablespoon of jam evenly over the dough; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar and ¼ cup walnuts. Gently press the walnuts into the dough, but not too hard or the dough will stick.

With a sharp knife, cut the circle into 16 equal pie-shaped pieces. Starting with the wide end, roll up each piece. Place 1 inch apart, point down, on the baking sheet. Bake 15 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Cool the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then with a spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.

Repeat with remaining dough and filling, using fresh parchment paper.

Store cooled cookies in a air tight container. Makes about 5 dozen (1 ½ inch) cookies.  Enjoy!

Note: Since Rugelach freeze well, you can prepare cookies and bake only what you need.  You can wrap well and freeze the rest to bake at another time.

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/12/pennywise-platter-thursday-1223.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/12/real-food-wednesday-122210.html

Genetically Engineered Soybeans May Cause Allergies

Here’s another great article by Jeffrey Smith.

He did a great guest appearance on Dr. Oz.  You can watch it here:

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/genetically-modified-foods-pt-1

And follow the links for part 2 and 3.

Here’s Jeffery’s Article:

Genetically Engineered Soybeans May Cause Allergies

“I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people never to eat it—unless it says organic.”

-Allergy specialist John Boyles, MD

Beginning in 1996, genes from bacteria and viruses have been forced into the DNA of soy, corn, cotton, and canola plants, which are used for food. Ohio allergist John Boyles is one of a growing number of experts who believe that these genetically modified (GM) foods are contributing to the huge jump in food allergies in the US, especially among children.

The UK is one of the few countries that conduct a yearly food allergy evaluation. In March 1999, researchers at the York Laboratory were alarmed to discover that reactions to soy had skyrocketed by 50% over the previous year. Genetically modified soy had recently entered the UK from US imports and the soy used in the study was largely GM. John Graham, spokesman for the York laboratory, said, “We believe this raises serious new questions about the safety of GM foods.”

Genetic engineering may provoke allergies

There are many ways in which the process of genetic engineering may be responsible for allergies. The classical understanding is that the imported genes produce a new protein, which may trigger reactions. This was demonstrated in the mid 1990s when soybeans were outfitted with a gene from the Brazil nut. While scientists attempted to produce a healthier soybean, they ended up with a potentially deadly one. Blood tests showed that people allergic to Brazil nuts reacted to the beans. It was never marketed.

The GM variety planted in 91% of US soy acres is called Roundup Ready—engineered to survive otherwise deadly applications of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. The plants contain genes from bacteria, which produce a protein that has never been part of the human food supply. Since people aren’t usually allergic to a food until they have eaten it several times, no tests can prove in advance that the protein will not cause allergies.

As a precaution, scientists compare this new protein with a database of proteins known to cause allergies. According to criteria recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and others, if the new GM protein contains amino acid sequences that have been shown to trigger immune responses in other proteins, the GM crop should not be commercialized (or additional testing should be done). Sections of the protein produced in GM soy, however, are identical to shrimp and dust mite allergens. But the soybean got marketed anyway.

Frighteningly, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that the gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of our gut bacteria and continues to function. This means that years after we stop eating GM soy, we may still have the potentially allergenic protein continuously produced within our intestines.

Damaged soy DNA creates new (or more) allergens

The process of creating a GM crop produces massive collateral damage in the plant’s DNA. Native genes can be mutated, deleted, permanently turned on or off, and hundreds may change their levels of protein expression. This can increase existing allergen, or produce a new, unknown allergens. Both appear to have happened in GM soy.

Levels of one known soy allergen, trypsin inhibitor, were up to seven times higher in cooked GM soy compared to cooked non-GM soy. Another study discovered a unique, unexpected protein in GM soy, likely to trigger allergies.

In addition, of eight human subjects who had a skin-prick (allergy-type) reaction to GM soy, one did not also react to non-GM soy, suggesting that GM soy is uniquely dangerous.

Increased herbicides, digestive problems and allergies

Farmers use nearly double the amount of herbicide on GM soy compared to non-GM soy; higher herbicide residues might cause reactions.

GM soy reduces digestive enzymes in mice. If proteins “digest” slowly in humans, there is more time for allergic reactions (possibly to many food proteins).

Eating GM foods is gambling with our health

Documents made public from a lawsuit revealed that FDA scientists were uniformly concerned that GM foods might create hard-to-detect allergies, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. Their urgent requests for required long-term feeding studies fell on deaf ears. The FDA doesn’t require a single safety test. The person in charge of that FDA policy was Monsanto’s former attorney, who later became their vice president.

Buying products that are organic or labeled non-GMO are two ways to limit your family’s risk. Another is to avoid products containing any ingredients from the seven GM food crops: soy, corn, cottonseed, canola, Hawaiian papaya, and a little bit of zucchini and crook neck squash. This means avoiding soy lecithin in chocolate, corn syrup in candies, and cottonseed or canola oil in snack foods.

To learn more about the health dangers of GMOs, and what you can do to help end the genetic engineering of our food supply, visit www.ResponsibleTechnology.org.

To learn how to choose healthier non-GMO brands, visit www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com.

International bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey Smith is the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods. His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the world’s bestselling and #1 rated book on the topic. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, provides overwhelming evidence that GMOs are unsafe and should never have been introduced. Mr. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, whose Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to create the tipping point of consumer rejection of GMOs, forcing them out of our food supply.

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-december-17th/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/12/real-food-wednesday-121510.html

Jeffrey Smith has written a fantastic book documenting the health dangers of GMO’s, you can buy it at the link below.

Stove top Lasagna

Stove top Lasagna

I’ve been making this recipe for years and it’s a family favorite.  When you want a quick and hearty meal, this is a great one.  This is an especially good recipe for during the busy holiday season.

1 pound grassfed ground beef

1 (26-ounce) jar of organic spaghetti sauce  (I used TJ’s)

1  (14 ½ ounce) can organic tomatoes, whole, pureed, anyway you like

2 cups organic ricotta cheese or organic cottage cheese

1 large pastured egg, beaten

1 (12-ounce) package organic, thin to medium egg noodles Read the rest of this entry »

Why didn’t I know about GMO’s?

Why didn’t I know about GMO’s?

A friend who is learning about GMO’s told me that she felt badly that she didn’t know about them before now. It got me thinking as I felt the same way when I first learned about what was going on with our food supply.

Here’s a great description of GMO’s from the Non-GMO Project Shopping guide:

GMOs (or “genetically modified organisms”) are organisms that have been created through the gene-splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. Virtually all commercial GMOs are bred to withstand direct application of herbicide and /or to produce an insecticide. None of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition or any other consumer benefit. Studies, meanwhile, increasingly show a correlation between consumption of GMO’s and an array of health risks.

Read more here: http://www.nongmoproject.org/consumers/

Why didn’t we all know about GMO’s?

Because, it seems, Monsanto did not want us to.  Putting Genetically Modified Organisms in our food was never presented to the American people, it was done behind our backs. The FDA (run by former employees of Monsanto) allowed them to be marketed, based on Monsanto’s assurance that the products are safe.  There was never any safety testing done by our government and tests done elsewhere in the world have proved them to be unsafe and potentially dangerous.  Our government, both the Democrats and the Republicans have handed our food supply over to a private multi-national corporation. This is the corporation who gave us DDT and Agent Orange. They now own almost all our commercial seed.

They are not doing this to ‘save the world’, they are doing this to control our food supply. If they had good intentions they would not be suing our farmers or putting our seed cleaners out of business. Farmers have traditionally saved their seed to replant for the next year and they’ve done this for thousands of years.  Monsanto is known to sue any farmer who saves their seed, even unintentionally.  They have also put most, if not all, of the seed cleaners that our farmers use out of business as well.  Watch The Future of Food for more information. You can watch the movie here, for free: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/

This is the history of GMO’s in our food supply, dates and basic info from: http://deliciouslivingmag.com/greenliving/dl_article_1558/ comments added by Mom.

1986   First field tests of genetically engineered plants (tobacco) are conducted.

1987   Advanced Genetic Sciences’ Frostban, a genetically altered bacterium that inhibits frost formation is field-tested on strawberry and potato plants in California—the first authorized outdoor tests of an engineered bacterium. Again this was done without public knowledge or approval.

1993   The FDA declares GMO foods are “not inherently dangerous” and do not require special regulation. And the FDA, the same people who are now being put in charge of our farms, allowed them to with no questions asked. In 1994, Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto said, “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.” (source, Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994).  Here’s what another Monsanto employee had to say,

The debate on genetically modified (GM) brinjal variety continues to generate heat. Former managing director of Monsanto India, Tiruvadi Jagadisan, is the latest to join the critics of Bt brinjal, perhaps the first industry insider to do so.

Jagadisan, who worked with Monsanto for nearly two decades, including eight years as the managing director of India operations, spoke against the new variety during the public consultation held in Bangalore on Saturday.

On Monday, he elaborated by saying the company “used to fake scientific data” submitted to government regulatory agencies to get commercial approvals for its products in India.

The former Monsanto boss said government regulatory agencies with which the company used to deal with in the 1980s simply depended on data supplied by the company while giving approvals to herbicides.

Read more here:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/StoryPrint?sId=83093&secid=4&page=0

Here’s some more history of GMO’s in the US.

1995   GMO soy and corn planted in the United States.

1996   GMO foods first hit supermarket shelves. WE are not told!

1996   Seven percent of soy and 1.5 percent of corn crops grown in the United States are genetically modified.

1999   The rising tide of public opinion in Europe brings biotech food into the spotlight.  Europe has stopped accepting some of our food as it’s GMO and they do have labeling.  Ireland is a GMO free country!

2000   GMO corn StarLink, approved solely for animal feed, ends up in corn products for human consumption.

2002   ProdiGene violates the U.S. Plant Protection Act by allowing experimental biopharmaceutical corn to mix with a commercial soy crop.

2004   GMO wheat developer Monsanto decides against selling GMO wheat because of negative public perception.

2004   Eighty-five percent of soy and 45 percent of corn crops grown in the United States are genetically modified.

Anything you eat with soy, corn, canola like high fructose corn syrup, corn oil, soy oil, canola oil, etc, is most likely genetically modified.

We can get GMO’s out of our food supply but we need to speak up. Let’s make 2011 the year that the USA goes GMO free!

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here:  http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-december-3rd/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/12/real-food-wednesday-12110.html

Sprouted Flour Banana Bread & an update on S510

Sprouted Banana Bread

This is very nice and easy banana bread recipe. It was delicious, the kids loved it and it stayed fresh and moist until we finished it a few days later.  Happy Thanksgiving, hope everyone has a very happy and healthy holiday.

Ingredients

* 3 or 4 ripe organic bananas, smashed

* 1/3 cup melted organic pastured butter

* 3/4 cup sucanat, rapidura or organic sugar

* 1 pastured egg, beaten

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* Pinch of Celtic or sea salt

* 1 cup sprouted whole-wheat flour

* 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F Read the rest of this entry »

Would you choose genetically modified food if given a choice? Some animals won’t.

Here’s another great article from Jeffrey Smith’s GMO Speaker training. Did you know many animals will choose GMO free if given the choice?

Would you choose genetically modified food if given a choice? Some animals won’t.  By Jeffrey Smith

There’s a bowl of corn chips in front of you made from natural corn. Next to it are genetically modified (GM) corn chips. Which do you choose?

If you were a pig or cow, we know the answer—the natural corn. Farmers repeatedly let pigs or cows into pens with troughs of GM corn and non-GM corn. The animals would head straight to the closer trough, filled with the genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They’d sniff, maybe take a nibble, then go over to the trough with the natural corn. After finishing off the last kernel, they’d stop by the GM corn one more time just to check it out, but quickly walk away.

An Iowa farmer who read about the finicky livestock decided to see if squirrels had similar dispositions. He nailed an ear of GM corn and non-GM corn onto trees by his house. Sure enough, the squirrels ate only the natural stuff, over and over again. When the farmer stopped replacing the natural corn, the squirrels still refused to touch the GMO. After 10 cold winter days, they got up the courage to nibble a few kernels, but that was all they could handle.

Another curious farmer wanted to repeat this with the squirrels in his area. He bought a bag full of GM corn ears, and another of non-GM, and left it in his garage to wait for winter. He waited too long. Mice did the experiment for him. They broke into the natural corn bag and finished it. The GM cobs were untouched. Read the rest of this entry »

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