1. The Endocrinologist Won’t Eat: Canned Tomatoes. I've written about this before. Even Fredrick Vom Saal, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A won't go near the stuff. As I wrote in an earlier post, the resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The acid from the tomatoes causes BPA to leach into your food. According to Vom Saal, “You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young. I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”
The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.
2. The Farmer Won’t Eat: Corn-Fed Beef. Joel Salatin is co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming. Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains (and especially corn). But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter.
The solution: Don't eat beef at all! Being vegan certainly makes this choice easy for me. If you're not ready for that step, then make it grass-fed beef - it's higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; and lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. You can find grass-fed beef at farmers markets, health foods stores like Whole Foods and specialty grocers. If you don’t see it, ask your butcher.
3. The Toxicologist Won’t Eat: Microwave Popcorn. Olga Naidenko, is a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group (one of my FAVORITE groups out there!). Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize–and migrate into your popcorn. “They stay in your body for years and accumulate there,” says Naidenko. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then so stay away from them!
The solution: Pop organic kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix. Make it organic and use coconut oil.
4. The Farm Director Won’t Eat: Non-organic Potatoes. Jeffrey Moyer is the chair of the National Organic Standards Board. Oh, it's so important to try and eat as many organic fruit and vegetables as possible. Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. Says Moyer, “Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.”
The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn’t good enough if you’re trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh. They aren't much more expensive that conventional potatoes so spring for them!
5. The Fisheries Expert Won’t Eat: Farmed Salmon. Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, published a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish. Carpenter writes that nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. So, what you get is farmed salmon which is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. “You could eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. “It’s that bad.”
The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it’s farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.
6. The Cancer Researcher Won’t Drink: Milk Produced With Artificial Hormones. Rick North is project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society. The problem with this kind of milk is that milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. Great for the milk producers...bad for cows and ultimately us because rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers.
The solution: Buy raw milk or check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. T
7. The Biotech Specialist Won’t Eat Conventional Soy: GMO Unfermented Soy. Michael Harris is biotech specialist who has directed several projects within the biotech sector including those for genetically engineered food. He has been a consultant, manager and director for companies such as Xenon Pharmaceuticals and Genon Corporation. Harris states that genetically engineered food is a cause of great concern due to the manipulation of DNA and genetic code including transfers from one species to another. Fermented Soy Is The Only Soy Food Fit for Human Consumption and since almost 90% of soy in the world is genetically modified, if you are not ensuring sources are organic, long-term health problems are inevitable, especially since soy has been found to affect hormonal balance and even cause cancer.
The solution: Check labels to ensure soy is Non-GMO or organic and never consume unfermented sources. If possible contact the company to find out exactly where the Non-GMO soy was obtained.
8. The Organic-Foods Expert Won’t Eat: Conventional Apples. Mark Kastel, a former executive for agribusiness, is co-director of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods. The problem is if fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. Oh, just think of how wonderful it is to go apple picking. Imagine those apples are so contaminated! Apples don’t develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. Ummmm...I think someone is lying!
The solution: Buy organic apples or apples from a farmer that you trust! They are on EWG's (Environmental Working Group) dirty dozen list of fruits to stay away from if they aren't organic.
The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.
2. The Farmer Won’t Eat: Corn-Fed Beef. Joel Salatin is co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming. Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains (and especially corn). But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter.
The solution: Don't eat beef at all! Being vegan certainly makes this choice easy for me. If you're not ready for that step, then make it grass-fed beef - it's higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; and lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. You can find grass-fed beef at farmers markets, health foods stores like Whole Foods and specialty grocers. If you don’t see it, ask your butcher.
3. The Toxicologist Won’t Eat: Microwave Popcorn. Olga Naidenko, is a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group (one of my FAVORITE groups out there!). Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize–and migrate into your popcorn. “They stay in your body for years and accumulate there,” says Naidenko. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then so stay away from them!
The solution: Pop organic kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix. Make it organic and use coconut oil.
4. The Farm Director Won’t Eat: Non-organic Potatoes. Jeffrey Moyer is the chair of the National Organic Standards Board. Oh, it's so important to try and eat as many organic fruit and vegetables as possible. Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. Says Moyer, “Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.”
The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn’t good enough if you’re trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh. They aren't much more expensive that conventional potatoes so spring for them!
5. The Fisheries Expert Won’t Eat: Farmed Salmon. Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, published a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish. Carpenter writes that nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. So, what you get is farmed salmon which is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. “You could eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. “It’s that bad.”
The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it’s farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.
6. The Cancer Researcher Won’t Drink: Milk Produced With Artificial Hormones. Rick North is project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society. The problem with this kind of milk is that milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. Great for the milk producers...bad for cows and ultimately us because rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers.
The solution: Buy raw milk or check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. T
7. The Biotech Specialist Won’t Eat Conventional Soy: GMO Unfermented Soy. Michael Harris is biotech specialist who has directed several projects within the biotech sector including those for genetically engineered food. He has been a consultant, manager and director for companies such as Xenon Pharmaceuticals and Genon Corporation. Harris states that genetically engineered food is a cause of great concern due to the manipulation of DNA and genetic code including transfers from one species to another. Fermented Soy Is The Only Soy Food Fit for Human Consumption and since almost 90% of soy in the world is genetically modified, if you are not ensuring sources are organic, long-term health problems are inevitable, especially since soy has been found to affect hormonal balance and even cause cancer.
The solution: Check labels to ensure soy is Non-GMO or organic and never consume unfermented sources. If possible contact the company to find out exactly where the Non-GMO soy was obtained.
8. The Organic-Foods Expert Won’t Eat: Conventional Apples. Mark Kastel, a former executive for agribusiness, is co-director of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods. The problem is if fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. Oh, just think of how wonderful it is to go apple picking. Imagine those apples are so contaminated! Apples don’t develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. Ummmm...I think someone is lying!
The solution: Buy organic apples or apples from a farmer that you trust! They are on EWG's (Environmental Working Group) dirty dozen list of fruits to stay away from if they aren't organic.
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