Eat Green for Earth Month

Eat Green for Earth Month

April is Earth Month. In honor of Earth Month, it is a great time to think about eating green. There are many connections between conservation and food. Here are some tips for eating green.
Tip 1 – Eat smart. Know your food – what’s in it, where it came from and who it impacts.
Tip 2 –Incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet is good for your health and the health of the planet. Eating more plants can help curb greenhouse emissions and slow deforestation rates. Start by reducing the amount of animal products in your diet. Replace meat with healthier beans, legumes, whole grains and extra servings of fruits and vegetables.

Tip 3 – Eat local. Eating food grown close to home is a simple strategy to help the environment. Buying local reduces the distance a food item travels from farm to table and helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and often reduces packaging. Find in-season produce at grocery stores and farmer’s markets

 Tip 4- Plant a vegetable garden. For more information on starting and growing a garden, contact your county extension office.

 Tip 5 – Try some new recipes using food grown locally.

Celebrate Asparagus

Celebrate Asparagus

Celebrate Asparagus! is being sponsored by The Gardeners Club of Green Bay on Saturday, April 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Agriculture & Extension Service Center. I will be doing two presentations on cooking with asparagus in partnership with a Gardeners Club member at approximately 10:00 a.m. and noon.

Participants can enjoy asparagus soup, bread and beverage for $3.00, view “How to Plant Asparagus” educational display and demonstration and pick up “how-to” literature and asparagus recipes. Jersey Knight asparagus crowns will be available for sale - $1.25 per crown. Pre-order asparagus crowns by calling 920-468-8693.

Easter Egg Safety

Easter Egg Safety

One of Easter’s traditions is coloring eggs. To ensure this is a fun and safe activity, keep these points in mind.

•  When shopping for eggs, choose eggs with clean, uncracked shells. Get them home and into the refrigerator as soon as possible.
•  Refrigerate raw eggs in their shells in the carton on the middle or lower inside shelf, not on the door.
• Raw eggs maintain their freshness for four to five weeks after purchase if kept refrigerated continually.
• A hard cooked egg, if kept in its shell, can be safely refrigerated for up to one week.
• Temperature fluctuation is critical to safety. After eggs are refrigerated, it is important that they stay that way. A cold egg left out at room temperature can sweat, facilitating the growth of bacteria.
• Refrigerated eggs should not be left out more than two hours.

 

Eggs Can Be Part of a Healthy Diet

Eggs Can Be Part of a Healthy Diet

  Eggs are a nutritious food. They contain high-quality protein and are an excellent course of many essential nutrients. Eggs are an inexpensive source of protein, readily accessible and tasty. They work well in a variety of recipes.

Eggs do contain cholesterol. Cholesterol is linked with heart disease. Over the years concerns have arisen the regarding number of eggs that should be eaten. How eggs fit into a heart-healthy diet depends on various factors including diet, health, age, and individual genetics.

Eggs like any other food should be eaten in moderation. What’s most important is the total diet. If you are eating a healthy diet, having an occasional egg should be fine.

What a person eats eggs with is important. Pairing them with fatty, high-calorie ingredients is not a good idea. Healthy options include poached eggs, serve a fruit salad with eggs rather than bacon or sausage or add to a stir-fry with brown rice and vegetables.

Edamame - An Unfamiliar Bean With A Nutrition Punch

Edamame – An Unfamiliar Bean With A Nutrition Punch

Edamame is a vegetable you may not be familiar with. This vegetable looks like a lima bean, but is sweeter in flavor. This bean provides a “complete” protein and have as much fiber as four slices of whole wheat bread. This bean provides vitamins A, B, and C and disease-fighting isoflavones.

Edamame is a fresh soybean, bigger and sweeter than the soybeans grown in fields through Wisconsin and the Midwest. It is a specialty variety of soybeans harvested in the green stage.
This bean can be found in the frozen vegetable section at the grocery store or a health food stores.
Source: Hy-Vee Healthy bites

How Many Refined Grains Are You Consuming?

How Many Refined Grains Are You Consuming?

In the past 30 years, the average American is consuming 195 more calories from grains such as wheat, rice, corn and oats. About 90 percent of the grain we eat is refined, not whole. It is easy to consume refined grains – pasta or rice served at restaurants, pancakes, bagels, muffins, pretzels and cookies.

Many refined grains are served in a portion size larger than the recommended serving size. For example, a serving of rice or pasta at a restaurant may be two to three servings greater than the recommended serving size. In addition, the size of bagels, muffins and other foods has increased. Since many people have gotten use to larger portion sizes, it is easy to eat more than we should.

 

There are some health issues related to consuming too many carbohydrates which are found in refined grain products including:

- can raise triglycerides and lower HDL “good” cholesterol.

- limiting refined grains can help lower blood pressure.

- whole grains are healthier than refined grains.

It is wise to spend carbohydrates on healthy foods. Choose foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and limit the amount of foods consumed that contain refined grains.





Certified Organic Label Guide

Certified Organic Label Guide

Making sense of organic labeling can be difficult to understand. Since October 21, 2002, the following guidelines were established by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program to assure consumers know the exact organic content of the food they buy. With the increased popularity in organic foods, it can be helpful to review these guidelines.

Single- Ingredient Foods
On foods like fruits and vegetables, look for a smaller sticker version of the USDA Organic label or check the signage in your produce section for this seal. The word “organic” and the seal may also appear on packages of meat, cartons of milk or eggs, cheese, and other single-ingredient foods.

Multi-Ingredient Foods - Foods such as beverages, snacks, and other processed foods use the following classification system to indicate their use of organic ingredients.

100% Organic – Foods bearing this label are made with 100% organic ingredients and may display the USDA Organic seal.

Organic – These products contain at least 95-99% organic ingredients (by weight). The remaining ingredients are not available organically but have been approved by the National Organic Program.

Made With Organic Ingredients – Food packaging that reads “Made with Organic Ingredients” must contain 70 to 94% organic ingredients. These products will not bear the USDA Organic Seal; instead, they may list up to three ingredients on the front of the packaging.

Source: http://wwwOrganic.org

Foodborne Illness In the United States

Foodborne Illness In the United States

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that each year roughly one out of six Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.
Eight known pathogens account for the vast majority of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.

Top five pathogens causing domestically acquired foodborne illness
Pathogen Estimated Annual Number of Illnesses

 Norovirus 5,461,731

Salmonella, nontyphoidal 1,027,561

Clostidium perfringens 965,958

Campylobacter spp. 845,024

Staphylococcus aureus 241,148

Top five pathogens causing domestically acquired foodborne illnesses resulting in hospitalization

Pathogen Estimated Annual Number of Illnesses

Salmonella, nontyphoidal 19,336

Norovirus 14,663

Campylobacter spp. 8,463

Toxoplasma gondii 4,428

E. coli (STEC) 0157 2,138

Reducing foodborne illness by 10 percent would keep about five million Americans from getting sick each year. Pay attention to how food is handled, prepared and stored at home.
Source: Center for Disease Control