1. Food Awareness

2. What Does it Mean to Eat Seasonal?
Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type of food is at its peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavor.
This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the market. The food's peak time in terms of harvest usually coincides with when its flavor is at its best.

3. Benefits of Eating Seasonal and Local
By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles.
Your food dollar goes directly to the farmer.
You know where your food is coming from.
Its cheaper!!
You will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. And it simply tastes better!

4. Seasonal and Local Foods of Wisconsin
Click on each website to show seasonal foods of Wisconsin, farmers markets in the valley, another good website to find local farmers.

5. Organic
“100% organic” - single ingredient such as a fruit, vegetable, meat, milk and cheese (excludes water and salt).
“Organic” - multiple ingredient foods which are 95 to 100% organic.
“Made with organic ingredients” - 70% of the ingredients are organic. Can appear on the front of package, naming the specific ingredients.
“Contains organic ingredients” - contains less than 70% organic ingredients.
USDA, 2010
Organic foods are produced using methods of organic farming – with limited modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, though organic pesticides, such as Bt toxin, are still used. Organic foods are also not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.[

6. Benefits To Buying Organic
Organic produce contains fewer pesticides.
Organic food is often fresher.
Organic farming is better for the environment.
Organically raised animals are NOT given antibiotics, growth hormones, or fed animal byproducts.
Organic produce contains fewer pesticides. Pesticides are chemicals such as fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. These chemicals are widely used in conventional agriculture and residues remain on (and in) the food we eat.
Organic food is often fresher. Fresh food tastes better. Organic food is usually fresher because it doesn’t contain preservatives that make it last longer. Organic produce is often (but not always, so watch where it is from) produced on smaller farms near where it is sold.
Organic farming is better for the environment. Organic farming practices reduce pollution (air, water, soil), conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy. Farming without pesticides is also better for nearby birds and small animals as well as the people who harvest our food.
Organically raised animals are NOT given antibiotics, growth hormones, or fed animal byproducts. The use of antibiotics in conventional meat production helps create antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. This means that when someone gets sick from these strains they will be less responsive to antibiotic treatment. Not feeding animal byproducts to other animals reduces the risk of mad cow disease (BSE). In addition, the animals are given more space to move around and access to the outdoors, both of which help to keep the animals healthy.

7. The Dirty Dozen
If your going to buy anything organic, buy the dirty dozen. This list comes out every year of the fruits and vegetables that have the most herbicide and pesticide use.

8. Disadvantages of Buying Organic
 Organic foods can cost between 15-20% more than conventionally produced foods. 
Organic markets also have inefficient systems for production, distribution, and sales, which can result in slower moving products.  This means that organic products often have more time to age, causing them to be of lesser quality. 
Organic foods may not be available during any given season
Due to higher standards which require more labor, organic foods can cost between 15-20% more than conventionally produced foods. 
Finally, crop rotation prevents organic produce from being produced all year long, which means that unlike conventionally grown produce, organic foods may not be available during any given season

9. Does Organic = Healthy?? Moosewood’s Mac & Three Cheeses
390 cal, 8 gms sat fat
365 Organic (from Whole Foods) Cheese Lasagna has more than half a days’ worth of sat fat
Kellogg’s Organic Frosted Mini-Wheats
20% sugar by weight
Organic potato chips still has same amount of fat as regular chips
Even though its organic, doesn’t mean that its always healthy. You still have to read the labels

10. Natural
The FDA has no standards on what a “natural” product is although the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA requires ‘natural’ to be:
free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and ingredients not naturally occurring in the food.
Even though it says its natural doesn’t mean its necessarily nutritious for you to eat. Read the labels!!

11. Free Range or Cage Free
Certified Humane: The birds are un-caged inside barns or warehouses but may be kept indoors at all times. They must be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting, perching and dust bathing
Animal Welfare Approved: The highest animal welfare standards of any third-party auditing program. However, there are no participating producers that sell to supermarkets.
Cage-Free: As the term implies, hens laying eggs labeled as "cage-free" are un-caged inside barns or warehouses, but they generally do not have access to the outdoors.
Free-Roaming: Also known as "free-range," the USDA has defined this claim for some poultry products, but there are no standards in "free-roaming" egg production. This essentially means the hens are cage-free.
Its good to know where your food comes from and how the animals were treated. Buying from a local farmer you can ask if the animals were free range or cage free.
HSUS, 2009

12. Grass Fed
Grass (Forage) Fed – Grass and forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning*.
The diet shall be derived solely from forage consisting of grass, forbs (e.g., legumes, Brassica), browse, or cereal grain crops in the vegetative (pre-grain) state. Animals cannot be fed grain or grain byproducts and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season*.
Health benefits of grass fed animals: Grass-fed animals may have some heart-health benefits that other types of beef don't have. When compared with other types of grass-fed animals: Less total fat ,More heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids; More conjugated linoleic acid, a type of fat that's thought to reduce heart disease and cancer risks; More antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E
Lean 10 percent fat or less
USDA, 2010

13. Growth Hormones and Antibiotics
Since the 1950s, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a number of steroid hormone drugs for use in beef cattle, chicken, pig and sheep, including natural estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and their synthetic versions. These drugs increase the animals’ growth rate, the efficiency by which they convert the feed they eat into meat, and the leanness of their meat.
These steroid hormone drugs are formulated as pellets that are placed under the skin on the back side of the animal’s ear.

14. Growth Hormones and Antibiotics
Since the 1950s, it has become routine practice to add low levels of antibiotics to the feed or water of healthy poultry, cattle, and swine to promote faster growth and prevent infections that tend to occur when animals are housed in crowded, unsanitary, stressful conditions.

15. What to look for:
Look for antibiotic and hormone-free meat and dairy products at your supermarket. If they don’t have it, ask them to carry it. Foods that carry the “USDA-certified organic” label cannot contain any artificial hormones. Can also buy organic meat products.
Buy directly from the farmer. This is the best way to be sure there are no hormones or antibiotics in your food.

16. Food Additives
Avg American consumes 150 pounds food additives/year (usually sugar and sweeteners) followed by salt, vitamins, flavors, colorings*
Avoid eating foods with additives you cannot pronounce

17. Food Additives Added sugars, saturated and trans fats
Contributes to inflammation and disease
Sodium nitrate – used in lunch meat, bacon, etc
Linked to several cancers
BHA/BHT – used to extend shelf life and preserve freshness by retarding rancidity in oils
Toxic to liver in one rat study
"reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen." by US Dept of Health

18. Food Additives Food Coloring Monosodium Glutamate “fake” fat (olestra)
May promote tumor growth as well as hyperactivity in children
Monosodium Glutamate
May cause headaches and nausea
“fake” fat (olestra)
Can cause indigestion and intestinal distress due to malabsorbtion. May block absorption of fat soluble vitamins

19. Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtnas5ScSE
Watch the documentary food inc. Very good insight of what we are doing to our food.