Monday, April 28, 2008

All I can see is green!

If you haven't noticed the Eco friendly going green trend is everywhere. Almost everytime you turn on the television or the radio you see somthing about being green.

A bunch of radio stations that are very popular have a green section on their web pages as well as give some hints during commercials. Jack Johnson has a green CD, Magazines are having special green sections all the time now.
Being green is very important to a lot of people, and writing about it has really helped with becoming more aware and opening the door to all the possibilites it holds.

The option of having a hybrid car is something that i look forward to doing some day soon. Not only does it get incredible gas mileage, but you can get a special license plate in AZ to be able to drive in the carpool lane as a single, now that is cool.

There is a great website, The Cat Scan, that gives all sorts of great news information on the green trend. They also have a great section called green tips, where very easily and quickly you can read and find out about ways to make your own lives a lot greener and save yourself a lot of money and save the environment at the same time.

There really are a lot of things that most people could change about their lives to save themselves lots of money and be a big help in saving the environment. SRP (Salt River Project) has a special plan called the time of use plan that helps people save money by using less energy during busy times.

During the NBA playoffs now, they always have a NBA cares section where they show the team playing, doing great charity work, there is always a very big name famous player that is doing something to help the eco system like planting a tree or somthing of that nature.

Organic may be the most popular of all the trends that are going around these days. What organic basically means is that everything grown is free of pesticides and other chemicals. Organics are everywhere from milk to fruits, to wines and beers. For the most part it is widly agreed that organic food tastes just as good if not better, but can be more expensive, but not always.

Being eco friendly is something that can be easy and fulfilling.

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Sunday, April 13, 2008

Eating green for your body

So when you think of eating healthy, what is the first thing that comes to mind? In most cases it means eating food that is actually good for your body, not necessarily good for the environment. Organic food is very healthy for the environment, but what should people eat to be healthy for their bodies?

Of course eating vegetables and fruits all the time will keep you healthy and thin. But what if you want that beach body but can't stay away from your favorite foods. Well luckily in todays world there are a lot of ways that you can eat some of your favorite, greasy foods and still lose weight and keep your body young and fit.

If you go to any grocery store and really look, you will find most of your favorite fatty foods have all gone fat free and sugar free. "It's really a great thing," said Joe Elyachar. "I get to eat all of my favorite foods, just they won't get me all fat and out of shape.

Cheese is something that people really love to put on almost anything. Cheese though is very high in bad fats and is ultimately very bad for you. There is Fat free cheese by Kraft or they have it in most of the off brands as well that tastes exceptionally good as well as very good for you. 0 grams of fat and 5 grams of protein for a slice of cheese is great and it still goes great on burgers or sandwiches.

That is not the only way to go, there are turkey burgers which are good and good for you, they have fat free vegan hot dogs that dressed up correctly actually taste pretty good. A big one is pizza, and now they have pizza's in all the Freezer dinner lean meals. These pizzas are portioned to a smaller size to make you eat less of it and they use ingredients that make it healthier as well.

Some people have a problem with the aspect of dessert. The sugar or chocolate cravings some time can be considered an addiction. There are ways to take care of these. There is fat free and sugar free chocolate pudding. They also have other flavors to fit all taste buds. Popsicles are a good one too, they have regular, cremsicles and fudgsicles that are all fat and sugar free and are all very tasty as well.

So as i have mentioned here only very slightly you can eat green for your body, but you don't have to deprive yourself of things you love. The idea is that if you just work out a little and eat healthier and smaller portions you can help keep your body clean and healthy.
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Sunday, April 6, 2008

Sports and Food

I was really surprised to find that at the Phoenix Suns game there was nothing organic to be found.

Not only was there no organic foods but there was no healthy foods really at all.

At the NFL experience, and at some football games this year there was organic food all over the place. They had anything from Organic hotdogs to Organic Chicken. They also had organic coffees and organic Smoothies.

The NBA on the other hand, not so much. They had the usual regular hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. They had regular ice cream and pizza everywhere you turned.

This makes you wonder why they haven't, like the NFL started to get healthy, or at least organic to try and better the lands and the world. Baseball is no better, they are basically staying on the same playing field as basketball, offering almost exactly the same food.

So the question begs to wonder, if organic food is not really more expensive, and the NFL can offer it to their patrons, then why can't the NBA and MLB provide healthy alternatives for their fans.

During such a very large health craze, it is surprising that something where food is so highly sought out would be so far behind the growing trend in most of american society.

"I think its about tradition," said Justin Antonowitz. "When people go to a baseball game they want a hot dog and a Pepsi, you know thats just what you get there."

Tradition is a very large part of baseball, it is always based on what has happened in the past and what can happen in the future. As Organic eating and healthy eating for that matter appears to be at the forefront of American living, it can be expected that someday soon American sports will catch up with the rest of the new American tradition.

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Organic suprise


Rummaging through my freezer for something to eat, i came upon some of my favorite burritos. These burritos aren't just normal burritos you see, they are incredibly good for you. They are low in fat and the carbohydrate to protein ratio is pretty good as well and a perfect amount of calories, a perfect little meal really. Well i grab it out and what do i realize, my burrito that i have been eating for years is made with mostly organic ingredients!

Cedarlane burritos are sold at Costco. They are listed as low fat, and all natural. There is no USDA approved organic symbol on it, So knowing that all the ingredients must be organic i looked at the ingredients list. There are Organic pinto beans, organic brown rice, organic tomatoes, organic tomato puree and organic flour tortilla. That is a lot of organic ingredients, but they also used soy cheddar cheese, green chilis, onions, herbs and spices, tamari, cilantro, sea salt and corn starches. Because these ingredients were not organic the whole burrito is not considered organic.

Using soy cheedar cheese still makes this a lot more earth friendly and a whole lot more body friendly. Cheese is normally very fatty, but the entire burrito only has 1g of fat.

The most interesting part of this burrito was the price. It is sold at Costco so you know that it can not be very expensive and it is not. It is sold at 8 6oz. burritos, and is very well priced. "I love them because they are really good for me," said Megan Higgins, graduated ASU senior. They taste extremely good for being so healthy for you.

"We have a lot of Organic foods, not because we are searching them out, but because if given the choice, we'd pick organic as long as we don't pay more," says Higgins. The burritos are placed in the freezer isle just along with all the other burritos. There is not distinct label saying its organic and no other organic foods around.

Something like this makes you wonder why there are not more people making their products out of organic produce, and why it seems that most of the time organic food is more expensive.
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Monday, March 24, 2008

Good and good for you

When you wake up in the morning and need something that is not only filling, but good for you as well. A nice bowl of Oatmeal is always a great choice.

Oatmeal is a very popular breakfast choice for lots of Americans. When you think of oatmeal you think of hearty and good for you. =All natural also comes to mind so you already know that its going to be good in the body.

Don't forget that all natural oatmeal is not the same as organic oatmeal.

Oatmeal can it be good in the body, but it can be good for the environment too now with Organic Oatmeal. Organic Oatmeal uses all organic ingredients. The oatmeal retains all of its healthy values and is now healthy for the ground as well.

Quaker, one of the most popular oatmeal distributors has come out with their own organic oatmeal. They feature two flavors, maple and brown sugar, and regular.

According to Quaker, their organic oatmeal is in limited distribution. You must go on the website to call them if you want to find locations where it can be found. If you don't want to have to work hard to find some organic Oatmeal Trader Joe's also has their own brand of organic oatmeal that they are selling.

Their oatmeal is actually also very well priced, it is $2.99 for an 8 packet box. The only flavor that they offer is regular though so it is recommended to go out and get yourself some kind of organic fruit or organic brown sugar to add to it to sweeten it up.

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

How'd they string that together


For a while now, string cheese has become one of america's favorite snack foods. Why wouldn't it be after all, its cheese which is delicious and its extremely portable which is nice, but the best part about string cheese is that you are supposed to play with it before you eat it.

Organic string cheese is making its way into the market today. When making a lunch box for the kids before school, why not throw in a nice organic string cheese, it has lots of protein and is good for the environment as well.

Trader Joe's has their own brand of organic string cheese. It is Organic, but it does not lose and of the rich cheese flavors found in regular string cheese. It tastes very good, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this string cheese and non organic string cheese which is important.

The main organic ingredient in string cheese is Organic cultured pasteurized milk.

The price of the organic cheese is not cheap at all. At Trader Joe's it costs about $4.99 for 9 string cheeses. Sounds a little steep for me.

Megan Higgins, who eats string cheese had this to say, "I think of string cheese as just a little snack here and there, its great for when i go out and what not, therefore i don't eat it too much so i don't really care if its organic or not, especially if i have to pay more for it."

Trader Joe's is not the only merchant to come out with organic cheese, there are many more companies that are also producing this, such as Organic Valley, they call their stringles, and hopefully with more and more competition coming out it will help pull down the prices.


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Monday, March 10, 2008

Eating a green breakfast

Everything these days seems to be going organic.

Anything that you can dream of is going organic and that is starting with some of todays favorite breakfast foods, the pop tart. The pop tart now has now gone organic. It is labeled as USDA approved just like other organic products of its nature. The question that i raised is why it is not seen more often. When you go down the breakfast isle you won't see any pop tarts listed as organic. I had to go to Fry's and look down a special organic isle they had away from all the other food. It may be more benifical and helpful to try to get the organic food into the market by placing it with the others of its kind. If someone is deciding on what to buy in a store and checking out pop tarts and they see an organic kind and a regular kind right next to each other then the odds of them getting organic increase greatly.

The nutrition facts of the pop tart were all the same as the regular ones for the most part. There was no real significant difference. Obviously all of the ingredients were listed as organic, but for the most part all of the ingredients were also very similar as the normal ones. The Organic pop tarts were a little more expensive then the regular kind, but not too bad.

Sean Stull, who buys regular poptarts says he doesn't really care what kind of pop tart he gets. "I would get an organic pop tart if it were cheaper then the regular kind," said Stull. "As long as it all tastes the same then it is fine by me, especially if its better for me."

Another fun product that was noticed was an organic type of nutrigrain bar as well. It tasted exactly the same as a normal product and had all the same nutritional value as well.


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Eating a green breakfast

Everything these days seems to be going organic.

Anything that you can dream of is going organic and that is starting with som of todays favorite breakfast foods, the poptart. The poptart now has now gone organic. It is labeled as USDA approved just like other organic products of its nature. The question that i raised is why it is not seen more often. When you go down the breakfast isle you won't see any poptarts listed as organic. I had to go to Frys and look down a special organic isle they had away from all the other food. It may be more benifical and helpful to try to get the organic food into the market by placing it with the others of its kind. If someone is deciding on what to buy in a store and checking out poptarts and they see an organic kind and a regular kind right next to eachother then the odds of them getting organic increase greatly.

The nutrition facts of the poptart were all the same as the regular ones for the most part. There was no real significant difference. Obviously all of the ingredients were listed as organic, but for the most part all of the ingredients were also very similar as the normal ones. The Organic poptarts were a little more expensive then the regular kind, but not too bad.

Another fun product that was noticed was an organic type of nutrigrain bar as well. It tasted exactly the same as a normal product and had all the same nutritional value as well.
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Sunday, March 2, 2008

Isn't green tea always Organic?

Green tea is one of Americas new crazes. It has broken into American culture at incredible rates. The reason that people drink green tea is supposed to be for the antioxidants that it contains. There have also been lots of rumors as well as articles that say it helps you lose weight as well because of the EGCG that is contained in a cup of the green tea.

People may think that green tea should be organic, but once again it is all natural, which is very different of course. Regular green tea should only be made with a green tea leaf and maybe few other remidies that are straight from the earth. "Until now i just assumed that all natural and Organic were the same," said Mike O'Havor, ASU grad.

The thing that makes some green tea different from others is the way that the leaf is grown, organically, no chemicals and on chemical free soil, and the soil must be organic for a minimum of 3 years for it to be certified organic.

The green tea that i got is Traditional Medicinals Organic Green Tea. It was purchased at Fry's, which had a very large selection of Organic Products. It is labeled on the box USDA Organics, and Fair Trade Certified.

When comparing the organic tea to a all natural tea, TEA a world of tea, the only difference was that Traditionals said Organic greeen tea leaf, and TEA's said 100% all natural green tea leaves.

Between the two, the organic tea was a lot more expensive. It was a few dollars more expensive, and came with about half as many tea bags. The tea bags were also a lot more fancy in the organic box, which could be a reason for the extra price. "Things seem to sell well if they are Organic reguardless of the price," said James, store clerk at Fry's.

The brewing instructions are also very different when comparing the two different types of tea. The All natural tea says to be brewed for about 4 minutes, while the organic tea reccomends that you brew your tea for about 10 minutes which is a very big time difference.

The taste however was basically the same, There have been lots of different types of teas tasted before, and they all taste a little different, but the overall experience was pretty much the same.
"I love all green tea," said O'havor. "It gives me more energy in the day and i think it makes me healthier."

According to Traditional Medicinals, they assure that farmers in developing countries receive a fair price for their crops and have safe working conditions.

Traditional Medicines grow their green tea at the Ambootia® Estate. It is located in the Himalayas in Darjeeling, India
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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Organic Hummus

I think Hummus is a great product. Although it is not very popular in the US, it is very popular in other places around the world such as Israel, where Hummus is in most hotels and restaurants.

At Whole Foods Market they sell Emerald Valley Kitchen Hummus, this hummus says that it is organic, and has the stamp of approval right on the front with the USDA Organic symbol in plain view.

At Costco they sell Oasis Naturals Hummus, this hummus says that it is all natural. Now all natural is not the same as organic, it is not even close actually.

On the cover if you didn't really know any better you could get confused. The fronts both look very similar, they say low fat, or not trans fat and what not. The Oasis Naturals just uses all natural products, not actually organic natural products.

When you take a look at the sides you will see that for the most part they both have all the same ingredients. The difference:


+Emerald Valley Hummus+--------------+Oasis Naturals Hummus+

+Organic Garbanzo beans--------------------------+Garbanzo beans
+Organic Tahini Butter----------------------------+Tahini
+Organic Feta Cheese and Organic spinach------+Roasted peppers
+Organic Garlic powder----------------------------+Canola Oil
+organic hulled sesame seeds----------------------+Olive Oil
+Organic Lemon juice------------------------------+Lemon Juice
+Organic pasturized milk---------------------------+Cultured skim milk

"To be organic, everything in the product has to be organic, everything," said Laura Burkhart, Organic specialist at Whole Foods Market. "Lots of food say its all natural and some food can say partial organci if some stuff is organic, but the USDA will only let it say all organic if it is 100%."

As you can see most of the ingredients in the two are very similar, a few differences, but as you can see everything in the Emerald Valley lists straight up that it is organic.

As for the differences in the more physical aspect the two seem to look a lot alike, the non-organic hummus is a bit smoother than the organic kind but not a huge difference really.

As for the taste test, of course they are different flavors, but they both are really good and i really cant see a difference. The Organic hummus is a lot healthier for you though, it has more than half the fat and about 1/3 less calories. "I think all the Organic stuff tastes exactly the same,"said Uncle David, customer service at Whole foods.

Emerald Valley has also done a few very nice things that are listed on the cap. These things are very eco friendly such as put a recycle sign right on the label letting you know that the container itself is recyclable. Also it says that 1% of its sales goes to humanitarian/environmental projects.



A little how-to video on how to make your own hummus
-just replace all the ingredients with organic ingredients to make this hummus organic
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Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Booming Organic Trend



I must say that when i was searching the web i was shocked at how popular that organic food is becoming in todays world. There is organic being mentioned at every turn from late night talk shows to all over youtube.

There are grocery stores that are popping up all over the place that are just dedicated to Organic foods such as Trader Joes and Whole Foods Market.

Even when you go to your normal grocery stores such as Safeway and Albertsons, there are special organic sections. And they just keep getting bigger and bigger.

There is of course the notion that Organic food is a lot more expensive, but whenever you go to either one of the organic only markets or to Safeway you find that some things are and then some things are not, just like everything else.

Being healthy is the new big trend that is sweeping the nation and organic foods are jumping right on the train. You can basically buy anything you want now from cereal to organic fruits and vegies. "I think that eating organic foods is helping out the world and thats great," said Stephanie Wagner, NAU student.

Food is not the only thing that you can get organic, they make organic lotions and oils, also there are organic bubble bath. Just shows how big this organic thing is really getting today.

There is a lot of money to be made in the organic business, this was proven by the merger of Wild Oats Market and Whole foods that took place. The buyout was for 565 million dollars. That is a lot of money that is being spent of green foods.

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Sunday, February 10, 2008

GREEN COWS?!?!?!

Milk is one of the big things that has gone organic.

According to Organics, to be certified organic, the dairy cows that they use to get the milk must be watched and managed under organic practices for at least one year before they can give away their milk as organic. The cows feeding must be grown on land that has been under organic cultivation practices for a minimum of three years before their milk can be used.

The land is maintained with the use of recognized organic horticultural practices according to Organics. They also state that their cows enjoy a 100% certified organic diet and that they are not given growth hormones or treated with antibiotics.

Now at the store there are some rumors that organic milk is more expensive and that it never goes on sale. Only half of that statement is true. The organic milk was listed at $3.99 per half gallon, but was on sale for $3.29. So that means that organic milk does go on sale. Although it was on sale it was more expensive than the price of regular milk which was $2.99 and was also on sale for $2.79.

So organic milk is more expensive, and if you are like most people you would go with the cheaper milk and thats about all that matters. There was however another very big difference in the two milks that could mean a lot to tons of milk drinkers. The expiration date on the organic milk was more than one month longer than the regular milk which was very surprising. This is a great thing for people who really wanna have milk in their houses but don't seem to drink it all that often. This would be a great way to always have milk and would end up saving people money by not having to go out and buy new milk all the time.

The look, the smell, as well as the taste of the milk all seemed to be exactly the same as regular milk.



http://www.organicpicks.com/product/400031021/
http://www.seedtoplate.com/organic-certification.html
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Monday, February 4, 2008

THE NFL GOING GREEN















The NFL Experience was held for a week before the Super Bowl in Glendale, AZ.

It was suprising to see that all over the place there were lots of organic food being sold. "The organic food really seems to be selling very well here," said Jimmy, who was selling food behind the counter. There were food stands all over the place that had everything from organic hot dogs to organic burgers, organic steak sandwich and organic steak sandwich.


Most of the time when you think of organic food you expect it to be just a little more expensive. The organic hot dogs and the regular hot dogs were the same price. "I assume people just figure that they might as well get the organic food if its gonna be the same price," said Jimmy.





There were also seperate stands that were selling organic beverages such as organic coffees and organic smoothies. The lines for these venues were very long and everyone said that the smoothies were delicious.



"I know its kinda weird to see organic food at something like this," said Jimmy. According to the NFL's superbowl web page(SuperBowl Goes Green), the superbowl is going green. This will be the second year it states and that the NFL Experience as well as the Super bowl is run off of 100% renewable energy.


Superbowl Goes Green
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Sunday, January 27, 2008

What is this about!

What is this about????

This will be a blog that is going over food that is now going organic. Organic food is becoming something that is getting extremely popular. Organic food is all sorts of different food. The question is what is organic food and what kind of food is it? what does it taste like? what is it made out of and what makes it so special? these are some of the topics that we will be going over in this blog.

Stores all over the US are getting into the organic trend. There are special stores that are going up all over that are dedicated just to the new healthy organic trend. Not only are there special stores though but your local grocery store is getting into the action too. It started out with just a few things here and there, but now they have isles that are dedicated just to the organic trend. So you know if they would go through the trouble it must be something that people want to see.

I will be personally going to all different kinds of stores and finding out what they are all about. See who is the best with keeping up with the organic foodtrend as well as how successful they say it is. I will also be getting food and giving information about what makes them great, and what makes them bad. There is also a chance i could be throwing in a few fun facts as well as some other helpful information about living green.

=)~
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