Every year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases their list of the twelve most pesticide-ridden fruits and veggies. Pesticides have been linked to hormone disruption in children and have carcinogenic properties. Of course, the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables far outweigth the potential risks from pesticides, but these twelve residents of your produce aisle should be bought organic whenever possible.
Apples - apples test positive for pesticides 99% of the time!
Strawberries
Grapes
Celery
Peaches
Spinach
Bell Peppers
Imported nectarines - all samples tested positive for pesticides
That’s what Ria Chhabra, a 13 year old from Texas, did. When in a debate with her parents over the value of organic products over conventional ones, she decided to scientifically prove it one was better than the other
Originally, she tested the vitamin C levels in organic fruits and compared them to conventional ones. She found that vitamin C was higher in the organic produce, and decided she wanted to study the consequences this finding could have on health. So she did what any other kid would do - research an animal model and reach out to college professors across the country to find someone interested in helping her finish the project.
One professor, Dr. Bauer at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, called her back. While “he would not normally agree to work with a middle-school student”, Dr. Bauer and Ria worked successfully to feed fruit flies different diets and test the effects of diet on their health. Ria’s work was published by the lab and then by a scientific journal. It is titled “Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to Drosophila melanogaster” and available online. (For the record, she proved that Drosophila fruit flies fared far better on organic bananas and potatos than conventionally grown options.)
Today at 16, Ria continues to work with Dr. Bauer, now studying Type 2 Diabetes with fruit flies. Her family and friends are confident not in only in their choice to purchase organic foods but also that Ria will have a plethora of colleges to choose from in the coming years. Not bad for a 13 year old!
No more Rice Krispies at school? From the above video… (please excuse the opening advertisement!)
Recently, the USDA has developed new rules on what kinds of snack foods can be sold in public schools in the US, created as an extension of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 signed by President Obama.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the first ingredient of snacks purchased on school grounds now must be a vegetable, fruit, dairy product, whole grain, or protein. If an item doesn’t meet that standard, it could still be sold if it contains 10% of the Daily Value for calcium, potassium, vitamin D, or fiber - if it is naturally occurring, not as part of a fortification or supplementation package.
If these rules hold, school cafeterias around the country could be looking very different very soon. However, there is already backlash from food industry giants crying foul over lost profits and marketing and the standards are not yet finalized.
What do you think - is it the government’s responsibility to restrict harmful foods from reaching kids’ hands while they are in school? Should good nutrition practices start at home? Or should parents, teachers, and the government work together to start changing the food kids eat?
According to a recent Huffington Post article highlighting new research on the food industry, diet sodas - which millions turn to in order to cut their calorie intake - can actually be worsefor your body than regularly sweetened sodas.
A study of over 66,000 women during 14 years, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that diet soda drinkers are more likely to be overweight and that these diet sodas raised their risk for Type 2 Diabetes more than if they drank regular soda.
Here’s some of the science on why -
Artificial sweeteners fool your body into thinking there is sugar on the way.
Once there is no sugar, your body becomes confused and will both store fat and crave more sugar.
Artificial sweeteners can be thousands of times more sweet than sugar - making them more addicting as well.
The food industry is deceptively creative with things like diet sodas. For more information on diet sodas as well as other processed food secrets, check out the article here and in the mean time, remember - all natural fruit juice is the best drink to have if you or your kids are looking for some liquid fuel.
…but the new café at the New York Hall of Science is already blossoming! Delish by Ameriventsis the exclusive café and catering partner at NYSCI. My name is Amanda and I’m the assistant manager and resident foodie here at Delish. I have always loved food and chose to study for a bachelors in food science and human nutrition from the University of Florida. During my time at UF, I also gained knowledge and passion for sustainability and environmental issues. I was happy to find that my interests in food and helping our planet blended perfectly - our food system and what we eat is deeply linked to the current environmental crisis, and working to solve one helps the other. It is safe to say that I am passionate about all areas of food - eating it, creating it and making it better for both the people who eat it and the planet that provides for us. I have done everything from work at a farmers market to create a nutrition curriculum for an organic farm in Gainesville, Florida. Now I am here at Delish at NYSCI to bring tasty and sustainable food to the community as well as create fun ways for both kids and adults to learn about food and the environment. Every week I will be taking over the NYSCI blog for the day, sharing everything from gardening tips to articles on the latest in nutrition news.
Here at Delish, we are committed to using healthier and wholesome ingredients to create fresh food that NYSCI visitors of all ages can enjoy. It seems only natural that NYSCI would have a refreshing and forward-thinking café, and we are extremely proud to be that café. Besides giving everyone great food, our partnership with NYSCI is allowing us to plan exciting educational programs and experiences both at the café and here on the web.
To start things off, here is a short clip from Michael Pollan, a leading food issues author and advocate. It’s a simple explanation on why buying local, unprocessed food is important, something we truly believe in here at Delish!
As New York City gets ready to implement its ban on big sodas, the issue of obesity once again takes center stage.
We’ve heard from nutrition experts, soda corporations, consumer agencies, politicians and Joe Schmo about whether we should have a tax and if it will do any good. But why do we crave all these bad-for-you foods in the first place?
Turns out it’s partly evolution’s fault. Our prehistoric, hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t have regular access to high-energy foods, so when it was available, they gorged on it. Think ice-cream-binge-after-being-dumped kind of gorging. Only instead of ice cream, they feasted on animals they were able to hunt, and fruit and nuts that were in season. Those high calorie binges helped fuel their big brains. But today, we have access to far more sugar and fat than our bodies need, which can lead to overindulgence and obesity.
This link between how our species evolved and the foods we crave today is explored in our new exhibition, The Evolution – Health Connection, which is open through June. Along with obesity, The Evolution – Health Connection also looks at the evolutionary reasons behind some other very human problems: painful childbirths, sunburns, lactose intolerance and back problems.
So the next time that little voice in your head says that you need a soda and fries, resist! Stand firm! Distract yourself! Because after all, it’s just your ancestors talking.
No carbs, lo carbs, cabbage soup, lemonade… heck, even princesses have their own diet. But could a food plan that includes bugs be the next big diet fad?
Many cultures throughout the world include insects in their diets, but here in the United States, the idea has yet to catch on. David Gracer is working to change that. An English teacher, writer and naturalist, Gracer advocates the eating of insects as an excellent source of nutrition and as an intelligent food choice for an overcrowded planet. Bugs, after all, are a good, and plentiful, source of protein, vitamins and minerals.
Gracer will be at NYSCI this weekend as part of the Dead or Alive Halloween event. He will talk about the value of insects in human diets and will even offer bug tastings all day.
If you like what you taste, you can make a bug-filled day of it by dining at nearby El Globo, where they serve quesadillas a los chapulines (grasshopper quesadillas), a Mexican specialty.
So hop, wriggle or worm your way over to NYSCI this weekend. You don’t want to miss this event – everyone will be buzzing about it!
