Met w/ Cong. Miller about genetically modifed alfalfa

I met with Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC) today to request unbiased research and caution for genetically engineered food. We had a good discussion. I left feeling that he had heard my points and would have the appropriate staff member follow up on possible action. We agreed that these are technical issues, but that it is important to have good, unbiased scientific analysis before taking action that cannot be undone.

As I said during the meeting, when we found out what horrible side effects thalidomide caused, people could just stop taking it. If we find out that genetically engineered food causes horrible side effects, we may not be able to recall it from the environment. Thanks to Jill Richardson of La Vida Locavore and Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute for their help in preparing for this meeting.

Here are the points we covered:

• People want to know what they are eating. An MSNBC poll this year shows that 96% want genetically modified food labeled so people can make informed choices. A Deloitte survey in 2010 found that 70% of Americans are concerned about eating genetically modified food.


• Roundup Ready Alfalfa is not needed, according to a lawsuit filed by several groups against the USDA. 93% of alfalfa is currently grown without herbicides.


• But Roundup Ready Alfalfa is now unregulated and has huge risks:




• GE alfalfa would contaminate all alfalfa seeds in just a few years because the pollen is spread by bees. They will cross-pollinate non-GMO alfalfa and wild alfalfa miles apart.


• It threatens organic dairy industry, a $26B a year industry growing at 20% annually, because it is the key food for dairy cows. No organic food means no organic milk, yogurt, or cheese.


• It threatens the organic beef industry


• It will speed up the development of Roundup-resistant super weeds. Farmers dealing with glyphosate-resistant weeds may stronger herbicides, such as 2,4-D, a chemical that has been linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and insulin resistance.


• Animal miscarriages and infertility may be caused by Roundup and Roundup Ready crops, wrote Dr. Don Huber of Purdue University in a letter to Secretary Vilsack.


• Alfalfa and other GE Crops put organic farmers at risk with through spills and uncontrolled pollination. Recovery and recertification can take years and lead to bankruptcy.


• Scientists must ask corporations for permission before publishing independent research on genetically modified crops. Scientific American says “that restriction must end.”


• World hunger can be better addressed through safer techniques


• A U.N. report says that “agroecological” techniques can double food production in 10 years.


• Poster-plant Golden Rice requires eating 12 times more rice than normal — 27 bowls of expensive rice a day — to get enough Vitamin A. Better to plant greens and sweet potatoes.


• Hunger stems from poor distribution, political problems, poverty, and environmental problems. Nearly 90 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used for either ethanol (40 percent) or animal feed (50 percent).


• Requested actions:


• Ask the USDA and President Obama to restrict Roundup Ready alfalfa until it is proven to be safe.


• Support unbiased research through funding and regulation.


• Support Congressman Kucinich’s bills on genetically engineered food (the Right to Know Act, the Safety Act, and the Farmer Protection Act).

Why there's a rooster on my stairs

With a busy busy week ahead, I kept the slow cooker going with beans yesterday. I made a stew with small red beans from my local Hispanic market and then made a pinto stew. This morning, I'm kicking myself because I forgot to put up the pintos before going to bed last night, so they will be feeding the compost instead of my Taster and me. If only I'd put the rooster on the stairs!

The rooster? He's a wooden list holder with a clothes pin as a beak made by a resident of my in-laws retirement community. The rooster holds the grocery list. And he perches on the stairs to remind me when I need to do something in the kitchen before going to bed at night. Most often, he reminds me to refrigerate food, including rising bread dough and brewed tea. The key point is that I can't get to bed without passing him and it reminds me to take another turn around the kitchen and do what needs doing.

Before the rooster, I used a less decorative but still effective cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels.

What memory tips to you use?

Happy Chinese New Year! Food at Raleigh Celebration

Happy Chinese New Year, y'all! I'm looking forward to going to the celebration at the State Fair Grounds today. It's in the new Exposition Center.

I'm looking forward to these treats, recommended by Lisa Chang, VP of the Triangle Area Chinese American Society:

There's a woman who makes a Taiwanese soft crepe with savory fillings that's delicious and interesting to watch being made. The crepes are made by wiping a hot pan surface with wet dough/thick batter. The part that sticks to the pan becomes a very thin, translucent crepe that wraps around meats, vegetables, and peanut powder - very yummy.

I'll also have Asian style shaved ice at the CNYF. I just purchased a very expensive commercial grade cubed ice shaver for myself that I will loan to the event. We won't have the huge variety of toppings available that an actual restaurant would (plus mango this time of year is terrible), but we'll have enough to approximate the true Chinese shaved ice experience. I'll have red bean, almond jelly, mochi, brown sugar syrup, and condensed milk for sure, and others are up for debate.

You know I've got to try the red-bean shaved ice! Lisa also says the celebration includes:

marvelous performances, cultural exhibits, vendors, and of course, lots of food! There are a couple of fantastic cooks who will be lending their talents to the event in order to provide a some specialty dishes that aren't generally available at your average restaurant.

Turnips, eggs rule at January farmers' market

I'm just back from the Western Wake Farmers' Market, watching the snow come down outside as I write this. Even after heavy snow starting Christmas night, the stalwart farmers who come to the winter market still had good selections. The slower winter markets are a great time to get to know your local farmers better.

I'm working on recipes with eggs and turnips, so you can see from the photo that I stocked up on each. The white "salad" turnips range in size from ping-pong to golf ball and are more tender than the larger turnips. I do like that purple band, though! The greens from both types of turnips are delicious.

Chickens lay fewer eggs in the fall and late winter, but start up again beginning with the winter solstice and peak in the spring. These free-range beauties were $4 a dozen.

I also got two types of organic sweet potatoes for $2 a pound, since I bought five pounds worth, and a small cabbage. Alas, no beets were available.

Lettuce, arugula, collards, various meat, and cheese was also available.

Scored collards and more for local New Year's Day feast

I was SO happy to pull into the State Farmers' Market lot today and see Mrs. Wise in her usual place at the Wise Farm booth. She's there nearly every day except Sunday with great produce and great advice. She's here with her son, Gary, who owns the Mt. Olive farm with his wife Teresa.

My New Year's Day party will now have excellent local collards despite the snow! Mrs. Wise said that they'd run out of collards Wednesday, but they had plenty today at 9:00. They will be at the market on Friday and Saturday, so please drop by to get some yourself. Gary pointed out their excellent bok choy, which they've planted under row covers this year with good results. Those amazing tomatoes come from green houses and they will have hoop-house strawberries soon.

I got five big bunches of collards, red and yellow onions, and sweet potatoes. At other booths, I picked up two gallons of apple cider, some apples, and two pounds of Ashe County super-sharp cheddar. The egg booth wasn't open yet.

Between the Harris Teeter and Whole Foods, I also got local corn meal, eggs, milk, and buttermilk.

What's cooking for New Years' Day? Hoppin' John, Tasty Tahini Collards, corn bread, a new chocolate cake I'm developing, and my favorite lemon cake from the Silver Palate cookbook. Other folks are bringing salads, fruit, and more greens. Should be fun!

What are you cooking for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? Any special local dishes or ingredients?

NC Christmas Trees at Bargain Prices this Year

I set a speed record for picking our family Yule Tree this year. I started at Cole's Phoenix display at the State Farmers' Market in Raleigh. I'm originally from Lansing, Michigan, which started my attachment to Cole's years ago. Maybe this isn't quite rational, since they are from Lansing North Carolina. But Cole's often has terrific trees, so I always start there.

This year, the first tree I saw was a contender and the second tree was the winner! I had the tree trimmed and in the truck in less than 10 minutes, topped with a fresh wreath. Total cost: only $65. The tree is about 8 feet tall and 7 feet wide towards the bottom. It's very full and fresh, drinking water like an athlete.

I had lived in Raleigh for decades before realizing that the Farmers' Market had such a fantastic selection of trees at such terrific prices. You can find tiny trees, huge trees, very symmetrical trees, and trees with rough spots that you can face towards the wall, all at good prices. I've paid $85 or more for an equivalent tree at single-vendor lots near the State Fairground, back when I had a high-tech job and lots of moola.

This week I checked out the prices and selections at other Raleigh tree lots. Here's what I found:

• Best price: $30 for 6-7' trees at the Food Lion
• Next-best price for somewhat taller and fuller trees: $50 at Whole Foods
• Good selection and good cause: the Optimist Club offers a good mix of trees on Blue Ridge Road between Rex Hospital and the Olde Raleigh Village Shopping Center. I would have paid about $90 there for a similar tree/wreath combo, but would have gotten a $5-off coupon for next year and would have been helping a good cause.

But I still like to go to the State Farmers' Market. Look at this greeting!


All the trees at all the lots I visited were from North Carolina. According to the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association:

North Carolina has 1,600 growers producing an estimated 50 million Fraser fir Christmas trees growing on over 25,000 acres. Fraser Fir trees represent over 90% of all species grown in North Carolina. The North Carolina Christmas Tree Industry is ranked second in the nation in number of trees harvested.

The artificial vs. real tree debate heats up every Christmas. Many artificial tree fans cite being able to use the same tree for decades. But as trees age, they may become dangerous, according to a study by EPA and other researchers:

Artificial Christmas trees made of PVC also degrade under normal conditions. About 50 million U.S. households have artificial Christmas trees, of which about 20 million are at least 9 years old, the point at which dangerous lead exposures can occur.

Happy and safe holidays to you all!

Q&A: Dairy-free recipes?

Q from K.:

I recently had a babe and find that she does not tolerate dairy AT ALL. and my bigger kids dont take kindly to it either. You have recipes that dont require dairy but many of the desserts and sauces include it. Do you have alternatives to dairy that work well in these recipes? Oh and that are not soy alternatives? If you do i would love to see them featured. It seems like so many of the budget food ideas include or are heavy on the dairy group.

A from Linda: Thanks so much for your kind words and enthusiasm! We are actually cutting down on dairy in our household and I'm looking for non-dairy desserts, so you will see more recipes that work for your family in the coming months. The cheese-sauce recipe was actually just a response to the canned-soup casseroles of Thanksgiving.

Here are some recipes you might enjoy:
Lemon-Walnut Sauce
Hummus
just the sauce for Potato-Peanut Curry
Bean-Broth Gravy made with corn oil
Oooo, Mama! Gravy

Applesauce with Raisins
Minted Cantaloupe Sorbet (not in season now, alas!)

And I'll put non-dairy desserts on the front burner for January. I haven't tested any recipes with almond milk or other nut milks, but many cooks say they work fine. I used to use soy milk before we gave up soy. We often have plain fruit for dessert, but I'm sure you've already thought of that.

Does anyone out there have good non-dairy dessert suggestions suitable for vegans or people who can't tolerate milk?

What do you think about the new IOM study on calcium and vitamin D?

A new research survey from the Institute of Medicine concludes that most people in the U.S. and Canada do not need more calcium or vitamin D to maintain bone health, although some teen-aged girls may be low in calcium and people over 70 might be lacking in both nutrients.

Too much calcium can cause kidney stones and too much vitamin D can harm one's kidneys and heart. The report says that both nutrients are needed for strong bones but not for "other health conditions." Widely reported studies that claimed these nutrients helped prevent everything from cancer to diabetes and help with physical performance and healthy reproduction were found to be from studies that provided "mixed and inconclusive results and could not be considered reliable." Wowser!

Here are some calcium values from the USDA National Nutrient Database:

foods high in calcium	size	calcium (mg)
orange juice, fortified with calcium	1 cup	500
milk	1 cup	352
Cheddar	1 ounce	204
collards,cooked	1/2 cup	133
black beans, cooked	1/2 cup	51
kale, cooked	1/2 cup	47
broccoli, raw	1 cup	43
chickpeas, cooked	1/2 cup	40

What to do? I'm going to start taking a calcium supplement again and make sure I get plenty of sunshine and exercise. The IOM says growing kids need up to 1,300 mg of calcium a day, with adults needing from 1,000 to 1,200 mg. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of only 400-500 mg of calcium a day to prevent osteoporosis in countries with high fracture rates, including the U.S. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine director of nutrition education Susan Levin says in their response to the IOM study that:

The most healthful calcium sources are green leafy vegetables and legumes, or "greens and beans." Broccoli, collards, kale, and other greens are loaded with highly absorbable calcium and a host of other important nutrients. They’re also low in fat and cholesterol-free.

I'd love to hear what you think, especially those of you who are nutritionists or otherwise have expert knowledge in this area. Please add your 2 mg's worth below.

What's a few million of hungry people, more or less?

The N&O ran a McClatchy story yesterday with an upbeat headline:Rise in U.S. hunger slows, but remains high. This indeed sounds like good news, or at least better than having the rate increase.

The headline for the same article on the McClatchy site is: Land of plenty? U.S. hunger rate remains stubbornly high.

Update: Reporter Tony Pugh did have it right after all: the number of people suffering from very low levels of food security was 17.4 million in 2009. The percentage for households with some level of food insecurity was 14.7%, which as I wrote earlier is the figure used in the abstract of the report itself. See table 1a in the report. Thanks to McClatchy Investigative Editor James Asher for the clarification.

New Comment: A good look at table 1a shows that the number of individuals with very low food security went up by 379,000 people from 2008 to 2009. While the report's abstract says that the rate was "essentially unchanged," that's more that all the people in any one of these cities: Honolulu, Wichita, or St. Louis.

Keep in mind that, according to Joel Berg of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, many of the figures for the number of people needing help are low because organizations have a limit to the number they can help and only report those they do help. So, if a soup kitchen was feeding 50 people lunch every day two years ago and was able to feed everyone who asked but now has a line that starts at 8 AM and turns away 100+, the reported number is still 50.

Have you actually seen a starving person in the U.S.? ask some of the mean-spirited comments on the McClatchy site. Probably not, since the nutritional-support programs have largely wiped out the pot-bellied, stick-legged look that used to be seen here. Let's thank another news agency for that. In 1968, the suffering described in CBS Reports: Hunger in America led to a Senate inquiry and $200 million more dollars for food programs.

But the current USDA report says that food-insecure households didn't have enough to eat 7 months a year and usually 1 to 7 days a month. Maybe the thought of children crying themselves to sleep because they are hungry 20 or so nights a year doesn't make you weep. In that case, please think about the long-term damage to their mental and physical development and the resulting low school and work performance.

Some supermarkets welcome, inform food-stamp recipents

Kroger CEO starts helping customers with food stamps, WIC. Dave Dillion, chairman and CEO of Kroger, often visits his stores to talk with customers and see for himself what works and what doesn't, according to a recent AP story. His involvement helps explain why Kroger's earnings are up while earnings for other groceries are down. Dillion noticed that the number of customers using food stamps had doubled, resulting in many new recipients who were unsure about what they could buy. To reduce the frustration and time of having items rejected at checkout, Dillion has brought in new signs to help explain what items are allowed and also trained employees to help customers use the program.

As I report in today's Cook for Good newsletter, the Kroger I visited in Raleigh is starting to roll out better signage, but has quite a ways to go. They have labels for WIC-approved items, but not for food stamps.

Have you seen any effort to identify eligible items in your grocery store? Have you experienced or seen confusion in using the programs? Have you see any stores charging people extra who use WIC or food stamps (SNAP)? These fees are illegal, but I was told by a clerk that there is a 50-cent fee for each use of the food-stamp Electronic Benefits Transfer card. The store management later told me that had never been the case.

Eat a carrot, hurt the economy? Bad reporting, false choices.

I was stunned this morning to see a headline over an AP article saying, Eat a carrot, hurt the economy? Sometimes. The story summarized a study in Lancet, saying that:

In Britain, experts estimated that fixing the country's bad eating habits might prevent nearly 70,000 people from prematurely dying of diet-related health problems like heart disease and cancer. It would also theoretically save the health system 20 billion pounds ($32 billion) every year.

In Brazil, however, the rates of illnesses linked to a poor diet are not as high as in the U.K. So Brazilians would get relatively few health benefits while their economy might lose millions.

Yet even a quick look at the Lancet series on The Health Benefits of Tackling Climate Change finds another conclusion. The first paragraph says making technical and lifestyle changes to combat global warming would not be "socially uncomfortable and economically painful" as is commonly thought, at least from a public-health point of view. In fact,

If properly chosen, action to combat climate change can, of itself, lead to improvements in health.

The series highlights several areas where climate-inspired changes would make people healthier, by reducing household energy emissions, changing urban land transport, and finding low-carbon ways to generate electricity.

But what about those Brazilian ranchers? They would have a greater health benefit than in the UK:

A 30% fall in the adult consumption of saturated fat from animal sources would reduce heart disease in the population by around 15% in the UK and by 16% in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. If the study had used additional health outcomes such as obesity and diet-related cancers, the health gains might have been even more substantial.

The study lists a "key message" as being:

Achieving a substantial cut in greenhouse-gas emissions will depend on reducing the production of food from livestock and on technological improvements in farming.

The full journal article itself, Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: food and agriculture, does address the benefits of raising animals for meat in certain situations:

For example, ruminant livestock in upland and marginal areas can help to maintain and build the carbon-sequestering properties of soil. Where grazing cattle are reared without use of feed inputs or additional fertiliser, and at low stocking densities, carbon sequestering can outweigh methane and nitrous oxide emissions....Further, in many geographical regions (including the uplands in the UK) no form of food production other than livestock rearing is feasible at present. Livestock rearing also has a key cultural and economic role in many parts of the world and is estimated to create livelihoods for a billion of the world's poor people.

False choices. The AP story presents a false limit on the choices involved. Certainly if people worldwide were suddenly told to quit raising animals for food and offered no other way to feed themselves, misery would ensue. But for the most part, the choices are not limited to "raise meat or starve."

Limited consequences. The AP article doesnt' mention other consequences not slowing global warming by all means possible, including the easy and healthy choice of eating less meat. More carbon emissions creates increased human aggression and ever more environmental refugees, already 20 million strong and growing rapidly, "more than those displaced by war and political repression combined" according to a U.N. study. We also hurt or kill other living beings and environmental systems.

So unless you are a subsistence farmer raising livestock on the thin, rocky pastures, go ahead and eat that carrot. Before you pick a burger over beans for lunch, check out these pictures showing the effects of rising sea levels on everything from the property value of beach houses to the displacement of 13 million people in Bangladesh to the very existence of the tiny island country of Tuvalu.

Apron survey comments / men who cook

And the winner is — the apron with the hidden labels. There will be a Cook for Good logo label and a US flag label on the underside of the back behind the neck.

An apology and a defense. As I said in the newsletter today, I wish I'd mentioned up front that this apron is intended to be the first of a series, including a streamlined apron suitable for men and women. One comment took me to task for "reinforcing outdated gender roles." My sincere apologies for any appearance in that direction. It's a shame that so many women have been talked out of the joys and power of cooking from scratch, as documented brilliantly by Laura Shapiro in Something from the Oven. But that joy and power should be available to men as well. Nearly everybody can and should cook.

On the other hand, I was surprised by the survey response that said that selling the apron goes against the original intent of Cook for Good and that the money should just be spent on food. Cook for Good is for people of all income levels. Certainly you should feed your kids before buying an apron, but protecting your other clothes while you cook makes sense. And I always feel like I'm donning a superhero cape when I put on my apron — it's just fun. I hope some of you will choose to support my work by buying the ebook, taking a class, or eventually buying the apron. I don't get funding from any other source. Making a quality product in the U.S., especially with disabled workers, seems to be right in line with my "make a difference" goal.

But what do you think?

Market report: raspberries, green beans, pumpkins galore!

I expected big crowds of folks out getting Halloween pumpkins, mums, and great fall produce today, but both the North Carolina State Farmers' Market and the Western Wake Market were fairly quiet.

I splurged today on four quarts of raspberries. They cost $7 a quart, $2 more than that the same stand about 18 hours earlier. You see it can pay to go to the market just before it closes to look for bargains on perishable items. The raspberry guy was cranky today, not topping off the quarts and scoffing at the idea of a discount for buying a flat ("It's $42 ... 6 times 7.") Oh well, everyone else was super friendly as usual.

Other great buys today were free-range eggs for $3 a dozen. One of those eggs is a lovely aqua color, but the photo doesn't show it. Ricky Barbour of East Wake Apiaries and Eggs forgot to bring quarters for change and had a lot of eggs from being at the State Fair intend of at the Western Wake Farmers' Market, so he's having a sale today.

Redbud Farm had gorgeous, certified organic Blue Lake green beans for $2.50 a pound. That's just 51 cents more a pound than the sprayed beans at the State Farmers' Market. Nancy Joyner said that green beans just love cool weather.

The small pie pumpkins were $2 each and the big cheese pumpkin was $5. They'll be decorations until Thanksgiving, then will go one by one into pies and other pumpkin dishes.

I also got apple cider, mustard greens, arugula, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, and the last of the tomatoes, which are cat-faced but still good.

Great food talks in the Triangle area

We've got some great food authors speaking in the Triangle. Hope to see you at both these events!

Shirley Corriher is a biochemist, author and James Beard Foundation award winner. Her books CookWise and BakeWise show how scientific insights can be applied to traditional cooking and baking.
Where: at Meredith College, Kresge Auditorium
When: 6:30 p.m. on Monday, October 25, 2010.
Hosted by: Meredith College Master of Science in Nutrition and Nutrition Graduate Student Association
Get your free tickets here.

Jonathan Bloom will be doing a reading from his new book, American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half Its Food (and what we can do about it).
Where: Quail Ridge Books & Music
When: 7:30 p.m. on November 3

"Good start" funding for nutritional supplements

What an excellent meeting yesterday with Patrick Brennan, legislative assistant for Senator Kay Hagan. We talked about the need for "good start" money for some people when they first receive nutritional supplement funding such as food stamps, SNAP, or WIC. This money would let them get started and make the best use of resources.

How? By providing a little extra money so they can cook at home, from scratch when possible. The money could be used to buy kitchen essentials, like salt, baking powder, and mustard. For some, it would be used to buy a pot, a kitchen knife, and enough plates and cutlery for everyone. Many people without traditional kitchens could cook if they had an electric rice cooker, crock pot, or skillet.

Patrick said he thought the idea was worthy of being considered as a potential addition to the next farm bill. I'll be sending him more info and keeping you posted here.

Meanwhile, let's thank Senator Hagan for her great work on the Tester-Hagan amendment to the current farm bill. This amendment would protect small, local food producers from regulations aimed at industrial-sized operations. Ask your senators to support this amendment with the Senate reconvenes.

What do you consider to be a kitchen essential? If you were cooking for weeks in a hotel room or on a picnic table at a campground, what would you need?

What have you done to make sure no kid's hungry?

I've heard amazing stories at the Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders about folks raising money, awareness, and opportunities to help make sure people get enough healthy food to eat. What's your story? Do you work in a food bank, attend Taste of a Nation events, volunteer, or work for good laws? Do you work in the food system itself, as a farmer, grocer, chef, or nutritionist? Is making sure your own kids are well fed taking all your energy right now? Tell yours story in the comments.

Eden Pasta finally fixes its site

Eden Organic Pasta has fixed its website. When it was still wrong last Friday afternoon, I penned a hand-written note to the company president. Who knows whether that shocking last measure had any effect, but I'm pleased to see that the serving size matches the nutritional information.

Eden Organic Pasta, Gulliver's Travels, and Knavery

The Eden Organic Pasta website still has bad information about the serving size for much of its pasta, so I've written a note to Eden Foods president Michael Potter. Got a little shiver when I noticed that he shares a last name with Sue Potter, the marketing manager who has been my contact on this issue. I feel bad complaining to one family member about another, if that's the case, but I'd feel worse letting this slide.

Cathy H., a Registered Dietitian and Master of Public Health, wrote saying this is a big deal for diabetics as well as vegetarians and other protein counters:

Probably a more important issue with the mislabeled pasta is that the carbohydrate amounts would be off and if someone is counting carbs in order to match their insulin to the carbs eaten they would be off by 1/2 and with pasta that is a big deal.

When a company refuses to fix such as easily fixed problem (updating a few website graphics) after it has caught the public's eye, then what else is slipping through the cracks?

I've been reading Gulliver's Travels and was struck by this description of the laws in Lilliput:

They look upon Fraud as a greater Crime than Theft, and therefore seldom fail to punish it with Death: For they alledge, that Care and Vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a Man's Goods from Thieves, but Honesty hath no Fence against superior Cunning: And since it is necessary that there should be a perpetual Intercourse of buying and selling, and dealing upon Credit; where Fraud is permitted or connived at, or hath no Law to punish it, the honest Dealer is always undone, and the Knave gets the Advantage.

I don't think the Knave Eden Organic is conniving, just permitting. Which honest Dealer is undone? In my case, it was Whole Foods. I quit buying their less expensive and nutritionally superior pasta in favor of Eden Organic's mislabeled product.

Timeline: Eden Organic response to bad pasta labels

I've been trying to let this go, but this statement from Marketing Manager Sue Potter kept me up last night:

We began corrective measures immediately upon learning of our mistake in July.

I believe this is true: they planned to correct the boxes on the next print run. Two months later, they were working on the artwork for boxes that would be printed in a few more weeks.

But many corrective measures weren't in place months after they say they knew about the problem and some still aren't, including easy fixes like putting the right information on their website. Here's a time line (all dates 2010):

• Unknown date: Eden Organic Pasta ships a variety of pasta with boxes showing the wrong serving size, making it seem like the pasta contained twice as much protein and other nutrients as it actually does.


• July 13 — the date Eden Organic says they found out about the problem.


• unknown date — a customer complains and accepts coupons as compensation.


• early September — I search the web for a good version of high-protein, organic pasta. I'm delighted to find that some of Eden Organic's pasta has nearly the same protein level as Barilla Plus. I go to my local Whole Foods and buy every variety I can find for testing. EO's Kamut Vegetable Spirals are good enough that I decide to recommend them in my book and rework the shopping lists and cost calculations accordingly.


• September 19 — During a test for cooking time with the vegetable spirals, I notice that there are far more serving than there should be in the box. I fill out the customer support online form describing the problem. My comment begins like this: "Problem with label on your Kamut Vegetable Spirals. Please help -- urgent request from author with book manuscript due very soon who wants to recommend your products." This is a Sunday, but I hope to hear something Monday morning.


• September 20, 2:00 p.m. — I call Eden Organics, since I haven't received a response to my email. The Customer Support representative says that marketing knows about the problem and I'll have to talk with the Marketing Manager, who will call me back.


• September 20, a while later — Sue Potter calls and tells me "everyone makes mistakes" and she's glad customers are willing to work with them. Work how?, I ask. After a fairly heated exchange, she asks what I would consider acceptable. I say, a refund and communications to the customers so no one else has this problem. I recommend she talk with others at EO and let me know what I should tell my readers.


• September 21 — Sue emails me offering a 55-cent coupon for the product of my choice. (I'd paid $3.69 for the pasta with the bad label.) She says the website would be updated within the day. I respond, refusing the coupon, asking again for a refund, and pointing out that the website has incorrect information for several other products. I blog about the problem. At least one reader also contacts Eden Organic to complain.


• September 22 — The website is corrected for Kamut Vegetable Spirals but not for other products in the same line with the same error. I draft a newsletter article about the problem.


• September 22, 3:08 p.m. —Sue emails me with an apology and an offer to send me a refund for $4.00. She says that EO will put stickers on the boxes they have in inventory to show the correct serving sizes. I'm happy to hear about the stickers, so I update the newsletter and this blog.


• September 23, 8:28 a.m. — The EO website is still has the wrong serving sizes for other pasta in the same line.

The persistence of bad information. Many people never read labels, but even those who do probably don't read them often. Once you find a product that works, why would you go back and re-read the fine print? Here's how a problem spreads when bad labels remain on the shelves and on the Internet:

• Other families might do what I did, research pasta looking for the most nutritious choice, find an acceptable one, make it the family choice, and move on to other issues.


• Other writers and menu planners might do what I did, use the Internet to find healthy food to recommend for their readers, clients, and patients. Once the decision and perhaps purchase order is made, why go back to look for label changes? Given how many colleges are offering green and vegetarian meal options, I wonder how many are serving Eden Organic Pasta without realizing there is a problem.


• Other vegetarians might do what we didn't do, go back to eating meat when they felt hungry and weak after days of being short on protein. These people would now be at the meat counter, not in the pasta aisle scrutinizing high-protein pasta labels. Other families might quit having their Meatless Mondays for the same reason.

This is why I felt it was worthwhile pursuing this issue. It's not about getting a $4 refund after two emails and two phone calls. It's about making sure people have the correct information to eat healthy, organic food that is low on the food chain. Doing so is good for your health, the economy, and the environment.

What seems like just a "typo" to Eden Organics seems like a barrier to slowing global warming to me.

Eden Organic ships pasta with known bad label for months

After last week's problem, now resolved, with Newman's Own Organics olive oil, I couldn't believe it when I found a much more important error on the label for Eden Organic Kamut Vegetable Spirals. Turns out that the label says the nutritional information is for a 1/2 cups serving, but it's really for a 1 cup serving.

My husband and I have been eating the serving size we use for all pasta, 3/4 cup, but were only getting 6 grams of protein instead of 12. Our daily allowance is 55 - 60 grams, so this is a 10% shortage ... enough to make a noticeable difference. That's why we've had the urge to snack on nuts after a meal made with this "high protein" pasta.

And I really couldn't believe it when Eden told me they've known about it for months, have not corrected their website, and refused to refund my money. They will be printing new boxes in a few weeks (no rush) and eventually the packaging will be accurate. Meanwhile, too bad about all those customers who are misinformed.

This means that I purchased at a premium price a pasta that claimed to be high in protein but in fact had half the protein per serving volume as labeled. I switched a few weeks ago from Whole Foods Organic Whole-Wheat Rotini to these spirals because I thought they had more protein, even though they cost more ($3.69 for 12 ounces compared to $1.79 for a pound).

Sue Potter, the EO marketing manager, says the company has known about this mislabeling since July 13th. They did not correct their website, which also had the incorrect information, until I asked them to yesterday. Sue wrote today:

Pasta box artwork is going through review and will be going to the printer in the next few weeks. Error will be corrected on the next printing. Please reply back to me an Eden food you would like to try (view all on the web site) and I will sent it to you at the Raleigh NC address along with retail 55¢ off coupons to use at retail stores.

I had requested a refund, but am being offered a coupon to buy more products with labels that I now doubt.

While it's true that the label also said a serving size is 55 grams, even manager Sue Potter said that few people would weigh rather than measure their pasta. When the purchasing decision is being made in the grocery store, the easiest comparison is cups to cups with other brands.

Why does this matter? As we discussed last week, food labels are required so customers can make informed purchases. Lots of people don't look at labels at all, but for some they are vitally important. In this case, I used the label to make sure my family was getting enough protein. Other families will use them to avoid allergic reactions or for other dietary or moral concerns. (No yogurt with gelatin for me, thanks.) In this economy, many families struggle with feeding their families on very limited budgets, so accurate nutritional information is essential.

And the way a company responds on a known issue gives you an idea of how they will respond on internal ones we can't guess at. I actually trust Newman's Own more now than I did before working with them about their label problem but will not be buying from Eden Organic again.

I'm very happy to have found this out before sending Wildly Affordable Organic to my publisher in a few weeks. My pasta recommendations will go back to being Barilla Plus or Whole Foods Organic Whole-Wheat Rotini. And I'm going to continue cooking as much of my food from scratch as possible to minimize the chances of being misled by a label.

Here's the contact page for Eden Organics if you'd like to let them know that you want them to provide truth in packaging. I'll be posting updates on this blog, such as any response I get from Whole Foods, where I bought the pasta.

[cross-posted on Daily Kos]

[update 1]Problem more widespread than thought Two days later, the Eden Organic site still lists 1/2 cup, 55 g serving sizes for Kamut & Buckwheat Rigatoni, Kamut & Quinoa Twisted Pairs, Kamut Ditalini, Kamut Elbows, and possibly more but I'm done checking. I notified them about this problem yesterday, but they should have fixed all the information on the website in July, when they say they first found out about the misleading labels.

I refused their offer of a 55-cent refund (!), saying:


[update 2] Problem partially addressed When I wrote to Eden Organic yesterday telling them a bout the additional problems on their website and refusing their offer of a 55 cent coupon (!) instead of a refund, I said:

I'm disappointed by this response. I'd asked for at least a refund for the mislabeled product I purchased. I would also expect you to notify the stores and customers of the problem. While it would be very expensive to recall the boxes, you could ask merchants to display a sticker with the correction. There are no doubt other ways of handling a problem like this, but misleading customers for months doesn't seem to be a good choice.

This "typo" caused me to serve several inadequate meals to my family. Fortunately, I have the luxury of having other food in the house, so when we were still hungry after dinner, we could have a snack, but not everyone can. This typo could cause vegetarians and vegans who are unwittingly 10% deficient in their daily protein allowance to return to meat....

FYI, here's how Newman's Own Organics handled a much smaller problem last week.

[update 3] — EO will relabel boxes, send refund
Was it the image of pork-chop eating vegetarians that changed their minds? A call from Whole Foods or the Vegetarian Times? We'll never know, but we've got progress. Sue Potter just wrote, saying:

We are sending a cash refund, your preference over product and coupons. A check for $4.00 will be mailed .... We sincerely apologize for our error, and troubling you with it.
New artwork is being dispatched to the printer, and current inventory is being re-labeled/stickered with the corrected common measure.
We began corrective measures immediately upon learning of our mistake in July.

The website is still wrong and there are mislabeled boxes in the store, but some action has been taken. The bad information will be out of the system more quickly now. Unlike Newman's Own, Eden hasn't pulled mislabeled products off the shelves or said what they will do for other customers who didn't get what they expected. But if you feel entitled to a refund too, contact Eden Organic Pasta.