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“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
Volunteer Appreciation Party
This past week I went to the We Don’t Waste headquarters for a Speakers Bureau training. We Don’t Waste is a Denver based non-profit that recovers food that would’ve otherwise been sent to the landfill and re-routes it to the public through free mobile food markets, and partnerships with food banks, food pantries, and shelters.
The speaker’s bureau is part of their education program. Volunteers go to schools, businesses, and households, and attend fun events like Slow Food Denver, to talk about food waste, strategies to mitigate it, it’s impact on the planet, food insecurity, and more.
One example I love is food audits that are conducted in school cafeterias, which raises awareness and educates students on ways they can help with fun strategies like share bins. Here students can exchange food they don’t want for something they do, limiting the likelihood of unwanted food going to waste.
Here are a few things I learned that really stood out to me.
It takes 1 gallon of water to produce 1 almond. Almond fields need to be completely flooded.
21 percent of our water supply is used to grow food.
“1 bad tomato can ruin the bunch.” If a retailer (i.e. grocery store) finds 1 moldy tomato on a pallet or truck full of tomatoes, they can turn the whole shipment away, relegating it to the landfill.
“Expiration dates” have nothing to do with safety
Sell By = how long the product can be displayed
Use By = last day of peak quality
Best Before = last date of peak flavor or quality
The difference between composting and a landfill is oxygen. Compost is regularly mixed allowing oxygen in. A landfill remains stagnant which produces greenhouse gases like methane and CO2.
It can take 25 years for a head of lettuce to decompose in a landfill
Carrots and celery like to be wet. If you store them in water, they could last 2 weeks before wilting and softening.
It’s an exciting company to be a part of. They’re just 15 years old and they’re doing really big and fun things that are driving change.
Cheers to your practice.
James.
Three Headlines That Prove the Point
The Doctor Will Ask About Your Gun Now
If the health epidemic and increasing rate of mortality in America are any indication of the inefficiency of our healthcare system, then perhaps asking physicians to squeeze one more task into their 10-minute office visit isn’t a good idea.
In recent years The White House has called “fire-arm injuries” an epidemic, prompting “leaders” to call on physicians to screen their patients with questions like, “Do you have access to firearms inside or outside of the home?”
In 2021 there were 115,000 non-fatal fire-arm injuries, and 48,830 gun related deaths in America. In the same year deaths from preventable diseases like heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes dwarfed those figures by a 10x multiple.
Fire-arm injuries and deaths are symptoms of an unwell society and should not be taken lightly. Which is exactly why someone with a better track record should be put in charge of this epidemic.
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Lunchables under fire after reports of concerning lead, sodium levels
In Metabolical, author Robert Lustig, MD, MSL puts it like this: “It’s not what’s in your food that matters, it’s what’s been done to your food.” Unless your Kraft Heinz’s Lunchables, in which case both matters.
Lunchables is a processed food snack that is marketed towards children as “healthy” because of the “protein / fat / carb ratio” it contains.
Through recent lobbying efforts Kraft Heinz was able to get Lunchables approved by the School Nutrition Association (“SNA”), making it part of the daily lunch offering for 30 million students. Essentially handing Kraft Heinz the keys to our most vulnerable and impressionable market.
In order to get approved, the SNA required Kraft Heinz to add more “protein” and “whole grains” to the Turkey, Cheddar, Cracker Stacker. Here’s the formulation:
“Ingredients: Roast White Turkey Cured - Smoke Flavor Added (White Turkey, Water, Potassium Lactate, Contains Less than 2% of Modified Cornstarch, Salt, Dextrose, Carrageenan, Sodium Phosphates, Sodium Diacetate, Potassium Salts, Sodium Ascorbate, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Sodium Nitrite, Smoke Flavor); Cheddar Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product (Milk, Water, Milkfat, Milk Protein Concentrate, Whey, Whey Protein Concentrate, Sodium Citrate, Salt, Lactic Acid, Sorbic Acid as a Preservative, Cheese Culture, Oleoresin Paprika [Color], Enzymes, Annatto [Color], with Sunflower Lecithin Added for Slice Separation); Crackers (Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil Shortening Canola Oil and/or Fractionated Palm Oil, and/or Soybean Oil, and/or Palm Oil], Sugar, Contains Less than 2% of Salt, Baking Soda, Soy Lecithin, Natural Type Flavor).”
Sounds healthy, right? How many ingredients did you get through before you stopped reading?
When will we learn that companies like Kraft Heinz and Nestlé, who was recently caught adding sugar to infant formula in poor countries, shouldn’t be allowed around our children. And when will someone in a position of power do something about it?
40 percent of all food in this country gets wasted. Real whole foods like fruit, vegetables, and lean meats are being dumped into landfills every single day. If we wanted to get high quality real food into the hands of every child in this country it could be done in the blink of an eye.
The problem is the people at the highest levels couldn’t give a shit.
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How do you create your own ‘Blue Zone’? Here are 6 tips
I just have to rant for a minute on this one because it falls into my newfound skepticism that most of the longevity, healthspan, and lifespan advice is bullshit. I still read and listen to it, but I’m following it less and less recently.
And the reason is because I learned about The Blue Zones.
For people in The Blue Zones, there is no special trick. There’s no special diet. Nobody counts macros or how much they exercised and at what intensity. No one takes supplements or vitamins or follows any special routine.
All they do is live, filling their days with things that bring them joy. Like time with friends and family. Time in the garden growing food and flowers. Maintaining a mindfulness practice, playing board games, and cooking.
To worry about prolonging your life would mean missing out on it.
That’s why recently whenever I see an article or a headline like this one, I chuckle to myself. We think that we can deduce a whole way of life down to “6 Tips,” a new supplement or drug, or a better routine, which misses the whole point.
Accept the present by letting go of the future.
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