7 of Kashi's products are currently non-GMO certified. Does this create an unrealistic expectation regarding many other Kashi products that are not non-GMO?

By now, you’re all likely aware of the stir caused recently when it came to light that Kashi’s “all natural” brand of cereals are (admittedly) sourced with known-GMO ingredients, a move which is not “all natural.”

From USA Today:

The controversy went viral a week ago after a Rhode Island grocer tacked a note to one of his store shelves, telling customers he wouldn’t sell the cereal because he found out the brand used genetically engineered, non-organic ingredients. Photos of the note began popping up on Facebook pages and food blogs as some consumers claimed Kellogg was misrepresenting its cereal.

(Read the rest of this article HERE.)

This situation was also covered in this excellent article from Cornucopia.org, who have also posted a Cereal Scorecard  which you can use to better inform your purchase decisions.

From Cornucopia: 

A photo of a sign explaining why Kashi cereal products were pulled from the shelves of a natural foods retailer has sparked an angry consumer backlash aimed at Kashi for its use of suspect cereal ingredients.

The sign appeared in the aisles of the Green Grocer, based in Portsmouth, R.I. Owner John Wood read a report from The Cornucopia Institute, Cereal Crimes, that detailed the use of GMO grains and the presence of pesticide residues found on conventional grains that were then packaged as “natural” cereals for sale, by Kashi, to health-conscious consumers. Kashi, one of the nation’s leading “natural” brands, owned by Kellogg, was one of the brands featured in the report. Cereal Crimes contrasts the natural cereals with certified organic cereals which prohibit genetically modified grains and synthetic pesticides in organic food production.

Now, what we want to know, is why on Earth would the Organic Trade Association rush to defend Kellogg, instead of rushing to defend Organics!

From the USA Today article:

Kellogg is not misleading people, says Barbara Haumann of the Organic Trade Association in Brattleboro, Vt. Consumers “are totally confused” and don’t understand that the only way to get organic food is to buy organic, she says.

Not misleading people?  Are you serious?

What do you think of this turn of events?  Do you believe that the FDA should be required to review the definition of the word “Natural” to prevent false advertising, and deceptive practices within the food and health industries?

Let us know in the Comments Section below!

Also, here’s Kashi’s  video response to the social media outcry.  I especially enjoy the implication that Kashi’s GMO ingredients could be the result of wind-blown contaminants.  Very classy.

The Biotech Bully from St Louis does not like Vermont’s legislative bill H. 722, a consumer’s right to know bill. Read the article below and learn how Mansanto is handling this affront to their GMO agenda.

When Judge Naomi Buchwald dismissed OSGATA et al vs. Monsanto last month, it was on the basis that she did not think the corporation had any interest in suing the organic growers and trade organizations that took the case to court. But as it turns out, their fears of a lawsuit-happy Monsanto are somewhat justified. According to reports, the biotech behemoth has threatened to sue the state of Vermont if it presses ahead with the signing of the Vermont Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act (H. 722), a bill that would make Vermont the first of the United States to require labeling of genetically engineered food.

Vermont is not a state that messes around with its food – last year, the state’s Agency of Agriculture threatened to sue McDonald’s over due to its Fruit & Maple Oatmeal not actually containing any real natural maple syrup. This also isn’t the first time Vermont and Monsanto have tangled, as the state was sued in the 1990s over the labeling of bovine growth hormone in milk. This time around, however, Monsanto has reportedly threatened legal action toward the state over its H. 722 bill.

According to the bill’s website, Vermont Right to Know GMOs, it’s backed by Vermont representative Kate Webb and would require food sold in Vermont retail outlets to clearly label any food that has even been produced through genetic engineering, and would bar GMO foods from bearing an “all-natural” label:

“This is a very simple consumer right to know issue,” said VPIRG Consumer Protection Advocate, Falko Schilling. “Just as you can look at the back of a soup can and find out how many calories it has, we should all be able to simply check the label to see if the food we’re considering purchasing is the product of genetic engineering. Vermonters have a right to make informed choices about how they spend their consumer dollars, and the bottom line is that we deserve to know if we’re feeding genetically engineered foods to our families.”

Read the full article from foodanddrinkdigital.com

Are we the only ones not surprised that Monsanto is fighting this?  Tell us how you feel in the comments below.

Here’s an easy recipe to turn Nutiva Coconut Manna into a delicious and healthy coconut milk which can be used in all recipes calling for coconut milk.  Hey look, no more cans!

Ingredients:
Nutiva Coconut Manna™
Water

First, put a sauce pan of water on your oven’s burner with enough water to half submerge your jar of manna and bring to a very low simmer.  Stir the manna until it is a nice, even, runny consistency.  (You can skip this step if it’s summer and your manna is already liquid…..just stir and measure as below)

NOTE: Be careful when heating up your Coconut Manna on the stovetop.  The idea is to warm it up enough to be able to mix and soften the Manna.  Be careful not to cook the manna!

For lite coconut milk: Add ¼ cup Manna and 1 Cup of water to a blender and blend on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds until mixed.
For a richer coconut milk: use 1/3 cup Manna to 1 Cup of water.

Both of these milks are delicious and can be used as is.

For a smoother, silkier texture strain the Manna milk through a very fine sieve.  A nylon nut milk bag works very well for this.

You can also add a little sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave, or coconut sugar) and some cacao powder or perhaps vanilla.  Yum!

Or use the richer coconut milk as a nondairy creamer for coffee or tea.  Use the coconut milk in soups, smoothies, over grains……..wherever coconut milk is desired.

It’s delicious in winter squash soups or try in a beet borsht instead of sour cream or on steamed veggies.

You can store the manna milk in the fridge for a day or two after making.  It will thicken a bit in the cold but is still exquisite.

Bon Appétit!

Recipe Credit:
This recipe comes to us from our own resident Customer Service Guru Mark Bielski!

“This not a place to cut corners, food is just too important…” – Michael Pollen

Here’s a great common sense interview from CBS Nightly News with Brian Williams.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

After the success of Food Inc. and Food Revolution, more celebrities are turning to organic foods and products as part of a healthier lifestyle.

Courtney Cox, star of Scream 4 and CougarTown, and her husband David Arquette, are buying organic, especially for their 6-year-old daughter Coco.

“I try to always be as green as possible,” the actress, 46, told US Magazine. ”For Coco, I got her Organic Matters [products] which Jen Meyer told me about.”

Organic Matters sells everything from bedding to beauty products and offers a wide assortment of organic, natural and recycled alternatives to many commercially manufactured goods. Meyer who is a jewelry designer who is married to Spiderman’s Tobey Maguire, inspired Courteney to switch to more eco-friendly beauty products.

“She told me about this one called Weleda,” Courteney says. “It’s this shampoo and body wash. It’s natural and great – I use it on Coco!”

Courteney is just one of the many celebrities that have jumped on the organic wagon.

HBO’s Entourage bombshell Emmanuelle Chriqui is very dedicated to the environment and organics. She serves as an ambassador to the Environmental Media Association, is involved with the Yes To Carrot Seed Fund, and Los Angeles Unified School District to support organic gardens in Los Angeles urban schools. Other celebs involved include Olivia Wilde, Rosario Dawson, Amy Smart, and Lance Bass.
Remember Jessica Simpson’s infamous “chicken or fish” moment? Recently Jessica has been on a vegan diet. She wrote on Twitter about her first experiences with tofu (which she dipped in ketchup), drinking Pu-erh tea, and natural healing through cupping with a teacher named Master Wang.

She also made clear that “this has NOTHING to do with weight! It is about understanding my body through hydration and alkalinity,” she wrote.

Kelly Osbourne is refusing to eat meat unless it is organic after hearing the shocking stories about the American meat industry and the terrible conditions facing some farm animals. The singer-turned-reality-TV-star went “fully green” by giving up bottled water and building a compost heap in her garden.

Kelly is also being more careful about what she eats. In her column for Britain’s Closer magazine, she wrote: “I’ve become increasingly aware of how disgusting the American meat industry can be – and it’s seriously put me off eating meat. I’ve heard that cows are fed through a hole in their stomach to make them get fatter quicker and I can’t believe some chicken producers inject them with water first so they’re heavier! “I don’t have a problem with people eating meat, but I am careful to only buy organic now.”

Convinced that you should switch to organic too? This Organic Food Buying Guide is a great place to start your journey to better health.

Photo: Lory Ayala/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic

To read the original article on Babble.com click HERE

(NaturalNews) Though hardly used in Western diets, lentils are perfect for high nutritional yields on a budget. They are so high in protein and energy producing nutrients that a Canadian firm is working on putting a lentil sports energy bar together. Canadian studies on athletes proved they performed better with more endurance after eating lentil dishes than pasta.

Lentils are legumes, which along with their related Dal, have provided millions in India and Central Asia with high protein sources for centuries. Combining brown rice and lentils is perfect for vegetarians concerned about protein intake. Both foods bought as dry bulk are very inexpensive and can be stored for long periods before preparing. Lentils are a delicious, nutritious tight times survival food indeed.

But There’s More to Lentils than High Protein

Dr. Perricone, an Oprah regular, ranks beans and lentils number four on his super food list, behind Acai, Allium foods such as garlic and onions, and Barley. This is not the same super food genre as chlorella and spirulina of course. These are actual edibles.

Lentils lack only two of the 20 available amino acids that combine for protein. And if the lentils are sprouted, those two missing amino acids appear, offering the complete package of 20 amino acids. Naturally high in fiber and low in fat, lentils aid digestion and elimination with a low glycemic index that stabilizes blood sugar and helps prevent diabetes.

An international study covering 25 years compared high dairy and meat eaters to legume consumers. The results published in the Archives of Internal Medicine confirm that diets high in fiber foods, such as lentils, help prevent heart disease by as much as 82%!

And there’s more to it than just fiber. The extremely rich folate content in lentils is a natural source of high folic acid or B6, without synthetic ingredients or processing involved. So even if Big Pharma and the FDA succeed with removing folic acid or B6 supplements from health food store shelves, you’ll be able to get yours from (gasp) food!

Lentils also contain the master mineral magnesium, which combined with B6 offers even more protection against heart disease. There is also a significant amount of B1 or thiamine in lentils. Other minerals in abundance are calcium, phosphorous, manganese, and iron.

Lentils contain a very high amount of tryptophan, an amino acid that helps combine the other amino acids to produce protein. It is also a precursor for serotonin and melatonin in the brain, both of which help you relax or sleep. Tryptophan also helps prevent depression.

Molybdenum is also very high in lentils. It is an essential trace element for virtually all life forms. It functions as a cofactor for a number of enzymes that catalyze important chemical reactions necessary for metabolizing food into energy.

Got the Idea? Now Let’s Eat

Unlike other dry bulk beans that need to be soaked for hours before cooking, lentils are ready to cook as-is. But it’s a good idea to sort them out on a flat pan to remove the few tiny pebbles that may come with the lentils. Cooking time is around 45 minutes with a low boil using a two to one ratio of water to lentils.

Lentil soups are easy to make. Or they can be eaten cold after cooking as part of a bean salad mix. An easy filling high protein high fiber main dish is lentils on brown rice, topped off with olive oil or an amino acid sauce.

Sources for more information:

Lentil nutrients article from World’s Healthiest Foods
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?…

Dr. Perricone’s No. 4 Superfood: Beans and Lentils
http://www.oprah.com/health/Beans-a…

Boring lentils touted as athletes super food

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstar…

About the author

Paul Fassa has managed to survive the Standard American Diet (SAD) and his youthful folly by deprogramming gradually from mainstream health ideology and studying holistic health matters informally with his wife while incorporating them into his lifestyle as a vegetarian.
He also practices Chi-Lel Chi Gong, and he is trained as a polarity therapy practitioner. He is dedicated to warning others of the corruption of food and medicine in our time, and guiding others toward a better direction for health. You can visit his blog at http://healthmaven.blogspot.com

Do you have a lentil recipe you’d like to share with us?  If so, put it in the comments section below, and we just might use it here on the Nutiva site, in the recipes section.

Dr. Suess books aren’t the only place you’d expect to find funny-colored foods.  We get these purple carrots from our home-delivered Organic Grocer service. I juice them, and slice them up for salads.  have you tried them?  What do recipes do YOU use them in?  Let us know in the comment section below.

by Kelsey Munro

THEY may sound like something out of Alice in Wonderland but purple carrots are not only real, they’re being positioned as the next superfood.

A new Australian study has shown the ancient carrot variety is high in anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants.

”They’re the original carrots, from ancient Persia,” explained the study author Lindsay Brown, professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Southern Queensland.

Like heirloom tomato varieties, purple carrots are one of a huge range of fruit and vegetables almost lost in the age of single supermarket varieties. Claims have long been made about purple carrots’ health benefits, but until recently these remained untested.

Professor Brown ran a pre-clinical trial on rats, using purple carrots grown in Queensland. For 16 weeks, the rats were fed a high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet designed to mimic the effects of an unhealthy western diet.

The rats quickly grew fat, developed high blood pressure, became glucose intolerant (or pre-diabetic) and incurred liver and heart damage. Then, for the second eight weeks, the scientists added purple carrot juice to the rats’ food. The results, to be published tomorrow in the British Journal of Nutrition, surprised even the researchers.

”Everything went back to normal,” Professor Brown said. ”The blood pressure went down, the collagen in the heart was back to normal, the liver histology was back to normal, the liver enzymes, the glucose tolerance, the fat pads were all back to normal, despite continuing this … terrible diet.”

Professor Brown cautions that purple carrots should be consumed in combination with a moderate diet and exercise.

There are up to 28 times more anthocyanins – the antioxidant that creates the purple-red pigment in blueberries and raspberries – in purple carrots than there are in orange ones.

To read the original article at TheAge.com click HERE

Organic food is not a fad; it’s a phenomenon that’s here to stay. The principle goal of organic agriculture is to minimize soil degradation and erosion, decrease pollution while optimizing biological productivity in harmony with the environment. There is no disputing that organically grown produce is better for the environment and tastes better than soil grown crops that use polluting, chemical fertilizers, herbicides and systemic pesticides.

First let’s look briefly at some of the requirements and challenges organic growers must meet and overcome to be certified organic, then what it means to be organically grown, and finally why hydroponically grown produce is a healthy alternative to organically grown produce and possibly better for you.

A certified organic farm must incorporate time consuming, labor intensive weed controls, as synthetic herbicides are prohibited. Expensive alternatives to pest control like companion planting of non-profit, bug deterring plants is also a factor. Also to be certified organic, farmers pay an annual fee and undergo a yearly on-farm inspection to ensure that they adhere to the strict organic standards. All of these costs are factored into the price of organic produce available in the supermarkets.

To the farmer, the word “organic” means no pesticides or herbicides or potentially toxic or hazardous materials are to be used on crops to control bugs, weeds and diseases. To the hobby gardener, “organic” usually means all of these things, plus that no unnatural or manmade chemicals are to be used

To the chemist, “organic” means something totally different. Chemistry has two distinct branches: inorganic and organic. Inorganic chemistry deals with non-living materials. Organic chemistry focuses on carbon containing compounds associated with life and its decay to carbon matter in the form of decaying plant and animal matter.

Plants use inorganic minerals for nutrition, whether grown in the field or in a container on your back patio. Nature’s complex interactions involving weathering of rock minerals, decaying organic matter, bacterial decay of animals, and microbes take place to form inorganic mineral nutrients in the soil that the plant’s roots are able to then absorb as ions from the in soil water.

The minerals that a plant requires for growth are absorbed by the plant’s root system after they have been broken down into their basic elements and dissolved by water. By the time the plant ingests these mineral elements, they are no different from today’s prepared hydroponic nutrients. For example, nitrogen, an essential mineral element, whether derived from organic or inorganic matter, has the exact same molecular structure and appearance when observed under a microscope. Nature’s elements cannot be changed regardless of how they are obtained or processed. The same is true of the other two macro-nutrients; phosphorous and potassium and the micro-nutrients; calcium, sulfur, magnesium, iron, boron, manganese, zinc, copper, cobalt, chlorine, molybdenum, selenium and silicon.

All sixteen of these nature’s elements are required for a plant to grow to its optimum level of health whether you are growing organically or hydroponically. These minerals are provided to plants in the organic garden as they are released from organic matter by the action of microbes, worms and bacteria over an extended period of time. In hydroponics, these same elements are provided immediately by water soluble mineral salts; most of which are now in liquid form and many being certified organic.

The nutrients in a hydroponic system are mixed with the water and sent directly to the root system. The hydroponic plant does not have to search for nutrients like the one does in soil for the nutrients that it requires. Those nutrients are being delivered to the plant several times per day or constantly depending on the hydroponic method. The hydroponic plant requires very little energy to find and break down food. The plant then uses this saved energy to grow faster and to produce more fruit.

Hydroponics is a clean, safe horticulture technique that offers an economic, healthy alternative to organic soil gardening. A study comparing soil versus hydroponically grown tomatoes and sweet peppers was conducted by Plant Research Technologies Incorporated in San Jose, California. Their research documented a dramatic increase in vitamins and minerals in hydroponically grown produce; in some cases up to 50 percent higher in vitamin content.

Don and Sandy Landers are owners Dream Garden Hydroponics, LLC, 26380 State Route 7 Marietta. Columns on hydroponic gardening appear monthly on Monday’s life page.

To read this informative article from it’s original source at www.MariettaTimes.com click HERE

There’s DEFINITELY something wrong with this picture!

The latest news on the toxic chemical hexane is coming out of China this week with 4 workers reportedly died from work hexane exposure at the United Win iPod factory at which they worked.

Nutiva has been a leader in the organic food world alerting people to the dangers of hexane for both workers and consumers, and was one of the first brands to label its products non-hexane.  We look forward to a day when hexane is banned from food production altogether.

Many well-known food brands offer soy-based products that are processed with hexane.

Such brands include Clif, Luna, Kashi, Silk, Nature’s Way, Bragg’s,  and Genisoy, to name just a few.

Listen to this explosive YouTube Health Ranger Mike Adams  on hexane HERE.

From WIKIpedia: In the industry, hexanes are used in the formulation of glues for shoes, leather products, and roofing. They are also used to extract cooking oils from seeds, for cleansing and degreasing all sorts of items, and in textile manufacturing.

In in the news, from China Daily:

Workers protest over pay, toxic chemicals

Continue reading this important article at ChinaDaily

Help spread the word about this vital issue,  please Twitter, Blog, and Facebook this story and ask food suppliers their position on hexane in their foods.

Shoppers have the power to shift this debate and create a more healthy and sustainable world for all.

Remember Don’t Panic- Go Organic ~!