Top Tin Vol. 2: Organic Meat and Dairy

As promised, here is the latest "Top Tin" list. Lifted and barely paraphrased from care2.com, here are the.....

Top ten reasons to buy organic meat and dairy:

1. Free of antibiotics and other drugs, added hormones, genetically-modified animals or feed

2. No animal cannibals protects against Mad Cow disease

3. More humane and ethical treatment of animals

4. Animals are usually free-range and can graze

5. Controlled production of small amounts of organic manure

6. Animals help organic farmers

7. Fewer chemicals in your food, your body and the environment

8. Support diversity

9. Save resources

10. Support small family farms

For more explanation and some great links, please visit the original list on care2.com.

Crying over scared milk (and bad beef!)

I just put off writing a new blog entry by making a yummy batch of Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies, with sliced almonds added for crunch and a miniscule amount of
health benefit in an otherwise purely hedonistic cookie.

As I tested to make sure the second batch out of the oven was as good as the first, I was messaging with my younger brother, Brad, on my computer. Since he lives 45 minutes away in glamorous South Beach, (where I grew up and went to high school) I rubbed it in that I was enjoying delicious fresh cookies. He messaged back, “Got milk?”

I did, actually. A tall frosty glass of organic milk in my vintage Burger King Empire Strikes Back drinking glass. (The Hoth one, with C-3PO and R2D2 in the foreground and Han Solo on a tauntaun in the background, for those whose geeky minds need to know).

Of course, although my brother undoubtedly would have approved of the glassware, he immediately called me “Hippie!” when I told him I was drinking organic milk. He does this a lot. But, not only hippies like me choose organic dairy and meat. (And organics aren’t just for vegetarians.)

I found so much good stuff researching this topic, it is going to spawn more than one post. I will share this one great site I found: The O’Mama Report - Organic Information and Inspiration. My husband pointed out that I squealed when I stumbled across it. They have an O’Baby and O’Kids area, too. This site is definitely being added to my Top Tin websites list, which is still under construction.

I also found a complete new Top Tin list, the top ten reasons to buy organic dairy and meat, and that will be coming to you soon.

Top Tin Vol. 1: Fruits and Veggies

Welcome to the first installment of a very exciting ongoing series here atMom's Tinfoil Hat. Drum roll please.....lists! No, wait, don't click away, it's more exciting than that. I will be putting together "Top Tin" lists on various scary plots by mad scientists, the worst food additives, and other exciting stuff.

If I were more organized, I would do this every Friday, or every second Tuesday, but I don't roll like that. When the mood strikes me, when the list gets complete enough, when I have nothing else to blog about, and when the little voices tell me you need it the most, a new "Top Tin" list will appear on this blog, full of tinfoil hat inspiring villains, or websites to research whatever is worrying you at the moment.

Today's "Top Tin" is a double feature. And just to show you how much I think outside the box, each list has a dozen items. (I bet you were expecting ten. I am full of excitement, see?)

One of my "Top Tin" organizations, when that list comes up, will definitely be The Environmental Working Group. When I go to their website, I feel like the mothership is calling me home. They assembled a pesticide report card ranking the fruits and vegetables which have the highest and lowest amounts of pesticide residues. These amounts are averaged from produce washed and prepared for typical eating, and "based on an analysis of over 100,000 tests for pesticides on these foods, conducted from 1992 - 2001 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration."

I don't know about you, but my local grocery store does not contain a complete selection of organic produce, although it has definitely been getting better. There are other options for me to get organic items, but not everyone has these resources in their area, or can always afford to go organic. It helps to be able to rank the chemicals my children, the environment, and the agricultural workers are exposed to based on my produce choices.

The "Dirty Dozen" the fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues:

Apples

Bell peppers

Celery

Cherries

Grapes (imported)

Nectarines

Peaches

Pears

Potatoes

Red Raspberries

Spinach

Strawberries

The "Not-so-dirty Dozen" the fruits and vegetables with the cleanest scores:

Asparagus

Avocados

Bananas

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Corn (sweet)

Kiwi

Mangos

Onions

Papaya

Pineapples

Peas (sweet)