'Meat' the Environment

‘Meat’ the Environment
2-26-09
Chef Wendell

Clearly, personal and environmental stewardship is subjective. The Queen of England has “dominion” over her subjects, but that doesn’t mean she can eat them, but I digress.
As a proud Ambassador for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, I look to Director, Dr. Neal Bernard for guidance. His philosophy along with heart disease experts Pritikin and Dean Ornish, urge total abstinence from all animal foods in order to ‘steer’ clear of premature heart-related bereavement.

Population studies illuminate that death due to atherosclerosis is absolutely connected to red meat consumption. Atherosclerosis is the buildup of deposits of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and other substances (plaque) in the inner lining of an artery.
One study showed that mortality due to coronary heart disease was 50% lower among those who consumed an average of 30 grams of fish per day compared with those who ate meat daily. Meat eaters in this study had a mind-blowing 300% increase in their risk of coronary heart disease. I lovingly remind my evolving friends that there is no fiber in red meat, potatoes, white bread, booze and cigarettes.

Heart disease authorities suggest in preventing Atherosclerosis humans must ditch meat and dairy then embrace gifts of the sea. Pass the blubber, please! The Mayo Clinic says that the omega-3 fatty acids in nuts and fish are excellent heart food.

Atherosclerosis is the process in which deposits of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and other substances build up in the inner lining of an artery. It’s a widespread disease where plaque loiters inside your arteries; blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to your heart and other vital parts of your body.

Even though my cherished carnivorous friends are always grasping for reasons to carry on with their Midwestern habits of eating, they respect my personal decision to avoid animal products; live and let live.

Even though they’re aware of the ‘unhappy ending’ linked with eating dead animals, my friends struggle switching to a new lifestyle lacking the ubiquitous dinner table icon. They’d be perfectly content to eat meat three times a day, 7-days a week.

It required me smooching the Grim Reaper square on the lips in 1988 before my mind opened. I also grew aware that there was much more to add to the equation. I was clueless in Indianapolis until I researched the dire environmental consequences of over-the-top meat consumption that results in major, worldwide environmental and humanitarian issues.

A summary report from the LEAD (Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative) which is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states:
Livestock account for 9% of all human activity related to carbon dioxide emissions.
From local to global, the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems.

It roughly takes 60, 108, 168 and 229 pounds of water to produce a ‘pound’ of potatoes, wheat, corn and rice respectively. Beef however, requires 12,000 gallons of water per pound. Yikes!
80% of heavenly streams and rippling riparian habitats in the western US have been negatively impacted by livestock grazing.

Farm raised catfish, salmon and shrimp are contaminated by concentrations of their own excrement, farm chemical runoff, manufacturing waste and delicious heavy metals.
A 2006 study at the

University of Chicago concluded that a person switching from a typical American diet to a plant-based, whole foods diet with the same number of calories would prevent the emission of 1485 kg of carbon dioxide, which exceeds that of you switching from a Toyota Camry to the hybrid Toyota Prius. That’s encouraging news!

There is nothing in the Bible that justifies destruction of our earthly environment and entire species of wildlife and torment and kills billions of animals every year.

The generous Cosmos imparts a reverence for life. The loving Creator could not help but be appalled by the way our animal buddies are treated today. We can do better.

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Iatrogeny: Medical Genocide?

SST-The ‘Unpatriotic’ Cost of Sickness
3-23-09

Does the food you serve to loved ones feed or deplete family health equity? Are you a true American who’s stopped seeking emergency medical attention because it has become too pricey? Have you stopped taking critical meds due to exaggerated, aberrant costs?
Red, White and Blue to-the-bones citizens of this great country are fed up with the situation which they’re refereeing to as down-right unpatriotic. Global terrorism has been labeled the greatest threat to the American way of life, although conventional medical practices kill more Americans than terrorists. Is it time to embrace a healthier diet? You bet your bippy.
A generation ago, an implicit doctor-patient personal bond of trust prevailed. Because of their failure to prevent disease, this ‘trust’ has been diminished. More than ever, we must embrace a proactive-prevention mentality to endure the onslaught of chronic disease and obesity caused by the toxic ‘Western’ diet of foods which prevent the holy temple from healing in the fashion the cosmos designed. There is simply too much irrefutable information indicting our insane, convenience-driven American diet. We deserve better. I’d do anything to stay out of a hospital.
Ever heard of Iatrogeny? Iatrogeny, defined by Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, calls it ‘a condition caused by medical personnel or procedures or through exposure to the environment of a healthcare facility.’ Twice, I dodged the bullet after a physician dropped the ball. They are, after all, human.
If you’re fiercely rationalizing your Constitutional right to chomp down unctuous cow burgers, pork ribs, fried bits and Twinkies and still need motivation to stop; chomp down these no-so-tasty ‘medical’ facts from The Journal of The American Medical Association, (2000;284:94)
12,000 deaths / year from unnecessary surgery
7,000 deaths / year from medication errors in hospitals
20,000 deaths / year other errors in hospitals
80,000 deaths / year from nosocomial infarctions in hospitals
106,000 deaths / year from adverse effects of medication
That’s 225,000 deaths per year are caused from iatrogenic causes; the third leading cause of death in the US, second only to heart disease and cancer. Are whole, unprocessed foods beginning to make you salivate? I earnestly hope so.
Sad but true, a simple visit to the ER, family physician or pharmacist has become a budget-busting, most often unexpected capital expenditure. Don’t expect a floral bouquet from Big Pharma. If they had their way, all vitamins, whole foods and Holistic medicines would be abolished. They prosper when citizens suffer from chronic disease. It’s a lucrative business.
When I speak around the state, I listen to people who just discovered they have cancer or heart disease admit they at last, have an open mind to food as preventive medicine. From the conclusive science, corporate America is killing us slowly with their fries. The Non-homoeopathic species of medicine we’ve blindly trusted does little or nothing to prevent disease. That would make too much sense. Instead, they wait till the horse is out of the barn before closing the door. Therefore, solutions are written in blood.
Protecting your health equity becomes a financial imperative. Many families live one paycheck from poverty or homelessness. Chronic disease and prescription costs could spell instant disaster.
Perhaps now is the ideal time to open your mouth and mind to the delicious, healing and preventive world of plant food as medicine; the way God and Hippocrates designed. If we lovingly embrace this concept, chefs / home cooks are indeed, the doctors of the future. Just like grandma and grandpa. If it was good enough for them, then it’s good enough for my family, too.
Let’s go back to pre-industrial Revolution tactics; cooking from scratch, canning, setting up victory gardens and storing fruits and veggies in the root cellar. People in other countries scratch their heads and consider Americans imprudent to consume such vast amounts dead, processed foods. They’re befuddled why we eat ‘machine cuisine’, instead of fresh, sun blest plant foods. We suffer needlessly.
If we know certain foods cause disease and damage our precious holy temple, then stop consuming them. It really could not be simpler. Make one change at a time; get used to it, then go on and make another.
Food is love.
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Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil; the Healthiest Oil

‘Put a lime in the coconut and drink 'em bot' together

Put the lime in the coconut, then you'll feel better.

Put the lime in the coconut, drink 'em both down,

Put the lime in your coconut, and call me in the morning”
Harry Nilsson

For centuries, joyful health from eating coconut oil has been recognized by countless cultures of the world. However, there is a colossal, contrived misconception spread by ethically malnourished industries that coconut oil is dreadful for heart health. Poppycock!
Coconut oil is the ‘healthiest oil’ on God’s generous green earth. Ask the Okinawans. The ‘coconut oil-based’ Okinawa diet is the healthiest on earth. So, why did the fearful edible oil industry spend big money early last century defiling the central component of the world’s healthiest diet? Ask the US corn and soy oil industry and the FDA who insisted coconut oil was ’disastrous’ for human health yet Okinawan’s boast the highest percentage of centenarians anywhere on earth; a bold faced cock-and-bull story, my friends. Charming Okinawa’s have cooked with versatile coconut oil and rubbed it all over their body and hair to thwart a lengthy menu of diseases. Thrilling scientific findings concerning coconut oil reveal it’s a ‘healthy fat’ which heals your Holy Temple
Unlike ubiquitous animal or vegetable shortening and ‘Trans-fats’ / hydrogenated vegetable oils, the health benefits of coconut oil embrace hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. Whew! The benefits are attributed to lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial and soothing.
Dig this: Consumers of coconut oil and its milk have the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. Okinawa boasts the highest percentage of centenarians anywhere. Heart disease rates are low: 80% fewer heart attacks than Americans and Okinawa’s who have heart attacks are more likely to survive. Breast and prostate cancer and obesity are rarely heard of among the older Okinawan population, as is smoking tobacco. Over the last decade, the gentle, peaceful inhabitants are becoming sicklier and increasingly obese as the slimy ooze of McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut slither onto their unspoiled shores.
Special triglyceride species and some non-triglyceride species identified in coconut and palm oil have physiologic properties that differ from most saturated fats. In 1988, N.W. Istfan of Harvard University Medical School's Nutrition Coordinating Center, vindicated coconut oil; "For the U.S. consumer, the use of coconut oil does not increase the role of heart disease." Coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides which provide an immediate source of fuel and energy, enabling the holy temple to metabolize fat efficiently. This feature helps dieters, athletes, individuals who have difficulty digesting fat, and those with impaired immune systems. Unlike some saturated fats, coconut oil does not raise cholesterol. How cool is that?
Ever wondered why Pacific Islanders skin and hair are so beautiful? Coconut oil absorbs easily and keeps your skin soft, not greasy and helps control dandruff. Within days it will moisturize and sooth chronic skin inflammation. When Sandi and I began to apply it to our skin, redness, dark spots and rashes disappeared within a week. Isn’t nature cool? Apply some of the oil to your hair, leave it on for an hour, then rinse.
Coconut oils powerful antioxidant properties prevent your skin from sagging; eliminate wrinkles, age spots and skin cancer caused by the sun’s harmful rays. It’s a common ingredient of many suntan lotions. Historic evidence strengthens recent findings about tropical oils. Many groups of people, throughout the world, have thrived on these oils in their daily diets, without experiencing negative health effects. Read labels. If the coconut or palm oil is corrupted by ‘hydrogenation’, gently put it down and slowly back away.
Now go rub some all over your body, bake a cake then whip up some stir-fry veggies. It’s your birthright to feel healthy, energetic and to know the truth.
My only complaint? Each time I give Sandi a loving hug, she squirts out of my arms.

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Recipe for Brain Food-Nuts to you

Updated: Monday, 02 Feb 2009, 11:50 AM EST

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Recipe developed by Chef Wendell Fowler Eat Right, Now!

Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups of cooked quinoa
1/3 cup olive oil
½ cup chopped red onion
1 sweet red pepper, diced
½ cup dried cherries or fresh in season.
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup fresh chopped mint
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Several leafs of butter lettuce for a bed

Directions:
Drain the quinoa of liquid then place the grain in a mixing bowl
Add the remaining ingredients and fluff with a fork.
Place the lettuce around the edge of a serving bowl or platter, then mound the salad in the center.
Serve with pride
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Have you ever felt like you were mentally swimming through Jell-o? Are you brain dead? Has your doctor said you're arteries are dangerously clogged? Is that what's got you down, Bucko? If so, Chef Wendell says, "nuts to you!"

If you take a close look at a shelled walnut, you will see that it looks appropriately like your brains. Walnuts have often been thought of as a "brain food," not only because of the wrinkled brain-like appearance of their meat and shells, but because of their dense concentration of omega-3 essential fatty acids. Our brains are more than 60% structural fat. For your grey matter to function properly, this structural fat needs to be primarily the omega-3 fats found in walnuts, flax seed and cold-water fish. Walnuts, a rich source of the omega-3 fat, improve artery function after a high fat meal and may be even more important in a Mediterranean-type diet than olive oil in promoting heart health, suggests a small study from Spain (Cortes B, Nunez I, J Am Coll Cardiol).

Research shows that eating a modest 1.5 oz of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Yippee!! Nuts are high in calories, so moderation is the key. The best approach is to reap the health benefits of eating walnuts, but not add excessive calories to your daily intake. Instead of just adding walnuts to your current diet, eat them to replacement foods that are high in saturated fats (such as cheese and meat). Limit your intake of these tasty nuts to the recommended 1.5 oz per day. That is about 20 walnut halves. Walnuts add a flavor and texture to dishes. Here are some simple ideas to incorporate walnuts in your diet:

1. instead of snacking on cookies, crack some walnuts open and eat them as snacks
2. instead of using meat, toss toasted walnuts in your salad or pasta to add some crunch
   
3. instead of greasy pepperoni, use chopped walnuts in your pizza for texture and vitamins
   
4. instead of eating cancerous bacon or eggs, use walnuts as a protein choice by sprinkling chopped walnuts and dried fruits in your oatmeal or breakfast cereal

Corn Fritters with Cucumber Raita

CornFritters with Cool Cucumber Raita

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) -

Recipe developed by Chef Wendell Fowler-Eat Right, Now!

Corn Fritters Ingredients:
1 cup olive oil for frying (No Crisco or lard please)
1/3 cup whole grain flour
2 tbs. ground flax seeds
1/4 tsp. Non-Aluminum baking powder
1 tsp. ea. sea salt & black pepper
1 pkg. Stevia powder (1 tsp) sugar or 1 tsp. real Maple Syrup
1/3 egg, lightly beaten (Egg Beaters are good, too) 1 egg white would also work.
2 tsp. organic 2% milk or plain soy milk
1 tsp. Smart Balance, melted
2 cups fresh or frozen whole kernel corn ( No cans please)
Corn Fritters Directions:
Heat oil in a heavy pot or deep fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, flax, salt and sugar.
Beat together egg, milk, and melted ?butter?; stir into whole wheat flour mixture.
Mix in the corn kernels and green onions.
Drop fritter batter by spoonfuls into the hot oil, and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels.
Raita Ingredients:
2 cups plain organic yogurt (Stony Field Farms is widely available)
1 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. turmeric powder
Chopped cilantro
Minced green onions
Sea salt and black pepper
Pinch of sea salt
Raita Directions:
Simply place everything in a bowl and mix.

Your Body is Your Buddy,

Chef Wendell

Bubble and Squeek: Healthy, Economical Food

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH TV)

Recipe developed by:

Chef Wendell Fowler

Eat Right, Now!

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/living/recipes/Chef_Wendell_Cabbage_and_Potatoes

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped cabbage
8 baby red potatoes with skin
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbs. ground flax seed
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 tbs. olive oil for frying

Directions:
Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Boil Baby Red or Yukon potatoes till fork tender. If they are full size potatoes, cut them up for quicker cooking time. It takes less energy.
Mash them, but not all the way. Chunks are good.
Mix the cabbage, onions, flax and seasonings into the lightly smashed potatoes; mix well.
Over medium high heat, put oil in a sauté pan. When it gets warm add tablespoons of the mixture to the pan and shape them into pancake size patties. Flatten it with your spatula.
When the pancake is golden brown on one side flip it over and continue till nice and brown. If you need to turn down the fire, that's cool. Slower is better.
Serving suggestions: - Top with plain organic yogurt instead of gravy or sour cream. - Top with chopped green onions.
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Don't Have a Cow!

Cut Your Grocery Bill, Not Nutrition

Out of sheer financial necessity, perhaps the time has arrived to consider a vegetarian diet for your loving household. At least once a week.

Hooray! Vegetarianism is becoming more and more popular and has been constantly growing. One in 4 teenagers is a vegetarian and it's freaking out their carnivorous parents. I have been a vegetarian for about 22 years, and I have no idea how people can afford to buy meat, as opposed to vegetables, fruit and grain. Plus I spend no money at the doctor. The average family of 4 annually spends approximately $5,000 on beef, chicken, pork, fish and duck for the dinner table. Another easy way to reduce your grocery bill is to stop buying pre-packaged convenient foods and cut down on meat consumption; a definite money saver in tough times.

The average price per pound of beef, in October 2007, was $4.15 per pound;
The average price per pound for pork was $2.93.
Three servings of fruits and vegetables a day cost $.84.

Most of the staples of a vegetarian diet are not expensive. In fact, the majority of the world's people eat a mostly vegetarian diet made up of inexpensive commodities such as beans, rice, vegetables and corn. But it must be practiced correctly, especially when the parents are life-long carnivores. One must carefully monitor the intake of B-Complex vitamins and eat a wide variety of plant foods: beans, nuts, seeds, dark leafy greens and cabbage, tofu, orange-fleshed fruits, lots of fresh, not canned vegetables, and whole grains. Having fresh, healthy home-cooked meals is easier than you think. 20 vegetarians can live off the land required by one meat eater. Here is an economical yet satisfying side dish for your next meal. Cruciferous cabbage and onion help prevent cancer.

Flax seed is loaded with fiber and Omega 3 essential fatty acids, the onions offer cancer protection, and low-calorie potatoes have fiber in their skin as well as vitamin B-6, C and copper. Potatoes without the butter and sour cream have a protective activity against cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and certain cancers. French fries with sugary ketchup or HFCS do not count, sorry.

Eat From Nature,

Chef Wendell

Natural Food and Semantics

There is No Truth in Advertising

If you think that All-Natural Hot Dogs are really ‘natural’, show me the Wiener Bush, we’ll contact Dave Letterman and make millions.

It’s common knowledge that there is little truth left in the food industry. Just about any ingredients or processes can be claimed as the subjective term, “all-natural.” There is a boiling tempest of scrutiny over dubious claims made by major food conglomerates relating to such food and beverage assertions.

Recent investigations exposed that popular family restaurant chains are serving up insanely noxious foods in the name of health. This irresponsible action grandly contributes to the growing epidemics of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Where’d we go wrong? We swallowed their spurious claims. Truth is no longer the American currency.

Those All-American, All-Natural weenies are preserved with succulent sodium nitrite, a powerful carcinogen. The American Association for Cancer Research reveal there is a 67% increased risk of ‘all-natural’ pancreatic cancer in people who consume large quantities of hot dogs.

Could semantics be their stratagem? Semantics can be described as concepts subject to fuzzy interpretation; a component of the American business model since the invention of TV. Television was, after all, invented to sell Tide Laundry Soap. The slime from the video that oozes across your living room floor is often neither clear nor honest. Imagine that? The TV, print and cable news companies take the money, run the promotions regardless of their truthfulness. We could really use their help, alas money talks.

Is Tyson All Natural Chicken all natural since it contains 15% salt water and seaweed extract? That’s seven times the amount found in untouched organic and free range varieties. Is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) natural as the corn associations are screaming? The Centers for Science in the Public Interest says that ‘high fructose corn syrup just does not exist in nature”. CSPI’s director also said, “That’s no excuse for this deceptive advertising campaign.” I agree, don’t you? The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said products containing high fructose corn syrup cannot be considered 'natural' and should not be labelled as such. Snapple is being sued over labelling their own misleading, semantic claims that it is ‘all-natural., when in reality it contains HFCS and ‘natural flavors’. FDA does not define the term 'natural', and it has therefore been left open to different interpretations. Ugh-oh!

HFCS isn’t natural for one simple reality; its chemical bonds are broken, rearranged and devitalized in the manufacturing process. Every time man attempts to improve on the generosity of the universal bounty, we take a step backwards.

It’s the process that's unnatural, not the source. When wacky industrial fat cats chemically alter creation’s bounty into alien forms that don’t exist anywhere in God’s nature, it is no longer natural, dear readers; regardless of what the food manufacturers allege. Our cells do not recognize these foods as useful. Our holy temple only comprehends the language of God’s un-tainted creations.

In the past I’ve often cringed at the statement, ‘Question Authority,” however now it seems more germane than ever.

Chef Wendell