Mise en place at Il Falconiere, Cortona, Tuscany

Packing Eggs

Boy packing eggs at Farmers Market. Portland, Oregon (Photo:RLW)

Methyl Iodide & Strawberries – Oxymoron? Not!

Where do your strawberries come from?

The New York Times reported today on a growing dispute between the California State Department of Pesticide Regulation and a scientific committee over the approval of a new chemical in the growing of strawberries. It is another interesting example of where big agricultural interests trump the safety of you, me and our children.

For decades strawberry growers injected methyl bromide into their soil as a soil fumigant and structural fumigant to control pests before growing strawberries. However this chemical is an ozone-depleting chemical and it was banned by the Montreal Protocol international climate treaty.

Methyl iodide was found as a substitute in 2007. More than 50 chemists and scientists, including members of the National Academy of Sciences and Nobel laureates asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency not to approve the chemical. Nevertheless the California State Department of Pesticide Regulation has bestowed provisional approval for this chemical.

“This is without question one of the most toxic chemicals on earth,” said John Froines, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California.

Breathing methyl iodide fumes can cause lung, liver, kidney and central nervous system damage. It causes nausea, dizziness, coughing and vomiting. Prolonged contact with skin causes burns. Massive inhalation causes pulmonary edema.

But the strawberry business in California is a $2 billion industry. I wonder who will win this battle. I wonder even more about what else they spray on the food you, me and our children eat grown in California?

Richard Wottrich

Marius Market, Paris (Photo:RLW)

Brown Rice versus White Rice?


A just-released Harvard study came to the stunning conclusion that eating brown rice instead of white rice decreases the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by about 10 percent compared to people who eat it less than once a month. And those who eat white rice on a regular basis — five or more times a week — are almost 20 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who eat it less than once a month.

This is of course patently clear to anyone with any knowledge of whole foods, versus highly refined foods - as their perishable nutrients have been removed to make them shelf-stable. Hence The New York Times headline today is a sad commentary on the apparent fact that many think this is new information.

What is more interesting in my opinion is that this study reinforces the erroneous “single ingredient” fallacy of our approach to healthy eating. Year after year studies highlight one ingredient or another and make claims regarding their healthy benefits. Highly engineered foods clog our grocery shelves with absurd marketing claims regarding the few nutrients that have been added back into cheap highly refined food commodities such as high-fructose corn syrup, white rice, refined white flour, and de-oiled soy flakes.

In the holistic approach to healthy eating it is preciously the great diversity of whole foods availability that delivers everything the healthy body needs to function. Isolating down to a single ingredient such as brown rice misses the point and misleads people into thinking there is a “sliver bullet” out there that bestows good health.

One of my cooking heroes, Julia Child, said it best, “Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health.”

Richard Wottrch

Quinoa, Rice & Spinach Steamed Pilaf

Quinoa (pronounced "KEEN - wa") is a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is not a true cereal, or grain, or member of the grass family. Quinoa is closely related to beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds. Its leaves are also eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth.

Quinoa originated in the Andes of South America and it has been an important food for 6,000 years. Its name is the Spanish spelling of the Quechua name. Quinoa is generally easily grown and altitude-hardy, so it can be cultivated in the Andes up to about 4,000 meters (over 13,000 feet).

Quinoa’s protein content is very high (12%–18%). Quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

I created this particular dish to take advantage of unique crunch of Quinoa with the addition of some flavor notes and nutritional side kicks that result in a very tasty side dish, similar to a pilaf - but steamed instead.

1 cup Quinoa (Nuts On Line)
1 cup premium white rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1 large tomato, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh spinach
1 tablespoon butter
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Splash of lemon juice
Parsley as a garnish

In a rice cooker combine the Quinoa, rice, chicken stock, wine, tomato, oregano, spinach and butter. Set the cooker to white rice. When done remove the mixture to a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Add sea salt and pepper to your taste, lemon juice and serve with parsley as a garnish. This presents well with grilled lamb loin chops.

Richard Wottrich

Relative Nutritional Value - Distance Shipped Plus Time to Market Are Inversely Proportional to Nutrients


Chamonix, France (Photo:RLW)

Why ask where your food comes from? Fresh fruits and vegetables in your supermarket travel an average of 1,500 miles before sale. Fresh fruits and vegetables in a typical farmers' market travel an average of 50 miles.

Fresh fruits and vegetables that come from fields in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, China or any other country may or may not comply with U.S. Department of Agriculture or EPA rules and regulations. What are they spraying on your food in these countries? How do we know?

The antioxidants in fresh fruits and vegetables are there to help the plants ward off insects and diseases. If a plant is grown in the genetically identical mass plantings of an industrial farm it does not need to produce antioxidants to fend off insects and diseases - they have all been killed by herbicides and pesticides.

Fruits and vegetables have been developed to stand up to shipping over great distances. The chief consideration is appearance and long shelf life. There is little if any consideration of nutrient value. In fact, the longer a fruit or vegetable stays on the shelf the lower its nutrient levels are. Nutrients deteriorate over time. That is why the Food Industry breaks foods down and removes active nutrients - to extend shelf life. That is why you have white rice and refined white flour. Those pesky nutrients mess everything up for Food Industry profits.

Donald R. Davis, a research associate with the Biochemical Institute at the University of Texas, Austin, recently analyzed data gathered by the USDA in 1950 and 1999 on the nutrient content of 43 fruit and vegetable crops. He found that six out of 13 nutrients had declined in these crops over the 50-year period (the seven other nutrients showed no significant, reliable changes). Three minerals, phosphorous, iron and calcium, declined between 9 percent and 16 percent. Protein declined 6 percent. Riboflavin declined 38 percent and ascorbic acid (a precursor of vitamin C) declined 15 percent.

A study of the mineral content of fruits and vegetables grown in Britain between 1930 and 1980 shows similar decreases in nutrient density. The British study found significantly lower levels of calcium, magnesium, copper and sodium in vegetables, and of magnesium, iron, copper and potassium in fruit. The report concludes that the declines indicate "that a nutritional problem associated with the quality of food has developed over those 50 years."

Relative Nutritional Value (RNV) equals the nutrient level (n) divided by distance shipped plus time to market (d + t), where the nutrient level is assumed to be 100 at perfection. Hence a tomato that travels 1,500 miles in 10 days to reach market has an RNV of .07, while an organic tomato shipped 50 miles in one day has an RNV of 2. And a sprig of parsley grown in your garden that you pick and eat on the spot has an RNV of 100. This is my own equation and its purpose is purely to highlight the issue of nutrient value in our foods.

This formula supposes that local foods are organically grown. Thus their produce had to develop antioxidants to ward off insects and diseases. It also supposes that the soil these plants were grown in is richer than the chemically maintained and exhausted soils of huge industrial farms. This may or may not be true. That is why you ask. Know where your foods come from and how they are grown. It makes a difference.

Richard Wottrich

Sautéed Pineapple & Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are a cultivated member of the wild cabbage family, probably refined in ancient Rome. The first written reference to them is in 1587 in what is now Belgium, hence the name. Folks who don’t like Brussels sprouts probably have had them over cooked - overcooking should be avoided because it releases glucosinolate sinigrin, which has a sulfurous odor.

The combination of pineapple and Brussels sprouts at first seems an unlikely one, but the pineapple’s semi-sweet tartness contrasts beautifully with the butter and cinnamon and the fresh crunch of the Brussels sprouts. Pineapple is a good source of manganese (91 %DV in a 1 cup serving), as well as vitamin C (94 %DV in a 1 cup serving) and vitamin B1 (8 %DV in a 1 cup serving). The contrast of the bright green and white of the Brussels sprouts and the bright yellow of the pineapple make this a great summer dish.

1 whole pineapple, skin removed, quartered, cored and cut into pieces roughly the same size as the Brussels sprouts
1 pound of Brussels sprouts, washed, bases removed, cut in half lengthwise
1 stick of butter (eight tablespoons)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Zest from one orange
Juice from one orange, freshly squeezed
sea salt and pepper to taste
fresh mint as garnish

Put the cleaned Brussels sprouts in a large pot of salted boiling water and blanch for three minutes. Shock them in cold water immediately and reserve. In a sauté pan large enough to hold all the drained Brussels sprouts in a single layer, melt the butter. Add the sprouts and sear at high temperature until they just start to turn brown. Reserve. In the same pan place all the pineapple chunks in a single layer and sear until they just start to brown. Put the Brussels sprouts and pineapple chunks into a large bowl. Deglaze the pan with the orange juice, zest and cinnamon for two minutes. Pour the pan butter mixture over the pineapple and Brussels sprouts. Throw in a quarter cup of chopped fresh mint, sea salt and pepper and toss. Serve at once. [The acid in the pineapple will turn the bright green of the sprouts to a dull color if you let this dish sit too long.]

Richard Wottrich

A Tsunami of Chemicals Hits Your Food

The big food crops globally consist of sugar cane, rice, wheat, corn, soy beans and tubers. These crops account for roughly 80% of everything the world eats. To bring these crops to the worlds’ masses, set to hit 7 billion in 2011, vast amounts of herbicides are used. This is efficient for huge industrial farms because it cuts down on spoilage and weed losses, keeping profit margins robust. We apparently tolerate this as the price we pay for feeding the world. Why?

Most of these industrial crops are broken down into basic cheap derivatives, such as high-fructose corn syrup, that show up in the thousands of engineered foods that populate our supermarket shelves. The food industry churns out advertising that makes absurd health claims about these products. In other words, the nutrients are removed from these foods to be broken into cheap easily shipped bulk commodities, which are then engineered into high value, shelf-stable packaged “food” products we buy to feed our children. Why?

If you look into the world of industrial food crops you’ll see companies like Monsanto, a $10.7 billion giant that sells both crop seeds and the glyphosate-based herbicides (Roundup Ready) that are used to protect them. Monsanto is a fine company. They do a good job for their shareholders and for the farmers who buy their seeds and the chemicals to control weeds. What is missing from this equation are the stakeholders who eat the end products – you and me and our children.

Roundup Ready is an excellent herbicide that has about as small an environmental footprint as can be engineered. Since it was introduced a decade ago it revolutionized farming in that it gave farmers a very effective and relatively safe method of controlling invasive weeds. The trade off for this was the requirement that their crop seeds be genetically engineered with the insertion of genes that made them immune to Roundup Ready. My question is where are the studies regarding the effect of these genetic changes on the nutrients, quality and safety of the resulting food products?

Unfortunately Monsanto lost control of both sides of this equation when the Roundup Ready patent ran out. Chinese companies have been offering look-alike herbicides at drastically lower prices. We all know how trustworthy Chinese chemical companies are. Have you read anything recently about the safety of Chinese herbicides used on U.S. crops?

Mother Nature has changed the game plan as well. Predictably, “superweeds” have appeared throughout the U.S. that are immune to Roundup Ready. Farmers are frantic to kill these weeds. Other herbicide companies are racing to roll out older, more toxic herbicides that can kill them. Monsanto is lowering the price on its Roundup Ready to compete with the Chinese and these older toxic herbicides. Remember, we are talking about the food we eat here.

In order for these older toxic herbicides to work effectively, food crop seeds must be genetically altered again through the insertion of genes to make them immune to these “new” poisons. Rules and regulations governing the use of these herbicides are set by the EPA. The giant herbicide companies obviously lobby congress to influence the EPA rules, many of which were set years ago before genetically engineered foods were so prevalent.

The giant seed companies have petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve these new genetically altered seeds. Often, as in the case of Monsanto, these companies offer both products – meaning they have a special inside knowledge of how they want the rules and regulations to favor their products. We all know how effective government rules and regulations have been in the Gulf of Mexico recently.

Superweeds have opened up the herbicide business in a big way, as companies rush new chemicals and new genetically altered seeds to market. It is an insidious cycle of poison – new seeds – new weeds - new poisons – that is disturbing. Everyone is happy - the food company executives, their shareholders, the farmers, members of congress receiving industry political contributions, EPA and USDA career bureaucrats who have what amounts to tenure – all are happy except the folks missing from this cycle – you and me and our children. Who represents the interests of the people who eat these highly engineered commodity food components?

So what can we do? We can eat whole fresh foods that are not part of the industrialized food industry. We can stop buying the highly engineered shelf-stable food products that clog the shelves of our huge supermarkets. And when you have to buy a packaged food item, study the label. When you see derivative food commodities such as high-fructose corn syrup or de-oiled soy flakes or refined white flour, and other nutrient-barren additives on the label, don’t buy it. If a packaged food product has more than five ingredients, or has any ingredient you do not understand, don’t buy it.

Buy fresh. Buy local. Cook.

Richard Wottrich